pheaton

The other one i havent seen mentioned...is in the early years of the 158s, they very very frequently seen with a sprinter attached...and the reason was that because they didn't have tread brakes, dirt on the wheels would build up and insulate them from track circuits, so a 15x was normally added to formation because they had tread brakes. 158s were eventually modified with a tread brake on the outer wheelset of each car to resolve this problem.

Sounds like it needs an auto tune, I used to get similar with Biffs projects on some Hornby locos, https://dccwiki.com/LokSound_Auto_Tune see there, you will need either a rolling road or a decent length of track as during autotune the loco sometimes gets up to some speed!

Absolutely andy, i think there were two problems, the felt supplied with the cabin was not of the best quality but there is also me overlooking the fact that there was no underfelt or membrane

Sorry about the delay @Moley48 weather has been atrocious, and 45149 is resisting all attempts by me to get it ready for a new seasons running... DISCLAIMER...my railway room is a tip and I'm in the middle of dismantling and rebuilding my next layout, but ive made the mistake of trying to plan it properly....so im not getting anywhere :) So thats a dunster house double glazed i think it was a modetro cabin, its about 9 years old now, the roof is something i put on last year and ill explain why i took that course of action, its double glazed and its the middle log size (40mm) i think... No rot its stood up well, obviously the bearers on the floor are pressure treated, the rest of the cabin is not...it sits on the dunsterhouse rapid grid system which has pea gravel in it to prevent water build up, air can get underneath the cabin which is essential. As i said double doors is pain....i believe there is a mistake in the frame sizing which leads to a gap at the top, you can adjust the doors (trust me you will need to) the biggest issue in my opinion is they dont have a central pillar they meet in the middle, but they are an absolute pig to align, and i believe i will have to replace these with a set of custom doors at some point soon the other issue is the glazing is far too heavy for the door and its starting to deform it as you can see on the right hand door. @duncan eluded to a problem with the corners and we can see they are starting to splay out and i secure these to the frame, trust me the cabin wont collapse it can sometimes create a gap, duncan mentioned a tie rod my problem is higher up so i will probably use 4mm angle iron in the web of the wall. you may not get this issue my problem is i think that corner has sunk by about an inch. two views of the inside.....show you the roof configuration, ideal for insulating...but it can mask leaks from the roof which with felt can be common because as the roof expands and contracts it can tear the felt. but there may be ways to avoid this... be prepared to install extra ventilation it can sweat a lot in winter. be prepared for an incredible amount of movement in the first few years, you need to keep on top of it to make sure any gaps between logs that form close up... if i was to do this again...i would use a concrete base, a lot more expensive but much more stable!

My layout is in a dunster house log cabin, the advice i would say is if you can afford it go for the thickest logs as this gives a more stable wall, they do move about a lot but eventually settle down, id also avoid (if you can) double doors, as they are a pain to align and keep aligned. Oh and try to avoid building during the winter because that is when the wood will be swollen and expansion gaps are crucial in the roof as they will start to tear the felt which will cause leaks...going forward. i have completely re-roofed mine with tile affect galvanised steel And @duncan makes an excellent point ref the corners!!!! i to suffer with that issue

yes and no.... In the early days of RTR DCC sound, both the sound files and implementations from the major manufacturers lagged serverely behind what the modeling community was achieving, and quite often you were left with a very mediocre representation of the real thing...which required further investment in either the speaker setup or reblowing the decoder with new files. then you had the problem or issue where there was a period where Bachmann decided they would do away with full fat loksounds and issue RTR models with selects...which linited greatly what you could reblow them with, and this (in my opinion) did hurt the sales of RTR models (not seen any figures) but there was considerable backlash over the move at the time... Now with the like of cavalex and accurascale RTR sound has really upped its game, to going from a feature of a model to a full blown offering. and theres also the point that both Bachmann have started to offer DC users the option of limited sounds. Bachamann have also considerably upped there game recently with the project of RTR sound projects, the latest 37s and 47s are worlds apart from the first versions. personally speaking i still have bought non sound models with every intention of fitting them with sound later on.

