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3 hours ago, Steven B said:

Impressive progress!

 

I'll be interested to hear how you get on with the Hunt couplings. I've struggled to get them to fit Farish coaches as the ones I have are about 0.2mm too wide for the Farish NEM pockets. They fit nicely in Dapol Mk3s though.

 

Steven B.

Thanks for the tip off...before my bad language.

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I've tried asking West Hill Wagon Works about the dimensions but have never had a reply.

 

I'm going to try sanding/filing a couple of mine to see if I can get them to fit. Given the close coupling mechanism fitted to the Farish Mk1 (and Mk2a) I'd like to fit them to my fixed rakes - they work really well on my Dapol Mk3s.

 

I'm not sure they'll solve the coupling height issue - I'm having trouble with Farish Mk2f and Dapol Mk3 buffet and DVT. The DVT and the Mk3 have their couplings at a jaunty angle at the moment. I'd like to modify one of Dapol's dummy buck-eyes into a cranked version to correct for the height difference. In the shot term I'm going to try gluing one of Dapol's dummy buck-eye coupling heads on top of another to give a double height coupler which should solve the problem.

 

Steven B.

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Haven’t got round to the Hunt couplers yet...might be tomorrow’s job.

I’ve made a start drawing up the track diagram for the control panel. Some 3mm pinstripe tape arrived this week for it. First off I’m drawing it on paper to make sure it looks OK and fits! I started off with a mix of 45 and 30 degree angles for points and corners but as I went on the 45 degree version looked much better so out with the rubber.

 

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Edited by acg5324
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It was with a bit of trepidation that I decided to test the four sets of Dapol signals I acquired when they first came out. 3 Lower quadrant homes and an upper quadrant home. These have had a poor reputation for reliability. I’d brought some 9v PP3 battery holders and batteries to power them. 
 

First LQ signal.....lights up....good start....no movement from the signal.

Second LQ signal.....no lights....no movement.

Third LQ signal lights up......no movement.

 

I then swopped the power supply to 12v DC from my trusty old Gaugemaster controller......using the controlled supply.

First and second signal no change.

Third signal lights up and works.

On to the UQ signal......lights up and works on 12v DC......didn’t try it on 9v.

 

These signals must be at least 5 or 6 years old and were new and still in the packaging..... 50% failure rate not good. It’s a shame as they look good.

 

Edited by acg5324
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Mmmmm b@***y signals.....the LMS UQ still works fine. The only “working” LQ one now only works without the switching wires and the lights have gone out too.

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Merg do a kit for a replacement PCB that also modifies Dapol signals to work with an on-off switch. This gives a more positive control of the signal position rather than the hit-or-miss passing contact 'change' functionality that Dapol inexplicably provide.

 

It is a very fiddly kit to build and fit, but probably no worse than fitting a wired DCC decoder to an N gauge mechanism.

 

 

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I made a start on adding the pin stripes to the control panel today.
Last time I did this was to add twin gold pin stripes to my first car, a British racing green Vauxhall Viva HC with black vinyl roof.

 

 

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Edited by acg5324
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An enforced trip to Waitrose....well I say enforced it’s a good place to park the car for a short period. Mrs G was at the hairdressers getting a patch test for her first trip in four months.....don’t have this issue at the gents barbers!

Anyway back to Waitrose and I wandered accidentally into the beer section and lo.......lots of bottles of Dark Star Hophead and IPA.......Quite a few less now.

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.....and finally.........on Friday I ordered a set of RAILTECs custom coach decals. Pick 32 coach numbers in your choice of BR colours email them in and get the sheet back. This arrived on Tuesday...amazing service from Steve.

 

I now have coach numbers for the 4TC which apart from the unit numbers has been naked since being built. So one of next weeks jobs will be to fit the decals and the magnetic couplers.

Three days of work beckons from tomorrow...it’s nice to get out.

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Further to my email to Dapol, I had a nice reply from them asking for them to be sent in for investigation....Freepost too......just need to find all the bits and packaging now!

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The track diagram was finished today on the Control panel. .......didn’t manage to do much else on the layout other than build a couple of brick gate posts.

