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Royal Mail just checking the "pacific" isolation section on the middle road of the shed. The layout is simple DC. Kind regards, Richard B

The Alan Gibson wheels (5ft, 16 spoke drivers and 3ft, 12 spoke bogie) have arrived. The bogie has now been assembled and the compensation beams work very well. The coupling rods halves have been soldered together and await cleaning up. I use plenty of solder to fill the gap between the two halves of the rods. The bogie rests on its blutac support. It all fits together well although keeping it all square is tricky. Wheel sets have considerable sideplay so I will fit some fibre washers each side to limit this slightly. I have also cut out the half etched semicircle on the mainframe to clear the bogie frame. This (I hope) will be a club layout locomotive so running reliably is more important than perfect compliance with the prototype. Its a very small compromise anyway. Frames cut out to improve clearance for the bogie. Back of coupling rods prior to fettling. Kind regards, Richard B

Good luck with the move William. Its a bit tricky as you probably know taking some time to a) sell house/select house b)select house/sell house (we usually go for option a) c)Move house d) some time after c) start building layout. I ended up with a fairly large spare bedroom (5m x5m) but like you have to fit in an office and work bench. Making some progress but, understandably, new home making takes most time... Kind regards, Richard B

Well done RowanJ - the K3 looks fine. I suspect that with the high level of traction and now power it can pull a bit? My loco modelling "career", such as it is, is littered with, shall we say "learning moments". In a way that is part of the fun. Whats your next loco going to be? Kind regards, Richard B

Ash and inspection pits all dug. Lets hope that the Standard 4 2-6-0 can get back out onto the mainline soon! Kind regards, Richard B

I couldn't agree more Tony. My efforts at loco building (and now layout construction) are not that special - I try to improve with each loco built - but solving all the little problems during construction and the satisfaction on completion are so good for one's soul and yes give a lot of pleasure. In these wretched times railway modelling is a gift! Kind regards, Richard B PS Love the look of both A2/2's in the images!

Update for Darlington Model Railway Club - 1. The wheelsets have been ordered from Alan Gibson and should be here any day. 2. Gearbox on order from HighLevel but slight delay waiting for smaller coreless motor. I am putting together three tier trolleys to store all my collection under the layout baseboards. This seems to work well, I can roll out the trolley and select the loco/rolling stock as required. I guess I can store coaches in operational sets etc.... Some way off that level of organisation at the moment though! Kind regards, Richard B

No progress with the G5 I am waiting for things to return to "normal" following the Christmas/New Year period to order the wheels and the motor/gearbox. Have contacted Richard Barber of "Locomotion" at Shildon and he knew Ray and has supplied some wonderful pictures of the G5 and in particular 67305 which, I understand, was Ray's favourite. Richard has been a real star digging out some great pictures, a few follow. I should add that these are all copyright pictures so please contact Richard at Locomotion for permission to use. Kind regards, Richard B

Not a lot of progress - occupied with moving/building/moving furniture given the move. Have though been granted some leave and have been able to cut out the three inspection pits in shed. Kind regards, Richard B

Hi Mike, Lovely work - so good I'm not sure if it is 4 or 7mm? Good luck with the first build. Assuming the kit is 4mm I will certainly have one thanks. First exam I took part in as an apprentice was 15201 at Eastleigh DD in 1964. The loco was scrapped later that year if it wasn't already!! Kind regards, Richard B

Yes, in my experience this is the best way to go - it works with 16BA used in loco valve gear too. Kind regards, Richard B

Fitted the compensation beams to the driving wheel hornguides - all simplier than I imagined assuming that it all works that is! Beams in position - bogie frames in the background which will also be compensated. Hornblock temp fitted to show how beam interacts with the block. Kind regards, Richard B

Thanks so much RJS, some good ideas. My loco shed is much smaller - 70D was a fairly short around 165ft long and only three roads - so I can sqeeze it in at the base of the large top board and have room for some running lines and hidden sidings. I have just laid the first section of track the two sidings to the north of the shed building. This area located the original smaller turntable that was replaced in the 1930s (?) by a larger table to the west of the shed. Shed roof helps to position sidings and double slip. Kind regards, Richard B

Some progress today since I am waiting for some bits and pieces for track laying on my layout. Frames are unlike anything I have built before due to the compensation. Where I would usually put my trusty Poppy jig to use aligning the frames with the compensation arrangements using hornblocks I have aligned and assembled the frames on my surface plate and used a 1/8" reamer to align the rear hornblocks prior to soldering the two halves of the frame together. The front and rear frame spacers have been soldered to one frame half and then aligned on the surface plate prior to soldering. Frames soldered together - note that the rear frame spacer is tapered as, I assume, was the prototype(?). I still have to run a solder fillit along the fold marks etched onto the frame. The bogie mount cross member soldered in place - I had to file the cross member to fit the taper on the mainframes. That's it for today. Kind regards, Richard B

Have made a start with the mainframes. I plan to use a HighLevel gearbox and one of Chris's coreless motors. The wheels will be Alan Gibson. The frame design allows for compensated or fixed chassis - I have never built a compensated chassis but will give it a try since 0-4-4 wheel arrangement can be tricky. Frames readyu to solder hornguides in position. Will be using Alan Gibson stud collectors. Kind regards, Richard B

The pleasure is all mine. Let's hope it runs ok when I have finished it! Kind regards, Richard B