Dave the welder has run out of big bits to weld..... We are now at the stage of where we now have lots and lots and lots of fiddly small parts that need to be sorted out, and if you watch something like car SOS this is where the time gets eaten up..... The drivers side window getting much attention after more rot was found in the corner, the lower window frame and shelf have been replaced with metal. Another view of the shelf, some quite complex fabrication was required to recreate this. towards the side the shelf has to curve in correctly Awaiting final cutting the whole area of new metal is etched primed to protect it from corrosion. There have also been significant issues found with the door frames and at no1 end the corrosion was so bad it would have prevented proper fitment of the doors, so it has been cut away and replaced with fresh steel. The steel here is 6mm thick so it can be tapped to hold the hinge bolts for the cab doors. Similarly on the other side the door frame was completely rotten its and the cab grab rail recess have been replaced with new steel. below that the door threshold has been replaced and this will form part of the outer skin of the locomotive. this is prior to having the side skirt fitted. on the other side the side skirt has been bent to shape and fitted giving an idea of how things are being achieved, towards the front original side skirt deemed suitable for re-use has been re-attached, it awaits final welding to close up the join, you cant weld too much too quickly as during welding the metal expands and distorts. the cab grabrail recess base awaits cutting and replacing. the drivers side getting the same treatment, as you can see, if you don't protect the steel with primer...it very very quickly starts to rust. At no2 end the cab desk refurbishment is underway we see the absolute rats nest of pipe work below the desk, the cab desk has been removed as the Formica is life expired, and needs replacing. the Formica has been removed (it didn't take much effort) and this leaves behind the contact adhesive we can see the aluminium desk is pretty badly butchered with years of modifications evident. a solvent has been applied to "clean" the old glue off. the desk has been re-covered with tufnol, which is similar to formica but a lot cheaper and less brittle, the only problem is, that its more susceptible to scratches, and isn't as hard wearing as Formica, the desk is being trial fitted, to determine its correct position. the desk in its final position with the fittings attached, the instrument panel will be thoroughly cleaned, and the gauges given a good clean as well after years of dirt ingress, the gauges themselves were comprehensively overhauled, by a group member many years ago and as a result need no attention and are in perfect working order. The brass plunger behind the locomotive air brake is the brake overcharge valve, as 26s had a yellow band FV4 (valve on the left) they didn't overcharge the brake valve in the release position. Back to the exterior....the part we have been really dreading is the front skirts...they are an extremely complicated part of the bodywork and many discussions have been had with other 26 owners on ways to fabricate these correctly.... the one problem we do have is none of us have legible original drawings....so we are going to have to compromise. the skirt itself is a is a curve on 3 planes....and this is something a skilled panel beater could probably achieve with an incredible amount of time....on an English wheel, but the labour costs quoted would be in the region of 5 to 6k per end. Another way of creating it would be with press, but we would need to create the tooling....which for such a limited amount of panels required wouldn't be viable. the way you see above is actually the way BRCW created them individual sections profiled to create the curve along the base and the front to the middle.....but since we don't have the drawings...and neither do the NRM...we will have to use our gut.....and go with what we think looks right from photos....but every other 26 has the same issue....none of them are the original front skirt....they were all repaired and bodged over the years. above we have the plates tack welded into place...to do some trial and error....fitting after we were happy with the result....they were finally welded.... the welds ground and primed... the process completed for the other side..... and finally the front.....is complete.... the windows have been cut to roughly the correct shape, no doubt some work will be required when the screens go back in, there is also some remedial work needed to the "eyebrows" as well. only 15% of the steel in the whole front end of the locomotive is original steel! the original front end.....nice paint....but its hiding a lot of issues.... the July gala approaches......time is of the essence.. and an old friend is coming back....and there's only one thing better than one 26..........

and that's all that matters :)

But :) When you compare it to the real 47.....how thick are the tyres? heljans 47 was measured using a 47 that is on scrap size tyres....and a 47 that is mid-life tyres...so that will throw off the height measurements.... and there isn't many 47s running around on new tyres at the moment....in fact im willing to bet there arnt any.... springs....no 47 out there has new springs....they relax over time....and also...how much fluid was in the 47 when it was measured...that too has an influence on ride height....add this to the tyres...and there is quite a variation possible....

