Running in

Maria picked up a problem again a few weeks ago but over the last couple of days has put in some hard yardage on extended test runs without any problems. So i don't know what to make of this little blue shunter, i shall give it some more running in and see if the problems can be solved once and for all. The Yellow Peril has also been putting in the shifts, its running in quite well now. I am starting to think about another locomotive though the next change is likely to be Falcon returning in the New Year to replace Jam Sandwich.

An operating session

Some photos from this evening's running session on the layout. Maria seems to have overcome to problems it had earlier in the year and is running fine at the moment. Fingers crossed it was just a temporary issue. You will notice that the Yellow Peril has been fitted with a coupler so can haul the engineering van.

Jam Sandwich with the express

Maria with the steel truck

Yellow Peril heads off to check the line

Percy with the local train

Hard running

Fingers crossed but Maria's problems seem to be over. I gave the loco some extended running to see if that could solve the problems its developed lately (cutting out and grinding to a halt), 2 hours yesterday and another tonight. It all seems to be OK now, not quite as good as Percy but not bad. Even handled a 2 coach train. Maybe it was just a bit of debris that got in the motor somewhere? Hopefully the problem will not return.

The bridge

A major new feature of the layout is a bridge that cuts across from one corner to the back scene wall. In doing so it crosses 3 tracks and will add a lot of interest (hopefully!) I've built in in wood and am applying card and plastic bricks to the outside. Well not too much so far, one thing i realised was that once the bridge was in place ballasting and scenery underneath the bridge would be very difficult so i've done the ballasting now in that part of the layout (wasn't planning on doing the ballasting until next year).

In other news the latest locomotive Maria has a fault, after a couple of minutes running it becomes very jerky before eventually stopping. I've stripped the loco down to see if anything is obviously broken but all seems fine on that score though it is a very tight fit inside so i've left a piece of the cab interior moulding out to see if that solves the problem.

Decision made

It has been decided to just run one of the Lima 31s, with the other being used for spares. The better runner has been chosen which as a bonus has working couplings. The body shell and part of the bogie has been transferred from the other 31 so far, the electric pickup wires to the engine have also been replaced. This is how it ran before the work began so hopefully there will be an improvement...

Coupling up

While the default N gauge couplings work fine in general operation they do have a drawback i have found on curved track where its difficult to uncouple or recouple stock. Now this is a bit of a problem as my MPD solely consists of curved sidings! I've therefore begun a trial with Kadee/knuckle couplers which i had 4 of. Now i can't use these universally as some stock (most of the wagons) do not have NEM sockets and can't easily change their couplers without surgery which a) i don't want to do and b) the knuckle couplers arn't cheap and i can't afford to change everything!

So if i do decide to go with knuckle couplers, which seem to work great at coupling and recouping on curves, i will operate a mixture of knuckle and default couplings. It could be split like this:

Locomotives / Coaching Stock - knuckle
Multiple Units / Wagons - default

I will of course need 2-3 wagons as translator vehicles with different couplers at each end. I think it will be doable from both an operational and financial point of view though i shall continue trials for a few more days before deciding for good. Here we see the Class 22 and the CCV coupled up with the knuckle couplings.

Multiple unit fest

All 3 of our multiple units lined up at Knell Lane buffers. The 122 seems OK now, the derailing problem might be caused by one of the bogies catching on the body not the coupling. A bit of wriggling seems to have solved it for now.

Test run

Most of the track has been fixed down now... so why get the stock on there and start testing?!

A cause for concern

The DMU picked up a bit of a flutter last night, running a bit jerkily and then making a bit of noise. I put a bit of oil on it and gave it an extended run and all seems fine now, maybe just a bit of dirt had got into the system. I hope that it is solved now, i did try and remove the body shell last night off the power car but had little joy.

In other news i think a new loco will come next month, its time! I've also begun some serious planning for the new HOe layout which will be an end-to-end layout with a fiddleyard. Current plans are for a board thats 130x32cm.

The trainspotter

Its 25 245.

Stay off the line!

Dangerous you know?

Destination revealed!

The text in the destination blind on the Class 101 is too small even for me with my 20x20 vision (well more or less) but a bright morning allowed me to take some decent close-up photos of the Knell Lane fleet, and the destination of the DMU is... Huddersfield. So a bit of a long jaunt from Kent to be honest. In other news work on the footbridge has begun. The kit as is is not wide enough to span between the 2 platforms so i am going to try extending it with some card.

Full house

Busy times at Knell Lane, all platforms are occupied!

Station photos

A few photos from Knell Lane showing the 4-Cep and Class 25.

Pantograph up!

Although 013.3 is an electric locomotive the layout does not have any overhead lines or catenary (and is unlikely to ever to). Usually the locomotive runs with the pantograph down but i thought i would see what it looks like with it up...

High def

A few photos taken with the DSLR, higher quality than the photos i usually take which are with the iPhone. You can really see the detail in some of the photos, which is good (the rolling stock) and bad (the scenery!)

Full diagram

All 4 of Eskalon's locomotives are currently allocated to trains so i thought i would take some photos of what they are currently doing...

Unusual passenger turns

Eskalon is supposed to be some kind of future heritage line (which explains the mixture of stock). Now heritage lines often "mash up" the formations and produce some unusual workings so lets follow suit... Plymouth takes the coach C train for a spin and 013 takes the push-pull A coach. Both look very good with their new workings.

Operations update

Nothing much has happened scenery wise since the last update but there has been a lot of operational running. Some photos from which are below:

Operations update

Coach A (the cabbed push-pull one) has returned to the layout to take the place of Coach B. Having an intermediate waggon between it and the propelling locomotive appears to be causing some problems so D16 is currently the meat in a rolling stock sandwich. Some photos from the layout showing all of the locomotives: