Wright writes.....

[Tony Wright]

8 hours ago, Andy Hayter said:

 

I think we have to be realistic.  Most layout owners are not able to capture professional quality recording of their layouts themselves.  So to get "new" footage would have required the pros to descend on the owner, who might well have needed to call in a team of operators, probably breaking all sorts of distancing rules and potentially spreading the C 19 virus.

You're absolutely right, Andy.

 

Observers might  note, my little contribution to the virtual exhibition was 'filmed' outside, by Howard Smith at a safe distance away. I'd shot the footage of the locos in question, in motion, on Little Bytham, a couple of days before. 

 

One slightly-distracting aspect of the 'talking head' footage was the black pole supporting the parasol above the (rather tatty) round table. It wasn't acting entirely as a sun shade that day, but also as an umbrella! Time was tight, and it was a day of 'sunny periods and scattered showers'. 

 

Normally, I'd have done a piece to camera in my workshop, but coronavirus prevented that. 

 

I think all the participants did exceptionally well, given the circumstances.

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

[Tony Wright]

12 hours ago, Atso said:

 

I've just finished watching your contribution and, as always, enjoyed it immensely.

 

My own lockdown efforts seem to have managed to progress more projects (or start them!), rather than finishing much. Such is my way but everything will be finished eventually.

 

My proudest achievement has been to finally get my first C1 Atlantic hauling more than five coaches after a year sitting in a box. This involved a bit of a redesign of my conversion bits for the Dapol Hall donor chassis to make everything more stable. The result, twelve coaches without a hint of wheelslip and fourteen (below) with a little wheelslip on the curves. As twelve coaches will be the maximum length on Hadley Wood, I'm satisfied with this.

 

 

Feeling a bit more positive about the viability of an 4-4-2 in N gauge, I made a start on the next two. Below is the current progress as they progress through the paint shop.

 

 

I made some more progress on building four of the carriages for my representation of the five carriage Cambridge Buffet Express. These still need to be finished and I have no excuse now that I have the last few items needed.

 

 

 

 

 

I repainted a Dapol A4 from Garter Blue into a 'loose' (Tony, I know, I know!) representation of Silver Link.

 

 

I'm also in the process of refining my design for an ex-GNR Class A tender to go with my J6 body. The Graham Farish J39 tender drive has had it's wheelbase shortened, as has the loco chassis to fit the bodies.

 

 

Finally, while I'm not able to access the layout (or my usual workbench!), progress has been made on Hadley Wood. I've been building the track and my father has been laying it. I finally got to see the layout for the first time since March today and offer the following 'snaps' of it.

 

This view shows the bulk of what my father has laid down.

 

 

While this final view from the other end shows most of the progress to date - there is still a lot to do to finish the fiddle yard!

 

 

 

This is inspiring stuff, Steve,

 

Thanks for posting.

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

[richard i]

1 hour ago, Tony Wright said:

Good morning Richard,

 

Though there was no pandemic when our two were at school, occasionally I'd pick Mo up from her school. I know your trio are older now than those Mo taught, but it was a frightful experience for me. 

 

Having spent my day (prior to giving up the profession) teaching 11-18 year olds, to be confronted by swarms of tiny humans, with their sticky fingers, running noses and their having absolutely no sense of 'social distancing'  was rather taxing. How folk taught 'little ones', I have no idea.

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

I know little ones baffle me. My mother taught them, which might explain why I don’t . Helping her out before I settled down and finding out some of the parents were younger than I was, was a sobering experience. It took longer for that to happen in secondary school. 

[cctransuk]

8 hours ago, t-b-g said:

 

There were two possible causes then. My friend had several fail, out of the dozens he had and replacing a transistor cured them. 

 

That's well worth investigating - what I need to do is find someone who would recognise a transistor!

 

Ah - I find that I have an image of the Walkabout circuit board : -

 

 

I assume that the TRx components are transistors, of which there appear to be at least six.

 

I have a multimeter which has, I believe, a facility for testing transistors - though I haven't a clue as to how to do that!

