IanR

Yes Mick, I too have that DVD and have obtained some good tips from it. I also have the Model Rail weathering DVD with George Dent and that is very good too. This is the first airbrush that I have had and am quite surprised how easy they are to get used to. I wish I'd bought one ages ago! It is also very easy to overdo things too though! It is an airbrush and compressor kit by Expo tools. They are £100 but I got one for 80 quid via eBay. The experts seem to recommend expensive ones but I think that this kit is excellent value for money. http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/COMPLETE-AIRBRUSH-COMPRESSOR-KIT-CHRISTMAS-PRESENT-IDEA_W0QQitemZ350283829310QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Crafts_DrawingSupplies_EH?hash=item518e8b103e I also purchased a portable mini spray booth, respirator mask and cleaning pot, all are very useful. I am making up a rake of eight Pullmans at the moment using the Bachmann Met Camms and Hornby super detailed brakes. I will be weathering the roofs and underframes and will also probably be changing names and numbers using Precision Labels self adhesive panels. I have already done one and they look very good. http://www.precisionlabels.com/cr.html My PC has been playing up lately so if I don't reply to any posts it probably means that it has given up the ghost!

Roll on Summer eh? At least you seem to get a bit of sunshine on your railway. Enjoyed your last few videos.

Hi Mick, I'm still alive and kicking thanks! I don't run trains at all at this time of year as the railway is at the back of the house which faces north, and it is permanently damp , wet and cold. I have been busy cleaning and servicing locos. I have also purchased an airbrush and compressor and have been using it to weather some stock and a few of locos. It's a joy to use, wish I'd got one ages ago. Here's some pics.

I have a Dapol B800 track cleaning machine but I haven't really tried it thoroughly yet. I have used it on its suction setting and it does remove a fair amount of debris from the track. I did try an electronic track cleaner but couldn't get it to work correctly although I have read that some people have had success with them on outdoor layouts. Gaugemaster don't recommend theirs on outdoor layouts. As regards Skaledale buildings I have a few on my layout although I do give them an extra coat of outdoor matt varnish for added protection. I also have plastic kits from the likes of Dapol and Wills and they have been fine. Ian.

Hi Baz and welcome, I agree with all that Mick has said, in particular spending some time ensuring that the track is as level as possible, I get the feeling that Mick wishes that he'd spent more time over this! I find that some locos run on dirty track better than others but a quick clean round with a track rubber is all that's required. I use an extrafine "Garryflex" block. Track rubbers do sometimes leave particles behind on the track surface so I follow with a wipe with a damp car windscreen demister pad. Track to use outdoors is Peco streamline code 100, it is robust and will not rust. Ian.

I use Servisol Grease 70, I got mine from Maplins. Carr's supply silicone grease in a syringe, it's called "Micro Grease" and is useful for lubricating wheel bearings etc.

The class 24 does sound excellent, very realistic. Sorry to hear that your still having problems with your couplings but persevere and i'm sure that you will sort it eventually, it all adds to the fun of model railways!

Yes it does seem to be tension and friction that is causing the problem. I don't really know what to suggest but I would try a little silicone lubricant. The couplings may help though. Good luck Ian.

Mick, Is it passenger stock that you're having problems with or freight stock? My mark one coaches are old Lima ones and are fitted with the 'Keen close coupling system' and i've had very little trouble with those. I have a rake of seven Hornby Gresley coaches which have tension lock couplings and I don't have any problems with them either. I must admit that i've not tried running 10 or 11 coaches, eight is usually my maximum. I wonder if a quick spray with silicone lubricant on the mechanisms would help? All of my freight and parcels stock is fitted with small type tension locks. I understand that Hornby R8220 close couplings are very good for use with Bachmann coaches. I think that they may solve your problem and they also bring the coaches closer together. http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/BRAND-NEW-HORNBY-R8220-NEM-COUPLING-ASSEMBLIES-PK-OF-10_W0QQitemZ120436852827QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Trains_Railway_Models?hash=item1c0a98885b&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14 Ian

I know what you mean, it takes some courage to take some of the models out of the box and start to attack them with paints and powders, although at least powder will wash off if you don't like the effect. I wont be doing much with the passenger vehicles, probably a little underframe and roof dirt, same goes for the diesels.

As far as I know you would usually have an old style Pullman brake coach at both ends of the set and these are produced by Hornby. BR never constructed any mark one Pullman brake vehicles. Ian.

Nice video Mick, the Pullman's look good, you just need a couple of Hornby brake coaches to go with them. Ian.

