Wright writes.....

[LNER4479]

7 hours ago, john new said:

As they are small electrical items the relevant  guidance (possibly even now a mandatory rule?) is IIRC that they should be recycled in the small electrical items bin at the recycling centre.l.

Probably the WEEE* Regulations 2013

(*Waste Electrical & Electronic Equipment)

 

For what it's worth ...

(candidate for the most boring post of the day)

[Barry Ten]

1 hour ago, LNER4479 said:

 

(candidate for the most boring post of the day)

 

I do like a challenge.

 

Here's my entry, some foamcore.

 

 

I'd got into the bad habit of leaving locos on a Billy bookcase shelf, fine itself, but there was too much temptation to start a second layer, with no more than a sheet of bubble-wrap between the two. Hence this wine-cellar type arrangement, knocked up over a few evenings last week from a few sheets of foamcore. The interior width of a Billy is about 30 inches, room for 15 engines. I made the partitions 2.5 inches high and 11 deep, which is enough for all but the biggest locos. The whole lot was assembled with PVA.

 

 

 

 

[TrevorP1]

15 minutes ago, Barry Ten said:

 

I do like a challenge.

 

Here's my entry, some foamcore.

 

 

I'd got into the bad habit of leaving locos on a Billy bookcase shelf, fine itself, but there was too much temptation to start a second layer, with no more than a sheet of bubble-wrap between the two. Hence this wine-cellar type arrangement, knocked up over a few evenings last week from a few sheets of foamcore. The interior width of a Billy is about 30 inches, room for 15 engines. I made the partitions 2.5 inches high and 11 deep, which is enough for all but the biggest locos. The whole lot was assembled with PVA.

 

 

 

 

 

How do you get on getting the locos out? I'd be worried that I'd damage something. A good idea though.

[Barry Ten]

Just now, TrevorP1 said:

 

How do you get on getting the locos out? I'd be worried that I'd damage something. A good idea though.

 

At the moment it's just by pulling gently on the buffers, but the intention is to make some shallow card trays that the

whole loco slides out on, when I can get around to it.

[TrevorP1]

1 minute ago, Barry Ten said:

 

At the moment it's just by pulling gently on the buffers, but the intention is to make some shallow card trays that the

whole loco slides out on, when I can get around to it.

 

Food for thought. I need to sort something out. Thank you.

[Tony Wright]

2 hours ago, Barry Ten said:

 

I do like a challenge.

 

Here's my entry, some foamcore.

 

 

I'd got into the bad habit of leaving locos on a Billy bookcase shelf, fine itself, but there was too much temptation to start a second layer, with no more than a sheet of bubble-wrap between the two. Hence this wine-cellar type arrangement, knocked up over a few evenings last week from a few sheets of foamcore. The interior width of a Billy is about 30 inches, room for 15 engines. I made the partitions 2.5 inches high and 11 deep, which is enough for all but the biggest locos. The whole lot was assembled with PVA.

 

 

 

 

Good evening Al,

 

Don't forget you'll have to make more spaces; for what's waiting for you here!

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

 

 

[westernviscount]

A little update on my Comet kits BR(w) auto trailer...

 

A decent layout vehicle? 

 

And it's loco...

 

[Ken.W]

10 hours ago, MikeTrice said:

This is a crual enlargement of one of their LNER 4mm Torpedo Vents. Beautiful.

 

 

Indeed

These arrived in my latest order at lunchtime (Thurs)

 

 

 

The Torpedo vents are the best LNER Vents I've seen, other than on the real thing!

 

Kitchen roof vents, first time I've seen them available

 

Buffet counter set, the till even has some of the price flags raised

 

Two of the three types of dynamos and battery boxes, and a dynamo regulator box - another first AFAIK. Handles on the boxes even have gaps behind them

 

I'm very impressed with these

[Tony Wright]

9 hours ago, westernviscount said:

A little update on my Comet kits BR(w) auto trailer...

 

A decent layout vehicle? 

 

And it's loco...

 

A decent vehicle (and locomotive) anywhere!

 

And, a wonderful example of natural weathering.

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

[Bernard Lamb]

15 hours ago, Tony Wright said:

Good afternoon Bernard,

 

A green loco (to the right) at Rugby in 1942? It would appear to be displaying discs, so somewhere on the Southern? Especially with that lattice post signal.

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

Good morning Tony.

You have noticed what I noticed and come to the same way of thinking.

However some wagons are showing large LMS insignia just to confuse the issue.

My feeling is that the men were drawn well away from any railway area and the background was from a totally different time and place.

My thinking is that the men are from Rugby. This would account for the painting being in Rugby art gallery, while the scene is based on a location south of the Thames.

Coming across this picture I wonder what other gems are hidden away in local collections.

I do know that there are, in the words of a staff member, tens of thousands. of photographs stored at Duxford that have never been witten up, many supposedly covering railway subjects.

Bernard

 

[18131r]

8 hours ago, Ken.W said:

 

Indeed

These arrived in my latest order at lunchtime (Thurs)

 

 

 

The Torpedo vents are the best LNER Vents I've seen, other than on the real thing!

