john dew

A fortnight ago I left you with this photo of my new Dapol Railcar and the promise of a video once the decoder had arrived. In truth I also needed time to pluck up courage before spoiling the pristine finish. I have long since given up having any qualms about attacking brand new shiny locomotives but, for some reason, I always get rather nervous about applying a few coats of grimy black to immaculate white coach roofs. Anyway the deed is done: Not the best paint job I have ever done but in the interests of realism......essential. The Railcar was built in 1937.....Granby is based in early 1948......not too many white roofs about then In addition to the roof the body had a few washes of diluted dirty brown......rather more coats on the lower body along a light dusting of weathering powders. The valances or skirts were almost all removed from 1939 so they have gone and the bogies painted with gunge, grease and a touch of rust. The Zimo Budget 21 pin decoder was a straightforward plug in. You will be able to judge the performance from the video. There is perhaps the slightest suggestion of "hunting" but generally its silky smooth. With pick ups on both bogies, I didnt bother with stay alives but I did find that it could be sensitive to track imperfections! The unpowered bogie didnt like being pushed through a couple of my facing points although had no objection when pulled, so a little care had to be exercised with speed limits and orientation. I do like the lights: Never had a loco with lights before so I am like a kid with a new toy! Testing concluded, the railcar has been incorporated into Granby's RR&Co schedules. There is now a regular routine where the car leaves Chester (storage) for King Street Parcels Depot at Granby then heads back to the lower level branch. Stopping briefly at Cynwyd it continues over the canal to Corwen (Storage under main station!). The video shows the second part of this routine......from King St to Corwen Here are a few stills by way of a trailer...... The railcar leaves King Street And enters Bay Platform 1 Note the rear light (but try and ignore the driver and absence of a Rear Loco Lamp The car prepares to depart and the lights automatically change......the child in me thinks....cool! You can see all this and the facing point being thrown on the video The car arrives at Cynwyd and crosses the Canal for Corwen Hope you enjoy the video......its kind of rough and ready. I just started the routine and pointed the Ipad. The only editing was cutting out the ceiling shots when I changed position

Congratulations Gordon. You must be a very happy camper....trust you enjoyed a glass of red? Trains apart it was nice to see that delightful station building again. Best wishes John

Thanks Keith. Problem solved...........for the longest time I have mounted my magnets directly on to the sleepers (Code 100), not only because its easier but also because I am constantly changing my mind! Cutting away the sleepers at three (fortunately long established) uncoupling locations and re mounting the magnets directly on the track bed so they are just level with rail height and all is well........the railcar can now buzz from Chester (storage) to Granby King St and on to the Corwen branch. They were never actually in the North West as far as I know but I think this sort of replicates the type of schedules they ran in Birmingham and the South. Happy and content in Vancouver John

I was very impressed with my new Parcels Railcar. Unfortunately I have discovered a snag. The powered bogie is so low slung that it fouls Kadee uncoupling magnets. At speed it can just graze over them albeit with an obvious hesitation. At lower speeds the driving wheels are lifted clear and whirr round uselessly.....the car is at a standstill! The magnets (the thin flat ones) are properly aligned and cause no problems for any other locos. Granby has lots of automated Loco exchanges so the magnets are used extensively throughout the layout. This issue will severely restrict my use of the Railcar.........unfortunately its now weathered, roof painted and with valances removed..........my 10' long test and profile track has no magnets....... grrr Has anyone else had this problem and is there anything I can do to alleviate it? I guess re wheeling is out of the question......probably outside my skill range anyway. Rather despondent in Vancouver (but it is only a hobby) John

Hi Mark Thanks for the comments. Thats a monster layout you are planning. I hope you start a layout thread it will be interesting to follow its development Regards John

Thats a very interesting idea......thank you.......I hadnt thought of changing the levels. I havent got a lot of depth to play with before I am on the tracks but I will have a much clearer idea once I have completed the corner module. I llike the idea of a skylight! Thanks again for the suggestions Kind Regards John

