RMweb Premium great northern Posted September 11, 2011 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted September 11, 2011 Are all the locos you used for the test identical? That is, similar age, exactly the same weight, wheel back to backs, etc? Even though they are all Hornby locos, there is probably small differences in pickup contact tension, weight or number of hours running time etc. I have four identical Bachmann Davenport 0n30 critters for future bashing into something worthwhile. Only one can handle a speed of less than 8 out of 128, two can handle 12 and the fourth is a rabbit. They all have different light intensities and motor noise. At this point they are all as they came and have been run straight out of the box but part of the bashing upgrade will obviously have to include a serious look at rolling resistance, wiring, weight and decoder settings. Do the kit built coaches weigh more or less than the Bachmann coaches? Perhaps you also need to look at making all the coaches identical weight as well. Hi Ian, My A4's have been acquired over quite a long period, so the mileage they have done will vary considerably. One of the ones that slipped though is one of the newest, which I would classify as hardly run in. The kit built coaches are much heavier than standard Bachmann, which is why I used them for the test. I should have said earlier that any of my A4's will comfortably handle 10 RTR coaches, so it is clearly the combination of extra weight and the nature of the curves into the fiddle yard that create the problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium great northern Posted September 11, 2011 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted September 11, 2011 Two lovely pictures Gilbert My favourite has to be the humble J6 passing with the two vans...lovely.......I do think another RTR 0-6-0 is on the cards for sure...which pre grouping company it comes from....no idea! Regarding the Peterborough-Edninburgh service....would the New England loco work right through to the Scottish Capital? I doubt it would have got further than York Tom, but Newcastle certainly would have been the limit. It has to be remembered that back then everything took much longer, particularly in times of peak demand, so loco changing took place at intervals which now seem very short. I think this was partly to do with reliability, but also to make sure engine crew got home during their shift, to avoid hefty overtime payments, or lodging. The 1130 was due to arrive York at 1354, and Newcastle at 1529, so the crew would not have been able to get home within an eight hour shift from there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Loxborough Posted September 11, 2011 RMweb Premium Share Posted September 11, 2011 The lovely work just goes on and on; I do enjoy this thread, particularly relevant to me as I am starting to build the next station north; Tallington (though set in 1937)... The photo of the J6 (also one of my favorites) worked particularly well, I thought. A quick question, though; I am not going to hang about waiting for an RTR J6 and was considering the London Road model; how did you find it to build? Keep up the good work, George 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium great northern Posted September 11, 2011 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted September 11, 2011 The lovely work just goes on and on; I do enjoy this thread, particularly relevant to me as I am starting to build the next station north; Tallington (though set in 1937)... The photo of the J6 (also one of my favorites) worked particularly well, I thought. A quick question, though; I am not going to hang about waiting for an RTR J6 and was considering the London Road model; how did you find it to build? Keep up the good work, George Hi George, and thanks for the compliments. I was going to suggest that we might join up the two layouts, but it looks as though it might be a bit of a logistical nightmare! Some very long viaducts for a start. I have two J6's, but I didn't build either- both were done professionally. Two main problems have occurred, one being to get the right motor/gearbox combination, and the other that the loco body acts as a sounding board, so things get very noisy. Both locos actually run better and quieter in reverse, hence the photo this morning. No great problems as I understand it in actually putting the kit together though. Let me know when you get started, and I will ask the builders of my engines for a bit more information. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium great northern Posted September 11, 2011 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted September 11, 2011 Qiuck update on the Elizabethan problem. John Houlden doesn't see any problem with the couplings, and says the curvature isn't the problem either. So much for my theories. He thinks that two hours running in to get the pinpoint bearings bedded in properly is the answer - that's what he has done with his own sets, some of which are 13 coach rakes. I shall try the running in tomorrow, as I have (another) day with no work. As belt and braces though Dominion of New Zealand will be given some added weight as suggested by 34 the letter between... