Gingerbread

Hallam Town has now been relocated from its Yorkshire origins, and over the weekend it was seen in the Ladies Waiting Room at Eridge Station, as part of the Spa Valley Railway's model railway exhibition. David

I've not found much of a formal nature, but the consensus seems to be that strong UV light (e.g. sunlight) is the main danger, causing brittleness. Possibly of interest to the dentists among us is http://www.sdclucknow.com/Journal2012/Dental materials/298_303_Longevity-of-materials-for-pit-and-fissure-sealing—Results-from-a-meta-analysis_Kühnisch.pdf This seems to suggest UV-cured resin is significantly less long-lasting than some of the alternatives. Yes, painting seems to be a good defence, but little information on what characteristics are needed in the paint. I've seen epoxy recommended, but that doesn't seem suitable in the typical use-case here. David

Other articles which may be relevant to wheel-turning include: Reinventing the Wheel? by Dr Nick Mitchell August 2014 p69 Wheel turning tip by Alan Pearson August 2011 p67 David

Not yet, but I think I will need something similar (but simpler) if/when I progress to tenders, and similarly for the top corners of some of the GWR coal wagons, though any crude short cuts will be less obvious in them than in a dome. David

I'm also an OpenSCAD user, though I've not yet got far enough to input one of my creations to a printer. Its parametric approach seems to suit me, and appears to handle my current examples, mostly wagons. As has been said here and elsewhere, I think it would struggle with complex curves, though I have seen Chris Higgs using it for a Belpaire firebox. Rendering does get painfully slow, so I am currently using a parameter to include/omit most of the details for a quick preview facility. David

Some of us do (have a clue, at least in this instance). David

Quite a complicated subject. I will try to point you in the right direction for further research. Don's link to the relevant page on the gwr.org site is useful, and also useful would be a couple of articles on GWR DC brakes in the 2mm magazine by Richard Brummitt in June and August 2014. The 5-plank O3 is relatively straightforward. Initially fitted with DCI brakes, as covered in the gwr.org article, by 1940 the brakes would probably have been adapted to comply with Board of Trade regulations. The O5 is more complicated. Firstly a typo has crept into the shop listing - it should be 4 plank, not 5 plank. Over 20,000 4-plank wagons were built by the GWR from 1888 to 1902, of which only the last 500 were given the O5 diagram, and these were indeed built with DCI brakes. The remainder were built before the diagram number system was introduced, with "normal" single-sided lever brakes, were initially not given a diagram number, but most survived to the 1930s and were allocated the diagram number O21 as they were upgraded to comply with the brake regulations by addition of a second independent brake lever on the "other" side. Hope that helps David

A few minor points to add to previous replies: Area Group - Your nearest appears to be Oxford, but I'm not sure if it's still active. Soldering - different people will offer slightly different suggestions. Personally I largely follow Jim's, but would add a couple of comments: Continue to hold the soldered parts in place for a while after removing the soldering iron tip. This is where Bob Jones' suggestion of a third hand (preferably with asbestos fingers) would be useful! Clean thoroughly afterwards - I use an ultrasonic cleaner Diesels For prototypical Western usage, Farish Class 24 or 25 would probably be a good choice for an easy drop-in wheel conversion. Similarly Class 20, but I don't think they appeared on the Western. Alternatively Dapol Class 22, but that would require the wheels to be sent off to Gordon for re-profiling. Likewise Warships and Westerns. Steam Farish 64xx should be a good drop-in wheel replacement (when the wheels are back in stock), and there is a matching autocoach. Also the Farish Castle, where the loco wheels should be in stock but I'm not sure what the tender wheel solution is - possibly sending off to Gordon. Slightly more challenging is the Association solid brass chassis for the Dapol/Ixion Manor, but also suiting Dapol Grange and Hall. It can also be used for 43xx Mogul, where 3D printed body is available from other suppliers, and similarly the Saint. Etched replacement underframes are available for most other GWR locos, including 14xx, 57xx, 28xx, 61xx, 45xx, either from the Association or from Members. David

I agree. A couple of examples - the pitchfork is probably 30+ years old, and still in regular use, the scythe is rather older, but not used so often. David

