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Wright writes.....


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14 minutes ago, Chas Levin said:

 

Both builds look excellent! May I ask about the clerestory coach? I've edited this post as I've just seen further up the answer that the prototype's an ECJS Dia.19, but is it a kit (if so whose?) or is it from different sources?

Hi Chas,

 

The Dia.19 is a Bill Bedford kit, although a certain amount of additional building has been required, notably the roof structure as only the central clerestory section is provided. Graeme King supplied me with one of his generic roof castings which I've made use of.

 

Graham 

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Back to this mornings waffle about operating, I said I enjoyed seeing my trains running around the layout and it was relaxing. A little taste of tonight's play. Three scratchbuilt diesels all must be 35 years old or older with some of last year's cut and shuts still waiting for the paintshop.

 

Enjoy.

 

Edited by Clive Mortimore
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3 hours ago, Tony Wright said:

I've fiddled with the 'sticky' Viessmans and they now all work. I added a drop of oil to the cranks and all seems well.

So it was nothing to do with the Viessmanns after all?

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3 hours ago, Tony Wright said:

I think your layout is very effective John, and I gazed in awe at the lever frame.

 

You've probably got shorter trains than I've got, anyway - did many 12/13/14 coach trains run that far west?  

 

However, train length is not something I'm prepared to compromise on (as you know). If a real train is 100% in length, and I'm modelling it, then the model train is 100% as well.

 

Regards,

 

from a very happy (we won the test!),

 

Tony. 

Thanks Tony. Per my subsequent post, my longest train will be 9 coaches, representing 15 on the prototype. There were a few of this length on summer Saturdays, all double-headed.

 

I finally finished the lever frame a few months ago:

 

522729973_20200418004PMsignalboxcompleteroutesset.JPG.80568d055eb142eda71813baaa35c668.JPG

There's another kit on order for the branch passing station and a further one to come after that for the terminus. I must be mad (don't answer that...).

Edited by St Enodoc
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3 hours ago, LNER4479 said:

The Dia.19 is a Bill Bedford kit, although a certain amount of additional building has been required, notably the roof structure as only the central clerestory section is provided. Graeme King supplied me with one of his generic roof castings which I've made use of.

 

Graham 

 

2 hours ago, Woodcock29 said:

Graham

What's the source of the Dia19? It looks like it's more or less a full kit.

Andrew

As above, Andrew. 

 

Just to add - standard Bachmann bogies (cheat!)

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I became very frustrated by my last job. Living away from home for 4 or 5 days a week was not good. I continued to do some weathering commissions which helped to keep me out of the pub.

 

I was lucky to get enough work to do as LNER4479 does..provide additional modelling tokens. 

Then I was asked to add dcc sound to some locos before weathering them..these are now on Carlisle. Trying to fit dcc sound into a kit built loco not designed to have sound fitting can be a challenge..but it can be done. ..and, unless I am told to put the sound in the tender, I fit it in the locomotive as near to the chimney as possible.

 

Over the years I have had some very good clients, only one had a problem..not with the weathering but on the sounds from the sound chip he supplied. (They were very unrealistic..). Most come back with work over the longer term. Only one has a lot of modern diesels but they are nice to do for a change.

 

Baz

 

 

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10 hours ago, Tony Wright said:

Good evening Jerry,

 

I wonder how many teachers have given up on that profession and become professional modellers? I think Mike Edge used to teach.

 

By the way, do you think the MRJ might be interested in a Retford update? 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

You could also add, how many current teachers want to give up teaching and become model makers. Actually I could have just stopped with the first half of that sentence. I for one think most are looking for a route out because of the ever changing goal posts and raised expectations of what can be achieved in a day by one person. 
it is interesting just how many teachers/ ex teachers there are in the hobby. Is there a correlation between choice of profession and choice of hobby?

richard 

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7 hours ago, St Enodoc said:

So it was nothing to do with the Viessmanns after all?

