vjoneslong

Apologies, I have been neglecting this forum. Life has been a bit up and down, with SWMBO in and out of hospital, and now the students are back work is busier than ever. Anyway, I have managed to make some videos of the railway. Here they are: Towards the end of the summer, I managed to acquire (S/H) some cast walls, not sure who by. These were cemented in place to act as block between lawn and railway. Unfortunately, most of them have since broken out so I need to find something stronger. 2017-08-14_09-29-50 by Matthew Jones, on Flickr 2017-08-14_09-30-06 by Matthew Jones, on Flickr 2017-08-14_09-30-22 by Matthew Jones, on Flickr 2017-08-14_09-30-36 by Matthew Jones, on Flickr 2017-08-14_09-30-52 by Matthew Jones, on Flickr 2017-08-14_09-31-30 by Matthew Jones, on Flickr 2017-10-04_10-34-07 by Matthew Jones, on Flickr You might notice in the last shot that I have also started constructing the bridge to take the footpath over the railway. I managed to get hold of some wood (mostly old bellframe) to form the framework and decking, with four brick pillars to bring it up to height. In other news the greenhouse (which was such an effective scenic break) went in late September. The storms smashed half the glass and it became beyond repair. So down it went. Looks rather bare now. 2017-10-04_10-34-36 by Matthew Jones, on Flickr I've also been conducting some minor repairs and modifications to my W&L stock. The carriages have had their lamp brackets replaced, and lights fitted. 2017-10-04_10-37-28 by Matthew Jones, on Flickr 2017-10-04_10-37-42 by Matthew Jones, on Flickr 2017-10-04_09-09-46 by Matthew Jones, on Flickr The replacement lamp brackets were made from scratch using some brass rod for the poles, and some thin brass strip filed and bent to shape before being soldered onto the rod. Finally, cambrian rivets were added. Not as finely detailed as the original Accucraft ones but hopefully alot more robust.

Great stuff James, I look forward to seeing more in the future. I've been very tempted by 7/8ths. The latest Accucraft offerings (the Bagnall saddle tank and Decauville) are tempting me to sell off all my 16mm stuff and move over to some quarry railway. Must resist....

Great stuff Pinzer. Pasting tables! Why did I never think of that? Ye gads! We have one for ...ummm... pasting, but it has started to sag in the middle. Perhaps use a couple of bolts to give it a bit of a prop up and prevent the sagging? Love the pictures, especially with the hymeks and Western. Proper diesels those. None of your mamby pamby diesel electric nonsense. Anymore of the first one? That looks like one of the Manchester Ship Canal locos in front of the Austerity.

Thanks Pinzer. Not quite as good as your efforts but I'm trying. Any chance you could write a brief guide on how you achieve such realistic weathering? I want this one to look like its had a hard life. I think the colour is Ford Mondeo Electric Blue. Will double check when home and confirm.

Hi Tony. Well I'm sure you are about half way round the house, could always carry on. You can get cheap chinese knockoffs of those sport cameras on ebay. The quality isn't great but for taking a video while bouncing around on a wagon they are fine. I found a little keyfob one which just fits in the cabs of some of my engines. We finally had a couple of dry days which has helped me get outside. Just need to do a load of gardening first!

Thanks Tony. I don't think you'll need a servo to control the loco, a electronic speed controller should be enough. You can get ESCs and receivers combined which really minimise the space required. Can't help with Windows 10, but a quick google, is this any help? https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/25843-turn-off-spell-checking-windows-10-a.html My new acquisition can be found in its own topic. Enjoy! http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/125152-the-regeneration-of-a-accucraft-baguley/

