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Showing content with the highest reputation on 02/07/20 in all areas

  1. Morning all, off to golf soon, so rain forecast. Your morning photos are a bit of a contrast. 60123 on the West Riding is no more than ten years old, and in its prime. Whereas D11 Marne, pressed into service on the 5.03 to Grimsby is very much on its last legs. They did look very decrepit by 1958, as I recall.
    29 points
  2. Next stages................... Comet's crossheads are not handed and cater for both left- and right-hand sides, with the little end of the connecting rod running a pocket. This must be completely clear, with the assembly broached for clearance. Without modification, the little end will jam. Note how I've enlarged the bearing holes in both the big and little ends. The latter will be anathema to proper engineers, but remember that the rod will be driven by the wheels, not, as on the prototype, it driving them. Plenty of clearance means fewer chances of tight spots. The little end is held in place by a 16BA screw, secured with a 14BA nut, soldered securely in place. These are not supplied in the chassis kit. The piston rods are too long as supplied; better than their being too short! They must be shortened to fit. I do it by nibbling bits off with the Xurons. They mustn't be shortened too much, however. This is perfect. The crossheads (which are lost wax brass?) needed some cleaning up before they'd fit into the etched slidebars, but the fit was finally snug. Don't arrange the slidebars according to the drawing, otherwise they won't fit into the slots in the cylinder rears. The inner one needs shortening to remove the lug, otherwise the slidebars will end up too far back. More later................
    28 points
  3. Photos from visits to Grantham today. For some reason the weather was poor on each of these visits, my memory of Grantham is that the sun usually shone. Grantham Class 47 Parkeston Quay to Manchester July 80 J6994.jpg Grantham Class 254 up May 81 C5360.jpg Grantham 150148 Nottingham to Skegness May 87 J8910.jpg Grantham 43099 up 8th Jan 89 C11768.jpg Grantham 43097 down 8th Jan 89 C11769.jpg David
    25 points
  4. You know that heavy drizzle that you can hardly see, but gets into everything and can soak you through? That's what we had this morning, carried on a cool northerly wind. My putter and I didn't get on either, so I am glad to be home. We will have a plonk to celebrate.
    25 points
  5. Brown and cream remembered trains, blue remembered hills ….. John C.
    24 points
  6. Thanks Tony! I really enjoy the railway photography. I've found a few vantage points on the layout that I think really work.
    21 points
  7. And gone around the bend....
    21 points
  8. Brilliant as ever, Tony. Valve gear photos like you have posted are invaluable. 'A picture paints....' May I dare to offer a D120 LNER pigeon van. I know there is a little controversy surrounding these - possibly a jack of all trades, master of none. All I know is it looks reasonably LNER'ly to me. First attempt at Teak. It's perhaps a little darker than I wanted, depicting a van about 10-15 years old. Comments welcome, as long as they're nice
    20 points
  9. I find it impossible to drink alcohol when on my own, I just don't enjoy it, so none has passed my lips for several months now. I can't say that I miss it much either, which is a bit worrying. I have had a snooze though, and woken up feeling 'orrible, so I have promised myself sausages for dinner. Afternoon tea first though, and a picture to go with it.
    20 points
  10. All finished now.............. The motion support bracket, with everything hanging on. To hold the bracket, expansion link and radius rod in place, I solder a 14BA bolt to the bracket, both sides. I then fit the expansion link and radius rod over this, finally making all secure by soldering a brass crankpin washer over the inner end, then snipping off the excess. To prevent solder contamination causing binding, two Romford crankpin fibre washers are placed between the moving parts and any solder. Unfortunately, these most-useful little items are no longer available. Once happy, the inner supports were then soldered in place. Cylinders and motion support bracket just tacked in place for now - just to check all runs freely before a more-secure joint can be made. Everything now secure and running sweetly. I had to slightly crank the valve guides outwards, just to give greater clearance for the combination levers. Everything now in place, and time for a little running-in (not that any was really necessary). Cylinder drain cocks are 15Amp fusewire. In case anyone thinks it's taken me all day to erect the motion on this V2, I have done other things as well, and taking step-by-step pictures slows everything down. I hope my pragmatic approach to making valve gear has been made clear. Some components should be of a sandwich construction, or have forked ends. Such niceties are for those who take their loco-building more seriously than I do. This is yet another 'layout loco', and it satisfies my requirements for that. Any comments/brick-bats, most-welcome.
