Deliberately Old-Fashioned 0-Gauge, Chapter 2

[Lacathedrale]

On 16/05/2023 at 17:22, Nearholmer said:

Are you thinking of dipping a toe in the water again? If so, which loco did you have in mind?

 

i am indeed thinking about it, but primarily for outside and I'm not sure if I'd want antique BL or Bing locomotives (or very pricey modern Ace/Darstaed) charging through the undergrowth!  It seems that scratch-building or FDM printing is really the only option to get vintage styled, simple but affordable locomotives.

 

 

[Nearholmer]

For charging through the undergrowth on a “dirt scrape” railway, as opposed to gliding through a manicured garden on a beautifully prepared infrastructure, you might consider either Hornby clockwork No.1 locos, which are still cheap, but whether you get a strong spring is pot luck, or the same with a drop-in battery chassis from Smallbrook https://www.smallbrookstudio.uk/store/0-gauge-Hornby-No-1-101-Replacement-Battery-Chassis-Kit-p241665072 

 

The other source of bits is the 16mm/ft community, notable for low cost being IP Engineering, who supply several very simple chassis kits. https://www.ipenginnering.com/product-page/budget-electric-chassis-kit

 

The “simple and affordable” ethos is one that is still alive in 16mm/ft, alongside “How much??!!” live steam miniature engineering, which I think is part of why people gravitate towards that format. There are some truly wonderful models about that have been made from old cereal packets,  bits of broom handle, and drawing pins.

 

 

[Hroth]

22 hours ago, Nearholmer said:

you might consider either Hornby clockwork No.1 locos, which are still cheap, but whether you get a strong spring is pot luck, or the same with a drop-in battery chassis from Smallbrook https://www.smallbrookstudio.uk/store/0-gauge-Hornby-No-1-101-Replacement-Battery-Chassis-Kit-p241665072 

 

Has anyone had experience of the replacement chassis?

At the moment my Hornby tinplate locos still have plenty of oomph in them, but I think it would be ideal for freelance wood, card and bits of wire locos!

 

I believe that the model railway writer of long ago, LBSC, referred to contemporary modellers producing models that were "a coat of paint covering a multitude of tins...". Admiringly, I hope!

 

Edited May 24, 2023 by Hroth
Got the name slightly wrong!

[Annie]

31 minutes ago, Hroth said:

I believe that the model railway writer of long ago, LBSCR, referred to contemporary modellers producing models that were "a coat of paint covering a multitude of tins...". Admiringly, I hope!

A couple of my 'O' gauge locos were made from the tinplate from empty catering sized coffee tins I used to get for free from the cafeteria at work.

 

Once my pocket money recovers a bit I'll be investigating those Smallbrook battery chassis. 

Edited May 23, 2023 by Annie
More words needed.

[Hroth]

8 minutes ago, Annie said:

A couple of my 'O' gauge locos were made from the tinplate from empty catering sized coffee tins I used to get for free from the cafeteria at work.

 

Once my pocket money recovers a bit I'll be investigating those Smallbrook battery chassis. 

 

I didn't refer to the one you posted recently, in case you didn't like the comparison!

 

If not a freelance loco, a model of a  NER Class H/LNER Y7 would be fun to construct around it!

Edited May 23, 2023 by Hroth
Extra!

[Annie]

9 minutes ago, Hroth said:

 

I didn't refer to the one you posted recently, in case you didn't like the comparison!

 

If not a freelance loco, a model of a  NER Class H/LNER Y7 would be fun to construct around it!

An NER 'H' class would have to be the all time most simple 'O' Gauge locomotive to build.

 

I don't mind at all that my model engines were made out of tins.  It's one heck of a lot cheaper than buying brass or nickel silver.

[Lacathedrale]

 I've been looking at some pre-war Model Engineering books (my current love being miniature live steam by the same LBSC) and very much looking at this vibe:

 

 

This his description of the drive-train for a Gauge 0 toy locomotive - incidentally an LCDR F-class - which he suggests to cannibalise wheels from a clockwork loco:

 

 

 

Anyway, much to think about - I could just about upgrade to fit a G1 line with 8' radius curves but it ends up being a very boring dogbone shape in the 70' x 20' that I've got to play with - I'm sure with G0 it wouldn't be vastly different. But, enough about me - sorry for cluttering the thread...

 

Edited May 23, 2023 by Lacathedrale

[Nearholmer]

The trouble is, you know, that distraction easily sets in.

