dmurrell

Frank, The mogul looks like a great runner, very impressive. You mentioned some months ago that the chassis might become available as a commercial kit. Any news yet on when this might happen and if so who the supplier will be? David

Frank, your ideas on chassis design are music to my ears! I have long been a fan of CSBs and the American system for pick-up, but so far haven’t attempted a tender drive. I acquired a couple of Chris Gibbon’s TendeRiser kits some years ago, but so far haven’t managed to resolve the drive satisfactorily, nor managed to accommodate the motor as well as you have - hadn’t thought of putting it at the rear as I thought it would make the drive too complicated. I will be in touch via PM as I’d like to know more about your components. David Murrell

That’s a better reply than I could have hoped for - I suspected it might be a trade secret! I will look forward to your book... David

Very nice work Mike! I'm curious to know how you do the bevelled brick capping - sorry I can't think of the correct architectural term. I can only think it's done using hand tools but it looks too good for that. David Murrell

Will, in true D & S style - economical with paper! David D&S 524 04 Siphon.pdf

An excellent book, well done Jim. I received my pre-ordered copy earlier this week, direct from the publisher. It really does bring together a lot of material from different souces so will be very useful. The shaded line drawings are excellent, particularly in tracing changes during the evolution through various diagrams of a particular class. I did find one small comment that needs attention, a reference to Saint David's conversion to the prototype Hall on page 126. It was of course 2925 St Martin that underwent conversion in 1924 to become the first Hall. 2920 St David was the last Saint, being withdrawn in 1953. Most GWR afficionados would be well aware, so would regard this as just a minor slip that occurs easily at the editing stage. The section on tenders is particularly useful, as alluded to elsewhere. David Murrell

I was talking to David at Scaleforum a few years ago - he told me the same thing had happened to the 3,500 gallon intermediate tender artwork, which suggests a bit of a mix-up with handover. I wonder if they ended up in the JLRT 7mm stuff? David Murrell

Thanks Mike, I'm well aware of his predicament and obviously support his priorities; I have held off contacting him again until now. Thanks very much for posting the Siphon Underframe planner. I will add them to my order and hope for the best. Please pass on my best wishes when you see him next. David

Joel, I'm not sure there is enough room between the frames in 00 for working inside motion - I very much doubt it, but check the instructions. I would suggest leaving out the inside motion anyway if this is your first 4mm loco chassis, it does add a degree of difficulty! There's enough new stuff with managing compensation and quartering etc if it's your first build, assuming you don't build it rigid. I had probably built about a dozen P4 locos before tackling working inside motion in Finney Collett goods many years ago and it did slow things down a little. You can probably go back and add it later anyway if there's room between frames. Very nice brake van by the way! David

I know Mike, I asked for the Siphon planner over a year ago! And I've just reminded him about an order from last September... David

Does anyone have a copy of the David Geen Siphon planner that they would be willing to scan and make available? David Murrell

Some very interesting photographs and even more interesting discussion! There was a suggestion earlier in the thread that the type of photographic emulsion might contribute to van roofs appearing lighter because of greater contrast. Many emulsions at this time were still orthochromatic - that is, they rendered blues and greens as being lighter, so giving an apparent increase in contrast, however this shouldn't have much effect on white or grey such as might be found on a van or carriage roof. True, it might contribute to a green field appearing lighter. Panchromatic emulsions were introduced in 1906, however were still quite expensive (up to three times the cost) until the 1930s. Panchromatic film would be more likely used for commercial work and I think it would probably be used for a specialised application such as aerial photography where tonal rendering is more important. David Murrell

Thanks Alan, a very good recommendation! I received my copy this week from Amazon - it's an excellent book and not just for those who are thinking of getting a machine, as Alan suggests. It is divided into three sections, the first deals with the different technologies and how they may be used, the second explains design strategies for optimal printing and the third builds on part two, dealing with the various CAD tools available. There have been a couple of other books published recently covering 3D, but this is far and away the best, despite the relatively high cost. David Murrell

According to the Brassmasters Blog, dated 2.1.18 they are "getting to grips with a new 3D CAD and 3D printing" and hope to resume work on the crane kit shortly, should be available once castings have been done. Of course it all depends on how long they take to adopt the new technology, but I imagine it will be worth it. David Murrell