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Loxborough Posted September 12, 2011 RMweb Premium Share Posted September 12, 2011 Hi George, and thanks for the compliments. I was going to suggest that we might join up the two layouts, but it looks as though it might be a bit of a logistical nightmare! Some very long viaducts for a start. I have two J6's, but I didn't build either- both were done professionally. Two main problems have occurred, one being to get the right motor/gearbox combination, and the other that the loco body acts as a sounding board, so things get very noisy. Both locos actually run better and quieter in reverse, hence the photo this morning. No great problems as I understand it in actually putting the kit together though. Let me know when you get started, and I will ask the builders of my engines for a bit more information. Thanks for getting back about the J6; I will certainly be in touch once I get started. As for linking up, I want, in the (very) long term to do Grantham as the other half of the run round (I am blessed with a pretty big space in which to do my modelling) and had a little fantasy about a Perterborough North-Tallington-Little Bytham-Grantham link up. All we'd need then would be to persuade people to model Essendine (as I said, potential for a lovely layout), Great Ponton and Corby Glen (both pretty straight forward) and we could have a hell of a project going! George 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pendlerail Posted September 12, 2011 Share Posted September 12, 2011 I have been looking at your Kadee fitting, can you show how they are fitted? and how does the greater distance between the coupling and magnet change things? Thanks Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium great northern Posted September 12, 2011 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted September 12, 2011 I've been running in the Elizabethan today, so while it went round, and round, and round..... I took some more photos. I can't remember whether it's Murphy's 4th or 5th rule of model railways, but anyway the one that says that while you stay in the room with the train all will be fine, but the moment you dare to pop out for a minute you'll come back to find the train spread all over the place, that one applied big time, so I've been stuck with the thing. Some locos returned from "works attention" yesterday, so here are a few of them. First up is one of the essential A2's, this one being Mons Meg. She is in number 1 bay, waiting to take over an Up train. Still can't really get round the back lighting problem. Also returning was the delightful little Sentinel, now correctly Departmental No 8, and suitably shabby. This is where the District Engineer's yard and buildings will be, and the loco won't stray from here, as it led a very sheltered existence. The station pilot numbers also got a boost. Here's N5 69290. It and others of it's class will very soon cause the last of the Ivatt C12's to be withdrawn. I've no idea what caused the strange effect on the brickwork of the signal box. Finally, coming off shed on the engine road is an A1. More light definitely needed when taking photos from this side. Now I must go and run the Elizabethan for a few more miles. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landscapes Posted September 12, 2011 Share Posted September 12, 2011 Hi More great photos, I love the A2/2 60504 Mons Meg did you build this loco yourself from a kit? I would love to get this class of locomotive but do not have the skills to build one. I am hoping one day either Hornby or Bachmann will bring one out in RTR form. Regards David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium great northern Posted September 12, 2011 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted September 12, 2011 Hi More great photos, I love the A2/2 60504 Mons Meg did you build this loco yourself from a kit? I would love to get this class of locomotive but do not have the skills to build one. I am hoping one day either Hornby or Bachmann will bring one out in RTR form. Regards David Hi David, I wish I was good enough to build something like this, but I'm not, so John Houlden made it for me. I think you may have a long wait to see an A2/2 RTR, as there were only six, and hardly any of them were exactly alike. Now that we are getting locos announced RTR that we wouldn't have thought possible a few years ago I'm getting more hopeful that we may see an A2/3, but I can't see an A2/2. Now a P2, that's a different matter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landscapes Posted September 12, 2011 Share Posted September 12, 2011 Hi Gilbert All the same it is a fantastic looking locomotive, also I forgot to say a RTR A2/3 would be just as good, fingers crossed one day maybe. Regards David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Evil Bus Driver Posted September 12, 2011 Share Posted September 12, 2011 (edited) ...the dodgy financial position of both the GN and the LNER had a lot to do with it... The activities of a certain Leopold Redpath in the 1850s couldn't have helped much... "Briefly he 'misappropriated' a large amount of money from the Great Northern railway, and 'used it for the furnishings of magnificent houses and purchase of articles of vertu'. The Great Northern were planning to build a part of what was to become London Underground. This was in 1857, and his other claim to fame is that he was one of the last criminals to be transported to Australia." A more detailed description of his actions can be found here: http://www.iln.org.u...ine/page18.html Edited September 12, 2011 by The Evil Bus Driver Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
