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5th October 2008 It has been an ‘interesting’ year – with little time for Burton …As can be read in the ‘What’s New’ The Last train for the original Burton Crumpnold Layout ran in September… I needed to put the layout away as the room it has been living has no roof at the moment – whilst we have an extension built above it.. In addition to this my nagging dissatisfaction with the track issues at the rear of the layout has made me decide to ‘Decommission’ the layout. (OK Keep the Buildings etc trash the track).Coming out of the ashes of Burton Crumpnold is a portable ‘End To End’ layout built from the upper station sections and a new fiddle yard. Hopefully I will be able to run this layout at exhibition (If they will have me..) Here is a ‘Last Running’ Photo of the Layout, with all buildings removed… .. Plus a sad sight of the layout ready for the Skip… After my experiences with curved points these were not recycled……

Lots of things have been going on – but sadly no updates. The biggest task has been to make the website work after I changed service providers – all should be OK now.

I have also dipped my toe into the land of DCC.
I bought a Pendolino DCC train set during the summer, the Pendolino was on my shopping list plans for the year and the digital train set seemed a great way to have a look at what DCC can offer.

With very minor changes to the control panel – mostly involving rewiring the ‘power feed’ plug – I managed to change the layout to DCC operation. The only issue with just using the Hornby select controller it that there is not enough ‘omph’ from the 15v supply to properly operate the points. This will just involve having a separate supply for the point CDU.

I have had a go adding DCC decoders to my DCC ready Class 121 DMU and Class 57 loco. I am also investigating upgrading my class 110 DMU to DCC – with lights. We will see if my soldering is up to the job…..

Playing with DCC – Next time use shorter wires…

Hornby Select Controller – Basic – But Fun

Other acquisitions of the past couple of months are a class 166 Turbo DMU – special offer from Rails and a surprise from Hornby in releasing the GWR liveried LBSCR ‘Terrier’. I have added all these to the stock pages with photographs etc.

The next major ‘Website’ task is to add the freight rolling stock pictures and details pages… Lets see how long these will take…

I have completed most of the scenery (for now!!) I have taken some more pictures and Updated the ‘Photographs’ pages. For a while I’m planning to enjoy ‘playing trains’ over the summer. Then it’ll be time to up date the scenery and add pictures to the freight and road vehicle stock pages.

I’ve been continuing with the scenery – particularly the upper station area which I have neglected until now. I have been also adding fencing the stations and improved the look of the ‘green’ areas of the layout. The work has been sporadic up till June but is going well now. All being well I will be done by the end of this month.

Father Christmas has come to Burton…. The Hornby Class 121 ‘Bubblecar’ DMU and GWR railcar have arrived along with the Bachmann Class 108 DMU. I will add the photographs soon.

Been busy on Ebay this week having a bit of a stock clearout – Mostly stuff that has been ‘upgraded’ or just will not get proper use.  I’m planning to use the proceeds to buy the Hornby Blue Class 121 and GWR railcars (when they arrive).

Now the Summer Holidays (and Summer) are a dim and distant memory it is now time to get back the the layout.  I have almost finished photographing the  stock, I finished the Corporate Blue BR, Virgin and Thomas stuff this afternoon assisted by the afternoon sunshine, there are just a few items left to do. I am very limited by daylight as the ‘railway room’ is rather dark, even with all the lights on…. I am planning to ease this problem during a trip to Ikea later this month when I can get some suitable lighting.  An upside to photographing the stock is that I’ve been able to take a few extra ‘layout’ pictures, particularly of the more modern stock.

The great task of photographing the stock continues – when any time (and light) is available.  I’ve now finished all the steam stock and most of the ‘Corporate Blue’ BR – Just the Modern ‘Virgin’ and ‘Thomas’ to do.  It has been taking an age to ensure I have a nice variety of shots of the loco’s coaches and wagons.  As a ‘background’ project I have been improving the fencing and general vegetation around the main station area.  As can be seen below with the Class 44 ‘Penyghent’.