 

Kitchen roof vents, first time I've seen them available

 

Buffet counter set, the till even has some of the price flags raised

 

Two of the three types of dynamos and battery boxes, and a dynamo regulator box - another first AFAIK. Handles on the boxes even have gaps behind them

 

I'm very impressed with these

Hi

 

Please do you have the web address for this supplier.

I have tried searching for it without success. I've found every other 3d print supplier but not this one.

 

Thanks

 

Richard

[Tony Wright]

This morning, Geoff Haynes brought along couple of models he's painted for photography..........

 

 

An O gauge GWR streamlined diesel railcar. 

 

 

And a Hornby A1 in original GNR livery. 

 

 

[Bucoops]

2 hours ago, 18131r said:

Hi

 

Please do you have the web address for this supplier.

I have tried searching for it without success. I've found every other 3d print supplier but not this one.

 

Thanks

 

Richard

 

They sell on ebay - I usually suggest people make first contact that way - https://www.ebay.co.uk/usr/floyd_kraemer

 

[MikeTrice]

When I wanted their Torpedo Vents they had not been listed for some time so I sent them a message and they put some up for me.

[Tony Wright]

Readers might recall my mentioning of a pair of GWR siphons...........

 

I sold one and bought the other...........

 

 

Repainting it into BR livery.

 

Cambridge Custom Transfers kindly supplied the numbers/letters. These are very fine and beautifully-printed.

 

Sheet BL159 caters for all the siphons in BR condition. 

 

Weathering awaits!

 

 

Edited September 8, 2023 by Tony Wright
to add something

[Ken.W]

3 hours ago, 18131r said:

Hi

 

Please do you have the web address for this supplier.

I have tried searching for it without success. I've found every other 3d print supplier but not this one.

 

Thanks

 

Richard

 

Hi

 

He doesn't have his own website, and just sells them on ebay

(which seems to mean only currently available items are listed)

 

Search ebay for floyd_kraemer

 

Edit: Oops, beaten to it

Edited September 8, 2023 by Ken.W

[18131r]

2 hours ago, Bucoops said:

 

They sell on ebay - I usually suggest people make first contact that way - https://www.ebay.co.uk/usr/floyd_kraemer

 

 

1 hour ago, MikeTrice said:

When I wanted their Torpedo Vents they had not been listed for some time so I sent them a message and they put some up for me.

 

1 hour ago, Ken.W said:

 

Hi

 

He doesn't have his own website, and just sells them on ebay

(which seems to mean only currently available items are listed)

 

Search ebay for floyd_kraemer

 

Edit: Oops, beaten to it

Hi

Thank you

Much apreciated

Richard

[Chuffer Davies]

Anyone know if it is possible to get replacement brushes and brush springs for Mashima motors?  I am doing some loco doctoring for a colleague and I’m fairly certain the brushes are warn out.

Frank

Edited September 8, 2023 by Chuffer Davies

[polybear]

18 minutes ago, Chuffer Davies said:

Anyone know if it is possible to get replacement brushes and brush springs for Mashima motors?  I am doing some loco doctoring for a colleague and I’m fairly certain the brushes are warn out.

Frank

 

 

Try Scalelink:

 

https://www.scalelink.co.uk/acatalog/Sundry_Items__Lead_Foil__Chain_Etc_.html

 

(quite a long way down the page)

 

- or Branchlines

 

HTH

Brian

[pete55]

7 hours ago, Chuffer Davies said:

Anyone know if it is possible to get replacement brushes and brush springs for Mashima motors?  I am doing some loco doctoring for a colleague and I’m fairly certain the brushes are warn out.

Frank

 

I'd try ringing Branchlines. Got some Mashima items from them at Expo back in May.

Edited September 8, 2023 by pete55

[stewartingram]

4 hours ago, 18131r said:

 

I've not actually bought anything from him as yet, but I have listed him as a favourite with ebay, and get regular (weekly?) updates of his latest postings.

 

[Barry Ten]

On 07/09/2023 at 09:12, TrevorP1 said:

I’ve had the same Grange experience as you Tony, also on other locos from Hornby. I once owned three Hornby Granges but I became so frustrated with their various foibles that I stripped them all down to produce two ‘good’ ones. One of the latter has now begun to make ominous grinding noises… Perhaps I should have built some kits! 
 

Perhaps these models are like washing machines and TVs - thrown away when they go wrong. An anathema to those who read this thread of course!

 

Prompted by the talk of Granges, I thought I'd have a look at one of my two that's become a non-runner. I've got a GWR one and a BR Black one - not sure what the name/number was originally, but mine has etched plates, running as 6873 Caradoc Grange-*.

