Wright writes.....

[CME and Bottlewasher]

MERRY CHRISTMAS and a PEACEFUL NEW YEAR to all here, thanks for keeping me inspired and engaged in the hobby.

 

Tony et al, after the first BRM DVD on LB, were there any follow up DVDS? Have I missed a trick (other editions of the DVD)?

 

Im looking foward to catching up with the Thread when I get near to a proper PC-writing this on a 'mobile device'.

 

Kindest regards to all.

 

CME.

Edited December 25, 2016 by CME and Bottlewasher

[queensquare]

I too find Christmas telly less than engrossing and have been doing a bit of metal hacking - in my case an SDJR small 4-4-0. Comparison with a recently completed SDJR 2P shows just how small. More pictures and comment on my Bath Queensquare thread linked below.

 

 

 

Merry Christmas all, Jerry

 

[Paul Cram]

I too have been modelling rather than watching the tele, in my case finishing the lining and lettering on some North Eastern coaches. Not to a high enough standard to photograph though.

[Tony Wright]

MERRY CHRISTMAS and a PEACEFUL NEW YEAR to all here, thanks for keeping me inspired and engaged in the hobby.

 

Tony et al, after the first BRM DVD on LB, were there any follow up DVDS? Have I missed a trick (other editions of the DVD)?

 

Im looking foward to catching up with the Thread when I get near to a proper PC-writing this on a 'mobile device'.

 

Kindest regards to all.

 

CME.

There have been no more BRM DVDs on Little Bytham. 

 

The original intention was to do a couple a year to show the progress made, linked in with the magazine. Who was it who said ' If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans?' As is well-known, at the beginning of 2011, I became very ill and had to retire from full-time model railway journalism, so the whole programme was abandoned. 

 

If you look back through the pages of this thread, however, Tom Foster made a highly-creditable DVD of LB and put it on here/Youtube (Utube?) - I can't understand that. Can anyone with the necessary skills (obviously, not me) put that DVD in here, now, to save trailing back through umpteen pages? Just a thought. 

 

The intention is to do another next year, as an update; also a retro one, with LNER locos and stock. Watch this space. 

 

We're going to do them because we can, even though it is a lot of hard work (especially for Tom). There'll be no profit-incentive, because there is none. Whether BRM will do another LB DVD, I don't know, since it's no longer my call. Anyway, the ones we'll do will be over 30 minutes long, which is far longer that a slot on the free monthly DVD. 

 

One thing I'm finding now is the DVDs I made with/for Activity Media/BRM are now freely available - on here, for instance. Although Chris and Wendy Walsh have retired and Activity Media is no more, does this not contravene copyright? I still see copies for sale occasionally (heavily-discounted, obviously), so even at a lower price there'll be no chance of selling them; which, to me, doesn't seem right. 

 

I'll let folk know when we do the next LB DVDs. 

Edited December 25, 2016 by Tony Wright

[Barry Ten]

This should be a direct link to the Tom Foster film of Little Bytham:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwPGPdepiZg

Edited December 25, 2016 by Barry Ten

[Tony Teague]

K's K Class 01.jpg

 

Before friends arrived to share Christmas with us, I spent part of the morning taking apart the chassis of a K's K Class. It's the property of a dear friend and it didn't go very well. So, my holiday task is to make sure it does. The picture shows what I'm discarding, other than the frames. I'll report accordingly. 

Tony

I'm hoping you mean that the K class didn't go very well, rather than your deconstruction of it - which seems pretty thorough!

A belated Happy Christmas!

Tony

[LNER4479]

I'm sure I'm probably not alone in finding Christmas telly even more banal than the rest of the year, so, yesterday, I finished off the bodywork on the SE Finecast A4 mentioned earlier in these pages. I promised to show the valve gear construction, and that will be done over the next couple of days (contemporaneous with sorting out the K Class).