 

The LT line hasn’t been added yet....still trying to find some 3mm green tape........might have to resort to paint.

 

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Edited by acg5324
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1 hour ago, acg5324 said:

The track diagram was finished today on the Control panel. .......didn’t manage to do much else on the layout other than build a couple of brick gate posts.

 

The LT line hasn’t been added yet....still trying to find some 3mm green tape........might have to resort to paint.

 

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I got some Andy, vinyl tape sometimes used as go faster strips on cars. Would you like some. You can see it on some recent posts on my Shirebrook thread.

Cheers

Duncan

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36 minutes ago, Duncan. said:

I got some Andy, vinyl tape sometimes used as go faster strips on cars. Would you like some. You can see it on some recent posts on my Shirebrook thread.

Cheers

Duncan

Thanks Duncan, that’s what the black stripes are......wish I’d seen your message early....I’ve managed to find some green and ordered it!

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Failed miserably to get the Hunt Couplers and decals fitted to the 4TC set......however I did manage to complete two more of the walls to the back of the block of shops.

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33 minutes ago, grahame said:

Nice. What did you use for the doors and windows on that? (I appreciate that you've probably mentioned it before but I've a memory like a . . . . damn, . . forgotten what).

 

 

.......me too....

 

they are the Dornaplas ones, some of the windows have been altered to have the sash open or without the middle vertical glazing bar.

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Been doing a bit of research for some trucks to go on the layout that are suitable for the era.

One will be a TOE trailer, they appear to have used hired in tractor units from various firms as they were unaccompanied trailers on the ferry.

 

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The other will be for Olympia....it took me ages to remember the company that used to ship bands equipment and theatre stuff.....

I can use my 3D printed Scania cab for this. I will probably have to make my own step frame trailer.

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Edited by acg5324
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9 hours ago, acg5324 said:

The other will be for Olympia....it took me ages to remember the company that used to ship bands equipment and theatre stuff.....

I can use my 3D printed Scania cab for this. I will probably have to make my own drop step trailer.

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Ah, a name from the past, I remember them. The other big theatre movers you used to see a lot (and still going) were g.h.Lucking.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/jbschofield/12778069563/in/photolist-kt9WUc-nAxtUn-x8bMQM

 

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1 hour ago, 37114 said:

Ah, a name from the past, I remember them. The other big theatre movers you used to see a lot (and still going) were g.h.Lucking.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/jbschofield/12778069563/in/photolist-kt9WUc-nAxtUn-x8bMQM

 

Edwin Shirley are still going as EST.  That’s a good livery too, more complicated to produce but shouldn’t be too difficult to make a decal on a white trailer.

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Several days later than planned I fitted the Hunt Elite magnetic couplers to the 4TC and class 33/1. I’ve used the short ones throughout. Still a big gap between loco and 4TC due to the NEM pocket position on the Crompton.

This will make transporting the set much easier. I’ve also fitted the custom decals from Steve at Railtec. Excellent product and service as always......just need to weather it all now.

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Edited by acg5324
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Did you have any problems fitting the Elite couplings to the Farish Mk1s? The pair of shorts looks great - do you think you could get away with them on standard loco-hauled stock fitted with buffers?

 

Will one end of the 4TC be fitted with dummy buck-eye and pipe detail? - included with Farish Mk1s if I remember correctly.

 

Steven B.

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3 hours ago, Steven B said:

Did you have any problems fitting the Elite couplings to the Farish Mk1s? The pair of shorts looks great - do you think you could get away with them on standard loco-hauled stock fitted with buffers?

 

Will one end of the 4TC be fitted with dummy buck-eye and pipe detail? - included with Farish Mk1s if I remember correctly.

 

Steven B.

The short ones went in without an issue....the medium ones wanted to twist a bit so I think they are slightly wider. You’ll need them I suspect for LHCS as the EMU has no intermediate buffers.

 

I’m glad you reminded of the detail pack with the Mk1s.....currently the other DTS has a Dapol dummy knuckle in the NEM pocket.

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