I think it has a lot to do with the Viessmans, John,

 

One thing that Graham Nicholas and I have found with the devices is that they're rather weak. None of the signals is stiff. By that, I mean the mechanisms are sweet and free (they've been built by Graham and Mick Nicholson, after all - two top signal-makers). They also work like real signals as well - on some bracket signals I've seen, there are no cranks - just right-angle bends in some stiff wire (like Hornby-Dublo and Tri-ang used to do). Now, even with the best-made mechanisms, there's going to be mechanical resistance - friction. There is in every working thing I've ever made.

 

Let me describe an analogy, please? Whenever I make a loco chassis, I never oil it until I'm happy with the way it runs. Once happy, I then lightly oil the moving parts. It's immediately quieter and smoother, and then will run-in to make it even-sweeter. The analogy is, I don't oil the chassis beforehand, and the motor burns out! Immediately. 

 

No, I assure you, the Viessmans needed more than oil before they'd properly work again (I didn't oil the actual motors). I've seen how Graham installed them and, after I'd oiled the mechanisms, I just 'wiggled' the motors until they worked again. And then they'd still stick again (two of them). 

 

At least the electronic 'safety' devices now prevent the motors from actually burning out. Prior to this, out of the original nine Veissmans installed, ten have 'cooked' - not every individual one; one signal's motor had burnt out twice - and Graham has valiantly replaced them. 

 

When you ask if it had nothing to do with the Viessman motors, you might ask that same question to Andrew Hartsthorne at Wizard.MSE/Comet Models. He gave Graham Nicholas a pile of burnt-out ones at Stevenage last year. They'd been returned as being  'faulty'. As far as I know, he no longer stocks them. He thought that among the duds (it's always just one pole which fails), Graham might be able to make a good one out of two.

 

I wonder whether we're asking the product to do something it's not designed for - operating hand-made signals? As far as I know, they're designed for working continental-style RTP signals, which, I assume, don't have cranks for operating bracket signals (though it's not just the bracket ones which have failed on LB). I know they have to be altered slightly to work British semaphores (a loop put into the operating wire, which immediately invalidates any guarantee).

 

Graham uses them on Grantham, and, prior to the installation of the 'protectors', has had some fail.

 

The irony is, when they work, the visual operation is beautifully-smooth - the arms go 'off' slowly and go 'on' faster. 

 

From my experience, servos are the complete opposite. If a signal has any stiffness or resistance to movement, the servos don't care at all. If necessary, they'll wreck the sticky signal! 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

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5 minutes ago, richard i said:

You could also add, how many current teachers want to give up teaching and become model makers. Actually I could have just stopped with the first half of that sentence. I for one think most are looking for a route out because of the ever changing goal posts and raised expectations of what can be achieved in a day by one person. 
it is interesting just how many teachers/ ex teachers there are in the hobby. Is there a correlation between choice of profession and choice of hobby?

richard 

Good morning Richard,

 

Good to see you all again (from a distance) on Friday. 

 

One of the things I found when I abandoned teaching in 1994 was the erosion of 'discipline' in the classroom, where some lessons (not mine) were being wrecked by kids 'beyond control'. As a union rep', we set up a 'tunnel committee' to enable teachers to 'escape' to other, less-stressful careers. What was ghastly was the number of teachers I knew of whose mental health was effectively 'destroyed' by the stress of the job.

 

Were all the kids I taught as well-behaved, well-mannered and respectful as your three boys, I might have retired from the profession after 40 years' service, and never built a model for money in my life.

 

Regards,

 

Tony.

 

P.S. Many of the clergy seem interested in railways. 

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15 minutes ago, Tony Wright said:

I think it has a lot to do with the Viessmans, John,

 

One thing that Graham Nicholas and I have found with the devices is that they're rather weak. None of the signals is stiff. By that, I mean the mechanisms are sweet and free (they've been built by Graham and Mick Nicholson, after all - two top signal-makers). They also work like real signals as well - on some bracket signals I've seen, there are no cranks - just right-angle bends in some stiff wire (like Hornby-Dublo and Tri-ang used to do). Now, even with the best-made mechanisms, there's going to be mechanical resistance - friction. There is in every working thing I've ever made.

