Wright writes.....

[Tony Wright]

4 hours ago, lee74clarke said:

Good Morning Tony

Deltic kit and DELTIC transfers found, I will deliver today or tomorrow 

 

Best Regards 

Lee

Many thanks for delivering the Dapol DELTIC kit (complete with name transfers) Lee.

 

I'll now make up the package of the kit and my modified Lima Deltic chassis for it. 

 

If anyone is interested (perhaps a younger modeller?) please PM me. If it's a genuine youngster, he/she can have the package FOC, or if someone would care to contribute to CRUK, that'll be fine. I'm not asking much...................... Either/or way, it'll be in a good cause. 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

[Dunsignalling]

2 hours ago, gr.king said:

 

That fact, combined with experience, raises concerns about the behaviour of a "universal" OO W1 on the track. I imagine the coupled wheel sets will all have the customary large amount of side-play to allow the beast to negotiate wholly unrealistic curves, and there may well be no side-control on the leading bogie. Add to that the slop between wheels and rails in OO, and the huge rear overhang of the loco with no real trailing wheels, and it's a recipe for something that is free to wag from side to side like a happy dog's tail! My W1, converted from the Hornby China A4 and with fully flanged wheels throughout was tried on Little Bytham before any "steadying" influence had been added to the leading or trailing trucks, and it wagged extravagantly on a substantial train, with plenty of power on, down the long straight. 

We use one Britannia and rather a lot of Rebuilt West Countries with flanged wheels in the fixed rear trucks and they wag less than almost all other r-t-r locos I've encountered. The WCs also seem to have more grunt than most other r-t-r Pacifics (without being "got-at") - I put that down to favourable weight distribution and slightly smaller wheels as they use the same motors as most others from Hornby. That might bode well for the Thompson's.

 

They go round minimum curves of 3' and the (effectively) lengthened coupled wheelbase largely removes the need for other tweaks. We run rakes of up to 11 mainly r-t-r and Kirk kitbuilt coaches with a few specials to fill gaps. Heavier loads of all-metal kit-built stock will be more likely to provoke misbehaviour and we don't yet know if Hornby's  new big stuff will manage TW's kind of loads without modification anyway.

 

John

 

 

[Jesse Sim]

1 hour ago, Barry O said:

 

Jesse,

 

very nice - now go an get some "tubes" for it to carry......

 

(and I don't mean beer filled ones either  )

 

and now you have seen a proper railway to model.. when do you get the Princess?

 

Baz

 

Baz

You spelt Streak wrong 

[lee74clarke]

1 hour ago, Tony Wright said:

Many thanks for delivering the Dapol DELTIC kit (complete with name transfers) Lee.

 

I'll now make up the package of the kit and my modified Lima Deltic chassis for it. 

 

If anyone is interested (perhaps a younger modeller?) please PM me. If it's a genuine youngster, he/she can have the package FOC, or if someone would care to contribute to CRUK, that'll be fine. I'm not asking much...................... Either/or way, it'll be in a good cause. 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

No problem Tony, apologies for not having a set of flush glazing.

South East Finecast still list the set though, code SE95, list price £2.50.

[robertcwp]

I have been looking at carriage roofboards.

 

Sankey Scenics do a wide range, one of which is for the Flying Scotsman. The sheet also includes gangway endboards with the train title. Does anyone know, please whether the 1957 Summer Flying Scotsman and other titled trains such as the Elizabethan would have carried such end boards and, if so, what colour they would have been then?  This is for Retford. The trains already have roofboards if I recall correctly but not endboards. Because of tweaks to the formations of some trains, not all carriages in the sets are boarded at present.

 

The Flying Scotsman sheet is here.

 

The Elizabethan sheet is here.

 

Thanks.

[Tony Wright]

4 hours ago, lee74clarke said:

No problem Tony, apologies for not having a set of flush glazing.

South East Finecast still list the set though, code SE95, list price £2.50.