 

I would love to get all my Walkabouts operational again - can anyone assist with this, please?

 

Regards,

John Isherwood.

[CUTLER2579]

Surely as an experiment it would be worth changing all 6 transistors as the cost would not be astronomical and by doing it one at a time it would be possible to discover which was the faulty one and then try just changing that transistor on subsequent "Walkabouts".

If there is a common fault it's likely to be just one particular transistor.Because transistors are susceptible to heat you need to be in and out quick with the soldering iron or even use a heat sink. However without wishing to upset T-B-G or his friend, Potentiometer's are prone to failure in H&M controllers.

[stewartingram]

Google transistor testing, I've lost my link, but I found a number of good guides on using a (normal) multimeter for testing.

 

Stewart

 

Found the one I had, and there are plenty of others!

https://leetsacademy.blogspot.com/2017/03/how-to-test-npn-pnp-transistor.html

Edited July 6, 2020 by stewartingram

[t-b-g]

25 minutes ago, CUTLER2579 said:

Surely as an experiment it would be worth changing all 6 transistors as the cost would not be astronomical and by doing it one at a time it would be possible to discover which was the faulty one and then try just changing that transistor on subsequent "Walkabouts".

If there is a common fault it's likely to be just one particular transistor.Because transistors are susceptible to heat you need to be in and out quick with the soldering iron or even use a heat sink. However without wishing to upset T-B-G or his friend, Potentiometer's are prone to failure in H&M controllers.

 

Doesn't  upset me at all! My friend is no longer around and I am quite happy to accept that there may be more than one cause. All I can say is that he had around half a dozen repaired with new transistors and they worked perfectly afterwards. The only thing that bothered me was that there was clearly something causing the transistors to fail and that cause was not identified. You would be driving a train along and it would suddenly go full speed and could only be stopped by the centre off direction switch. It only seemed to happen when it was being used in "simulator mode" not "direct drive". It was lots of years ago and I am trying to remember exactly what he said but it was something along the lines of "the power transistor had gone open circuit" if that helps. I am sure we must have somebody in the ranks who can tell which one that is likely to be.

[SP Steve]

The transistor marked TR6 and coded TIP120 will be the final output transistor which will provide the necessary variable voltage output.

 

To test it you'll need first to remove it from the circuit board. When removed then with it facing you and with the writing visible you will need to meter between the three legs which are known as the emitter, base and collector.

 

Their position varies depending on the type of transistor but in this case the base is the left leg, the emitter is the right leg with the collector being the centre one. Without going into too much technicality you need to set you meter to its resistance setting and place your meter leads on a pair of legs at a time, observe the reading and then reverse the meter leads to get another reading.

 

The sequence should be base + emitter (reading one way, open circuit the other), base + collector (reading one way, open circuit the other) and emitter + collector (open circuit both ways). When doing this make sure not to inadvertently touch the probes or short them out and make sure the surface on which the device rests is non-conductive!

 

In my experience the most normal mode of failure is that the emitter + collector will give a reading indicating it has short circuited.

 

 

 

 

I forgot to add that if you do remove / replace this device then make sure that you re-insert the plastic bushings when refitting it. The metal plate area is the device's heat sink to dissipate the heat generated during use and is connected directly to the collector leg (a useful way of identifying a collector). If you replace without using the insulating bushes then the screw and nut will short out against the circuit board tracks leading to all sorts of interesting failure modes.

Edited March 31, 2022 by SP Steve
Picture added

[Denbridge]

10 hours ago, t-b-g said:

 

There were two possible causes then. My friend had several fail, out of the dozens he had and replacing a transistor cured them. 

One of mine developed the same problem you originally described. In my case it was simply a dry joint.

[AY Mod]

13 hours ago, thegreenhowards said:

I've followed quite a bit of it. I thought the interviews and demo bits were interesting and I enjoyed your piece even though much of it was ‘revision’ for those us us who follow this thread. However, I was rather disappointed with the layout pieces as they mainly seemed to be rehashes of videos from past editions of BRM.

