Wright writes.....

[grahame]

A small part of the urban scene is starting to take shape:

 

[Tony Wright]

Not much progress on the J6 in the last couple of days. I've been busy subbing and proof-reading for BRM.

 

 

I'd forgotten how much of the loco's dragbox/dragbeam had to be removed before the chassis would fit. And, that the holes in the frame spacers for the fixing screws didn't match those in the castings! 

 

 

I also had to nibble away at the firebox ring on the cab to get a snug fit.

 

The dummy frames and lubricators were soldered in place at this stage. 

 

 

A fair bit of solder-filling will be needed underneath the smokebox, mitigated by the eventual fixing of the cylinder ends and the sandboxes. 

 

The visual gear will no doubt displease some, but the drive is well balanced, if a trifle noisy (the body acting as a sound box). 

 

A lot of metal needed removing from the insides of the firebox to accommodate the Mashima motor.

 

 

On test this afternoon; visually very nice in motion, and not so noisy on the layout. I might try a different gearbox, however.

 

More progress reports later....... 

 

 

[jwealleans]

That reassures me, Tony - the one I'm rebuilding fitted just as badly in all the same places.  I thought it must have been the previous builder.

[Tony Wright]

Many thanks for all the recent pictures of those wonderful 2-8-0s. 

 

 A further selection of the type available for service on LB..........

 

Some of these have appeared recently, but these are all new pictures.

 

 

 

The two Austerities I acquired from Tony Geary, originally built by Allen Hammett. These are so natural. 

 

 

Having built several DJH Austerities for customers, a decade ago I decided to build/paint/weather one for myself; and this is the result.

 

I don't own any Bachmann ones. 

 

 

41 years ago, I scratch-built this O1 (or should that be I built it and it got scratched?). It tows a K's ROD tender.

 

A product of its time? I very much think so, but it still runs well. 

 

 

Though a model of the same class, this example is in an entirely different peer group to my superannuated scratch-built one. 

 

I detailed/renumbered/weathered this Hornby example and, apart from the wobbly footplate, I think it's a marvellous model at source. The best RTR 2-8-0? I think so. 

 

 

An O2/4 (63925, Crownline/Wright) and an O2/1 (63927, Nu-Cast/Wright/Haynes). The differences will be noted.

 

 

An O2/2 (63934, ACE/Wright/Shackleton). If I asked you what you might think of something if I described it as 'ace', what would be your conclusion? Think again! 

 

 

An O2/3 (63948, Nu-Cast/Wright). 

 

 

Another O2/3 (63980, Nu-Cast/scratch/Wright). 

 

Another over-40 years old creation of mine, and doesn't it show its age? Remember, at the time, five-pole equivalents of Tri-ang's XO4 were the motor of choice, but it's so obtrusive. Still, it runs very well and will pull anything I stick behind its tender. 

 

 

One of Heljan's O2/3s, detailed/renumbered by me and weathered by Geoff Haynes. Despite issues with this product, this one does run exceptionally well, and, as a 'layout loco', good enough? I think so. 

 

 

According to its number, this should be an O4/1, but Tony Geary has given it an O4/3 identity. It's heroically filthy, but entirely typical. He built it from a Little Engines kit. 

 

 

One of Bytham's oldest locos - 45 years and counting! I built this ROD from a K's kit (though, apart from the frames, nothing mechanical about it is K's). 

 

No doubt it's not as good as a Bachmann equivalent; I don't own one, so can't compare them. 

 

 

Another O4/3, again K's in part, this one built by Rob Kinsey and weathered by me. 

 

 

Bytham's O4/7 (63843, Little Engines/Kinsey/Wright).

 

 

And Bytham's O4/8 (63738, Scratch/K's/Wright). 

 

I wonder why so many of my O4s are in the 637XX section? 

 

Do I have a clean 2-8-0? No!

