Retiarius

I know this is a very old thread but you will find that Roco add 4 to the address used to encode a turnout etc. So 1 becomes 5 etc. This is also a problem when using the Z21 system but that at least has a CV you can change using the PC undated program so that 1 means 1...... so when you set the switch to be 1 it actually reacts to 5 on earlier Roco multimaus systems .... go figure!

The new 009 Society website now has searchaeable indices of many years editions of the 009 News, the Society journal. Registered members can download and read the back-issues in our Members-Only area. The site is now multi-lingual having installed Google translation software for many languages.

A Happy New Year and new website from the 009 Society The 009 Society would like to wish all narrow gauge modellers a Happy New Year and announce that the 009 Society have a brand new website at https://009society.com for both its members and non-members. Some of the new features we have on this website are: New public pages to advertise the work of the Society, its aims and to provide information on exhibitions where you can see our members’ layouts. The publication of the 009 Society’s Heritage Collection of models showing the development of the hobby and the Society’s role in preserving these unique models for future generations. A new responsive website design viewable easily on phones and tablets as well as on laptops or desktops. A members-only area where Society specific information and news can be seen by registered members of the Society. Previous issues of the 009 NEWS in digital PDF format in the members-only library. Member’s layouts on display in dedicated pages, with images, videos and contact details, for exhibition organisers to see the quality of the modelling. Enhanced security by using Secure Socket Layer (SSL) encryption between your device and our server. Look for the little padlock in the URL address bar. So welcome to the 009 Society website, we hope that you enjoy your visit. We shall have new members’ services coming in the next few months, so watch this space!

I tried to dissolve Collall All Purpose Glue in IPA but all you get is a slimy lump of glue in the jar. I tried adding 30% Acetone to the mix but it remained undesolved. Pure acetone dissolves the glue completely but when I tried to pour a 1:6 ratio glue/acetone mix onto sepiolite dust laid as track ballast it would not ‘wet’ the ballast. I tried wetting the dust with acetone then applying the glue mix and it was absorbed into the dust in a similar way to using water/IPA/washing up liquid to wet ballast before applying dilute PVA glue. Unfortunately my first attempt using diluted Collall glue resulted in a brittle ballast that easily flakes and so, unless I can find a different mix/method I don’t think Collall spirit based glue is a suitable medium to use for ballasting with sepiolite clay based chinchilla dust.

Thanks for that link, I have been looking for that information. IPA I have so will try that.

I have just obtained a 0.25mm sieve and have re-sieved the 0.5mm sieved clay so that I now have <0.25mm sieved clay, >0.25 mm <0.5mm clay and >0.5mm clay particles. There was about 40% <0.25mm, 40% >0.25mm <0.5mm and 10% >0.5mm particle sizes in the sepiolite clay chinchilla dust from Pets at Home. I am presently trying to find out what thinners are used for Collall All Purpose spirit-based Glue to experiment to see if a diluted glue could be used to stick this sepiolite clay as ballast because PVA will just make the particles swell and will not stick this material.

Pets at Home Chinchilla Dusting Powder, £4.50 for a 3kg bag. It is a sepiolite clay dust rather than a sand. I found that you cannot use a water based adhesive because the clay dust absorbs the water, swells, and then falls off. You have to use a spirit based adhesive such as 3M spray mount and then seal it with a spirit based varnish such as Testors Dullcote before weathering it with a water-based paints. More effort than using a sand but I like the finished effect.

