28 Dec 07
No real work just the acquisition of more bits and pieces - more deliveries of Skaledale arrived to bolster the townscape being created, a Hornby level crossing that will be customised to include working barriers, lights and sound – an express lighting kit was found and purchased from Ebay so that’s the lights sorted.
Christmas came and went with Father Christmas delivering a good haul including a Bachmann Class 66/9 diesel DRS/Stobart Rail 66411 "Eddie the Engine", a Vi Trains Class 37/4 diesel loco 37422 "Cardiff Canton" in EWS livery which was fitted with a spare Lenz Silver decoder, four 100 Ton HHA bogie hopper wagon "Freightliner Heavy Haul" and last but not least a Hornby LNER A4 Mallard fitted with a Lenz Gold decoder and a rake of 6 teak coaches – though this latter arrival will not be around for long destined to be sold on EBay in the new year which will go some way in paying for the ever growing Skaledale empire!
Due to work commitments up dates will now cease for a couple of months but hopefully by March some serious modelling can commence in earnest.
18 Dec 07
A recent purchase, 66068 - Bachmann Class 66 diesel 66068 EWS (Digital Sound), entered service today.
15 Dec 07
Another day of little movement on Stafford Central with Christmas preparations and other tasks taking priority.
More parcels of Skaledale have arrived during the week and more items are on order - Heard a rumour this week that Hornby are having manufacturing problems so I am making sure that I have all the required items I need - thank goodness for EBay and the internet!
As can be seen below the town is starting to take shape and I continue to experiment with what is going to go where!
9 Dec 07
Not much work on the railway front this weekend – festive duties took precedence (the annual trip to find a Christmas Tree, putting up the outside Christmas lights etc etc).
What little work that was done, was done on what is going to be the town with some new boards put down to hide the main fiddle yard and more Skaledale arrivals - it is becoming abundantly clear that it is going to take much time, effort and money to fill the allotted space.
Time was spent experimenting with the small amount of Skaledale already in my possession to see what looked right where – I am not very good at visualising preferring to experiment!
More Skaledale has been ordered!
A few wagons also arrived this week and I am sure they will feature on a picture soon. In addition more activity on EBay with some items sold and a couple of items purchased including the acquisition of a limited edition class 66 which has been modified to include DCC sound.
2 Dec 07
I wasn’t going to visit Warley this year (didn’t last either) as the last time I did I was disappointed – too many people, with lots of pushing and shoving – not a pleasurable way to spend a Saturday. However by Saturday lunch time I decided that I would make a visit to Warley with the hope that the afternoon crowds would be less and that things had improved – not a chance (though as the afternoon wore on things did get better). On the whole I found the experience as bad as the last time and a disappointment both on what layouts were on display and also what trade support there was – I will definitely not be going next year!
I did manage to pick up some loads for the HTA’s from a helpful Ten Commandments stand which have been duly painted black and now look the part. I also managed to pick up a Vi Trains EWS Class 37 for £40, which I thought was a bit of a bargain, and also some 100 Ton HHA bogie hopper wagon "Freightliner Heavy Haul" for £16 each – all have been put away for Christmas.
What was of interest (though I would like to have seen more) was the soon to be launched Bachmann SceneCraft OO Scale Buildings which will compliment the Hornby Skaledale range well.
A little time was spent on Sunday demonstrating the Traincontroller software to a visiting grandfather – who was suitably impressed!
28 Nov 07
First stop of the day was A.P Models where Paul was kind enough to refund the Cargowagons - the benefits of using a local trader!
The RS8's arrived from Digitrains (only ordered on Monday evening - arrived Wednesday morning!) I took the time to wire two in - the fiddle yeard that had been preprepared and the station loop (which required much more work) - no real testing due to time constraints - it will have to wait for the weekend.............
27 Nov 07
Spent the last couple of days playing trains, and also doing a few odd chores; the points on the second level have been sorted, some scenic backgrounds from PECO have been added to the far end of the layout and a little rewiring and some more 12mm chipboard has been purchased to allow work at some stage to start on the town area.
I also got to grips with the Traincontroller software once again (took a little time to relearn how to use it!) and still think it is a fantastic bit of software so decided to take the plunge and order the activation code to be able use it properly. I have ordered from the US as the price is $296.95 compared to 289 Euros – a quick saving of approx £60 – and even so the cost of the software is still high. In addition an order was placed for another four of the LDT RS8’s. With the software and the RS8’s (and a lot of work to come) I should be able to computerise nearly the whole layout.