Morning all. Although I already had a Mk1 of these (the one with the plastic chassis), I had always kept my eye out for one of the newer metal chassis versions. A couple of weeks ago I spotted one on ebay. The bodywork needed a bit of repair, but it was more or less intact. As seen on ebay: ebay by Matthew Jones, on Flickr Now the simple option would have been to add r/c and off we go, but I wanted it to be different (so I could tell them apart). So I decided to give it a complete overhaul, into a new livery, representing one that had spent its life at an industrial location. I started off by filling the bits of damage, sanding off the moulding lines on the body, and replacing the missing handle. 2017-08-06_09-04-51 by Matthew Jones, on Flickr 2017-08-06_09-04-59 by Matthew Jones, on Flickr 2017-08-06_09-05-08 by Matthew Jones, on Flickr Body was then primed using Halfords Grey Primer. 2017-08-06_09-05-19 by Matthew Jones, on Flickr 2017-08-06_09-05-29 by Matthew Jones, on Flickr 2017-08-06_09-05-38 by Matthew Jones, on Flickr 2017-08-06_09-05-57 by Matthew Jones, on Flickr I then sprayed the ends using Halfords Fiat Golden Yellow 2017-08-06_09-06-31 by Matthew Jones, on Flickr 2017-08-06_09-06-39 by Matthew Jones, on Flickr That was end of play Saturday. On Sunday morning I measured up and masked off for the wasp striples. Starting in the middle, and 20mm between each stripe at the centre, leading to a 12mm wide stripe. 2017-08-06_09-06-48 by Matthew Jones, on Flickr 2017-08-06_09-06-57 by Matthew Jones, on Flickr This was then sprayed with Halfords Satin black, allowed to cure for 1 hour, and the end result is: 2017-08-06_09-07-09 by Matthew Jones, on Flickr 2017-08-06_09-07-18 by Matthew Jones, on Flickr Not perfect, but for a first attempt I am rather chuffed! While I allowed this to harden for a couple of hours, I turned to the chassis. This was dismantled, and all the electrics masked off to prevent paint ingress. It was then degreased (not that it had actually run anyway) as a precaution. 2017-08-06_09-07-37 by Matthew Jones, on Flickr 2017-08-06_09-07-46 by Matthew Jones, on Flickr The chassis was then primed, and buffer beams, cranks, and coupling/jackshaft rods were painted yellow. 2017-08-06_09-09-07 by Matthew Jones, on Flickr 2017-08-06_09-08-51 by Matthew Jones, on Flickr Final job was to spray the body with the chosen colour. I let SWMBO choose, and the choice was an electric blue. It's quite vivid! 2017-08-06_09-08-11 by Matthew Jones, on Flickr 2017-08-06_09-08-40 by Matthew Jones, on Flickr 2017-08-06_09-09-20 by Matthew Jones, on Flickr 2017-08-06_09-09-52 by Matthew Jones, on Flickr Next I need to mask off the cranks and bufferbeams, before spraying the chassis black. I also need to replace the missing glazing and window frames, and paint some the detail parts on the body and chassis. And weather it of course!

Hi Tony. Looks really good. Your wiring is alot neater than mine. PCB sleepers are great - fantastic for point building. We've have had lots and lots of rain here, so I should have spent time working on indoor modelling, but have been a little distracted. Hoping to make up for it this weekend!

Thanks Tony. I now know the type of loco your talking about. Would be curious to see how you mount some batteries in that. Track cleaner works a treat, just pity it doesn't cure the weather. We've had dry spells (when I'm in work), but as soon as I have been home its been chucking it down. We've made up for the missing rainfall we didn't have in May. Ah well! I have to admit to be feeling a little drained of late, so not much really has happened. However, the receivers have now arrived so I can finish the saddle tank. Plus a new acquisition has arrived from ebay, I will start a topic on it in the appropriate section over the weekend. Will endeavor to keep you all updated!

Great stuff Tony, good progress being made - especially for winter. Is that track soldered to PCB sleepers at the board join ends?

Lovely stuff Pinzer. But the track doesn't look quite right under those diesels. I assume you are going to battery RC them? Certainly nice looking locos. Your tempting me to think about my 7mm colliery railway again.

Hi Tony. I guess you shouldn't need to remotor your DD40AX. I'm guessing it runs of 12volt DC? You might need to drop the voltage down so it will be a bit slower, but should be okay. I would go with NIMH batteries, means you can recharge. However, i'm conscious your not going to have much space in that body. I think that will be the limiting factor. Getting a decent battery pack inside a 16mm loco is tricky enough, HO will be a nightmare. Can you remove the body and see how much space you have to play with?

