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Wright writes.....


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4 hours ago, MarkC said:

Definitely a cult classic.

 

"Let There be Light". BOOM!!!

 

Dark Star........ The bomb was my favourite character but I think there was also a cryogenically preserved Captain who was a close second favourite. “It’s so boring...” (or similar) was his quote.

Strange, but good, film.

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12 hours ago, CF MRC said:

I could be so tempted by one of these. I had a Triang Princess which I tried to ‘improve’, to look like the picture in my father’s the pre war Hornby Book of Trains.  The stonking great weight at the front might account for its performance. However, one LMS pacific should be enough as I have  one of the centenary Duchesses on order, which should perform well in the haulage stakes: I always wanted the HD City of London.   I suppose that as you get older you attempt to requite some of your youthful yearnings.

 

Tim

 

Admit to being intrigued by the improved pulling power because I would have thought that the weight as shown would have had a relatively small effect because it is effectively only over one axle.   So is there another counter weight somewhere else to distribute the load?

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2 hours ago, Erichill16 said:

Tony, don’t want to lower the tone of this thread but with the amount of Viagra I supplied today I’m not sure how much modelling is going to get done.

Keep well and be sensible

Robert

 

I suspect midwives could be busy in nine months time.

 

Bill

 

 

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2 hours ago, Tony Wright said:

Sorry Steve,

 

My wording was ambiguous. 

 

The loco has all-driver pick-up as well, but the tender is only used for pick-ups, not for anything DCC inside.

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

 

Ah, I see - that's better, thanks Tony!

 

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1 hour ago, Theakerr said:

Admit to being intrigued by the improved pulling power because I would have thought that the weight as shown would have had a relatively small effect because it is effectively only over one axle.   So is there another counter weight somewhere else to distribute the load?

'So is there another counter weight somewhere else to distribute the load?'

 

I really don't know.

 

However, the loco appears to balance between the first and second driven axles, so it's not really nose-heavy. 

 

The brass flywheel must account for a little weight.

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

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47 minutes ago, bbishop said:

I suspect midwives could be busy in nine months time.

 

And divorce lawyers in about 12 weeks time. 

Sadly couples spending unexpected amounts of time in each others company often causes this.  There is a peak in inquiries about rental properties just after New Year.

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This thread is moving on twice as fast as normal - you can tell everyone’s stuck at home! I love the diesel photos Tony - I don’t think I’ve seen all of those locos before.

 

Could I ask you for a little ‘virtual loco doctoring’? I have a DJH A3 (second hand - not built by me although I have sorted it out a bit see https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/135510-coulsdon-works/&do=findComment&comment=3856937

if you’re interested but not relevant to this question).

 

It  is giving me problems with stalling over crossings. It’s fitted with ‘American’ style pick ups which I know aren’t your chosen solution, but I think you agree that they normally work OK. This loco seems to stall at exactly this point on my diamond crossing unless going at a fair lick in which case it still twitches noticeably. If Peco did a code 100 electro frog crossing I’d switch (pun intended!) straight away...but they don’t.

 

30E926A1-0C07-489F-A568-BCFDFE17AFCF.jpeg.e07acab10d256a44acf1eaff316398a6.jpeg

 

The front driver is on the plastic bit but I can’t see why the others two drivers don’t pick up - they are live. Some other locos struggle here as well so there must be some unevenness in the track but I can’t see where. Pick up is on the left for the loco and right on the tender (Right way up and facing forward). Here is the arrangement from below.

 

 

35ADC193-465E-4495-B4E7-E06D5E94DE2B.jpeg.60882b02853ff725cf5896049648365e.jpeg

 

My question is: “Could I improve things by making the bogie and/ or Cartezzi truck pick up as well. And, if so, what is the best way to do this - do I need new wheel sets or can I short out the existing ones?”

 

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

Andy

 

 

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Yes this isolation has yet to my little part of Australia in a big way. The next big thing after, the baby boom, the increase in divorces, the total over load of the internet and services such as Netflix, the mass increase in home renovation, painting and fixing things as the local bunnings is slowly stripped of supply's, and the most important for us is the running out of modelling supplies and the run on mail order to replenish. 

 

It is one thing I guess we all need to be aware of is supporting all the mail order suppliers and shops that can't get to exhibitions et al to supply our needs. Yes I do order from the UK as it is easier than trying to get to the local shops due to there not being many and the highly unlikely hood of them having what I need! But the point is we have to support 

the businesses that support us! 