 

For now, though, thorough testing is important. I've mentioned that SIR NIGEL GRESLEY's job won't be on LB, but on a main line layout with a steep gradient, up which it'll be expected to haul a heavy train. So, load on 15 bogies, many kit-built and off she went. That should be enough!

 

SE Finecast A4 04.jpg

 

SE Finecast A4 05.jpg

What a splendid use of Dec 25th - I thoroughly approve! Looks like it's seen a ghost, mind...

[Tony Teague]

One thing I'm finding now is the DVDs I made with/for Activity Media/BRM are now freely available - on here, for instance. Although Chris and Wendy Walsh have retired and Activity Media is no more, does this not contravene copyright?

 

I am pretty certain that copyright is being breached through these being posted on YouTube, but this seems pretty common these days, and unless the copyright owner actively objects, it is unlikely that anything will be done about it. That does not make it right, of course.

Tony

[CUTLER2579]

I have just watched the new video of "Little Bytham" on you tube ans must thank Tom Foster, Simon Roberts and of course Tony himself.Great Video all round and lovely backing music. You would think one of them was a Musician.

 As for Chris and Wendy Walsh I am sure they will be enjoying walking near their lovely Lincolnshire home with hopefully their Dogs.

 

Regards,Derek.

[mullie]

I am pretty certain that copyright is being breached through these being posted on YouTube, but this seems pretty common these days, and unless the copyright owner actively objects, it is unlikely that anything will be done about it. That does not make it right, of course.

Tony

Most things on You Tube are a breach of copyright but as it is almost completely unregulated it has become one of those grey areas. Even if it's well known owner wanted to police it, the site is now so vast it would not be cost effective to do so. Only in exceptional circumstances do they ever seem to do anything about it.

 

The royalties paid by certain other well known sites are so small they are measured in units of less than a penny!

[CoViAnna]

As the person who posted the link I have now deleted it.

In my naivety I assumed that as YouTube were a global concern they would respect copyright as I expect they would soon go after someone legally who crossed them. It seems not. So I have deleted the link and offer my apologies.

[mullie]

As the person who posted the link I have now deleted it.

In my naivety I assumed that as YouTube were a global concern they would respect copyright as I expect they would soon go after someone legally who crossed them. It seems not. So I have deleted the link and offer my apologies.

Thanks for posting. I've been unable to get hold of a hard copy as it is no longer available and doesn't appear to be for sale on line secondhand at the moment (though that can change) so last night after everyone else in my house had gone to bed I sat and watched the first hour and learnt loads. The decision on whether the link should be posted probably rests with the moderators of this forum. As I said in my previous post it is such a grey area I don't think anyone is completely sure about the legalities of posting any more. I'm not even sure the relevant industries know what to do about it because anything can be posted by anyone including children, a Gmail account gives you your own channel.

 

I've decided to finish off my four wheel coach which will involve soldering up some steps then build one of the Lochgorm etched wagon kits I have to practice my soldering skills before tackling a chassis. This will also give the garage a month or so to warm up as it is too cold for any extended sessions at the moment. I won't post anymore on this matter so we can get back to railways but it is a matter I have to deal with in my work so have reasonable knowledge of copyright issues.

 

Martyn

[Dominion]

Dear Mullie, I was only able to get about half of my Activity Media DVDs directly from them.  The others I have gradually found on ebay. They come up periodically. Sometimes the listings have quite high prices, but other listings will come up later at reasonable starting prices for a used DVD.  Good luck in your search. Tom

[micklner]

Lovely stuff, as always, Mick. 

 

However, in the spirit of the day, may I point out one 'error', please? 

 

For some inexplicable reason, DUKE OF ROTHESAY was the only Thompson Pacific never to have the two little footplate steps at the bottom/front edge of the deflectors. 

 

Just out of some possible interest, though no group is considering building a new DUKE OF ROTHESAY, the P2 Group is effectively building a loco named after the same individual.

