Dave John

If you are very concerned about cost these might do ; https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/315210702629?itmmeta=01HVHK3618JS9EG21G45RSM1P9&hash=item4964059f25:g:eqQAAOSwHIFl64Fb&itmprp=enc%3AAQAJAAAA8OWUHi%2B89h%2BZnI6bupALuR98nJaT0UTFB%2FyYnjp%2BTiRkN%2F90y%2BSSzaUZl7fbMQQLKNzO96YHr4AkpoYmmxWIBpE%2Fkq7lP8We6S%2BuCP6gNx18ml4P0S3aqgSpuxEYlYG5Peix9M5y4IitgJyWdyBFLlhza2K2GzYJ94wl3C33G5dy7TzDHNsKDYau%2BdrQlFQvAOX7rGbB1HYh5Z1qIJzNhmwCSGIyjLJNoDqrRBZLQbG8buCJZHFLJk%2Bz0ShhwgbBaZYl%2BqCauWUYGG0Hui1kO2ohRt%2BN3H8G69yZ1hYl%2FWD8CIm3sa8Yj3HcLfalwTPdmA%3D%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR9zgjLPcYw They will run off 3x AAA cells and with a bit of electronics would control a motor. I used them in this wagon project.

Interesting and very educating, I knew nothing about these engines. To be fair Mike it isn't only you that is trying to piece it all together. The whole idea of rubber sprung flangeless drivers has seen me scribbling a few thoughts out, I can't help but feel that any sort of sharp curve would be a problem.

Have you considered battery powered radio control? There are some impressive models over in the radio control forum and a self propelled railway wagon would just be forward and reverse, no steering required. Gets round the whole pickups issue. Lots of good ideas in here ; https://www.rmweb.co.uk/forums/forum/228-radio-control/

I'd agree with the comments on Worsley Works etches and I do like the idea of getting a basic set of accurate etches at a sensible price and doing the rest myself. A CR D35 full brake to illustrate the point.

Many thanks Q , order placed.

Hi Q. I'd be grateful for a link to a source of the SL-14 sized pins. I am using them for the 1/50 project but will need 4 per sleeper. Packets of 10 k seem ideal, colour not an issue Cheers

Well I just happened to have some old mahogany flooring. Like a lot of old wood it looks rough but when sawn is nice inside. I like the colour too, historically creasoted but then rather sunbleached.

Three great pics there Andy. I did manage a vaguely illegal nosey round the grain silos but it was before digital cameras so no pics ....

I decided to have a think about making track. I have a number of reference photos, including the excellent one of Corsican track kindly uploaded by 5&9 models earlier in the blog. So, timber sleepers, medium weight flat bottom rail held down with track screws. Firstly sleepers. These are cut from some old mahogany, pretty hard but it saws well. A scale 2.1 m long which seems like a reasonable average from the info I can find. Track screws next. Sometimes called rail screws or screwed spikes. These are still manufactured by several companies so I was able to get dimensioned drawings. Some experiments later I came up with the idea of using a peco track pin with a 0.5 mm cube of styrene glued to the head. This is the first batch with a coat of primer. Some rejects but enough to play with. Peco trackpins are 0.4 mm dia. There is no chance of them going through mahogany that tough without a pilot hole. However using any sort of hand held drill is a recipe for snapping drill bits at a rate. So I made a drill machine consisting of a linear ball slide mechanism from the bits box with a flexible mini drill drive clamped to it. Here it is sat on the sleeper drilling jig which makes sure that one inner hole is accurately drilled as a reference point. I painted a bit of scrap 10 mm ply as a test bed. First sleeper fixed with a track screw on the inside. The rail is peco code 83. Intended for HO that represents a fairly heavy flat bottom rail, but at 1/50 scale it comes in very close to the drawing I have of typical metre gauge track. The drill can then make the outer hole and a track screw inserted. The curve is 1 m radius marked out using the bit of string tied to a pencil method. With the inner rail fixed roller gauges are use to position the outer rail for drilling. Some pictures of the test track. I have tried a bit of ballasting and rail painting at the lh end. Not particularly happy about those, but I will do tests with other ballasts a few sleepers at a time till I find one I like. Overall I feel that was a worthwhile test. The track looks right to my eye and the wood sleepers have a more natural variation than plastic ones. Similarly the slight positional variation of the track screws adds to the realism. Price wise it isn’t much more than standard OO track, certainly cheaper than O gauge.

They look nice Bill. However, following the CR tradition of not spending money if you don't need to copper wire and accurate soldering works: Heading into retirement I find I have a bit shy of a half a mile of cat 5 cable in store. Thats a lot of tiedowns.....

I too am finding this fascinating. Effectively a structural boiler. The heat losses must have been significant with all those yokes rivetted on.

Is it possible that they just bought it from metropolitan ?

