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Well, 7399 is being declared done. It will get a proper photocall the next time I dig my locomotive depot plank out of storage and it isn't raining... 7399's partner in Daylight colours, SD40 7342 is planned to be done, a donor loco is already on site but for now this thread becomes my general...

Good morning! The sun is shining in the UK after yesterday's Bank Holiday deluge. The SW9 is looking better too:

Good morning (actually pretty much afternoon now) from the UK. The SW9 is getting mucky: Meanwhile, I just swapped out the rubber gromits that hold the old blue box motor in, these are a bit err tired! I don't suppose these are still sold as a replacement part are they? I know you can get...

Morning all, the wife has got me gardening this morning. I did manage to make a start on operation recover SW9 mess though: Patching over and weathering the stacks so far, later it will get a lot dirtier!

Getting there...

Good morning, the kettle is on. That pitted blue SW9 is going to get my first ever attempt at heavy weathering. If it goes wrong I can always still strip it off again!

Off to work, freshly brewed mug of tea in hand. Whilst at work, will be thinking about what to do about a spares/repair Athearn Blue Box SW9 I was working on that has gone wrong as the blue rattle can has gone pitted and mottled. Do I strip the paint off and start again or should I attempt...

Still the odd bit to do I think but it is as good as I am going to get it: This thread will probably become my general locomotive workbench thread at some point. The good news is that finally a stock of Details West HL-200 headlights have appeared so a certain SD40 number 7342 is on the cards...

Unfotunately, yes. Shipping costs from the US and mainland Europe to/from the UK have shot up to eye watering levels in recent years, the added exorbitant con of the so called Ebay Global Shipping Program where they add a significant wedge onto the cost to line their already bulging coffers...

Initial work on the Copper Mine area: As you can see, the tunnel entrance has been moved back and the surrounding rocks formed but not yet completed. A larger area around the track will allow additional rusty detritus to be added in due course (I found a wheel in the garden earlier which must...

Oh dear, I don't like the sound of that. In the UK we have had various media mergers, takeovers and reorganizations in both magazines and local radio sectors and pretty universally, the resultant mess has been a disaster.

Despite it being the first day of May, here in the UK the weather still feels like early February and has not cheered up at all. The popular press are telling tales of a potential heatwave rolling in from Germany next week (as high as 21c!!!) but the BBC Weather app is claiming rain well into...

Reusing the terrain sheets that were there, I have re-laid the now former hill area which became a bit of a patchwork quilt as a result but with some judicious adding of scatter and wargaming scenics self adhesive tufts, now looks much better: We now have a less obstructed view of trains...

The electrical feeds to the ends have been reinstated and a test using the first loco I had to hand saw a successful passage across the whole section: Now I am turning my attention to the scenic areas I want to update, these two being the copper mine: ...and the hill: Time to get drastic...

Okay, the back scene is on. Now this will be set aside whilst attention turns to improving some of the scenic areas. That will have to wait until tomorrow, I have to go and spend the afternoon and evening driving some trains...

It measures 32 and a half inches long by 8 and a half inches deep. The board for the new back scene has been formed up: Now comes the tricky bit of getting the actual back scene on straight and with no wrinkles!!!

I have identified six key areas in need of attention: - Replacement of the tired and faded backscene - Construct fiddle yard planks to go on either end to enable proper operation - Re-do the copper mine area to the right of the small road - Reduce the height of the hill at the front to the left...

A lockdown project, I built a simple plank based scene christened Baron's Ridge late in 2020. The other day I hauled it out of storage in the shed: It is a simple rural scene somewhere, what was at one time a point where a branch line once came off the rural single track mainline, the former...

Transfers on (barring long hood tiny lettering)

Bright sunny morning in the UK, the postman just delivered this: Bit of a wreck, does work though. I will see if I can work my magic on it. At least it was cheap....