I got two Wizard Models ‘Blackadder’ POA wagons for Christmas and they’re coming together quite nicely. There are some strange design decisions in the kit though. Making up ladders from wire and etched sides is something beyond my skills but also pointless when ready made ladder is available that looks ok and will be more robust. Also it’s my first experience with a Bill Bedford sprung suspension and it’s not something I’ll bother with again. I’ve had to put in packing to get the correct ride height and even then the springing pulled the wheels down so they touched on the frame. I ended up soldering them fixed at the correct height. Once the second one is built transfers and weathering should end up with a decent model.
A new addition to the fleet. This 03 shunter was an eBay bargain and arrived in a fictional army green livery. I’ve resprayed it as 03175 in BR blue. This was a loco based at Kings Lynn that I remember seeing in the early 80s. The weathering is an attempt to match its condition as seen in some photos from that era.
I’ve just changed the bogies on a 20 year old Lima Super-GUV. New Bachmann Commonwealth bogies make a really big visual difference. I’ve retained the top mounting part off the old bogies and glued it on to the centre of the new ones with butanone. I know there’s some other detail errors on the underframe that could be sorted but I don’t think they will show up on the layout whereas the bogie swap makes a significant improvement.
A guide to replacing a faulty point on a completed layout. Initially published in issue 290 of Model Rail Magazine. Time required: 2-3 hours. Tools: Dremel with cutting disk, soldering iron, pliers, side cutters, old chisel, mini hoover.
My layout ‘Tedford & Bearham’ is now approaching 15 years old. Some of the track was salvaged from a previous layout and there have been numerous alterations and additions over the years. During a recent running session a loco came to an abrupt halt on a point and it quickly became clear that there was a problem. This particular point had suffered damage to its tie bar at some point in the past and I had attempted to make a repair with glue to hold the pin from the point motor to the tie bar. This repair had failed and the loco had hit a part of the tie bar that was sticking up and fouling the kadee coupling. There was no alternative but to replace the point. This guide shows how I replaced the point without damaging the surrounding track work. This process will also work for replacing damaged plain track or crossovers.
The problem – These pictures show the damage to the tie bar and the location of the point within a complex junction.
Step 1 – Nearby details such as a catenary mast were removed and a suitable replacement point was obtained. Be sure to get an identical replacement otherwise the alignment will be different.
Step 2 – Use a cutting disk in a dremel to carefully cut a slit through the ballast around the edge of the damaged point. This will prevent adjacent ballast being disturbed when removing the point. Caution: Wear eye protection.
Step 3 – Use the cutting disk to cut through the rails and sleepers about 1cm in from the end of the point being removed. Cut the rail that is a part of the point, not the adjacent track, you don’t want to damage the adjacent track.
Step 4 – Pull out any track pins and gently lift up the main section of the damaged point. If you have any power dropper wires soldered on you will need to remove these, in my case they were soldered to the end parts that are still in situ at this stage.
Step 5 – The remaining end sections of rail now need to be removed. In my case my track joints are soldered, which makes this a little more difficult. Use a soldering iron to carefully heat up the joint, heating the main section of rail on the adjacent track. Then use side cutters or angled pliers to pull out the end of rail to be removed. This should come out with the fishplate, leaving a clean end to the adjacent rail. If there are dropper wires these should be disconnected at this stage. Caution: Be careful with the soldering iron to avoid damage to the sleepers. Also beware that the joint being removed will suddenly come free so it is possible the rail being removed will move quickly resulting in damage to adjacent scenery and a scuff to your hand holding the side cutters as it skids across the ballast.
Step 6 – Using an old chisel remove the ballast from the area where the point was. Clear this away with a mini hoover to leave a clear area. In the photo you will see that I left one fishplate in place on the adjacent rail, this was refusing to budge but won’t be a problem. You can also see the point motor bar and some dropper connections. A little bit more cleaning up of the ballast is still required in the right hand corner. My track is laid on cork and the ballast will lift quite cleanly from this, other surfaces may need a bit more cleaning up.
Step 7 – Put fishplates onto the adjoining rails at one end of the point only. It will usually be easiest to do this for the four rails at the diverging end but depending on your location you may need to do the other end. Use new fishplates of the same type as before, I had insulated fishplates on one track for my DCC block detection.
Step 8 – You can’t put fishplate on at both ends or it will be impossible to fit the new point back in to place (don’t be tempted to bend the point, this will cause permanent damage). To get around this I have developed a neat trick. Slide fishplates on to the other end of the new point pushing them in as far as they will go. Then use the cutting disk to cut off the half that sticks out, leaving a half length fishplate. In a following step you will slide this back on to the adjacent rail to join up the track. Note: It’s important to cut the fishplates when attached to some rail. If you attempt to cut them when not attached they will close up making them useless. If you are nervous about cutting them on the end of the new point you could do it on a scrap length of rail and then transfer them.