 

If if I did have to go into a lockdown situation I would probably do a days worth of work in about 2 hrs a day... so this would save the 2 hours to and from the office and as my building project would have stopped most of the paperwork is done! I was discussing the situation with one of my suppliers yesterday and he was saying by 10.30 he was almost done for the day... no driving around to see customers, no driving to the sites and no driving to his office! 

 

My hope however ever is a mass increase in interest is hobbies like model railways as people with time on there hands look for some creative out let! 

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9 hours ago, Tony Wright said:

Thanks Al,

 

My memory must be crumbling.....

 

I thought they had a balloon-like creature on board, which had to be fed from time to time, creating arguments as to whose turn it was. 

 

I wonder which film that was in? 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

Wonderful film, and the balloon creature was clearly modelled on the man who ran the internal mail system at the bit of the civil service I worked in during the early 1980s.  Many's the time I contemplated flinging him down the lift shaft.

 

Tone

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25 minutes ago, Atso said:

Well today's effort, after confirming that I definitely do have a new job (but no idea when I'll be able to start!), was to start working on my 58'6" Buffet Ca

 

Awesome work,

 

your 58' 6'' Buffet car has really made my day.

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1 hour ago, thegreenhowards said:

It  is giving me problems with stalling over crossings. It’s fitted with ‘American’ style pick ups which I know aren’t your chosen solution, but I think you agree that they normally work OK. This loco seems to stall at exactly this point on my diamond crossing unless going at a fair lick in which case it still twitches noticeably. If Peco did a code 100 electro frog crossing I’d switch (pun intended!) straight away...but they don’

 

The rails in the  V are so close together, some wheels touch both rails creating a short. If the loco does not do the same on a large radius electro frog point, this could be the reason. To test put a bit of thin plastic tape or paint over one of the rails. The loco will lift slightly, but if it doesn't short out/stutter, then you know it is not the loco. I had the same issue, but when I replaced a double junction with code 75 electrofrog, I had no further problems. The early pre RP25 Romfords gave me lots of trouble on code 100 diamonds.

 

Good luck

 

Mike Wiltshire

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4 hours ago, Theakerr said:

Admit to being intrigued by the improved pulling power because I would have thought that the weight as shown would have had a relatively small effect because it is effectively only over one axle.   So is there another counter weight somewhere else to distribute the load?

Hello,

        I suspect the weight of the tender is just hanging on the draw bar to the locomotive. I have recently done a similar thing to a Hornby Royal scot to improve it's haulage capabilities. I intend to repeat the same task on all my other Hornby Stanier locomotives with tenders. The dcc stuff has plenty of room especially if one fits a full coal load in the tender.

trustytrev.:)

RIMG0004.JPG

Edited by trustytrev
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5 hours ago, Tony Wright said:

Quite right, Brian,

 

However, I've decided to leave the production Deltics for another day.

 

I have, in response to an earlier request, taken some diesel pictures this afternoon. All require a little bit of modellers' licence to make them 'believable', because the station at Little Bytham was razed to the ground in the summer of 1959. 

 

Since Little Bytham's main line depiction is the summer of 1958, this just about fits in (at least very late summer). 

 

An EE Type 4, D207 heads the Up 'Master Cutler'. The loco is an old Lima model, re-wheeled, lowered, detailed, repainted and packed with lead, all done by elder son, Tom. Strictly speaking, it should not have the vertical nose handrails. 

 

We stretch the time period even further here, to 1961 to include an EE Type 3. This is a much-detailed Hornby body on top of a modified Lima Class 37 chassis; again, all the work of son, Tom. 

 

1961 again, and FALCON heads the Down 'Sheffield Pullman', this time with the later Mk.1 cars. The loco is part scratch-built (the noses/cabs), using the shell and chassis (extended) of a Lima Class 31 with A1 etches glued to the sides. Again Tom's work, though Ian Rathbone painted it. 

 

In 1962 we could have DP2, though it was a year or two later that it came to the ECML (that freight must be very slow!). Again, it's more of Tom's work. It's a modified Lima Deltic with A1 bits added.

 

The sharp-eyed might note that the flower boxes on the platforms have now been weathered! 

 

The prototype DELTIC came to the ECML in February 1959, so this is 'accurate'. It's been seen before, and dates from the Nabisco days when Kitmaster went out of business. It then waited until Lima brought out its production Deltic to make it go. It's my work.

