LNERGE Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 My layout is full of gradients (some of them are intentional too) and i have found cleaning the rails with a peco track rubber across the rails instead of along makes a difference. Maybe an initial rub up the wrong way with a fine emery first. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted January 29, 2015 Author Share Posted January 29, 2015 Not sure about that one, LNERGE as I was always told not to use track cleaners as they leave microscopic scratches on the rail which provides a key for dirt to accumulate on the rails. Surely emery cloth would be 10 times worse......or is this an old wive's tale. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LNERGE Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 I can't use my railway every day. Sometimes there can be two weeks between sessions. The track needs a once over with the vacuum cleaner before use. I usually give it a rub then. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold martin_wynne Posted January 29, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 29, 2015 Not sure about that one, LNERGE as I was always told not to use track cleaners as they leave microscopic scratches on the rail which provides a key for dirt to accumulate on the rails. Surely emery cloth would be 10 times worse......or is this an old wive's tale. See: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/55157-keeping-check-rails-dirty/page-2&do=findComment&comment=669122 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted January 29, 2015 Author Share Posted January 29, 2015 Thanks Martin, I knew I bought a CMX track cleaner for a reason... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LNERGE Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 I probably should look at other methods but after a week or two away playing with the big stuff i just want the thing to work. I've just fitted all the shunters with stay alive chips. That has made a real difference. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
coachmann Posted January 30, 2015 Share Posted January 30, 2015 (edited) Maybe you painted them Larry and I didn't realise at the time. Either way, they are very, very good..... Do you recognise any of them? I'm guessing it would be 2001/2/3/4 or so. I have the receipts somewhere, so could be more exact... I would have to rescue some invoice books from the attic to be sure. I was painting quite a bit of 7mm during the years you mention, as I could see the writing on the wall for 4mm due to improving plastic RTR and I was moving into RTR brass. Edited January 30, 2015 by coachmann Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HAL 'O THE WYND Posted January 30, 2015 Share Posted January 30, 2015 Hi Gordon, Coming along wonderfully. To my incompetent Peco mind, the track laying is jaw-dropping! Having seen and admired a few of your locos, can I ask what your view is on weathering? Personally, I'm torn, but make it fairly minimal on green locos, and not too intensive on lined black. As far as 9fs go, however, intensive weathering is their livery! Regards, Hal Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted January 30, 2015 Author Share Posted January 30, 2015 (edited) Here's a few more of Graham's loco's. The receipts are dated 2001,2,3 but they might ring a bell….Another Brit 70002 Geoffrey Chaucer. Fond memories of seeing this loco at Liverpool Street in the '60's.72006. First Clan I copped at Carlisle on my way up to Glasgow on The Royal Scot. I had yet to discover girls and cars, so the pleasure was immense...46240. Even as an LNER man, I could only admire the beauty of these red beasts..A couple of LNER workhorses. No sooner had I had them built, Bachmann announced their plans...Graham built this K2 as an article for the Railway Modeller. It appeared as a 2/4 page article and was too good to miss. Of course K2's are now available in RTR courtesy of Hornby.A couple of A3's. 60103, a number as a KX lad, I'll never forget. I just loved the German smoke deflectors some A3's had fitted and felt they really added to the beauty of these locos. Of course having had 60077 built it was the signal for Hornby to release a RTR one…..A graceful 4-4-0 that I never had the pleasure of seeing, but couldn't resist.A1 60139. Sea Eagle. Built by Graham and now available from Bachmann...Just looking at these loco's has reminded me of the simple pleasures of life. No school on Saturday. A wonderful trip in some Quad Arts behind an N2 or L1 to KX. All day spent in London, predominantly Platform 10 at KX, but excusions to St Pancras, Paddington, Liverpool St and occasionally Victoria and Waterloo. A rucksack full of food and a Jubbly. My notebook and ABC combined volume. The sun always shone and who knew what would pop out of Gasworks Tunnel next...Fond memories...Edit: Just seen your post Hal. Dinner is on the table, so I'll get back to you later. Edited January 30, 2015 by gordon s 13 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted January 30, 2015 Author Share Posted January 30, 2015 OK, dinner has been supped and enjoyed, so back to the weathering question. Broadly, I agree with you Hal. Gresley's finest always look good when they have been worked but not not filthy. My memories were of Top Shed's well turned out A1/2/3/4's and not the last years of steam which saw filthy loco's from Gateshead and other sheds. 9F's and mixed traffic/freight locos scream out to be filthy, which is why mine will all look like this. Here's some notes from a few years back on weathering the 9F. It was one of my first and I was pleased how it turned out with just a few weathering powders and blackboard paint…. http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/18339-eastwood-town-9f-gets-weatheredstage-3/ 18 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
