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5 hours ago, Tony Wright said:

 

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

 

Regards,

 

Tony.  

20200809_135446.jpg.c042b910049b6d130af806812bd78115.jpg

Does this give you an idea?

 

20200809_135423.jpg.0220ffe53d4eae503591afb665164c13.jpg

20200809_135339.jpg.4bc3ca2ae07f9a60282599dad9378872.jpg

Here's the internal gubbins of one. At its heart, it's a simple two-way solenoid, but the 'clever' bit is the sliding carrier (activated by the solenoid), which is linked to the actuator by the spring and damper arrangement. Well, I  say clever, but that's the bit that gets stuck!

 

What should happen is that the pulse from the coil flicks the carrier from one side to the other, in doing so, 'arming' itself for the return travel via a set of sliding contacts. So it doesn't actually need a passing contact feed, it can cope with a continuous feed as, once flicked, it cuts itself off from the circuit. However, if it gets stuck such that it's still in contact with its original circuit then cooking ensues!

 

Andrew's additional circuitry protects them by automatically reducing the input voltage to next-to-nothing after a few ms, thereby protecting the motor whilst the signal man attempts to reset. There is a manual reset whereby you stick a length of thin wire into the tube-like opening on the front and push the carrier back to its starting position. Manual wiggling of the mechanism back and forth usually has the same effect.

 

I wish I could be more enthusiastic about them, as they are such exquisite pieces of miniature engineering. To provide some balance, there are 33 currently installed and working on Grantham, with a further 5 on Shap, all now protected by Andrew's electronics. Since the last of the protection circuits was installed, we've done four shows in total with no failures.

Edited by LNER4479
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3 hours 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 ... 

I wouldn't use 3 in 1 (or "trois en un" in France!) anywhere if I were you - it's absolutely lethal on many plastics, stick with GT85.

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2 hours ago, LNER4479 said:

20200809_135446.jpg.c042b910049b6d130af806812bd78115.jpg

Does this give you an idea?

 

20200809_135423.jpg.0220ffe53d4eae503591afb665164c13.jpg

20200809_135339.jpg.4bc3ca2ae07f9a60282599dad9378872.jpg

Here's the internal gubbins of one. At its heart, it's a simple two-way solenoid, but the 'clever' bit is the sliding carrier (activated by the solenoid), which is linked to the actuator by the spring and damper arrangement. Well, I  say clever, but that's the bit that gets stuck!

 

What should happen is that the pulse from the coil flicks the carrier from one side to the other, in doing so, 'arming' itself for the return travel via a set of sliding contacts. So it doesn't actually need a passing contact feed, it can cope with a continuous feed as, once flicked, it cuts itself off from the circuit. However, it if gets stuck such that it's still in contact with its original circuit then cooking ensues!

 

Andrew's additional circuitry protects them by automatically reducing the input voltage to next-to-nothing after a few ms, thereby protecting the motor whilst the signal man attempts to reset. There is a manual reset whereby you stick a length of thin wire into the tube-like opening on the front and push the carrier back to its starting position. Manual wiggling of the mechanism back and forth usually has the same effect.

 

I wish I could be more enthusiastic about them, as they are such exquisite pieces of miniature engineering. To provide some balance, there are 33 currently installed and working on Grantham, with a further 5 on Shap, all now protected by Andrew's electronics. Since the last of the protection circuits was installed, we've done four shows in total with no failures.

Thanks Graham,

 

I have to say that's a pretty good indictment of any product's reliability and/or robustness. 

 

Despite your 33 on Grantham and five on Shap, plus the nine on LB, I'd say that was still a very high percentage failure figure. I assume there are no instructions with them suggesting how to 'protect' them?

 

I wonder what the 'outcry' would be if, say, Mashima motors had failed at the same rate? I've used hundreds of them down the years, only having to replace in penny numbers - and that after many, many hours of running.

 

Regards,

 

Tony.   

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19 hours ago, LNER4479 said:

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 

Ah - thanks Graham; does the kit include the bogies?