    19 points
  11. Today we are building valve gear....................... The intention (acting on a request) is to show how I go about erecting the Walschaerts motion on a steam-outline loco. I'll state, right from the outset, that I take a pragmatic view towards this most-onerous task; I simplify it, but still (I hope) capture this elegant arrangement in motion. Cylinders first. These are best made-up whilst still 'in the flat'. Annoyingly, all the pre-etched holes are much too small and all must be opened out with drills/broaches to accommodate the cast items. I know this is better than too-large holes at source, but there's still a bit to shift. Equally annoyingly, the cast metal valve guides are completely 'blind', and must be drilled to take the (dummy) valve rods. A cocktail stick aids alignment as parts are soldered together. Once happy that everything is in the right place, the assembly can be folded up. And popped into the frames to check the fit. It's essential that the body be tested for clearance at EVERY stage during the motion's construction. Clearances seem to be fine here. More later, as I carry on......................
    19 points
  12. I have a picture.....!
    19 points
  13. Quite a good morning, I've fitted all the Exit Tracks to the Door Fiddle Yard, and re fitted the three Fiddle Yard Tracks ready to re wire. For the Track feed to the Fiddle Yard there will be a Male / Female Plug that I will plug in as I bring it across. and unplug on it's return to the storage position. In the event that I forget to unplug there will be a strait pull for the lead to self detach.
    17 points
  14. Time for the latest update of 'Duff' Weekly..! 47807 and 47845 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr I've got previous form here and long time readers may remember my previous ramblings on the topic of modelling the much-missed ILRA pool of Virgin Cross-Country Class 47s! I'm somewhere approaching double figures with these and there's many more in the grand plan for the future! Newest additions to the fleet are 47807 The Lion of Vienna and 47845 County of Kent, recalling the great days of the last true widespread loco-hauled services on the UK network before Virgin's well-intentioned but ill-fated Operation Princess would change the game forever. Unlike the other Virgin repaints completed a few years back, we are now fortunate enough to have a ready to run Bachmann version available! 47807 and 47845 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr However, all is not as it first seems! 47807 and 47845 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Bachmann chose to model 47814, one of the earliest to go into the iconic red scheme, and as a result it had larger-than-standard yellow warning panels. So a simple renumber is not so easy unless you cut back on the yellow! I masked off the yellow to be retained, and set about scratching the excess yellow away with a sharp curve-blade scalpel, because it's applied over the top of the dark grey, it comes off a treat! 47807 and 47845 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Next came the individual machine modifications, few 47s were quite the same and roof mods needed doing on each of these before repainting. The number and name branding came off super quickly with Humbrol enamel thinners. As with the other locos previously, a coat of gloss varnish was applied to the model prior to new decals and nameplates being added, and then topped off with a coat of Railmatch matt varnish. Glazing is covered in Humbrol Maskol to save removing the windows, on some models such as these it's sometimes so well-glued that it's just easier to leave it in place! 47807 and 47845 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr A classic slice of Pet Shop Boys is the recommended background noise for life-extended Class 47 projects, accompanying the light weathering taking place on the roof and upper bodysides. The Virgin '47' fleet was generally kept pretty clean, often only picking up occasional oil streaks and grime in the places where the carriage washers wouldn't reach, barring the worst winter conditions, when they probably broke down anyway! 47807 and 47845 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr 47845 County of Kent was modelled with some minor streaking at the No.2 end, oily exhaust deposits brought down from the roof, with an otherwise-clean exterior. 47807 and 47845 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Little details were picked out such as the wear on the steps, I forgot to do the buffer greasing before the photoshoot but that was done as well, a little bit of gunmetal grey on a cotton bud to finish off! 47807 and 47845 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Of course I couldn't just stop at doing one more ILRA beast! 47807 and 47845 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr 47807 and 47845 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr 47807 The Lion of Vienna was a long-time favourite, having modelled it several times across Lima, Heljan and now Bachmann permutations! I just really liked the mysteriously exotic-sounding name as a kid and only later in life learnt about Nat Lofthouse and the Bolton Wanderers football connection - funny the incidental stuff that railway modelling teaches you! 47807 and 47845 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Virgin famously had numerous reliability problems with their Class 47 fleet, so it seemed appropriate to make another dummy model to be towed around as a dead-in-train failure, often rescued by an EWS no-heat dump, much to the joy of bashers and photographers alike! 47807 and 47845 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Bringing the story up to date, the locos have had interesting careers since their Virgin glory days. With their evocative Sulzer engines ripped out, both these locos were re-born as the second wave of GM Class 57s - the Virgin Thunderbirds! 47845 was to become Thunderbird 1, 57301 Scott Tracy and 47807 being transformed into 57304 Gordon Tracy! (though for the record, my favourite Thunderbird was always Thunderbird 3!) It was very much mixed feelings, while I was in the midst of peak Thunderbirds-fever making my homemade Blue Peter 'Tracy Island' in the early '90s I never imagined that one day my favourite railway locos would be ripped apart and come back with bold Thunderbirds branding! They did look superbly stylish when however. 57301 even had a spell in bright Network Rail yellow, and today both locos are still out there roaming, these days in more subdued DRS Blue - classy, but not a patch on 1990s Virgin red! 47807 and 47845 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr It's been great fun nostalgia bringing these two to life, and what with easy availability of Virgin 47's now, I can't imagine they will be the last! Cheers, James
    16 points
  15. 15 points
  16. I hope you're all well and managing to get on with a few modelling projects during these strange times. Probably well overdue an update...... so here it is. The Class 74 and Class 501 unit (#2) have finally been completed, as well as D3989 which has been sat in the works for some considerable time. A picture paints a thousand words, so here's three thousand's worth in one go! All the best. Kier
    15 points
  17. Tonight we have another Ivatt 4, bringing the 1245 from Yarmouth to its destination, some four hours ten minutes after it started. H A Ivatt is running through at the head of the West Riding.
