SRman Posted February 11 Author Share Posted February 11 Back to the Cavalex class 56. For some reason I keep knocking the aerial at the No. 1 end of the loco. I haven't quite broken it completely, but it had a distinct break in the middle so it was only a matter of time. I reglued it a few times but as that wasn't working (you can see the bend in the video I posted earlier today), I decided to cut it off flush and replace it with a bit of brass wire of the same diameter. I used some masking tape to protect the cab roof around the base of the aerial before cutting it and then drilling a hole to stick the wire into. It was superglued in, then the slight gaps around the bottom edges were filled with some Glue n Glaze. Some Humbrol Acrylic RC422 was used to paint the aerial and the touched in areas. the results are in the photo below, together with the untouched and undamaged aerial at the No. 2 end. This does mean that if I try to damage the aerial again, it will be somewhat more painful for me! 😬 🤣 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRman Posted February 12 Author Share Posted February 12 On a slightly different note, I received some 3D printed London Transport wagon bits from Kim Durose. they form "dog ear" door bumpers. I have three suitable Bachmann wagons straight off, bit ordered enough of the parts to do twice that number. I just had to try one straight away, and this is the result. The left hand bumper has moved slightly, but I'll straighten it up again. The parts are very cleanly printed and only needed a minimum of fettling to get them to fit between the solebar channels. 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRman Posted February 12 Author Share Posted February 12 Here are a couple of shots of the wagons 'before and after'. They both have the same running number at present; I must get around to renumbering one or both of them. 6 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRman Posted February 14 Author Share Posted February 14 (edited) During our power cuts yesterday evening, I got working on ideas for the hedgerows. As I've stated before, I'm not happy with the results of previous attempts at a hedgerow along the road past the garage, and taking some inspiration from a 'Making Tracks' video, I used some cheap scouring pads as the basis for this one. there are actually two pads glued together for the width, with some polyfibre and Noch leaves glued on with hair spray. Overall, for the position I have posed it in (it's not glued down), it is too high and too wide, but this piece can be moved up the road a bit for a better effect there, and a thinner, lower piece put along this stretch. I'm thinking in terms of leaving the garage more visible. I am much happier with the effect of this technique, though. Edited February 14 by SRman Corrections for typos 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRman Posted February 14 Author Share Posted February 14 A second, cut-down section of hedgerow was done, again experimentally, using a spray-on glue rather than the sticky hairspray I used for the first one. The texture has come out a little differently, even though I was using the same materials. The new bit is on the right, behind the signal box. It looks more like a green blob. The photos were taken without the layout lighting on first, and with it on for the second., On a different tack, I assembled a 1960s/70s Freightliner train for the camera, after working on some containers and also adding another Bachmann FGA twin-set to the rake. I managed to locate a new pair at Simon's Trains online, although they were for the newer era with more modern containers. The existing set of five (pair of FGAs and three FFAs) was split to give visually better sets of three plus four as opposed to five plus two. Some of the containers are old Triang ones resurrected, others are Bachmann, and the rest are from C Rail. The more modern insignia on the newer-period wagons barely show when in service like this. 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium St Enodoc Posted February 14 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 14 3 minutes ago, SRman said: A second, cut-down section of hedgerow was done, again experimentally, using a spray-on glue rather than the sticky hairspray I used for the first one. The texture has come out a little differently, even though I was using the same materials. I prefer the first bit, with the hair spray. 1 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRman Posted February 14 Author Share Posted February 14 1 minute ago, St Enodoc said: I prefer the first bit, with the hair spray. I agree. I want to duplicate that effect from now on, if I can. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BWsTrains Posted February 15 Share Posted February 15 8 hours ago, St Enodoc said: I prefer the first bit, with the hair spray Yup! I've tried various methods and the old cheapie Coles Generic Hair spray rattle can is the best. Probably its best use TBH 😈 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRman Posted February 19 Author Share Posted February 19 (edited) I have been doing smaller, fiddly jobs today. One Hornby class 30 renumbered, and two (relatively) cheap sound conversions, using Soundtraxx Econami 21-pin UK Diesel sound decoders. These have six different engine sounds and nine different horns available just by changing CV values. The sound quality is nowhere near as good as that which we can get from ESU and Zimo decoders from the usual suppliers, but the cost is around two-thirds that of an ESU or Zimo decoder, and reduces to almost half if you factor in buying the sounds as well for the latter two brands ($AUS130 with postage as opposed to $AUS165 plus postage, and up to $AUS210 pick-up locally, depending on the supplier here, for blank ESU decoders). ESU and Zimo still remain as my top