Hi Tony,

    The old Duke is no more than a what you would call a layout standard model and is getting on in years ,which shows in the lack of detail in some areas and clumsy castings, it still has a working XO4 motor.

    The small front steps can stay as they are, its not worth the hassle of removing them and then have to repair the resultant damage it would cause to the paint finish.

    I was expecting a comment re the difference between the Cab and Tender Footplate heights and no Brake Gear  !!.

 

Mick

Edited December 26, 2016 by micklner

[Tony Wright]

As the person who posted the link I have now deleted it.

In my naivety I assumed that as YouTube were a global concern they would respect copyright as I expect they would soon go after someone legally who crossed them. It seems not. So I have deleted the link and offer my apologies.

There's no need to offer apologies. 

 

As many have said, the site is so vast that to try and police it is impossible. 

 

I doubt if Chris and Wendy Walsh care too much now (the DVD you posted was made 14 years ago), but the posting of a DVD made very recently might diminish potential sales. 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

[Tony Wright]

Tony

I'm hoping you mean that the K class didn't go very well, rather than your deconstruction of it - which seems pretty thorough!

A belated Happy Christmas!

Tony

Tony,

 

My apologies for the ambiguity in my initial post. I should have said it didn't run very well.

 

The deconstruction went brilliantly. I just touched the pick-up pad and it just fell off and the wheels and motor came off/out without any trouble. I don't know if you know that the motor had been glued in place (in part). Fortunately the glue had no strength/bonding ability and just came away with ease.

 

The reconstruction went 'reasonably' well. Whenever I embark on such 'resurrecting' exercises I always begin with optimism. Why, I don't know, because I'm naturally lugubrious, but, there you go. The bearings were just a loose fit in the frames, so they must have been turning on the axles - thus brass-on-brass for running; not good. I soldered these in place, chucking away the one that had an east-west oval hole instead of a round one. I then reamed them to one eighth - they were under-sized at source. The slidebars were too long, so they fouled the connecting rod at bottom and top dead-centre. They're now the right length. The piston rods were the opposite - too short, and fell out when the coupling rod was at 3 o'clock on the LH side and 9 o'clock on the RH side. The cure? Soldering washers to the ends of the cylinders. I suppose because the running was so poor at source, it masked some of these symptoms.

 

When I came to alter the bodywork to accommodate the new motor/gearbox (taking a little section out of the bottom of the boiler, I was confronted with the forward part of the boiler being packed with orange Plasticene. I think it was supposed to hold some chips of lead in, but these had come loose and rattled around. The Plasticene is now in my dustbin (I assume you don't want it back). Why Plasticene inside a loco body? It's not that it's very heavy. 

 

Do you know who built it? The basic body construction is quite sound and the paintwork is very well-applied. 

 

I've fitted the vertical rails to the cab as well, and replaced the pony wheels.

 

The end result?

 

 

This now runs superbly with its Markits wheels and Mashima/DJH motor/gearbox. 

 

Tony.

Edited December 26, 2016 by Tony Wright

[Tony Wright]

As promised, the first shot of some of the SE Finecast A4 motion. 

 

 

 

The crossheads, backs of the cylinders and slidebars are lost-wax brass - distorted and blind. Most of the time 'building' this gear will be spent in drilling and cleaning up these bits. It's a job not for the faint-hearted, though when they're right they look substantial and 'heavy' - as the real things were. The etched gear isbeautifully-done.

 

 

I'll report tomorrow if I've got this far - a previous SE Finecast chassis I made for another A4. The lubricator drive is not supplied - I just made it from spare bits and pieces.

 

Edited because the pictures have got muddled up - my fault! They should be clear enough, though. 

Edited December 26, 2016 by Tony Wright

[Tony Teague]

Tony,

 

Do you know who built it? The basic body construction is quite sound and the paintwork is very well-applied. 

 

Tony.

Tony

Most grateful, and no, I have no idea who built it - but if they have read this they are hopefully hiding their head in shame!