    14 points
  18. With zen like patience, I finished off the point rodding by the engine shed. I was after a gentle curve rather than the slightly abrupt junction I've ended up with, but it'll do. Hopefully you'll agree that it looks a lot tidier than the other day!
    13 points
  19. Anyway, odd detail discrepancies apart, here is the second V2 posing for its 'official' picture. The too-long bracket is an irritant, but I can live with that............... All in all, though, it's as good a V2 as anything I've ever made - probably the best. Though RTR is getting better all the time, I still think there's no greater pleasure in this wonderful hobby than being able to say 'I made that'. Final testing on both the latest V2s was undertaken this evening...................... Both passed with flying colours, doing what any respectable ECML V2 should do - travel fast, hauling heavy trains. I can see I'll have to lengthen that reversing lever in the lower picture..................
    12 points
  20. The next stage.............. I admit, I can't rivet valve gear. Actually, that's wrong; I can rivet, but the result is either two components pinched together or way too slack! Thus, for joining moving components, I use brass lace-making pins and solder. As a barrier to the solder and to give a working clearance, Comet's instructions' paper is perfect. Once happy with the joint, the excess pin is snipped off and dressed clean. Both sides completed thus far. It's essential at this stage (at every stage) that all the moving parts have no tightness in them, before any oil is applied. Forewarned is forearmed....... If left full-length, the expansion links will foul the underside of the motion support bracket. More later......................
    12 points
  21. Good afternoon from a cloudy Charente. I've got a few more offerings. We start on what I am fairly certain was 4th March 1987 at a very cool Horbury Junction. I'd dropped Rachel off at school nearby and went down to photograph a royal working. I got there just as the grubbiest 47 I've ever seen was pulling the train off the Crigglestone branch where it had stabled overnight. The very grubby loco was swiftly replaced with a rather cleaner one shown here. The occupant was Princess Diana one her way to engagements in Leeds and Saltaire. What she thought about spending the night looking at the delights of Crigglestone lagoons and British Oak Coal Staithes is not recorded. None of my colleagues reported bumping into her in the Mosh pit at Rooftop Gardens in Wakefield that night. 1 Anyway it set off as a 141 approached and a 31 hauled freight can be seen in the background. Soon after this the junction was taken up and the Crigglestone branch could only be accessed from the Barnsley end. Next we are still in March and it's now the 21st and 5593 Kolhapur was in Leeds waiting to take a northbound Cumbrian Mountain Express. I thin the Peak had just come off the inbound working. She made a fine sight as she set off towards Carlisle. Hopefully some more tomorrow. Jamie
    12 points
  22. I wouldn't be treated by any homeopathist who didn't believe in it to the extent of letting you dip your payment in a glass of water as you leave rather than leaving it with them.
    12 points
  23. Bold claims for homeopathy: Uncle George and Aunty Mabel, Fainted at the breakfast table. This they took to be a warning. Not to do it in the morning. But “Phospherine” has set them right, Now they do it morn and night. Uncle George is hoping soon To function in the afternoon. 1956
    12 points
  24. Don't get excited Guys, as you can clearly see, it's the Lima one I did some work on last year, and a previously unused shot. I just thought I'd throw it in this morning to pacify the watchers with Cromptonovirus, or the lockdown blues. Just a note on the pic above, it's hard to tell that the shot is only about 11ft in total.
    12 points
  25. Still be a while before the layout is resurrected but in the mean time I picked up this little Loco yesterday, it’s been stored away safely in a shop for a few months,
    11 points
  26. Another scenery update this time with the added bonus of some freight action, LMS 8F 8434 does the honours on a westbound coal train.
