PhilEakins
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Posts posted by PhilEakins
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The expert on this subject is Mike Walshaw, the builder of the Lulworth Camp layout (some pictures here). I'll email him and see if he is happy to help.
Phil
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Which only really applies if there are Unfitted trains or movements being run where there are actual signal boxes with actual windows which the blokes can actually see the train through.
Really it is an anachronism on network rail but an absolute safety necessity on preserved railways where some "Richard" may forget to test the vacuum and contrive to leave a few coaches in section, or more likely lose a few wagons off an unfitted freight (a la Shrivenham GWR 1935). It really is vital for the signalman to "See" the tail lamp before giving train out of section on a heritage railway.
Not quite so - the signalman is able to accept an assurance from a guard or shunter that the train is complete in circumstances where the whole train has not passed the box when leaving the block section.
A good example is when passing trains at a station on a single line railway. The bobby will likely only see the back of one of the trains, relying on the assurance for the completeness of the other before asking the road for its advance section. Another is where a train is shunted clear of the line without passing the box.
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Have now tracked down many of these magazines. The one I can't find anywhere is Model Railways for June 1978. Any ideas where I might find one?? Have trawled through ebay and Magazine Exchange with no luck. Could anyone possible scan and send the article on the Neilson Box tanks in this issue??
I've got that mag - PM me with how you want me to send the scans?
Phil
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The Friends of the NRM started to publish a series of comprehensive books on the 'History and Development of Railway Signalling in the British Isles'. The first volume, 'Broad Survey' by Stanley Hall (ISBN 1 872 826 12 1), was published in 2000. The second volume, containing essays on Absolute Block and Single Line working, followed in 2001. Unfortunately the leading author then died and so the series progressed no further.
Volume two would probably not be of much interest Simon - but it might be worth you looking at the structure adopted by Hall in volume one.
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Next minute, we'll have meetings for MRJ Anonymous.I though that was a definition of a model railway club ...
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Good idea to opt out of the binders, so far I have 3 and another on its way, but I've not filled 2 yet.
So I've now emailed and had a reply to stop getting any more.
Yep, same for me. E-mailed Hatchette and got a reply from customer services cancelling all future binders within two days.
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It has to be said that Hatchette are listening and positively responding to problems.
All to the good.
Phil
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Sorry - just caught up with some of the earlier stuff on this thread!
If you don't want the binders/special editions etc, just ring the subscription line and tell them! They won't be sent to you.
Phil
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I say steady on old chap - where are you paying four pound a pint (and what's more to the point - why)! Come on down 'ere to Dorset m'dear, we got beer much cheaper.
Phil
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I don't have to. If you'd bothered to read the tags applied by "30801" himself, you'll see that he chose "money pit". It was this refreshing cynicism that I rather liked.
The fact is that he will be paying more for it than he might otherwise have done if he'd bought an ordinary full kit.
OK point taken ....
In actual fact, the overall cost (which includes everything including the wheels, transfers etc - as long as it follows the FS precedent) is not too bad taken over a couple of years. Certainly I couldn't have afforded (or justified) the the up front cost of the FS kit (which I am slowly building) but paying monthly meant it was easily within my reach. OK, I had to pay a bit extra for the facility - but then inflation took care of some of it!
I'm going to have a crack at the Mallard and if there is a general feeling of 'a fool and his money are soon parted' then so be it, I'll be the one with the loco though.
Phil
PS I have just done a quick squint at the DJH site - the A4 kit (if it's available) is £645 - going up on the 1st October - and the set of Slaters' wheels comes to an extra £145.53. At a rough calculation it will cost me an extra £130 (at today's prices) spread over two years. Not such a bad deal then, particular as it includes fully illustrated instructions, as has been already noted.
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I do like the tag "money pit" that you chose....
Again the negativity!
Please support what you say.....
Phil
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Both WH Smiths and Martins here in Swanage appear not to have the screws attached - and (having bought two) can confirm that the parts are metal in both.
Phil
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...and the possibility (given the two previous attempts) that the model may never reach completion.
I seem to recall that the 'Flying Scotsman' kit from Hatchette brought forth a great deal of similar negativity.
I also seem to recall that the Gauge 0 Guild has a table full of completed Hatchette kit built locos at an exhibition! There was also a very active thread on this very forum as people negotiated their way through the complexities of successfully building the kit (which I believe was monitored by Hatchette as 'defective' or wrong parts discovered were corrected by later re-issues).
Horse, by all means have a view, but base it in evidence, if you get my drift.
The last kit was brought home successfully, what makes you think this one won't be?Phil
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vs £819.60 direct from DJH in one lump sum... so you are paying £203.12 for the befefit of buying in parts (or £1.58 an issue) and the magizine. Doesn't seem like a bad deal to me?
The price includes the wheels as well - I haven't costed the full wheel set bought separately but I reckon it's a good slice of the £200!
Phil
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OK - I'm in!
Who's going to start the support thread?
Cheers.
Phil
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Hi Michaelp
Just to complicate things ....!