 

I was expecting to tune in and see the layouts being operated live - maybe that was rather naive!

 

I'd like to respond to this if I may?

 

Over the last few months it has not been possible to originate new material which entails visiting modellers or attending any events and, in this aspect, the layout content drew upon archive material. In several cases alternate or additional images were used which had not appeared on the printed page and in several cases additional or alternate text so that not all were a direct copy of anything which readers may have originally seen. Many 'visitors' may not have seen the previously published content anyway and some print readers may not have seen the accompanying video content so at very least it's taking material to potential new readers too.

 

We did discuss imposing on layout owners to generate additional video material but many of the layouts aren't 'home' layouts and live in clubrooms which couldn't be accessed and would need erecting and filling with stock and that's before getting owners to suddenly become filmmakers. I've seen Facebook Live videos of layouts and, generally, it's not something which works well for a critical audience (putting it kindly).

 

The world's been a different place so we've had to think differently in lieu of the show at Ally Pally.

 

Plus it was free.

[Compound2632]

34 minutes ago, SP Steve said:

I forgot to add that if you do remove / replace this device then make sure that you re-insert the plastic bushings when refitting it. The metal plate area is the device's heat sink to dissipate the heat generated during use and is connected directly to the collector leg (a useful way of identifying a collector). If you replace without using the insulating bushes then the screw and nut will short out against the circuit board tracks leading to all sorts of interesting failure modes.

 

If the transistor has a plastic bush it is likely that there will also be a thin mica sheet or silicone pad between it and the heatsink. If there isn't a plastic bush, no need to worry. The protruding metal plate part is connected to one of the terminals - it's been a while but I think usually the emitter, which in many circuits is at ground anyway.

 

As far as I can make out from the photo, in this case this transistor is just bolted to the PCB with no additional heatsinking, so it could just as well be left sticking upwards.

[thegreenhowards]

7 minutes ago, AY Mod said:

 

I'd like to respond to this if I may?

 

Over the last few months it has not been possible to originate new material which entails visiting modellers or attending any events and, in this aspect, the layout content drew upon archive material. In several cases alternate or additional images were used which had not appeared on the printed page and in several cases additional or alternate text so that not all were a direct copy of anything which readers may have originally seen. Many 'visitors' may not have seen the previously published content anyway and some print readers may not have seen the accompanying video content so at very least it's taking material to potential new readers too.

 

We did discuss imposing on layout owners to generate additional video material but many of the layouts aren't 'home' layouts and live in clubrooms which couldn't be accessed and would need erecting and filling with stock and that's before getting owners to suddenly become filmmakers. I've seen Facebook Live videos of layouts and, generally, it's not something which works well for a critical audience (putting it kindly).

 

The world's been a different place so we've had to think differently in lieu of the show at Ally Pally.

Andy,

 

I can understand that in the current circumstances. I am a digital subscriber to BRM, so I had seen most of the footage before, but I recognise that for some it would be new and inspiring - I particularly enjoyed the Liverpool Lime St video when it first came out and it was good to see it again.

 

I'm sorry if my comments came across as unduly critical. We have been trained by 'sir' to offer constructive criticism where appropriate and I was trying to be balanced. I did enjoy much of what you offered (as I said in my original post) but from the publicity before the event I was expecting more from the layouts.

 

Andy

[AY Mod]

1 minute ago, thegreenhowards said:

but from the publicity before the event I was expecting more from the layouts.

 

Thanks, I'd be interested to find out how we may have misrepresented the content before the event.

[grahame]

10 minutes ago, thegreenhowards said:

. . . from the publicity before the event I was expecting more from the layouts.

 

 

I did wonder what was going to be the format and included in the event. But having thought it through, and considering the current climate and circumstances, realised that live operation was going to be very difficult, if not impossible, and that there would a fair amount of library stock/footage used. Not that it necessarily diminished what was produced and available - and, of course, it was free of charge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[t-b-g]

1 hour ago, SP Steve said:

The transistor marked TR6 and coded TIP120 will be the final output transistor which will provide the necessary variable voltage output.

