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Wright writes.....


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2 hours ago, Tony Wright said:

The twisted three-link puzzled me, too, Andy,

 

The rake in question reverses into the Down north lay-by during the sequence, which might account for the coupling getting twisted (though it had run several times around after that). Perhaps a slight jolt, a critical juxtaposition of twisted coupling, deflection, wheel and crossing which caused the wagon to derail. Who knows?

 

All I know is that it was investigated, the problem/cause identified and rectified. 

 

Identifying and rectifying running problems is a Little Bytham principle which I adhere to without fail. There is always a reason for a failure, and it must be fixed before running can continue. Rectified in the right way, however. The wagon in question derailed on entry pointwork to the fiddleyard. To have started investigating/altering the crossings would have been absurd.

 

Which is what happened in the situation I described earlier at WMRC (the participants are all  deceased now, except me). I'd watched a really well-made O Gauge point being installed and wired up on a club layout. The builder knew what he was doing. It was tested using locos and stock built by another most-accomplished modeller. They stood back, saw that it was good, and I took a photograph. Can anyone imagine my outrage when a week later a guy was filing away like crazy at the crossing 'V' because his locos/stock bounced over it or derailed! Inexperienced? Less-capable? A picker-up of bad habits? None of these things mattered; it was the most crass of acts, the builder of the point was appalled, and the fool (that's a 'sensitive' description on my part) didn't last long at the club. 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

 

2 hours ago, Tony Wright said:

The twisted three-link puzzled me, too, Andy,

 

The rake in question reverses into the Down north lay-by during the sequence, which might account for the coupling getting twisted (though it had run several times around after that). Perhaps a slight jolt, a critical juxtaposition of twisted coupling, deflection, wheel and crossing which caused the wagon to derail. Who knows?

 

All I know is that it was investigated, the problem/cause identified and rectified. 

 

Identifying and rectifying running problems is a Little Bytham principle which I adhere to without fail. There is always a reason for a failure, and it must be fixed before running can continue. Rectified in the right way, however. The wagon in question derailed on entry pointwork to the fiddleyard. To have started investigating/altering the crossings would have been absurd.

 

Which is what happened in the situation I described earlier at WMRC (the participants are all  deceased now, except me). I'd watched a really well-made O Gauge point being installed and wired up on a club layout. The builder knew what he was doing. It was tested using locos and stock built by another most-accomplished modeller. They stood back, saw that it was good, and I took a photograph. Can anyone imagine my outrage when a week later a guy was filing away like crazy at the crossing 'V' because his locos/stock bounced over it or derailed! Inexperienced? Less-capable? A picker-up of bad habits? None of these things mattered; it was the most crass of acts, the builder of the point was appalled, and the fool (that's a 'sensitive' description on my part) didn't last long at the club. 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

 

I have been both the victim and the perpetrator of some daft things during my involvement in the hobby. If there was a parting of the ways every time something stupid like that either happened to me, or was done by me, I would have no friends left at all.

 

I am lucky that they tolerate me and they are lucky that I tolerate them!

 

You and I have both been "victims" of some strange actions by Roy. The Pacific you started and my V2 that he stripped down to components again without any consultation were probably just as bad (or in my view worse) as the incident with the O Gauge point. Even people we respect and who should know better can get it wrong sometimes.  

 

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2 hours ago, Iain.d said:

Last weekend, well I think it was last weekend, I started this Johnson 3500 gallon tender from a George Norton / Connoisseur’s Choice kit to replace an old Triang one that came with a MR 3F.

 

649001367_GeorgeNorton-Johnson3500GallonTender(03).jpg.ec487fb5cff451bce6d47c7648549b65.jpg

 

The fit of parts has been superb, in particular the brass work. The nickel silver not quite so, it was/is also coated with something like a clear varnish or preservative. I found when I soldered the brake gear up, it seemed okay, the flux sizzled and the solder flowed and everything was secured, but the next day more than half of the joints were loose. So I unsoldered the few secured pieces and then scrubbed all the parts in Jif.  It seems okay now. The brake gear is removable so that the wheels can be inserted. The axles have 2mm-1/8in sleeves that have been secured in place with Loctite 601, from a very old bottle which I was half expecting to be ‘off’. There's not much sideplay on the chassis but it will happily negotiate Peco OO bullhead points.