As some of you may know, we have just moved from Wiltshire to sunny Buxton in Derbyshire. Whilst moving I discovered some old documents and letters. For some time I have been trying to locate a former work collegue, whom I knew lived in Darlington, but without success. When I received my first Free Pass as a Loco Works Fitting Apprentice (Eastleigh) in 1963 I did a tour of NE and ScR sheds and Darlington North Road Works. I didn't need to "bunk" the sheds because my new status allowed me to visit officially. When I reported to North Road another local, although older, apprentice took me around the works which was still busy with steam overhauls (V2, A3, A4 and 9F) and building BR type 2's. That apprentice was Ray Goad. Many years later Ray Goad and I met up as colleagues working for the DM& EE BRB. Ray gave me a copy of the letter from the Works Manager (Mr Grey, whom I met many years latter at Derby Work during HST commisioning) about my visit and we had a good laugh about past times. I subsequently lost the letter and Ray's and my career parted company and we lost touch. When I was unpacking a few weeks ago I found the letter that Ray had given to me and so did some further searches and discovered that sadly Ray died in 2016 so I was not able to meet and chat over old times. I discovered that Ray was a member of the Darlington Model Railway Club and so I contacted them to find out a bit more. The club are restoring Ray's 00 scale "Tees Castle" layout. So I decided that I would build a loco for The Darlington Club to run on the restored "Tees Castle" and the club members chose a Push Pull fitted G5 0-4-4T number 67286. So this thread will be about building 67286* from a London Road Models kit in memory of Ray Goad a great railwayman. * Further research has revealled that Ray's favourite was 67305.

Sir, I remember it well, I was there with my (then) late father in law who was a cricket fanatic. Similar event at Chesterfield in May/June? mid 1970s again we were watching as the snow came down so we retired to the beer tent. We lived near Ashbourne then, I even became a well dressing designer but that's another story. Kind regards and Merry Christmas, Richard B

Thanks for the encouragement Andy, much appreciated. I have made a start and whilst I will plan a bit, I will dive in after Christmas and start building "Basingstoke, 70D" shed yard. I have all the parts necessary, at least that's what I think...we shall see! I am getting some great advice from those more experienced than me at layout building, that is one of the really good features of this website. Kind regards, Richard B

I agree with Tony, no apologies necessary - some really good work and some good weathering. I do hope you can get the A5 tank working to your satisfaction, we have all struggled with some of our efforts, I know I have! Keep at it! Kind regards, Richard B PS Loco building taking second place to house moving/updating and then building my first layout so perhaps Andy you can offer some guidance to a novice on that? I am very pleased with Buxton though, friendly and very scenic if a bit nippy!

Thanks for all the comments and suggestions. Phil, The room is 5m x 5m with a door in one corner and is located in the top left hand corner of the plan. Ther are two windows, 1 of 80 cm width located at the apex of the lower board, i.e. 0.8m from the apex along the 1.5m board. There is a second window providing light to my workbench so no basboards in that area. As the Johnster has suggested, my real interest is the operation around the shed with some train running. It is a big compromise I know, but since re-starting railway modelling about eight years ago my man interest has been, and remains, loco building but I would like to see the fruits of my labour running on a layout. Please keep the suggestions coming. I plan to start track laying after Christmas. Kind regards, Richard B

Hi RJS, You are correct they are not that large, the room is 5m X 5m. I have prepared a rough drawing to scale. I have left space behind each board for access. The 1.5 x 1.13m board is actually 2.4 x 1.13 but it will ahve to be shortened else I will have no room for my office/workshop. It could be extended another coach legnth or two but I would rather not. My plan is to locate the wayside station on the middle board and the shed on the longest board. The 1.5m board will be a FY. Thanks for your help. Kind regards, Richard B

Thanks again, it so happens that my conclusion following your first response was: 1. Shed located on the one half of the U with scenic background to hide FY for "main line" with connections to shed 2. Country station in centre (shortest) section which would be two track and offer pick-up good service and stopping passenger 3. large FY in other leg of th U. That is very close to your suggestions contained in the second response. There will be space to get at both sides of the boards which will be essential for operation of both FY. And I am fortunate in being very fit and flexible for my age so ducking under is no problem...yet... I have a nice selection of ex SR 0-6-0's including a number of 700 class as well M7's etc. I also have plenty of S15's including two Urie examples as well as five H15's one of each variety all of which worked on the West of England line. My range of loco's are designed to allow me to populate "Basingstoke" shed with appropriate locomotives for the whole of the BR period, including an N15X. Will update this thread with progress. Kind regards, Richard B

Hello Johnster, Thanks very much for taking the trouble to provide such useful advice regarding operational design assumptions. I am truly thankful. Since I have around 150 loco's, including those that I have built, you are quite correct that my main interest is the operations around the shed. The main line becoming a background to this so your assumptions and suggestions are well received. Whilst the shed will be based on Basingtoke (It is built anyway) the station will be a freelance ex LSWR wayside station served by a stopping service to Salisbury and Exeter. Incidently,the boards are not doors but plywood tops with deal framing designed for my garage at our previous house so a bit of adjusting required but I will end up with a "U" shaped layout. Kind regards, Richard B

Hello. We ahve now moved to Buxton and one of my son-in-law's helped me to erect the first two boards of the layout in my new hobby room. I need to carry out some trimming to the third board but at least I have made a start. Kind regards, Richard B