Should be an interesting build. I'm intrigued by the yoke arrangement. Were the two pots for a rubber suspension as well ?

Surely a spade is flat and a shovel has turned up edges ? Mind you in these woke times I'm sure there is a more politically correct term for either a spade or a shovel. Though I really cannot be bothered finding out.

The above is all good advice. My biggest error early on was not realising just how clean you need to get the brass to make a really good soldered joint. 40 years later I do. Out of the box etches look clean but they have a surface of etch resist that needs to come off. Get some fine emery, some pcb cleaner blocks, some fibreglass brushes and some brass and steel minidrill wheels. Keep cleaning as you go . Wash the flux residue off , clean it all again.

The wheel discs were as you suggest to prevent spragging Wickham Green. NBR developments do a suitable etch; https://www.nbr4mm.co.uk/wagonparts/9059.php

Hi trawest, I have a lot of photos. Most are from later on. I'm happy to share them but it is many GB of files. I also have hundreds of silhouette files used to cut all the parts and many affinity files used to print all the textures. I'm happy for anyone to have them. and Thats the south window. The brackets originally had a ledge for a window cleaner , though I think that was fitted in LMS days. The curtain pole over the window is a mystery. Do bear in mind that Kelvinbank is not a precise model of Partick Central, though that is the main influence. Many aspects are interpreted from similar stations on the L+D line and dimensions have been adjusted to make a working layout in the space available. If I had a room about 60 feet long I would model Partick Central from Kelvinhall tunnel to the East tunnel under the NB line in its entirety , with the Kelvin as the front and the Partick tenements as a backdrop . If in the unlikely event that any very rich CR fans wish to sponsor such a project I'm just about at retirement and open to offers ..... Like all of that ; Glad you liked the article on Kelvinbank in TTL . I might do some more, perhaps covering the building of TLM kits.

Very interesting, well done cramming the electronics in. Is the liquid used just water or are additives used ?

Thanks trawest, glad you enjoyed the blog. I have never seen a proper drawing. I measured the front face of the building a long time ago, I noted it was 56 feet (ish) . The rest of the site I scaled from photos, or a rough confirmation from the nls maps. There was a good article in "The True Line" , No 103 . That will still be available on CD for members of the CRA. I also took quite a lot of photos in the early 2000s. Hope that helps.

My original attempts at EM track used K+L parts. I'd agree with the wheel flange issue, Gibson, and Keen Maygib wheels cleared the chairs, the rest including Romfords tended not to. I still find that rtr oo wheels hit the chairs if you just regauge them to EM. So old Romfords and things are no use for scale chaired track. Which of course begs the question, which scale? Take 5 foot oo romford, remove the middle, make a new centre and axle and it becomes an accurately flanged 1 metre dia wheel for 1/50 scale. Mind you, only someone a bit mad would do that .....

Well, many thanks for putting all the effort in. Overall I am pleased with the way it has come out, it would be a lot of work to scratchbuild one. The 3d printing approach is very new, I suspect it might take a while for both designers and builders to work out the best approach. The strengthening of the footsteps with wire makes a difference and I have made a mental note not to push long trains buffer to buffer with it.

The 1870 horsebox is now painted and in service. Once primed I liked the overall level of detail, the top hinges and the dog box end show a slight bowing out but not severe enough to merit a substantial alteration. I think it would be in plain coach brown by the 1900s, compartment interior off white and a simple bench seat added. Lettering is from the HMRS sheet. Some light weathering to bring out the details. A couple of posed pictures. The start of a racing day special perhaps. The new horsebox is followed by a CR Dia 73, built 1907 and a LNWR Dia 436 from the late 1890s. Just about plausible then. I’m still a bit unsure about resin printing. The model has worked out reasonably but I am concerned about the brittle nature of things like buffers and steps. My preference would be etched brass steps and sprung metal buffers, though I appreciate that would increase costs and might not be viable for low manufacturing volumes. Perhaps too printing a model in a number of smaller sections would result in a greater accuracy ?

It might be the case that the CR d2 van in the ops photo is being returned, I don't know know where the photo was taken. The CR dead meat vans were built with hooked rails across the wagon at cantrail height so that whole animal carcasses could be transported. Through pipes and later dual brakes, oil boxes and safety chains were fitted so that they could run as head end traffic with passenger trains. Needed if you had to get meat from Scotland to a London market relatively quickly. As for the return trip they may have been loaded, but clearly needing a good clean out first.

I'd agree, CR Diagram 2 meat van, later planked body style. The trumpet ventilators are a CR thing. There is a detail drawing of them , wagon book p318. As far as I know they were only fitted to CR stock, but as ever any other info would be good. The earlier body style was panelled.

Nice modelmaking. I too use the EZline elastic for ropes and sheet ties. A bit fiddly tp work with but the tautness is very realistic I think.