 

To test it you'll need first to remove it from the circuit board. When removed then with it facing you and with the writing visible you will need to meter between the three legs which are known as the emitter, base and collector.

 

Their position varies depending on the type of transistor but in this case the base is the left leg, the emitter is the right leg with the collector being the centre one. Without going into too much technicality you need to set you meter to its resistance setting and place your meter leads on a pair of legs at a time, observe the reading and then reverse the meter leads to get another reading.

 

The sequence should be base + emitter (reading one way, open circuit the other), base + collector (reading one way, open circuit the other) and emitter + collector (open circuit both ways). When doing this make sure not to inadvertently touch the probes or short them out and make sure the surface on which the device rests is non-conductive!

 

In my experience the most normal mode of failure is that the emitter + collector will give a reading indicating it has short circuited.

 

 

 

I forgot to add that if you do remove / replace this device then make sure that you re-insert the plastic bushings when refitting it. The metal plate area is the device's heat sink to dissipate the heat generated during use and is connected directly to the collector leg (a useful way of identifying a collector). If you replace without using the insulating bushes then the screw and nut will short out against the circuit board tracks leading to all sorts of interesting failure modes.

 

I knew there would be at least one person looking who had a proper understanding of things! Many thanks.

 

There are only a couple of reasons why such a component should fail in the first place. It is either a faulty component, it was not installed correctly (poor solder joint as somebody has found), there is a fault elsewhere on the circuit board, perhaps creating a high resistance joint, or the component is not the right one for the job it is being asked to do. If it is the first two, a new part (with new soldered joints and properly installed) should cure it. If the latter two, a replacement might keep it going for a while until it goes again! 

[t-b-g]

1 hour ago, AY Mod said:

 

I'd like to respond to this if I may?

 

Over the last few months it has not been possible to originate new material which entails visiting modellers or attending any events and, in this aspect, the layout content drew upon archive material. In several cases alternate or additional images were used which had not appeared on the printed page and in several cases additional or alternate text so that not all were a direct copy of anything which readers may have originally seen. Many 'visitors' may not have seen the previously published content anyway and some print readers may not have seen the accompanying video content so at very least it's taking material to potential new readers too.

 

We did discuss imposing on layout owners to generate additional video material but many of the layouts aren't 'home' layouts and live in clubrooms which couldn't be accessed and would need erecting and filling with stock and that's before getting owners to suddenly become filmmakers. I've seen Facebook Live videos of layouts and, generally, it's not something which works well for a critical audience (putting it kindly).

 

The world's been a different place so we've had to think differently in lieu of the show at Ally Pally.

 

Plus it was free.

 

As far as I know, the Buckingham film has only been available before to people who were digital subscribers at the time it was made. So I am delighted that it has been made available to a wider audience, although I would much prefer to have seen more of the layout and less of me wittering on!

[Tony Wright]

I think it's safe to assume that the virtual exhibition went well?

 

Having not taken many pictures of my trainset recently, I thought I'd grab a few more V2 shots...................

 

 

 

Two pictures of 60820 heading an Up West Riding express. 'I' can be seen on the Down island attempting to take photographs. I wonder if they'll come out?

 

I built the loco more-recently from a Jamieson kit, making a DMR tender for it. Ian Rathbone painted it.

 

 

A much-older V2, made/painted by me over 35 years ago. I built it from a Nu-Cast kit, scratch-building a chassis for it (did anyone ever get the original cast metal lumps to go?).

 

More pictures to come, after I've processed them...............

 

 

 

 

[thegreenhowards]

1 hour ago, AY Mod said:

 

Thanks, I'd be interested to find out how we may have misrepresented the content before the event.

Andy,

 

I am not claiming that you misrepresented anything. Looking back at the publicity it states ‘Virtual Model Railway Exhibition’ and ‘Top Quality Layouts’.  You delivered that. However, I was hoping for something new on the layout front which I, personally, didn’t get, so I was a little disappointed. It was free as others have said, and I’m certainly not complaining. I was asked for my opinion and I gave it.