 

 

[Tony Wright]

5 hours ago, thegreenhowards said:

Tony,

 

I hesitate to post this here as I don’t want to stoke the ‘DCC wars’ again! However, I have experienced exactly the problems that you mention so I thought I’d share my experience in case it’s useful for others.

 

I believe that DCC is much less tolerant of poor pick ups than DC and this is what causes a lot of the problems like the one you mention above. I have several locos, both RTR and kit built, which work perfectly on DC and turn into stuttering wrecks on DCC. It’s more common with kit built locos but also applies to RTR. Four example, the Hornby  J50 is one example of a RTR loco which works well on DC but horribly on DCC - I have three and all were the same. I cured this by fitting Stayalives, but I don’t understand why it should be necessary. With the stayalives, they run better on DCC than on DC. With kit built locos, I often have to fit tender pick ups or to get acceptable performance on DCC when loco only was OK on DC. I opt for tender pick ups first if practical and a stay alive if not (I’ve never needed both!).

 

I have no idea why this should be. I suspect some decoders are better than others, but I’ve had problems even with non budget decoders. It is certainly a frustration of DCC - but not sufficient to make me change back! I like my sound too much, and when it works it is silky smooth.

 

ATB

 

Andy

 

 

 

I don't mind a bit of 'stoking', Andy,

 

In reality, I'm not even bothering investigating further why some locos, which perform faultlessly on DC, but, when equipped with a decoder run like crippled creatures. 

 

As you know, I'll never adopt DCC and I don't think it's a problem with the pick-ups I install (either live- or dead-chassis). 

 

I've tried my best with some of Gilbert's kit-built locos (those not built by me; apparently, mine run fine), but it's still a 'hostage to fortune' situation with regard to their running. 

 

Tom Foster hasn't enquired further about the GWR Pannier I built for him. It was fine, until I wrecked its running by fitting a chip! 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

[Tony Wright]

11 hours ago, dibateg said:

Great to see the selection of O4s.

 

I think the O1 is a handsome looking engine. I've almost finished Annesley's  63854, made from a David Andrews kit. It doesn't look quite right without being weathered. 

 

I would never ever build anything with a live chassis, DC or DCC it just opens up too many problems. All my locos pick up from the loco and tender - you can't have too many pick ups. I remember the lads spending an hour completely dismembering a flying pig on Kirkfield Central as it was playing up, it turned out to be the leading van on the train with a brass underframe and a rubbing brake causing a short via the couplings....  As for the American system, I've only ever had trouble with it, the lazy option!

 

Engine picking:- some O1 had cinder guards, some not. Maybe the Annesley ones had them fitted for running the Windcutters.

 

Regards

Tony

 

A lovely model.

 

Craftsmanship of the highest order.

 

Might I ask, are the cabside numbers a bit too small? 

 

As for pick-ups, you might be pleased to know that all of those you installed on the locos you built which now run on Little Bytham no longer squeak.

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

[dibateg]

Thanks Tony - 

the numbers do seem a bit small, but some of the O1s seemed to have smaller numbers. The next size up seemed a little to large, so yes, I've agonised over that. I've scraped them off on other locos to replace them, only to go back to the original size. Ah well, I'll tone it down with weathering and we'll see. I'm glad to see there are other fans of 2-8-0s, the closest thing to a pacific that I own is a V2!

 

You'll be glad to know that some of my 7mm locos squeak too, It seems to be nickel silver wire in steel wheel to be the worst, so I tried replacing them with phosphor bronze wire and that squeaks as well...

 

My locos are all DCC, but they have to run perfectly under DC conditions first before I'll consider fitting a decoder. It was Geoff Taylors Barmouth Junction that converted me, a complex layout that benefitted from the lack of section switches. Part of the sequence had an Ivatt sitting at the station gently hissing away, whilst other movements were taking place and that atmosphere in miniature was wonderful. For Bytham though, there is no practical advantage to running DCC from what I can see, the station layout is relatively simple and the cost and hassle of installing decoders in all your locos would be prohibitive to my mind.

