Wright writes.....

[Major Clanger]

11 hours ago, pete55 said:

 

Nope! As far as I remember they were custom designed for Retford by Buccaneer John, the same chap who did the etched footbridge down near the goods shed. There were definitely at least two large sheets of them.

Yes! Designed by Buccaneer John, but now part of the Wizard range as part BB1R. £4.80 for a carriage's worth.

[jwealleans]

14 minutes ago, Jesse Sim said:

Which longer wagon?

 

What Baz means is that Danny did a GN pway set with (I think) two or three of the ballast wagons and a ballast brake.  They come up on Ebay from time to time and always go for silly money.   Which is why I have never owned one.

 

I think he did the brake in one of his reissues but not the wagons.   They may have gone to ABS.

 

 

[Woodcock29]

One of the D&S GN  Ballast wagons went for around 100 pounds recently on e..y.  seems ridiculous!

 

I've got an unbuilt 51L NE plate wagon so I might follow Jesse' lead on this.

 

Andrew

[Dylan Sanderson]

While we're talking about wagons...

 

I finished my first ever White Metal kit last night, a 51L NER B12, 12 Tonne plate wagon. It's very crude, but it's my first and I've learnt a lot from it so I'm happy.

 

There are plenty of expert model makers on this thread, can I invite some constructive feedback please? I have another B12 wagon to build in the next couple of weeks and want to improve on it.

 

Also I have no idea why RMweb decided to put the last photo in upside down, I couldn't seem to correct it unfortunately.

 

[Bucoops]

28 minutes ago, Dylan Sanderson said:

While we're talking about wagons...

 

I finished my first ever White Metal kit last night, a 51L NER B12, 12 Tonne plate wagon. It's very crude, but it's my first and I've learnt a lot from it so I'm happy.

 

There are plenty of expert model makers on this thread, can I invite some constructive feedback please? I have another B12 wagon to build in the next couple of weeks and want to improve on it.

 

Also I have no idea why RMweb decided to put the last photo in upside down, I couldn't seem to correct it unfortunately.

 

 

It did it so @Jesse Sim can see it ok.

[Jesse Sim]

 

31 minutes ago, Dylan Sanderson said:

While we're talking about wagons...

 

I finished my first ever White Metal kit last night, a 51L NER B12, 12 Tonne plate wagon. It's very crude, but it's my first and I've learnt a lot from it so I'm happy.

 

There are plenty of expert model makers on this thread, can I invite some constructive feedback please? I have another B12 wagon to build in the next couple of weeks and want to improve on it.

 

Also I have no idea why RMweb decided to put the last photo in upside down, I couldn't seem to correct it unfortunately.

 

more flux in the corner, so the solder flows into the joint. But don’t leave the iron in too long otherwise you’ll lose some of the wagon. 
 

Im no expert either, I always find open wagons are harder cause you have to hide the join. 

[Jesse Sim]

48 minutes ago, Woodcock29 said:

One of the D&S GN  Ballast wagons went for around 100 pounds recently on e..y.  seems ridiculous!

 

I've got an unbuilt 51L NE plate wagon so I might follow Jesse' lead on this.

 

Andrew

Ahh the student has become the master aye  

[Chuffer Davies]

43 minutes ago, Dylan Sanderson said:

 

 

Also I have no idea why RMweb decided to put the last photo in upside down, I couldn't seem to correct it unfortunately.

Hi Dylan,

Its not RM Web's fault, its a 'feature' of the way mobile phones endeavour to ensure a picture is always oriented correctly on the screen.  I can't remember all the ins and outs but basically you can sort this out by editing the original picture and saving it again.   This will reset the orientation of the picture and then when you copy it to RM Web it'll be displayed correctly.  How do I know this?  I've fallen foul of exactly the same problem in the past.

Regards,

Frank

[Barry Ten]

Very much in the realm of RTR, but here's a Hornby Black 5 (we don't see many Black 5s on here, do we?) that I've done a few jobs on.

 

 

It's had some Brassmaster detailing parts added (but not all of them), new pony wheels, renumbering to a Bath-allocated loco (the only one I could find that had the right top-feed and chimney for this model) and some weathering. I repainted the valve gear in silver with a bit of black and brown mixed in, which I think helps to bulk it out a little.

