Media day

Now we seem to be finally getting somewhere with operating this layout i thought i'd take some good quality photos with my DSLR.  In other news a new building should be arriving soon.

Breaking up the passenger train

One reason i needed to find a solution to the coupling issue was that i have split up the passenger train and now both locos can haul a coach each. This adds some more fun to operation which otherwise can become a bit dull if the same locos are always hauling the same stock!

Coupling part 3

As previous posts have described Eskalon is great... apart from the simple business of keeping the trains connected to each other! Using the semi-permanent bar works for push-pull operations but it does mean that one loco is tied up with 1 duty as uncoupling the loco from the train means lifting from the track.

The design flaw in the D13/D16 model means the hook coupler keeps catching on the end of the loco which makes operations difficult and to honest i have become so frustrated i've begun thinking of ditching the layout and starting again in a different scale...

But lets try one final gambit. If the hook couplers keep catching on the loco why not make them a bit longer... So i have thanks to a couple of butchered coupling bars and a bit of superglue! The modified couplers seem to work great both in pushing and pulling passenger trains. They stick out a bit far but as long as i can enjoy some train operation without trains becoming detached or derailed i'm cool with that.

Our new waggon

Eskalon gained a new waggon today. A nice box van, it will join the little freight train which D16 is currently diagrammed to haul.

Eskalon update

The coupling issues seem to have been finally sorted (touch wood) and some good running has been done over the last few weeks. The new engine D13 needs to be run in as well as D16 and noticeably struggles sometimes when propelling the push-pull coaches. Perhaps the weight of the coaches is rising the loco's wheels slightly resulting in an impaired electrical contact? D16 doesn't seem to suffer from this so it might just be a case of getting the engine run in.

A dream train

The discovery of the Hornby Guide website and the class 77 model has made me a daydream a bit of the kind of trains i could have run in the early 70s (if i was an adult of course and not a baby as i was). Maybe it would have been a bit like this?

A Hornby treasure trove

This is a lovely website i came across today, the Hornby Railways Collector Guide features all Hornby and Triang rolling stock from the year dot. There are some fascinating models in here, i never knew Hornby did a Class 77 model but indeed they did! It was discontinued in the year i was born which probably explains why i've never seen it before.

The Class 81 model looks very interesting too (see right). It also was discontinued in 1971 (obviously a bad year for electric modellers).

One electric loco i did know about (and once owned) was Hornby's Class 86 model. I remember the fiasco the first time my excited teenage self got the new loco running, i forgot the pantograph was raised and took out my layout's bridge!