Hi Neal Thank you for those helpful comments.......you have actually covered many of the design elements on my list. The side facing the GPO will, indeed be very basic. The other side, however, faces right into the room and is very obvious....I am hoping two replicate the front but without the entrance door and columns etc....ie the two lower windows side by side which will be linked to the front by the corner assembly you can see in the first shot The rear will be pretty much as you describe it.......the Scalescene High St backs has some interesting bits and pieces including some ventilation units........another idea would be an emergency staircase but I think that might prove too difficult to match with the floors.......its also expensive. I think the big challenge will be the roof....but thats a few weeks away Best wishes John

Thanks Jamie, glad you like it The station roof is also a (modified) Scalescene kit. The arches are made from laminated card! Its a very ingenious design whereby quite slender arches create a very robust structure Regards John

Thanks for all the ticks guys and a warm welcome to two new followers I missed posting last week......domestic events intervened. We have a family tradition where my daughters specify the theme/menu for a family lunch to celebrate their respective birthday. You would be amazed how long it takes to source and prepare the ingredients for Cassoulet! I did, however, find find time to start the hotel build. I am not proposing to do a step by step " how I did it" . I try and remember to take photos during the build and a small selection should give an idea of the construction sequence along with some of the potential hazards! The plan is to modify the Scalescenes Low Relief Kit to create a complete building that will then become part of Saint Asaph's square, outside the station Here is a clip of the low relief building from the Scalescene website. Its pretty tall.....10" high but only 1 1/2" deep. The plan is to build the frontage direct from the kit and then scratch build longer sides with a detailed back and a roof. I dont want to create a random collection of buildings that have been plonked in place. The square should look as though it has developed gradually over many years (which in model terms I guess it has!). I was a bit worried that the hotel will be too tall and dominant in relation to the station and GPO. To help make up my mind I set up the front base layer as a mock up in the hotels intended location I left it there for about a week before cutting anything. Finally decided it would work but the jury is still out on the roof line. I originally intended to build the hotel in the same simplified manner as the GPO.....ie no interior detail relying solely on internal beams and buttresses to support a single structural floor. Having read the instructions more than once.....always a good idea......I changed my mind and decided it would be prudent to build the frontage exactly as specified ie low relief and use that structure as the foundation to which I would subsequently add sides and rear. So lots of cutting.....5 floors,10 internal walls and 2 (4 ply) external walls just for starters Classic John Wiffen design.........this will not be a flimsy structure! One of the issues with a multi floor construction such as this is "measurement creep". If one side walls is 1mm over size its not a problem......but if the overcut (or overprint) is consistent over all 5 floors then you have a 5mm discrepancy which is significant. There is a similar effect with the horizontal members. The "heavy" card I use is a little (0.25 +- mm) thicker than the specified 2mm. The 5 floors use 14 pieces of card.....bingo thats another 3 or 4 mm out! Fortunately I have run into this issue before so there was a lot of dry fitting and testing I used the skirting board and architrave on each floor as a guide and had to carefully trim almost every side wall and, as you will see, I still didnt get it exactly right Next job was to cut out and trim the window apertures for the face layers Once the face layers are complete they are presented to the base structure As you can see, despite my best efforts, measurement creep created a 1-2mm overhang on both sheets which had to be trimmed off. This has been a challenging kit......not recommended for the beginner. There is a lot of very delicate cutting....see the entrance windows above There was an astonishing amount of intricate finishing detail to cut and fit.......this shot is mainly just pediments and casings for the first floor windows I think the end result makes all the faff worthwhile. The depth of the detail and the multi layering make it hard to believe it is just made from paper and card. John is a very talented designer Here is a close up of the finished frontage.......sadly exposing assorted cutting errors which I hope some discreet weathering will conceal. And now roughly in place alongside the Post Office The roof is unfinished.....the design calls for gables and a plant room. I am going to wait until the other three sides are in place before deciding the best layout With only the front semi completed, the rear doesnt look too exciting but I want to show it so you can visualise how all the buildings will eventually coalesce Very much a work in progress but showing some potential..... I think the varied roof lines will look rather well........particularly when I get round to the Castle right at the back. The hotel back wall will have a semi industrial look.....kitchens and ventilation which will link in with the third and final building .....a warehouse extension of the canal warehouse. I am going to take a break from cutting card for a few days and run some trains........there may well be pictures of a loco or two next week The weather in the UK sounds horrendous (it certainly looked wild at Murrayfield)...... I hope you are all safe and well Best wishes John