A breath of fresh air.... part of the issue is...if you take two brand new ford fiestas...(before they got discontinued) they will look exactly the same....why....because they were built by a robot to a defined program with very tight tolerances.... classic diesels were built by humans...and they will vary from the outset...but even going on from that....they were modified and repaired very very crudely.... and when being repaired they wouldnt have access to the original drawings....it would have been cut and shut and that will do. and thats before we get to paint... im going to deliberately paint 043s yellow ends...in the wrong shade of yellow....purely because the shade we have chosen from experience is less prone to sunlight damage and fading... so if you took a model and made the mistake of comparing to 043...straight away your on to a loser.... and its the same with blue....br used williamsons....in the pres world...they are switiching to other suppliers....the shade and recipie for the paint is different so there are going to be differences.... and thats before we get to colour variation in photography.

Collets Models of exmouth have some back in stock as well, purchased a DCC sound one yesterday from them.

Was that a drop in replacment for the sugar cube @Dougjuk do you have any details?

Hey All, coming back to the hobby after a period away beating the living daylights out of 26043 (see my blog) anyway....i recently purchased a SH accurascale DCC sound 37, and thought i would do a bit of research to see what is going to drop through my door.... came across this video... now not too concerned about the bogie issues....and the manufacturing issues we have all been there, forums like this are just for problems like that... :) what concerns me is the following at 21:30 he explains that accurascale are asking people to reduce the master volume....because the speakers have been wired in parallel leading to a 2ohm impedance across the loksound 5 chip....this means that you are exceeding the maximum impedance by 50% which is beyond the design spec of the loksound chip. am i right in thinking that the main speaker has to have a sugar cube in parallel for this to work? because im still concerned that whatever the volume level, the impedance load across the amplifier is still going to shorten the life of the chip severely? have any others out there altered their speaker setup?

We start where we left off... Work has started to re-instate the metal strip which attaches the dome to the cab, the dome itself has been filled smoothed and flatted and given an initial coat of grey primer, the rough join will be hidden by aluminium trim....eventually. The strip now extends above the drivers windscreen. Over the past few years we have grown quite attached to rust and we were worried we were running out.....as a result we thought we would have a poke around the drivers cab-side window top to see if we could find some more and we were not disappointed! we see the corrosion has cracked the top steel right through, something is going on here and like everything we need to figure out what it is... After removal of the corner external pillar we get a better idea!!! water has been collecting in the corner and running down the inside of the pillar to the base...where things are pretty damn ugly....in fact the base is not actually attached the body lower so the entire corner was only held on by a small piece of steel at the base....this is evidence of a botched repair the water trail can be seen from the top left of the pillar to the bottom right. a patch has been welded internally to try and strengthen this.... but rather haphazardly....it would appear the windscreen and side window was an inadvertent structural item, before cutting can commence this area will need to be braced to ensure it doesn't collapse. The random screws are what hold in the conduit for the drivers heated windscreen. A closer view of the extent of the corrosion in the base A closer view of the pillar, the path of the water can be clearly seen, oddly although it doesn't look it...this pillar is painted, and the majority of the steel can be salvaged and made good again with a good clean...but the bottom 3rd will be removed.# In the last blog we mentioned we wanted to cut away part of the dome on this side to check a roof support hadn't failed, and as can be seen whilst it was still securely attached...its a less than satisfactory job! this too will need to be addressed! The bottom of the pillar has been removed and a patch welded in, unfortunately a lot of the steel at the front is quite thin so its common to blow a few holes in it during welding, even when you try to be careful, the pillar has been cleaned and reveals quite serviceable metal still and this is suitable for retention. A new section of pillar welded in and securely attached to the cabside. The missing corner from the previous blog has now been added and the pillar primed a new base for welding the upper pillar has now been added. the pillar now ready to accept its outer steel after one more coat of primer. a replacement bit of steel for the upper has been trial fitted. The dodgy repair you saw earlier has been removed and the strut directly welded to the frame, the dome awaits the missing piece to be re-attached. The replacement outer pillar has been bent and cut to shape and trial fitted, it will be riveted in place prior to welding and then the rivets removed, this is to ensure it keeps its shape and doesn't move while its being welded. The dome has been repaired and the repair we saw earlier covered up, the side steel too now awaits fitting, the holes are for plug welding to the inner frame and then it will be riveted to the dome and sealed to prevent water ingress. The side is now completely flat compared to a bulge which can be seen in earlier blogs. on the secondmans side the steel work for the dome has been prepared for the dome to be re-fitted, this starts with giving the dome something to sit on, in this case some aluminium, the dome will be glued and riveted to this with counter sunk rivets. Those rivets you see will be drilled and replaced with countersunk ones too which means they will be invisible when the locomotive is finished. The dome being trialled... the dome is now fitted and the corner added in, as can be seen its still a little rough and its thought the pillar below is too flat. The cuts are sealed with fibreglass paste which will be sanded smooth, and holes are drilled for countersunk rivets. a close up of the filling.... That's why god invented filler :) the dome awaits pushing down so it can be riveted firmly into place. Thanks for reading.