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8 hours ago, DougN said:

A number of weeks ago and about 60 plus pages i had some help with the pipework on a V2s smoke box. After screwing up using copper that was too thick and soldering some castings on upside down:rolleyes:. I gave up for about 4 weeks so today i stopped procrastinating... well i still havent perfected it you know:crazy_mini:... i managed to do one side which people might find interesting. The wire is 0.2mm from some 5amp layout wire. The holes to the white metal and foot plate are .4mm.. thank goodness for my dremel. Any this is what the first side ended up looking like. 20200809_180157.jpg.4a014ca999d66f3d05ed5de294379e44.jpg

I think it ended up looking like what it should. I have to hold the boiler in position as it holds it self up by about 1mm which i have to fettle. Anyhow i am feeling more positive moving onto the other side now. (I will also say there is number 2 loco to be half done as well. 

Excellent work, Doug,

 

Thanks for showing us.

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

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47 minutes ago, Tony Wright said:

Has anyone else been building buildings? 

 

Lovely photos Tony, only surpassed by seeing them in the flesh.

 

As you know I've been working on Hadley Wood's signal box recently.

 

20200727_202539-1.jpg.1bfda109e38e5a7e20e4b18adc3c0cbe.jpg

 

20200727_202608-1.jpg.86b16b455a203dc28518ffbdb3cf7b91.jpg

 

I'm still not finished as I'd like to revise the stairs and windows. However, I'm pretty pleased with it other than those issues.

 

Not a build yet, but I've been working on some scale drawings for the main station building and road bridge. These have been produced using measurements taken of the surviving bits and using this information to extrapolate the dimensions of the station building itself (long gone) and a few other bits.

 

1941292481_HadleyWoodBridgeWorkings.jpg.c88623b212aca75c0d19090eeccef982.jpg

 

315398922_HadleyWoodStationBackElevation.jpg.c0b0862a7d162c736b96e1556e546ffa.jpg

 

1736483709_HadleyWoodStationFrontElevation.jpg.e70a81abeaf5066d5aea2f101587d9e8.jpg

 

P1010402.jpg.2eabe6bdf5b419e2f9febda64ed65533.jpg

 

I've still got to work out the platform waiting rooms (and the main station building's chimneys!) but the surviving canopy supports on the stairway have given me essential dimensions to work out the rest.

Edited by Atso
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1 hour ago, Chas Levin said:

Ah - thanks Graham; does the kit include the bogies?

Nope. With agreement of customer, I'm simply using Bachmann RTR bogies. The vehicles originally ran on older type bogies but some received Gresley bogies in LNER days.

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In 1969 after working for 5 years and night school I was accepted at York Teachers Training College to teach Chemistry and Maths as a secondary subject.   It would have been a 15 month course if I remember correctly.  I was also offered a place at the University of Surrey in a four year degree course.    I really did want to be a teacher and my girlfriend at the time also favored that.   However, I could see the writing on the wall for teaching, both politically and academically and with some reluctance I went for the degree.  Did I ever make the correct choice?  I look at teaching today and I have to despair.  There is no way, especially as a male, I could have survived.  However my degree in Metallurgy ended up giving me a pretty good and interesting working life (until Management became the MBA Management Style - bit like teaching?).  Further, it has provided me with an adequate pension sufficient to carry out my various hobbies and buy a beer without having to wonder where the money will come from.   One interesting aside, to me at least, is that here in Ontario the media did a bit of an 'expose' on Public and Private Schools  (Remember in Canada a Public School is just what it says as is a Private School).  One of the observations was that the highest percentage of Private School attendees was Children whose parents taught in the Public School System. 

 

On another note, Tony, you are absolutely correct about a servo motor and its torque.  At the beginning when I was learning how to set servos up, I did manage to lift several signals right off their mounts.  Fortunately I use  magnets to place and hold the signal, so the damage was minimal  although I did have to replace several activation wires.

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11 hours ago, Atso said:

 

Lovely photos Tony, only surpassed by seeing them in the flesh.

