What Next ?

I will need to change the title at some date in the future, but it's pretty accurate for the moment.

After completing Another Bridge, and almost completing the traversers , Toto working away from home and my impending early retirement / redundancy, we decided to have a year off from taking our own layouts on tour (Scottystich volunteered / offered his layout for next years jaunt to Elgin). Now the question has to be a year off to do what ?. From previous times I've learnt not to let Toto see I have free time as it doesn't stay free for long .

So taking my destiny by the scruff of the neck my plan is to

1. Learn Autodesk's Fusion 360, should be useful for both the 3D printing and the mini CNC
2. I have Nellie to complete, then to be built a J69, 3F Jinty, J94 and a SECR P class all 0-6-0T's and when available a class 26.

Now that sounds enough, but as Brexit has shown us you must have a backstop

So here is my backstop to give that bit of variety.

An HO plank based around a Walthers Diamond Coal Corporation Kit.

The kit is 13 3/16" (335mm) by 19 3/8" (495mm)

Paul

 

Can't motorise the turntable until you've built it - that should give me a couple of years of free time, pushbuttons for the points - you already have push buttons on your DCC handset no point in duplication, and you need to give me your concept drawings for thew show case - see I'm learning these deflection tactics.

Back to the Walthers Kit, this is the first Cornerstone kit I have had (or even looked at), and there is and awful lot of plastic supplied

Each sprue is approximately 14" x 10", and consists of Bases and Gantrys

Sides and roofs

Windows

Water tanks and additional detailing parts

It's recommended in the instructions - Toto could be forgiven for not reading these ones as they were underneath all the plastic mouldings so might not have found them until he finished the build, sorry back to the instructions, that if the model is to be painted, to do so before construction is started. So that's stopped the late night build session dead in its tracks.

Oh well we'll if I get chance for priming tomorrow.

Paul

 

Here we go a 18" x 48" plank is starting to grow exponentially

Why 18" x 48" (ish) actually , well that's the size on the 50mm Expanded Polystyrene insulation boards, add 6mm all round for a ply facia and jobs a good un.

mmmm ........ a bit bigger

Hi Gary, yep HO american, I have a few HO loco's, some have been converted to DCC some not (a Bachmann Spectrum GE44T, the version with two motors and no room for a decoder), I even have a Doodlebug, so a passenger service would be possible, a couple of GP's, a couple of MTH RS2's (will need a lot of weight adding) and a couple of steam loco's.

mmmm ........ a bit bigger

That Toto, is getting as bad SMR Chris

Criteria

Needs to be able to travel in the car or in the small trailer I already have. Note to self need tow bar fitting, and to measure the trailer

Operated from the front

DC or DCC control

Easily Dismantled and stored

A small plank ticked all the above boxes, a bit bigger could tick the boxes

Back to the drawing board - I'd say of a fag packet but I don't smoke.

Paul

 

Had a play on Anyrail this evening, with Toto on the other end of a skype call to keep me on track

Basically an old style trainset. The top loop is the fiddle yard (may even get an extra road)

On the bottom loop allows for passing trains and a run round to allow wagons to be dropped off / collected in both directions.

The coal loading facility is top two sidings with the arrivals and departures being assembled in the lower siding.

And the head shunt storing the local switcher (see I'm learning to speak Railroad)



Paul

 

Careful or you'll end up in Morag's naughty book - and you don't want to go there, I only said yes when asked if "do these jeans make me look fat?" thirty years later and I'm still in the book sheeesh

Paul