The Liliput 2095 diesel in H0e is still a much-wanted model even after being out of production for nearly 20 years. The loco is usually very reliable but has an Achilles heel in that the plastic counterweights go brittle with age and split at the point the connecting rod pin is pressed into the counterweight. This split causes the connecting rod pin to fall out and get lost whilst the plastic conrod can strike the roadbed and break as it tries to jack up the loco. Invariably this makes the model unusable as spares are almost non-existent and many locos must lie in a drawer for want of a counterweight or connecting rod. There is a German seller on eBay selling what appear to be original parts in Liliput labelled packets but he is actually salvaging them from broken models and some are sold with split counterweights and are unusable. A pretty shoddy practice in my view. I have two of these models and by a series of butter-finger moments I managed to drop both of them onto my workshop floor, breaking connecting rods and counterweights and causing the workshop to go blue with inappropriate language, mainly Olde English! After putting the locos away I wondered if it would be possible to have some replacement counterweights and connecting rods made by using photo-etching of a suitable metal. It was at this stage I made contact with Sven van der Hart of Tramfabriek.nl, a Dutch tram modelling enthusiast who makes his own etches for the excellent H0e Dutch trams he sells. Sven made me two sets of prototype counterweights and connecting rods in etched nickel-silver. He soldered an etched washer onto the back of the counterweights to thicken them and to space the counterweight away from the frames. Sewing pins are used to connect the connecting rods to the counterweights which are half-etched to allow the centre to be painted and the outsides to be silver for those locos that have that feature, not all 2095s do. Thin etched washers in two thicknesses are provided as well. The picture below shows both sides of the counterweights to show the washer soldered on the axle hole. To prepare the parts for use I pinned them to some spare foamcore board so that the did not get lost when being painted and assembled. I needed to carefully remove the existing plastic counterweights so that I could use the undamaged plastic counterweights and connecting rods to repair my second loco. Using a small gear puller designed for use on R/C cars I was able to achieve this aim with no damage to the plastic components. Be careful not to pull the brass ferule off of the axle. If you do it can be fixed back in place using Loctite 638 compound. The etched components were first sprayed with a fine coat of Halfords Etch Primer. This was left overnight to thoroughly dry because the etch, and therefore maximum adhesion, occurs at the final drying stage. I then hand painted the items with two coats of Tamiya X7 red acrylic paint. I decided to solder up the counterweights and connecting rods, using the sewing pins as connecting rod pins. To prevent the connecting rod becoming soldered to the pin I sandwiched the items as follows: pin washer connecting rod washer Rizzla cigraette paper counterweight The crank pin holes were reamed out to be a loose fit on the sewing pin and to provide a clean metal surface for soldering. Some liquid flux was applied using a cocktail stick and then four 0.6mm lead solder balls were placed next to the pin then heated briefly with a hot soldering iron. The fitting was then washed to remove any remaining flux. Two complete sets were assembled checked to be a freely moving assembly. The excess pin shafts were cut away and then the solder filed back. I then carefully reamed out the axle holes to be a tight fit on the brass axle bush used to fit the original Liliput counterweights. The first set were pressed onto the brass ferrules on the axles of both wheelsets using Loctite 638 compound. The opposite set needs to be carefully aligned at 90 degrees to the first set (quatered) so that they do not bind. This is best done with the wheelsets held in the bogie so that they cannot turn. The completed loco with its new nickel-silver counterweights and connecting rods. I must take this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude to Sven for his help and skill in producing the 2095 counterweight repair kit and for his enthusiasm for this project. Sven will soon be selling these kits from his website https://tramfabriek.nl.

I am looking forward to showing Die Keinnamebahn at the 2019 event. https://narrowgauge.retiarius.com

I decided that I wanted to use chinchilla dust particles of less than 0.5mm size. I bought a cheap 0.5mm sieve off of eBay that fitted into my plastic funnel. I taped the vibrator I use for paint mixing onto the assembly. This is how it works  I now have 2 bottles of pre-sieved chinchilla dust ready for use. p.s. 98% of the chinchilla dust I bought is <0.5mm in size.

I am currently making my second H0e DCC controlled layout Valdieu-Lutran. This is a multi-board portable exhibition and home layout. I needed to make a relatively large expanse of station yard and road on Valdieu-Lutran. I decided that chinchilla dust, a form of powdered clay, would be a good base. I initially tried to stick the dust to the baseboard using diluted PVA but this was unsuccessful because the clay did not stick well. After the glue had dried the dust easily rubbed off. I therefore undertook some experiments to find the most effective method of sticking the chinchilla dust. I tried wallpaper paste, Aleene’s Tacky Glue and 3M Spray Mount Adhesive on test strips. The best by far was the 3M Spray Mount Adhesive. This required extensive masking of the board to prevent contamination of the track etc. but was the only adhesive that gave a good finish. The chinchilla dust was sieved using a mesh sieve so that only sub 1mm particles were used. To seal the surface ready for any paint or chalk effects to be added the dust was sprayed with a good coat of Testor’s Dullcote varnish. The above picture shows the Hornby International Skale French Station and toilet block on the new surface. I also added some static grass at the end of the embedded track in the station yard to add some variety. You can gauge the particle size from the 9mm track and that the ‘cobbles’ were made using a 1/16” internal dimensioned square tube.

Looking forward to the show. I am showing “Die Keinnamebahn”, my H0e scale narrow gauge modular layout which is operated using my DCC system. You are welcome to drop by and chat