micklner Posted September 12, 2011 Share Posted September 12, 2011 Which kit is Mons Meg from please. A lovely looking loco Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
34theletterbetweenB&D Posted September 12, 2011 Share Posted September 12, 2011 It's all looking very ECML. The 'point' about polishing up bearings is a good one. Been known to leave sets running overnight to get the job done as it sometimes needs about ten real miles to reach optimum condition. Then you discover that your platform section isn't actually level as the coaches slow creep away after the pacific has come off ... I've no idea what caused the strange effect on the brickwork of the signal box. 'Moire'; an interference pattern between the regular pattern of the brickwork and the regular pattern of the camera's CCD being at nearly the same frequency. Either have the brickwork closer or further from the camera / focal length combo to eliminate the effect. Television presenters have to avoid herringbone and houndstooth (fine) check jackets for the same reason, otherwise they look like a science-fiction shape shifter. Try to wear such an item if you are ever the sole witness to a distinctly vital and urgent news item... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium great northern Posted September 12, 2011 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted September 12, 2011 Which kit is Mons Meg from please. A lovely looking loco She is from the PDK kit Mick. If my memory serves me correctly, which is not guaranteed, this particular loco can't be built from the DJH kit. If Tony Wright was available he would remind me in seconds! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium great northern Posted September 13, 2011 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted September 13, 2011 I have been looking at your Kadee fitting, can you show how they are fitted? and how does the greater distance between the coupling and magnet change things? Thanks Phil Hi Phil, Couple of photos attached which should show how it's done. Distance is easy. Just get a magnet in position between the sleepers, and pack it with plasticard shim until the tail of your coupling is just above it. You will need a height gauge if you don't already have one to make sure all your couplings are consistent in order for things to work properly. Also make sure you use couplings which are long enough- I've made that mistake in the past! Let me know if you need any more info. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium great northern Posted September 13, 2011 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted September 13, 2011 One of the most anticipated trains for the spotters was the 0753 Sunderland - Kings Cross, which brought a Heaton engine to Peterborough. So far as I am aware this was in the mid to late '50's the only regular Heaton diagram to work South of Grantham. If anyone can prove otherwise, please let me know, as I fancy another 52B engine. Tim's dad photographed Bronzino entering the station in 1958- see image a couple of pages back - today on the model 60126 Sir Vincent Raven has the duty. Very rare engine that- I only remember seeing it a couple of times. It then hands over to Mons Meg, which has been waiting in bay platform 1, and having pulled forward now reverses via the Down main to New England shed. The firemen on both locos have been remiss, as 126 still carries express lights, and Meg's not got her second front lamp yet. I can still close my eyes and hear the cheers that would have greeted Sir Vincent......and the shouts of "scrap it" aimed at poor Meg. Hard to believe now that we didn't want to keep seeing all these wonderful locos on a regular basis. Meg is very clean for a New England engine, but I have photos that show that she was in this condition in summer '58 even though she hadn't been for overhaul for more than a year. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
