RMweb Gold checkrail Posted September 3, 2020 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted September 3, 2020 Here's a close-up of 8709. One of these fine days I might find the time and the courage to divest it of its anachronistic top feed. One thing the last sequence of operations has shown me is that two Cobalt point motors have failed, an everyday story in the lives of railway modelling folk. Fortunately I always keep half a dozen spares in stock, so you can see how much confidence I have in them. To be fair, I believe there was a batch prone to losing their digital address, so I'll try re-programming before replacing, but either way it's a fiddly and time-consuming chore getting them off from under the baseboard, stuck on as they are with Halford's double-sided tape. And trying to get the actuator rod through the little vertical tube on the tie-bar from below is the devil's own job. John C. 4 14 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Popular Post checkrail Posted September 3, 2020 Author RMweb Gold Popular Post Share Posted September 3, 2020 I mentioned a while ago that this was still lurking at the back of a Plymouth express awaiting treatment ... ... so here's Shorty, a 55 foot E73 clerestory composite. Finished at last. Hornby donor body and underframe, Worsley Works etched brass sides, Keen Systems ends and gangways, Shapeways bogies plus various Comet accessories. Here's the other side. John C. 19 9 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Popular Post checkrail Posted September 3, 2020 Author RMweb Gold Popular Post Share Posted September 3, 2020 Here's the E73 in an up express behind Tiverton Castle. (The void down on the right suggests that the world is indeed flat, and that Stoke Courtenay sits right on its edge.) And seen again here, this time heading back towards Plymouth behind 6027 King Richard I. John C. 32 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anglian Posted September 3, 2020 Share Posted September 3, 2020 (edited) More gorgeous images that not only showcase the wonderful stock but also the sense of light and space. This layout has already become one of my all-time favourites and demonstrates that you don't necessarily need a vast space to model a very convincing mainline scene. I find it endlessly inspiring. Edited September 3, 2020 by Anglian 7 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bgman Posted September 3, 2020 Share Posted September 3, 2020 10 hours ago, checkrail said: To be fair, I believe there was a batch prone to losing their digital address Depending upon when you purchased them that may well be true. I purchased a box of 12 ? back in 2016 of which half failed due to a fault in manufacture. An e-mail to the then Australian base was sent and a very quick response was given. The motors were duly replaced without charge and I offered to return the faulty ones but was told not to worry myself. A PDF was also sent to me giving a "fix" for the faulty ones if I wished to experiment ( my word ) and see if I could revive them. There was a few batches around then and DCC Concepts were extremely good with their concerns. I am attaching a PDF if it is of interest. Cobalt Mods.pmd.pdf G 4 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold checkrail Posted September 4, 2020 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted September 4, 2020 Thanks for this info Grahame. Had a similar experience while they were still in Australia, and was sent a batch of replacements free of charge. (That was early in the Cobalt history, and I had sometimes thought I had been chosen to beta test them.) So no problem with the customer service, only with the product! I now have a few that start 'acking' repeatedly when power is switched on, or even when changing a point during operations. This is sorted by ducking under the baseboard and pinching the motor case between fingers and thumb, or in some cases tapping briskly with a pin hammer. Shouldn't have to do this. Was told about the faulty batch some months ago, over the phone from Settle, but wasn't offered the help sheet you attach, so thanks for that. I'll not go on about it any more, but once my stash of spares is exhausted I'll be doing some research on Tortoises. 1 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Popular Post checkrail Posted September 12, 2020 Author RMweb Gold Popular Post Share Posted September 12, 2020 Another pic of the E73 in an up express while 6801 Aylburton Hall slows to a stop in the down platform. Bought the whole E73 kit from Worsley Works as the sides aren't available separately at pres. Bit extravagant perhaps but provides some useful spares, and I did want to sort out the last of my three clerestories. Now feel that type of coach is properly reflected in proportion to the other coaching stock for my later 1930s period. I thought that shortening the body and chassis would be the hardest challenge but it proved pretty straightforward. The Hornby ends slide out, and after removing the grooves they'd fitted in, the roof and sides were reduced by 2mm at each end with a razor saw before Keen Systems ends were fitted. Shortening the roof didn't make too much difference to the look of the rainstrips etc. - nothing that an 'impressionistic' modeller like me would notice anyway. With the underframe I sawed off the buffer beams, reduced the floor length by 2mm at each end, replacing the headstocks later after filing and dressing. Shortening the bogie centres was much easier than I'd feared. I just drilled/filed two rectangles out of the floor round the bogie bosses, reduced the resulting rectangles by 2mm at the inside end, slid them back in to their new positions and secured. (The glue debris from the first attempt, seen in the photo below, was where I stuck a larger rectangle of Plastikard, only to find it fouled the wheel flanges. So I repeated this from above, glueing it to the floor, knowing that I'd have to fashion my own interior partitions anyway.) I'm afraid