I mainly use Carr's Weathering powders for weathering my locos and stock. These powders are best applied to a really matt surface so I give the models a coat of matt varnish before I apply them. Wheels and rods are painted with matt paints, usually a mixture of Humbrol matt black and dark earth. I have done quite a few locos and goods vehicles with this method. I do need to do most of the passenger vehicles and also most of my green locos are still pristine, this could be a project for the winter. I think an airbrush could be useful for weathering the passenger stock, I may have to invest in one.

It's been a great week for playing with trains! Makes a nice change to be able to get things out and not have to keep looking skywards for the next shower cloud to threaten. You can't beat seeing the models in natural daylight, especially sunlight. I couldn't resist taking photos, here are a few of them and the rest can be seen on Photobucket http://photobucket.com/kirkfieldandwarmthorperailway B1 no 61017 "Bushbuck" emerges from Back o' t' Shed tunnel with a parcels train. WD no 90200 crosses the river with a coal train 2 car DMU calls at Sheddleton with a local service.

Yes, the storage cradles are made by Peco and are called "loco lifts". The beauty of them is that you don't have to handle your locos as you just put them on the track and then they become live enabling the loco to drive off. I did make the boxes to hold them myself. Ian.

When I first built the railway it wasn’t my intention for it to be scenic. I intended it to be a track on a shelf but it sort of evolved! The first things to be added were a tunnel and then I discovered that scouring pads made acceptable looking bushes and trees and are quite weather resistant. A few buildings have been added, these are mainly either resin or plastic kits from Skaledale, Scenix and Dapol. I have installed a few colour light signals, most of these change with the points and give me a visual indication that the points have actually fired. There are also two semaphore signals and these too work with the points. Don’t know if these things will survive as they are rather fragile for an outdoor layout but we’ll see. This year has also seen the doubling of the track over the river and through the tunnel. This of course meant building more Dapol girder bridges and a new double track tunnel. The tunnel is a wooden frame with plywood sides, covered in roofing felt and finished off with scouring pads. (I have used hundreds of these things, thank God for pound shops). This year I have also added the background that you can see on the photos. This is 5 inch wide lenghths of 6mm ply painted with two coats of Sandtex smooth “snowbird” masonry paint. I’m not sure how it will weather, just have to wait and see! I have stuck some low relief buildings on to this and also more of the good old scourers.

Thanks for your comments Mick, I'm glad that you like it. You'll have to be more patient than me as you have to wait for your scenery to grow, mine was more instant, mainly in the form of scouring pads and a hot glue gun!

Great new videos, I like the sound fitted diesels! You can tell it's a weekday by the absence of children, lawnmowers and strimmers!!

The Kirkfield and Warmthorpe railway is a OO gauge model railway that runs around my small, triangular back garden. It runs along the perimeter fences and onto a wall on the patio and crosses paths by means of removable sections. It is basically a single line with two long passing loops giving the impression of a double track main line on the long straight sections. The main station, Kirkfield Northgate, is on the patio wall and there are four tracks here. I call it an outdoor railway rather than a garden railway as it is raised about four feet from the ground and doesn't actually run through flowers and shrubs etc. Assembly started in April 2008 by fixing aluminium greenhouse shelf brackets to the perimeter fence posts to support the baseboards. The baseboards are six inch wide sections of 18mm waterproof ply. This was treated firstly with a coat of bitumen paint thinned with 20% white spirit and then an undiluted coat was applied to the underside and edges. The boards have been stengthened using a product called 'Gypframe' which is a galvanised channel used for constructing partition wall frames and was obtained from B&Q. Besides providing strength it also acts as a trunking for cables. Roofing felt was bonded to the top using roofing felt adhesive and rolled flat using a wallpaper seam roller. Peco code 100 track is used and is pinned down using fine brass pins in the ends of the sleepers about every three inches or so. Track joints are bonded using layout wire soldered across the joints and a gap is left between the rail sections to allow for expansion. Points are operated by Peco point motors housed in weatherproof boxes which I made from plastic sheet. The control panel, which is conventional DC, is built into an aluminium tool box and connects to the layout via a multipin printer cable. Locos and rolling stock are all of the late 50’s early 60’s period. The layout is now into its second year and has seemed to survive fine through the winter. There are more pictures of my layout at http://photobucket.com/kirkfieldandwarmthorperailway

I've bonded track joins using normal multistrand layout wire soldered to the sides of the rails. I have had no problems with these so far. I also left gaps between the rail joints for expansion, although it was rather cold when I laid the track. I think it is a good idea to insert additional feeds around the layout as a safeguard.

Are you bonding your track joints Mick? It's not a good idea to rely on the rail joiners to provide continuity.

Nothing online at the moment Mick, maybe i'll get around to it one day! More than happy to share experiences though. Maybe even get together sometime.

Excellent work! I have 00 outdoors near Wakefield. It's into its second year of operation and is working fine.