Summer break - Stock changes

Welcome back after an unannounced summer break from the layout & modelling in general.

There has been a complete loss of mojo recently, which has happened before & I’ve no idea why it occurs, it just does every now & then!?
Anyway for what has been a good couple of months there’s been a distinct lack of movement in the loft, despite a new WiFi control system being added to the gaugemaster prodigy system. This is working well & I’m still learning what I can & cannot do with it at the moment.

The big changes are the amount of stock movement that have been going on.
The all singing all dancing Accurascale class 66 have been the latest new additions to the fleet recently, but I have a problem with 66s….I like them & they do provide a welcome splash of colour to the real railway & model world, so much so I couldn’t resist buying 66 679 “Evening Star” (& adding a sound chip/speaker/clips/crew)
Heres the but & it’s a big but! They just don’t have the charm of the older British built diesels like 37s 20s even in model form they’re just a bit meh….
The Accurascale model is wonderful & they’ve done a great job on improving what was a good model from Hattons, I’m not ruling out buying more in the future, but for now nah I’ll stick to 37s!

Talking of older British built locos, class 58s are a personal favourite of mine. A few months back I got hold of EFErail/Bachmann/Heljan EWS 58039 factory weathered, I added sound & it was set to work hauling the MGR rake, trouble is I really fancied one in Coal Sector colours, but couldn’t find one at a decent price…..until a couple of weeks back.
58018 was added to the fleet. Ironically I’m planning to re-number it to 039, the real locomotive was named “Rugeley Power Station” which was down the road from here until a couple of years ago, sadly now demolished.
The order to Fox Transfers has been placed for etched name plates & number transfer sets, so watch this space!

Talking of re-numbering, Bachmann class 20302 was the first model that I’ve re-numbered & she’s been waiting for quite a while now for a DCC decoder, this task has been completed & to see two matching Direct Rail Services 20s running together has been a highlight for me, I’ve got a feeling there will be plenty of running for the pair over the next few months.

Anyway I hope you enjoy watching the clips this month.
Thanks for watching.

See you soon John b 😎