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There are some really fascinating scratch-builds going on at the moment; looking forward to seeing how you progress and very interested in the pantograph engraving. Could you show us it in action? Cheers Simon

That's a lovely loco Nick, both prototype and etches! What inspired you to model it? Cheers Simon

That's a lovely loco Paul, thanks for posting the build! Cheers Simon

Thanks very much Marc, hope you have a good time when you're allowed out! And Jerry, house move successfully accomplished and new workshop being untidied, I hope to get on with some editing of various drawings this year (plus hopefully a GNR 2-4-0). I'll be demonstrating at the N Gauge show in Leamington and I'll try to post a bit more regularly on here! Cheers Simon

Brilliant stuff!

Thanks very much Marc. I've always wanted to visit the Tanfield railway and see the loco. If you don't mind sharing them I'd love to see some photos, particularly of inside the cab if possible. I'm about to start building another one! Cheers Simon

Here are a couple of quick piccs of my O gauge Tilbury build (with it's 4mm cousin close by...) before I move to my new house with workshop and garden! Heaven!

That looks very nice! Did you do any Hill and Barnsley locos in the Kenscale range Ken? Cheers Simon

Hi Ade Have you come across this thread by Giles, brilliantly describing silver soldering, on Western Thunder. It might provide you with some alternative ideas. I found it very informative. http://www.westernthunder.co.uk/index.php?threads/silver-soldering-loco-construction.4673/ Cheers Simon

Thanks very much indeed Mick, I've got the excellent book that includes that rather alarming photo and which inspired me to try to build one of these brilliant looking beasts! I'll get in contact with the museum too. Cheers Simon

Hi Davey I hope you are well. How did your project go? It looks great. I'm keen to scratch-build an H1 and wondered how to get hold of some drawings, did you find any? Kind regards Simon

Has anyone had any recent luck with contacting Kemilway? I've tried numerous phone messages and emails but have had no reply at all. Are they perhaps ill or away or perhaps stopped trading? Cheers Simon

Hi John, You could buy turned spacers from various places (Comet possibly?), usually in packs of three, three is best! Work out where you want to put them where they won't get in the way of stuff as mentioned in previous posts. Either tack solder the frames together or use double-sided tape and line them up accurately. Drill some appropriate sized holes, separate the frames again, and then screw everything together. You can then either keep them as they are, or use them temporarily while you solder in other forms of frame spacer. Cheers Simon

Thankyou very much indeed. I would go for the, if you're not happy with the paint job, get the paint stripper out and start again, approach, I try to. It's a bit heart-rending but you learn a lot each time. And practice each stage on something else first. I tend to forget what I did last time and have to learn it all over again. And finally, I can't recommend Tony Wright and Ian Rathbones' painting and lining DVD enough. I've watched it many many times. Just hearing Mr Rathbone stir a tin of Humbrol is inspirational! Cheers Simon

This is beautiful! Cheers Simon

I love John Ahern's book "Miniature Building Construction". It's very old school; all cardboard and seccotine and an absolute delight!

I've recently received a set of theses etches from John and they look superb! Cheers Simon

Some more adventures in DCC, this time courtesy of the fabulously patient Kevin at Coastal DCC. I wanted to fit a stay alive to the J27 which has a small chip and loudspeaker fitted in the tender. Kevin supplied a charging circuit and nice big capacitor. The charging circuit manages the power from the capacitor and I had no idea how to wire everything up. I'm not good on circuit diagrams and the terminology involved and I couldn't understand the instructions; so on the phone to Kevin with lots of simple questions and a pad and pencil at the ready. And Bingo! Success! Thanks Kevin! Here'sthe original set-up with the charging circuit and capacitor already and waiting... The charging circuit can be trimmed to size as I only needed one set of connections. The side shown in the photo is called the top, the underneath is the bottom. I wired the charging circuit and the capacitor from my sketches as described to me by Kevin. A start has been made on insulating the contacts, I covered everything later in the translucent tape I used with the Lady Armstrong. Then everything was wired to the chip...the blue wire and the "ground" which turned out to be one of the unused tabs on the chip. I removed some of the plastic and very carefully soldered the remaining wire. I zoomed in on this photo to check that the solder hadn't strayed. Then everything was checked and insulated with yet more tape, then eased back into the tender. I forgot to take a photo whilst doing this and I'm not taking it apart in a hurry but it does work very nicely! Here's a link to a swift video... www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUFfG4jviHo ... Cheers Simon And of course, don't forget about the West Midlands Workshop Day!