Thanks Tony. Yes thats a saddle tank. You get side tanks as well, and well tanks (which is where the tank is between the frames I think). Yes that is the beauty of this scale, but you can still struggle to get everything in.

Great stuff Tony. Your track laying is flying along. Looks really good. Keep the pictures coming please!

Thanks Tony. I'm not sure how much battery you could fit in a OO loco. Certainly a challenge! Garden railways are built for summer here. Its winter you avoid, usually because its howling a gale and chucking it down. Last night was a very pleasant evening, so I took the opportunity to run some trains. The saddle tank even made it although it can't go anywhere! 2017-07-25_09-54-18 by Matthew Jones, on Flickr 2017-07-25_09-54-29 by Matthew Jones, on Flickr 2017-07-25_09-55-09 by Matthew Jones, on Flickr Most of the services were provided by battery power, though I did run Joan for a bit as well. 2017-07-25_09-55-19 by Matthew Jones, on Flickr 2017-07-25_09-55-29 by Matthew Jones, on Flickr 2017-07-25_09-55-40 by Matthew Jones, on Flickr 2017-07-25_09-55-48 by Matthew Jones, on Flickr 2017-07-25_09-55-57 by Matthew Jones, on Flickr 2017-07-25_09-56-06 by Matthew Jones, on Flickr 2017-07-25_09-56-15 by Matthew Jones, on Flickr 2017-07-25_09-56-38 by Matthew Jones, on Flickr 2017-07-25_09-56-47 by Matthew Jones, on Flickr 2017-07-25_09-56-55 by Matthew Jones, on Flickr 2017-07-25_09-57-07 by Matthew Jones, on Flickr 2017-07-25_09-57-16 by Matthew Jones, on Flickr 2017-07-25_09-57-23 by Matthew Jones, on Flickr

A little bit more progress was made late last night while waiting for the receiver to arrive. I soldered up 4 'AA' batteries to give a 4.8 volt battery pack - just fits in! 2017-07-24_11-05-22 by Matthew Jones, on Flickr 2017-07-24_11-05-32 by Matthew Jones, on Flickr I also fitted a spare switch harness I tripped over in my electric bits box to the chassis which will turn it off/on and allow it to be charged. 2017-07-24_11-05-13 by Matthew Jones, on Flickr 2017-07-24_11-05-03 by Matthew Jones, on Flickr Now all I need is the receiver....

NM! Your back! How have you been?

Looking good Tony. Your making tons of progress. Have fun wiring!

Thanks Pinzer. I'm hoping it will be at home pulling a few skips round the garden. It will be my go to quick run engine.

Outstanding Pinzer. Just sheer magic.

Thanks very much chaps. Well I can report that I tested the track cleaning wagon, and it was a great success. Took the oily film straight off in about four laps, and even the weakest of my diesels can haul it so I'll call it a success. Tony - I feel your pain. Cleaning the rail heads on my old OO garden railway was always a pain. In the end I used some wet and dry fixed to a block of wood on a stick and lubricated with paraffin. When running frequently I found you could go for about 3-4 days between cleanings if you used paraffin. Well, I did manage to run some trains during the weekend between the showers, but most of the time was spent removing the grass/muck from the patio area behind the house so we can start to sit out in it. However, while it was raining I decided to make some progress on another project that I had been putting off for far too long. Sometime ago, Pinzer (Owd'bob) was selling off some stock, and I jumped at the chance to own some of the magicians creations. 2017-07-24_08-39-29 by Matthew Jones, on Flickr Now I needed a chassis. Pinzer had used the Swift Sixteen ready to run bogie, but I opted for a cambrain chassis (as I had two in my bits box). These are dead easy to use, though a little fragile. They are simply two bits of plastic, with various axle holes to choose from, and three hexagonal frame spacers. 2017-07-24_08-39-56 by Matthew Jones, on Flickr 2017-07-24_08-39-47 by Matthew Jones, on Flickr 2017-07-24_08-40-09 by Matthew Jones, on Flickr I opted for Binnie wheels. 29mm 8 straight spoke, which require 1/8th (or 3mm) axles. Once I had decided on which axle holes to use, I then plugged the surrounding unnecessary holes with the plugs supplied in the kit. 2017-07-24_08-40-36 by Matthew Jones, on Flickr I purchased a Cambrian 3d printed gear box, with large 3volt motor and 40 to 1 gears. This was mounted in the rear axles. 2017-07-24_08-40-20 by Matthew Jones, on Flickr IMAG0014 by Matthew Jones, on Flickr IMAG0018 by Matthew Jones, on Flickr The final job was to cut the axles to the correct length and loctite the binnie wheels to the axles. Hey presto, a chassis! IMAG0016 by Matthew Jones, on Flickr 2017-07-24_08-41-02 by Matthew Jones, on Flickr I had to call it a day there as unfortunately the receiver I had scheduled to fit appeared to be knackered. So I ordered a new one. My next challenge is making the rechargeable battery pack. Hmm!