Thanks Lee,

 

I've got to get some stuff from Dave at SEF, so I'll order a glazing set for DELTIC. 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

[Tony Wright]

4 hours ago, Dunsignalling said:

We use one Britannia and rather a lot of Rebuilt West Countries with flanged wheels in the fixed rear trucks and they wag less than almost all other r-t-r locos I've encountered. The WCs also seem to have more grunt than most other r-t-r Pacifics (without being "got-at") - I put that down to favourable weight distribution and slightly smaller wheels as they use the same motors as most others from Hornby. That might bode well for the Thompson's.

 

They go round minimum curves of 3' and the (effectively) lengthened coupled wheelbase largely removes the need for other tweaks. We run rakes of up to 11 mainly r-t-r and Kirk kitbuilt coaches with a few specials to fill gaps. Heavier loads of all-metal kit-built stock will be more likely to provoke misbehaviour and we don't yet know if Hornby's  new big stuff will manage TW's kind of loads without modification anyway.

 

John

 

 

Good evening John,

 

'we don't yet know if Hornby's  new big stuff will manage TW's kind of loads without modification anyway.'

 

I won't be reviewing the forthcoming Thompsons from Hornby because, having assisted the company with the models' development, it would not be right. Imagine - 'A brilliant model, one of the finest RTR locos ever!'. Response - 'You're bound to say that, aren't you, having been involved?'. Or - 'Rather disappointing, inaccurate in many areas'. Response - 'Some help you turned out to be!'. 

 

I will, however, be getting one (either the A2/2 or A2/3) as 'payment for my services'. I'll thus be able to conduct a thorough test. Since I don't need any more examples of either class, my intention is to detail/weather (maybe even renumber/rename) whichever one I receive and offer it for sale, all proceeds going to CRUK. 

 

Part of any testing will be haulage capacity. I know neither Hornby's A3s or A4s will handle the heaviest loads on LB (they just slip). To be fair, nowhere is it claimed that that's what they're made to do. It'll be interesting to see if the Thompsons will. Of course, any of my kit-built Thompson Pacifics will; I don't know if you recall when I tested Hornby's P2, that it out-pulled one of my A2/2s, hauling over 20 carriages. I couldn't let that go, so I added more weight to 60501, thus eradicating 'the shame'! 

 

I had nothing to do with the W1's development (in both of its forms), so I should be able to conduct an objective review of that when it appears. 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

[Tony Wright]

23 minutes ago, robertcwp said:

I have been looking at carriage roofboards.

 

Sankey Scenics do a wide range, one of which is for the Flying Scotsman. The sheet also includes gangway endboards with the train title. Does anyone know, please whether the 1957 Summer Flying Scotsman and other titled trains such as the Elizabethan would have carried such end boards and, if so, what colour they would have been then?  This is for Retford. The trains already have roofboards if I recall correctly but not endboards. Because of tweaks to the formations of some trains, not all carriages in the sets are boarded at present.

 

The Flying Scotsman sheet is here.

 

The Elizabethan sheet is here.

 

Thanks.

Good evening Robert,

 

From memory, 'The Elizabethan' carried an end board - black, with white lettering.

 

I've got lots of Ian Wilson's Pacific Models' coach destination boards (for ECML expresses). I'll bring these up to Retford next time (lockdown permitting!).

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

 

[ScRSG]

1 hour ago, robertcwp said:

I have been looking at carriage roofboards.

 

Sankey Scenics do a wide range, one of which is for the Flying Scotsman. The sheet also includes gangway endboards with the train title. Does anyone know, please whether the 1957 Summer Flying Scotsman and other titled trains such as the Elizabethan would have carried such end boards and, if so, what colour they would have been then?  This is for Retford. The trains already have roofboards if I recall correctly but not endboards. Because of tweaks to the formations of some trains, not all carriages in the sets are boarded at present.

 

The Flying Scotsman sheet is here.

 

The Elizabethan sheet is here.

 

Thanks.