 

 

8 minutes ago, t-b-g said:

 

As far as I know, the Buckingham film has only been available before to people who were digital subscribers at the time it was made. So I am delighted that it has been made available to a wider audience, although I would much prefer to have seen more of the layout and less of me wittering on!

 

I agree with Tony on this for Buckingham and in general. I would certainly like to see more of the trains running. In particular the Bournemouth West video has a lot of talking. What I really love about this layout is the synchronised steam and DCC sound and there was very little opportunity to appreciate that. I appreciate that not everyone will agree with me, but just something to consider for future videos - whether for BRM or virtual exhibitions.

 

Andy

 

PS I enjoyed your photoshop for publication video. Very impressive result but you must have the patience of a saint to go through that for every picture!

[t-b-g]

13 minutes ago, Tony Wright said:

I think it's safe to assume that the virtual exhibition went well?

 

Having not taken many pictures of my trainset recently, I thought I'd grab a few more V2 shots...................

 

 

 

Two pictures of 60820 heading an Up West Riding express. 'I' can be seen on the Down island attempting to take photographs. I wonder if they'll come out?

 

I built the loco more-recently from a Jamieson kit, making a DMR tender for it. Ian Rathbone painted it.

 

 

A much-older V2, made/painted by me over 35 years ago. I built it from a Nu-Cast kit, scratch-building a chassis for it (did anyone ever get the original cast metal lumps to go?).

 

More pictures to come, after I've processed them...............

 

 

 

 

 

The V2s are a really lovely loco, both the real things and in model form. I did have my NuCast one on its original whitemetal block until a certain Mr Jackson took it upon himself to rebuild it, a situation we are both familiar with. I may have got lucky with mine as all the axles were level and the coupling rod centres matched. When I first built it, around 1976 as a 16 year old, the idea of replacing it with something better just didn't come to my mind at all. With an X04 motor, Triang metal gears and old Mazak tyred Romfords on one side, it would pull 27 carriages (including 8 or 9 very stiff running Hornby Dublo types) round Hornby Dublo curves. It was also quiet and smooth, with all this despite one dive to the floor when a lifting flap had been left up! I still have a NuCast J6 on its whitemetal block. This has an ECM motor glued to the frames and was another perfectly acceptable performer. It hasn't had much use since I had use of Malcolm's London Road etched ones but again, I was 15 when I built it and I was chuffed to bits with it. I opened the kit box one Christmas morning, disappeared upstairs for the rest of the day and Boxing day and came down Boxing day evening with it finished and painted.

 

My Dad always did chose the best presents for me.

 

Happy memories! 

Edited July 6, 2020 by t-b-g
To add content

[thegreenhowards]

15 minutes ago, Tony Wright said:

 

 

A much-older V2, made/painted by me over 35 years ago. I built it from a Nu-Cast kit, scratch-building a chassis for it (did anyone ever get the original cast metal lumps to go?).

 

 

Is this what you mean by the cast metal lump?

 

If so, then yes. I bought this as ‘for repair’ but all it needed was fettling of the valve gear and new pick ups. The chassis seems OK, but will only easily take an old style open frame motor - this I believe to be a Romford Bulldog.

 

It goes OK.

..and here’s a video to prove it.

 

 

Andy

 

Edited July 6, 2020 by thegreenhowards
Reordering photos

[Tony Wright]

49 minutes ago, thegreenhowards said:

 

Is this what you mean by the cast metal lump?

 

If so, then yes. I bought this as ‘for repair’ but all it needed was fettling of the valve gear and new pick ups. The chassis seems OK, but will only easily take an old style open frame motor - this I believe to be a Romford Bulldog.

 

It goes OK.

..and here’s a video to prove it.

 

 

Andy

 

Good afternoon Andy,

 

It is the original white metal lump, and it certainly seems to run all right, complete with characteristic whirring from those old open framed motors. It's not a Romford 'Bulldog' motor by the way; it's either an Airfix 1001 or MW005 five-pole XO4 lookalike. 

 

I love the 'stamped-out' spoked leading pony wheels, but discs on the Cartazzi! 