 

The model had been in storage for a few years and was a total non-runner when I tried it. But after some encouragement everything loosened up again and it's now as good as new. Presumably the grease had hardened on the gears and bearings.

 

It's depicted here on an Exmouth-Cleethorpes train.

 

Al

[Dylan Sanderson]

9 minutes ago, Chuffer Davies said:

Hi Dylan,

Its not RM Web's fault, its a 'feature' of the way mobile phones endeavour to ensure a picture is always oriented correctly on the screen.  I can't remember all the ins and outs but basically you can sort this out by editing the original picture and saving it again.   This will reset the orientation of the picture and then when you copy it to RM Web it'll be displayed correctly.  How do I know this?  I've fallen foul of exactly the same problem in the past.

Regards,

Frank

Thanks for that Frank! I probably took the photos with my phone upside down so the camera could get better angles and the perspective looks better. Even though they show as right side up on my phone/laptop, I take it that could be why that one appears to be upside down? I tried rotating the image so it appeared upside down on my laptop, but it didn't have much affect unfortunately.

[grahame]

I've been a bit side-tracked recently so modelling has been a bit slow, but I've now painted the axle-boxes, added handbrake wheels and decals to the bogies and matt varnished them. Here's the latest pic of the kit built N/2mm Warwells:

 

 

and the Warflats:

 

 

 

[Steven B]

Grahame, what track have you used on your photo plank?

Ditto the building ? I'm guessing it's one you've built from commerical brick paper & window parts.

 

Steven B.

[grahame]

28 minutes ago, Steven B said:

Grahame, what track have you used on your photo plank?

Ditto the building ? I'm guessing it's one you've built from commerical brick paper & window parts.

 

Steven B.

 

The 'plank' is a small rough and ready scenic non-operational display that I made many years ago for photographing and checking models. It's made from foam board. The track is 9.4mm gauge 2mmSA Easitrac - the N gauge equivalent British fiNescale track wasn't made/available at the time. The building is just a couple of bits of card covered in Builder Plus brick-paper with the window frames some old etched ones I had spare. It's removable and slots in to the grey hardstanding (below).

 

[Tony Wright]

15 hours ago, thegreenhowards said:

Thanks although I’m not convinced solder would work very well on Bachmann plastic running board!

Of course!

 

How daft of me. 

 

Just solder metal pads to the top bits of the triangle, then glue the device securely in place. I've really repeated what 'Chuffer' suggests....................

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

Edited October 21, 2020 by Tony Wright
to add something

[MJI]

I wish you could solder brass to aluminium.

 

But joining plastic to brass can be a pain.

[Dunsignalling]

On 20/10/2020 at 07:56, robertcwp said:

There are now only two metal, kit-built carriages in the boat train, and one of those can easily be replaced by a Bachmann Thompson SK, of which I have a couple spare. The other is the buffet car, which is the wrong diagram for the train but the correct catering car is not available, even in kit form or simply etched sides. What Roy put in was a regular Gresley RB, of the type also modelled (badly) by Hornby. The train had a Thompson FK with ladies' retiring room, which is not correct for the train. There were only three such carriages and two were in The Elizabethan sets. The train now has a Bachmann Thompson FK instead. The remainder are Bachmann Mark 1s, which are not the most free-running of carriages.

There's no logical reason I can think of , but some years ago, in the course of sorting out one that was a wobbly runner, I accidentally discovered that Bachmann Mk1s become noticeably freer-running when fitted with Romford wheels in place of the originals.

 

My longer sets have been done throughout, with the displaced Bachmann wheels used to replace plastic ones on older models that came with them. (Airfix, Dapol, Mainline, Hornby). Even more oddly, they seem to run more freely under those than they did in their former homes. 

 

Whether it makes any difference on Retford will depend on whether they have already been replaced, or just re-gauged.

 

John

 

 

Edited October 21, 2020 by Dunsignalling

[Barry Ten]

I lubricate my coaching stock from time to time. Even if it only makes a small difference in the rolling resistance of one coach, it can be significant across a train. Wheel crud needs to be attended to as well as it makes a big difference to the drag (but I'm sure we all know that).