 

I happen to have, and will never personally use, the Sankey Scenics packs for The Elizabethan, Queen of Scots, The Heart of Midlothian, The Talisman and The Flying Scotsman, which I will (as one of the "Scotch Gits" as Roy used to call us) gladly donate to Retford. PM if you are interested.

Chas

[davidw]

1 hour ago, Tony Wright said:

Good evening John,

 

'we don't yet know if Hornby's  new big stuff will manage TW's kind of loads without modification anyway.'

 

I won't be reviewing the forthcoming Thompsons from Hornby because, having assisted the company with the models' development, it would not be right. Imagine - 'A brilliant model, one of the finest RTR locos ever!'. Response - 'You're bound to say that, aren't you, having been involved?'. Or - 'Rather disappointing, inaccurate in many areas'. Response - 'Some help you turned out to be!'. 

 

I will, however, be getting one (either the A2/2 or A2/3) as 'payment for my services'. I'll thus be able to conduct a thorough test. Since I don't need any more examples of either class, my intention is to detail/weather (maybe even renumber/rename) whichever one I receive and offer it for sale, all proceeds going to CRUK. 

 

Part of any testing will be haulage capacity. I know neither Hornby's A3s or A4s will handle the heaviest loads on LB (they just slip). To be fair, nowhere is it claimed that that's what they're made to do. It'll be interesting to see if the Thompsons will. Of course, any of my kit-built Thompson Pacifics will; I don't know if you recall when I tested Hornby's P2, that it out-pulled one of my A2/2s, hauling over 20 carriages. I couldn't let that go, so I added more weight to 60501, thus eradicating 'the shame'! 

 

I had nothing to do with the W1's development (in both of its forms), so I should be able to conduct an objective review of that when it appears. 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

I'm sure there'll be many others who'll visit in due course with Hornby  versions.

Edited October 31, 2020 by davidw

[Coach bogie]

The list of new releases usually bring out the discussion of colour match to the original. I have just come across this section of Rail Archive where mono images have been 'colourised' using modern technology. I will let you form your own opinion if the colour is representative.

 

https://www.rail-online.co.uk/p523189878

 

Mike Wiltshire

[Chamby]

On 12/10/2020 at 13:21, great central said:

 

Doesn't look like anything changed over the weekend, this is Lowdham box, well the last bits, a few minutes ago

 

 

The BBC have picked up on this story:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-nottinghamshire-54731548

 

 

[Tony Wright]

It looks as if the Dapol Deltic kit (kindly donated by Lee Clarke - thanks again, Lee) and my modified Lima Deltic chassis have sold; all proceeds going to CRUK.

 

It'll be great if the old girl's undercarriage runs again, beneath a new body.

[Chas Levin]

On 31/10/2020 at 11:00, Jesse Sim said:

I thought I’d show off a completed wagon. This has been sitting on the layout for a month or two now without transfers, the other day I got stuck in and finished her off. 

 

Very nice work Jesse . May I please ask, what material have you used for the folded tarpaulins / wagon sheets?

Edited November 1, 2020 by Chas Levin

[Iain.d]

I have managed to get a little more done on my two current builds; a D1938 LMS Restaurant Composite and a A44 GW Driving Trailer. Both are Comet Coaches kits.

 

I had an issue with the axle box castings for the 6 wheel bogies on the D1938, such that they had got quite bent and, as they are so fragile, attempts to rectify them caused some of the spring hangers to break off.

 

 

So I took the plunge and chopped off the hanger brackets and cut new ones from 1.5mm Evergreen angle that I drilled with .6mm holes and then narrowed the side with the hole by about another .6mm, short pieces of .5mm brass wire were cut and the whitemetal springs (from the hanger brackets) were also drilled .6mm for reuse. The image is more cruel than reality.

