Author

Tom Cunnington

Date

15th October 2015

Reading Time

2 minutes

Our invitation to the National Festival of Railway Modelling has been the incentive to get a few more things progressed on the layout.

 

A major resignalling scheme has seen searchlight starter signals mounted on an etched brass gantry installed, replacing the Berko 3-aspect signals originally installed as a temporary measure hours before the first proper exhibition in 2007. The LEDs in the new signals have common anodes whereas the old signals and the remaining ground signal were common cathode, which meant reconfiguring the wiring on the ‘interlocking’ which clears the correct signal based on the route set. I hadn’t written down how it was originally wired, so the most tedious part was working out the existing wiring had worked…

 

The original signal box, again built as a temporary stand-in from a Prototype card kit, has been replaced by a small cabin, kit bashed from a Peco kit.

 

 

A new dual action airbrush and compressor, plus some practice with acrylic paints (up to now I’ve always uses enamels) has led to some hopefully subtle weathering to blend some of the scenic elements together, but there is more to do. And the construction site at the right hand end of the layout, that has been awaiting planning permission and funding for years, is now finally seeing some activity.

 

The new airbrush has also enabled some more comprehensive weathering of the rolling stock. Whilst there is more detail to be done, most of the locos and stock now have a at least some indication of the grime that is inevitable on hard working commuter trains.

 

So it’s time to pack it all away into the car and make a short trip up the A1 – we look forward to seeing you at the event over the weekend.