Step 9 – Carefully fit the new point, joining it in to the new fishplates fitted in step 7. This is one of those tasks where an extra hand would be useful! Take your time to line things up and don’t force anything. If there are bits of ballast still in the way remove them, the baseboard under the point must be smooth. I had to trim the end of a sleeper back to get the point to fit into the junction. I was also lucky that I managed to get the point motor pin to go back in to the tie bar but you may need to remove the point motor and refit it afterwards.
Step 10 – With the new point laid in place, use angled pliers to gently move the half length fishplates (cut in stage 8) on to the adjacent rails. They don’t need to go on very far, just far enough to ensure the rails are correctly aligned. Use some track pins to hold the new point securely. Check that all the rail joints at each end are smooth then solder the joints and connect back any droper wires. Finally if you had to remove the point motor connect it back up. Important: Test run some trains through the point at this stage and ensure the point motor works. Any issues with misalignment or bad electrical joints need to be fixed now.
Step 11 – Carefully sprinkle in some new ballast around the edges of the new point. Because of the cuts made in step 2 the area to be repaired should be minimal. Use a ballast that will match the surrounding area. Mist the area with water then fix the ballast with diluted PVA in the normal way. Allow the ballast to dry before proceeding.
Step 12 – Once the ballast is dry you can finish the area off. My track is sprayed with ‘sleeper grime’ colour so it is quite easy to blend the repair back in. Depending on the scenic finish around your track you may have some more scenic work to do in order to blend the repair back in. Clean paint and glue off the surfaces of the rail with a track rubber. Make sure that there isn’t any ballast in the gaps through the point ‘vees’ or between the check rails and avoid getting paint on the moving parts of the point.
Completed – Once everything has set you can re-attach any details that you had to remove, or any nearby details that were disturbed during the work. There is a very slight colour difference to the repaired area but this will even out over time.
Today’s modelling task was completing this cottage, purchased back in 2019 from the Warley model railway show . It’s the first time I’ve built one of these Petite Property laser cut kits and they go together nicely although I wasn’t too happy with the flint/pebbledash effect which came out a bit more patchy than I wanted. So it’s gone in a corner of the layout having shrunk the cow field down.
I’ve loved building wagon kits in lockdown. Here’s one finished today, a ZAV ‘cod’ wagon in a fairly decrepit condition. These wagons started life as STV ‘Tube’ wagons and were classified as ‘cod’ when they moved to engineering use, the era is mid 80s. It’s a Parkside kit.
Two small differences make a huge improvement to the Heljan OO gauge model of 25912 ‘Tamworth Castle’. The first is painting the yellow inside the window surrounds black so that the surrounds are black up to the glazing. This needs a tiny brush and a steady hand. The second is working out how to dim the lighting so the marker lights are much less fierce. This has the side benefit of making the cab lighting much more subtle.
A new addition to the engineering fleet at Tedford. I’ve built this Whale from a Cambrian kit. Went together quite nicely.
When it came to fitting a load I made a stupid mistake, now rectified. It’s done with a balsa wood fake floor and some scraps of balsa making up a couple of mounds then ballast stuck with diluted PVA in the usual way.
The problem was I though I had a jar of diluted PVA left over from some track repairs a few months ago. I added a bit more PVA to get the right consistency and used that. Only it wasn’t diluted PVA, it was turps used to clean a white gloss brush! Turns out it doesn’t stick ballast, it stinks and I was lucky not to damage the wagon! I had to wait for it to dry so it wouldn’t run over the paintwork when removing it, strip it out and do the load again.
The signal box at Bearham is a very old Hornby R503 one from the time of my first train set which was a gift from my grandparents so it has been retained from layout to layout as it has sentimental value. However the inside was a mess from an attempt to fit lighting when I was very much younger. At Warley 2019 Sarah got me a Severn Models signal box interior kit. I’ve fitted this into the signal box on a new false floor to cover where the unrealistic moulded interior was cut away. I also fitted a new false rear wall made of card to hide the moulded block that represented the levers. LED lighting has been fitted into the roof so that the interior can be glimpsed through the windows. The levers have been painted to represent a reasonable selection of red (for signals), black (for points), blue (for facing point locks) and white (unused) that would work with the track plan.
Turns out it doesn’t stick ballast, it stinks and I was lucky not to damage the wagon! I had to wait for it to dry so it wouldn’t run over the paintwork when removing it, strip it out and do the load again.
