SRman

A straight copy from my layout topic: I did a bit of weathering with powders on the platelayers' hut, and am quite pleased with the effect. It can be seen here with newly arrived preserved P class 0-6-0T, No. 323 Bluebell, running 'wrong road' on a short works train. The P is from Hatton's and looks absolutely stunning. It ran well on DC straight from the box, and after an hour on the rolling road was fitted with a Bachmann 36-568 decoder. It runs even more sweetly on DCC and is improving further with running on the continuous circuit. I'll look forward to receiving another, this time in SECR livery, plus two of their Andrew-Barclay 0-4-0ST industrial locos in due course. I'm very impressed. Hattons P Class 0-6-0T Bluebell on Maintenance Train - 1 by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr Hattons P Class 0-6-0T Bluebell on Maintenance Train - 2 by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr

I have had this site bookmarked for some years. It is updated from time to time and a very useful site, although my old country bus route, the 426/426A is missing from the lists.

If you go down the remotoring path, which is quite easy to do, I would highly recommend replacing the Lima wheels as well, and improving the electrical pickups to operate on all wheels. If you have a good Lima motor (there are some around), then doing the above may make a really good runner anyway, without replacing the motor. If you have a bad Lima motor (in my past experience, not much can be done with these), then go the whole hog.

My two (one LBSC umber, one BR lined black) are on DCC but were tested and run-in on DC first. As everyone else has said so far, they run beautifully ... on both DC prior to chipping, and on DCC.

The Lima chassis would need quite a bit of adaptation to fit the Hornby motor bogie as the mountings are totally different. However, the good news is that the Lima body will clip straight onto the Hornby chassis (and vice versa, the Hornby body will fit straight onto the Lima chassis if you wish to sell on the remainder).

I did a bit of weathering with powders on the platelayers' hut, and am quite pleased with the effect. It can be seen here with newly arrived preserved P class 0-6-0T, No. 323 Bluebell, running 'wrong road' on a short works train. The P is from Hatton's and looks absolutely stunning. It ran well on DC straight from the box, and after an hour on the rolling road was fitted with a Bachmann 36-568 decoder. It runs even more sweetly on DCC and is improving further with running on the continuous circuit. I'll look forward to receiving another, this time in SECR livery, plus two of their Andrew-Barclay 0-4-0ST industrial locos in due course. I'm very impressed. Hattons P Class 0-6-0T Bluebell on Maintenance Train - 1 by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr Hattons P Class 0-6-0T Bluebell on Maintenance Train - 2 by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr

Further progress and experimentation with the scenic area: The Landrover has now had the signwriting on the doors removed and a coat of satin varnish to tone it down a bit. I built a couple of laser-cut wooden kits, one for a garden shed, which is now sitting behind a terraced house in the village, and a platelayers' hut which has had an initial coat of paint but needs a bit more attention to complete it. I have also placed a length of bullhead track with the Bachmann Wickham trolley in the area, although if that becomes more permanent I'll need to add some ballast and alter the path a bit. Scenic Work - Area Nr LT Signal Box - 6 by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr Scenic Work - Area Nr LT Signal Box - 5 by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr

Some stages in developing the scenery. I have been experimenting a bit with the area to the right of the level crossing and above the Newton Broadway LT signal box. This included using various colour blends and textures from Woodland Scenics, and part of a grass mat with the addition of some tufts and blending of edges using some static grass (also a mix of several colours). The first two photos show the effect before adding the static grass (although I did do a small section near the level crossing earlier, including the bits around the Landrover), and the remainder show the effect afterwards. The Landrover is a standard Oxford Diecast Post Office model, but shows the enhanced effect of simply 'steering' the front wheels a bit by bending the ends of the front axle - the screw construction assists greatly with this. The Landrover is destined to lose the signwriting on the doors and will be weathered a bit and matt varnished. Scenic Work - Area Nr LT Signal Box - 1 by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr Scenic Work - Area Nr LT Signal Box - 2 by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr Scenic Work - Area Nr LT Signal Box - 3 by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr Scenic Work - Area Nr LT Signal Box - 4 by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr

Do you mean something like, "To B4 or not to B4. that is the question!" ?? I'd never stoop so low as to come out with that ...

I have been wanting to run a decent length modern container train for a while. I have run such trains on the lower level but they don't really fit in there, being too long for the loops and with the locomotive disappearing into tunnel while the tail of the train is still in the tunnel at the other end. The upper level is intended to give clear views of the whole length of a train, so here's the result, with a Bachmann class 66/9, 66 725 Sunderland, in First GBRf livery on a train of mixed container wagon types. First GBRf 66 725 Sunderland on Container Train - 2 by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr First GBRf 66 725 Sunderland on Container Train - 1 by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr The locomotive itself was one of a pair of Bachmann class 66s that I won on eBay for very reasonable prices. The other loco was a standard class 66 in DRS livery. Being in Australia, with the seller also in Oz makes a big difference to the values achievable on eBay.

My drivers arrived today from Hatton's (yes, on Easter Sunday!), but the first P is still on its way. I doubt I'll get the driver and fireman painted to coincide with its arrival though.