Rumours of a future extension to Sodor have been strongly denied by the management! David

Andover - Modelex 2018, September 1st and 2nd. Llangerisech was conveniently situated in the corner of a large sports hall. The prohibition of "Exterior Footwear" was ignored by operators, spectators and management alike. Those of food and drink were honoured (mostly). Late Sunday afternoon saw the approach and arrival of a slightly unconvincing visitor: David

RailWells - August 11th Various parts of John Greenwood's North Cornwall Railway: Padstow Wadebridge Tresarret and Clay Dries As labelled Wenford Bridge St Blazey and other 2FS layouts present: Alan Whitehouse's rebuilt Mini MSW Mick Simpson's Callaton Jim Allwood's Bordesley North not forgetting John Birkett-Smith's Ashburton David

I recommend Shire Scenes for etched models of horse-drawn vehicles.Web site at http://www.shirescenes.co.uk/index.html Of the whitemetal offerings, I generally prefer Langley Web Site at http://www.langley-models.co.uk/ David

Stephen Harris may do one. His list at http://2mm.org.uk/small_suppliers/stephenharris/index.htm (which is dated July 2015) lists one for future release. David

A few photos of the layouts on display. Mick Simpson was taking photos which I presume will appear in the Magazine in due course. Work-in-progress on Modbury. Ian Smith's Buffalo, with a train mainly comprising coaches from his own sheet of etches. Holywell Town, by Adrian Cherry. Development work on Andy Carlson's Hayle North. A tractor driving system, reminiscent of Laurie Adams' Yeovil Pen Mill which appeared at Tutbury a year or two ago. Brain Hume's Annedale Town Gomersall Town, by Steve Dunkeyson Mick SImpson's Callaton David

London Festival of Railway Modelling, Alexandra Palace, March 24-5 2018. Llangerisech was flying the 2FS flag this year. Access to the hall to set up on Friday afternoon was difficult - Nigel's car was allowed into the hall, but required to park at the far corner from the layout's location, requiring a lengthy carry of all the component parts across a crowded hall. Situation around 3pm - most of the layout parts awaiting assembly: Situation about an hour later, layout up and running, in a very convenient corner location: Some of the highlights of the layout: In the foreground, Mercury, probably the best all-round loco, in terms of both appearance and performance. Behind it is Tre,Pol and Pen, an older loco recently rebuilt to improve its haulage powers, but still needing a bit more running in And in the background is the updated station pilot. Previously it used skids to improve current pickup, at the expense of traction, and struggled to handle the heaviest rakes of coaches, The skids have now been removed, a shunters truck added to provide extra pickup, and it now happily handles the heaviest tasks. A closer view of the station pilot and shunters truck: A couple of views of some of the horse-drawn vehicles added recently. A better camera (or a better photographer) might have revealed the writing on the delivery bicycle in the second photo, and allowed readers to recognise that the figure in the first photo is a model of Nigel, scanned and 3D printed by ModelU.: And the classic view of the layout from the end - readily accessible to the viewing public in the corner location.. There is a similarly popular view of the end of the fiddle yard at the opposite end of the layout. Traffic congestion getting from car park to the hall delayed the loading of the layout after knockdown on Sunday evening, but not too seriously. Overall a successful and enjoyable weekend. David

Nottingham Model Railway Society Exhibition, 17th and 18th March 2018. I spent Saturday helping Richard Wilson with Lambourn - here he can be seen taking some of his own close-up pictures, before the crowds arrived. The roof of the station building had recently been rebuilt And some of the trees hiding the exit to the fiddle yard had been replaced. The Roadshow was conveniently situated next door. An enjoyable day out for me, despite the snow making it a rather challenging journey David

Another possibility to consider - Nigel Ashton used Redutex to good effect for his corrugated goods shed for Llangerisech. See http://festiveroad.net/wealden2mmblog/archives/541 and I think the product is found at https://www.dccsupplies.com/item-p-107506/corrugated-roofing-weathered-redutex-148ti121.htm As I recall the general opinion of Redutex is that scale is very variable, this is one of their more accurate offerings. You can also see some of my buildings using a mixture of techniques on the Wealden Blog at http://festiveroad.net/wealden2mmblog/archives/691 David

