Noisynoel

So, another year has passed, unfortunatly there wern't many updates on here last year, mainly because apart from running sessions, i never really done much work to the layout. However, unlike Mick, i have managed to get out in the garden this year and speant a day clearing the track of overgrown vegitation and yes the remains of the pigeon's dinner. After several hours work I managed to getthe up line accesible and using 33205 as a test loco worked my way round checking all the joints and feeds. Unfortuantly owing to a warped decking board the Down line will have to remain blocked. It's the only one to warp but has been in for 5 years so I won't complain too loudly. Once 33205 had finished the test runs it seemed the right thing to do to get 33025 & 33065 doubled headed on a ballast train...just because... well just because I can So the stock is all cleaned, serviced and ready, the up line is ready the weather... well lets wait & see Noel

So, the garden open day... "we'll only get half a dozen people" she said, "we've never see many going round in previous years" she said... Flippin' heck! I'm so glad I asked a couple of freinds to come a drive for the day, we saw around 100 people, from small kids to the elderly, come visit the garden and all of them were facsinated with the railway and several went away with "ideas". A couple of people were already modellers from the locality are now thinking of venturing into the garden (Don't worry Mick, I pointed them this way for help & ideas). So a very succesful day, lots of people & lots of trains running. Th eonly downside was that there was so many people to talk to that no filming or photography got done! So to make up for it, as I have been at home all week I done some filiming today. The thing I like about modelling in the garden is that there are so many different locations to see the railway and they are constantly changing. One of my favorites during the summer is watching trains round Rockery Corner, dissapearing between the rocks and the foilage. Even better when it's one of my favorite trains, a pair of 37's on the steel train .

So, Pentney Parkway is to open to an audience this Sunday. Our local Parish Council are having a Garden Safari so it's the ideal excuse. A group of freinds will be helping me operate, some for the first time. Now just to repair the point that got damaged by a falling branch, clean the track, clear the leaves, ties a plant back.... oh god... it's never going to be ready in time!!!

At the end of the day Mick if they look good to you that's all that matter and as I have learnt with a garden railway, it's not there for close scrutiny, you tend to watch from a distance to see the whole train going theough the scenery. I've just started putting loaded rolls on my steel wagons, using the plastic ones that come with them, don't look great up close, clealy platsic but they are good enough for me! Now, where did I put that scrap MDF...........

Nice to see a wide variety of trains running Mick. I must admit, when I'm on my own I tend only to run 1 or 2 trains, but when I have people round it gets a tad more populated.

This is what it's all about, trains dissapearing off into the distance. https://youtu.be/gYLaQpPOJf0

I don't like them weathered but have yet to tackle the 'art' of weathering! Bit low at the moment as were having some lovely weather at the moment, but now I've gone down with the flu and feel very lethargic as a result. I feel deciding a date for an "open day" may give me the motivation to get off me rear end.

So it's been a while, owing to the "usual reason" - Covid. Luckily I only had a mild bout of it, however, with it being so preflific I have ended up working almost constantly for the past 2 years, trying to keep the railways of Britan running. This has left very little time for the garden railway. That all changes today! Glorious sunshine was alli needed to get out there and clean the track after sevral months laying dormant. A couple of "niggly" wiring faults, that, thankfully do not prevent running - a benifit of having plenty of feeds! Some TLC needed on the station as it appears cats have managed to get under the tarpaulin and knock benches & shelters off and twits the lights in all sorts of directions. A bit of gardening required as the snowdrops have gone nuts, but all in all, not to bad and it runs. So of course as it was a work day a ballast train was the order of the day. https://youtu.be/G8cXZ7CACPI

So, where was I, oh yes, last time I'd really put any update on here was shortly after rebuilding the main station, Pentney Parkway, well, since then a lot has happened. I decided that I didn't want to progress the station any further, eg platforms and lighting, until I had a suitable way of protecting it from the elements (This includes 4 legged incursions!!), or more specifically the rain and leaves from the Willow Tree that the station is under. It was the dear lady wife who, after some deliberation came up with a tarpaulin, fixed to the fence, by hooks but wrapped around a 2"x2" batten at the bottom. The idea is that the batten weights it down on the ground in front of the layout when out of use, but when trains a running, the tarpaulin can be rolled up and placed on two large brackets above the station. It's crude but very effective! The next stage was to sort out the ground infront of the station as it was just hard soil, this has been cleared and gravel laid instead meaning that if it has been raining I won't slip a over b! My stool and a much bucket now live under the station so loose leaves are easily collected and I have somewhere to sit for shunting! So now I'm in a position to continue with the station. Platform lights have been added, I went for the newly released Model Signs ones as they fit the era I'm portraying (BR Blue to sectorisation). These have all been wired into the track feed, although I m thinking of separating them off onto their own supply. benches and people have now also been added so it does look more like a station now. Behind the platforms a fuel point (Again with lights fitted) has been installed complete with portacabin, whilst the loco servicing point has gained lighting as have the portacabins next to it. Meanwhile down at Pentney Town station, the surrounding buildings have been put in place on the removable board and fitted with lights. A trip to a secondhand model shop saw £70 spent on some suitable 2nd hand buildings, not a bad haul to be fair! The last "major" job was on the Jez Laming Memorial Bridge. This now has lights fitted under the top, whilst not authentic it does look very effective at night. So, plenty of work has taken place, but I have had some time to run trains. I managed last month to get a small handful of friends round for a running session, which started of well but ended up being aborted owing to "power supply issues" (I thought I was at work then!!!). After several days of testing and seeking help on the DCC forum's I narrowed the issue down to my transformer only putting out 10v AC instead of 16! A new transformed has now been obtained and all is running well again. Several video's have been taken as well, these can all be viewed on my you tube (They are all un editied as I'm not as clever as some of you on here and have yet to learn how to edit and put words etc on them!). My favorites thought are these:- 47145 passes the Rockery Noel