Some lovely photos there. Please keep them coming!

Hi Tony. Yes they do use the steam crane, there are videos of it lifting various things on Youtube. I just spent more time half way up the bank rather than in the colliery itself. Standard rechargables. I think they are 2900mah capacity. They came from componentshop.co.uk - not sure they will post down under! Sounds interesting. What is standard gauge in Australia? Is it the same as here (4foot 8&1/2 inches)? Well I had intended to run some trains last night, but I got home and it was picking/spotting with rain all evening, so I decided to construct a track cleaning wagon. The issue with live steam is that they tend to leave a oily film over the rail head which can quickly build up. This isn't a problem if your line is flat but as I have a gradient they can start to struggle after a while with slipping. So I wanted to build a wagon which I could tow round periodically to clean the oil off. When I purchased the wooden track, I was also given a rather crude but very large/long bogie flat wagon. This hadn't been used, so I decided to convert it. I purchased a 180 Degree Globe valve for 1/8th pipe, a t-piece for 1/8th pipe, and two lengths of 1/8th pipe from Maidstone engineering. From ebay I purchased a 500ml fuel tank for a RC plane/boat and silicon fuel line. I mounted the globe valve in the middle of the wagon, with the aim of having the fuel tank sitting on one of the bogies. I soldered a short section of pipe into the union and fitted it the globe valve, and slid the silicon tubing over this to connect to the fuel tank. 2017-07-20_08-33-00 by Matthew Jones, on Flickr 2017-07-20_08-32-23 by Matthew Jones, on Flickr I soldered up another short piece of copper pipe to connect the globe valve to the t-peice, and then two more short sections which I then annealed and bent to shape to act as droppers for the liquid (degreasent) onto the rail head. 2017-07-20_08-32-12 by Matthew Jones, on Flickr This was then put behind a diesel, and tested to see if it worked. I also wanted to add some form of brush to help clean the railhead. This was done using two cheapy toothbrushes from Wilkos, with the heads removed from the body. The heads were carefully drilled to allow a 8BA bolt to the fed through, and were mounted to a piece of scrap plasticard with a spring from a biro pen to help keep the heads down at rail head height but allowed some flexibility. Finally the plasticard was mounted to the body with some woodscrews with some washers to help get the toothbrush heads to the correct height so that they were gently touching the railhead. IMAG0007 by Matthew Jones, on Flickr 2017-07-19_10-09-05 by Matthew Jones, on Flickr By this point it was pretty late so it hasn't been tested yet, but I will hopefully have the chance in the next couple of days. I intend to use "Gunk" engine degreasent which is what I use for removing the oil off the locos when performing maintenance.

Cor blimey! I don't think I could cope with wiring all that up! Cracking work Tony.

Excellent stuff Pinzer. Glad to see that I can be useful occasionally. I like what you did with the regulator servo arm. I didn't think to just remove the nob and make a replacement. Genius!