micklner Posted September 13, 2011 Share Posted September 13, 2011 She is from the PDK kit Mick. If my memory serves me correctly, which is not guaranteed, this particular loco can't be built from the DJH kit. If Tony Wright was available he would remind me in seconds! From what I have seen he is correct. They dont cover the V Cab roof LNER version only the BR later reboiler versions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tom F Posted September 13, 2011 Share Posted September 13, 2011 (edited) I love those last two pictures Gilbert, showing how the loco change took place. A slight request if you could do some more showing the change overs of locos at Peterborough...when you get chance to of course. Edited September 13, 2011 by Tom F Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium great northern Posted September 16, 2011 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted September 16, 2011 This morning a visit to Doncaster works, now relocated to Ranby, reunited me with a loco that has been missing for far too long. Mike Edge scrathbuilt Doncaster Rovers for me at a time when the old Crownline kit was unobtainable, and the PDK kit hadn't been announced. She then went to Ian Rathbone for painting, which resulted in another delay, though Ian's work is so good it's always worth the wait. The loco is turned out as shown in a photo in Yeadon's Register, dated 1959. She was then over a year after her final general overhaul, and less than a year from withdrawal. March still took such pride in her and themselves that they turned her out in this condition. Ian has captured the look of the loco perfectly. Alas when delivered she was very light, and wouldn't haul a decent load. Another builder put weight in, but the result was that the loco not only became nose heavy but also got a twist in the chassis. John Houlden has had the loco for ages, waiting for parts and figuring out how to remedy it. In the end, it meant a new chassis. John delivered her on Sunday, but we found a short on the chassis, no good with DCC, so back she went again. I picked her up this morning, short sorted, and this evening I unpacked her, put her on the track and....... a pin fell out of the valve gear. It fell on the baseboard - no way can it have hit the floor. Can I find it? Can I ****** So I still can't run my lovely B17. :sad_mini: The irony is that on this layout she will rarely have to cope with more than four coaches, which she could do as first delivered. :banghead: I also got back today an A4 which has had weight added so that it can haul the Elizabethan. I'm off to test that now. if it won't do it, expect the air to turn blue within a fifty mile radius of Nottingham. Postscript. Having typed all this, I hit "add reply" and it didn't, so I've had to do it all again. Upset? Moi? I can't find a suitable emoticon. If it doesn't work this time........ Do PC's bounce? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tom F Posted September 16, 2011 Share Posted September 16, 2011 Nothing worse when things keep going wrong on model railways. I know that and the amount of times I wanted to take an axe to the whole lot.....well in all fairness most of the faults then were of my own doing. Hope things are pick up for you over the weekend Gilbert! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium great northern Posted September 16, 2011 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted September 16, 2011 Nothing worse when things keep going wrong on model railways. I know that and the amount of times I wanted to take an axe to the whole lot.....well in all fairness most of the faults then were of my own doing. Hope things are pick up for you over the weekend Gilbert! Thanks Tom. I've decided to leave the railway for tonight- I think my blood pressure is quite high enough without the risk of something else going wrong. Tomorrow is another day. Actually there was more bad news today. John H built my first A2/3 with a live chassis, not knowing at the time that was not a good idea with DCC. We keep getting short circuits somewhere between body and chassis, so in the end John is going to have to rewheel it. Unfortunately there will be no Markits 6ft 2 drivers available for at least two months, so I'm a loco short till then. It's only a train set........ nothing to get wound up about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coachmann Posted September 16, 2011 Share Posted September 16, 2011 Re A2-2 Mons Meg and its sisters, NuCast did a whitemetal kit along with kits for the A2-1 and A2-3. The A2-1 could be had with the 6-wheel tender as well. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Kazmierczak Posted September 16, 2011 Share Posted September 16, 2011 What I like about this layout is that it's very much like the prototype. Not just appearance wise, but as regards operation. Locos have to haul proper length trains. There are variations between individual members of the same class. A loco goes for repair, then a test run, then rectification, then another test....just like the real thing. Regards, Peter 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
micklner Posted September 16, 2011 Share Posted September 16, 2011 Re A2-2 Mons Meg and its sisters, NuCast did a whitemetal kit along with kits for the A2-1 and A2-3. The A2-1 could be had with the 6-wheel tender as well. I have a Nu Cast A2/1 Duke of Rothsay with a 6 wheel tender. No problems with traction she weighs a ton . Shame re the B17 the joys of kitbuilds !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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