Collieries are private sidings so far as main line workings are concerned - main line engines were usually confined to the arrival and departure sidings only and were banned from going further, work inside the colliery lines was done with the colliery's own engines.
Snowdown Colliery, the only one I can remember at the moment, having seen it in action (when it was!), was reached from a trailing point on the down main line onto two parallel lines with a crossover at the far end (with a spur for your BV) and a very long head-shunt at the other so that the colliery engines did not need to go onto the main line as they collected from and delivered trains to and from the sidings for the main line engines.
Can you post a plan of what you have?
Phil
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In the absence of a yard pilot to do the shunting for you:
Run round the empties, uncouple the BV and park it in a siding out of the way of the next shunt, but facing the exit point.
Shunt the empties as appropriate.
Couple onto the fulls, back onto the BV and couple on, drive away.
I don't know that shunting a colliery yard is any different to to any other.
HTH.
Phil
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Hello.
I forgot about this thread and seeing it again reminded me about something....
I am on the look out for a small boring bar for my lathe. Something that can bore out holes sub-4mm ish so it has to be small. The ones I have seen so far are either tipped tools for CNC machines or for larger holes.
Has anyone come across anything?
Thanks
Missy
What is the lathe?
Phil
PS And I should have said - are you boring with a tool between centres or from the tool post?
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Now for something non-controversial (I hope!).
When I bought my Unimat Classic SL : this one -
I also bought the automatic long feed, which ends up in a big red plastic thingy which includes a shear pin, thus -
I'm adding the pictures as Emco rather economically re-used names.
Thinking ahead, I also got the spares pack including belts and several shear pins.
Now, I am renowned for my ham fistedness and I am sure to use the remaining shear pins sooner or later so I need a supplier to replace them. You knowledgeable folks might be able to point me in the right direction as there is no-one on the net I can readily identify selling the part?
Thanks.
Phil
PS Sorry for the fuzzy focus.
PPS The collet cluch/mandrill converter has arrived and is a very nicely finished bit of kit. It does exactly as it was described. Now I need some collets, luckily they are at the cheaper end of the market!
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Cheers Stephen - you've got me convinced. You're quite right, I hadn't thought about over-tightening in use, even though I had some shaper tools for wood used in a power drill which did just that!
However the Home Machinist will not have a full set of screwed back cutters, they usually have a junk assortment of every conceivable shank type!Have you been looking in my tool draw?
Phil
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Thanks again Stephen - I see what you mean.
One idea which occurs to me, is that instead of securing the fitting from the back end, is to bore, thread and then turn an extension to the spindle which can then be bored/reamed/tapered to take a tool (secured by set screw or glued as you say) which would then be perfectly concentric to, and balanced with, the head end each time it's fitted for use.
I've found a couple of sources for compatible taps and dies for the spindle head (which opens up even more tooling possibilities of course!).
As I said - although I've had the equipment for some (long) time I'm really a just beginner exploring what I can do and what's best practice.
Phil
PS I didn't take metalwork at school, which was an awfully long time ago!
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Thanks Stephen, now I've paid for the thing and I'll see what arrives.
I wasn't thinking about forcing a different size collet into the chuck for which it was not designed, but the 'nose' of the fitting is threaded so that I can add later issue (14 X 1) chucks. For example, I can mount a 'Unimat 3' four jaw chuck on the SL - not that I want to, but I could.
As I said, I'll see what comes and ask again if I need to.
or a home made single size dead holder, which has a drawbar to retain it, with a screw bolt to retain the cutter in a reamed hole.at the working end.Ummmm, that would act a bit like a correctly sized collet then?
Phil
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Gosh, don't time fly - I could have sworn that the last post was a couple of days ago ....
Anyway, after about 30 years I finally have a place to set up my Unimat SL 1000 (sold in the UK by Elliot) as a drilling/milling machine, and my newer Unimat SL Basic as a lathe, permanently. Having to continually clear them away was always a disincentive to their use.
The SL 1000 is now very old (but a valuable machine going on what they fetch on e-bay) and accessories are hard to come by and are expensive.
I've sourced a 12mm X 1mm pitch (the SL 1000 standard) to 14mm X 1mm pitch mandrel so that I can attach more up-to-date Emco 14 X 1 fittings enabling me to use a range of collet chucks for the newer Emco machines. However, the mandrel is in itself a collet chuck for ER11 standard collets (not bad for forty quid!).
Now, my question is - ER11 collets are 18mm long whereas ER16 (other Emco/Unimat collet chucks on offer) are 27mm long and I think might offer more support to the tools. So should I buy an extra collet chuck for ER16 or will ER11 suffice? I'm not anticipating any very heavy milling, at the moment that is.
Any advice gratefully welcome as you will obviously see, I'm a tyro at this.
Phil
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I don't know if you chaps have seen this. Apparently a 7 foot 3ins by 2 foot N gauge layout costs £898 to build!
Phil
Endeavour 18th Feb
in DVD/Video/TV
Posted · Edited by PhilEakins
What really worries me is that I had one of the 'train enthusiasts' model of camera ...