 

 

A mixture of superglue and araldite was used to attach them to the bogie sideframes … well not ‘mixed together’, rather some bits were superglued and some were araldited…. Once the new bits were on, I tidied up the original axle boxes and springs and trimmed to fit. Not perfect, but with a coat of paint, a bit of weathering and traveling at a scale 40-50mph, I don’t think anyone will notice. The carriage will traverse a 30in curve with ease. I must remember to paint the wheel backs and axles.

 

 

 

I also managed to fit droplights, door hinges and door stops to the sides and solder up most of the underframe.

 

 

The A44 GW Driving Trailer is pretty near the same state with sides done, less the horizontal handrails at the  non-brake end.  The ride height is fine but I have to do a little work on the bogie sideframes. The castings are beautifully crisp but about .5mm too deep/high at the top and the axlebox holes are about 1mm too low, such that they will foul the solebars. It won’t take long to tidy those up though. Using shouldered bearings rather than top hats would have been better option and allowed easier fitting of the sideframes.

 

 

This week’s task, everything else permitting, is to work on the step boards on the D1938 and both carriage's ends and build and fit the bodies to the underframes.

 

Kind regards,

 

Iain

[thegreenhowards]

23 hours ago, Dunsignalling said:

We use one Britannia and rather a lot of Rebuilt West Countries with flanged wheels in the fixed rear trucks and they wag less than almost all other r-t-r locos I've encountered. The WCs also seem to have more grunt than most other r-t-r Pacifics (without being "got-at") - I put that down to favourable weight distribution and slightly smaller wheels as they use the same motors as most others from Hornby. That might bode well for the Thompson's.

 

They go round minimum curves of 3' and the (effectively) lengthened coupled wheelbase largely removes the need for other tweaks. We run rakes of up to 11 mainly r-t-r and Kirk kitbuilt coaches with a few specials to fill gaps. Heavier loads of all-metal kit-built stock will be more likely to provoke misbehaviour and we don't yet know if Hornby's  new big stuff will manage TW's kind of loads without modification anyway.

 

John

 

 

All my Hornby A3s and A4s negotiate Gresley Jn with the flanged rear truck attached. My minimum radius is generally 36” but with Peco curved points I have short stretches of 30”. Sadly however, they won’t negotiate our club layout which has a minimum radius of 24” in the hidden section so I have to remember to swap them over before I take them for a spin at the club. In practice this means that many live with the unflanged wheels for long periods of time because I can’t be bothered to keep swapping them over and nobody notices!

[Arun Sharma]

13 hours ago, Coach bogie said:

The list of new releases usually bring out the discussion of colour match to the original. I have just come across this section of Rail Archive where mono images have been 'colourised' using modern technology. I will let you form your own opinion if the colour is representative.

 

https://www.rail-online.co.uk/p523189878

 

Mike Wiltshire

Personally I like the effect and think the end result is pretty accurate and realistic.

[rowanj]

Posters often ask for a suitable starter kit for loco building and this North Eastern Kits J73 fits the bill, while at the same time offering excellent detail. Actually, any of Arthur's 0-6-0 tanks would fit the same bill.  This is the first time I have used one of High Level Models own motors, alongside their Compact+ gearbox, and it is superb. I'm posting it here as I believe Arthur still has a small number of kits available-they were out of stock for a long time.

 

Basic build details are on my thread,

 

Edited November 1, 2020 by rowanj

[thegreenhowards]

Tony,

 

Thanks for the help with the Speedo bracket for my A2/3. I’ve now fabricated it and some wiggly pipes as you can see below. More pictures are on my workbench thread ‘Coulsdon Works’ should anyone be interested.

 

Andy

 

[Dunsignalling]

3 hours ago, thegreenhowards said:

All my Hornby A3s and A4s negotiate Gresley Jn with the flanged rear truck attached. My minimum radius is generally 36” but with Peco curved points I have short stretches of 30”. Sadly however, they won’t negotiate our club layout which has a minimum radius of 24” in the hidden section so I have to remember to swap them over before I take them for a spin at the club. In practice this means that many live with the unflanged wheels for long periods of time because I can’t be bothered to keep swapping them over and nobody notices!