picks and preferred sound decoders, but for less-used items of stock, it makes sense to use the less expensive decoders. The Hornby Brush type 2 needed renumbering because its logical DCC address clashed with another locomotive. I have a Hornby Railfreight sectorisation class 56, number 56 127, which following my DCC TOPS addressing convention becomes 5627. Unfortunately, the BR green Brush 2 was D5627. Now normally the two would not run together on the layout since they are both from entirely separate eras, but I thought that at some stage I really should renumber one of them. I decided it was a safer bet to renumber the class 30, so that is now D5623. Checking online showed that D5623 spent a few years pottering around the London area between 1960 and 1965 (or later), either at Stratford or Finsbury Park, with a stint in March as well. It didn't get converted to class 31 status until 1967, so that fits in well with what I wanted. In doing this, I tried an experiment in using MicroSol decal setting solution to remove the unwanted 7s, using a wooden cocktail stick to rub the numbers off. It worked a treat, leaving a small shiny patch where the number had been. the new numbers were rub-on types from Replica Railways, and are just a tad whiter than the Hornby originals, but I really didn't want to do the whole numbers on each cab corner. I might have to after all, but I'll see whether it annoys me in the longer term. For the sound conversions, I bought two 21-pin Soundtraxx Econami UK Diesel decoders. One has gone into a Bachmann class 47, 1764 in green with full yellow ends. It's not too bad a model, but I originally bought it with sound already fitted, but I wanted that for another locomotive and had something else in mind for the "de-sounded" loco, and it hasn't had a great deal of use to date. For the speaker wires, it already had the speaker attachment "prongs" at the side of the PCB, so that was easy to arrange. I used a smallish 8 ohm iPhone speaker from Roads and Rails, knowing that these can push out some quite decent sound. This fitted very easily within the recess on top of the chassis block. The other sound fitting was also a Bachmann locomotive, this time a 66/9, First GBRf 66 725 "Sunderland". This one had also had an older ESU v3.5 sound decoder in that was used elsewhere, and still had a 100 ohm speaker inside, so that had to come out, and a small 20 mm square 8 0hm speaker from Roads and Rails was put in. I'm not quite sure how tolerant the Soundtraxx decoders are to having speakers of different impedances (i.e. 4 ohm or up to 16 ohm) like the ESU and Zimo decoders, so I have been careful to stick with 8 ohm speakers for the present. The temptation with the 66 is to put two of the smaller speakers in series (to make a 16 ohm impedance), because there is space to do this, but for now I'll resist that temptation. Edited February 19 by SRman Clarified a couple of points 6 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium St Enodoc Posted February 19 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 19 45 minutes ago, SRman said: the new numbers were rub-on types from Replica Railways, and are just a tad whiter than the Hornby originals, but I really didn't want to do the whole numbers on each cab corner. The difference in size would bother me more than the difference in colour. 1 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRman Posted February 19 Author Share Posted February 19 22 minutes ago, St Enodoc said: The difference in size would bother me more than the difference in colour. I think I'll have to do the rest as well. If you look at the right hand cabside in the second photo, I actually overlaid the Replica numbers over the originals, so that one is all the same size, except for the "D". 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Gwiwer Posted February 19 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 19 It was not unknown for a loco to receive a replacement digit or two if part of its number had gone astray. Maybe through too many Exmover washes or for any other reason. Having one “whiter” than the rest really should not be a bother. But having one larger than the rest - by definition not in the standard font - would be less common altogether. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRman Posted February 20 Author Share Posted February 20 Brush type 2 D5623 (as it is now!) is back on the workbench. Following the success of simply overlaying the existing numbers with the Replica ones just on one cabside, earlier, I have now done it with all the remaining numbers and the 'D' prefixes. The Replica numbers were a little whiter and a tiny fraction larger than the Hornby originals, but not so big that the number underneath really shows. The only slight down side is that I got a couple of them slightly out of line. I could fix them, but maybe later. 6 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Tomlinson Posted February 20 Share Posted February 20 5 hours ago, SRman said: Brush type 2 D5623 (as it is now!) is back on the workbench. Following the success of simply overlaying the existing numbers with the Replica ones just on one cabside, earlier, I have now done it with all the remaining numbers and the 'D' prefixes. The Replica numbers were a little whiter and a tiny fraction larger than the Hornby originals, but not so big that the number underneath really shows. The only slight down side is that I got a couple of them slightly out of line. I could fix them, but maybe later. Doing the whole thing does give a much better end result. I've gone through just the same thought processes in the past, the part change only just leaves a jarring effect every time you look at the loco. Makes you wonder if anyone truly knows the correct size for these, with the main RTR manufacturers, HMRS and Replica all being a bit different! John. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRman Posted February 27 Author Share Posted February 27 Another small job done today with the Bachmann London Transport wagons having some 'dog ear' door bumpers added. these were 3D printed parts from Kim Durose. The greys I have used to paint them are not exact matches to the Bachmann colour, but once I weather the wagons this will not be so obvious. Because all three were from the same train sets, broken down by a retailer, all three carried the same running number. I have painted out some of the numbers, but will have to add new numbers later. 5 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