    11 points
  27. Another good afternoon, and I have finished Ballasting the first Board, as I hadn't done anything since laying the new Points and Track Layout. I've decided to use new Ballast for what was once the MOD Line, and assume it has just been re laid, which of course it has.
    10 points
  28. The Gronks are out in force lately. Here is an EWS version, numbered as 08630 and wipers by Giles fitted front and back, Horn by DJ Parkins fitted instead of the whistle and more chunky vacuum pipes fitted rather than the anemic Dapol ones. Fitted with a ZIMO MX644D decoder with a Paul Chetter Activedrive sound project with both active braking, speed lock and correct lighting for this later version. Through one of my own bass reflex 3w speakers and a large capacity Gold Cap Stay Alive. Weathered as a slightly faded 'In service' loco. More soon Jinty
    10 points
  29. '19 at Leeds in May '68....
    10 points
  30. Sunday Parcels by Stephen Dance, on Flickr Didcot Colton Junction Crossing by Stephen Dance, on Flickr IMG_0032-1 by Pete Wilcox, on Flickr Reading NSE Appears by Stephen Dance, on Flickr Crofton
    10 points
  31. I wasn't expecting to see an actual photograph of a loco with your initials in the headcode! Excellent
    10 points
  32. 10 points
  33. Today's photos were taken just to the north of Lucker, so we are still on the ECML in Northumberland. There was a station at Lucker which closed in 1953, it had a very ornate building for a tiny village station. Goods facilities closed in 1965. There were also water troughs here. Information on Lucker station is available at: http://disused-stations.org.uk/l/lucker/index.shtml Lucker Class 254 up Aug 82 J7666.jpg Lucker 37528 and 47371 down l e 31st March 89 C11836.jpg Lucker 47816 up special April 89 J9860.jpg Lucker 91020 at rear and DVT up 30th Aug 91 C16578.jpg Lucker Class 43 down 7th April 93 C18413.jpg David
    10 points
  34. I'm calling this one done. Lovely little build, and will look lovely behind a D2 on a local service.
    9 points
  35. Sorry Neil The farmer was entirely in the wrong, he should state what crossing he is at when asked to do so by the signaller. My box has a prompt card near each phone concentrator which states as follows(written as it is written on the card). When receiving a call from a user worked crossing 1. State your LOCATION and your ROLE (Signalller at Signalbox) 2. Ask and reconfirm WHERE the user is calling from 3. Ask WHAT they are crossing with 4. HOW LONG will it take them to cross SAFELY 5. REPEAT BACK and CONFIRM with user I can't know for sure until the user tells me which crossing they are ringing from as (occasionally) we have had crossed lines because these crossing phones work over BT lines, they are not dedicated lines ( on 1 occasion a crossing phone rang and there was a lady on the other end phoning from her house saying she had just gone into labour and what should she do!). One location I work has 87 user worked crossings hence the need for the user to TELL ME where he wants to cross so I can cross reference with my chart which tells me the mileage of the crossing and the protecting signals. If the user like this farmer refuses to confirm their location as in point 2 above then I will refuse permission to cross. Ian
    9 points
  36. I'm a Railway Engineer not a Rough Engineer so bashing chisels with hammers is in my DNA. And yes, I sit behind a desk, mostly, getting paid for telling other people not so much how it should be done but how it shouldn't be done because we did it that way before and it all went t!ts up (technical term). It's a good life.
    9 points
  37. Another 45 mins of quick walking done. Next excitement will be an Ocado delivery. The kettle has just boiled, so it must be time for a photo. The Cravens prototype MK1 in the Northumbrian caught our man's eye.
