Leicester Fosse (Central) Sishades new epic

[manna]

G'day Gents

A guy with your talents, shouldn't have a problem scratchbuilding a ' Barge'.

manna

[sishades]

An update of sorts. I have populated the station areas with some people, namely the Bachmann products which are rather good. But the main reason that I am here , is that for the first time in my life I experienced what can only be described as Train ****. Oh the joy and shuddering that ensued. It almost brought tears to my eyes and a special fast delivery of extra strong toilet tissue from Amazon. The reason being is that I have just installed two zimo sound decoders and double reflex speakers into my prized and worshipped Blue Pullman. This involved soldering speaker wires onto the PCB in each unit, a task that quite frankly scared the heebie jeebies out of me. After a week of procrastination I purchased a soldering iron with a tiny tip (unlike my tip on my honeymoon) to do the job, anticipating everything that could go wrong. After all the BP was not cheap and combined with the sound stuff, its value exceeds 500 pounds. Well I need not have worried because the installation with the help of a tiny tip went faultlessly. Joking aside the sound chips elevate what is already the God Of Model Railways onto an all new level. Words such as stunning and awesome (everything is..) do not do this model justice. It just takes your breath away , it is that good. Digitrains sound files are installed on each chip, and are also synced such that the lead car starts up first and then a few seconds later the other bursts into life. After work tomorrow I will try (or not because Im a lazy sod) to get a video uploaded to the forum.

I have also in the last few months installed zimo sound chips into my Duchess, 08 shunter, and 108 DMU. The shunter is also fitted with a large super capacitor for obvious reasons. This was quite a job to get everything in as it involved removing that cab and putting the capacitor inside. The capacitor is so strong that it will work for up to 30 seconds without power.

I have also completed installing DCCConcepts DCC decoders underneath my baseboard so that all of my analogue cobalts can be accessed via my hand controller. The large control panel that I kept bashing my head on has been dismantled along with 8 miles of wiring. Controlling the layout is now possible via a wireless handset (all digitrax using a receiver) and my laptop running JMRI with a digitrax PR4 USB interface module. As a freebie the JMRI software is quite intense and involves a considerable learning curve. My tablets and phones can access the web server within JMRI and my layout can be accessed with these items. JMRI also includes software that enables the user to create a virtual control panel so that the points can be changed merely by tapping on the relevant point icon, again on a tablet or phone.

Other software I have "acquired" is the full version of Train Controller Gold. This appears to be slicker than JMRI but is after all a commercial product, although tech support is rather lacking.

Finally I have improved the lighting underneath the main station canopy. I originally used copper tape to connect all of the LEDs but has proved not to be as robust as I had hoped. I removed all of the tape and glued some rails to the underside and soldered the LEDs directly to these rails. The footbridge has also been replaced as the original had suffered some damage but also because my skills have improved such that a new one would be better constructed. Also to improve visiblity whilst laying on my back fixing things underneath the layout, some very cheap christmas tree lights were wrapped around the wiring . I can now switch off the loft light and not run the risk of tripping over some misplaced cocaine bricks, falling down the loft hatch and having to explain to a law enforcement office (my wife) why I am covered in a white powdery substance.

On the downside one of my Cobalts internal switches has stopped working and another has a piece of soldered wire stuck inside one of the power connectors. I might just replace them with a couple of cobalts off my Whitemans Wharf layout.

Again apologies for the lack of visual stimulance but I am now going to engage Smug Mode, sit in my comfy chair and watch Robin Hood (yes the new shitty one) and contemplate how much I love this hobby.

[sishades]

I finally got round to making a video of the Blue Pullman...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpdE69-78VQ&t=117s

[manna]

G'Day Gents

I have heard, that Bachmann is to release another version of the Blue Pullman in reversed blue/grey, 800/900BP later this year, along with the long promised V2, we'll see.

manna

[peak]

Just watched the video.
I liked it a lot.
Do you need ear defenders?