 

As you know I've been working on Hadley Wood's signal box recently.

 

20200727_202539-1.jpg.1bfda109e38e5a7e20e4b18adc3c0cbe.jpg

 

20200727_202608-1.jpg.86b16b455a203dc28518ffbdb3cf7b91.jpg

 

I'm still not finished as I'd like to revise the stairs and windows. However, I'm pretty pleased with it other than those issues.

 

Not a build yet, but I've been working on some scale drawings for the main station building and road bridge. These have been produced using measurements taken of the surviving bits and using this information to extrapolate the dimensions of the station building itself (long gone) and a few other bits.

 

1941292481_HadleyWoodBridgeWorkings.jpg.c88623b212aca75c0d19090eeccef982.jpg

 

315398922_HadleyWoodStationBackElevation.jpg.c0b0862a7d162c736b96e1556e546ffa.jpg

 

1736483709_HadleyWoodStationFrontElevation.jpg.e70a81abeaf5066d5aea2f101587d9e8.jpg

 

P1010402.jpg.2eabe6bdf5b419e2f9febda64ed65533.jpg

 

I've still got to work out the platform waiting rooms (and the main station building's chimneys!) but the surviving canopy supports on the stairway have given me essential dimensions to work out the rest.

That's splendid work, Steve,

 

Thanks for showing us.

 

Unfortunately, any pictures of Hadley Wood I have were taken after the widenings in 1958/'59. Were the original station buildings demolished then?

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

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9 hours ago, nsl714 said:

Hello,

 

Long time reader of "Wright Writes", first time poster here. When I started modelling in 7mm O scale proper a few years ago, this thread, as well as the Right Track films on engine kit building have proved to be of significant inspiration. I started with a number of Parkside plastic wagon kits, and have now started dabbling in brass construction. So, I present here for scrutiny my most ambitious build to date. This is a Scorpio 7mm Siphon F which I have built and painted over the past few months, now mostly complete. Only a few repairs to detail I have clumsily knocked off, varnish, and weathering remain. This has been a great learning experience in Soldering, and I'm turning my eyes toward an engine kit now that this has been completed.

 

492951672_SiphonF1.JPG.f6ecccdc1f48c70ef6756bbcd6216022.JPG

 

Thanks,

Zach

The warmest of welcomes to posting on here, Zach,

 

Some splendid soldering (and everything on the model).

 

Thanks for showing us.

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

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43 minutes ago, sdmjsmith said:

Here's a building I've been working on these past few months. 

 

It is my rendition of the water tower at Colwick in later years.  Based on black and white photos of the real thing, I'm really not sure of the colours, although the brick was definately brick!  From aerial photos I'm pretty sure it had acquired some sort of flat roof by the post war era and I've taken a bit of a punt as to what was actually up there!  Topically, if it looks familiar that is because it is/was very similar to the tower at the Retford GN engine shed.  Great Northern Railway Engine Sheds Vol.2 by Griffiths and Hooper is an excellent research source.

 

Constructed to 4mm scale from polystyrene, sheathed with brick plasticard and, mostly, etched brass windows.

 

Next on the to-do list is to finish the Old Shed and build the Erecting (!) Shed.  Oh and I have a J6 somewhere that I really must start!

 

Happy modelling.

 

Matthew

R0002012.JPG.f9523250d0ab56b5db9f13941b2d6321.JPG

 

Wonderful modelling, Matthew,

 

Thanks for showing us.