I mangled the brass clerestory sides, so I just painted over the Hornby sides, glazing and all. What's now a somewhat incorrect arrangement of vents and glazing isn't really noticeable in a passing train. As ever i found painting, glazing, door furniture and internal corridor handrails the hardest parts. Not so much doing them in the first place - more the difficulty in avoiding spoiling, scratching or distorting them when you come to glue it all together! Once again the door hinges are little bits of microstrip, slightly chamfered, dipped in superglue, force-fitted into the hinge slots, and sliced flush at the back, as necessary at the front, when set. Quite pleased with results so far during the "year of the coach" here at Stoke C. , with a C 31, D121, D29, C16 and now E73. Having been away there now are a few niggly little jobs to attend to - errant point motors, broken fences etc. - but once these chores are sorted next up I hope will be another toplight. John C. 16 1 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Neal Ball Posted September 13, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted September 13, 2020 It’s great to see your carriage fleet coming on in this manner, you make it all sound so effortless. Im not convinced I could manage the 2mm off here and 2mm off at the other end! I would forever be seeing my errors and so would everyone else! Keep it up John, it’s great to watch them all change. Thanks, Neal. 1 4 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold checkrail Posted September 13, 2020 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted September 13, 2020 Credit where it's due - a good story about Shapeways/Stafford Road Works. I ordered two 10 foot Dean bogies (Hornby fit, no steps) but received instead these rather nice 8 foot American types. On pointing out the error they sent me the correct ones with profuse apologies and told me to keep the others. They'll go nicely under a toplight or bogie siphon! Great service. John C. 7 2 2 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bulwell Hall Posted September 13, 2020 Share Posted September 13, 2020 1 hour ago, checkrail said: Credit where it's due - a good story about Shapeways/Stafford Road Works. I ordered two 10 foot Dean bogies (Hornby fit, no steps) but received instead these rather nice 8 foot American types. On pointing out the error they sent me the correct ones with profuse apologies and told me to keep the others. They'll go nicely under a toplight or bogie siphon! Great service. John C. Off the top of my head - I don't think 8' wheelbase 'American' bogies were used on Siphons. I think only 9' wheelbase would be found on these vehicles. Gerry 1 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold checkrail Posted September 13, 2020 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted September 13, 2020 1 hour ago, Bulwell Hall said: Off the top of my head - I don't think 8' wheelbase 'American' bogies were used on Siphons. I think only 9' wheelbase would be found on these vehicles. You're absolutely right of course. They'll go under a toplight. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Popular Post checkrail Posted October 1, 2020 Author RMweb Gold Popular Post Share Posted October 1, 2020 A busy few weeks, but finally managed to get the camera out today. Here's 4574 on the branch goods, returning from Earlsbridge to Hackney yard. And here's 6027 King Richard I on a Plymouth express. John C. 28 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Popular Post checkrail Posted October 1, 2020 Author RMweb Gold Popular Post Share Posted October 1, 2020 And now the two meet as the prairie brings its traIn out onto the up main line. John C. 29 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark90 Posted October 1, 2020 Share Posted October 1, 2020 Fantastic pictures, John. I am a relatively new returner to the hobby and I’ve found browsing through this thread on and off in recent weeks both inspiring and informative. Thanks for sharing your wonderful layout! 3 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bgman Posted October 1, 2020 Share Posted October 1, 2020 1 hour ago, Mark90 said: Fantastic pictures, John. I am a relatively new returner to the hobby and I’ve found browsing through this thread on and off in recent weeks both inspiring and informative. Thanks for sharing your wonderful layout! Worth reading through and a good benchmark to aim for. 6 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold checkrail Posted October 2, 2020 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted October 2, 2020 15 hours ago, Mark90 said: I am a relatively new returner to the hobby and I’ve found browsing through this thread on and off in recent weeks both inspiring and informative. Thanks Mark for kind remarks. I'm glad you've been enjoying Stoke Courtenay. As a 2012 returnee myself I've tried to tell it 'warts and all' including all the mishaps, disasters, exasperations and frustrations. So many articles in the model press make it all sound so easy, but it isn't always. The reward is when you think you're achieving the 'look' you were after, boosted by the confidence gained when it seems that others do too! Regards, John. 6 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Popular Post checkrail Posted October 2, 2020 Author RMweb Gold Popular Post Share Posted October 2, 2020 (edited) Over at Little Muddle recently Kevin @KNP mentioned occasional damage to the layout from the camera. I smiled in recognition because only the day before my TZ100 had slid off the tilted plastic box I had it sat on to get a close-up of the station and crushed the complex corner of the station fencing and gate. The first repair was unsatisfactory - I didn't have quite enough of the necessary Ratio parts. So I bought a new pack of fencing, and one of ramps & gates, all to rebuild this little corner. Incidentally, when I was first installing the enamel advertising signs (from Sankey Scenics) I enhanced the enamelled effect by cutting them out, laying them face down onto the sticky side of a piece of clear Duck tape, then cutting round the edges. ' John C. Edited October 2, 2020 by checkrail word spacing 16 2 2 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