See also Julia's "mangle" at http://www.rmweb.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=23703&start=100#p434453 Similar to David Long's suggestion, I picked up some from an exhibition fairly recently (probably Railex 2016 or 2017). I think it was from Ambis, and profile appeared to be about 0.5mm so fairly accurate for 2mm scale. See details of their larger products at http://ambisengineering.co.uk/EIW.pdf I've also had some success in using a suitable razor saw blade to "scrape" styrene sheets, though only on small areas. David

A challenging weekend at Stevenage for the Chiltern Model Railway Association Exhibition - full size railways had serious electrical connectivity problems all weekend on the line from London, and communications to would-be-passengers left a lot to be desired on Saturday. We were seriously understaffed on Sunday on Llangerisech, so apologies to those other 2mm modellers who may have found us a bit reluctant to stop and chat. Photos all taken Sunday morning before doors opened to visitors. A few photos of Kingswear. a rare visitor to this part of the world: As usual at Stevenage (formerly St Albans), a strong presence of 2mm demonstrators - probably still at breakfast when I took these photos: Kim, Jerry and Julia adjacent to Llangerisech The Roadshow, which featured Chairman Andy and ex-Chairman Jim as usual, tucked away behind Kingswear And I know John Russell was there with Pauline on their usual "Forced Perspective" stand, but unfortunately didn't locate it before I had to return to duty on Llangerisech. David

Llangerisech flew the 2FS flag at Warley for a somewhat exhausting weekend. There was an urgent call on Nigel for p-way repairs each morning, after which the layout ran well, and received numerous compliments from spectators who felt it captured the atmosphere of mid/north Wales A rather superfluous sign at that point - before the crowds arrived and the trains started running Saturday's guest operator, D869 (aka Andy Carlson) brought along a couple of unlikely visitors - rather too heavy for the Cambrian trackwork, and a little out-of-era. The Roadshow was next door. Grandad Jerry was about 30 yards further back demonstrating, and a couple of other 2FS members were helping out elsewhere in the hall. As usual, some models seemed badly overscale, and weathering was a bit under-done. David

To expand on what Andy has just said, as of about 3 weeks ago: 9mm wheels, suitable for the 64xx pannier, were available - I received my back order then 9.5mm wheels, recommended for the above model, were not yet back in stock - new castings are/were required. Same sizes are suitable for the Jinty. 11mm wheels for Manor/Grange were out of stock, a few 11.5mm available 12mm wheels for Hall were in good supply 8mm extended axle drivers (for tenders of the above) were in relatively short supply Probably worth checking with the relevant shopkeeper before finalising your order. David

The Hall and Grange shouldn't be a problem - or more accurately should become a non-problem when the relevant kits and wheels become available. Nigel Ashton produced a conversion kit for the Manor, using a solid brass chassis. This should shortly be available from the Association, in a slightly revised form (dimensions adjusted for metric gears instead of imperial, I think) The early version has been successfully used for Grange and Hall conversions (same wheelbase) - see blog posts by Andy Carlson (D869) at http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/722/entry-15524-finescaling-a-hall/. Recent Farish locos can be converted by a fairly simple "drop in" procedure - pioneered for the Jinty. Similar components are available for Dapol locos. In both cases you will probably need to create your own connecting/coupling rods, valve gear etc. David

This weekend, September 9th and 10th, STEAM (Swindon) Apologies for picture quality - lighting was "challenging" (rather dim), and camera batteries died before I had chance to take a few more photos. Ian Smith's Modbury, on its first public outing Llangerisech and a highly appropriate adjacent display Another maiden public display - Mick Simpson's Callaton This one seemed rather over-sized As was this Jerry Clifford's Demo/Roadshow stand - before the rush... A very enjoyable weekend Links to a couple of videos of the event (no connection) : David

From Railex. Alan Whitehouse's Hallam Town. Almost built in a weekend at last year's Railex Jerry Clifford's latest - William Smith's Wharf Bob Jones' Fence Houses Victoria Viaduct Which won the "Best Model in the Show" award and Fence Houses came second by a single vote to Pempoul for "Best Layout". David