 

Keep the photos coming - we talked about the colours before, they remind me of 'Eastern Steam in Colour' from a few years ago. Just right!

 

Best Regards

Tony

 

 

[Barry O]

I have a few O4s as well

 

 

Little Engines 04/8 built by someone else..I fitted a High Level Gearbox with a Mashima motor, then weathered it.

 

I do have a Bachmann 04 but it is, for reasons best known to itself, a very high speed locomotive. Now fitted with a dcc chip to calm it down a bit

 

 

 

DJH WD. Again built be someone else. I fitted a High Level gearbox and a Mashima motor to this, then weathered it.

 

 

The WD is a particular favourite as it is geared to make it pull a big train at about 30mph.

 

Baz

[mark axlecounter]

I have just finished as of today a comet / Hornby 8f kit with fowler tender. 
I have always liked the build Quality on the comet kits and I have done a few chassis kits from 3fs to brits. 
here is a pic of my 8f and I’ve just need to weather it and tweak the cvs on the sound chip then I can use it on Bucks lane (when we can go back to the club rooms ) 

[JamieR4489]

My one of the trio of D2s currently being built is nearly ready for paint.

 

Jamie

[Jesse Sim]

3 minutes ago, JamieR4489 said:

My one of the trio of D2s currently being built is nearly ready for paint.

 

Jamie

Looks brilliant mate, good on ya 

[Headstock]

13 hours ago, dibateg said:

 

Engine picking:- some O1 had cinder guards, some not. Maybe the Annesley ones had them fitted for running the Windcutters.

 

Regards

Tony

 

 

Evening Tony,

 

If the Annesley allocation had a gadget, that would be all bar five engines. I could guess....... what is a cinder guard?

[Headstock]

My Father built a Comet 8F, though officially it was before a kit became available. At that time you put together a collection of parts that you sourced yourself, Chassis, tender and cab from Comet, Hornby body and various bits from all corners of the exhibition hall.

 

The best part of exhibitions back in the day, was the collecting of bits for various projects of his or mine. I painted 48773 and also carved the recess in the running board that forms the valance, on the older Hornby model it was just flat!

 

 

[dibateg]

Andrew - Cinder guard = sight screens? I think the hinged glass screen on the cab side has various names....

 

Regards

Tony

[Atso]

May I please also break from the 2-8-0 theme to present another D2 now under construction.

 

[Headstock]

25 minutes ago, dibateg said:

Andrew - Cinder guard = sight screens? I think the hinged glass screen on the cab side has various names....

 

Regards

Tony

 

Thanks Tony,

 

I thought it might be something to do the trap in the firebox door.  Sight screen, I've got it. I've had a look through a batch of photographs, it's a bit late to draw any conclusions but there is probably an interesting story there.

 

They are a bit of a blind spot in my own modelling, I've yet to settle on a way of representing them in a wholly convincing manner that I would find satisfactory.  Sometimes I leave them off of just model the frame without glazing. Modern RTR have them in profusion, but I think they look terrible, like a small grey, semi transparent, plastic box.

[St Enodoc]

6 hours ago, Tony Wright said:

The best RTR 2-8-0?

The Hornby 28xx/2884 isn't bad.

[DougN]

7 hours ago, Tony Wright said:

In reality, I'm not even bothering investigating further why some locos, which perform faultlessly on DC, but, when equipped with a decoder run like crippled creatures. 

 

As you know, I'll never adopt DCC and I don't think it's a problem with the pick-ups I install (either live- or dead-chassis). 

 

I've tried my best with some of Gilbert's kit-built locos (those not built by me; apparently, mine run fine), but it's still a 'hostage to fortune' situation with regard to their running. 