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

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9 hours ago, Theakerr said:

In 1969 after working for 5 years and night school I was accepted at York Teachers Training College to teach Chemistry and Maths as a secondary subject.   It would have been a 15 month course if I remember correctly.  I was also offered a place at the University of Surrey in a four year degree course.    I really did want to be a teacher and my girlfriend at the time also favored that.   However, I could see the writing on the wall for teaching, both politically and academically and with some reluctance I went for the degree.  Did I ever make the correct choice?  I look at teaching today and I have to despair.  There is no way, especially as a male, I could have survived.  However my degree in Metallurgy ended up giving me a pretty good and interesting working life (until Management became the MBA Management Style - bit like teaching?).  Further, it has provided me with an adequate pension sufficient to carry out my various hobbies and buy a beer without having to wonder where the money will come from.   One interesting aside, to me at least, is that here in Ontario the media did a bit of an 'expose' on Public and Private Schools  (Remember in Canada a Public School is just what it says as is a Private School).  One of the observations was that the highest percentage of Private School attendees was Children whose parents taught in the Public School System. 

 

On another note, Tony, you are absolutely correct about a servo motor and its torque.  At the beginning when I was learning how to set servos up, I did manage to lift several signals right off their mounts.  Fortunately I use  magnets to place and hold the signal, so the damage was minimal  although I did have to replace several activation wires.

Some interesting comments about teaching/education (from everyone).

 

I once taught with an excellent teacher who'd enjoyed the benefits of a 'privileged' upbringing. Her father had been an eminent physician and she'd attended prep', public and finishing schools. Her speech, of course, was perfect. 

 

Now, for some reason I cannot fathom out (champagne socialism?), although not actually rebelling, she'd somehow 'rejected' the standards of her upbringing and become extremely left-wing in her outlook. Not for her own children, the education of the wealthy. No, the local comp' for them (even though I'm sure she could have afforded private education for her sons). How they turned out, I have no idea. 

 

At the same school there was another excellent teacher whose background was entirely different. Not for her a privileged upbringing, but (because of that?) she ensured that her own daughter was educated privately. Not only that, she'd married 'well' and could afford a much better standard of living than previously. With that came an 'acquired' accent. My mate and I used to collapse with laughter when, in a robust discussion, she'd suddenly come out with a full Black Country twang. Her mother (who was a real yo-er, wee-mer and yam-yam; students of Black Country dialect will know exactly what I mean by those expressions) was never invited to staff functions. Sad. 

 

I thought it all rather hypocritical. Rather in the way that far-left politicians, intent on dismantling decent grammar schools, send their own off-springs to private education.

 

Is there such 'snobbery and hypocritical behaviour in railway modelling, I wonder? 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

Edited by Tony Wright
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1 hour ago, Tony Wright said:

That's splendid work, Steve,

 

Thanks for showing us.

 

Unfortunately, any pictures of Hadley Wood I have were taken after the widenings in 1958/'59. Were the original station buildings demolished then?

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

 

Thank you Tony. The original platform buildings were demolished during the widening works but I do have one or two usable photos. Sadly there is little recorded of what the arrangement of the backs of these buildings were so some educated guesses will likely be required. The main station building remained, slightly altered and minus the chimneys, until (I think) electrification and additional height was required for the wires - I understand that the original tunnels were dug out to lower the track bed at the same time.

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1 hour ago, Tony Wright said:

I thought it all rather hypocritical. Rather in the way that far-left politicians, intent on dismantling decent grammar schools, send their own off-springs to private education.

 

Is there such 'snobbery and hypocritical behaviour in railway modelling, I wonder? 

 

I think that education is ultimately what the student makes of it. Good teachers and course content is always very helpful, but the student must be engaged and willing to both learn and put the work in.

 

Having given up with A Level Biology, Chemistry and Geography at school in the late 1990's, I returned to education at my local college in the early 2000's and undertook a condensed AS and A2 evening course (two hours a week) in Business Studies. One of the first questions the other students asked the tutor was what grade they could expect. His reply was most students on this particular course gained a D grade while the highest grade he'd experienced was a C. Instantly there were shouts about how this must because of the quality of teaching (not helped that the tutor was from another country) and two people left there and then.

 

Over the next 32 weeks of the course, at least 50% of the class failed to show up to 25% or more of the lessons (most didn't do the homework) and only myself and one other maintained a 100% attendance record. The two of us were also the most engaged students during lesson time and we happily lapped up everything the tutor could give us. In the end I achieved maximum marks in my AS exam and nearly equaled it in my A2 exam - my friend walked away with Bs in both exams. It was then the two of us discovered that our tutor was also a professor at the local university where his classes were some of the most popular and 'his' batting average in student results was much higher than in the course I attended. Surely evidence that the student must do the work to achieve the grades?

