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Eastwood Town - A tribute to Gordon's modelling.


gordon s
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Pleased to say I've put away the paint and weathering powders to get back on construction proper of the layout. Weathering the Ivatt 4 and 9F proved a welcome break from carpentry and track building, but there are other decisions that need to be made. Some time back I expressed an interest in 00-SF as I could certainly see the benefits and the new terminus layout meant building new turnouts anyway, so I thought, why not give it a try. Easier said than done as sadly Russ Simpson who was producing the 00-SF gauges died suddenly in the States and no gauges were available. Eventually with thanks to Rodney Hills of the 00-SF forum, I managed to borrow some gauges and set about constructing a turnout this morning.

 

The benefits of improved running on both RTR stock and kit built chassis was a huge plus, but I had some concern as to whether the change from 16.5mm down to 16.2mm through the frog and check rails, would be visible. So I set to this morning and built the main parts of the turnout to 16.2mm and flared out the rails to 16.5mm to match up with the SMP Code 75 bullhead rail that I'm using. So far, so good and I have to say the improved appearance is certainly worthwhile and I'm not aware as yet of the gauge narrowing. First tests with RTR and scale wheels have been very positive and I'm certainly considering going down the 00-SF route.

 

Haven't seen Martin Wynne for a while, but I'm sure he'll be pleased that I've finally been able to build some track and evaluate the running qualities.

 

Here's a couple of pics with 00-SF with 16.2mm gauge and 1mm check rails gaps, versus my old build standard of 16.5mm gauge and 1.2mm gaps.

 

00-SF

 

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00 - DOGA Intermediate

 

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Look bettter to me. I was hoping to go down the 00-SF aswell but without any gauges available at the moment will have to either keep with normal 00 or even go down the EM gauge route.

 

Keep up the great work. Love reading about your layout.

 

Regards

 

Alan

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Good news on the 00-SF gauge tools. See: http://groups.yahoo....-SF/message/998

 

regards,

 

Martin.

 

Hi all,

 

As Martin has kindly mentioned, the 00-SF Stores is now up and running again - I've just posted revised Gauge purchasing details on the 00-SF Group:

 

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/00-SF/files/00-SF%20Track%20Gauges%20Folder/

 

(you need to be registered/signed in to see the files).

 

Apologies to Gordon and those patiently waiting for normal service to resume!

 

Best Regards,

Brian

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Thanks Brian. Mail went off to you this afternoon. Payment will follow just as soon as I hear from you.

 

Chuffed to bits with 00-SF and will certainly go down that route. I really can't understand why the subject got so heated when last discussed. Shame was it clouded the issue and I have to admit, put me off somewhat.

 

Having now built a turnout and connected it up to SMP, the improvement in running quality is great and all my stock runs through smoothly. RTR from Hornby and Bachmann plus scale wheels from Markits no problem. I even got the thinner Gibson wheels to run run through smoothly once I had adjusted the B2B to achieve the correct BEF distance.

 

It looks better than 00, runs better and has more than met my expectations. If you are going to build your own 00 track and don't want the EM/P4 standard, this is a great option.

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Thanks Brian. Mail went off to you this afternoon. Payment will follow just as soon as I hear from you.

 

Chuffed to bits with 00-SF and will certainly go down that route. I really can't understand why the subject got so heated when last discussed. Shame was it clouded the issue and I have to admit, put me off somewhat.

 

Having now built a turnout and connecteted it up to SMP, the improvement in running quality is great and all my stock runs through smoothly. RTR from Hornby and Bachmann plus scale wheels from Markits no problem. I even got the thinner Gibson wheels to run run through smoothly once I had adjusted the B2B to achieve the correct BEF distance.

 

It looks better than 00, runs better and has more than met my expectations. If you are going to build your own 00 track and don't want the EM/P4 standard, this is a great option.

 

Hi Gordon,

Many thanks - I've received your email and hope to reply later today. Glad you're pleased with 00-SF and I really look forward to developments on Eastwood Town - it's probably one of the best threads on RMWeb I've seen. Have you been able to try any Heljan locos on 00-SF yet - it has been suggested their wheelsets may be a little coarse for smooth running (though I seem to recall seeing some info on RMWeb that they are very easily and cheaply changed for Bachmann wheels - can anyone confirm?). I've a feeling Dapol wagons may have an unusually wide B2B setting also.