saxokid Posted February 27 Share Posted February 27 6 minutes ago, SRman said: Another small job done today with the Bachmann London Transport wagons having some 'dog ear' door bumpers added. these were 3D printed parts from Kim Durose. The greys I have used to paint them are not exact matches to the Bachmann colour, but once I weather the wagons this will not be so obvious. Because all three were from the same train sets, broken down by a retailer, all three carried the same running number. I have painted out some of the numbers, but will have to add new numbers later. Looks great SRMan👌👌 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRman Posted March 8 Author Share Posted March 8 A much larger job has been set in train: I bought the laser-cut wood viaduct kit from Key Publishing, with a view to rearranging the viaduct along the front of the layout. I have had some difficulties with the fragility of the girder overlays, but have hidden the worst parts in the centres of the spans. I have laid out the two main spans upside down on the existing Wills stone viaduct too illustrate where it will go, allowing just a little more of a view of the Underground platforms and trains from the front. While I really wanted brick viaducts along the side, the Vollmer ones I have used look great but the narrow arches are really limiting the views from that angle, so the Wills viaduct will have to be cut down a little in length and number of arches to fit that stretch. The completely cobbled-together span between the girder bridge over the Underground lines and the new spans will also have to be reduced in length. That might be the hardest bit of the exercise because that's the only bit involved where the track has been ballasted and glued down. Also, what will slow progress down a lot is the fact I have to reduce the height of the piers on the new bridge to suit the existing location. One side of the central pier is posed in front. At least they will increase the clearances on the nearest Underground track as the piers and viaduct are slightly narrower overall than the Wills one. The last complication is that I am hosting a meeting here in April, so any uprooting and rearranging of the bridges and viaducts has to be completed and operational by then. 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRman Posted March 10 Author Share Posted March 10 Progress. It's around three-quarters finished now. There is a lot of brickwork left over from all the shortening of the support piers, some of which can go into repairing any damage I have done in the cutting process, as well as filling any accidental gaps. Thankfully I haven't made too many mistakes in the cutting and hacking, and all those I have made have been minor. You can see how much I'll have to trim from the home-made span. It will make the lighter girders on that look more appropriate, though. I think this gives some indication of how much more "daylight" will be visible beneath the viaduct compared to the Wills arches. 6 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRman Posted March 11 Author Share Posted March 11 The construction phase is complete. Now for the painting ... once the weather cools off a bit (currently 33.3 degrees and climbing, which makes it too hot in the garage where I do any spray painting). I've drawn a silver Sharpie line on the home-made span to show where it will have to be cut. Note the jig I made from some of the spare material I had, to stop the walls from spreading. I might still be tempted to buy the extra span for the new viaduct as that would be just about the same length as the bit of scratchbuilt bridge that remains after cutting. On the other hand, having that thick end support continuing the brickwork from the overbridge might create too much of a blind spot there, on the left. 7 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRman Posted March 20 Author Share Posted March 20 Work is proceeding on the bridge. I worked out that acrylic paints seem to work better on it, even after using a primer. I also tried using cotton wool to apply the paint to the brickwork and that worked much better than a brush, except for getting the paint into corners. I need to buy a couple more colours to supplement my limited range of colours for this, including a more brick red colour rather than the brown (burnt umber) I have used for now, and a blue-grey for the steel parts. Not sure what colour to do the track bed, but much of it will be hidden once I lay track and ballast it. Just tonight I filled in a few holes in the bricks, particularly at the bottom of one side of the centre pillar, where I cut the side too short. I have not taken photos of the current state as it is still on the workbench. The second photo below shows an intermediate stage of colouring the bricks, which looked alright at a distance but was not good close up. On an entirely different track (no pun intended), I have finally got around to wiring up the O1 0-6-0 loco I started ages ago. The body is a resin moulding from Golden Arrow Productions, running on a Bachmann chassis. Because the tender body is very narrow, I wasn't too sure what would fit, but fortunately the Lais 8-pin socket and