 

Someone remarked that Paltry Junction looked a bit GER, which made me think of my LNER train, which is made of 1920s BL ‘shorty’ bogie coaches, which ride like a string of barges in a very heavy swell and jump the track at the slightest provocation, so that set me thinking about fiddling with them to improve running, which all takes time, …… and, I’m supposed to be busy doing something else.

 

Anyway, just imagine for a moment that you are in some deeply rural spot, probably in Suffolk, and thank goodness that it’s a warm, sunny day in late spring, and that the birds are singing.

 

 

 

Edited May 24, 2023 by Nearholmer

[RateTheFreight]

Today’s tinplate purchase. I’ve always had a soft spot for the Murgatroyd wagon as it was somewhat of a favourite of my Dad’s (albeit in OO scale). Darstaed tinplate seems to get a mixed reception (more so the locos) however the wagons have always seemed acceptable. I’d been on the lookout for one for a while & this one was a decent price. 
 

Does anyone know whether this wagon was based on an actual prototype? 
 

G

[Nearholmer]

With the exception of one rake of coaches that had a serious manufacturing fault in the lighting circuit, I’ve always found Darstaed “tinplate” carriages and wagons to range from pretty good, to blooming excellent.

 

These particular wagons have a thread here 

I haven’t read all that, but when the Darstaed bogie tankers first came out I did delve into several of the prototypes, and came to the conclusion that Darstaed had produced things which were “closely inspired by”, rather than exact models, as is pretty common in coarse-scale, and used to be in 00 r-t-r. Some of the liveries were very obviously freelance, but most weren’t, and most were applied to tankers that looked decently similar to the real ones.

 

 

Edited May 27, 2023 by Nearholmer

[GRASinBothell]

 I have several rakes of Darstaed coaches (bogie and 6-wheel), as well as one loco (the freelance 2-6-2T) and a small number of goods wagons (I only bought one bogie tanker as I had already OD'ed on the Ace4-wheelers!). With one exception they have all run flawlessly. That exception was a coach that after a year or two of operation developed a habit of derailing on a reverse curve. An e-mail to Andries Grabowsky produced lots of help and the problem was soon solved.

Gordon

[Nearholmer]

The Darstaed 2-6-2T that I had looked lovely, but was a bag of nails, the mechanism rife with poor-standard machining, burrs, misalignments etc, and I returned it to the supplier. Met H bought a 2-6-2T chassis for a project, and that was even worse., grossly out of square. Yet, another friend had a Jinty which was well-assembled and smooth as silk. In summary: very poor quality control on the loco mechanisms of that era.

 

Ace also had a few troubles with QC in the early days, and I think it’s often overlooked that these these coarse-scale bods were in the vanguard when it came to small outfits commissioning models, or commissioning parts and themselves organising assembly, in Asia. The factories didn’t quite understand the expectations, and the Europeans hadn’t quite worked out how to organise the jobs. Very different twenty five, even ten, years on, now that both ends know how to do it, and so much is in the common language of digital files fed direct into digitally controlled production machinery. Even so, the big firms like Hornby still occasionally get caught out at the level of finicky manual assembly going awry. Although Andries Gabrowsky was a common denominator between early Ace and his own iteration of Darstaed, my personal take is that he was batting on a new, and still very unfamiliar wicket, at the time.

 

Personally, I’d steer clear of any Darstaed-made coarse-scale locos, and I’m very careful with the early Ace ones., up to E5 series. I love the Hornby-alike E1 4-4-4T and E2 4-4-2T, and have several, but you have to check when buying them that the various bearings in the mechanism are in good condition, for instance, because some were made without bushings, and are prone to damage if not properly oiled, and some of the E3 and E5 came out of the factory stuffed with thick, high temperature grease, which offers no lubrication, but is so stiff that it can cause motors to overheat.

Edited May 27, 2023 by Nearholmer

[mervyn]

Totally agree with you on The Darstaed Locos Kevin had a Pannier which ran superb my 262 ,oh dear sounded like two robots doing things in a tin dustbin!!!  and thanks for reminding me about the Treacle grease ,my first Q1 ran a few feet then stopped with a whirring noise and shed loads of bronze dust all over the track! ..just spent a pleasant afternoon de gunging my celebration Loco , and re oiling . That to had a very liberal coating of black molasses.

[Ben B]

I say, Mr.Nearholmer, can I ask a couple of questions please? What brand is your track? And how tight a radius are the curves? I've an idea for a micro (relatively speaking) layout, but it needs fairly tight curves...