 

Let me describe an analogy, please? Whenever I make a loco chassis, I never oil it until I'm happy with the way it runs. Once happy, I then lightly oil the moving parts. It's immediately quieter and smoother, and then will run-in to make it even-sweeter. The analogy is, I don't oil the chassis beforehand, and the motor burns out! Immediately. 

 

No, I assure you, the Viessmans needed more than oil before they'd properly work again (I didn't oil the actual motors). I've seen how Graham installed them and, after I'd oiled the mechanisms, I just 'wiggled' the motors until they worked again. And then they'd still stick again (two of them). 

 

At least the electronic 'safety' devices now prevent the motors from actually burning out. Prior to this, out of the original nine Veissmans installed, ten have 'cooked' - not every individual one; one signal's motor had burnt out twice - and Graham has valiantly replaced them. 

 

When you ask if it had nothing to do with the Viessman motors, you might ask that same question to Andrew Hartsthorne at Wizard.MSE/Comet Models. He gave Graham Nicholas a pile of burnt-out ones at Stevenage last year. They'd been returned as being  'faulty'. As far as I know, he no longer stocks them. He thought that among the duds (it's always just one pole which fails), Graham might be able to make a good one out of two.

 

I wonder whether we're asking the product to do something it's not designed for - operating hand-made signals? As far as I know, they're designed for working continental-style RTP signals, which, I assume, don't have cranks for operating bracket signals (though it's not just the bracket ones which have failed on LB). I know they have to be altered slightly to work British semaphores (a loop put into the operating wire, which immediately invalidates any guarantee).

 

Graham uses them on Grantham, and, prior to the installation of the 'protectors', has had some fail.

 

The irony is, when they work, the visual operation is beautifully-smooth - the arms go 'off' slowly and go 'on' faster. 

 

From my experience, servos are the complete opposite. If a signal has any stiffness or resistance to movement, the servos don't care at all. If necessary, they'll wreck the sticky signal! 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

Interesting. I took your comment about oiling the cranks as meaning that the signals were stiff and once they'd been freed up they worked well with the Viessmanns. I didn't know you had to oil those.

 

I have one, and only one, Viessmann motor on the Mid-Cornwall Lines. It was given to me by a friend who found that it didn't have enough guts for 0 gauge. I fitted it to a ground disc which worked until the end cap of the motor fell off and it lost its damping function. Once I'd fixed that it was, and is, fine but they were far too expensive to contemplate for the whole layout, so I went down the memory wire route. The only snag is that memory wire is hard to come by now. Fortunately, I've got enough for the whole layout on hand.

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56 minutes ago, richard i said:

You could also add, how many current teachers want to give up teaching and become model makers. Actually I could have just stopped with the first half of that sentence. I for one think most are looking for a route out because of the ever changing goal posts and raised expectations of what can be achieved in a day by one person. 

 

 

Not to mention the fact that it now considered very non - PC to pin the little scrotes up by their ears when you catch them wrapping a chair around another Teacher's head.  But that's getting OT.

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1 hour ago, richard i said:

You could also add, how many current teachers want to give up teaching and become model makers. Actually I could have just stopped with the first half of that sentence. I for one think most are looking for a route out because of the ever changing goal posts and raised expectations of what can be achieved in a day by one person. 
it is interesting just how many teachers/ ex teachers there are in the hobby. Is there a correlation between choice of profession and choice of hobby?

richard 

I was indeed once a teacher but only for eight years and escaped to be a model maker in 1976. Almost every teacher I knew had an "escape plan" - retirement (I could have retired at 51), lottery win, pregnacy etc.etc.

My reasons for being a teacher in the first place weren't very noble, guaranteed weekends off and long holidays mostly - to leave me eough time for real life. Back then in 1968 teacher training wasn't essential, a degree was enough qualification and I learned on the job.