Fantastic video Mick, it's prodded me to do a progress report on Pentney Parkway. I do like the rock cutting with the house in the background, looks excellent

Great thanks for that

Andrew, I've been requested to ask what the foilage is on the side of Foxdale Bank with the signal. The small, short leaved stuff (I use the word "stuff" as the wife has the fingers whilst I have no clue what so ever!!) Cheers Noel

Congratulations, it's always a good feeling when that first train runs and you see that all your efforts were not wasted

You should see some of the derailments my 2 kittens have caused! I'd be at one end thinking "Hmm, where's the train gone" Only to walk down and find half in the flower bed and the other half on the grass! The buggers never do it whilst I'm watching though!

That's the good thing about our hobby, it doesn't have to be 100% correct, just pleasing to the operator and an intercity 37 will always please this operator!

So I spent a couple of hours this afternoon just running trains a s a reward for soldering joints left right and centre. I thought I'd do some video's at the same time, however, it doesn't always turn out right.... I had 6 trains out on the layout this afternoon, with two in each direction at once, the most I've run solo. Can't wait for this lockdown to be over so I can have my planned "open day" with friends round to drive whilst I film!

So, not able to do much on the garden railway today (frustrating with glorious weather!) as my back is screaming at me, I started out cleaning my loco's instead, however, it didn't take long so I decided to start cleaning the loco's I've inherited from Jez Laming for his Staple exhibition layout... I couldn't resist and I know Jez would have loved to watch Norman pulling a long (by light railway standards) coal train over the JL Memorial bridge! Not the usual fare on Pentney Parkway but it looked good and ran well. https://youtu.be/JNmwyC6Zdtk

That bridge over the pond looks fantastic, I would love to do that with my pond, however, I have encountered the same planning permissions you speak of, still I can't complain, still loads of scope and a huge bridge! I'm still in the process of acquiring buildings and furniture for the layout. So far I have platforms for both stations and a station building and pub for the small station.

So, not that work is out of the way for a week and the weather "isn't too bad", I thought I'd crack on with the rebuilding of Pentney Parkway Station. All four platforms have now been built, all hold a loco + 7. I decided not to make them longer as this starts to involve curved platforms! The sidings have been laid today and the wiring finished. Lessons learnt from the original siding mean that the "Back Road" curves at the end following the main line to avoid going into the back corner where the leaves build up, and only two loco sidings instead of three avoid the tight reverse curve over the pointwork for loco's. Hopefully this weekend will see the return of trains to the layout (Only the 25 out today on track testing!) All platforms now in place awaiting lights and sundries. Sidings now in waiting for buffer stops. 4 Cep on an Up Semi-fast past 47712 on the push/pull set in platforms 3 & 4

The xpressnet is what Lenz calls the connection between it's products. Tochcab is software available for iphone's & ipad's that allows you to control trains wire less.

Hi Mark, I operate through a Lenz 23151 (USB & LAN Interface). The Lenz command station connects to the 23151 via the Xpressnet. The 23151 then connects to a router. I use a stand alone route as my home router is miles from the garden! Connect your iphone (Or similar) to said router, that will then allow the touchcab to connect to Lenz.

Brilliant, cheers Chris, I'll be sure to do just that!

So last weekend, with a couple of days off work and with a bulk delivery of wood having arrived, I set about rebuilding the main station area. This section was the first bit built 5 years ago and was done in a "bit of a rush" with 9mm external ply on a 2x2 frame. However, part of the frame was secured to the concrete fence posts and the screws basically failed. On top of this I never covered the area with felt, I just treated it with preserver. As it was under the tree not only did it get very wet but occasionally had branches land on it. As a result the boards were literally falling apart and the track geometry was a little bit "dodgy"! So the "new build saw the same method I've used on the rest of the layout with enhancements. The foundations are now concrete blocks. This forms part of a frame for decking planks which are topped by 12mm external ply which has been treated and covered in felt. The 4 through platforms have now been relaid and joined by a 5th in lieu of one of the sidings. This gives and extra through line or more importantly a platform to enable a shuttle to Pentney Town to operate whilst leaving 2 through lines in both directions. The sidings have yet to be laid (Waiting on fishplates) and I am currently bonding out the joints using copped strip which will run under the platforms where possible. The 1st platform has also been built using cable trunking (Thanks to Chris of Amblethorpe fame for the idea). This is being topped by plasticard for the platform surface. The big question now is, do the platforms get made permanent and just get covered over by the tarpaulin that protects the station or do I make the removable so I can take them in . Any suggestions greatly appreciated. Noel

Ooops, accidentally hit the "buy now" button... it'll be a 12 car by the weekend

So better weather today and a day off gave me a chance to run so recently acquired stock. 4 CEP 7134 & 4 VEP 7830. The VEP did not run very well on it's own, but when in multiple with the CEP it ran great. Defiantly nostalgic now as these were the norm for me when I started on the railway!