[sishades]

Whats this? An update? Yup I am still alive. What with Covid, losing my job at MLP, getting a temp job, spending 3.5 months on furlogh (this was great by the way), doing up the house, sulking over missing out on the champions league, some awful personal stuff,losing my agency job, regaining a job at said agency company and this week being confirmed as a full time employee, I finally had an idea of doing a layout update and then realised that all of my layout posts are sitting under a tree somewhere getting drunk and not wanting to know. So here it is in a sort of resurrection kind of way. I decided to change the diesel depot
so I installed some new smaller lights and removed the single very tall light that I habitually damaged when cleaning track. The crappy old paper portakabins have been swapped with the Knightwing equivalent. Gaze upon my depot loveliness.





The original depot building was replaced with a better made building with some kytes lights

















Some barrels and stuff at the south side factories



A crane in the freight yard. The original got chewed by my dog....



Some people have also appeared



A couple of new locos including the J36 and 6 new suburban coaches. This loco is outstanding with ultra slow movement capabilty and a J50





An old friend is still hanging around



I have acquired some other stuff but the 4CEP sound chip decided it did not want to know so that will be returned, added some sound chips, purchased a sound class 31, and sold some old stuff, including a rake of Harry "Bloody" Potter coaches which I mistook for BR stuff.
And finally a railway worker boasting that size matters

[luckymucklebackit]

Looking really good, heard your team did rather well today as well :

Jim

[manna]

G'Day Gents

Been a busy time, but looking good.

manna

[peak]

Nice to see this splendid layout again.
The depot looks very good.

[dan8400]

Loving the work on the depot. The potrkabin kits look really good.

Also, where did the tall yard lights come from? They are very effective

Thanks
Dan

[sishades]

They are from layouts4u and are PL4 - Plaza Lights. They cost about £6 each, and are rather sturdy. The wires are pleasingly thick so wiring them up is a doddle.

[sishades]

I know that it has been a while since I posted anything with regards to my creation. Its not my fault. In february I was browsing a model shop online and came across an Airfix Wellington for around 30 pounds. As a boy I was well into Airfix and suddenly had an urge to revive my former interests. A few days later a large box turned up at my door....a nice shiny red box with a picture of a plane on the front. It then struck me (an idea not a brick) that perhaps I should start on something cheap and disposable, not unlike some Yarmouth girls I used to know. So some more cash left home and a small Boulton Paul Defiant made its way to my door. A few weeks past and several mistakes, swear words and so forth had passed but the flame had been ignited. So ten months, 25 model kits (some done, mostly stored on a shelf) later and I realised that my layout had been neglected. I absolutely love building WW2 model kits, but I needed to revive my interest in model railways.

Last Xmas I was given this sound equipped Warship from wife and son,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmK8_1tj-q0

I have also received the new Hornby Dublo "City Of Leicester" and am awaiting for a Hush Hush to arrive from the model centre who are installing a sound chip and real coal. I am rather anxious about the latter as it has been a bit of a news item recently but for the wrong reasons, see SAMS TRAINS for more info. My diesel depot has been completely revamped (a later post as my current pics are crap), as has my streets on the north side.

Anyhow building these airfix/revell/trumpeter kits has gotten me excited about doing some model making for the railway. I have a cleaning train which includes a CMX wagon, two triang cleaning wagons and a dapol cleaning wagon,



the latter being completely useless but is a good vacuum cleaner. I also use a track rubber for those grimy parts, and also have an old hornby triang LMS coach which must be almost 40 years old sitting on a shelf in my kitchen.



I purchased two Peco track rubbers, (no picture as I'm sure you all know what they lookl klike anyway)

I stripped down the coach parts, cleaned them up and sprayed the sides in WW2 Luftwaffe colours (dark and mid tone greens). A small cradle from plasticard, 2 bolts, some super glue, replacement glazing and voila.....A Luftwaffe track cleaning coach!!!

Here are some pics taken in bad light and with little photographic skill.










I have yet to test it out, hopefully this will get done in the next few days after I get back from my train trip to Barrow. Oh did I mention that LCFC won the FA Cup?

Watch this sad old balding fat bloke get carried away after the final whistle.

https://youtu.be/tUdCJo-_MRg



Its Saturday morning and I was going to finish airbrushing my Ju 188 A-2 Racher when my compressor decided to end its life and give up the ghost. So instead, while I wait for my spangly new compressor to arrive via a well known online shopping store, I thought an update on the layout would be a good idea. I have already posted a video above celebrating our FA Cup win, so a more detailed description is called for.

