I don't do anything by halves!
So it's two weeks later and look what I've acquired...
Just now waiting on an R.504 engine shed as the original one I ordered got lost in the post.
In summary, it consists of the following:
- R8000 Country Station Set
- R590 Station Halt
- R8002 Goods Shed
- R539 Railway Cottage
- R8005 Signal Box
- R076 Footbridge (this had missing parts but I picked up another cheaply to donate parts from to complete it)
- Several R460 and R462s to complete my station plans
I've also picked up another loco this week - a Bachmann LMS 3F from the Midland Marvel set. It's missing the accessory pack but I can source another quite cheaply. I did take delivery of an Airfix LMS 4F as well but it arrived with couplers that won't stay on, parts broken off, and doesn't run very nicely due to an unquartered wheelset. I could've fixed it all up but decided it wasn't worth the effort when the seller was offering free returns through eBay.
So instead this weekend I've just managed to secure a newer Hornby LMS 4F (with loco drive), as well as a super detailed LMS 8F, a Fowler LMS 2-6-4T, and an LMS 2P - the latter has tender drive but looks to be in good condition. I think I'll keep my eye out for one of the newer loco drive versions (in either BR or SDJR) to try and do a transplant... unless Hornby release an LMS version at some point.
That leaves me with the following still to collect for my LMS collection:
- Crab
- G2A
- Fairburn 2-6-4T
- 4P Compound (Bachmann)
- Jubilee
- And if I'm ever lucky enough, the ex-CR 812 class and Midland 0-4-4T 1P
Along with whatever else gets released in future of course!
In addition to the above I also picked up this quite cheaply:
Just for a bit of a fun and to get some useful extras - I figured I can add a bit of operational fun to the layout plan by using the mailbag system occasionally! The extra Stanier coach is useful to have as well to bulk out my passenger stock.
I've spent some time this week thinking about wiring as well and wondering if I even need to do any isolation for my DC layout plan.
The fiddleyard is entirely Setrack points so no isolation should be required there as they will route power as needed. It's in the scenic area where I'm using the unifrog and electrofrog points that I may have issues and I'm wondering if I should just use insulfrog points (not setrack geometry) there instead to make life easier. If I add a high frequency track cleaner to the circuit that should help with slow speed running over them. They'd also be cheaper in the long run with no need for frog polarity switching.
I think I'm ready to order the plywood to build the baseboards too but trying to decide if incorporating the backscene support is a useful way to go. It'd limit the scenic space to exactly where the boards join in the middle which means losing about 5cm of scenic space from the plan above. Finding another way of supporting the backscene would make baseboard construction simpler (as they'd all be identical then) as well as allowing a bit more scenic depth so I'm leaning towards that at the moment.
