WEST ORTON

[bulleidboy]

Great progress Steve. I'm a bit like Richard at the moment - neglecting the layout or only spending a few minutes to do something and then leaving it for days (weeks??).

[RogerB]

I’ve still to rebuild mine. R-

[Walkingthedog]

I actually ran a train, well a loco and one wagon, yesterday for the first time in months while I was building a cattle wagon kit. I’d been making the kit over 2 or 3 days and realised I hadn’t run anything.

[Steve M]

Laid out the chairs and pins to support the point rodding. Mocked up the over rail signal box positioned astride the branchline. The rodding is not a straight run as a ‘better’ position for the box would be adjacent to the TT but there is no space on the curve. Not very prototypical but it will have to do.
Unfortunately I forgot to order the brass wire for the rods - I did think I could use MIG wire from my welder but it’s surprisingly brittle when bent so that’s not going to work.
Had to content myself with running the hoover over the layouts - they changed colour as a result!

2021-08-08_05-19-18 by Steve Mumford, on Flickr

A neighbour has also dropped off a Wrenn A4 to be serviced - still with the original price tag on it - £16.95.

[Walkingthedog]

Have you thought about the signal box being sideways across the track with one end fixed to the wall and the other standing on legs?

Or even on a narrow base with a wide top overlapping the track.

[Steve M]

Have you thought about the signal box being sideways across the track with one end fixed to the wall and the other standing on legs?

I had considered it but decided that the TMC version looked better from the normal viewing position for the layout. I had also thought about scratchbuilding a version of the elevated box at Haltwhistle. I think the one I have on order will be ok once it’s in place.

[Walkingthedog]

Oki doki. Just a thought.

[bulleidboy]

"A neighbour has also dropped off a Wrenn A4 to be serviced - still with the original price tag on it - £16.95."

So he has had it for a year or two

[Steve M]

I knew the shop he bought it from, and they closed about 35 years ago. Apart from testing it a couple of years ago, I don’t think it has ever been run.
It’s a lovely loco that harks back to simpler modelling times.

[Steve M]

Work has officially come to a complete halt.

The brass rodding I ordered at the start of the week should have been here yesterday. Contacted the courier only to find that the parcel had been damaged and , “no you can’t inspect it to see if any of the rodding can be salvaged”.
The supplier has been very helpful but my order was the last of their stock so I’m waiting on their supplier now.

Also the TMC signalbox has yet to arrive but the French website indicates there may be two orders on the way! Your guess is as good as mine as to what actually turns up (if at all).

Meanwhile a cunning plan for turning the lift up section into a girder bridge to link the station and MPD is starting to form - yes, I’m still waiting for the postman.

It’s going to be a long week.