 

Best Regards,

Brian

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Hi Gordon,

Many thanks - I've received your email and hope to reply later today.  Glad you're pleased with 00-SF and I really look forward to developments on Eastwood Town - it's probably one of the best threads on RMWeb I've seen.  Have you been able to try any Heljan locos on 00-SF yet - it has been suggested their wheelsets may be a little coarse for smooth running (though I seem to recall seeing some info on RMWeb that they are very easily and cheaply changed for Bachmann wheels - can anyone confirm?).  I've a feeling Dapol wagons may have an unusually wide B2B setting also.

 

Best Regards,

Brian

 

Heljan wheels are fine its just the b2b is set too narrow. I've had a hj 47 batter its way through in thorough testing but a hj 27 just ground to a halt. But then I doubt Gordon has the need for such items? 

 

 

Pointwork looks good Gordon glad your getting good results from the gauge! I think the old rows over SF have calmed down quite a little over the last year or so.

 

Dave

 

 

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Heljan wheels are fine its just the b2b is set too narrow. I've had a hj 47 batter its way through in thorough testing but a hj 27 just ground to a halt. But then I doubt Gordon has the need for such items?

 

 

Pointwork looks good Gordon glad your getting good results from the gauge! I think the old rows over SF have calmed down quite a little over the last year or so.

 

Dave

 

 

 

You'd be surprised what might appear on Eastwood one day....cool.gif

 

Well I've just tried a Cargo Wagon and Kestrel and both loco and wagon had a B2B of just 14.2mm or less, so yes, it was tight, Once opened up to the B2B of Hornby and Bachmann at 14.4mm there won't be a problem. Of course these were new and still in their boxes, so they would have been an issue once run on my normal 00 track anyway, so it's not a 00-sf issue.

 

I can't believe Heljan set the wheels at 14.2mm....rolleyes.gif

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14.2mm has always baffled me but they must have had their reasons, but as you've found out a few minutes work on the wheels and axles and they will be just fine. I bet Kestrel will look very fine in those huge cuttings on Eastwood, lets hope that gets a few photos soon...

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Good grief, another month or so gone and not one ounce of effort on the building of Eastwood layout itself. To be honest, some family issues have taken me away from layout building, although odd hours here and there have meant some progress in other areas. First task was to clear up my garage/workshop and I got a local builder in to build a wall right across the garage to split it 70/30. The 30% is now used for storage of all tools/bikes etc and is now completely sealed off from the dust generating workshop area. It's worked really well and given some additional storage area on the wall itself, which can now be used for wood storage. Of course all my bits and pieces still need sorting and organising, but it is a huge improvement over the old dusty and dirty area.

 

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There's not an awful lot you can do in the odd hours here and there and I spent a fair bit of time thinking about RTR loco's and how you can improve running quality. I had a spare Ivatt chassis and the challenge of playing with it proved the ideal gap filler for those odd hours when my wife and mother were watching TV. I was recently lucky enough to acquire a small lathe/milling machine, so thought this would be a good test of seeing what it would do. I have found that Bachmann wheels can run out of true and my gut feeling is that it is down to the 3mm axle, which is turned down to 2mm and then uses a plastic bush to insulate the wheel hub from the axle. I had also considered fitting a High Level gearbox but could find one that would be a drop in replacement. The High Flier seemed the closest, so I've milled out 3.5mm from the chassis, so that a Mashima 1626 motor can be fitted. As these are set up for 1/8" axles, I had a go at trueing up the Bachmann wheels and opening them up for the larger axle. I had asked for suggestions on the Lathe/Machine thread and thanks to the suggestions from Bertiedog and others, I drilled out the centre to 4mm and then turned down a Tufnol bush to a tight fit and superglued it in place. This was then turned down to be flush with the wheel hub and centre drilled/reamed out to 1/8" and the wheels pressed on square using the lathe tailstock. I also reduced the flange depth and turned down the wheel thickness to 2.5mm. Of course I could have saved a lot of time by buying some Markits/Gibson wheels, but this was more of a challenge.