Thanks. Interesting to know they'll go round the Peco curved points.

 

I've been trying to avoid using them because of my WC's etc. and including a couple on my planned layout will free up enough length for trains a coach longer than I'd feared would be the limit.

 

John

 

 

[cctransuk]

3 hours ago, thegreenhowards said:

All my Hornby A3s and A4s negotiate Gresley Jn with the flanged rear truck attached. My minimum radius is generally 36” but with Peco curved points I have short stretches of 30”. Sadly however, they won’t negotiate our club layout which has a minimum radius of 24” in the hidden section so I have to remember to swap them over before I take them for a spin at the club. In practice this means that many live with the unflanged wheels for long periods of time because I can’t be bothered to keep swapping them over and nobody notices!

 

So far, I have managed to convert all my Hornby Pacifics - Clan, Duke of Gloucester, Sir William Stanier FRS, Bulleid - so that the pony trucks pivot in the traditional pattern.

 

It can be done, some more easily than others; but it takes courage to apply the piercing saw to an expensive new model!

 

John Isherwood.

[thegreenhowards]

22 minutes ago, cctransuk said:

 

It can be done, some more easily than others; but it takes courage to apply the piercing saw to an expensive new model!

 

Tell me about it - see the A2/3 above!

[Tony Wright]

4 hours ago, thegreenhowards said:

Tony,

 

Thanks for the help with the Speedo bracket for my A2/3. I’ve now fabricated it and some wiggly pipes as you can see below. More pictures are on my workbench thread ‘Coulsdon Works’ should anyone be interested.

 

Andy

 

Looking good Andy,

 

Though 'wiggly' shouldn't really apply to the handrail. 

 

A couple or so (constructively-critical) points if I may? The smoke deflector (at least on this side) seems to be a bit too far inboard, leaving too wide a platform between it and the valance (the valance also appears to be bent, over the cylinder). 

 

Please alter the angle of the return crank on this side - it's 90 degrees beyond what it should be. 

 

And, those bogie wheels.............! 

 

I was very fortunate in that Graeme King himself did a Bachmann A2/King A2/3 conversion for me................

 

 

I supplied the donor loco, and Graeme did the conversion (beautifully-well) as part of a barter.

 

This one has a resin cab - I believe later ones have an etched cab. 

 

 

I did the part patch-repainting, lining, lettering, naming and weathering. 

 

 

These three pictures of 60515 appeared in my Crowood book. 

 

 

Please note the position of the return crank this side. I think it's correct on the other side. 

 

 

The conversion was done quite some time ago. A bit more's been done on LB since I took this picture.

 

I think this method of producing an A2/3 is excellent (as you have just shown) - it's inventive, creative and requires craftsmanship. A full-blown DJH or PDK kit for the same would be much more expensive, and beyond many's abilities to actually complete them.

 

Now, of course, with the forthcoming Hornby renditions, yet anther piece of necessary craftsmanship will have been 'eroded'. No matter, you can claim yours is unique; all the better for it, I'd say.  

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

 

 

Edited November 1, 2020 by Tony Wright
to add something

[Jesse Sim]

9 hours ago, Chas Levin said:

 

Very nice work Jesse . May I please ask, what material have you used for the folded tarpaulins / wagon sheets?

Thanks mate, dried out tea bags, painted black/grey, with some string tied around. I usually just use smiths tarps as I photocopied the 10 I had into about 60.... if anyone needs tarps.... 

[Woodcock29]

5 hours ago, thegreenhowards said:

Tony,

 

Thanks for the help with the Speedo bracket for my A2/3. I’ve now fabricated it and some wiggly pipes as you can see below. More pictures are on my workbench thread ‘Coulsdon Works’ should anyone be interested.

 

Andy

 

Hi Andy

Can I suggest you paint the motion bracket - it makes the valve gear look so much better. And as Tony says the lean on the left hand return crank is the wrong way.

Andrew