I phoned Kevin at Coastal this morning and along with some very relevent diagrams via email, he patiently and thoroughly explained exactly which wires to solder where. It all seems so clear when an expert explains! So, very soon, I'll rev up the soldering iron and post the results on my thread in Scratchbuilding. Cheers Simon

Hi Vecchio; thanks very much for the link, I have looked at this previously and I'm afraid the problem is one of too much information, I just can't understand what is shown in the manual! I need the specific information in a very simplified form. I'll phone Coastal tomorrow and let you know the result. Many thanks for your help. Cheers Simon

Hi, I wish to wire a ZIMO SACC16 "stay alive" charging circuit and SC68 supercapacitor (as recommended by Coastal DCC) in conjunction with a small Zimo sound decoder that is already set up and running. Can anybody describe, preferably with pictures or sketches, what goes where? I can make assumptions, but they might be expensive, and the instructions don't quite help me understand! It really is as simple a matter as which colour wire goes where! Cheers Simon

After having successfully plugged in a Dapol O gauge 08, I thought I'd have a go at some proper DCC wiring as my scratchbuilt Armstrong Whitworth doesn't have a plug! I had a long email conversation with John at YouChoos (other DCC manufacturers are available). John is very patient...and after considering his advice I chose a sound-chip with a hefty capacitor as the loco is a rather short wheelbase 0-4-0 and I wanted belts and braces as well as the bells and whistles... There's a nice big speaker inside on the right, smack in the engine compartment and the chip is stuck up under the bonnet. The original small capacitor is still attached. I took that off and added the SuperCap,making triple sure I got the + and - terminals correctly wired to prevent small expensive explosions. The metal casing of the capacitor needs to be insulated, I used some Kapton tape (I think it's Kapton...), anyway it works well. And the capacitor was secured inside the front of the bonnet. The main wiring uses microconnectors so I can take things apart if I need to. I made double sure everything was insulated before putting it all back together as the inside of the loco is basically a bare metal box. All the components are held in place by "Black Tack" which is both sticky and rubbery! And there she goes.Marvellous! My first home wired DCC sound installation. Great fun although I drove everyone quietly mad playing with it at last night's meeting. Next; to learn how to tweak the CV settings, including the fantastic sound volume. Anyone interested in 7mm modelling or learning or more about stuff like this, there's a West Midlands Workshop Day supported by the Gauge O Guild coming up in March! Cheers Simon

Hi: In response to a thread discussing the provision of workshop/demo days on the Gauge O Guild forum I have organised one in Ludlow, Shropshire. It will take place on Saturday 30th March 2019 from 10.00 to 5.00pm. The venue, the Mascall Centre, has a very pleasant, large, well lit room, enough for 14 and is used to hosting model railway activities as my local ScaleFour group regularly hold workshop days there. There is also an excellent cafe on site and ample, free, off road parking. The train service via Hereford or Shrewsbury is very pleasant and reasonably frequent. The station is about 10 minutes walk from the venue. Ludlow has some very nice pubs, as well as being a beautiful town, if people would like to socialise afterwards. The day is workshop based, in that participants are invited to bring their own projects, materials and tools and I and fellow volunteer demonstrators and facilitators, including Sandy Harper, Derek Mundy, Warren Haywood, Richard Lambert and John Percival, will provide assistance where requested. We have a wide range of skills between us and are very happy to welcome beginners and experienced modellers alike. If you have a particular interest please let us know. The day is supported by the Gauge O Guild, you don't have to be a member to attend, you can even join on the day if you wish! The charge is £10 per person for the day. Please contact me, Simon Bolton, at simon@sejbolton.co.uk to book a place.

Really useful master class in how to build a great running loco, thanks very much for posting Dave! Does anyone have a copy of the instructions for the Jidenco T6 as an additional aid for me to build the same kit? Cheers Simon