Jon Fitness

You can never have too much parcel stock Rod!😁 Re the tank wagon, can you not swap out the wheelsets or tweak the back to back to improve the running? Cheers JF

Steve. These are exactly what I'm after! Many thanks for these. I'm definitely going to produce a kit of parts for one of these in a way that can be assembled to whatever is required for any application. I would love a lost wax set that would slide down onto 2.5mm tube and include the base unit with its distinctive triangular support plates. I know they were occasionally used on a taller post as an elevated version so castings would allow that to be built. Thanks again for these mate Cheeers JF

Mike, these photos are superb and will definitely be of help when I'm building these early pattern ground signals. Fortunately, theses earlier pattern ones are available as castings, some good, some not so good but available anyway. I really need to produce a BRW tubular style one, in a fashion that can be slid over some 2.5mm tube and adjusted to the required height. Also there is the base with the 4 tapered support plates too. Many thanks for these pictures, they will be squirreled away for future reference.👍 JF

You may be able to help me with something Mike. Do you have any detailed close ups of the BR(W) ground signal assemblies or even better, drawings? Anything appreciated. Cheers JF

To be honest I wish I'd looked more and taken more photos😐

A bit of weathering added too. Very pleased with how the staging planks came out...

Hi Robin. The larger ones are HK15178 and I also use some tiny ones. 9225000002. https://hobbyking.com/en_us/hobbykingtm-hk15178-analog-servo-1-4kg-0-09sec-10g.html?queryID=f68d853a49e59f16e0987a58a3898d7c&objectID=38567&indexName=hbk_live_products_analytics&___store=en_us https://hobbyking.com/en_us/hobbykingtm-hk-5330-ultra-micro-digital-servo-0-17kg-0-04sec-1-9g.html

Sorry about the music but it's marginally better than switches and servos clicking and buzzing with a background of my neighbours building machinery noises!

Afternoon All! Here are 3 recently completed LMS/BR(M) bracket signals awaiting the weathering brush... All are from my own etches with the addition of lamp cases from Modelu and some lovely laser cut planks from a good friend. All are servo operated and LED lit. The power from the LEDs is taken from the servo feeds so they are effectively "self contained. More soon. JF

Cheers Steve. Very pleased how the etched LMS disc kit came out. Bit fiddly but definitely designed to work! JF

https://hobbyking.com/en_us/hobbykingtm-hk-5330-ultra-micro-digital-servo-0-17kg-0-04sec-1-9g.html These ones. A little delicate but nice and small. They are not appreciative of poor connections as I have found out to my cost! The bridge girders are resin ones from Skytrex. They've been outside in all weathers for about 2 years now and have proved both stable and robust JF

Starting to replace some of the missing pictures on this thread. Hopefully me and RMWeb will meet somewhere in the middle! Meanwhile, here's a few ground signals I've made recently...

What an excellent day! On behalf of Simon, Andrew, David, Alan and myself I'd like to say a big thank you for letting us visit and have a go at operating your wonderful creation. We were made very welcome and kept supplied with plentiful brews and biccies. You were smashing hosts and very tolerant of our efforts at operating which was helped by the superb running qualities of both locos and stock. The operating system and methods seemed intuitive and it all seemed to flow well thanks to your patience in teaching us the basics. Thanks again for a lovely day.

Here's the two GWR signals with a bit of grot on.... Back to the upper quadrants now!! More soon JF

Now I've mastered the etched built up ladders thing (which is a relief as I now have them in my range of etches😁) here is how I go about building them.. I've designed a home made jig for these. I've found that if the stiles are kept under tension, they tend not to distort when soldered. The stiles are held in the jig using 0.6mm steel lace pins. Wire isn't up to the job. The rungs are 0.45 nickel silver wire. First rungs soldered in are one at each end and a couple towards the middle... Then fill in the gaps until the ladder is complete. The spring keeps the stiles tight and absorbs any expansion and contraction as it happens... Trim off the excess and check for any joints that haven't soldered correctly... Final clean up and done.... More soon JF

I know I've been a little quiet this year so far but here's a couple of GWR signals ready for some serious weathering. I'll be going upper quadrant next for a good number of signals thankfully! The signals are Borg rail posts with my etched dolls, SSS arms, staging decking cut from some nice laser cut planks by Nikki Wilkes, Modelu lamps and finials and some very butchered brackets from me and SSS. The finials are only positioned with a bit of blu-tac as they will be packaged separately for the customer to fit. They rarely arrive intact if attached to the signals.. They are servo operated but unlit. More soon... JF

Thank you! FB has its uses and I've picked up work from there. I need to remember my roots on here though. I've had a lot of much appreciated help from peeps on here. The L&Y frame will only be poseable as it's only 0.3mm N/S so has no real strength. I'll be putting it together this weekend if the house doesn't blow down tomorrow! JF

Thank you! I use Draftsight, just the basic version. It costs me about £90 per year. I tried free versions of one or two programs but eventually they either fail or they end up charging you anyway. I used to do all brass but NS allows me to go with thinner material for the same strength and is nicer to work with. Most of the etches are for my own use in the long run but selling them is a bit of a bonus if I can! JF

Fantastic work on that 4mm scale Route indicator Steve Must have been a right struggle squeezing 4 working flags in that. Beautiful... JF

Recently received a nice shiny selection of etches back from PPD for some assorted signal bits. Some will join my Boltons Bits range and some are just bits for upcoming jobs..or a bit of self indulgence! The first 3 are various versions of the LMS brackets for tubular post construction. Offset single doll bracket Balanced 2 doll bracket Balanced 3 doll bracket (similar to the 2 doll but unable to upload any more pix to this entry😒) Next up is a 40ft LMS lattice post and some built up type ladders LNWR fold up dolls and trimmers and two sizes of bracket spandrel.. Some odd useful LMS bits; lampmans staging for lower down the post where a distant or calling on signal is fitted and a standard LMS sightboard/brackets.. Here's a 40 ft lattice post folded up and assembled... Finally, a complete indulgence, a 36 lever L&YR lever frame designed to have poseable levers to go in my Intentio L&YR signalbox... More soon JF

I'm guilty of not keeping up to date here. The dreaded Farcebook seems to have taken me over....

Wow they're lovely! Well engineered and very attractive design tooMany thanks for the video.

Would love to see and hear a video of them in action Jon F.

A couple of the new Heljan CCTs would probably suit the service too Rod. They are horribly expensive though! JF

Hmph. That was working ok when it left here. JF