Work continues above the windscreens and the scabby metal has now been cut away and the metal below cleaned up to see what can remain and what needs to be removed, right to the base of the small section of angled steel above the centre windscreen, the screen itself covered to protect it from metal fragments during the cutting. The dome is pretty beaten up from years of pigeon and bird strikes but also previous repairs, you are looking at the original surface of the dome as evidenced by the br green paint towards the centre, the textured surface is from the glass cloth scot rail applied which has now been removed, the dome will need considerable sanding and and fibreglass filler before the metal work can be tended to. The angled clean steel is part of the base of the dome steel supports which is in fair condition. the cut continues above the drivers windscreen, you can just about see the weld lines for the original (pre HGO) windscreen the two large holes are for the wiper control arms, these will be filled with fibreglass cloth and re-drilled, the drivers windscreen will be removed to inspect the condition of the seal edges, and any wasted metal replaced, as water that can get into the seal will damage the windscreen and cause delamination. On the drivers corner pillar after the paint and relatively thin layer of filler has been removed, we see as expected significant corrosion and we will need to establish the cause...if we just put fresh metal in the corrosion will re-occur, also note the bulge above the side window...this too, is abnormal and indicates issues behind the steel in this area....It would appear this is an old repair from impact damage. with that corner removed considerable corrosion is present behind it.....its more than likely this has been caused by a leak in the horn box area likely due to a poorly sealing lid and the water is finding its way down the front corners of the dome....and then running down the crash pillars previous repair attempts to the dome can be seen with the metal removed you can now also see the extent of the bulge. part of the dome will be cut away down the side to determine the condition of the roof supports which also hold 3 very heavy air tanks inside the cab, its possible that they have corroded weakened and started to sag, so if that is the case they will be jacked up and repaired. The dome requires considerable attention also. A rough paper template has been made to start cutting the new steel. No1 end second-mans door has had its hinge recess strip ( a posh name for a 6mm thick bit of steel....well it was 6mm) removed, there was considerable signs that all wasn't well in this area.....and after removing the door....(which will go back to Scotland to live on another loco) and the strip as evidenced by the paint outline....you can see considerable issues...after a good attack from the needle gun.... The corrosion goes all the way to the base... And up to the top...….this is why you make sure not only does the door fit properly.....but its also sealed....if you don't, this happens this isn't structural steel its just a skin, directly behind this is the grab handle recess, this will be replaced with 6mm plate to give the doors something to bolt into Work continues in No2 cab refit Drivers side heater conduit painted the regulation orange and the heater permanently wired up. The second-mans side is a slightly more complicated affair with the heater light switch and DSD holdover switch (allows the second-man to operate the DSD if the driver leaves his seat) The switch box hasn't been fitted, the wiring (about 7 wires in all) has been mostly threaded there are some crimps that need renewing, the heater has been wired up, the light switch box has been fitted it just needs some modification to the lower conduit to accommodate the DSD holdover switch box the white panel at the side of the desk is brand new and the wooden window surround is being renewed where required and refitted. On the drivers side the Fv4 valve has been removed to renew the crimps to the wires going to the valve (more on that later) and to put more screws in to the drivers side panel to stop it rattling, at this point the opportunity was taken to renew the O rings that seal the valve body to the base plate, the thick pipe is actually the locomotives vacuum brake pipe... This is the Fv4 valve itself (otherwise known as the train brake valve) its the largest valve in the cab of an D+M (davies and metcalfe) equipped locomotive for which 20s 25s 26s 45s and 47s were so equipped (56s have a similar valve but its looks it only shares with this valve) this, although it looks a little beaten up is a recently professionally overhauled valve. There are types of valve (non banded...yellow banded and green banded) as you can see this is a yellow banded one.....whats the difference? Non banded Overcharges and speeds up the vacuum exhauster the brake pipe when when release is selected Yellow banded speeds up the exhauster but does NOT overcharge the brake pipe when release is selected Green banded (quite rare) has no exhauster speedup facility The reason 26s have a yellow banded