[Tony Wright]

1 hour ago, Dunsignalling said:

There's no logical reason I can think of , but some years ago, in the course of sorting out one that was a wobbly runner, I accidentally discovered that Bachmann Mk1s become noticeably freer-running when fitted with Romford wheels in place of the originals.

 

My longer sets have been done throughout, with the displaced Bachmann wheels used to replace plastic ones on older models that came with them. (Airfix, Dapol, Mainline, Hornby). Even more oddly, they seem to run more freely under those than they did in their former homes. 

 

Whether it makes any difference on Retford will depend on whether they have already been replaced, or just re-gauged.

 

John

 

 

I always replace any RTR rolling stock wheels. The Jackson/Romford types are always concentric and reduce any tendency to wobble.

 

The replacement pin-point axle ends are also totally free of any burr, thus reducing future wear on the bearing holes in the plastic sideframes of the bogies. That said, on one occasion, one carriage with plastic bogies developed a 'stiffness', which, on investigation, proved to be the flanges touching the bottom of the floorpan  - such was the vertical wear in the bogie. It was an old Palitoy Mk.1 carriage, much-modfied with brass sides and had seen extensive service on Fordley Park, Leighford, Stoke Summit, Charwelton and, now, Little Bytham. The cure? To press brass bearings into the sideframes using a 'dry' soldering iron, lining them up with the bottom of the (now) vertical slot. 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

[robertcwp]

4 hours ago, Dunsignalling said:

There's no logical reason I can think of , but some years ago, in the course of sorting out one that was a wobbly runner, I accidentally discovered that Bachmann Mk1s become noticeably freer-running when fitted with Romford wheels in place of the originals.

 

My longer sets have been done throughout, with the displaced Bachmann wheels used to replace plastic ones on older models that came with them. (Airfix, Dapol, Mainline, Hornby). Even more oddly, they seem to run more freely under those than they did in their former homes. 

 

Whether it makes any difference on Retford will depend on whether they have already been replaced, or just re-gauged.

 

John

 

 

Inspections to date indicate that the wheels are a mix of Gibson (mostly the older versions), Romford and regauged RTR, and possibly others. Next time I'm able to visit Sandra I shall have a closer look. Two of the Mark 1s in the boat train have the current Gibson wheels in them. I shall check how freely they run too. It was very noticeable that the Bachmann Thompson FK with Gibson wheels ran very freely, which is probably due to the metal bearings in the Bachmann bogies.

[robertcwp]

4 hours ago, Barry Ten said:

I lubricate my coaching stock from time to time. Even if it only makes a small difference in the rolling resistance of one coach, it can be significant across a train. Wheel crud needs to be attended to as well as it makes a big difference to the drag (but I'm sure we all know that).

Examination of the carriages in several trains on Retford indicated that the Bachmann Mark 1 bogies had not been lubricated. They have now and it made a clear difference to the running. Some of them still don't run very freely though so further investigations will be required on a future visit, whenever that may be.  Wheel crud, of which there was lots, has also been addressed, at least in the worst cases. However, there is a lot of stock on the layout!

Edited October 21, 2020 by robertcwp

[Barry O]

GR85 seems to stop Bachmann coach bogie "squeak".

Baz

[robertcwp]

Just now, Barry O said:

GR85 seems to stop Bachmann coach bogie "squeak".

Baz

What is GR85 please?

[Barry O]

Sorry it is GT85. It is a spray lubricant which can be used on items such as bike chains, gears etc. It doesn't attack plastic and is available from Morrisons as well as other retailers. It contains PTFE and was recommended to me by Mike Mike Edge.  It works a treat on wheel bearings, Heljan gears and Portescap gearboxes.

 

Baz

[Michael Edge]

GT85 does everything we used to use WD40 for, without the damage that caused. I've been using it on everything (and more) Barry mentioned for years now with no detrimental effects whatsoever. It will be in use later today for all the recently ballasted pointwork on Wentworth Junction - liberally sprayed all over the tiebars and point blades to make sure they move freely.

[robertcwp]

Thanks for the suggestion, I shall look for some GT85.