Winander

It looks like it is from the Antics Online website. https://anticsonline.uk/Product/Z-The-RCH-1887-Wagon_Z_N1105609 I haven't checked it word for word.

Always good to have new toys. You give the impression that the Anycubic slicer is only suitable for the rapid resin, is that the case or does it have a profile in the slicer?

@WFPettigrew Of more interest is the identity of that stunted covered wagon between the two opens.

Or this, more expensive beast that has holes every mm. https://woodworkersworkshop.co.uk/incra-precision-centre-rule-300mm-metric/

Could you make an extended U shape for the hoop of the bracket and fasten that into the solebar, perhaps by drilling and a bit of warmth to melt it in position? You could do the fixings separately however is easiest as they would be cosmetic.

There are also Ecobra pens available new, but all kinds of ruling pens come up on Ebay regularly and they are not the expensive. If you get a set of drawing instruments, there are often at least two in the set.

If you look at the prototype, the side panels are riveted to a separate corner piece in such a way that their edges show. So the stems need to be visible.

My HMRS West Coast Joint Stock book says 27 composites were completed in 1877-78. 12 tricomposites with lavs for 1st class 3/1/Lav/Lav/1/2. 15 double composites without lav (even for 1st) - 3/1/Lg/1/3. It does say that 25 tricomposites were ordered but only 12 delivered which accounts for your 40 total.

It looks really good Mike. Another way of marking it out would have been to use a set of dividers. Any with a decent point will mark plasticard. Run one leg against the edge, advancing the other whatever interval you require. Your olfa cutter should then, with care, be able to 'find' that scoring.

Axminster Tools have one that looks identical and much cheaper, I don't have either and cannot speak for the suitability. https://www.axminstertools.com/axminster-mount-cutter-423003?glCountry=GB&gclid=Cj0KCQjw-fmZBhDtARIsAH6H8qg2EXaO3JYLr2N-jp9fdIVjcYykt-mEtwS28n6oyHpdaKAFbeRMt2MaAqrHEALw_wcB

I admit to being surprised, I use the stuff in plumbing work and pretty quickly became aware of the verdigris that appeared within days if a joint wasn't cleaned. I got into the habit of wiping the joint with a rag as soon as it was made and still hot. The problem stopped. So when I made the vees, I did just the same. I think because you wipe the flux off when it is still liquid when the work is warm is the difference. I certainly wouldn't discourage a proper clean and would have done that myself had I intended to use the vees. I made the post because Powerflow often gets a bad press and people exaggerate the cleaning requirements. It is an excellent flux, I now use it for everything, brass, steel, stainless and nickel silver and cleaning is no more challenging than other flux. To be even more contentious, I have been taking my time making an etched brass kit in 4mm with minute quantities of Powerflow. It has rarely been wiped and never cleaned and there is no sign of verdigris after two months. I do now dilute it with water to a runny consistency and believe if used in small quantities it burns off. The cautionary note about paint adhesion is welcomed and it was always my intention to ensure that my work receives a thorough clean as I complete sections and again before painting.

I'm not surprised it takes a blowtorch, the brass base looks to be over a mm thick. The flux doesn't appear to be active, as soon as you heat active up it will clean the brass and your brass is still dirty. Go to any plumbers merchants and ask for self cleaning flux, Powerflow or La-Co. Don't stress about cleaning it off - I made 10 turnout vees from steel rail in 2015 using Powerflow and only wiped the flux off when it was liquid (because the work was still fairly hot). They haven't rusted. If you want strength, carry on as you are. Might be a good idea when you are fixing them down to arrange it so if they do get knocked, they fall over rather than bend and get wrecked.

I thought cattle wagons were through fitted with pipes to be able to run in passenger trains? Livestock carriage was a valuable trade for railway companies and I'm sure the modest effort and cost of a pipe and fittings was profitable.