Well my note to myself didn’t work – couldn’t resist buying 7 cargo wagons, various liveries but all weathered from A.P Models – well there goes my £60 saving above and also the proceeds from EBay!
The cargowagons look the part however will not stay on any of my tracks with various wagons jumping the tracks on bends - these are the first Heljan wagons I have had and the wheels seems much finer than Hornby or Bachmann stock I have had - looks like they are going to have to go back :-(
25 Nov 07
The weekend was spent finishing off the cleaning of the track and also entertaining visiting relatives and of course running some trains. A few of the point motors are playing up again so some more remedial work will be needed here and there.
A few other chores completed:
Note to self: Stop buying trains and rolling stock or else you will have to build more tracks..................
17 Nov 07
Another month gone, however substantial work has been undertaken (including the removal of the mouse!).
In earlier postings on this site I have commented about temperature in the loft, ranging from very hot to very cold dependant on season and that I wished I had had the patience to do something about well I have finally gotten around to doing just that. Over the last few weeks I (ably assisted by my wife) have retrofitted insulation to the roof and started on the end walls. The job has been awkward at times due to the railway and muscles that I had forgotten I had ached for days after!
The product used was AIRTEC double insulation which I bought in 1500mm x 25m rolls from EBay at a cost of £80 a roll (I needed 3 for the size of the loft!). Airtec is easy to use, can be cut with scissors but relatively strong and very workable. In addition Aluminum tape was purchased (EBay) to seal the joins. Airtec easily staples to both wood and aircrete blocks.
I have already noticed an improvement with temperatures much improved and heat retained much better. In the summer outside heat should be reflected. An additional benefit has been that the loft appears much better lit than it used with light reflecting back from the aluminum. All in all, a good job done and well worth the time, effort and money.
Work has also started in getting everything back up and running again with much track cleaning!
20 Oct 07
The last three months have flown by, with most of it being spent out of the country in China, Hong Kong and the USA. Fortunately my work commitments have calmed and some semblance of order can return where I can have some home life!
Whilst away mice have been at work in the loft so some remedial work needs doing and a program of works will be conducted over the coming days to eradicate the problem and clean up the small amount of damage caused – it would appear that they enjoyed eating the handles of tools – better tools than the models!
I have also been given some domestic chores that have I have "neglected" during my absense!
So updates will still be a little sparse over the next few weeks however come November we should be back on track.......
5 Aug 07
Apologies for the lack of updates however other commitments have had to prevail and are likely to do so for another couple of months. Any progress that is made will be noted.
1 Jul 07
A little more work on the area around the TMD including a new sign for the TMD - the EWS gold has come out a little Orange however will suffice for now. Some new images added to the July section of Pictures.
30 Jun 07
Little done today apart from a bit more wiring - the rest of the time spent just running trains!
24 Jun 07
After yesterday working on scenics I turned my attention back to electrics. The main fiddle yard (2 entry tracks (excluding reversing track) 6 storage tracks and 1 exit track) was rewired ready for implementing blocks - an awkward job with the track and overhead wood work already in place. The traincontroller software was also configured ready - all that is needed now is another LDT RS8.
23 Jun 07
This afternoon was spent adding some more of the finishing touches to the area near the TMD; grass was added to the base of the back wall, with some climbing plants (clump foilage) stuck in place to cover the joins in the walling sections, similar was done to the walling oposite the TMD. Some graffiti was also added to the walls and some clumps of grass between the tracks. The ballst around the track and points in this area was then given a good coat of watered down black acrylic paint, as has previously been done in the station area, to represent the daily grime of the railway.
17 Jun 07
4 New Video clips uploaded. More playing with the trains on the second level with all 4 now running to a schedule.
16 Jun 07
I continue to be impressed by the Traincontroller software and what it can do, much of today was spent running trains and experimenting with the software. I have now got to a stage where the software can run two of the trains with ease, alternating between them, in either a predetermined manner, or completely random one. It controls one train, which runs around the track and then moves into a siding and then sets the points and moves the next one out from another siding to travel around the track etc. This will just keep going if you let it. When each train stops it will switch off the lights and when they start switch them on again (or any other function). If you want one of the trains to stop and pause a little (ie at a station) then it will do that as well – you set the time it waits. If you want a train to shuttle back and forth it does that with ease, waiting at each end of the shuttle a set amount of time you specify…….and I am only just scratching the surface……….I can see many hours of playing and experimenting!
