mick

Good to see more progress Steve. The class 50 does sound good - I like Paul Chetter's work and the Zimo decoders have great drivability. I especially like the manual braking option. I've been using Rail Exclusive speakers myself recently as the large chunky 'Boom Box' speakers fit nicely in the fuel tanks of class 37s and give a nice deep sound. Which one have you used in the 50 and where has it been fitted?

Excellent work Mike - it looks stunningly realistic. I imagine the test will be the winter months so it will be interesting to see how it stands up to temperatures falling below freezing. Fingers crossed that SBR is something we can safely recommend in the future.

That's great work Chris and nice to see the little fella sitting there enjoying the fruits of your labours. It's a great little setup, nice and robust, that should provide enjoyment for all of you for a good few years to come. And it would appear you've had the best of the weather today unlike here where it's been constantly dull and drizzly.

A few more photos to add. Walking between Long Preston and Settle I came across this little fella some distance away on a dry stone wall and although it was difficult to keep the camera steady at maximum zoom, thankfully I managed to get the following photos of a Stonechat. Close to Long Preston village a bird took flight ahead of us and we weren't entirely sure what it was or where it had gone. It seemed to have gone towards a distant dry-stone wall so I randomly took a few photos of the wall so that I could enlarge them later to see if I'd been lucky or not. Bingo! a Little Owl. Clearly they've made themselves a home around there as we came across it again afterwards. The following one doesn't look the comfiest of perches

Looking at some of the progress on the forum I can see I've got a lot of catching up to do with several layouts now reaching the point of becoming fully operational. But while everyone appears to have been busy I've been taking things a bit easier, spending some time out and about in the countryside and as usual, I have a few photos that I'd like to share with you On Wednesday 15th we saw No.70000 'Britannia' passing through Long Preston station on its return from Carlisle. Yesterday, the 17th, 37407 'Blackpool Tower' was some distance away in Hellifield station with the Network Rail Track Inspection train. I must admit to preferring the name 'Loch Long'. Some of the roads around Long Preston are extremely narrow with few passing places and it's not surprising that some people can be caught out. To be fair it is difficult to make out the ditch but you soon find it if you move too far to the left to allow an oncoming car to pass which is what appears to have happened on this occasion. Here's some photos taken beside the beck that runs through Long Preston. After disturbing what I initially thought to be a weasel that immediately darted for cover, we stood for a few minutes and were able to get the following photos of a family of Mink. Firstly there was one... ...and then two.... ....three... and the family group of 5 making their way along the bank. It's good to be able to get out and about again.

Oh I think 37s are one of the few loco's that actually suit EWS livery and it was a video of a pair working the West Highland line that made me want to create the double header. They make a nice change from large logo and they're something I can realistically use either outdoors or up in the attic. Thanks Jim. I'd forgotten just how good it felt to be up with the attic layout - I've spent so much time lately outdoors that it's been completely overlooked. There's still work to be done up there but at least there's plenty of opportunities for running trains now and it's not all about construction. I still need to get the hang of the camera's and find the best way of taking photos and videos.

I decided to use the airbrush in the attic this afternoon as that's where it's been stored for the past few months. It also gave me the opportunity to run the loco's round Skew Bridge once they'd been weathered. 37411 and 37419 have now had their chassis weathered as well as their roofs and a little extra weathering on their bonnet tops. I coupled them together on the rake of BDA wagons as that's the most appropriate load up there. Those BDA's are in need of weathering too. 37025 has also had some additional weathering to its roof as it looked a bit too 'brown' previously. I allowed it to dry by letting it take over from 411 to have a run out. Unfortunately it appears that 411 has gained a slight wobble from somewhere, which annoys the hell out of me, so I'll have to take that one apart again to investigate. Hopefully it will be an easy fix.

You might want to copy that so you can paste it in in future - saves a lot of typing! You'll find the rail joiners will be conductive for some time but it's probably best to make a start on the soldering while the rails are still nice and clean. How have you decided to go about adding power feeds? I've noticed a few track feeds in previous photos, are you running bus wires round beneath the track base? If so, are you bonding across fishplates or adding each individual feed from the power bus?