Hi Anthony Not sure about the strategy/budget for occupancy detectors. The ideal would be to have two per block in the storage yards. A standard current detector operated on entry to the block and an infra dot say six inches in front of the magnet.......the shorter the distance between the stop marker and indicator the more precise and consistent the result.......I didnt do this but I wish I had. I will again recommend stay alives John’s comment about a mini shuffle requirement to ease tension on DG couplers is interesting. In reality that is all that is required for uncoupling (and sometimes coupling) with Kadees. It helps to stop just beyond the magnet so that on shuffling back the coupling is over the magnet. It does require a lot of practice to get the correct distances for the shuffle distance commands and is much more difficult if you are uncoupling at the tail ......but I think you are going to top and tail your brake vans Best wishes

Hi Anthony I do agree with these comments. A lot of testing will be involved in setting up loco exchanges with RR&Co. and the locos have to be totally reliable.....a moments hesitation by a loco will mess up the time and distance calculation. I cant remember what uncoupling device you are using......the longer the better! Are you planning to put stay alive in the locos.....I would strongly recommend it. The reliability of the branch loco run around that you saw on Granby has been transformed since I fitted stay alives to the two locos involved.....one of which is actually a DJM Hattons 14xx.....not noted for reliable running Best wishes John ps I think that cliff face is awesome!

Hi Tinker The chip goes in the tender. There should be enough room for the Gaugemaster decoder Cheers John

Change of direction this week. Something new and rather different on Granby....... The Dapol Parcels Railcar. I know this will not be news to many.........but two weeks from Liverpool to Vancouver must be a record......normally its 4-6 weeks This is something of a "could have" purchase rather than a "should have" or "must have" like a Prairie or Mogul (" must have" in the context of a model railway of course) They were used in the Birminham area in my era so its only a slight stretch to get to North Wales........not like the huge leap if I pre-order the Kernow Steam Car! No worries I am not going to give you the entire mind numbing unboxing routine! This is the first time I have bought a loco from Dapol and I have to say I am very impressed with the packaging. In addition to the thick foam surrounds the outer box had a rather pleasing feeling of quality......made me feel better about parting with over a hundred quid. The box did not belie the contents........its a very impressive model The body is very easy to remove from the chassis....no screws.....just gently press to release two clips on the sides The wiring mounted on the internal ceiling is for the internal and external lighting which will be a first for Granby The valances or skirts which hide the bogies are easily detachable. .........just like the prototype! They complement the streamlined design but were fairly quickly removed in service for ease of maintenance. They certainly would not have been on in 1948......so off they will come.The accessory pack has a mock drive mechanism for the rear (?) bogies Side view showing the nicely detailed parcel racking. The slot in the chassis is for the DCC decoder Two easily accessed screws release the floor exposing the 5 pole motor and 21 pin PCB assembly. The model ran perfectly, straight from the box, on my DC test track. Fitting the DCC decoder was a breeze and I had hoped to finish this post with a quick video. Unfortunately the 21 pin decoder I found unused in the drawer was not the Lenz Silver I imagined. After struggling in vain to get the the top speed to a realistic level it slowly dawned on me that it was a Bachmann decoder that I had bought some years ago and quickly discarded as not fit for purpose. I should have known I wouldnt leave a Lenz chip lying around. Rather felt like finding a hundred dollar bill that turned out to be monopoly money. A Zimo chip is on its way as I write......and eventually a video will appear For now I will have to finish with a few quick shots......not very crisp I am afraid. No tripod just point and shoot At the KIng Street Parcels Depot looking rather incongruous among the Victorian buildings particularly with that pristine roof! And in the siding alongside the yet to be built Warehouse adjacent to the GPO Note the new posters on the Post Office. Next week .....the hotel.....well at least a mock up Six Nations time again. Not sure if its the aftermath of the World Cup or the Saracens scandal but this year I dont have quite the same sense of enthusiasm. Hopefully it will all change on Saturday when England play France Regards from a very wet Vancouver John