I, perhaps, unwisely, bought the assembled loco from a 2nd hand dealer at Warley two years ago - largely because it is a fairly rare kit of a prototype not modelled by anyone else, and of course, it looked cosmetically better than it turned out to be underneath!

One lives and learns...

Looks a lot better now!

Tony

[Tony Wright]

This should be a direct link to the Tom Foster film of Little Bytham:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwPGPdepiZg

Thanks Alastair,

 

Looking at some of the DVD, it's a matter of importance that we shoot another next year. There's so much more been done, particularly the backscene, Willoughby Arms, station buildings and the footbridge, not to mention all the ground signals. 

[Tony Wright]

Tony

Most grateful, and no, I have no idea who built it - but if they have read this they are hopefully hiding their head in shame!

I, perhaps, unwisely, bought the assembled loco from a 2nd hand dealer at Warley two years ago - largely because it is a fairly rare kit of a prototype not modelled by anyone else, and of course, it looked cosmetically better than it turned out to be underneath!

One lives and learns...

Looks a lot better now!

Tony

Tony,

 

I don't know about 'hiding their head in shame'. At worst, I'd say this model is typical of the kind of kit-built loco one sees for sale second-hand nowadays. Most which pass through my hands don't run very well - well, not in my opinion. In some cases, I've been told that the builder/owner is very satisfied with the running, and, any 'tight spots' will disappear with running-in. I assure them, they won't. Grinding mechanisms are also going to become quiet with running-in - how? If they're noisy at source, then that's the way they'll stay. Yes, the might be a slight diminishing of noise over time - or, as I've frequently found, the noise gets worse.

 

The only cure I've really found is a complete stripping of the chassis, replacement of dodgy pick-ups and, in some cases, a replacement motor/gearbox. If the loco has K's wheels, they're replaced as well. On a 'practical' note (by that I mean, if I were doing this as a business), I'm not sure whether some loco-doctoring would be worth it. Markits drivers are over £12.00 per axle these days, carrying wheels over £3.00 per axle and a decent motor/gearbox combination up to £50.00. At 'mates'' rates it makes sense, but not if a professional were charging professional rates. The end-cost would probably be more than the model is worth. 

 

That said, you're right in describing the K Class as a prototype not modelled by anyone else (other than K's), though didn't Jidenco make a kit for one in 4mm? So, it's worth doing in that respect, even the chassis is still devoid of brakes. It now runs really sweetly and has realised its potential, or, at least, I think so. I can't see a K ever being offered RTR (but, who knows?) and you'll now run something out of the ordinary. Like the J15 last week, this is far more interesting than just opening a box and seeing an RTR item inside, wonderful though it might be. 

[Tony Wright]

 

If one models locos with outside motion, then stuff like this has to be done. 

 

Two hours' work resulted in the nearer bits and pieces for the LH side of the A4. Note the elongation in the big end. Anathema if the connecting rod actually did the driving, other than the other way round, but necessary otherwise the crosshead jams when fully forwards. Just one of the necessary dodges for getting outside motion to work smoothly with no tight spots. 

[CME and Bottlewasher]

There have been no more BRM DVDs on Little Bytham. 

 

The original intention was to do a couple a year to show the progress made, linked in with the magazine. Who was it who said ' If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans?' As is well-known, at the beginning of 2011, I became very ill and had to retire from full-time model railway journalism, so the whole programme was abandoned. 

 

If you look back through the pages of this thread, however, Tom Foster made a highly-creditable DVD of LB and put it on here/Youtube (Utube?) - I can't understand that. Can anyone with the necessary skills (obviously, not me) put that DVD in here, now, to save trailing back through umpteen pages? Just a thought. 

 

The intention is to do another next year, as an update; also a retro one, with LNER locos and stock. Watch this space. 

 

We're going to do them because we can, even though it is a lot of hard work (especially for Tom). There'll be no profit-incentive, because there is none. Whether BRM will do another LB DVD, I don't know, since it's no longer my call. Anyway, the ones we'll do will be over 30 minutes long, which is far longer that a slot on the free monthly DVD. 