37411 and 37419 have been in the weathering shop today receiving an initial coat of weathering to the loco bodies. Just a simple brush on, wipe off routine using enamel paints to dirty them up a bit. I'll get the airbrush out to the chassis and add a little more grime to the roof and bonnet tops at the same time. In the photo above it looks like 411 has lost some of the front cab glazing at the drivers side but it's just how it appears in the picture. What does look strange is how the tooling from the 419 model differs from that of 411. The front cab windows look squashed - not as deep as those on 411. Did Bachmann change things at some point between these two models? I hadn't noticed it previously until I saw these photos.

That's coming along nicely now Chris. I laid the adjacent track round the curves using a couple of Mk3 coaches to ensure there was sufficient clearance. Just try it with two of the longest vehicles you are likely to use and I'm sure it will be okay. Can you continue building forward from the point you've reached while the bridge is under construction?

Perhaps we should have an 'It'll be alright on the night' thread? I've got a folder on my PC where I put outtakes with the intention of putting them together in a video one day. Derailments aside it's looking good Noel though I should watch my speed through the station and over that turnout. Should be a good day out for everyone when you're able to meet your friends and have that open day.

I've found it very difficult trying to speed match the 2 EWS liveried 37's partly, I think, down to them being fitted with different manufacturers decoders. One minute they seemed ok and the next they were locked together grinding away on the gearing, in fact yesterday I had them running round the layout together just fine. Anyway as I mentioned before, 37419 is an older model with 2 axle drive and 2 axle pickup and my main reason for running it is to create the double header with 37411. These are the only 2 EWS liveried 37's I have and I don't really want to be going out buying another one so I decided that 419 could safely become undriven - as in having its gears and drive shafts removed. I can use 411 on its own when desired while 419 can now easily be used as a double header with any other loco or even at the rear of a train in top and tail formation. According to our weather forecaster it looks like being early next week before there's a realistic chance of any running again but I'll be out with the camera when I can.

Yes you need to keep the other half happy Tony so simplifying your plans might be a suitable compromise. I've done that for you as requested.

I fully agree with that Noel and it's how I've always operated up to now. I couldn't imagine restricting myself to a specific period and not being able to run the loco's and trains I've collected over the years. Yes they shouldn't be too difficult to remove and there's several others it could be renumbered to so maybe it's one I could have a go at when I summon up the courage. A particular livery or depot emblem hasn't ever prevented locos from appearing out of area so I don't really have a problem running it as it is for now. 'Visiting' is a good and valid excuse - I'm with you on that. It seems like we've both got similar loco's in our collections - I've got 506 in Railfreight red-stripe livery with Thornaby Kingfisher too so I might need to borrow your excuse if you don't mind.

Although I don't always have the correct loco's and associated rolling stock I do enjoy trying to recreate some of the scenes I've stumbled across either in online videos or through photos in various books and magazines. The double-headed class 24's running earlier in the week were an example of that although the actual loco's should have been class 26's, but never mind. Anyway, moving on in time and another scene that caught my imagination was of double-headed class 37's from 1999/2000 with both loco's in EWS livery and again, I've got two suitable class 37/4 loco's, one of which actually featured in the video, and so I've decided that the next time I have the layout operating I will be getting these speed matched and coupled together. Here they are posing earlier today on Low Shott viaduct having been fitted with chips and some added detailing. I'll have to see how they perform because 37419 is a pretty old model now and only has pickups and drive to 2 axles on either bogie. I see I even managed to grab the photo while 419 wasn't sitting properly on track! Another loco that's being prepared ready for use is 37415 in InterCity Mainline livery which it received in 1990 before transferring away from Scotland. It wouldn't have been seen working in Scotland like this, rather more at home around the Blackpool area I think, but again I'm not looking for 100% authenticity. I just want something that looks right without needing to go down the renumbering route. Maybe in time I'll feel differently but for now I'm happy to leave them as they are.