A couple of new additions this week - they were meant for christmas however after the day I had felt I needed a treat!

Two Hornby Class 60's:

• 60021 in EWS livery named "Star of the East". This loco had been professionally weathered, chipped and renamed from a Hornby Class 60, 60026.
• 60059 in Loadhaul livery named "Swinden Dalesman ". This loco had been professionally weathered, chipped and renamed from a Hornby Class 60, 60007.

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
30 Aug 08
 

Hot in the loft today so working time was limited - wired in another point and some more track was put down near the new TMD.

 

A new addition this week was a Hornby Class 60, 60070 in triple grey Loadhaul livery named "John Loudon Mcadam". This loco had been professionally weathered, chipped and renamed from a Hornby Class 60, 60015 in Transrail Livery.

 

 

 
21 Aug 08
 

Tried the Hornby surface mounted point however it was no good - it needs too much room - Plan Z - a large hole was dug out of the base board and a new point motor was attached direct to the point (the way I should have done at the start), managed to damage the point that was already in place, which resulted in it being replaced. Everything was reconnected and at last everything is working again now - what a waste of time, effort and money! Carried on working in this area - added a small extension board to where the new TMD will go and also added some more points and track - all just positioned at present - oh and a few engines added for effect!

 

 

 

 
20 Aug 08
 
Once the ballast was dry, the excess was removed and the track cleaned. The new Lenz LS150’s arrived and have been wired in - this will overtime result in several of the points wiring being changed (a top tip - make sure you use different colour wire for different things and not as I have done, red and black for both power and J & K - by not using different colours it adds a few minutes on each time whilst I work out what is what), this should allow quite a bit of wire to be removed.
 
As you can see from below I had intended to use a couple of the Peco PL11 side mounted point motors. I wired the one closest to the signal in prior to ballasting and though it didn't go over everytime it was activated I thought I would live with it - mistake. Once the ballast was down and dry I wired in the second and it worked a couple of times intermittently and then stuck on and burnt out - damn! The other one then became less predictable also - double damn! Both were removed and several bits of track and ballast scraped away and the one closest to the signal was replaced with a Peco p10e which now works everytime. The other is nmore of a problem with a supporting piece of wood underneath - I am going to try one of the hornby surface mounted points and keep my fingers crossed.
 
Also been doing a few odd jobs also - a minor ammendment to the second level track, the removal of a point, to enable it to join to the new track currently being laid and a little bit of painting of scrap track to be used scenically at some stage.
 
And finally time was spent trying different track combinations on the new level to see what works best.
 
 
 
18 Aug 08
 

A productive few days; the baseboards on the new level have been cut and painted, side walling has been stuck into place and some track has been wired in, along with one of the points. Some new Lenz LS150’s on order to control the points in this area. Work on the station on this level continues (not too happy with the result so far - will probably have to start again).

 

 

 

 

The main running lines underneath this level have been ballasted and left to dry - just a short gap left now and then the original level will be completely ballasted! This chore will have to wait until Bachmann releases it's Scenecraft TMD and diesel point both on my shopping list and positions left to slot them in.

 

 

A new addition last week was a weathered and detailed Bachmann Class 37 in DRS livery numbered 37729 complete with sound – it sounds and performs great J That's two DRS Class 37's with sound - I think they sound much better than the sound Class 66's I already have - will have to do a video once I get some more time. Also on order are two more sound Class 37/5 No's. 37510 & 37502 Kingmoor TMD Direct Rail Services from Rail Express Modeller - perhaps the new TMD will need to be operated by DRS?

 

Also on order is a Class 60 No. 60074 Teenage Spirit in EWS/DB Schenker/Teenage Cancer Trust light blue - so to make some room for the new purchases recently some of the older running stock have been sold off on EBay.

 

 
 

9 Aug 08

 

The Railmatch "Sleeper Grime" paint arrived in time for the weekend and was duly applied to the whole second level track area - really could have done with a lot more ventilation! Once dried and excess paint cleaned from rails, bushes, clumps of grass and trees were added.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3 Aug 08

 

Mainline 60078 sporting it's EWS branding.

 

 

A little more work on the new level and trying some ideas.......

 

 

And finally more retaining walls glued into place and ballast applied. Have decided to take the plunge and see if I can improve the look of the track and ballast so have ordered some Railmatch "sleeper grime" which should arrive later this week along with more track and points needed for the new level.

 

 

27 Jul 08

 

Last weekend was spent working with wood to set up the baseboards for the new level around the water tanks - good progress was made with only a little more work required.

 

Another couple of new aquisitions this week:

 

• Bachmann Class 37, 37606 in DRS livery - detailed, weathered and fitted with a SWD sound chip!

• Hornby Class 60, 60077 in Mainline grey livery named "Canisp" (a Lenz silver chip was soon fitted).

 

 

 

 

 

Decided to bring 60078 more up to date and more in line with the EWS theme of Stafford Central, as can be seen from the picture of 60078 in 2007 below (picture reproduced with permission from, and courtesy of Matt Clarke at www.railgallery.co.uk):

 

 

To achieve would require the application of EWS logo patches over the Mainline logo - the first time I have applied transfers. The transfers came from Fox Transfers (Code: F4977/8). You need to make sure that the area to be applied is clean, grease and dust free.

 

 

The transfers are water slide and you cut them from the sheet, soak in some luke warm water for a minute or so and then apply - firstly a white colour intensification patch is slid into place to help hide the old logo. Takes a little bit of effort to get them exactly where you want them however easier to work with and stronger than I expected.

 

 

Once the white patches had dried overnight the yellow patches were applied in the same way and left to dry.

 

 

 13 Jul 08

 

Visitors today so the day has been spent running trains.