 

It wasn't running and my notes say I put a decoder in it (I also put a dab of red paint under the chassis) so since it failed to respond to any attempts to reprogram or reset the decoder, I assumed something rather catastrophic must have happened. It didn't buzz on DCC, so I couldn't have removed the decoder, right? Or so I thought. When I opened it up, there was just a blanking plate, indicating that I had indeed pinched the decoder out of it. As to the mystery of why it didn't buzz  - or run on DC - one of the wires to the motor needed resoldering. Once I'd done that, it started up again but was very stiff, with the motor running hot - maybe not surprising in that it hasn't run for a while. I gave it some gentle re-lubrication and running-in on the rolling road, and it suddenly loosened up very nicely. I whipped in a new decoder and set it to 6873, and then had the "fun" of reassembling it. Once done, though, it ran well and had no trouble with a 20 wagon freight. I can only imagine that I must have snagged the motor wire when putting it back together after pinching the original decoder.

 

*-chosen for the local connection to "Caradog", Griffith Rhys Jones, an early exponent of the male voice choir, who was born in Trecynon and still has a statue in Aberdare.

Edited September 8, 2023 by Barry Ten
typo

[Woodcock29]

Over the last year I've had to overhaul a large collection of RTR models I was selling for an old chap. He'd fitted DCC to most including to several old Bachmann split chassis locos. So I needed to remove the decoders in most instances to be able to test them on my DC.

Managed to get most running including 2 Granges. Most were sold to our BRMA members as DC models.

 

Didn't have much trouble removing bodies including from the Granges. Mainly just had to remember how each type came apart. Have also just overhauled another Grange for friend- just needed relubrication as it hasn't run for quite a while.

 

Have to agree with comment above about working on Heljan steam locos - they are simply awful to pull apart and fit back together. I found that when working on my O2/3. Their very fine wiring is terrible. I ended up doing away with using tender pickups on that after I removed the awful coupling arrangement. It wa too hard to get wires back into the engine from tender.

 

Now I have a garratt to fix that had fallen on the floor! Got it really cheap and I'll keep that but the wiring of the units is all shot! Also another really cheap O2/3 that doesn't run properly - also exceedingly cheap. Hoping to rebuild it to an O2/1 if I can get the new low footplate as a spare in due course.

Andrew

Edited September 8, 2023 by Woodcock29
Typos

[TrevorP1]

23 minutes ago, Woodcock29 said:

Over the last year I've had to overhaul a large collection of RTR models I was selling for an old chap. He'd fitted DCC to most including to several old Bachmann split chassis locos. So I needed to remove the decoders in most instances to be able to test them on my DC.

Managed to get most running including 2 Granges. Most were sold to our BRMA members as DC models.

 

Didn't have much trouble removing bodies including from the Granges. Mainly just had to remember how each type came apart. Have also just overhauled another Grange for friend- just needed relubrication as it hasn't run for quite a while.

 

Have to agree with comment above about working on Heljan steam locos - they are simply awful to pull apart and fit back together. I found that when working on my O2/3. Their very fine wiring is terrible. I ended up doing away with using tender pickups on that after I removed the awful coupling arrangement. It wa too hard to get wires back into the engine from tender.

 

Now I have a garratt to fix that had fallen on the floor! Got it really cheap and I'll keep that but the wiring of the units is all shot! Also another really cheap O2/3 that doesn't run properly - also exceedingly cheap. Hoping to rebuild it to an O2/1 if I can get the new low footplate as a spare in due course.

Andrew

I’ve recently resurrected a couple of Hornby T9s that had seen better days. I find there’s a great deal of satisfaction in making an abandoned model work properly again.

[Tony Wright]

With discussion about how difficult (or, how easy) it is to remove RTR loco bodies, what about the various loco-to-tender coupling arrangements? Because of the 'demands' of DCC, what that usually means is provision needed for a decoder (and a speaker) inside the tender. Which means a serpent's nest of wires going between the two principal units. 

 

It's accepted that I have a 'prejudice' with regard to DCC, and here's a reason why................

 

 

 

The drawbars on a Hornby 'Nelson' and 'Princess Royal'. It's not so much the drawbars themselves, but that ghastly plug-and-socket arrangement to carry the current between the loco and tender. Is there an actual tool which can separate the plug from the socket, with ease? It might be my clumsiness (probably is), but on one occasion in attempting to prise the two apart (using tweezers), one of the wires became detached! At that point, I gave up, cut off the plug, traced the wires through to the motor, soldered which to which as was necessary, and the loco then ran fine (minus tender pick-ups, of course; which aren't necessary with live-frog points). 

 

 

The same system appears to have been perpetuated on Hornby's TT range. 

 

However...........

 

 

On Hornby's latest P2 models, there is this 'push-together' arrangement - which is an absolute doddle. 

 

 

Was it inspired by Dapol's example? 

 

The more functions a model has..........

 

 

Then more inter-connecting wires are needed! 

 

This is Dapol's 'Black Label' A4.

 

 

There isn't a drawbar as such - just a peg-and-slot arrangement. The plug comes out of its socket more-easily than does Hornby's.

 

All these wires - I don't know!

 

 

I go for simplicity.

 

No wires needed (live-frog points all round), and a sprung drawbar arrangement (courtesy of the late Brian van Meeteren). Just a split-pin passing through a hole in the loco's dragbeam, trapping a coil spring, then a piece of shaped .45mm nickel silver wire, soldered to the tender frames behind the leading axle, passing through a slot in the tender's dragbeam. On tighter radii, the two units just separate further...........