2mmMark

It's the lack of opposable thumbs that handicaps them. Mind you, in Germany, dogs are trained to do attic conversions. They are known as the Loftwoofer. Mark

Very nice wagon & chassis but I hate to say this, the angled strapping is unusual. Not to say that it's necessarily wrong (I'm sure there's a prototype somewhere) but the purpose of the angled strapping is normally to stop the ends bowing outwards, so the load is transferred from the top of the ends to the middle of the floor. I have a rectangular tank wagon with reversed brake gear. I assembled a 2mm "Uniframe" chassis incorrectly but I like to claim it's a one off oddball wagon... Mark

Looks very nice Alex. I agree very much about working on chassis & body together. You need to know the size within which you've got to work. Are you going to get some nameplates for it, such as "Hugh"...?

I reckon that most of the ecological harm is done in the construction process of a car, so owners of older vehicles have a right to expect nil VED, as they've amortised any environmental ill-effects over many decades.

I picked up an interesting project at Expo. Allen Doherty had some examples of his Irish narrow gauge kits on display and we got chatting about them. Apparently, there's one example doing the rounds which has been badly (i.e. wrongly!) assembled using superglue. Allen & I both bemoaned the lost opportunity so he gave me the part assembled Letterkenny & Burtonport 4-6-0 body to continue on with and mount on a suitable chassis. http://www.worsleyworks.co.uk/Image-Pages/Image_NG_Irish-Locos-N.htm The photos below show where things had got to. So after the Expo, I set about the loco body to see what could be done. As it was assembled as a demo, it had been tacked together with solder. The basic shapes had been formed well, so I dismantled the body by unsoldering all the joints using a blowlamp. Unfortunately, this distorted and corroded the footplate but the remaining parts were fine. No matter, making a footplate would be simple and after all, these are "scratch aid" kits. I reassembled the body with fully soldered joints, making solid seams. This went pretty well and gave a nice accurate result. Two pieces of nickel-silver were cut out, one of 10 thou to form the footplate and another of 20thou slightly smaller to form the valance. These were then solder together. The I dug out some K&S brass tube to form the boiler & smokebox. The larger brass tube was opened out to a u shape and soldered over the smaller tube. Then a large part of the tube was sawn and filed away to leave a section of boiler which would sit on top of the tank/cab/bunker assembly. About 3 evenings work, quite satisfying, going back to manually shaping bits of metal to fit each other. No CAD, no 3d printing, just simple rough pencil sketches of dimensions followed by marking out and filing. So this is where things currently stand. Next step is to saw out the footplate to accomodate the Marklin chassis and then assemble the parts together. I'm going to see what boiler fittings might be suitable in the N-Brass range. The chassis will gain a 4 wheel pony truck and possibly some cylinder wrappers. It really should be an outside framed chassis but I'm not going to go quite that far. Mark

I forget exactly when it was but at a 2mm Expo a few years ago, I was sitting next to Richard Wilson, each of us doing different demos. Richard was working on something that caught my eye. It was a little cast white metal traction engine which looked rather nice. However, cleaning up the wheel spokes was taking rather a long time. I recalled I had the same kit in my gloat box. If I recall correctly, it's a Fleetline Aveling & Porter. Thinking laterally, a good way to avoid the wheel refining chore would be to put it on rails. Once back home after the Expo, I dug out my kit, found some suitably sized wheels (10mm & 7mm disc) and cut out some frames from brass sheet, getting to the stage below. Only the main boiler casting was used, sandwiched in some plasticard to insulate it from the split frames. The next question was how to motorise it. The intention was to have a battered RCH wagon behind as a sort of tender, as was done for some Scottish "pugs". This would contain the motor, driving the 10mm wheels via a UJ to a worm & wormwheel. Well this was great in theory but after two or three abortive attempts, it became apparent that this was somewhat ambitious. The drive wasn't very smooth and tractive effort from a single brass driver with not much weight over it was limited. So it was put aside and dragged out from time to time while other ideas were considered. Then at ExpoNG, a solution presented itself. Nigel Lawton had introduced his MPD18 drive unit for OO9, which had an 18mm wheelbase - perfect for a 9ft wheelbase wagon in 2mm scale. As a plus point, the wheels were fine enough to be used on 9.42mm gauge as they stood, making a small alteration to the back-to-back dimension. Above is the basic chassis etch assembled. I did beef up the bearing surfaces by laminating bits of scrap etch as I felt that the axles running in the 10 thou nickel-silver frames might be a touch under-engineered. Next I sorted out a body. I had some 2mm Association RCH wagon kits but I'd put these away carefully in a safe place... They'll turn up one day! Instead I used a 2mm kit for a LMS van, teamed up with a Peco 9ft wheelbase underframe kit. The plastic body & underframe would avoid any shorting out, useful as the clearances are a bit tight. This brought me to the stage below with everything fitting into place nicely. The MPD18 chassis was completed and with a little bit of fettling, runs quite acceptably well. The rubber drive belt is definitely quieter than a pair of spur gears but there's still some noise from the final worms & wormwheels (which are Tenshodo products). I did wire in the suggested 15 ohm resistor but found it to be unneccesary, so it's been bypassed. I made a rear buffer beam for the loco, fitted some couplers and the ensemble has been trundling up & down my test track nicely. It's slightly wierd seeing a box van moving independently! Anyway, it's now functional and will hopefully be visiting one or two layouts at 2mm Expofest tomorrow & Sunday. In the fullness of time, the van body will be replaced by the originally planned RCH wagon "tender". In the meantime, the loco crew will have to use big wing mirrors when running in reverse!