KNP Posted October 2, 2020 Share Posted October 2, 2020 Life as a model railway photographer can be fraught with danger. But fear not we battle through adversity to get you, the thread follower, the pictures you disserve.... Pictures as good as ever John, keep them coming.... 1 5 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Harlequin Posted October 2, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 2, 2020 3 hours ago, checkrail said: Over at Little Muddle recently Kevin @KNP mentioned occasional damage to the layout from the camera. I smiled in recognition because only the day before my TZ100 had slid off the tilted plastic box I had it sat on to get a close-up of the station and crushed the complex corner of the station fencing and gate. The first repair was unsatisfactory - I didn't have quite enough of the necessary Ratio parts. So I bought a new pack of fencing, and one of ramps & gates, all to rebuild this little corner. Incidentally, when I was first installing the enamel advertising signs (from Sankey Scenics) I enhanced the enamelled effect by cutting them out, laying them face down onto the sticky side of a piece of clear Duck tape, then cutting round the edges. ' John C. Hi John, Do you do requests? Could you snap the same scene from closer to eye level? I bet it would look even more wonderful (apart from not showing off your new fence so well)... 3 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold checkrail Posted October 2, 2020 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted October 2, 2020 33 minutes ago, Harlequin said: Could you snap the same scene from closer to eye level? I'll give it a go Phil. Cheers 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tallpaul69 Posted October 2, 2020 Share Posted October 2, 2020 Good Afternoon John and all observers, Once again great photos and good advice via your experiences. Just catching up with this and other threads I follow after a disaster (for me!) with the RMWeb software update. Partly my own fault, I suppose for failing to move with the times on the Browser front. Anyway, now I'm using Edge, things seem a lot better. Best regards Paul 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Popular Post checkrail Posted October 2, 2020 Author RMweb Gold Popular Post Share Posted October 2, 2020 I don't post many photos showing the layout underpinnings but here's an exception, as 5975 slows to a halt with the M set. The red push-buttons on the fascia are to operate the much modified Dapol signals. The spare hole to the left is for a switch to operate a new Dapol single-arm bracket signal (in my possession but not yet installed). This will replace the branch platform signal (Ratio) which you can see just beyond the footbridge - my last non-working signal. (Except for all the ground signals I hasten to add!) Everything else is switched from the Prodigy wireless handset, which can be seen here attached to the fascia with glue-on Velcro tape. The list beyond it is of route settings, just in case I forget them. There's just one exception, the little silver on-off switch you can see, controlling the 12v bulb inside the church tower to show off the stained glass I installed. Besides the Dapol signals that will be the only nod in the direction of lighting on this layout. And I have to say I very rarely remember to switch it on. Some new bicycles have now appeared, scattered around Stoke C., to replace the old Scalescenes ones now residing inside the vacuum cleaner. These are the laser-cut ones from Model Railway Scenery. Nice. John C. 20 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bgman Posted October 2, 2020 Share Posted October 2, 2020 4 hours ago, checkrail said: occasional damage to the layout from the camera Not really surprised mate, especially when you're looking at the image upside down with a black sheet over your head ! 10 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark90 Posted October 2, 2020 Share Posted October 2, 2020 6 hours ago, checkrail said: So many articles in the model press make it all sound so easy, but it isn't always. Too right, as I've found. I am learning to enjoy the ride, however! 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Neal Ball Posted October 2, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted October 2, 2020 3 hours ago, checkrail said: I don't post many photos showing the layout underpinnings but here's an exception, as 5975 slows to a halt with the M set. The red push-buttons on the fascia are to operate the much modified Dapol signals. The spare hole to the left is for a switch to operate a new Dapol single-arm bracket signal (in my possession but not yet installed). This will replace the branch platform signal (Ratio) which you can see just beyond the footbridge - my last non-working signal. (Except for all the ground signals I hasten to add!) Everything else is switched from the Prodigy wireless handset, which can be seen here attached to the fascia with glue-on Velcro tape. The list beyond it is of route settings, just in case I forget them. There's just one exception, the little silver on-off switch you can see, controlling the 12v bulb inside the church tower to show off the stained glass I installed. Besides the Dapol signals that will be the only nod in the direction of lighting on this layout. And I have to say I very rarely remember to switch it on. Some new bicycles have now appeared, scattered around Stoke C., to replace the old Scalescenes ones now residing inside the vacuum cleaner. These are the laser-cut ones from Model Railway Scenery. Nice. John C. Lovely as ever John. Thanks for sharing. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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