 

Tom Foster hasn't enquired further about the GWR Pannier I built for him. It was fine, until I wrecked its running by fitting a chip! 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

 

Tony, the reason is the programing in the chip. This can generally be adjusted by programing such as turning back EMF on/off, and changing the start voltage. The more expensive the chips the better the motor control generally. It is a frustrating situation when the above occurs when you know that the loco runs perfectly on DC, or worse on DCC with a different chip! Only to be upgraded for what ever reason, to run like a over weight 3 legged dog! I have one of these at the moment (Hornby B1) which ran for years with a DCC concepts chip and now with an upgrade to sound with a ESU V4 chip. However I am aware from a good friend of mine, SRman on here,  that there is a quick way to "tune" the chip. (CV 54) I have yet to get around to doing the programing. So as we all say it is another area of interest to some modellers. 

 

I am also frustrated on a couple of points at the moment with a Highlevel kit 12inch Neilsen for some unknow reason it is overtight generally.... (I think I need to remove and reinstall the horn blocks) 

 

Both of the above are on the list for this weekend to fix. 

[dibateg]

Yes - the cinder guards, I tried modelling them in 4mm scale by drilling holes in the cab side and soldering .3 brass wire and gluing a glazing strip in. Invariably the 'glass' pinged off the first time the loco was handled. So I substituted the glazing with  a fine strip of brass and painted it a vague gunmetal/silver colour. Not perfect by any means but at least there was something there and it was not too obtrusive. A small supplier of 7mm scale fittings produced some very nice cast ones ( I think they were actually made in the US ), like these things do, the range disappeared ( for the second time! ) . Fortunately I had exercised my philosophy of buying stuff when I see it available and bought in a stock of them. In O gauge, things come and go of the market quite quickly. Its an excuse to spend money....

 

Tony's photo of my K3 shows them

Regards

Tony

[Tony Wright]

10 hours ago, Jesse Sim said:

Looks brilliant mate, good on ya 

And he's still 'only' a schoolboy!

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

[Tony Wright]

8 hours ago, Headstock said:

 

Thanks Tony,

 

I thought it might be something to do the trap in the firebox door.  Sight screen, I've got it. I've had a look through a batch of photographs, it's a bit late to draw any conclusions but there is probably an interesting story there.

 

They are a bit of a blind spot in my own modelling, I've yet to settle on a way of representing them in a wholly convincing manner that I would find satisfactory.  Sometimes I leave them off of just model the frame without glazing. Modern RTR have them in profusion, but I think they look terrible, like a small grey, semi transparent, plastic box.

Good morning Andrew,

 

'Modern RTR have them in profusion,'

 

And when I take the models fitted with them out of their boxes for photography, a load fall off!

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

[Tony Wright]

4 hours ago, DougN said:

 

Tony, the reason is the programing in the chip. This can generally be adjusted by programing such as turning back EMF on/off, and changing the start voltage. The more expensive the chips the better the motor control generally. It is a frustrating situation when the above occurs when you know that the loco runs perfectly on DC, or worse on DCC with a different chip! Only to be upgraded for what ever reason, to run like a over weight 3 legged dog! I have one of these at the moment (Hornby B1) which ran for years with a DCC concepts chip and now with an upgrade to sound with a ESU V4 chip. However I am aware from a good friend of mine, SRman on here,  that there is a quick way to "tune" the chip. (CV 54) I have yet to get around to doing the programing. So as we all say it is another area of interest to some modellers. 

 

I am also frustrated on a couple of points at the moment with a Highlevel kit 12inch Neilsen for some unknow reason it is overtight generally.... (I think I need to remove and reinstall the horn blocks) 

 

Both of the above are on the list for this weekend to fix. 

Good morning Doug,

 

Programming a chip? Turning the back EMF on or off? Changing the start voltage? Tuning a chip? CVs?

 

What are these mysteries? 

 

As with DCC's propaganda, I just have two wires! One goes to one side of a loco's motor, and the other to the opposite side. I turn a knob and off it goes..........