I thought it is about time I documented some of my projects, partly to see if anyone else had similar odd interests and partly as an incentive to getting some of them finished, or perhaps just even started! I am a terrible procrastinator & time-waster. Why the name “Notlob” you may be thinking? Well from 1864 to 1898, Isaac Watt Boulton ran a locomotive conversion and remanufacturing business, taking cast-off early locos and rebuilding them as industrial locomotives, which were then hired out to contractors. As everyone of a certain generation will know, Notlob is a palindrome of Bolton*. I’m aware it’s “Boulton” not “Bolton” but “Nuotlob’s Siding” just seemed silly. Anyone who’s curious about the real Boulton’s Siding could do worse than finding a copy of "The Chronicles of Boulton's Siding" by Alfred Rosling Bennett, first published by the Locomotive Publishing Company in 1927, reprinted by David & Charles 1971, ISBN 0-7153-5318-7. The reprint can be readily be found either as a paperback or hardback. Oakwood Press produced a nice little paperback volume of drawings of Boultons Sidings locomotives ISBN 0-85361-397-4 "Volume 6: Boultons Sidings including Contractors Locomotives" by Mike Sharman. Mr. Boulton's activities closely resemble my own modelling in 2mm & Nn3, where for ages I’ve been trying all sorts of shortcuts in the construction of models. This usually turns out to be nothing of the sort and it probably would have been quicker to scratchbuild in the first place. But hey-ho, it keeps me entertained. I also have the attention span of a grasshopper and am easily distracted by interesting diversions. This is why I have five different small layouts and am contemplating yet more. I did once give myself a severe telling off and determined to find a theme and stick to it. I did, for a while...and then my all good intentions failed. I've long ceased to worry about it. Anyway, that’s enough for now. The next instalment will be a lucky dip into my store cupboard of eccentric projects. Mark *I refer m'learned colleagues to Monty Python's Parrot Sketch…

That looks rather good. Where did the etching come from? Are you making any tramcars to go with it?

I've really been enjoying this topic, an excellent small layout combined with the added bonus of extra "Shell Island". The concept of representing just a small chunk of an ironstone line in this way is inspired. The quarry faces were certainly on a grand scale and would demand a lot of space. My only suggestion for improvement would be to disguise the corners of the backscene with a curve or fillet of some sort. I have however, a complaint. I ended up on ebay last night, buying a second hand Farish Class 14 for my 2mm NCB diorama "British Oak". :-( Sigh! 3 link couplings would improve the visual aspect but possibly a less obtrusive autocoupler might be better operationally.

https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=Rue+de+Bechet,+Jersey&hl=en&sll=48.818067,-1.567441&sspn=1.464902,3.56781&t=h&hnear=Rue+du+Bechet,+Jersey&z=19 or http://goo.gl/maps/sVyUN Just measured it using the on-screen scale. One end has a semi-circle which measures at roughly 90ft. The other end looks a bit more generous. Whatever the radius, it still looks enormously like a classic model railway oval.