 

Considering I was working two jobs at the time (and spending every free hour studying), I was over the moon and got accepted to do a degree equivalent at another college (with a great endorsement from my tutor), which I accepted and completed.

 

With regard to your comments above, I think that, regardless of political ideology, people will generally (there are always exceptions) grab opportunities of privilege (whether financial, position, education, etc) that their position allows (all animals are equal...). Does such snobbery and hypocritical behaviour exist in railway modelling? I suspect that, as with the hobby itself, the answer would generally depend on the individuals own values, beliefs and objectives regarding the hobby and how they judges (too strong a word?) others by the standards they (claim to?) uphold - after all, we all view the word through the prism of our individual identities.

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1 hour ago, Tony Wright said:

 

Is there such 'snobbery and hypocritical behaviour in railway modelling, I wonder? 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 


Yes, plenty. The hobby is a cross section of society. But may I suggest probably not the best direction to take the thread into.
 

Meanwhile back on wot I dun....

 

5C80970D-4049-45A5-8A31-7C77EA9BD37D.jpeg.dad632fcc4a1a73242c71ce44d6ea2b4.jpeg

 

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24 minutes ago, PMP said:


Yes, plenty. The hobby is a cross section of society. But may I suggest probably not the best direction to take the thread into.
 

Meanwhile back on wot I dun....

 

5C80970D-4049-45A5-8A31-7C77EA9BD37D.jpeg.dad632fcc4a1a73242c71ce44d6ea2b4.jpeg

 

Thanks Paul,

 

I think this thread rather pleases itself in which direction it goes........

 

For my part, as long as someone's prepared to have a go at making/doing things for themselves, trying their best and, if possible, helping others, then that's enough. 

 

I knew that from my teaching days.

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

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2 minutes ago, Jesse Sim said:

Here we are ladies and gentlemen, the C2 works, amazing stuff that DCC... 

 

Thanks again Tony, I’ll give you a call some point this week to discuss payment, I suppose I’d better or I’d lose my lodgings.... 

 

 

 

Thanks Jesse,

 

What a lovely overall scene. I'm delighted you're delighted with your Klondike.

 

I assume the decoder (which I installed!) needed the CVs setting for optimum performance? I know that sounds if if I know what I'm talking about, but I'm an excellent actor. I had no means of testing it, other than ensuring it worked on DC.

 

Good to talk just now. 

 

Regards,

 

Tony.

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21 hours ago, Tony Wright said:

Another of Ian's buildings, this time the original engine house from Lord Willoughby's private railway. After that system was closed and abandoned, this structure saw service as a stable. 

I suppose you could say that it had been still in use as a 'stabling point'.

 

Lloyd

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42 minutes ago, Tony Wright said:

Thanks Paul,

 

I think this thread rather pleases itself in which direction it goes........

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 


The thread does ebb and flow very nicely and importantly, interestingly.

 

My thoughts were along the lines of the hypocrisy and the hobby comment. A poorly thought through and expressed comment could lead to issues for both the writer and the forum. Anyway, enough of the ‘fun police’! :)

brgds


 

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1 hour ago, PMP said:


Yes, plenty. The hobby is a cross section of society. But may I suggest probably not the best direction to take the thread into.
 

Meanwhile back on wot I dun....

 

5C80970D-4049-45A5-8A31-7C77EA9BD37D.jpeg.dad632fcc4a1a73242c71ce44d6ea2b4.jpeg

 

Lovely work on the chevrons, which are the devil to get right.  I forget how many evenings I spent trying to get an acceptable result on my snowploughs - and as the photo shows in the end I settled for less than perfection and  retaining my sanity.   (I claim.)

 

Tone

DB965204 Snowplough 04.jpg

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