trisonic Posted January 31, 2015 Share Posted January 31, 2015 I’m glad you repeated that link, G - always liked your greasy look and it saved me looking for it in ET...... Best, Pete. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HAL 'O THE WYND Posted January 31, 2015 Share Posted January 31, 2015 OK, dinner has been supped and enjoyed, so back to the weathering question. Broadly, I agree with you Hal. Gresley's finest always look good when they have been worked but not not filthy. My memories were of Top Shed's well turned out A1/2/3/4's and not the last years of steam which saw filthy loco's from Gateshead and other sheds. 9F's and mixed traffic/freight locos scream out to be filthy, which is why mine will all look like this. IMG_7758-1.jpg IMG_7747.jpg IMG_8017-1.jpg IMG_8758-2.jpg Here's some notes from a few years back on weathering the 9F. It was one of my first and I was pleased how it turned out with just a few weathering powders and blackboard paint…. http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/18339-eastwood-town-9f-gets-weatheredstage-3/ Thanks very much, Gordon, Your experience and outlook will serve as a very useful guide for me. I particularly liked the way the Clan and the Brit are weathered. Although hardly applicable in my part of the world - Brits were very rare north of York - one reason my layout is Fantasy ECML is because I can stretch the rules a bit, and I'm very fond of the Hornby examples; I have *three. Given their complexity of detail - and how awkward the older ones are regarding removal of the chassis - I've been nervous of weathering them. Now, at least, I have examples to aim for. Thanks, too, for the 9F link. I'm not flattering when I say I've never seen as thorough a guidance before. Many weathering people just show completed examples with a small amount of practical instruction, and that's it. Yours is absolutely complete. *Oh, and one of my Brits - which I did buy comparatively cheaply - is the black prototype Brit. I'm considering lining mine. I think the locos might have been better received if their mixed-traffic role had been more underlined - if they were painted like V2s with green ones being the more rare examples. Anyway, in my fantasy, it'll be nice to see how it looks as lined black. Mind, it's way down my to-do list, unfortunately! Thanks again, Gordon. Dare I say that I, too, am looking forward to the first runners. Hal Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium polybear Posted February 21, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 21, 2015 Three weeks, and still no updates :cry: Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew P Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 I do hope its the Golf. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post gordon s Posted February 21, 2015 Author Popular Post Share Posted February 21, 2015 Morning guys….:-) Fear not, all is well and no signs of a trip to the tip just yet... I've been overtaken by events on two fronts. Mrs S has been nagging me for months about getting a new bed as our 5' seems too small for us both. She has 4' and I end up with the 1' shelf on one side. Decision made to go for a 6' bed. Only problem was that meant moving mains sockets and it would be nice to have some down lighters and perhaps the rooms needs decorating. You get the picture? Managed to do all the electrics myself as they didn't need a qualified electrician, so new lights and additional/relocated sockets are in place and the decorator has started, so that's under way. On the golf front, I'm going through a purple patch. Been cut to 15.7 and shot a gross 37 for our front nine of 35. Net result is that I have been playing for the club in various comps which added to normal comps meant I played four rounds over the past five days. Thankfully I now have a bit of a break and did wander upstairs yesterday for the first time in weeks. Apologies for not providing a regular update and scaring one or two….:-) Pics from yesterday. We've left one end of ET station and the board over the stairs is now free standing and joined to the boards the other side of the room to create the track bed, which hopefully will be laid to match the 1:75 gradient without humps and hollows. I've already spotted an area that does need relaying. On their own the two boards plus gradient trackbed are fine, but when joined together, there is a ridge right at the join, which is clearly visible from looking at a train going up and down the gradient. These two boards will now need to be pulled apart and the end cheeks tweaked to remove that ridge. This is exactly why I hate gradients in whatever form. No matter how careful you are and no matter how hard I try, I always seem to get the gradient correct on individual boards, which then unravels when you plug them together. Sometimes I think you are better laying one long track bed across both boards and ensuring it is true first and then cutting it apart once the slope has been set. No real problem, but irritating just the same. Nothing worse than seeing a train look as though it is on a roller coaster, rather than a relatively flat and true surface. I know real trains do pitch and wallow, but it just seems so much worse once you reduce the scale and every small error is magnified 76 times…. …and no sniggering in the back, but it works... 