I am logged into my account and have a cart full and when I choose "View Cart" (from the sidebar view of the cart) I get a prompt to enter a password for a Guest account. Is this how you have disabled the payment option as it appears to be a bug - why ask me to log into guest when I'm logged into my account? It may help if you directed the user to a dedicated page to indicate the payment option is not available. Save you being deluged by emails and it might be something you may need in the future this being an ideal opportunity to test it

I wrote to the HMRS to question the validity of a drawing they listed as a class 1577. They have now confirmed it is a class 1377 half cab and it has been digitised: 0-6-0 Tank Locomotive with 4ft-6½in dia. Coupled Wheels (Class: 1377) - General Arrangement (Midland Derby Drg. 91-3628) Prices are as follows: Digital Image (tiff, jpeg or pdf): £10.00 per image Paper images are: A2 Size £14.00 A1 Size £16.50 A0 Size: £25.00

The burned appearance is not caused by oil but by the speed of the bit over the wood. I think its caused by moving the bit too slowly along the cut - I get it with a chopsaw and router. Unfortunately I am not experienced enough to know what the best cure is. I suggest you practice - it will be more prevalent when working with end grain. Be careful when sanding end grain as it is almost impossible not to roll over the edges, causing a small but annoying gap in your joint. I like your choice of cherry and look forward to seeing more.

Hello Ian, Is there any way you can control a loco on that programming track i.e. make it move. It could be that the loco is not making a connection to the track - dirty track or wheels or combination of the two. Being able to control it would, at least, give you assurance the loco could connect. Back in 2018 they stated that the Z21 could only read Zimo chips "but will be able to read others shortly". To read other chips back then you had to use the "Manual" option rather than the POM. Do you have a blue bar in the top right corner indicating its all working?

Hello Ian, Don't know exactly what you are trying to do, but does this help? I have only watched 10 minutes but starts with programming a new loco to use with Z21. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rm-gjMkWgJg all the best Richard

Philip, Another signal box so I am told. More block instruments required... Ian, Glad to see progress, you knew it made sense. I didn't think it required wrecking the joint though :) Keep us appraised of progress. Will there be a turntable? best wishes to you and your domestic management, Richard

I may be teaching my grandmother...... The striker needs to have some spring so that the hammer strikes the bell and springs back - if it is too stiff or badly adjusted and hits the bell and stays in contact, all you will get is a dull thud. An alternative to making the arm adjustable is to get (or alter) a bell with an off centre fixing hole - turning the bell changes its relationship to the striker and its tone. I believe that's how some original block bells were arranged, making it simple for the signalman to change the tone. [Written before I saw the Stationmaster's contribution]

Bells may be the hardest thing to source as in this digital age they are becoming redundant. Perhaps chimes could be used instead, they certainly would be easier to make. Some have used WT588 (a number if variants exist) sound modules that can play .WAV files. The larger implementations can store 4Mb of files and for our purposes, they can be mono, not stereo. The sounds can be triggered by key presses, on the larger modules 10 are available, so provide a choice from pre-loaded files. They will drive an 0.5W 8-ohm speaker directly. I have no idea what this would sound like. Sugar cubes for loco sound seem to be 1W. Please don't assume I know a lot about these modules, I just read a few web pages

CDGFife, This was what I saw as a possibility, but because MERG have shut down their Kitlocker, I couldn't even see what was available, but found an alternative source. I now recall seeing your postings on the Scalefour forum (actually following it all with interest). What do the relays do? Did you manage to use a single MERG board to drive both the primary and mirrored servo? thanks, Richard

Would using sound recordings rather than physical bells be acceptable? The advantages would be the instruments could be made smaller, less mechanically complicated and resourcing acceptable sounding bells might be problematic. The disadvantage being more electronics and loss of user serviceable mechanics - an electromagnet operating a striker on a physical bell I can understand, the alternative, well, I'm with Tony (t-b-g)....

Does anyone know of any recent (ish) articles detailing how these can be built? It seems many in operation are based on archaic post office equipment, very expensive versions of the real thing or electronic versions with sound files, microcomputers (or CBUS). Richard

I have just read through this entire thread and have to congratulate you (and your crew) on a magnificent model. Can you please advise me on what you use for your wire in tube point operation? thanks and I look forward to viewing continuing progress Richard