    9 points
  38. Hi folks, Not much modelling done recently as I'm still working from home in the layout room but I'm having some good running sessions. One thing I changed a few weeks ago was the track cleaning fluid I was using. I know there is a lot of information out there about this so I will keep it brief! My previous process was; 1) track rubber 2) hoover bit from rubber 3) clean cloth with methylated spirits on the rail tops to finish. Even with a small layout such as mine this could take the best part of an hour. It gave a good clean finish which allowed for at least a week of good running. What I did notice was the fairly quick build-up of black surface scale when rubbed with a clean dry cloth after about 8-10 days. I have changed to use Servisol 'Super 10' contact cleaner sprayed onto a clean cloth only- no use of the rubber at all. It doesn't require such an abrasive action to clean and rubbing the rails after a number of weeks didn't produce any black staining at all. It makes sense being a mechanical contact cleaner and I had a small amount left in my stash from years ago it just took me a long time to put 2 + 2 together! I do use nitrile gloves and keep the room well ventilated when doing this as it is a bit pungent however. After my recent 3D printing trials and tribulations I decided against installing the electrical ground signals after it dawning on me that a mix of mechanical and electrical signals would not have been very common. Instead I installed static Ratio LNWR type semaphore ground signals which I had left over from a set when I kit-bashed the main/shunt signals some time ago. I am starting to think about adding some simple detail to the overcast photo back scene. I am thinking of airbrushing very subtle Pennine hills in two light brown and green shades and adding some faint building outlines. To mock up this I have crudely mocked up the following (in MS paint!): I think this could work okay but my main area of concern is above the over-bridge between the two large buildings. I will have to add some closer in-field detail to this area I suspect. Below are some images from part of a running session; mid/late morning. The Brit has arrived with an express and is being watered and turned before being a priority departure: The class 24 had arrived very early with a parcels train has finally shunted the empties and is waiting light engine at the ground signal for access to the MPD (ignore the disc headcode- I still haven't altered these!): A local arrives into platform 3, usually a DMU but there must have been a failure: Early afternoon shunting duties for the J50: The photographer has bolted onto the tracks...! A crude crop to finish: All the best, Pete
    8 points
  39. Following a further period of disinclination towards modelling, I have decided to recycle another old baseboard, as the basis of a small, simple, Glasgow area Stabling Point, c.1970/71. The board size is 5'4" x 1'. Main purpose is to have something I can test and run locos & DMUs etc at home, and use it as a "photo plank". Seen here during an enjoyable couple of hours "playing with stock and then track" to see what might work. And following cork being laid, with the main ladder of points having been fitted, following holes being drilled for point operation and Frog feeds. For expediency, I have gone back to Peco Code 75 for this project. Apart from the rear couple of tracks, I have tried to get away from the "all tracks parallel to the front of the layout look" by adding subtle curves where space permits. The rear (left) track will not be operational as such and is raised about 20mm, so that a rake of stock or DMUs can form a backdrop (my 6 car 126 is a perfect fit), possibly with a carriage shed wall or even just a skyline behind. A fueling area (mainly for DMUs) will be provided in the area where the class 29 is standing. Loco stabling will be in the open, primarily on the 2 tracks curving right at the far end, plus a siding at the front. A kickback siding may be added where the steel rule is, but the jury is out currently. Bridges will probably form scenic breaks at either end (yes, cliches I know!). Structures will be minimal, mainly a couple of small signing on type buildings and the fueling point, possibly a fuel tank if the kickback siding isn't added, to act as a further view blocker. The idea is locos and 2 car units can be shuffled around as is, or with the addition of a 20" bolt on fiddle yard, they can arrive and depart offscene. More soon hopefully. Martyn.
    8 points
  40. A glass of plonk at lunchtime is a restorative. Ask me how I know!
    8 points
  41. Mine came yesterday, just in time for the 3rd class coach to be ordered. Quite rare to see a terrier dwarf a coach or a tender engine... I went for the non special set to avoid duplicating coach names. Though the two sets (1980s vs 2020s) are like comparing chalk and cheese! She will only pull the 3 coaches if the layout is dead flat. She slipped a bit on 1/150 inclines.
    8 points
  42. … and finally I understand the attraction of gardening, a means of getting rid of the soil from the escape tunnel!
    8 points
  43. Agreed, Don, Modbury is a beautiful layout. It’s a dilemma, isn’t it? Pick a scale where you can get the full scenic picture for somewhere looking really good, but the models are awfully small, or go for happy size models, and then struggle to squash them in a nice setting. There’ll never be a perfect solution, I’m afraid.
    8 points
  44. I like the drawing of G R Brewley today, proving how well it works. Reminds me a bit of a lyric in Flight Of the Conchords "Summer of 1353": I Said, "Stable Man, would I be able To hire a horse from Which to woo milady?" "Sire, there are two things That I must see One florin and One form of picture ID" "Alas, I have no ID on me Who even carries ID? It's 1353" "I maketh not the rules" Quoth he I had a very unflattering Tapestry made of me
    8 points
  45. Indeed, Smellarat sounds more like it's a town in Victoria.
    7 points
  46. Quick update to the last post: Using a dremel with a sanding drum I removed the half etched inserts. The arrangement on the end of the bolt is a small piece of a spring, 2mm Axle bearing, a whitemetal washer all held in placer with a bolt. The bogie has two bits of wire, the front one goes over the rear driven axle and in conjunction with the rear one, limits side and, back/forth movement. It looks overly complex, and it sort of is - but it works! The small piece of spring helps to no end.
    7 points
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