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1 hour ago, richard i said:

You could also add, how many current teachers want to give up teaching and become model makers. Actually I could have just stopped with the first half of that sentence. I for one think most are looking for a route out because of the ever changing goal posts and raised expectations of what can be achieved in a day by one person. 
it is interesting just how many teachers/ ex teachers there are in the hobby. Is there a correlation between choice of profession and choice of hobby?

richard 


I enjoy my teaching greatly, but as a peripatetic music teacher my pupil numbers are becoming dire. 3 years ago I was on 5 days teaching, this September it could be as low as 2.5. I’m paid for what I teach with no protection of a salary.

 

I never wanted my hobby to become my job, but thank goodness I did, otherwise I’d have been in a real financial mess.

Edited by Hawin Dooiey
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30 minutes ago, jrg1 said:

The pipework looks fine Doug-don't forget that it was continually being stripped, bent, relaid and otherwise badly treated in service.  

Your dead right John, I have seen photos that show it absolutely all over the place to the point it looked like loose spaghetti. But during the LNER period I am  modelling it was pretty tidy. 

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3 hours ago, Tony Wright said:

 

One of the things I found when I abandoned teaching in 1994 was the erosion of 'discipline' in the classroom, where some lessons (not mine) were being wrecked by kids 'beyond control'. As a union rep', we set up a 'tunnel committee' to enable teachers to 'escape' to other, less-stressful careers. What was ghastly was the number of teachers I knew of whose mental health was effectively 'destroyed' by the stress of the job.

 

teachers.jpg.220ed9532d21134b13d4b53abbe9bb43.jpg

... may also have something to do with it?

Edited by LNER4479
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3 hours ago, St Enodoc said:

Interesting. I took your comment about oiling the cranks as meaning that the signals were stiff and once they'd been freed up they worked well with the Viessmanns. I didn't know you had to oil those.

 

I think that WAS what Tony was referring to, John (ie oiling the linkages between the motor and the signal arm). The motor itself is a sealed unit (although you can get in to them if you know how - I've had plenty of goosed ones to practice on) so I wouldn't recommend any 3-in-1 going anywhere near it. Mind you, that GT85 stuff might be worth a try? Hmm ... 

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2 minutes ago, LNER4479 said:

I think that WAS what Tony was referring to, John (ie oiling the linkages between the motor and the signal arm). The motor itself is a sealed unit (although you can get in to them if you know how - I've had plenty of goosed ones to practice on) so I wouldn't recommend any 3-in-1 going anywhere near it. Mind you, that GT85 stuff might be worth a try? Hmm ... 

You can get in when the end cap falls off...

 

I don't think I'd be inclined to put anything in them myself.

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4 hours ago, Tony Wright said:

I think it has a lot to do with the Viessmans, John,

I wonder whether we're asking the product to do something it's not designed for - operating hand-made signals? As far as I know, they're designed for working continental-style RTP signals, which, I assume, don't have cranks for operating bracket signals (though it's not just the bracket ones which have failed on LB). I know they have to be altered slightly to work British semaphores (a loop put into the operating wire, which immediately invalidates any guarantee).

Tony. 

 

I had a look at my Spur Null ones that are still in the box.  A bit of skullduggery and the counterweight works off the shaft - no cranks involved.  They are staying in the box, my lock down project (Blindheim) doesn't require signals.  Bill

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30 minutes ago, LNER4479 said:

I think that WAS what Tony was referring to, John (ie oiling the linkages between the motor and the signal arm). The motor itself is a sealed unit (although you can get in to them if you know how - I've had plenty of goosed ones to practice on) so I wouldn't recommend any 3-in-1 going anywhere near it. Mind you, that GT85 stuff might be worth a try? Hmm ... 

Thanks Graham,

 

That's what I meant. I didn't get any oil near the motor itself. 

 

The oil itself (3-in-1! I used to use that on my rusting old bike) is a synthetic type, applied via a hypodermic. It's recommended by Norman Solomon.

 

Counting my ten, how many Viessmans have you had fail in total?

 

Regards,

 

Tony.  

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