 

The flares at the tender top were done by bending the brass around a 1/8in bar and applying little more than finger pressure. I need to decide on a buffer beam; two are provided, one seems too deep and the other too shallow. And I think I’ve worked out the bending and fitting of parts for the coal hole and tool boxes. All being well I’ll be able to do some more this week.

 

Kind regards,

 

Iain

Nice work - and your comments about a potential coating on N/S components in a Norton kit are duly noted. I have an old Norton J25 in the roundtuit pile; I will bear this in mind when it becomes time to construct it. (I can't check now as I'm away at sea until early next month).

 

Mark

 

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2 hours ago, t-b-g said:

 

 

I have been both the victim and the perpetrator of some daft things during my involvement in the hobby. If there was a parting of the ways every time something stupid like that either happened to me, or was done by me, I would have no friends left at all.

 

I am lucky that they tolerate me and they are lucky that I tolerate them!

 

You and I have both been "victims" of some strange actions by Roy. The Pacific you started and my V2 that he stripped down to components again without any consultation were probably just as bad (or in my view worse) as the incident with the O Gauge point. Even people we respect and who should know better can get it wrong sometimes.  

 

Rule One in every group/club I've ever been involved with is that one doesn't alter stuff others have built without discussing the need for it first. Basic courtesy.

 

John

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16 minutes ago, t-b-g said:

 

When the show ended, they were all puzzled by the fact that when they took the bolts out, the layout wouldn't come apart. Well he hadn't told me to put it on loose, so I had run a fillet of pva glue down the joints and sprinkled the grass on top, just as I did on my layout at home. Much use of chisel and screwdriver got them apart but the baseboard ends showed the scars for the next 30 years. Of course I blamed the lack of clear and precise instructions. They just thought I was useless!

Oops!

 

But yes, a lack of clear and precise instructions was indeed the root cause here :good:

 

(Been auditing too many "Near Miss" and "Incident" reports over the last few days...)

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38 minutes ago, t-b-g said:

I think my worst sins include dropping a loco that somebody else had built (he forgave me and mended it) and something I did at my first ever show as an exhibitor. Standing around like a spare part during setting up, I asked the more experienced members of the crew if there was anything I could do without messing it up or getting in the way of the others. He said "Grab that jar of grass "flock" and use some of it to hide the baseboard joints".

 

So I did.

 

When the show ended, they were all puzzled by the fact that when they took the bolts out, the layout wouldn't come apart. Well he hadn't told me to put it on loose, so I had run a fillet of pva glue down the joints and sprinkled the grass on top, just as I did on my layout at home. Much use of chisel and screwdriver got them apart but the baseboard ends showed the scars for the next 30 years. Of course I blamed the lack of clear and precise instructions. They just thought I was useless!

 

Well, I'll bet it looked good during the exhibition - surely that's what matters? 

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For those who did not get to GETS, here are 5 videos of the layouts.

Excellent recordings by dcc125.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QD8az_t7hE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKtQC5w_sos

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=em19Fj56v_g

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVgKIbmnbMo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWo2LaE0ZtI

About 1/2 hour each.

Sady too far for me to travel with the fuel uncertainty.

 

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16 hours ago, Dunsignalling said:

Rule One in every group/club I've ever been involved with is that one doesn't alter stuff others have built without discussing the need for it first. Basic courtesy.

 

John

Good morning John,

 

Which is why I reacted so angrily to the deliberate damage being done to the work of others.

 

I think there's a huge difference between a deliberate act and causing accidental damage, even though the latter might have been through carelessness (I know!).

