WEST ORTON

[Steve M]

Ventured out to the shed to stick some mileposts on the layout. Also planned to run in ‘Edward Thompson’ - it looks good but runs like three legged donkey! The tender is a bit suspect over pointwork, but as I had to adjust the pickups I think I may have got them a bit tight. May also need a bit of extra weight in the back.

As usual, a new loco reveals issues with the track - the recent cold weather has caused a board joint to go out of alignment in the station area. Strange as this is a joint that has never been an issue before so I guess if it doesn’t settle when the weather warms up it will need to be relaid.

20221221_103144 by Steve Mumford, on Flickr

[Walkingthedog]

I’ve always like the Thompson locos although many considered them ugly.

[bulleidboy]

Nice loco and a great picture. Are the ground signals mounted a little way (a foot) from the point?

[Steve M]

Nice loco and a great picture. Are the ground signals mounted a little way (a foot) from the point?

They will be. This one was placed for demonstration purposes only .
I had made a load that came with the Ratio signal kits used elsewhere but they were way too fragile. I saw these at Warley and bought a small pack to try out - I now have another four packs in the post. They are still liable to break just by looking at them so after painting I put a drop of superglue where the four legs meet the base (weakest point) and cured it with an activator spray. Dries clear and turns the four slender legs into a single piece.
The thing I like about these is that they are supplied with a sheet of sticky backed signal faces rather than having to paint them individually.

[Steve M]

It turns out that even though we live on the outer edge of one of the largest conurbations in the South East, Royal Mail class my address as ‘rural’ and is therefore low priority for mail deliveries.
Anyway, the parcel arrived today and the new loco jacks are now in the shed.

2022-12-21_05-10-27 by Steve Mumford, on Flickr

[Walkingthedog]

That looks perfect.

[Walkingthedog]

Why would rural be low priority, you could be running an important business.

[Steve M]

Why would rural be low priority, you could be running an important business.

If I was, this time next year I’d be a millionaire.....Rodney.
Just as well I decided not to take on any painting commissions over the winter this year - too cold.

[RogerB]

That whole scene looks amazing. R-

[cheshire lines]

Your shed scene looks fantastic!

I did put a few ground signals on my layout, but they soon got damaged when I was cleaning the tracks with a track rubber.