I'll definitely be looking out for a Deltic railtour then - but probably to be simply viewed from a platform
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Apologies for not posting anything on here for a couple of weeks - I think (as with all of us), real life is starting to return, which unfortunately means less modelling time!
I've written quite a bit here, so I'll break things down into different sections.
Track-cleaning troubles
The OJMR has spent a lot of time in recent weeks laying silent. Mostly because other things have cropped up (well, mostly Minecraft and occasionally real trains), but also because just cleaning the track to get it to a good standard so trains can run is a pain in the proverbial. I've mentioned time and again that I ordered a Gaugemaster Track Cleaning Wagon from Rails of Sheffield in mid-Marsh. Five months later (blimey, time flies!), and I've not received it. Admittedly, it was listed as being on back order, but when I emailed Rails in late June, they said they still didn't have a date from the supplier.
Looking on Rails' website, it says the wagon in question is actually on pre-order (explaining why I supposedly haven't made any orders yet I've pre-ordered things). Looking on Hattons' site just now, it turns out that they posted something on 17.8.2021 saying the following:
www.hattons.co.uk
So I have to go to Hattons to find out what's up with my Rails order - not amazing. Looking on Rails' homepage doesn't help as whilst the news section goes back to 17.8.2021, it doesn't contain anything about the wagon I'm interested in. This is the same for the product page. I can only assume that Gaugemaster have decided to make another run of these models, and that this has happened in the time between me placing the order in March and now. Shame that they didn't say anything about that!
That's a long-winded way of saying I've not really been running many trains recently (or doing anything with the layout) because the track is dirty and it's a pain to clean it without a special wagon. I could use the Hornby track-cleaning coaches I've got but they're not so much track-
cleaning as track-
dirtying. Not very helpful.
Running trains - finally!
I managed to lean over to the far side of the layout the other day, though, and got the outer loop cleaned. I didn't bother with the inner loop as I've been storing some coaches on it and didn't want to faff around with moving them. The first trains around the layout were all DC, as the Gaugemaster controller was wired in. The other day I ran the DCC engines for the first time in several weeks and they still work really well after not moving for so long, which was a relief.
The Bachmann Class 47 works as well as it always has, and apart from one tail light going out at one end (an issue it's had for some time now), it's a perfect little model. Strong,
stable, and seemingly not fussed about dirty track, it's spent the past few days trundling around the layout for several hours at a time with some Mk1s and then yesterday it was put on the test train formation. It's really nice to know I can just set the trains running and (apart from a small issue with the 68 yesterday where it ran into the back of its own train) they'll run without supervision so I can get on with something else.
Railway centre shenanigans
Regular readers will know that I'm incapable of coming up with a trackplan and then staying with it. Over the history of this thread, the layout has grown and moved about a lot. In the past few days, I've continued this tradition by making a new trackplan for the railway centre.
The thinking behind this was inspiration from Didcot Railway Centre, which I visited earlier this month. Here are some photos for those of you who are interested:
View attachment 101321View attachment 101322View attachment 101323View attachment 101324View attachment 101326View attachment 101327
(Do not adjust your sets - the white balance was off on my camera when I took these so they've been edited to make them more realistic and the results weren't perfect
)
One of the main bits about Didcot is their 1932 engine shed, and it's brilliant for wandering around in and seeing the various engines on show. I wanted to recreate this sort of thing on my layout, and so I've come up with this trackplan:
View attachment 101328
(The blue line is the edge of the baseboard outline on SCARM)
As you can see, it's quite different to the one I last shared, but I prefer this one as it's got more space to display engines which otherwise wouldn't get shown on the layout. At the moment (I've built the trackplan as I find it easier to plan them in-person than on the computer), the engine shed bit is housing the
Battle of Britain/
West Country, 'King', 53xx, and Tornado. The goods shed can hold a few small wagons and a small engine at the front, with the Ruston 48DS in front of that (admittedly only if you remove one of the wagons). The storage sidings at the bottom of the frame can hold a large diesel each, and the level crossing can do the same (although a 14xx and autocoach set-up looks much nicer
).
I'm keeping the idea of a platform just outside the railway centre's "limits", but to make up for the removal of the station within the main bit of the centre, it would be detailed up in GWR colours and made to look like a heritage station.
I'll post photos of it all tomorrow - it's a bit late now and I'm quite comfy in my chair
That siding opposite Oldmoor Junction
This siding has caused more trouble than any other bit of a model railway - ever. Alright, that's probably exaggerating the situation, but that's what it feels like at least. The original idea was to have two sidings, which depending on my mood at the time would either be a small heritage set-up or a pair of holding sidings for mainline rolling stock. However, as I've now used the curved points originally in this area for the railway centre, this pair of sidings has gone down to just the one. It's currently two-R601s long (Hornby's double straights), so it could be quite useful, but not for much really.
A potential plan is to remove one of the storage sidings in the railway centre - thus giving more space for scenic stuff, such as a picnic area, and then put the curved points back in the Oldmoor Junction sidings area. That would allow for my idea of making those sidings into a tiny railway museum - like the one at Locomotion in Shildon, where they've got a few rows of engines, but smaller. It could sit quite nicely in the gap between the town buildings and the existing railway, and could house the remainder of the interesting engine fleet not yet on the layout (i.e.
Mallard,
Claud Hamilton, a HST power-car or two, etc.). It would be a glass (well, plastic really), scratchbuilt affair with a small cafe/entrance hall on the road side.
The town of Oldmoor - scenics
I mentioned in some of the earlier posts on here that I'm aiming for a more scenic approach now than before. The main problem with this idea is finding the materials to make this happen: I've got the static grass, and some foliage bits, and I can buy the relevant Metcalfe kits, but things like paint for roads, and fences, are a different situation. Does anyone have any recommendations for paints they've used for roads?
@Cowley I think you might be able to help here?
Another bit of the layout which needs sorting is Little Piddling on-the-Wold. It's been neglected for quite some time now and needs to be finished. The station and house haven't moved since I put them there and they're not going anywhere very quickly, so I can start gluing them down and working on the detailing around them. One of the main things is adding an entrance/exit to the station, as well as the road giving access to the house.
Ballasting
I'm not sure if I mentioned this in my last post, but I've done some ballast work around the Little Piddling curves and managed to get it done all the way up to the level crossing. Unfortunately, it's all been knocked quite a bit and needs some reworking before it can be glued. I'm going to try and finish the ballasting work on the majority of the layout before the free time I have starts to really run out: getting the whole lot ballasted and glued would be even better. It's a bit of a hurdle I need to get over at the moment!
Tales from Oldmoor
I mentioned previously in this post that I'll make another post tomorrow with photos of the railway centre, so I'll also share a
Tale from Oldmoor at the same time as it's been a while since we heard from everyone in the town. The main issue is going to be remembering names!
Anyway - that's a very long post, but it details the (lack of) progress made on the layout in the past few weeks. I hope you found it somewhat interesting - and thanks for reading.
-Peter