fulton

On transport, some years ago a freind had a Mini Clubman estate, his layout was made to fit,on the way to an exhibition along the M4 on a very wet night, he noted a car on the hard shoulder with a puncher, he then thought where was his spare wheel, to his horror he realised that to get to it the whole layout would have to come out! after that the spare wheel travelled in the passenger foot well.

My one renumbered, new wheels and couplings, looking at yours I will have a go at redoing the vents.

The Bachmann one looks similar to the Ring Engineering FRED, which I have used, I think looks very realistic, the Bachmann item is listed at Rails of Sheffield and House of Hobbies which is cheaper.

Virtually all of them would have arrived on normal general cargo ships, such as this Russian owned American built Liberty ship, (in post war condition,) Ro-Ros hardly existed then, the sheer volume of war materials arriving meant most was stockpiled, only moving by rail when capacity was available and final destination was known.

Just asking the question, I can see the advantage of stay alive in, say a 0-4-0, does this 0-6-0 really need one? is there a design fault in the pick ups? to me clean wheels and track are essential. As I say just asking as it is one of the locomotives I would like to have.

Avonside locomotive shunting at Janes' Creek, CPS models kit built to EM.

I've just completed my first CSP models kit, went together very well, I find etched kits quiet hard work, but the results are worth it, built to EM so had to move the cylinders further apart, did not fit the wheel overlays, fitted the supplied pickups which bear on the top of the wheel treads and also DCC concepts pickups which bear on the wheel backs, runs well and reliably, deciding which kit to order next. Photo on my Janes' Creek layout, I should have spent more time removing the mould lines on the sand boxes also need to touch up the buffer beam end, photos can show up all sorts of faults!

This is all covered in another thread, "Hattons to charge local taxes..." full explanation there.

Yes, that's what they all say.

The worker is not wearing a hard hat,😀 after climbing out of the window!

Yes they do, I have found them useful for all sorts of jobs.

Time goes on but I think very little changes, the youth of today are little different to my young days, yes old people were young once, at that time I had no interest in the current railway scene, but an interest in history, always fascinated by old photos which lead me to a lifetimes interest in pre grouping railways, for me my local railway the SECR.

Lots of good points made, just a comment, I did woodwork and metalwork at school, helps with baseboards but not a lot of use for the metalwork, unless you do model engineering, for my 4mm modelling I had to learn everything over time, now in my 60s, I used an airbrush for the first time only 5 years ago and learned a whole new set of skills, yes I cannot match modern RTR, which frankly have a superb finish, but I can live with my results, which are as good as my skills allow, and as you say a lot of satisfaction to be had.

I would go for soldered brass rod, with thin plywood for the scaffold boards, how far do you want to go on detail? scaffolding has changed over the years, when I started in construction, in the 1970s, it was all rusty iron tube, putlog scaffolds were common, wooden pole ladders for access, today it would be galvanised steel tube or more probably a "system" scaffold in aluminium, all erected as independent scaffold, with a staircase for access.

Following this thread, I went and bought an ALDI cordless multi tool, £13.99, have found it very useful, as it says it is low torque, so relies on high revs, yes comes with a 3.2mm collet, bought a set of collets and mini chuck from TEMU, post free, photo below, which makes the tool more versatile, defiantly up the model jobs I want it to do, caution on collets, this tool takes 4.5mm shanks, my 12v EXPO drill takes 5mm shanks, which do not fit.

Fox Transfers, have 2mm, 4mm and 7mm available.

Just in time, I've fitted a full set of winter tyres to my van for at least two trips to Germany in the next couple of months, where they are legally required, the Ford heated windscreen, mirrors and seats will be much appreciated.

I have used WD40 CONTACT CLEANER to clean out old oil from loco gears, worked well, dried with no residue.

Back pedalling brakes are still the standard in Germany, I bought a bike there recently, all the "normal" bikes had back pedal, I find going down hill I can exert more force with my feet, as you say less chance of locking the back wheel up, the only problem I find is you have to push away to start, rather than moving the pedals to the ideal starting place, also most bikes come with hub dynamos and lights as standard, not extras, the stores we visited in Dusseldorf all had indoor tracks to try the bikes out, but on balance I prefer two hand brakes.

Yes also have the GW puller, disadvantage the "legs" only fix over the tyre, all these pullers, to me, are not the easiest to use, maybe someone can come up with a better design.

While talking about removing wheels, I found this tool worked well, particularly original RTR wheels, just be careful, maybe add packing so you do not just pull off the tyre, ordered on line, came in six days, they do a range of tools. expensive? but quality product.

I have just recently fitted my first Alan Gibson wheels, converting the Dapol/Rails D1 to EM gauge, followed the AG instructions and used the GW Models, jig, (order by post with cheque, phone first to check price) only needed hand pressure, fitted securely first time, no glue, and quartered.

My container of Carrs Red Label flux ran out recently, I had a bottle of Squires flux it simply, in my view, did not do the same job, solder being reluctant to flow, now have some more Carrs Red Label, now all back to normal, use it for all my soldering needs, mainly brass or white metal, except stainless steel, where I use Carrs Brown Label flux, which works really well.

I've had a lot of prints from Shapeways, I wash in soapy water, let dry, they prime with Halfords rattle can, then paint with acrylics, never had a problem, there may be better ways, but this works for me, example attached in HO.

Looking forward to attending with Railroad Crossing.