Trains4U

Well I for one am pleased to see this happening. The class 50 is my favourite class of Diesel, and after experiencing the class 15 and the standard of build and attention to detail, I'm more than happy to throw my hat in the ring and place orders on-spec. I'm awaiting details of the liveries, but I'll be happy to see this project happen and get this model to market. I was also unaware of this project (and I am on facebook - as Trains4U and with a personal account) and was only aware of it when Steve wrote to me. and within hours, he had written on here to inform everyone else. I'm disappointed at some of the reactions on here - but its a definite, right-place at the right-time scenario- In hindsight it was obvious that 200 models would sell quickly, even within a relatively small closed group. Simply having an intention to buy at that price does not entitle people to be rude, just because they were not in the right place at the right time, and lets be honest, had the announcement been embargoed and released to the world simultaneously, they would have sold out in hours, if not minutes, so the chances of getting the model anyway would have been extremely slim in any case. - and then we would have had even greater cries of anguish! I've no doubt that there are others, who may feel indignant, because they did not get the opportunity via the printed press - or other forums, or the GOG... but we are where we are, and to Steve's point - we will get a model - Made in the UK so I understand - that will almost certainly be of a quality and price that knocks similar offerings out of the park. I agree that the communications may have been handled with a little more finesse, but I'm sure this can be chalked up to experience, and we can instead perhaps thank those early adopters and look forward to the release of what is destined to be a great model at a fantastic price.

I'm delighted to announce that we (alongside C&M models and Collett's) will be stocking these models for those who missed the pre-order deadline. I have a limited supply and will announce prices shortly. My thanks go to Ben and Mike for including us as a RevolutioN stockist, and I look forward to accepting delivery of the wagons in the not too distant future.

The next stage is to complete the framing. This will involve adding 2x2 timber around the base and mid-height of the layout. The cladding can then be screwed in place. There are two angled edges to the layout at the wide end. I'm intending to fit doors on these faces, so that the space inside can be used for storage of stock (Specifically track and overstocks of peco/Hornby accessories) In the meantime, I can continue wiring the circuit board at home

A little update... Progress has been a little slow over the last week - life getting in the way. Children/work and sadly a family funeral. However, I have managed to obtain the MDF for cladding the pillar and the layout itself. So yesterday, despite having a very busy day, I managed to fit the cladding to the pillar, and get 3 of the 4 faces primed - in between helping customers! I also had a tidy up of the materials and tools, as it was getting a bit chaotic. Current appearance as entering the shop: I also took this picture, which shows the twin track loop of OO. The point on the inner loop is to feed a set of storage sidings, for trains that will be run regularly. The point at the top - on the outer loop, is to connect to a couple more sidings for a programming track other storage. The outer loop comprises 2nd, 3rd and 4th radius curves - The inner loop is 2nd and 3rd radius - so we can properly exercise all types of locomotive.

Just got my orders in...

I've not done an update for a little while. Apologies if any pics are skew-wiff as I'm uploading from my phone... Anyway, over the last week some more track laying has taken place By last Sunday, the first OO circuit was complete, and around 60% of the second. The second circuit was completed over the week. I've made a start on the DCC controller switchboard There are 3 rows of switches, one row for each gauge. I decided I wanted to put in LED indicators (hence the additional rows of holes) however given the way the switches will be daisy chained, I cannot fathom a way of only illuminating the LED for the switch that is on. Instead I will be compromising. All the LEDs up to the system that is in use will be illuminated So, if system no6 is in use, LEDs 1,2,3,4,5 & 6 will be lit. It's not ideal, but I didn't fancy using 30 4PDT switches, which cost 10x as much as DPDTs I've already started wiring - I reckon I'm 18 soldered connections into a total of 460 required on this board...

All the mains electricity has been installed by a qualified electrician, with enough sockets for all planned services and systems and linked in to its own circuit breaker. There are also a pair of CO2 extinguishers in close proximity. It is also arguably safer than the 4 racks of paint and 3 racks of spray cans that were there before and passed prior fire inspections. So yes, I think we are OK But thanks for your concern.

It's laid straight onto the ply, which is painted grey.

Today we held our track laying demonstration in store Attendance was good, given it is our first such event. We hope to continue these as we cover various aspects of layout building. Whilst Alan explained the techniques, he laid down the back half of the outer circuit This is all PECO Setrack in a combination of 2nd, 3rd and 4th radius. Using pre-soldered wired rail joiners, we put in the first of the power supply droppers. And the connections tested The time flew by, and we just about got the back half complete in the allocated time, along with a demo of flexible track laying (on a separate board) Once the crowd had dispersed, Alan set about installing the front half of the outer circuit. This is all code 100 PECO streamline. Points for the crossovers are in place. We now have the first working circuit in OO (I couldn't resist a little play) Next up - completion of the cladding for the OO deck, and begin laying the inner circuit, before wiring up the droppers.

A little more progress. I was in the shop last night to pick up some locos for sound conversion I took the opportunity to add the first few pieces of ply cladding to the edge of the OO deck Just to put the size of the layout into perspective, the temporary board resting on top is 6ft x 4ft. The first track will be going down this afternoon We are holding a track-laying demo in store from 2pm

It's not too late... http://www.trains4u.com/product/40267/Hornby_R3434_SR_462_Channel_Packet_21C1_Merchant_Navy_Cla http://www.trains4u.com/product/40268/Hornby_R3435_SR_462_Royal_Mail_21C3_Merchant_Navy_Class_ (And cheaper than the Liverpool box-shifter)

The layout is now at a stage where the majority of the messy timber cutting is finished, so progress can now continue whilst the shop is open. Alan has been busy filling and sanding the surfaces, and the deck for the OO layout has received its first coat of paint. Once the painting is complete, the ply cladding will be added to hide the gap between the O gauge deck and OO gauge deck. One thing I haven't yet considered though - and I'm open to suggestion, is the colour of the layout cladding. the frontage will be clad in 6mm MDF. If anyone has any thoughts... (BR lined green was suggested, but I think that might be a bit much!)