 

Regarding basic courtesy, one rule we always followed when exhibiting Stoke and Charwelton was this; if a loco/item of stock malfunctioned, it was immediately taken off and replaced, irrespective of whose work it was. Nobody 'enjoyed' a high-status with regard to their work. The builder would then investigate, fix it (if possible) out of sight of the public, then, only after the public had gone, test it again. Occasionally, I'd be asked to look at the work of others, but only on request. 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

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On 02/10/2021 at 16:47, t-b-g said:

 

It must be a church thing. All the Buckingham locos go the "wrong" way too. Mind you, They were built before there was, as far as I recall, any commercial 2 rail available, so who can say that it wasn't Peter Denny (and your lay preacher) who got it right and Hornby Dublo and everybody else who followed after who got it wrong. At the time, if a modeller was building their own track, locos and controllers, the way the locos went would have been arbitrary as long as they all went the same way. There would have been precious few EM layouts or locos around for anybody to even notice the difference.

 

You may well have had dealings with oafs, fools and clowns over the years. All I have had are those with lower levels of skill, experience and ability, or those who had picked up some bad habits along the way that might have needed a bit of re-educating. Such as those who believe that they could never possibly get something wrong!

I hope that I am not afflicted by this 'church thing' of refusing to accept that you may be wrong, though I have met many who are. As the saying is, empty heads make the most noise. I have, however, been accused of unprofessional-ism (in an academic context) for stating that i do not know everything, even about my own subject. I tried to instill into my students the idea that they can learn something from everyone. I doubt that i achieved success even in that!

 

Lloyd

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1 hour ago, Tony Wright said:

457706776_Clip10generalrollingstock5tankwagons.jpg.26b43cdbdaa0078c7f577cea8a170370.jpg

 

Tony - I am so reluctant to write anything amounting to criticism of any of your work or that of others on LB (particularly considering my own limited modelling efforts) but I have some observations about the weathering of the tanks above.

First point is that these are methanol tanks; methanol is a very thin, volatile and clear liquid so any spillage wouldn't leave the black staining on the left tank. The tank on the right looks excellent, with just the effects of general dirt being washed downwards by rain.  Black staining is reserved for diesel, lube oil and tar tanks.

Secondly, the black staining and "runs" on an oil tank should be almost entirely in the vicinity of the filler hatch cover; while the effects of passing air will make it spread slightly wider to a band a couple of feet wide at the bottom of the tank, it doesn't start wide at the top.  There is no source for the oil staining away from the hatch. 

These minor criticisms aside, I should say though that this weathering is still much more realistic than that provided by a lot of "professional" weathering services, at not insignificant cost.

Rob

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43 minutes ago, FarrMan said:

I hope that I am not afflicted by this 'church thing' of refusing to accept that you may be wrong, though I have met many who are. As the saying is, empty heads make the most noise. I have, however, been accused of unprofessional-ism (in an academic context) for stating that i do not know everything, even about my own subject. I tried to instill into my students the idea that they can learn something from everyone. I doubt that i achieved success even in that!

 

Lloyd

 

I am with you 100%. I am never sure that I am completely right about anything. Just being right enough to get the results I hope for is my target.

 

After modelling railways for over 45 years (not counting the 10 or so years before that building a train set with dad) I am still learning about new tricks, tools, techniques and materials all the time.

 

As a tutor at Missenden, I often come away having pinched an idea or two from the people I am supposed to be tutoring, or from the other tutors.

 

For me, it is one of the great joys of the hobby. Always learning and never knowing it all. 

 

 

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38 minutes ago, Northmoor said:

Tony - I am so reluctant to write anything amounting to criticism of any of your work or that of others on LB (particularly considering my own limited modelling efforts) but I have some observations about the weathering of the tanks above.

First point is that these are methanol tanks; methanol is a very thin, volatile and clear liquid so any spillage wouldn't leave the black staining on the left tank. The tank on the right looks excellent, with just the effects of general dirt being washed downwards by rain.  Black staining is reserved for diesel, lube oil and tar tanks.