Oh dear......you are at it again Robin.....tempting me into making more Rule1 purchases rather than saving all my cents for Prairies! John

Hi Neal Its a fixed duck under , a little over a metre off the ground. Despite my age and height I dont have any problems.....perhaps the frequent Knees bends keep me fit! However I wouldnt do it again. I find its a deterrent to visitors. Other than the real enthusiast, and not too many of them, they prefer to stay on the other side rather than duck under. Most of the cameos are only seen on the forum! I hope you can get your flap sorted....I think that is the best solution Best wishes John

Hi John Thats a good idea.......wish I had thought of it at the time. I do need some protection.......its where visitors, who are not prepared/able to duck, congregate with glass in hand....... it also, if memory serves, conceals some wiring and grotty carpentry. Nevertheless I think I may attempt to prise it off to see whats there I guess despite the Saracen scandal you are looking forward to the Six Nations? I am just about to renew my DAZN subscription for the next couple of months . Best wishes John

Thanks Mikkel.......I am so glad you like them. The setts took forever to lay but they (Wills) look so much more convincing than Metcalfe or Scalescenes. I am quite comfortable using printed paper for buildings but whenever I have tried using printed cobbles I have been disappointed. Best Wishes John

Thanks Richard. I do agree that is the commonly accepted view but they did operate in a lot of industrial areas........the valleys of South Wales, Birmingham or Birkenhead are hardly bucolic. They just dont get modelled that often . Not sure that I originally intended Granby to be quite so grimy.....it just sort of happened! Best Wishes John

Thanks again for all the ticks guys. I am glad you share my enthusiasm for mucky canals and dark satanic mills! I left you with this keyhole shot of the upstream lock........the gap between the fascia boards is even narrower than I thought .........its only 1 1/4" ! Here are a couple of shots from this side of the room to help put the canal scene and duck under in context I dont often shoot from this angle and I was mildly surprised at the number of buildings I have managed to model over the years A bit of cropping and filtering: If only I had moved the multimaus I could be back in Oldham in the early sixties. I have always admitted that Granby owes far more to my time in Oldham than childhood holidays and cadet camps in North Wales.........I sometimes think that I should have modelled the L&Y Back to the canal......upstream lock detail Star and Dragon Pub I almost binned this shot because of the dust.......then I remembered the Leeds and Liverpool Canal looked just like this Autotrain trundles over Bridge #4 Underneath the Arches The level crossing and bulk milk carrier are an attempt to link with the dairy on the other side of the viaduct. End of the line....Canal Street Halt Hard to establish any link with the halt and the loco sidings which, in my imagination, represent Barmouth, Crewe, Oswestry and Ellesmere! Hope you enjoyed the photos. Lots to do this week.......I am struggling to finish a 10 schedule routine where the Dean Goods shunts the branch goods yard.......that iconic GWR scene......unfortunately RR&Co keeps coming up with objections and when those are overcome my ancient rolling stock objects to my uneven track.......patience is undoubtedly a virtue. Despite this all I hope to do a mock up of the hotel and post a few pictures...........and ,of course, do some long overdue street cleaning under the arches! Regards from Vancouver where four days of incessant rain has cleared virtually all the snow. John

