Category Archives: Progress

Quarter 3 2005

Again in the third quarter we have made good progress. Paul and Chris have now finished wiring the switches and switch motors on the front of the layout – and have now connected them up with looms of cable which will lead to two point control panels – one for each end of the layout. We intend to operate the layout with two operators, one at each end, and one controlling the eastbound tracks and one the westbound tracks. However, the wiring looms will be flexible to that both panels can go at one end, or a the back, or at the front. We’ll see what works best

Chris has also nearly finished the Hooven Mercantile building – he’s even modelled the back. He only has to do the characteristic fire escape on the side to complete it and we have all the parts for that now.

Steve and Paul in particular are now spending a lot of time in preparation for the Merseyside exhibition at the end of October – we’ll put links in to the photos of that if you’re interested.

Photos include: Hooven Mercantile in all it’s glory – built by Chris (& us all relaxing).

Quarter 2 2005

Once again in the second quarter we are making good progress – once again it is mostly invisible! Paul with the help of Chris has continued to wire the switches and switch motors on the front of the layout – a tedious but essential job that has caused much debate!

However, more has been going on – Steve has now built the fifth building on Susquehanna Street and Chris has started on the Hooven Mercantile building. Steve has continued with the rock face above the road on the RH side and has finished carving and painting and weathering it.

Photos include: Steve’s fifth buiding; Paul and Chris have been wiring up the switches; Chris has been building the Hooven Mercantile building like a true Architect (he is one); And the rock face – it will look better with vines and bushes, I expect.

Quarter 1 2005

Once again in the first quarter we are making good progress – once again it is mostly invisible! Paul with the help of Chris has been wiring the switches on the front of the layout. Steve has been finishing the magnets for automatic uncoupling.

Steve has also rebuilt the fourth building on Susquehanna Street (the previous version just wasn’t up to scratch). Chris has added the handrail to the bridge and Steve has rebuilt the wall between the road and railroad, and then painted and weathered it. The rock face behind is being started using rock moulds.

The photos show some of the CNJ rolling stock that we have now accumulated on our Open Day at the start of May. We now have F3s from Stewart (AB – tangerine & blue), Athearn (A – green and yellow), An RS3, SW9 and S1 and RS12 (the latter two not actually seen at Mauch Chunk) and an FM H15-44 in blue with tangerine stripes. You can also see the weathered coal hoppers (Steve’s) and the filled hoppers (Paul’s). None of our steam is running on this day.

Quarter 4 2004

We have speeded up this quarter – Chris has moved on to building the bridge over the railroad (and over the river in the prototype). Paul has continued with the wiring, and has now finished all of the boards – a high quality piece of work. Steve has inserted pairs of ceramic magnets from Radio Shack under the trackwork at the front to act as uncouplers, and is working on the 4th and 5th buildings on Susquehanna Street. The photo extravaganza below was mainly taken on the open day at the start of December. Other bridge photos have been added in a special bridge page under the Projects heading.

Quarter 3 2004

We have plodded on this quarter – Chris has continued to focus on building replacement lighting gantries for taking club layouts to exhibitions and finished them for the exhibition at the end of October. Paul has continued with the wiring, and has now finished most of the boards on the front of the layout as well. Steve has continued scenic modelling on the “Lehigh River” at the front of the layout and has made good progress. The photos show some of this: The river stones starting out – a mixture of Woodland scenics cork and other light modelling stones laid into dilute PVA and, after some painting. First spray-painting with tan, then darker grey, and finally dry-brushing with light grey. The river finish is temporary – finalising it more at this stage would result in damage as areas behind are modelled. There will also be a lot of greenery added later.

Quarter 2 2004

Progress has slowed a little this quarter – mainly as Chris has been focusing on building replacement lighting gantries for taking club layouts to exhibitions. However, Paul has plodded on with the wiring, and has now finished his sixth board (all in the storage yard) – the wiring really is beautiful if you like that sort of thing. As I write he has started on the front boards. Steve has been doing some scenic modelling on the front wall and making a lot of noise carving stones out of plaster with his mini-drill. The photos show all this:

Photos include: Firstly Paul and the rewiring – by early June, all the four rear baseboards and the end boards had been wired and tests have ensured that trains will run. In early June, all the baseboards were re-assembled and the layout looked quite good. Paul started on the wiring of the front boards later in June. Steve worked on the wall along the Lehigh river – more details can be found on a project page – the river wall.

March 2004

Progress also continued well in February and March. Chris put finishing touches to the turnouts and trackwork on the front of the layout and Paul removed, wired and replaced two baseboards as he starts the laborious task of wiring the layout. Although we will use DCC eventually, he is wiring for standard operation at the start with four blocks. Chris has also built and placed a model weighscale (see archive photo #707).

Photos include: The wiring (I didn’t get the exciting photos of Paul actually doing it) is, as usual, quite inspiring! Chris starting on the finishing touches at the baseboard joints, and an open view of the layout without the backboard – removed so that baseboards can be taken out and wired. The (non-functioning) weighscale built by Chris (see photo #707)and a caboose under construction by Steve.

January 2004

Progress picked up in January and the photos show this. Chris and Paul forged ahead with the switches on the front of the layout and they are now all in place (although not wired or motored) and working! Even Steve has had a go at laying switches in the staging yard to provide new storage sidings – he has also finished most of the work on the third building.

Before we focus on the switches, here are the three buildings so far completed, Chris and Paul showing that laying switches is a very serious job, and three old HO hands assessing progress!

The completed switches as laid in January by Paul, Steve (some only) and Chris.

Quarter 4 2003

Progress over the autumn has continued slow, mainly as a result of spending time on society business. However, the pace has now picked up and progress is more obvious.

This is what we have been up to:
To start with here are some general shots taken on our Open Day in early November. Paul has continued to build switches (pointwork) for the front of the layout and he has been joined by Chris in this. Chris has started on the pilings that hold back the track after the wall has collapsed. Steve has finally started on the next (third) building on Susquehanna Street and, finally, we have acquired an RS3 and S1 to add to our F3 and SW9 – with some dull-coat and weathering these will fit in well when we model the early fifties.

Quarter 3 2003

Progress over the summer has been exceptionally slow, mainly as a result of vacations and having to spend time on society business. Chris has also been very busy building lighting gantries for the MMRS – however, we are certain that normal service will resume as as soon as possible !!

This is what we have been up to:
Steve has finished (except for the shop interiors – which Ian is doing) the first two buildings on Susquehanna Street. Paul has been busy too, building switches (pointwork) for the front of the layout; here he is being carefully supervised by Bill, our tea-bar manager. Paul has also painted and decalled an ATSF switcher into CNJ livery.