If you want to see what is really possible take a look at Video 3 (Video's 1 and 2 set the scene):
15 Jun 07
As mentioned in the entries on 27th and 28th May I have spent some time researching blocks and occupancy detectors to enable computerised control – this desire took a step further forward today with the installation of a LDT RS8 purchased from Digitrains. The installation was simple though took some time. I split the 2nd level into 8 blocks (sections) which required rewiring of the track and isolating one of the rails into 8 sections. The instructions downloaded from LDT’s website were detailed, most welcome and in English (the ones that come with the RS8 were in German). Once all the wiring was completed it was time to play with the Traincontroller software and all worked well (though the demo version I am using does switch off after a period - worth it though to get used to the software). Using the software a visual representation of the track was made and it was quite easy to set up so that as the trains moved between the various blocks this was automatically displayed on screen. More work is needed to better understand how to run trains automatically however I am pleased with the progress made so far.
Something else which helped with the job at hand today was the use of Tap Splices (Code 33-0160 from Rapid) which made the joining of wires together very simple and quick – I wish I had known about these when I first started wiring the layout!
9 Jun 07
Another hot day at Stafford Central stopped work in the loft. However after having been resupplied with decoders this week I concentrated on sorting out the other Bachmann Virgin Voyager, which has now been fitted with a Lenz gold decoder with Power 1USP storage module and two Lenz L1000a's which were removed from a couple of Bachmann Class 170's. The Class 170's were then both fitted with Lenz gold decoder's with Power 1USP storage modules and Bachmann 3 function decoders (36-553) (these I thought were cheap at £9 each). Though all is working now and I have acheived what I wanted to the path was not a smooth one as I had not realised that the Bachmann decoders were only 2 digit address capable and not the usual 4 I am used to with the Lenz decoders so a good couple of hours was spent trying to program one with the number 170. The problem was finally sorted when I read the instructions!
I am often frustrated and disappointed with model retailers in UK, the lack of service, the inability to answer emails, return calls, the cost of P&P, the length of time items can take to arrive etc - Don’t get me wrong some are quite excellent and I have mentioned these in the past but some are really appalling and if it weren’t for limited supply/ dealers of some products I would definitely avoid however I often do not have that luxury.
After multiple emails to a couple of suppliers over the last 10 days or so with no replies I gave up and thought I would try something different – a supplier in the USA. I placed an order on Sunday evening and 4 days later the items were delivered – they even worked out £30 cheaper than buying in UK even with air shipping charges! Every step of the way I was kept informed, when the order was placed I received confirmation, when the order was picked and packed I received confirmation, when the item was despatched I received confirmation. I received a tracking number so that I could register with the courier being used and get tracking reports all the way – now that is what I call an efficient and usable service and the supplier…………. Tony’s Trains – I will definitely be using them again!
Other suppliers that performed well this week – Hattons – web order placed and on the 3rd day the items arrived. Digitrains – telephone order placed and items arrived on the 2nd day.
5 Jun 07
The loft was still very warm tonight after a hot and sunny day in Stafford Central, I did however manage to do a little wood working - some of the supporting wood was cut and glued into place - above the fiddle yard and beneath where the town is going to go.
An additional two aspect signal wired in at the far end of the station. Some "night time" pictures taken and added to the Jun 07 page of the Pictures section and the March section of pictures revamped and added!
4 Jun 07
Continued work on revamping the pictures pages with April and May 2007 completed.
3 Jun 07
Too warm to work in the loft today so I thought I would tackle one of those jobs which I have avoided…….
I have two Bachmann Virgin Class 221 Voyager’s which I partially converted to DCC when I first had them and was when I was very new to DCC (and it was a lot more confusing than it is now (though I still find lots that still is)), hence only converting the motor cars of each using cheap Lenz L1000a decoders. The result was that they both ran, though noisily, with limited control and with all lights on in both directions.
There are numerous ways to convert the Voyager and I have used the recent article in Model Rail (May Issue, Pages 24 & 25) and also the detailed explanation on Steve Jone’s web site Electric Nose.
I didn’t have enough decoders to complete both Voyagers so one will have to wait for more decoders to arrive. 221101 will be the one to get the initial makeover.
I removed the L1000a decoders from both motor cars, and used these to power the lights in two of the driving cars and fitted a Lenz gold decoder with Power 1USP storage module in the motor car – due to the limitations of the L1000a (1 function decoder) I now have correct lighting in one direction one – this is fine for my requirements as I only intend to run this Voyager in one direction.
Work also started in revamping the pictures section of the web site - much work to do however the end result with the improved quality of the images will be worth it.
1 Jun 07
Previous WIP entries archived. New purchase entered service, 66610(G+) - Bachmann Class 66 diesel 66610 in Freightliner livery.