My last report concentrated on a small project to convert an old carriage into a track cleaning device using a couple of Peco track rubbers. I forgot to take the height of the rails into consideration and the coach wobbled so a colleague at work machined off a few millimetres and hey presto it was despatched to my layout, behind a "Baby Deltic" Class 23.



Despite its weight, the 23 had no problem pulling the carriage around the layout and it worked very well indeed. I now have two track cleaning trains, the other consisting of a sound fitted class 50 pulling a CMX wagon, 2 triang cleaning wagons and the above mentioned Dapol wagon. This can be seen in the opening two minutes of the above video.



A project that was also completed was a kit sent to me by Tony a while ago of a SR brake van.



The van has been airbrushed with red ends, and runs fairly well. This is the first white metal kit that I have ever built and am quite pleased with the result. The Heljan 05 was a recent purchase from a fellow grump and has been DCC fitted. Unlike the Bachmann 03 this one has working lights.

Next up was a rake of BR Maroon MK 1 coaches, and to these I added lights. This took a while as taking these carriages apart was a bit nerve racking due to the thin wires at the ends. I initially used wheel wipers from DCCConcepts but they produced so much drag the train would not run. So they were replaced by coiled pickups that are inserted onto the wheel axles. It looks very impressive in the dark, but I do think they lights are too light. These were advertised as warm white and came on a five meter strip of LEDS.









The biggest change to the layout has been the redevelopment of the diesel depot. I have replaced the buildings, changed and weathered the hardcore areas, and added some smaller details to give it some life.



















Some more pics of the layout













This is at the very back of the layout and does not contain any people as the building are barely visible



My new Hush Hush; sadly I had to remove the steps in order for it to run around the layout without crashing into my platforms as it very wide. It is sound fitted, runs like a dream and is a wonderful model. However the track must be level, and I have one small dip where it just "hangs"



A class 37 pulling my new pullman liveried wagon as used in the Winston Churchill funeral train



My new all die cast special edition "City Of Leicester" with sound. Weighs a ton and is simply superb.



The scenic section under my bridge is now gone and I am going to redo it. Over time it just does not feel right and I have a plan of how this is going to look.



My final project is ongoing as I am replacing Kadees with magnetic coupling from the West Hill Wagon works, although cheaper ones are available on Ebay. This is because my sound locos use the active drive feature from Digitrains and trying to get the train to stop at the uncoupling points is very difficult due to the superb slow running of the zimo chips. And they are also a pain in the arse to use.

On the negative side, the speaker in the number 2 end of my blue pullman sounds like it has blown, 2 of my cobalt motors have failed and I need to flatten out 2 dips in my track to allow my Hush Hush to run on a particular line.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ttnkjlj ... SimonBaker

[sishades]

Anyhows, having said that the World Cup is on, taking place in a desert with some camels and a skipful of the worlds oil. While I wait for the England Vs France game in which we will surely be booted out of Qatar i decided to do some railway modelling for a change. I had a few hours to spare so what to do. In the above posting, a canal type diorama is placed under two bridges. This received some mixed reviews as the previous incarnation had a small canal going through some lush landscape and a road.



and replaced it with this



Sometimes one has to look into a mirror, raise a finger and say "You dick, What were you thinking?". What a pile of shite modelling that is. The original was light years ahead in terms of build quality, atmosphere, imagination and build quality. So armed with a brush, an apron, a small pot of UHU glue and a ruler, I set to work. A few minutes later I came up with this...............











Just realised that I have forgotten to put a loco on the rails in the above and remove the shiny rails from the centre island.

My next step is to put it onto the layout and hope that it fits.

The lock gates are scratch built from plasti card, the cobbles are wills sheets applied with various weathering techniques, the boats are scalescenes, the weighbridge is a kit, the pillbox was scratch built, the rust on the wall sides is made by various red and orange oils paints.

Is it an improvement? Could it be any better? Or worse? Is it OK? I value all opinions and maybe next time I might take notice!

[End2end]

I like the improvement.
Much more to look at.
Thanks
End2end

[TimberSurf]

Although they may exist, the wide canal looked too wide! It was my first impression when I saw it. I think the first iteration looke quite realistic to be honest, but yes iteration 3 is much more interesting. I approve