P.C.M

Hi Alex, Yes it would be good to catch up. I could bring over a Peak or two as well. Not sure about leaving them behind though I need the 20s for my oil train A sector plate also called traversers, They work by having the top part of the baseboard on runners so it can slide or pivot at one end so you can line up each track with the one that goes out to the layout. It saves on points and gives more lengh for holding trains. Cheers Peter.

Hi Leon, Great pics, it's good to see how you have added the fiddleyard by the depot. Your layout really has that feeling of space.B) Cheers Peter.

Hi Rick, Thanks mate, I quite like the old class 31s myself, I saw a pic of this loco actually in North Wales so just had to do it. Most of my drivers are Dapol Ex Airfix figures I just cut thier legs of, on some I change the heads and move the arms. They are a bit big but stuck in a loco they look ok. Cheers Peter.

Thanks Lee. If I was any good at photoshopping I could add a bit of clag coming out of the 31. Cheers Peter.

Hi Alex, Just been catching up on your thread I must have missed post 482. I am hopefully coming over at some point next year, so might try and time it for a members day or a least a few exhibitions, I will have to pack the 20s a bring them over. It's good to see a plan of the whole layout too, still plenty of work to do. Are you having a fiddleyard or sector plan at the end? From memory there is a good senic break in the form of a road bridge. Cheers Peter.

Hi Neil, Glad you are happy with the silver on the buffers the OCAs look great as does your VDA. I think you have this weathering lark sussed. Really like the shove Crompton too pretty bloody good for first go at a loco. I noticed some talk on class 37/7s, what about this one Construction decal one side petroleum the other. I also liked 37798 it was in a well shabby condition until it was painted Mainline blue, a few weeks after my pic. Cheers Peter.

Hi Leon, I have to agree with Grimley those BDAs do look good, I have a couple to do myself. I am not sure you need to remove too much paint from the cargowaggons, I remember them as being pretty well covered. The pics below show a couple at Cardiff and one that I have done. I have seen pics with them cleaned around numbers etc. Paul Bartlett's wagon website is worth a look. Cheers Peter.

Hi all, Not much of am update really, it's been cold and wet over here and I haven't been out in the garage much this week. I did take a few pics the other day as 31323 was spotted shunting the 7D14 ex Warrington Speedlink. 45103 is sat spare on the stabling point and 97407 is whistling away having been fired up to work LE to Chester. Cheers Peter.

Hi Neil, Just been catching up on your thread, B) I think your OCA looks good, I would try and paint out the yellow axle boxes though it will give it that longer out of works look. Something I do on my wagons is add a bit of silver on the sprung bit of the buffers. Hope the pic shows you what I mean. Cheers Peter.

Hi Larry, Thats a pretty good timeline. It was the variety of motive power that got my interest in North Wales to start with, but as you say there was a good mix of coaching stock and freight too. I wanted to run two of my favourite class of loco 33s and 45s I also wanted 20s 25s and 31s, not many places in the UK where you can do that. May be Bristol at a push though 20s were rare. Another must for me were class 40s as I didn't get to see many, and when I did thought it was quite special. So the fact that a few survived into 1986 as 97s was great. Cheers Peter.

Hi Jeff, It was a good meeting, and great to see Roger looking well. It was good to see the layout in the flesh and thanks for the play, I do like the sound of those Cromptons. Cheers Peter.

Hi Kevin, Thanks for the info on the wagon, it does look the part. I must be that you used the correct brick bond. Cheers Peter.

Hi Jon, Looks fantastic, now get that blue paint on, Paint dads loco could be one of the party games. Seriously though hope the party goes well, its always a worry when theres lots of mini beasts running about the place. Cheers Peter.

Hi Dave, No worries, I already have to get a 3-aspect so will get two, might as well get it right. I think it was a white LED that I put in the shunt signal but it was a few years ago, I will look into it for the new one. Ground signal by the tunnel sounds like the best option then, I guess it's one of those problems with modelling a fictious place. Thanks Peter.

Thanks Merf, Sounds like you were the main man for gen on anything going on along the coast. I remember the Pullman special, I was on it, the train was the"Conwy Crompton Pullman" 13th Dec 1986. 33202 and 33209 worked the train. All went well until the locos came off and Llandudno Junc, from memory they went for fuel and then 33209 was giving problems I think it was the slow speed control. Then we had problems on the branch and were stuck in a tunnel for a while not sure why, to be honest I was fairly well p###ed by this time so didn't really care. It was still great day out. Cheers Peter.

Thanks Larry, Thought that might be the case, not to worry, I am quite happy for my class 33s to stay with their MK1s on the Crewe and Cardiff trains. Cheers Peter.

Hi Alex, I think we all have places we wish we had gone too, and the things we didn't take photos of. Nice youtube clip, it looks like few class 20s had ploughs on that day, something for you to think about when you come to do yours, I bet you are already getting info on what locos you want to do. Cheers Peter.

Hi Kevin, That class 31 does look good, so does the wagon behind it.B) Cheers Peter.

Hi Rick, Nice videos, glad to see the layout is still running considering the weather we have been having. Meeting at Jeffs on Saturday if your interested. Cheers Peter.

Hi Pete, Yes I like my class 33s, I used to live at Sway near Brockenhurst so used to see them all the time, the pushers were most common. We use to get a few 73s too. 33026 is a Heljan model, I have done a bit of work to it, I had a go at reprofiling the cab roof which has improved things. Cheers Peter.

Hi Dave, I have attached a plan showing the signal at the top, hope this helps to give an overall idea. I think we talked signals once before but I have changed the trackwork on the extension since then. The sub is for shunting past and does have a so called white LED, but as you can see it looks a bit orange. I am not sure if there should be another dummy on the other track as that leads to the yard and carriage sidings, may be I need a repeater? As I plan to have a dummy at the end of the tunnel by the entrance to the carriage sidings and yard. Cheers Peter.

Thanks Larry, I always enjoy seeing your picures. It does bring up the question though, did class 33s ever get used on any freights? trip workings or even shunting wagons about the yard. I don't think there would be many places in the UK where a class 40 and 33 would be seen together either, Nice.B) Cheers Peter.

It was cold a wet here today so I had a bit of time in the garage, things started quite well but then when I was trying to get the colour right in the shed area I noticed the paint peeling away when I removed some masking tape, It only comes off on the recently painted bit so I decided to remove all the paint and start again I also removed the route indicator from my signal that was taken off the layout when I was doing some scenary in that area, The route indicator will be used on another signal that will be on the extension. I am not sure if the two aspect is right though, any thoughts. Cheers Peter.

Thanks Trev, Hi Mark, Thanks mate, I bet 37901 was nice, though I am not sure I like the class 50 in Loadhaul livery. Now a Deltic would be nice I can see why you could be tempted. Thanks Jeff, I will see what you have been doing next weekend, that is of course if you haven't been playing trains too much. Cheers Peter.

Thanks Mark, I did have a few problems with the bridge as I can't remember what colours I used but I think it looks ok now. I did see a few pics of the Cromptons on the East Lancs on another website. Glad you had a good day and a nice bit of thrash. I was lucky enough to get 33111 on the Swanage line last year. Though before that I think my last haulage would have been back in the late 80s. I did do few on the Pompy Bristols, back in the day. Funny you mention Cromptons, 33026 was sat on the holding siding earlier this evening. A blast from the past, 33201 at Southampton on a Pompy service. Cheers Peter.