 

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The final stage was to ream out the slots in the Bachmann chassis to take 1/8" bore brass bearings which were aligned on an Avonside jig and superglued into the chassis block. Still early days yet, but first signs are very encouraging. The improvement on the wheels alone is significant and the chassis shows no sign of wobble or slop at all. Hopefully the gearbox will arrive today and I can then get the wheels quartered and coupling rods fitted. I'm still toying with the idea of having the wheels assembled and bushed and have these as a sliding assembly into the chassis block, but this will need a lot more care to control the depth and width of the slots. The upside however is that the wheels can be assembled before they go into the chassis. Of course, all of these mods may prove to be more trouble than they have been worth, but the enjoyment from doing it has been immense.

 

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In some ways I wish I had never started such a large layout, but at the time I thought the pleasure would come from watching trains run, rather than the detailing, weathering and engineering challenges of the stock. These small detours into the stock issues have proven to be just as pleasurable, so I have no doubt this hobby will keep me going for years to come.

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In some ways I wish I had never started such a large layout, but at the time I thought the pleasure would come from watching trains run, rather than the detailing, weathering and engineering challenges of the stock

 

I feel your pain brother - most modellers crave a large space to fill up with railway goodies, but IMO the reality is something else. Just so much work.....

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You'll be bringing the loco down to Carn Brea for a test run then. :) Your level of organisation in the workshop scares the whassanames out of me Gordon. I'm not sure I could cope with that. Great space mind you.

 

Cheers

Dave

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High level gearbox arrived on Saturday whilst I was at the YMR show. It all went together fairly well and after a little tweaking I managed to run it in for an hour or so. The gearbox is a High Flier and it fits between the Bachmann chassis sides. It's set up with a 54:1 ratio and the Mashima motor is their 1626. Fitting the worm was quite straightforward and I have to say it's a massive improvement on the RTR item. The centre driven axle now has no side play at all, so I guess I will have to leave a little play in the outer axles to allow the chassis to negotiate 3' minimum radius curves.

 

First attempt at fitting the rods was very encouraging with a smooth rotation and no tight spots. I decided in the end to fix the bearings in place so the wheels are now pressed onto the axles in the chassis. I've noticed the bottom of the High Flier gearbox hangs lower than the Bachmann one, so some mods may be called for in the pick up plate, which includes the brake linkage fixings and leaf springs.

 

Hoping to get the valve gear assembled by the weekend and see how it runs for real. On reflection the 54:1 ratio is probably too low, so I will go up a ratio on the three remaining chassis I am going to convert.

 

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I think it might be wise to run this one round a few times first to see if it hauls a load up your gradients OK and at the speed you want, then make a decision on alternative gear ratios. Other than that comment you look to have a sound piece of work there, very neat and tidy. Did it bring back memories as you did it or did you look through a few books first?

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I think it might be wise to run this one round a few times first to see if it hauls a load up your gradients OK and at the speed you want, then make a decision on alternative gear ratios. Other than that comment you look to have a sound piece of work there, very neat and tidy. Did it bring back memories as you did it or did you look through a few books first?

 

Sorry Mick, been out for the day. MiL's birthday bash and a good time was had by all. :)

 

I loved the practical subjects at school and then went to Tech College at 16 rather than the A level/University route. Two reasons. Firstly, it was much harder in those days and you had to be very bright to go to uni, so I would have failed at first base. Secondly, I got a job with money and did a sandwich course, so had the best of both worlds. There was a third reason and that basically revolved around scooters, music and girls. Much more fun than studying...

 

I went from there into electro mech design, so had a bit of a link into mech engineering although that was 40 years ago. It's one of those things I guess like riding a bike. You can recall the basics to get you started and it's then trial and error. Now the motor is working, I'm hoping to get the wheel B2B's set and quartered tonight and then add the conn rods and valve gear. A quick look at the Bachmann moulded pick up plate would suggest I will have to construct a hybrid using the Bachmann moulded springs and brake gear and then construct some new pick ups from pcb strip and beryllium copper wire.