 

Oh and whilst I'm nagging, is your Austerity tank an Ace product?

 

Thanks in advance :)

[Nearholmer]

1) Maldon track. I add extra sleepers to the “Hornby” version to make it look more like Maerklin track. You can buy it like that, but it works out cheaper to DIY a bit.

 

2) Points are c38” radius, but on this layout the curves are 27” radius, except  the inner curved sidings, which are 24”. Ron, the gentleman who makes it, will bend it to any radius you want, but the points only come in two radii, of which 38” is the smaller, so you have to plan around that.

 

3) The Austerity Tank is by ETS for WJV and Raylo. I reckon it’s one of their collective best, because the real thing is so plain that it renders really well in tin.

[Nearholmer]

It wasn’t all hard-graft on the railways in those difficult years immediately after nationalisation, as this photo shows:

 

 

George looks very happy in his work, if you ask me, maybe a little bit too happy for Mrs Wiltshire’s tastes.

 

Would a cameo depicting such a contest at the Paltry Town branch of the BRSA be too tasteless?

 

 

 

 

Edited June 7, 2023 by Nearholmer

[Hroth]

2 hours ago, Nearholmer said:

It wasn’t all hard-graft on the railways in those difficult years immediately after nationalisation, as this photo shows:

 

 

George looks very happy in his work, if you ask me, maybe a little bit too happy for Mrs Wiltshire’s tastes.

 

Would a cameo depicting such a contest at the Paltry Town branch of the BRSA be too tasteless?

 

 

 

 

 

Reminds me of a photo of a similar set of pins with seamed nylons proceeding to the upper deck of a bus, with a very "On The Buses" conductor leering up at them.

 

Sadly, I can't remember where I saw the photo...

 

[Donw]

Rather reminds me of working in joint boxes and manholes on telephone cables. One viewed ladies from a different angle. Some ladies in short skirts got rather closer than was decent.

 

Don

[Metropolitan H]

Paltry had a big day out at the MKMRS today. Here Mr Chumleigh-Warner models the approved modern attire for the keen enthusiast.

 

 

The loco (a blur) is a B-L "Prince Charles" model hauling three "Blood & Custard" coaches from the same makers.

 

Regards

Chris H

 

[melmoth]

On 07/06/2023 at 19:49, Nearholmer said:

George looks very happy in his work, if you ask me...

 

 

That's no reason for him not to set his sights a little bit higher

[Nearholmer]

Er ……. I’m sure there’s an RMWeb rule that forbids people being pictured in their own threads, especially when they have a look of tired concentration on their face.

 

Still, we had a good day thanks to MetH (operator and provider of a fleet of Met trains), and my son, Ollie (lugging heavy baseboards, boxes, etc.). Definitely could not have done that without them both!

 

Only two hiccups: an insulating gap that wasn’t because of track expansion in the warm hall overnight (razor sawing by MetH to restore the gap), and my supposedly universal transport packing blocks, which turned out not to be universal, having misaligned bolt-holes (I’m still scratching my head about how I messed that up).

 

Generated a good bit of interest, some favourable comments, and the show was surprisingly (to me, who thought it wouldn’t be on a hot and sunny day) busy.

 

A view that isn’t obtainable at home:

 

 

Exhibiting is a tiring old game though!

 

Edited June 10, 2023 by Nearholmer

[Donw]

Yes it can be tiring doing a show but it can also be great fun. I hope overall that was your feeling. Looks pretty good to me.

 

Don

[sncf231e]

2 hours ago, Metropolitan H said:

 

The loco (a blur) is a B-L "Prince Charles" model hauling three "Blood & Custard" coaches from the same makers.

 

Regards

Chris H

 

If you want to see this train without blur, look here (in my garden):

Regards

Fred

Edited June 10, 2023 by sncf231e

[Nearholmer]

1 hour ago, Donw said:

Yes it can be tiring doing a show but it can also be great fun. I hope overall that was your feeling.

I always enjoy gas-bagging with those viewing the layouts most, and packing stuff for transport least.

[Hroth]

3 hours ago, Metropolitan H said:

Paltry had a big day out at the MKMRS today. Here Mr Chumleigh-Warner models the approved modern attire for the keen enthusiast.

 

 

The loco (a blur) is a B-L "Prince Charles" model hauling three "Blood & Custard" coaches from the same makers.

 

Regards

Chris H

 

 

Shouldn't he be clutching a pipe, closely observing a key part of the layout?