davknigh

Frost advisory in effect for Toronto tonight, welcome to Canada! Cheers, David

If Rapido was to do a commemorative edition it should be more along these lines: https://www.themetrains.com/royal-train-roster.htm Cheers, David

GBTS 2024 starts one week today! Come by Nemo Engineering and say hello. Cheers, David

As a taster for those attending here’s the show guide. 2024 GBTS Show Guide 1.pdf Cheers, David

I would first remove the body just to make sure there is no hollow space. I only have a couple of Dapol wagons and IIRC it was possible to mount Dinghams on them without going to extremes. A couple of .5mm holes one above the other and then clean out between with a broken jeweller’s saw blade usually does the trick. The main thing is to use the blade so it cuts on the pull stroke and is therefore under tension for cutting. HTH David

Tim, you may find this useful; http://www.wymann.info/ShuntingPuzzles/Timesaver/timesaver-trackplan.html The original was an American design but can be done for British outline with the advantage that it will require less space than the US version. It can be built using set track. And if the Timesaver does not create excitement for you then there are more possibilities on offer if you go back to the home page: http://www.wymann.info/ShuntingPuzzles/index.html Cheers, David

More information can be found on the Facebook page for GBTS https://www.facebook.com/events/260854953166151/268371392414507/?active_tab=discussion Cheers, David

Make yourself a jig to get everything at the proper height. IIRC there’s been a few suggestions in these pages if you do a search. Depending on how tight your curves are you might have difficulty with wagons with a lot of overhang so long modern wagons and short vintage ones might cause some problems. Last item would be buffers, they need to be the minimum length stipulated for satisfactory shunting. Beyond that I’ve been using Dinghams for 20+ years with no regrets. Cheers, David

One month to wait for GBTS 2024! Layouts and displays: Rapido Show Sponsor and Display Leadenham n Lemon Curd and Gin Factory Sidings n Ardleigh Bitton oo Hornby Dublo oo Chewed Moor oo Trix Twin oo ool layout oo Brunswick Dock em Navigation Hill em Carfen em Nemo Engineering p4 Crowsnest Tramway 1/32scale 2'gauge Glenmule o,o16.5 Trains of India o16.5 St. Blazey Clay Line o Balmoral Road o Roweham o Thomas - Elsbridge Station g1 WNWB & Golden Horseshoe Live Steamers g1 Static Pop Rivet Shunting Layout 3.5" 7-1/2" Gauge Locomotive 7.5" Meccano Meccano MERG - Model Electronic Railway Group Demo Applied Computing Demo

Filppems are essentially the same as Dinghams with a slightly wider loop and minor cosmetic differences for I imagine copyright reasons. Their functioning is the same. The couplings in this photo are Dinghams If your curves are tight or your stock varies greatly in length Flippems might be the better choice. HTH David

Short answer, on straight DC : you use a lot of voltage for a little sound and not much speed. For my “test drive” the locos in question were Rapido North American diesels and they started with appropriate starting noises, ran up to a walking pace but if the throttle was backed off too much the starting noises kicked in again. I have heard the same engines on full DCC and it is a completely different experience. If you are a dedicated DC user, like me, use your imagination for the sound or play a recording in the background. If you really want sound, bite the bullet and convert to DCC. Cheers, David

A good way of cleaning and testing pickup performance at the same time. https://www.kadee.com/236-speedi-loco-driver-cleaner-hon3-to-o-scale-dc-dcc Brass bristles will not abrade the tyre treads. HTH David

It’s also the drive unit in the Judith Edge kit. Cheers, David

I’ve hear that argument before but the same can be said of the Peckett but somehow Hornby got around that problem and it appears that Rapido have managed it too with their fire less Barclay. I’m prepared to accept that in Hatton’s case it was down to tooling costs but they still managed to produce exquisite detail inside the cab which is equally hard to see, but they did it. But that was then and this is now. Accurascale have been building a reputation of getting first class detail on their models and even going to the extent of making EM & P4 wheel sets available for some engines. All I’m asking is that Accurascale consider an upgrade that would include the detail change and perhaps include earlier variants of a very popular engine. The old reason for not showing the gap was down to gearing and motor size, that is no longer a valid concern. Cheers, David

Do you mean things like the character for “may contain traces of nuts”? Cheers, David

Is any thought being given to a back dated version (pre 1920) with the curved cab side or a boiler with daylight beneath it as managed by the Hornby Peckett? Cheers, David

A tip of the hat to Chris and his team for their usual great service. Ordered a kit and a few other bits and bobs on 27 January and the package arrived at my door for signature yesterday afternoon. The new kit packaging works just fine for transport. Cheers, David

Any chance of raising the Ark Royal? She might be in better nick… Cheers, David

Truck mounted couplers are generally associated with lower quality equipment when found on freight stock. Cheers, David

I’ve been reading articles about the demise of the hobby of model railways/railroads since the late 1960s and in many respects things have only got better in terms of the availability and quality of products. The nature of the hobby is changing with a decline of brick and mortar shops but an increase of online retailers and people who work online and at shows. As long as goods and people travel on rails there will be people who want to model them IMHO. Cheers, David

The run around section seems a bit complex as most moves would involve coming back out to the front of the layout by a rather circuitous route. Is the track at the very front for display/programming purposes only or does it connect via fiddle yard/sticks to the rest of the layout? Cheers, David

Admirable sentiments but the trick is with enforcement. I can think of a number of incidents reported in our local press of people stopped for assorted offences only to find that they were driving without a licence and had been nicked on other occasions for the same offence. This is particularly the case with some who have been charged with drink driving. We had one local type who “borrowed” his mum’s car and promptly crashed it. There are far too many who view driving as an inalienable right. Cheers, David

Which is good to know and well done Rapido for including it. But I’m thinking of the chaps who have shelves full of stock with T/L couplers who could be converted if they saw that bigger isn’t always better as far as couplings go. Sort of a “Here kid, the first one’s on me” and gradually ease them into finer things, if you get my drift… Cheers, David

May I make a suggestion? The existing T/L couplers look ridiculously large on these engines, and other small 0-4-0Ts if we are honest. Why not come up with a compatible smaller version of the coupler that does not look like, as Tim Shackleton once put it, “like a grand piano hanging on the buffer beam”? It might just attract more customers put off by the appearance of the existing one. Cheers, David

There is an article in MRJ 297 on a Cement Plant Manning Wardle that uses an Impetus kit as a starting point. The mounting of the motor is more in the style of a High Level kit and uses a half boiler leaving the tank open to accept the motor rather than trying to use the firebox. I’m not certain it will work for the RT kit but might be worth a look. Cheers, David