 

It's been an interesting exercise and I have no doubt a few may be wondering why bother, or there are much easier ways, but what the hell, I'm having fun...B)

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I loved the practical subjects at school and then went to Tech College at 16 rather than the A level/University route. Two reasons. Firstly, it was much harder in those days and you had to be very bright to go to uni, so I would have failed at first base. Secondly, I got a job with money and did a sandwich course, so had the best of both worlds. There was a third reason and that basically revolved around scooters, music and girls. Much more fun than studying...

 

 

 

but what the hell, I'm having fun...B)

 

Sounds like me except I received absolutely no encouragement from my school and ended up leaving at 15 in 1966. Not complaining I ended up at Decca Records A&R Dept., in 1967 working on the British Blues Boom (as they call it now) in London.

I may have been considered "stupid" by my school but I ran the Compact Disc Operations for the whole of EMI Worldwide between 1984 and 1989. Actually that really was hell!

 

Best, Pete.

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Sounds like me except I received absolutely no encouragement from my school and ended up leaving at 15 in 1966. Not complaining I ended up at Decca Records A&R Dept., in 1967 working on the British Blues Boom (as they call it now) in London.

I may have been considered "stupid" by my school but I ran the Compact Disc Operations for the whole of EMI Worldwide between 1984 and 1989. Actually that really was hell!

 

Best, Pete.

 

I realise we're off topic for a minute, but it's my thread so I have permission....

 

That would be Alexis Korner and John Mayall I guess. I saw them both but I'm blowed if I can remember where. In the early days it may have even been a church hall hired for the night or later on could have been The Marquee. Great days indeed....

 

Just taking a break from wheel quartering....B)

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I realise we're off topic for a minute, but it's my thread so I have permission....

 

That would be Alexis Korner and John Mayall I guess. I saw them both but I'm blowed if I can remember where. In the early days it may have even been a church hall hired for the night or later on could have been The Marquee. Great days indeed....

 

Just taking a break from wheel quartering....B)

 

 

 

Yes, check out the Producer, Mike Vernon - I was lucky that I got taken "under his wing"; other bands: Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac, TYA, Keef Hartley Band etc., etc. If we ever meet I have some interesting/funny stories about people from Eric Clapton to Jimi Hendrix (incl. the 'Stones).

 

Best, Pete.

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I feel your pain brother - most modellers crave a large space to fill up with railway goodies, but IMO the reality is something else. Just so much work.....

PhilH

 

Don't say that.

 

Gordon is already aware of the reason for my prolonged absence from RMWeb since his layout based above a garage inspired me self building another house before I'm too old, the largest room in the new house is my railway room of 6.9m by 5.4m. I'm no where near as clever as Gordon with his precision engineering so I'm hoping I can devote all my time to building the layout although I may have to pay him a visit to pick his brains on track building although my new layout will not be as complex as that of Gordon's. More a sit back with a pint and watch trains go by.post-372-052592500 1284401431_thumb.jpg

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Hi stranger....Long time no see, but totally understandable :)

 

Just seen your mail and that new room is really going to be something special. Anyone who can build their own house will have no trouble building a board or two and few bits of track. Can't wait to see the start of Tetley's the second....B)

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Gordon,

 

Remember the next one is Tetleys Mk 3, the first one got eaten by woodworm and my ever whinging neighbours to the north are, even as I write conspiring to 'de-rail' the new layout. strange how the local planning department couldn't find time to visit and discuss my intended new-build but the moment the neighbours complain I'm building out of position the enforcement officer arrives at warp speed. (We anticipated the likely complaints and we are well within the specified parameters)

 

Pete

 

I'm not a brickie and having laboured for 'Mick The Brick' my 67 year old bricklayer virtually every weekday since since June before starting the blockwork in the evenings I certainly don't aspire to that trade. My recent work demands should hold me in good stead for the next Tetleys Mills AND I'll be able to use my 90mm air framing nail gun to build the baseboards and fix the track!

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