 

One thing I'm finding now is the DVDs I made with/for Activity Media/BRM are now freely available - on here, for instance. Although Chris and Wendy Walsh have retired and Activity Media is no more, does this not contravene copyright? I still see copies for sale occasionally (heavily-discounted, obviously), so even at a lower price there'll be no chance of selling them; which, to me, doesn't seem right. 

 

I'll let folk know when we do the next LB DVDs. 

Hi Tony,

 

Thanks for the reply and the explanation - best laid plans and all that, I truly empathise.

 

I shall try and watch the You Tube film - thank you. Having any high quality layout, such as LB, on film immortalises it to a certain extent and that can only be a good thing.

 

AFAICT copyright exists on the RT DVDs almost in perpetuity (or at least 70 years or so?), especially relative to photos and film footage. Then there are such issues as royalties etc..I am no longer an IP expert, but it would be unwise (and unethical) for anyone to be making unauthorised copies of such.

 

Kind regards to all,

 

CME

Edited December 26, 2016 by CME and Bottlewasher

[grob1234]

Morning Tony,

 

Just on my way to work so a rather rushed reply, but thank you very much for the images of your A4s motion. These will be invaluable to me when I do my W1 which I'm mustering the courage to tackle!

 

Seasons greetings to you and Mo and all the best for the new year.

[jukebox]

*snip*

 

Note the elongation in the big end. Anathema if the connecting rod actually did the driving, other than the other way round, but necessary otherwise the crosshead jams when fully forwards. Just one of the necessary dodges for getting outside motion to work smoothly with no tight spots. 

 

A question on this comment, Tony: is this because the throw of the driving wheel is greater than the run of the crosshead? i.e. the driver's throw is not quite prototypical/overscale?

 

Cheers

 

Scott

[t-b-g]

SE Finecast A4 08.jpg

 

If one models locos with outside motion, then stuff like this has to be done. 

 

Two hours' work resulted in the nearer bits and pieces for the LH side of the A4. Note the elongation in the big end. Anathema if the connecting rod actually did the driving, other than the other way round, but necessary otherwise the crosshead jams when fully forwards. Just one of the necessary dodges for getting outside motion to work smoothly with no tight spots. 

 

Hello Tony and best wishes for the season, to you and all RMWebbers.

 

Looking at your photo of the elongated hole in the connecting rod and also at the assembled valve gear makes me wonder if something is slightly amiss with one or more of the components. When the crankpin is at the rear of the loco, the crosshead should be right at the back of the slidebar, which is as it is shown in the photo of the valve gear on its own. When it is assembled onto the loco, there seems to be a gap between the rear of the crosshead and the back of the slidebar.

 

Maybe the connecting rod is too long, or the cylinders too far back, or indeed the wheels to far forward, or a combination of those factors. The easiest to fix on a model would probably be to slightly shorten the connecting rod (or fit an alternative sightly shorter one if there is one available. Apart from doing away with the need to make the hole bigger, it would improve the appearance generally as by moving the crosshead slightly further back, you also alter the relationship it has with the union link and combination lever.

 

It was one of Malcolm's pet subjects and we spent many a happy hour poring over photos and drawings when he was working on some of his express locos. I am not telling tales by saying that some of his locos never quite got fettled properly in the running quality but he certainly taught me much about valve gear on LNER locos and the relationship between the components.

 

Nowadays, I can look at a model loco and quickly decide whether the valve gear looks right or not. One failing that I see many times is that on many classes of  loco modelled in mid gear, the lifting arm (the crank that is attached to the reversing lever behind the expansion link) should be in alignment with the radius rod to form a straight line. In many models I have seen it pointing up or down. It didn't bother me at all until I was educated. Now it stands out like a sore thumb.

 

All the best for the new year and I hope this thread will continue to educate and inspire.

 

Tony Gee