Fv4 is because they have a brake overcharge plunger in the form of a big brass plunger on the drivers desk. The brake overcharge facility is used when you have a long air braked formation and it ensures that the brakes at the rear are released. Overcharge does not affect vacuum operation. The two terminals are shorted when then release position is selected, and this is used to place a resistor in series with the vacuum exhauster motor field, this as a result weakens the field speeding up the motor and creating vacuum faster, which...saves your embarrassment when you have bled off too much vacuum during braking and you don't want to stop....or...it allows a quicker brake release pulling away from a station... a side affect on a non banded Fv4 is you will also overcharge the brake pipe but more on this later.... Another view of the vacuum brake pipe, this bolts to the Fv4 and is operated by that little nipple.... the Fv4 valve now installed and bolted down without the vacuum brake pipe attached, the handle is in the full service position note the notches on the ring and score mark, these give driver a tactile feel in dark conditions about the position of the handle at the right of the white handle there is a small pointed plunger which drops into these notches and allows the driver to feel where the handle is in the dark. The notches correspond to the the following... Running (basically brakes released) initial - brakes rubbing...with a little pressure used to control your speed descending an incline rather than actual braking) from here the brake is stepless to full service full service (maximum brake pressure but applied in a controlled manner) Emergency considerable force is required to put the valve into this position (you cant do it accidently) you don't get any more braking than full service you just get it a lot quicker. shutdown used to seal the vacuum pipe in order to change cabs. NO DIESEL and that includes VAC ONLY diesels (apart from the twins 10000 and 10001) has a vacuum brake...what I hear you all cry...yes you heard me...a diesel does not have a vacuum brake, the only physical influence the driver has is on the emergency portion of the vacuum brake, a conventional diesel locomotive does not have a vacuum cylinder. In simple terms The Fv4 valve simply reduces the ATP (automatic train pipe) which the locomotives air vac relay valve senses and operates a diaphragm to allow air into the vacuum brake pipe, this causes the air to be emitted to the rear of the vacuum brake cylinders on the coaches or wagons on operates them which through linkage operates the brakes on the vehicle....on the locomotive the triple valve compares the value of the vac chamber (a small tank that always has 21" of vacuum as a reference) to the value of the vacuum pipe and applies the locomotive air brakes in proportion. A locomotive with an empty chamber will not apply its locomotive brakes in proportion. This also means that the train (with a higher brake force) will do most of the braking effort...but also means that the carriages (because they are braking more and therefore the locomotive always releases its brakes first will not slam into the back of the loco allowing for smoother braking. When emergency selected the valve mechanically forces this little arm out....which operates the nipple. And here is the vacuum pipe attached with its trapdoor valve in the closed position which seals the vacuum pipe and relies on several valves on the brake frame to ensure that the vacuum pipe operation is within the correct pressures according to demand from the driver, this why the train brake is also sometimes known as the automatic brake, and its governed entirely by the automatic train pipe, which is air, and governs the operation of the train brake. here we have the brake valve in emergency the trapdoor valve has been opened by the arm actuating the little nipple on the trapdoor valve which opens it and instantly vents the vacuum pipe....which drops the vacuum to zero causing the brakes to fully apply on the train.....the locomotive compares the zero vacuum pipe to the chamber and as a result now knows to apply its locomotive brakes fully...ensuring maximum braking effort is available to the locomotive and the train. The Fv4 is probably the most complex valve on the locomotive, its extremely intolerant of wear and as result internally contains a lot of hardened corrosion resistant material, they are also one of the most expensive valves to overhaul (which has to be done by a specialist contractor) and cost close to £1k to overhaul, and that's just one of about 40 different valves on a dual braked locomotive. They also have lot of rubber seats and diaphragms which degrade over time. The operation of the brakes is tested and carefully compared to the BR specification every year, but in addition the driver has to complete and sign a brake test every time the locomotive is used, which consists of a test to ensure that the brakes react as expected before the locomotive enter service every time. finally with the drivers screen removed considerable repairs have been made to the dome ready for welding.