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

[t-b-g]

4 hours ago, DougN said:

 

Tony, the reason is the programing in the chip. This can generally be adjusted by programing such as turning back EMF on/off, and changing the start voltage. The more expensive the chips the better the motor control generally. It is a frustrating situation when the above occurs when you know that the loco runs perfectly on DC, or worse on DCC with a different chip! Only to be upgraded for what ever reason, to run like a over weight 3 legged dog! I have one of these at the moment (Hornby B1) which ran for years with a DCC concepts chip and now with an upgrade to sound with a ESU V4 chip. However I am aware from a good friend of mine, SRman on here,  that there is a quick way to "tune" the chip. (CV 54) I have yet to get around to doing the programing. So as we all say it is another area of interest to some modellers. 

 

I am also frustrated on a couple of points at the moment with a Highlevel kit 12inch Neilsen for some unknow reason it is overtight generally.... (I think I need to remove and reinstall the horn blocks) 

 

Both of the above are on the list for this weekend to fix. 

 

So to get the best out of DCC you need to know which cv settings to alter, how many you need to change, what value to alter several of them to, which varies according to the motor and the decoder.  All presumably by trial and error. Dead simple!

[Iain.d]

On 28/04/2020 at 23:05, Tony Wright said:

 

There must be loads of pictures of good-looking 2-8-0s out there...............................

 

 

On the theme of 2-8-0s, these are two of mine. And in my view the most good looking:

 

The  DJH Somerset & Dorset 7F was the first loco kit I ever built back in about 1986/7. Dad said it was going to be a disaster! I had no idea about soldering; I tried electrical solder and managed to melt a huge part of the back of the tender. So it got ‘evostiked’, even the valve gear!  I had no tools other than a small screwdriver, a pair of pliers and a hammer. The bearings in the frames are friction fit, courtesy of the hammer. In 1991 I reassembled the valve gear with rivets and solder. But it runs…well it did…its been in a box for more than 25 years. But one day it will see the light of day again.

 

The DJH 8F is the third kit I built (the second is a Airfix 4MT on a Comet chassis). By this time I’d managed to get hold of a couple of Iain Rice books – pure gold – and some tools. Its fully soldered has a D13 motor in and again from memory ran really well; it weighs a ton, pulled every wagon I had, pretty much unstoppable.

 

They’re both built very much out of the box and both have their faults. I think they both have the wrong number of spokes in the supplied Romford drivers (but you can't tell when they're going round), the 7F bogie wheel is wrong, the cab numbers are a bit iffy (off centre and wobbly), on the 7F the parts could do with cleaning off the flash. And the weathering on the 8F is a bit ham-fisted, but I don’t really care. They were fun to build, with a bit of an oil they’ll go again. Will I do anything to rectify the issues? If I have time and the inclination, but probably not, they’ll do.

 

Kind regards,

 

Iain

[MJI]

16 hours ago, gordon s said:

Found the video I took a month or so ago. Watching it again, it appears there is some minor hesitation from the loco just as it pulls away. This wasn’t present when I was filming it, so must be a function of the file upload to You Tube.

 

 

See those new vans made me chuckle as I’m sick of the sight of them......Just spent the last few days weathering 24 of them. Of course it had to be done, but doing them all at once, was not such a great idea as like most continual jobs, progress just got slower and slower....

 

I’ve done the first pass weathering and they look OK, but now I have the detailing to do so that I don’t have 24 identical dirty vans versus 24 identical clean ones...

 

Graham also built me a lovely O1 from a Little Engines kit, but for some reason fitted the wrong pony wheels. Tony very kindly pointed it out to me, as I wasn’t aware of it at all. The correct ones are here and now awaiting the paint shop this week, so it may make an appearance in a few days.

 

 

Youtube framerate converts everything, so upload UK standard and it will be jerky.

 

I lot of my uploads have the odd jerk.