 

I tried to make those old Nu-Cast chassis work, but failed; dismally. It seemed to take too much of the motor's power just to move the loco, let alone having enough left to pull a train. I just scratch-built replacement chassis in brass for J6s, B16s, K2s and V2s, and they've been going fine for the last three to four decades. 

 

Just one question; how easy is it to fit brakes to the cast metal lumps?

 

Regards,

 

Tony.  

[Tony Wright]

Next on Bytham's V2s, a pair this time..............

 

 

On the left is a Crownline example, built/painted/weathered by John Houlden, and acquired by me after he graduated to O Gauge. 

 

Approaching is my 40+ years old Jamieson V2 (all my work). This used to have one of the five pole open-framed motors, but it was too noisy, and now has a DJH/Mashima combination.

 

More to follow..................

[thegreenhowards]

4 minutes ago, Tony Wright said:

Good afternoon Andy,

 

It is the original white metal lump, and it certainly seems to run all right, complete with characteristic whirring from those old open framed motors. It's not a Romford 'Bulldog' motor by the way; it's either an Airfix 1001 or MW005 five-pole XO4 lookalike. 

 

I love the 'stamped-out' spoked leading pony wheels, but discs on the Cartazzi! 

 

I tried to make those old Nu-Cast chassis work, but failed; dismally. It seemed to take too much of the motor's power just to move the loco, let alone having enough left to pull a train. I just scratch-built replacement chassis in brass for J6s, B16s, K2s and V2s, and they've been going fine for the last three to four decades. 

 

Just one question; how easy is it to fit brakes to the cast metal lumps?

 

Regards,

 

Tony.  

I’m no expert on Bulldogs and other open frame motors. We had a debate on another thread about what the motor was and opinion was divided. I have another identical motor which came in a Romford Bulldog box which is what made me think that’s what it was. However, I’m sure you’re right as you must have dealt with 100’s of them.

 

I’ve currently put brakes in the too difficult box. I think it would be a real pain to drill the chassis block for them but one could glue some representation to the chassis sides - similiar to some old Hornby locos. Scratch building chassis is definitely not for me!

 

The pony wheels will be replaced next time I put in an order. The Cartazzi axle is essentially invisible when running, so I’ll live with that.
 

Andy

 

 

[mdh1950]

4 hours ago, AY Mod said:

 

I'd like to respond to this if I may?

 

Over the last few months it has not been possible to originate new material which entails visiting modellers or attending any events and, in this aspect, the layout content drew upon archive material. In several cases alternate or additional images were used which had not appeared on the printed page and in several cases additional or alternate text so that not all were a direct copy of anything which readers may have originally seen. Many 'visitors' may not have seen the previously published content anyway and some print readers may not have seen the accompanying video content so at very least it's taking material to potential new readers too.

 

We did discuss imposing on layout owners to generate additional video material but many of the layouts aren't 'home' layouts and live in clubrooms which couldn't be accessed and would need erecting and filling with stock and that's before getting owners to suddenly become filmmakers. I've seen Facebook Live videos of layouts and, generally, it's not something which works well for a critical audience (putting it kindly).

 

The world's been a different place so we've had to think differently in lieu of the show at Ally Pally.

 

Plus it was free.

Andy,

 

I thoroughly enjoyed the virtual exhibition and congratulate you and all involved. I particularly enjoyed your photographic piece - most instructive.

 

Cheers, Michael

[ROY@34F]

6 hours ago, cctransuk said:

 

That's well worth investigating - what I need to do is find someone who would recognise a transistor!

 

Ah - I find that I have an image of the Walkabout circuit board : -

 

 

I assume that the TRx components are transistors, of which there appear to be at least six.

 

I have a multimeter which has, I believe, a facility for testing transistors - though I haven't a clue as to how to do that!

 

I would love to get all my Walkabouts operational again - can anyone assist with this, please?

 

Regards,

John Isherwood.

Let us know if you have any luck John . I have contacted you before on this subject and would love to have my Walkabout sorted .

 

Regards , Roy.