I tried moving the turntable around a bit, but it just didn't gel. This is much as seen before, but with the track cut to near correct lengths. The locomotives are weighing it down to hold the positions. I rearranged the two entry roads on the turntable slightly, so they are adjacent to each other. The carriage shed roads would seem to be only able to accept 2-car units (I was hoping for up to three), but with plenty of 2 EPBs, 2Hs, 2 BILs and 2 HALs, not to mention several MLVs which could sit with two together, a Bulleid 2 HAP still under construction (but able to run - seen in the photo), and future 2 HAPs from Bachmann to come, I think I can live with the compromise. So far, I think this is the best combination of storage and practicality I can achieve in the available space. I have used three Y-points plus a left and a right hand point each. IMG_20180401_161431 by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr

While not wishing to divert anyone from the main topic, I feel I need to correct you on the PCM equipment as fitted to CO/CP Stock: that was only fitted to them from the late 1950s onwards (and was the reason for the 'C' prefix, standing for 'Converted'). Prior to that, they were O and P Stock and fitted with Metadyne control machines. PCM equipment was fitted to most other LT stocks, including the 1938 tube stock ... just not the O and P Stocks (until later). P.s. I look forward to seeing the progress with your scratchbuilt stock.

While I would love a class 120, there may be one drawback to that type compared to all the other long-frame units: the 120 power cars had deeper solebars. This would not be insurmountable to Bachmann, but would probably mean either completely new tooling for the power car chassis, or some sort of insert/add-on for the solebars to adapt exising mouldings. Class 119 didn't appear to have this difference, so would be an easier adaptation for the 117-based chassis.

While I would never really own a Jag (too unreliable), as a teenager I had a real hankering for one of those XJ12Cs. I wanted one in the true 1970s white-with-black-vinyl-roof scheme. Over here in Oz, there was a bit of a market for XJ6 and XJ12 re-engining with Chevy 350 (cubic inch) V8s. The V8 was around the same weight as the engines it was replacing, so didn't affect the balance of the car, but gave more power and better reliability.

This adds a completely different meaning to an engine transplant!

Hi Peter. A good suggestion but I think it is just a little too tight. If you look at that third photo with the level crossing, you can see how quickly the tracks converge. Even so, I just tried moving the turntable to that area, and with a bit of realignment, it might just work. Keep watching this space ...

I have been playing around with the track arrangement and alignment in the engine shed area again, actually cutting and trimming track where I was reasonably happy with the arrangement, but leaving other bits just perched loosely where they may end up. The track itself is a mix of Peco bullhead plain track and code 75 points (with a couple of temporary infills of plain code 75 track too). The carriage shed would actually shift very slightly right in the photos, but generally I think I am very close to the final arrangement. Try as I might, I just cannot get the turntable to fit properly in front of the loco shed while allowing decent alignments behind it, but this arrangement mostly works the way I would like it to. There will be a yet to be built diesel refuelling point somewhere in all this too. The second photo is slightly blurred, but shows a slightly different viewpoint. Ignore the stray bits of track in the foreground and also the tools and glue bottles, etc. IMG_20180330_213502 by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr IMG_20180330_213517 by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr I have also added a small new area of static grass. this is only the first layer here, and the nail for the ground is still in there. IMG_20180330_213737 by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr

The decoder has to clip into the space at the front of the motor; Hornby have designed it to retain their decoder out of the way of the body when reassembled. Make sure no wires are in front of the decoder location. I fitted somewhat smaller TCS M1 decoders to all of my Pecketts, and had to use some Blu-tack to hold the decoder in position. The photo shows the area concerned, with the proviso that I can't show you the Hornby 4-pin decoder clipped properly into place. Hornby Peckett with TCS M1 Decoder Installed - 1 cropped by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr

The Southern and its predecessors tended to run trains with coaches in multiples of fixed sets, supplemented by 'loose' coaches. It would be quite feasible to see, say, a 9-coach train made up of three 3-sets (not necessarily all birdcage types). In their earlier years, the Bachmann birdcage types would have been main line stock, but in later years would have been relegated to lesser duties. Moving up in years, I have just formed an accurate 4-set of Hornby BR mark 1 coaches. The reason I mentioned this is that if not relying solely on the birdcage sets, it would be possible to make up train formations of almost any length to suit a particular model layout using fixed sets. My own layout is set up to allow for 8-car sets plus a locomotive, but some of the outer loops allow longer trains still. In theory, I could use say a 3-set plus a 4-set plus a 'loose' coach, or two 3-sets plus a 2-set ... the permutations are almost endless. And that's without using my modeller's licence!!

Les, were the failures the old 36-558 decoders, or the newer 36-568 ones? The old ones weren't much cop, in my opinion, but so far i am very happy with the newer ones - I haven't tried one in a P because I haven't received mine yet.

Well, the Beetle is now sitting behind the string of horse boxes in the train in the background, although I'm not sure such a formation would have occurred in real life.

Beaten to it by Nick! This is a very useful site and I have had it bookmarked for some years now.

I received an advice yesterday saying my 'Bluebell' is on her way to Oz now. The SECR one I ordered will arrive later, of course, but this one will keep me going! The 3D printed crews are also on their way.

And here's the Beetle again, glazed and with a few coats of paint in BR maroon. exGWR Beetle - 4 by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr exGWR Beetle - 5 by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr The Cambrian Sturgeon A has also had coats of grey undercoat and semi-matt black, with more hand-painting to go.