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Lever frames with full mechanical interlocking is one of my model railway holy grails and it's the point to me where operating the model comes closest to mimicking the real thing. In Denny's Buckingham Branch Lines part 2 there is a passage in which he explains how he can operate the layout solo using the Automatic Crispin. He describes running the next few trains on the timetable before bed, such is his evocation of the experience that I felt as if I was quietly watching. Wonderful stuff.

Edited by Anglian
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7 minutes ago, Anglian said:

Lever frames with full mechanical interlocking is one of my model railway holy grails and it's the point to me where operating the model comes closest to mimicking the real thing. In Denny's Buckingham Branch Lines part 2 there is a passage in which he explains how he can operate the layout solo using the Automatic Crispin. He describes running the next few trains on the timetable before bed, such is his evocation of the experience that I felt as if I was quietly watching. Wonderful stuff.

 

I agree with you 100%. It was reading articles by Peter Denny and the series by Frank Dyer in early MRJ issues that made me realise that is how I want to run my model railways.

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On 22/11/2019 at 07:56, Clem said:

 

Hi Tony. I'm surprised to hear you say that, when there's a Nucast kit to be revived by SEF? :-) ... . No, I'm just joshing you. (I assume the verb 'to josh' is not intransitive).   Of course, it would be perfect example for the RTR guys to choose and if fact I'm surprised they haven't done it already. BTW, I'm hoping to be at Warley tomorrow so I'll pop by and say 'hello'. However, there'll be little left in terms of traders that is of real interest to me. Just Alan Gibson, Branchlines, Dart Castings, Eileen's and perhaps a couple more, but it's a nice day out and a chance to chew the cud with a few people and see some interesting modelling.

Is the SEF revival in the pipeline, or is it just there to be revived? I would find the former pretty exciting...

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12 hours ago, bbishop said:

I visited thegreenhowards yesterday to collect the GNR horsebox and was invited upstairs to operate a chunk of the East Coast Main Line.  Is was a very enjoyable session - three hours just flew past.  It's DCC, so when I dialled in "36", I was expecting an A3; instead it was a Britannia on the Cleethorpes.

 

Bill

Bill,

 

It was a pleasure showing you the layout and I need an excuse to sit down and enjoy it, so thanks for providing the incentive. I’ve started a thread on the layout since your visit so if anyone’s interested please have a look.

https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/149386-gresley-junction/&tab=comments#comment-3741677

 

Andy

 

 

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14 minutes ago, phil gollin said:

.

 

This sort of thing ???

 

https://modratec.com/

 

.

 

Yes very much so. There is also another system where the taller levers have locking catches and subsequently look like the real thing. I believe they come in kit form. Having a model signal box with all the correct point locks that have to be pulled off before the points can be changed would be great stuff.

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Progress is slow on the N/2mm generic oldie 4-wheel coaches. I've got all the handrails/grabs (that I'm replacing with wire) in place and the roof lamps and vents (which are damn small) fitted this morning. They are starting to look a little like the drawing I posted earlier. Next is to order some buffers and brake hoses although I suspect with most suppliers at Warley it may take a while for them to turn up. And then to fiddle with the chassis.

 

DSC_8468.JPG.266d7f01b1e63240862adfcba1d231b3.JPG

 

 

 

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I have worked a couple of layouts that have full interlocking and I have mixed feelings about it.

 

There is no doubt that it is the way of getting a model working that is as close to the prototype as can be got.

 

I have just never worked out whether the considerable extra work involved is worth the difference, so I haven't tried it yet.

 

There have been a couple of layouts that I have visited and operated with electrical interlocking but a loud buzzer when a mistake was made was more like a TV game show than a signalbox!

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1 hour ago, grahame said:

 

Ah, the ol' vac formed kit. I've made a few of them although you don't see them so much these days. They're redolent of the 'garage' kit industry for small runs and often sci-fi subjects. The parts are all 'bumps' on a large sheet of plastic that need cutting out. Having cut around them to release them, their joining/mating edge needs filing flat which is best done on a sheet of fine sandpaper taped/stuck to a flat piece of wood/board.