Thanks Tinker thats very kind of you. I do tend to build the scenes in discreet sections. Partly for variety, partly for the dreaded maintenance and partly because I have learned that the more frequently you run DCC trains the more reliable they become. Trying to make sure "you cant see the join" between the various scenes can be challenging. One of the reasons the space in front of the station has stayed empty for so long was not just the awkward shape, it was also the challenge of linking the Station area with the Canal/Warehouse. Different levels, different purposes and different materials....Brick and Stone, Paper and Plastic. If I may I will finish the Canal photos and then post some other photos which will help explain how I hope to solve the problem Best Wishes John ps I will do some research and answer you PM at the week end

Thanks Neal Its a far cry from the charms of Oxfordshire ( I mistakenly thought it was Berkshire) but I am glad you like it. Cheers John

Hi Brian How are you doing with the snow? Its virtually a daily job now keeping the drive clear. Well spotted with the car.......its actually a Ford Popular and therefore outside my era but the original Popular used the Anglia body so I believe I am safe. I learned to drive in Germany in a Ford Taunus (ugliest car known to man) but my first car in the UK was a 1947 Prefect.....the four door version. I have a few other models that were bought for nostalgia reasons.....a Walls Ice Cream Austin 3 way being one of the more obvious Rule#1s. You are right about the headlamps of course.......in fact almost all my road vehicles are far too bright and shiny......one of these jobs I keep putting off. Bizarre when I am now so insistent that all locos must be weathered before appearing on the layout! Best wishes John

Thanks Martyn.....glad you like it Its usually background from the other side or cropped out......there was quite a bit when I first built it but I guess that was almost 10 years ago! Cheers John

FOUR BRIDGES and a CANAL Last week, apart from snow clearing, I spent most of my modelling time on maintenance. Resurrecting Signals and Lamposts that have fallen by the wayside, glueing back chimneys, replacing head lamps and fire irons........and so on........all fascinating stuff but not particularly photogenic......so for a change of pace I spent a morning taking shots of Richard's Wharf.** To set the scene here is a wide angle rather fuzzy shot of the duck under at the entrance to the room. The Post Office and Hotel site featured in last weeks post can just be seen on the right The tunnel mouth leading on to Bridge #1 conceals the entrance to hidden twin track storage sidings for the low level branch line. All 4 bridges can be seen in this next shot ....although you will have to peer under the arch of the Viaduct (#3) to catch a glimpse of Bridge #4 Hmm another lamp post to add to the list Close up of the downstream lock The Girder bridge (#2) connects the branch to the upper level via two more hidden sidings which store long coal trains The upstream lock is quite difficult to photograph so it is rarely seen. You will need to peer under the arches again To get a better view point I dismantled the tripod, crawled under the canal and re -assembled everything on the other side Most of the lock is directly under Bridge #4...........seen here with a bit of the branch autotrain There is only a 3" or 4" gap between the upper and lower fascia boards3-4..........the camera had to be almost poked between the two. I am quite surprised there was enough light. Definitely keyhole photography with the cropping tool working over time. Hope you enjoyed these shots........more to come. John ** Richard's Wharf is named after "Wheeltapper" late of this parish. Richard was an absolute expert on canals.....he lived for a while on a narrow boat and during the last months of his life he took a great interest in this canal build. He sent me all manner of photographs and helpful advice......I literally could not have built it without him. I like to think he was rather pleased when I asked him if I could use his name. Most days I go to the train room, I duck under and am reminded of a kind,charming gentleman and one of those internet friendships that will always be cherished.

Winter wonderland for the last few days! Cleared the drive yesterday and again just now Not sure I am winning......the snow shovel snapped and its still snowing. Back to Granby shortly I guess I dont need to sign this off with a local weather report! Cheers John