I "added Value" to a couple of these last night. Like all recent Hornby tender locos they require a 28mm round speaker - as opposed to the 20x40 oblong speaker supplied by ESU The speaker sits underneath the tender weight. I noted that "Channel Packet" was missing two of the three screws, whereas "Royal Mail" had all three that hold the weight in place. Cost cutting or poor QC? It shouldn't overly affect the locos, but I required an additional pair of screws to ensure the speaker was properly settled. These will be in the shop and online tomorrow at £269.95

There are some differences in the chassis The 21 pin version was reworked to cater for Sound decoders - it also added cab lighting. you will find cab lights and a dedicated speaker space absent on the chassis for the earlier 47s Otherwise, the bodyshells are fundamentally the same - barring the minor change to add cab lights on the inside of the roof, which, if i remember, is more a change to the cab bulkhead than the bodyshell istelf.

Just had an e-mail from Heljan The entire shipment of 45s has been rejected due to quality control issues. We will be informed of progress as it happens. a revised release date will be issued in due course

Yes, I have provision for up to 10 controllers, including Z21 and ESU ECoS

Further progress this evening: The boards for the O gauge and DCC controller space have been cut and positioned The last gap waiting to be boarded up The top boards are now in the process of being filled and sanded The cutting and installation of top boards are now complete. Over the course of the week, the filling and sanding will be completed and the OO boards painted with grey primer. The layout is now really taking shape, and we expect to have operating running lines within the week. (Note the temporary board that is currently being used for testing purposes) The Oxford Diecast and the cabinet for sound and weathered models are both a bit bare - We still haven't put the stock back following the East Anglian Model Show at the weekend! We are holding a track laying and wiring demonstration on Saturday between 2pm and 4pm, we intend to install some of the OO gauge circuit as part of that event.

We accept postal orders

I guess I need to start communicating more... I've still got 5 http://www.trains4u.com/product/6976/Hornby_R2946_BR_Class_423_VEP

As planned, the switching will give us ultimate flexibility of operation. The N and OO will be connected to the same twin track analogue controller, and the O will have a separate analogue control. Each gauge can be switched between DCC and Analogue, meaning each gauge can be on DCC or analogue independently of one another at any given time. Also, because each scale has its own bank of switches for DCC, I could have a different DCC system operating each gauge, or the same system operating two, or all three gauges at once. So we could, potentially demonstrate three different DCC systems simultaneously - or continue a demo on two gauges whilst another is being used to test an analogue loco.

Given I won't be able to perform any construction work over the next week, I'll turn my attention to what I can do at home. The layout is going to be used to demonstrate DCC systems, as well as act as a test track. so, as well as a twin track analogue controller (For both N and OO) I'll need to allow connection for up to 10 different control systems. At present, I'm planning: Hornby Select Hornby Elite Hornby e-link Bachmann e-z command Bachmann Dynamis Ultima Gaugemaster Prodigy Express Gaugemaster Prodigy Advance ESU ECoS Roco Z21 Spare (Probaly NCE Powercab) I could use a rotary switch, but they are not especially robust, and a switch for 10 outputs is fiddly to wire and not necessarily easy to acquire. Instead, I'll be using a bank of DPDT switches, which will act as breakers. Each switch will be wired to the other, but the first in the sequence set as ON will be the controller connected to the layout. any controllers subsequently set as ON will not connect as the chain is broken. The wiring will look something like this (Sketched out this morning) Obviously repeated to 10 switches. There is a 4 pole double throw to convert Analogue to DCC I'll connect another 4PDT switch to the N track, again wired to the same controller as the OO, and a repeating bank of switches for DCC - enabling independent analogue and DCC operation of N and OO O will have a DPDT between a single track controller and again, a repeating bank of switches for the DCC so 33 switches in all. its complex, but it will allow independent control of each gauge for testing and demo purposes. All this will be mounted on some PVC board. I'd better get my soldering iron out...

More work carried out today. The final board for the OO section being prepped: Meanwhile, I set about tidying the carpet edging on the top step (The carpet will be replaced with something better in due course) Once the last OO board was down, we laid out some track to check the dimensions available for the workbench cutout and to check clearances We can now show how the O and OO are going to appear the trackwork was measured and the cutout was, well, Cut out. Whilst Alan secured the OO boards and put in the final fixings, I started cutting and fitting the boards for the O gauge Now you can see how the layout will appear as a customer entering the shop The endmost board will have a twin track terminus. I'm yet to decide, but it may be a diesel fueling point Adding a few locos really makes a difference! There won't be much progress over the next week, owing to other commitments and the East Anglian model show over the weekend. Though if I can sand and paint the OO boards, I will do so. Construction will continue next Monday, all going well.

You need to allow 30 mins There is a Bus Service from Queensgate (Takes 6 mins to Fengate first Drove)

It'll take my weight, so it's not far off being as strong! This thing is built like a battleship, It's not going anywhere! It will, however, give us some much needed storage capacity for bulky (but mostly low value) stock, like foamboard/polystyrene, grass matting, balsa, and track.

Keeping it clean might be interesting... The intention is that the part under the stairs will be mainly hidden from view. The frontage being the main focal point. The frontage will, in time, have scenic touches added, but the space around the pillar will be kept clean, with plain painted surfaces. the primary purpose being to demonstrate control systems, and also to allow surface mounting of wiring and components, for instructional purposes. Ultimately, this is a selling tool rather than a plaything, so it will be largely practical, with only a small portion of scenic work.