 

Here's an unfinished one of a Comet Miniatures Fireball XL5 I started some time ago. It was quite a multi-media kit with mainly vac formed parts, some white metal castings, transfers and a few other bits - unfortunately I can't find the box with them in to finish it.

 

 DSC_8467.JPG.a7278d0d596e4f6dd1811d64c86e96d3.JPG

 

 

 

 

Very much up my street, Grahame - I do hope you manage to finish it!

 

I have a Fireflash to build one of these days.

 

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45 minutes ago, grahame said:

Progress is slow on the N/2mm generic oldie 4-wheel coaches. I've got all the handrails/grabs (that I'm replacing with wire) in place and the roof lamps and vents (which are damn small) fitted this morning. They are starting to look a little like the drawing I posted earlier. Next is to order some buffers and brake hoses although I suspect with most suppliers at Warley it may take a while for them to turn up. And then to fiddle with the chassis.

 

DSC_8468.JPG.266d7f01b1e63240862adfcba1d231b3.JPG

 

 

 

Would it be worth thinning down the coach roof ends a bit Grahame, effectively bevelling the curves?  The roof detail make a tremendous difference. 
 

Tim

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20 minutes ago, CF MRC said:

Would it be worth thinning down the coach roof ends a bit Grahame, effectively bevelling the curves?  The roof detail make a tremendous difference. 
 

 

That's a good idea. I'll have a bash at it, testing out firstly on one of the two damaged spares I've got as the plastic is very brittle and breaks easily.

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2 hours ago, micknich2003 said:

A few pictures of a locking frame I made many years ago.

LOCKING CHART  EPPLEWORTH .jpg

LOCKING TABLE EPLEWORTH.jpg

LOCKING_FRAME_1.JPG

LOCKING FRAME 2.JPG

LOCKING FRAME 4.JPG

LOCKING FRAME 5.JPG

LOCKING FRAME 6.JPG

I was recently at a STEM event explaining railway signalling to teenagers.  It's not easy to explain that this is all Boolean logic just like computer-controlled signalling, it's just mechanical logic performing the same function.

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As far as interlocking is concerned, the new (ish) leverframe etch now available through scalefour stores looks fascinating if thats what floats your boat.:victory:  I can't make out if it floats mine yet! Maybe for a very simple set up such as would have operated at Monsaldale ... we will have to see. :unknw_mini: Have to admit that at the moment the complexity blows my mind :blink:

post-6879-0-31384300-1537645639.jpg.f6fffb95a378d78f5d37c2589736bf45.jpg

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Nice to say a brief hello to Tony and Jesse. Also had a lesson in quartering with Mike Edge.

 

Cleaned out Shawplan on 2D TSO glazing.

 

And some good advice on casting with Graeme.

 

I was the lump with a crutch (damaged vertebra from a fall and a weak ankle from a break).

 

As to the layouts, to be honest not overly impressed for multiple reasons.

 

Reason 1, a few train sets.

Reason 2, a few reasonable scenic layouts where someone has vomited various RTR stock on to it.

Reason 3, I could not get near quite a few, got near enough to some.

Reason 4, trains, yes they had one occasionally.

Reason 5, hand of god, seemed pretty common.

Reason 6, lovely layouts, but just did little for me, little running, not much to do.

Reason 7, small layouts with tons of viewers.

To be honest I gave up after a while, I missed some I wanted to see.

 

Any layout operators unhappy, were you so blocked I could not get to see?

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7 hours ago, grahame said:

 

Ah, the ol' vac formed kit. I've made a few of them although you don't see them so much these days. They're redolent of the 'garage' kit industry for small runs and often sci-fi subjects. The parts are all 'bumps' on a large sheet of plastic that need cutting out. Having cut around them to release them, their joining/mating edge needs filing flat which is best done on a sheet of fine sandpaper taped/stuck to a flat piece of wood/board.

 

Here's an unfinished one of a Comet Miniatures Fireball XL5 I started some time ago. It was quite a multi-media kit with mainly vac formed parts, some white metal castings, transfers and a few other bits - unfortunately I can't find the box with them in to finish it.