 

Have managed to aquire some new detailed and weathered Bachmann Freightliner Class 57's which will be transferring over from Norwood Park to commence their new duties at Stafford Park in the very near future:

• Bachmann Class 57, 57003 named "Freightliner Evolution" 
• Bachmann Class 57, 57002 named "Freightliner Phoenix"

The following pictures have been reproduced with permission from, and are courtesy of Matt at Norwood Park.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am sure you will agree the level of detail at Norwood Park is fantastic - something for me to aspire to........

 

12 Jul 08

 

Track was laid to form the new sidings, peco pl11 point motors added to drive the points, signals placed into position (nothing has been wired in - that job will be saved for another day!).

 

 

Base board added at the upper level, though nothing has been fixed down. Retaining wall and tunnel were positioned just to test effect.

 

 

11 Jul 08

 

The evening was spent playing with track and trying out what and where.

 

 

 

 

10 Jul 08



Decided it was time to start on the far end of the layout, as none of the scenic’s have been done at this end it tends to become a little bit of a dumping ground, so the first job was to clear everything away.

My intention for this end of the layout is to have another two tracks coming in from the a tunnel under where the BP tanker is.

 

 

Run along the right hand side of the base board at a higher level and then disapear off to the left (forming a large loop). Additionally another trachk will split off to the right. The piece of wood to the left will become a retaining wall.

 

 

Once everything was cleared away work started on what was going to go where. Most of the stuff had been aquired sometime ago (or in the case of the TMD has been moved from elsewhere on the layout to see how it looks), however some is new; the signal box is from Bachmann's Scencraft range as is the Provender store (behind the tanker).

 

 

The Office block and extension is also from Bachmann's scencraft range.

 

 

6 Jul 08


A little bit of tidying and a couple of new video's posted.

 

5 Jul 08



The great british summer doesn't seem to be able to make up its mind, so during the overcast and rainy spells of today I have manged to get a little done before it got too warm in the loft.

 

Earlier in the year I had bought from EBay a Hornby Class 60 60007 Loadhaul. I bought it quite cheap as it had been damaged. The damage has been repaired, the engine weathered and renamed to 60008 Loadhaul "Gypsum Queen" - all completed by Moray Models. All that was left to do was add a Lenz Silver decoder.

 

 

 

 

Then attention turned to some MTA's which required loads, polystyrene was cut (to make sure the load isn't too heavy) and added to the wagons, a good sprinkling of ballast followed and then some PVA (same mix as used for ballasting), these are then left to dry for a day or so – a cheap way of making wagon loads.

 

More wiring continued in preparation for another RS8 which is on order.

 

29 Jun 08



Has been warm on occasion in the loft in spite of the work done before Christmas, so all in all the Airtec insulation works great in the winter but hasn’t improved things much in the summer.

Work continues on wiring the layout into the LDT RS8 occupancy detectors – 36 blocks completed with another 12 (at least to go) – a slow and tedious job but it has to get done. The tedium has been broken up with playing with the Traincontroller Software quite a bit – looking forward to having all the blocks wired up so that I can get the railway fully running with the PC.

Some new Ten Commandments loads purchased, painted and added to the 6 x 100 tonne glw Freightliner HHA bogie hopper wagons, also more loads added to the Seacow’s and SSA's.

 

18 May 08



Progress has been limited due to work comitments and will likely continue to be so for the next few months.

There have though, been some more new additions to the fleet; Bachmann Class 37, 37801 in EWS livery, Bachmann Class 37, 37671 "Tre Pol and Pen" in Railfreight livery, and Bachmann Class 66, 66701 in GBRf livery, all were chipped with Lenz Silver chips and entered service. Additionally a rake of Bachmann seacows, a couple of Bachmann EWS MFA's and some Corgi Superhaulers were also aquired.


 

 

 

 

30 Apr 08

 

Two more new additions to the fleet; Heljan Class 33, 33030 in EWS livery and Heljan Class 47, 47237 in DRS livery, both were chipped with Lenz Silver Direct chips and entered service.

 

The Lenz Silver Direct decoders are a new purchase also and just plug straight into the DCC socket - no wires, no harness, no hassle.

 

 

27 Apr 08

 

A very productive weekend which started with Bachmann Class 37/4 diesel 37411 "Ty Hafan" in EWS livery having its detailing pack added and being run in. Three sets of Intermodels were aquired; MSC, Seawheel and Seaco which will enter service in due course and Vi Trains latest Class 37/0 release 37229 "Jonty Jarvis" in DRS Livery was also aquired but wont see service for somewhile as its been put aside for christmas!

 

 

Then onto more scenic work. The section behind the retaining wall was finished with grass, bushes, trees and cows added.

 

 

 

And the roadway over the tunnel was completed with white lines, road signs, street lights, vehicles, an advertising hording and last but not least a speed camera!

 

 

 

 

And now some pictures of the overall effect.....it's getting there......

 

 

 

 

 

 

Off to the right you may notice a new purchase that has only been placed as of yet a couple of the new Bachmann Scenecraft Factory Units.

 

 

 

And finally.......just in case you had forgotton what it looked like a few months ago......

 

 

23 Apr 08

 

With the ballast dry and cleaned up, detailing started on the retaining walls........

 

Followed by some "playing trains"!

 

 

 

 

 

A busy Stafford Stafford Central TMD with a couple of new purchases stabled including the latest arrival Hornby EWS/Trainload Class 60 60014 "Alexander Fleming" which was also chipped with a Lenz Gold decoder. Not in shot but also a new arrival which was also chipped (with a Lenz Gold decoder + power 1 module) and entered service was Bachmann Class 37/4 diesel 37411 "Ty Hafan" in EWS livery.