That's not 30ft radius. If it were, the diameter of a circle of track would be less than the length of a BR Mk1 coach! Google maps has the answer, it looks like it's about 100 to 120ft radius. Still very tight though.

Looking good! Can you remind me of where you're exhibiting?

Apologies for the late reply. The "Beginners Guide to 2mm Finescale Modelling" features a small demo layout which comprises 2 Y points. There's a comprehensive set of instructions on building them, plus a section on how to operate the turnouts when completed. Mark

So, your old hi-fi has met its Waterloo in search of a vinyl solution to the perennial fiddle yard problem. You're a Bjorn inventor. Mark

John, one of these: http://www.rixproducts.com/rix_pick_uncoupling_tool.htm I got mine at a show from a stand selling US models. I suspect at least one of the specialist US retailers would have them. There's probably enough detail in the photo at the link above to make one. The business end is simply a flat triangle about 15-20 thou thick. Mark.

I use AC for my uncoupling electromagnets. This avoids any tendency for the droppers to build up residual magnetism. DGs only need a short burst of magnetism so the issue of residual magnetism isn't a problem in practice. Suitable transformers for electromagnets need to be quite robust, the Phil Kerr designed electromagnets are effectively a dead short across the winding, hence the wording on them "for intermittent use only". Likewise, robust buttons for activation are advisable. The very small 6mm diameter ones are not reliable long term. However, I think I now prefer sliding permanent magnets. As the originator of the sliding magnets described in the Beginners Guide, I can confirm they work very well through 6 to 9mm of plywood baseboard. Better in fact, as having them closer means steel axles are also strongly attracted by the magnet. Neodymium magnets are powerful! I still have some of Denys' mouldings for his early couplings. These were of neccessity made in a home built injection mouding machine. Possibly, if made with engineering plastics on a commercial basis with very accurate moulds, they may well be viable. I use Microtrains for my American N equipment but do not bother with magnetic uncoupling. A simple twist with a "Rix" uncoupling pick does the job. Standard DGs have an advantage in that they can be made to look a lot small visually yet still work very well. I use this technique for my 2mm narrow gauge stock. Something I picked up from Paul Styles when he did some 2mm NG work a few years ago. Mark

I'll send you Phil's contact details. I'm fairly regular contact with him. Mark

I don't think the EMU was ever built. It would have been a bit out of place as the layout was based on Swanage. (says he with all sorts of inappropriate projects on the go!)

I've been given some drawings by J.J. Langridge which I've scanned in and uploaded here: http://s1155.photobucket.com/albums/p555/MarkFielder/JJ%20Langridge%20Drawings/ These are interesting as they show some more light on the design of the models. Mark

Here are links to some albums of the Langridge models: http://s1155.photobucket.com/albums/p555/MarkFielder/JJ%20Langridge%20Locomotives/ http://s1155.photobucket.com/albums/p555/MarkFielder/JJ%20Langridge%20Coaches/ http://s1155.photobucket.com/albums/p555/MarkFielder/JJ%20Langridge%20Buildings/ http://s1155.photobucket.com/albums/p555/MarkFielder/JJ%20Langridge%20Wagons/ Mark

I've been looking stuff up in the 2mm Magazine for Winter 1969. It looks like Langridge did in fact know A.R. Walkley and both were in the Wimbledon MRC. Langridge & H.B. Whall also knew each other and I'm told that Langridge built some of Whall's commissions. Around 1952/1953 P.D. Hancock commissioned a C14 from Whall for his Gleish Valley 2mm layout and this was documented in the Railway Modeller for August 1960. It's possible that Whall based the C14 on Langridge's design, or maybe Langridge actually built the Hancock C14. There are definite similarities but the later C14 looks rather more simplified. For example, disc rather than spoked driving wheels. It also looks like the actual medal winners were the C14 and an Adams 0395 class 0-6-0, plus a pair of LSWR coaches. The 0395 wasn't in the batch of models I photographed, so it may well be missing. In the 1969 photos, they are in Southern livery, not LSWR. By 1973, the Langridge models were definitely in LSWR livery, as there's a photo of the C14 & Adams Radial in the Feb 1973 2mm Magazine. Sounds like we need to get Pete Frame & his Rotring pens to do a 2mm version of "Rock Family Trees"! Mark