Fence Houses gets it's first Easitrac

From just north of Fence Houses station area at Wapping Bridge, looking north (towards Penshaw and further on to Victoria viaduct), a van sits on the first of the Easitrac sections just laid. Only another 27.5mtrs still to go!
Wapping Bridge also requires a signal cabin (still to be built), which controls the pointwork for the end of the four track layout hereabouts, where it reduces to the up and down main lines only.
As can be seen, the Easitrac joins seamlessly with the etched chairplated trackwork.

The double track seen to the right, is part of the Lambton Hetton & Joicy colliery system running parallel to the main lines. The trackwork here will eventually be under an embankment and therefore out of view, thus neither etched chairplates nor Easitrac is required.

Bob.

Ain't no use in crying

Oh well, there go the last two months. No modelling done whatsoever. Sometimes these things happen; the business needed some attention (in a positive way; new staff, new flooring, new equipment, new products/services), there were family matters including a week's holiday and to cap it all, the missus decides we need to move house! So the railways go on the back burner...

Anyway, I hope that this week's return to service will be sustained and I can make some layout headway. Today I've tried to get the D49 a bit nearer the finishing post:


Handrails manufactured from .3mm nickel silver wire and fitted using my normal process; 36swg phosphor bronze wire twisted in a collet around a bit of spare .3mm wire.

On this side we also have the reversing mechanism (below the handrail and above the splasher). This shaft driven mechanism is I believe peculiar to the D49/2s and whilst the parts are listed in the instructions, there is only mention of steam reverser and lever reversers. I used one of the three layers as the intermediate support as the gearbox seemed adequately represented by two layers of etching.

The last job this afternoon has been to add more weight in the form of liquid lead; in the boiler space between the driving wheels and also in the boxes above the rear drivers. Hopefully the glue will be solid this evening and I can have another wee dabble...

NEAG visit to see Retford Progress

The top picture taken by Bob Jones (remotely) shows the collection of North East Group members who made the trek south to see Roy Jackson and Geof Kent at their base in the 'shed'. The one above is an action shot of 55006 'panned' by Stephen Harold.

What an experience and a cracking day out it was. More pictures will follow in different posts I'm sure but we all enjoyed the company and hospitality of Roy, Geoff, the team and the supporting ladies. We were treated to, amongst other things, the thundering sound of 55006 The Fife and Forfar Yomanry hurtling around Roy's magnificent layout. You could have been forgiven for thinking the Deltic was DCC, but no, just the reverberation of its two motors resounding through the baseboards..!

Also, in a quieter corner, Blakeney went about its business as ever impressing all who lingered.

Highly recommended.....!

Mick S