 

 DSC_8467.JPG.a7278d0d596e4f6dd1811d64c86e96d3.JPG

 

 

 

The things that come up on Wright Writes! I was crazy about Fireball XL5 when I was little. I made a plastic kit at the time but goodness knows what happened to it!

 

Can't resist posting this - well it's got to be better than the latest sound equipped RTR diesel at Warley! ;) 

 

 

 

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1 hour ago, TrevorP1 said:

 

 I was crazy about Fireball XL5 when I was little. I made a plastic kit at the time ...

 

 

You had to collect Lyons Maid (?) Fireball XL5 ice lolly wrappers to get the kit. Received wisdom was that it was produced by Kitmaster.

 

Regards,

John Isherwood.

Edited by cctransuk
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Great to meet Tony, Mo and Jesse today.  Definitely a highlight, my abiding memory of the day overall is however summed up by this:

 

002AEB4D-FBFA-42D4-894A-97FD246AA8AE.jpeg.948c5c820c75963b449d341b928d7f3c.jpeg

 

I didn’t feel that there was as much 4mm this year, there seemed to be rather more narrow gauge, O gauge and US/continental stuff than usual.  A couple of nice characterful layouts that did catch my attention, Norwich Central:

 

8147CE45-93FF-47FE-9EA4-DA448541B079.jpeg.3562bf32954595dae0089ab9fb01d955.jpeg

 

Blackfriars Bridge in P4:

 

61D934C6-C86C-4718-AB7E-BA1865412538.jpeg.ff474761c42a3e93b1dd897056bbf505.jpeg

 

And a nice O gauge layout called Kimble, unfortunately the photo won’t upload.

 

Warley is always worth a visit, but the long trek from the car park, £17.50 entry price (plus another £16 for parking) and endless traipsing round the huge hall do make for a tiring and expensive day out.

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27 minutes ago, cctransuk said:

 

You had to collect Lyons Maid (?) Fireball XL5 ice lolly wrappers to get the kit.

 

Regards,

John Isherwood.

 

Ah yes! I can remember the kit didn't come from the shops. Also I was amazed when the instructions showed to paint the tail red and yellow. TV was only black and white of course and rockets were silver weren't they...? Happy Days!

 

In all seriousness it was a great time to be a child interested in science while the 'space race' was on; Mercury, Gemini, Apollo (moon landing in the science lessons at school). I still read about those times and have just finished Michael Collins excellent book. 

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Presumably there was a similar promotion with Nabisco Foods for Kitmaster kits? I have a "Deltic" which mentions them on the instruction leaflet?

If you could get Dapol/Parkside kits this way now, I'd eat breakfast cereal three times a day....

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55 minutes ago, Chamby said:

Great to meet Tony, Mo and Jesse today.  Definitely a highlight, my abiding memory of the day overall is however summed up by this:

 

002AEB4D-FBFA-42D4-894A-97FD246AA8AE.jpeg.948c5c820c75963b449d341b928d7f3c.jpeg

 

I didn’t feel that there was as much 4mm this year, there seemed to be rather more narrow gauge, O gauge and US/continental stuff than usual.  A couple of nice characterful layouts that did catch my attention, Norwich Central:

 

8147CE45-93FF-47FE-9EA4-DA448541B079.jpeg.3562bf32954595dae0089ab9fb01d955.jpeg

 

Blackfriars Bridge in P4:

 

61D934C6-C86C-4718-AB7E-BA1865412538.jpeg.ff474761c42a3e93b1dd897056bbf505.jpeg

 

And a nice O gauge layout called Kimble, unfortunately the photo won’t upload.

 

Warley is always worth a visit, but the long trek from the car park, £17.50 entry price (plus another £16 for parking) and endless traipsing round the huge hall do make for a tiring and expensive day out.

 

 

Blackfriars Bridge is one I go to the far end of, nicely modelled but I can see it better in this picture.

 

About a decade ago it was easier to see the layouts and chat to the exhibitors.

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