breakout board fits very snugly one way inside the tender body. The vertical height is pushing the limit slightly when combined with the two lead weights I have in it - I may have to trim the height of that very slightly (we're talking around half a millimetre here!) - that can probably be lost from the plastic shims I have under the Lais board to keep the metal contacts under the socket clear of the lead. I used a 4-pin connector to join the electrical wiring from the loco to the tender, with the track feeds on the outer two pins and the brush wires on the inner two; that way it won't matter if they are accidentally connected the wrong way round. Ignore the massive decoder: I used an older, disposable decoder to test that it all worked. The "proper" decoder is an ESU LokPilot 5 micro, which fits with space to spare. I used some brass wire to form a crude but effective tender to loco coupling. 4 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRman Posted March 24 Author Share Posted March 24 Successes and failures today. A couple of days ago I decided to reinstall Windows 10 on the old computer I use in the train room. The actual installation went fairly smoothly, and after that, the programs I need being reinstalled also went well. As this is not a work computer, and is not used for games or any high end stuff, it only has the minimum amount of software installed. I also installed Java 11, JMRI Decoder Pro and ESU's LokProgrammer software, all the latest versions. So far so good. The last two days have been spent frustratingly trying to get those last two programs talking to the DCC systems. The Power Pro wasn't talking to Decoder Pro through the semi-permanent serial link I have ... or at least, it wasn't talking to the programming track even though the NCE system was recognised and online. I tried the Power Pro talking directly to the track, and that also failed, even though the alternative Power Cab was able to see the programming track through the rotary multi-pole switch I have. That meant the track was connected, but the Power Pro wasn't so I checked for loose wires, and sure enough, one of the input wires from the Power Pro to the switch was a little dodgy. That's fixed for now, so Decoder Pro is now able to program locos on the programming track. Next problem - the LokProgrammer can't find the COM port because Windows can't recognise the serial to USB converter, even though I have installed the correct driver. Eventually, after the two days of trying, I found a useful hint online to download and install a VCP (Virtual COM Port) driver, and that then meant I could connect the LokProgrammer to the COM port and programme any locos on the programming track again. So that was the (eventual) success. The failure was a bit of a disaster. I had the class 74 on the workbench to give it a coat of matt varnish. I had done the sides and ends and was putting it down to do the roof, when I dropped it. It landed on carpet but there is concrete under that carpet. The cab at one end broke off and broke into pieces. I'm not sure how much rubbish has stuck to the still wet sides, but I just had to pick it all up off the floor then walk away. 😢 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRman Posted March 25 Author Share Posted March 25 I had a friend visit today to deliver some printed newsletters for an Association we are both in (I'm the Editor). He also brought along his two new GWR models to have a run on Newton Broadway. Kernow's Steam Railmotor No. 97 was first, then Dapol 43XX No. 5320 followed. He doesn't have a layout yet, so when he left later, he left the models with me to give them some more running in. As can be seen, both models ran very well straight out of their boxes. Both were also able to crawl very smoothly when we tested that aspect. The sounds are good on both, although we deemed the Mogul was a bit loud (we had already reduced the volume on the Steam Railmotor). 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BWsTrains Posted March 25 Share Posted March 25 both very nice indeed, Railmotor is even tempting. You can let him know the chuff rate on the 43xx needs to be reduced somewhat but that's a straightforward fix. Colin 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRman Posted March 25 Author Share Posted March 25 2 hours ago, BWsTrains said: both very nice indeed, Railmotor is even tempting. You can let him know the chuff rate on the 43xx needs to be reduced somewhat but that's a straightforward fix. Colin I can do that when I put it on the rolling road. I had to do the same thing to a Hornby 700 to which I had fitted a Zimo decoder with YouChoos Drummond sounds intended for a T9 (or maybe it was for the M7). The instruction from the ever helpful John Guymer of YouChoos: "You nearly always have to adjust the chuff rate with sound decoders as there is no way to predict the specific model’s gearing. This is easy to do with CV#267. I usually adjust it to sound about right at speed step 20, then everything else roughly follows." 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRman Posted March 26 Author Share Posted March 26 Just arrived this morning is my L&MR mail coach for the Stephenson's Rocket train. To keep the set to four coaches, I removed one of the first class coaches and swapped the third class coach (if you can call it that!) to the front of the train, partly to prevent the hoi polloi from climbing onto the mail coach and stealing from it (🙃) and partly so the lowest-fare payers get all the steam and soot from the locomotive thus preserving the sensibilities of the first class passengers. I glued the guard figure in, after first trimming a bit off the spike emanating from his backside so it doesn't project below the base of the seat. 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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