Secondly, the black staining and "runs" on an oil tank should be almost entirely in the vicinity of the filler hatch cover; while the effects of passing air will make it spread slightly wider to a band a couple of feet wide at the bottom of the tank, it doesn't start wide at the top.  There is no source for the oil staining away from the hatch. 

These minor criticisms aside, I should say though that this weathering is still much more realistic than that provided by a lot of "professional" weathering services, at not insignificant cost.

Rob

 

Cripes. I hope my recently weathered scratch/bashed fuel tankers and cement wagon kits (both N/2mm) pass muster. I did try to base them on actual wagons and the staining did seem to spread out along and under the walkways a bit before running down:

 

DSC_0994red.jpg.e24f26e2c09d22c4af11988485f1fb14.jpg

 

DSC02396red.jpg.164eea6e916824c5dbf22992bcdaf69c.jpg

 

But I have now started on a 35t liquid chlorine bogie tanker which is a 3D print from shapeways. Still a lot to do:

 

DSC02399red.jpg.7835d26616234a16aab56cc23f14e50e.jpg

 

 

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5 hours ago, Tony Wright said:

I've just sent off stuff for Hornby's virtual event taking place at the end of this month. 

 

Which includes detailing/improving/renumbering/renaming Hornby items like these.......................

 

1593788847_Clip2A3A43.jpg.b480cf683f6bb2b340c0db22bed515c7.jpg

 

Seen on the front cover of an issue of the RM last year.

 

1215399987_Clip5O12.jpg.4a7a76fb5005b8680578766cfc39de02.jpg

 

Spot the Hornby O1.

 

349248512_Clip6Mark14.jpg.23fb2cd624d15ba831a7cd8f7ffba92f.jpg

 

Improving Hornby's latest Mk.1s.

 

1865812551_Clip6Mark15taillamponnon-gangwayedGresley.jpg.c518a7362a2869805582adbbc09fc879.jpg

 

The necessity of a tail lamp.

 

1049735846_Clip7GangwayedGresleys3Klondike.jpg.4d13bcd4da96f648ce670265dff32499.jpg

 

What can be done to improve Hornby's gangwayed Gresleys.

 

396927139_Clip7GangwayedGresleys7painted.jpg.c92440b07a4c240410c981b42e773fe9.jpg

 

Including brass replacement sides.

 

1685991335_Clip8Pullmans4.jpg.bb503df55050ec0c56e5c4cac5e9c842.jpg

 

Weathering Pullman cars.

 

1925918516_Clip9LMSStaniercarriages2.jpg.72bdd98fcd553d5fd800da4d229ec74c.jpg

 

And detailing/weathering Staniers.

 

777355291_Clip10generalrollingstock1horseboxes.jpg.91d52ea9d6b3382e31466b422ab8425f.jpg

 

And horseboxes.

 

457706776_Clip10generalrollingstock5tankwagons.jpg.26b43cdbdaa0078c7f577cea8a170370.jpg

 

And tank wagons.

 

1235906597_Clip11conclusion3Brit70054.jpg.0559b89642202c0a365b005ba02dc548.jpg

 

And how to make a loco-drive Britannia out of a tender-drive one. 

 

I hope it all works! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

13 minutes ago, Bucoops said:

 

To be fair, Jesse has half a planet headstart. Actually, yes, very quickly indeed.

I've had the pleasure of seeing Tony's LB on a number of occasions; Hornby, Bachmann and Heljan loco's look very much part of the scene such is their fidelity. I appreciate completely that Tony's kit built locos'  are far more capable. My own view is that the DJH A1's in particular have a far better sense of bulk than the Bachmann equivalents. 

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2 hours ago, Jesse Sim said:

It’s a trick, they’re all Hornby….

 

………Run away…………

As is so often the case, the Hornby is the one with the right shape of smokebox door. On the right.

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