33 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew P Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 Hi Gordon, Great to know all is well with you, your Family and ET. Nice to see a Train running, plenty more of that to come quite soon I hope. All the best. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium eldavo Posted February 21, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 21, 2015 15.7. About time! Some of us can only manage 16.0. Good progress matey. If you did your timber work like mine none of the ends of the risers would be square and you would get used to just planing everything once the boards are together. I have no doubt you'll sort out that little niggle and all will be well. Cheers Dave Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixoh8sixoh Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 Great stuff, good to see an engine running. Next stop a full circuit! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian_H Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 Hi Gordon Good to see the engineering works are continuing. Are we still on for the Easter Special? I haven't received my ticket yet, so I don't know if I'm on the Easter Friday or Bank Holiday Monday special, or where I'm going for that matter but as long as its nice weather and theres a pub I'll be happy .... just make sure the trains running. With regard to the bed, a foot! you got a whole foot! I used to get the piping material that edged the mattress. Also, from my experience, and having heard knowledgable people, much older than me speak on the matter - bigger is better, keep your distance, you know what they say "Life .... sexually transmitted and invariably fatal". All the best Ian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheesysmith Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 On the topic of beds, we've got a super king size, and I still end up squeezed to the edge due to the combination of our lass and the cats. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium polybear Posted February 21, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 21, 2015 On the golf front, I'm going through a purple patch. Been cut to 15.7 and shot a gross 37 for our front nine of 35. Huh?? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted February 21, 2015 Author Share Posted February 21, 2015 Apologies, it's another language. On our course a scratch golfer would go round in 70 shots in total. 35 for the front nine and 35 for the back nine. With a handicap of 15.7, I would be expected to go round in 70+16=86. With me so far? I managed to play the front nine in 37 shots. With my handicap of 16, I would have got 8 shots, so should have taken 35+8=43. Going round in 37 was the equivalent of a scratch golfer having six birdies on the first nine holes, so pretty special. Needless to say the opposition in our match were very appreciative of my score as they were five down after seven holes….. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold martin_wynne Posted February 21, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 21, 2015 On our course a scratch golfer would go round in 70 shots in total. 35 for the front nine and 35 for the back nine. With a handicap of 15.7, I would be expected to go round in 70+16=86. With me so far? I managed to play the front nine in 37 shots. With my handicap of 16, I would have got 8 shots, so should have taken 35+8=43. Going round in 37 was the equivalent of a scratch golfer having six birdies on the first nine holes, so pretty special. So just to clarify that -- castling consists of moving the king two squares towards a rook on the player's first rank, then moving the rook to the square over which the king crossed. Castling can only be done if the king has never moved, the rook involved has never moved, the squares between the king and the rook involved are unoccupied, the king is not in check, and the king does not cross over or end on a square in which it would be in check. Where does the wicket-keeper stand? Martin. 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixoh8sixoh Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 I went for a round with friends on the Eden Course at St Andrews when I was at uni. It was my first ever round on a "proper" (full-length) golf course. I was in three figures by the end of the 12th. My lost balls (gorse bushes) were approaching double figures. It was suggested after the 15th that I maybe just walk the last three holes... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Siberian Snooper Posted February 21, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 21, 2015 Apart from the golf gobbledegook, glad to see that progress is still being made and it's great to see the first light engine move. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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