 

'The White Rose' was a regular turn for DP1. Note the Gresley catering cars in this formation, correct for the period.

 

What I find interesting, is that now every one of these diesel types is now available as a complete, RTR product, with just about no need for alterations. All these above represent 'modelling' in one form or another; modelling out of necessity, and I think something has been lost along the way. Without doubt, they're not as good as the current stuff, but so what? 

 

Tom did these when he was in his mid/late-teens, pre-university and they're to be cherished. I've said before, his 'loss' to the hobby over the last 20 years is a shame, but rebuilding classic cars (including an E type Jag) is rather time-consuming. 

 

And, by the way, I'm not going to rip up the station to make any of these scenes 'accurate'! 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

Thank you Tony, more please. Oh, and one of the daftest things that I did was to convert a 3 rail EE Type 1 to a 2 rail version. I ended up using the existing wheels and bogies with the axles formed from one of my mum's knitting needles, size 0 I think.  The major problem with it was that I had no idea what to use for the pickups. I ended up using some very thin spring steel wire which meant that the loco ran around the track quite slowly whilst making a lot of sparks.

 

 

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13 hours ago, Northmoor said:

Thank you Tony.  I haven't personally experienced it myself but have seen elsewhere on this forum where someone has asked a "how do I?" question in relation to something being shown off by the thread owner and has been told to go start their own thread and not clutter up someone elses.  I'd always thought RMWeb to be an inclusive club but apparently there are a small minority who think otherwise.

 

Films: "LA Confidential" is the best film I've ever watched on the big screen, a 1950s film with a 1990s budget.  My other favourites often seem to involve manhunts, e.g The Day of the Jackal, The Fugitive, Get Carter (and not just for the ECML cab ride!).

I think drmditch has got it exactly right, by posting here to draw attention to a separate, dedicated thread (which I am now following but would probably never have found without the link to take me there).

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6 hours ago, grahame said:

I didn't bother with things like the wavy/scalloped edge at the bottom - too fiddly and frilly.

I reckon you could get away with drawing the frilly bits on with black ink.

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19 hours ago, drmditch said:

Re: An appeal for help.

 

My railway building has been much delayed by a logic/electrical/electronic problem, described ..... here....

 

If any of the clever people who post on this thread can help me I promise that when I have finished the LNER York-built CCTs I am working on I will post pictures here.

 

(Apologies to Tony for using his thread for this purpose - at least I am a modeller who makes (most) elements of my railway myself!)

I have posted this on the relevant thread as well, apologies for the duplication Tony.

 

Good morning all

 

Sorry to interrupt this conversation but which model of diode are you using as this is showing all the symptoms of a low level of power.

 

I can explain more if required.

 

Regards Peter

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5 hours ago, St Enodoc said:

I reckon you could get away with drawing the frilly bits on with black ink.

 

Careful, . . . I wouldn't want to get too excited while social distancing.

;-)

 

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11 hours ago, Northmoor said:

And divorce lawyers in about 12 weeks time. 

Sadly couples spending unexpected amounts of time in each others company often causes this.  There is a peak in inquiries about rental properties just after New Year.

 

Whilst we are on future predictions, how about a hosepipe ban starting in about 3 months?

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10 hours ago, Headstock said:

 

Awesome work,

 

your 58' 6'' Buffet car has really made my day.

 

Thank you, that means a lot to me. The Buffet is one of two that I will require. This one will be 41552 as allocated to the Cambridge Buffet (Beer) Express. The other will be 41651 which did the King's Cross-Doncaster-York runs. The Cambridge set will be completely designed by me but the ex-GN composite will require some thought as, at 61'6", is too big to print in one piece on my printer. I'm considering just printing the sides and converting a Dapol LNER Gresley to produce that coach. The KX-Donny-York set is a bit easier as I can represent four of the carriages using repainted Dapol items; although the First will need backdating to represent a 1920's build. The remaining stock considers of a pair of ex-GN 56'6" Full Brakes which I've been unable to find drawings of but have enough photos to make a stab at.

 

Rushing things a bit, I teaked the other side of the Buffet this morning. The oil paints hadn't quite set up on the first side which necessitated some minor remedial work. I'll seal the coach with 'Klear' tomorrow or Monday before commencing with lining it out.

 

20200321_081055-1.jpg.e44acc7fbe3303fea36e4f3f8f6f538a.jpg

 

The printer is in need of a basic maintenance cycle as there are a few flaws on this print. I doubt they'll show once the coach has been matted down.

 

Below is a poor photo where I've tried to show the interior.

 

20200321_082001-1.jpg.11f7c265caf25f04c520db614e71a618.jpg

 

I've noticed that I've painted the solebars a different colour to the Third. I prefer the Third's colour, so will be masking up and respray the Buffet's solebars in due course.

 

The bogies have been borrowed from a Dapol coach and will be replaced with etched items from the 2mm Association.

 

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11 hours ago, thegreenhowards said:

This thread is moving on twice as fast as normal - you can tell everyone’s stuck at home! I love the diesel photos Tony - I don’t think I’ve seen all of those locos before.

 

Could I ask you for a little ‘virtual loco doctoring’? I have a DJH A3 (second hand - not built by me although I have sorted it out a bit see https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/135510-coulsdon-works/&do=findComment&comment=3856937

if you’re interested but not relevant to this question).

 

It  is giving me problems with stalling over crossings. It’s fitted with ‘American’ style pick ups which I know aren’t your chosen solution, but I think you agree that they normally work OK. This loco seems to stall at exactly this point on my diamond crossing unless going at a fair lick in which case it still twitches noticeably. If Peco did a code 100 electro frog crossing I’d switch (pun intended!) straight away...but they don’t.

 

30E926A1-0C07-489F-A568-BCFDFE17AFCF.jpeg.e07acab10d256a44acf1eaff316398a6.jpeg

 

The front driver is on the plastic bit but I can’t see why the others two drivers don’t pick up - they are live. Some other locos struggle here as well so there must be some unevenness in the track but I can’t see where. Pick up is on the left for the loco and right on the tender (Right way up and facing forward). Here is the arrangement from below.

 

 

35ADC193-465E-4495-B4E7-E06D5E94DE2B.jpeg.60882b02853ff725cf5896049648365e.jpeg

 

My question is: “Could I improve things by making the bogie and/ or Cartezzi truck pick up as well. And, if so, what is the best way to do this - do I need new wheel sets or can I short out the existing ones?”

 

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

Andy

 

 

My experience of the 'American' system of pick-ups is it rarely works to 'my' satisfaction (actually, never). It's unreliable, the risk of short-circuits is ever-present and it isn't DCC-friendly (the last-mentioned irrelevant to me, of course).

 

A solution to your problem? As I see it, all the tender wheels are picking up/putting down on one side (that's four points of contact), yet on the loco there are only three points of contact - the drivers. You need to make the bogie/pony wheels 'live' to the same side as the drivers which are conducting electricity. How? By replacing them with Markits 'live-to-one-side' 3' 2" (just over 12mm) LNER bogie wheels and 3' 6" (14mm) pony wheels. To totally obviate shorting in the vicinity of the cylinders, 12mm bogie wheels (generic) might be advisable. 

 

How to short-out the existing ones? Drill a small hole through the insulated bush between the wheel and the axle (it's important the bit bites into the wheel's metal boss and the axle). Then push a piece of brass wire through which is an INTERFERENCE fit, snipping it off at both ends. You'll have then breached the insulation.

 

A further solution is to fit wiper pick-ups on the 'other side' of the loco and tender.

 

Looking at the loco, one thing you'll also need to change are the positions of the smoke deflectors - they're way too far back (the builder might have used the Beattie drawing!). The front edges of the deflectors should be the tiniest twitch behind where the footplate drops down in its curve to the buffer beam. The rear edges should 'split' the superheater header covers. 

 

You'll also need to move the grate-operating rod (beneath the cab) to the other (fireman's) side. 

 

Without being personally critical, why do folk buy stuff made by others (unseen in the flesh - the model, not the builder!), particularly off ebay? There must be some 'success' stories, but most such stuff which has passed through my hands is rubbish! 

 

I hope all this helps.

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

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34 minutes ago, grahame said:

Here's how the whole N/2mm block is shaping up with the buildings just temporarily placed in position. Strangely, when I list the things still to do on it there is quite a bit of work required. Today I'll try and tackle more on the cobblers corner building where there are ridge tiles to be made and added, doors to be fitted, and so on, although I won't be attempting the canopy sign-writing yet (I think I'll need to practice first - just how do they manage it on Copenhagen Fields?):

 

DSC_9230.JPG.74d7ed21683facef9c7cdf0be1686e2a.JPG

 

Wonderful work!

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