Wright writes.....

[CF MRC]

The chapter house in St Thomas St actually contained an operating theatre extension of the original St Thomas’ Hospital which presumably communicated with the wing of the hospital that is now the Post Office building. The coming of the railway was too close for comfort for the governors of St Thomas’ and so they upped sticks and moved to Lambeth, opposite the Palace of Westminster. The other wing of the hospital was demolished, leaving just Guy’s Hospital at London Bridge. The two hospitals re-merged in 1993.  
 

All this has absolutely nothing to do with railways, but I do have a fantastic train set to look down on from Guy’s Tower. 

The Chapter House and Southwark Cathedral are in the bottom right hand corner. 
 

Tim

Edited October 31, 2023 by CF MRC

[gr.king]

4 hours ago, Chas Levin said:

 

That's very interesting, nice job! 

 

Did it have any effects on the running, aside from the positive ones on adhesion and haulage you mentioned? I was wondering if for example it might have made the drive train a little less free running, with the extra gears to drive?

 

I didn't notice any negative effects Chas, but that of course doesn't prove that there are none. I worked out an available gear ratio that came within about 5% (if I remember correctly) of matching the large and small wheel rim speeds. I wondered if that would be close enough, but then when I worked out what happens on something like a 2 foot radius curve I realised that the discrepancy between the speeds at which the inside and outside wheels ideally ought to turn is something similar. That gave me the confidence to try the arrangement, without fearing that the friction due to constantly slipping wheels would be excessive.  You'll notice that I used the "spare" coupled wheelset in the gear train, rather than the one directly driven by the motor. The gears of course would instead have to involve the motor-driven axle in a Single, there being only one axle available!  Would two gears fit side by side?

[Tony Wright]

4 hours ago, ecgtheow said:

 

Graham Nicholas has found a far better use for his ex-place of worship..............

 

Surely you mean it's a place not an "ex-place" or somewhere that no longer exists of former worship or ex-worship if you prefer? Posted to tease you!

 

William

Tease away William.

 

I still think my phrase is correct - it was a place of worship (a chapel), but now it's not. 

 

In fact, immediately prior to it housing Graham's splendid layouts of Grantham and Carlisle, it was an ex-garage/ex-workshop. 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

[Tony Wright]

4 hours ago, CF MRC said:

That’s the one. The distinctive copper cupola stands out in the distance. 
 

Tim

Good evening Tim,

 

Is it present on this image?

 

 

Or did I take this shot before it was added?

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

 

 

[Buhar]

3 hours ago, Compound2632 said:

 

Isn't that simply a change of denomination rather than change of use?

I think that happened when Hills of the North ousted Grantham.

 

Alan

 

[Tony Wright]

I took some moving footage of Heljan's latest O Gauge Deltic on Chris Walsh's layout this afternoon........

 

 

 

As well as these stills. 

[CF MRC]

Your view is to the SW, Tony. Highgate is to the north.  The copper cupola is just visible above St Mary’s Free Catholic Church (a weird sect I hadn’t heard of). 

Courtesy Phil Parker 

 

Tim

[Barry Ten]

On the topic of Singles, this is more of a problem case than a solution, but I thought it worth showing.

 

 

It's an M&L Dean Single which was bought in a partly finished condition. I've soldered a few more bits together but it's still very much a work in progress. It runs quite well as a standalone loco, but the top speed is a bit slow so it doesn't have much in reserve when under load. I feel it should be faster, especially with those big drivers, so some kind of remotoring/regearing may be required. I've only ever done very limited testing with a borrowed tender but it struggles with more than about three coaches.

 

Every now and then I get it out of the box, fiddle with it for a few hours, then put it back and get on with something else. I hope I crack it one day.

Edited October 31, 2023 by Barry Ten
typo

[LNER4479]

8 hours ago, Tony Wright said:

Graham Nicholas has found a far better use for his ex-place of worship..............

 

 

Thanks Tony (and others) for the mention - you beat me to it (been out all day).

 

Now with full length balcony (currently being fitted out) ...

 

... affording aerial views of layout.

 

Just needs a bridge I can put a bus on ...

 

[thegreenhowards]

13 hours ago, Tony Wright said:

Good morning Andy,

 

Can you carefully (with an 00 sable) change one of the '5's to an '8', weathering a little more afterwards? And the other to a '6'? 

 

Or, paint out part of any number to suggest a replacement plank? In my experience, these new planks were never painted - just left in plain wood finish.

 

As for 'masterclass', I'm not sure about that!

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

Thanks to all who replied to me. I don’t really want to spend £25 on an HMRS transfer sheet for two numbers, so I’ll give the fine sable approach a go. I suspect that I’ll need to give it a heavy weathering to hide my none too subtle brushwork!

 

I’ll report back when I’ve given it a go.

 

Andy

 

Edited October 31, 2023 by thegreenhowards

[polybear]

8 hours ago, thegreenhowards said:

Thanks to all who replied to me. I don’t really want to spend £25 on an HMRS transfer sheet for two numbers, so I’ll give the fine sable approach a go. I suspect that I’ll need to give it a heavy weathering to hide my none too subtle brushwork!

 

I’ll report back when I’ve given it a go.

 

Andy

 

 

Perhaps an ad in the "Wanted" section for the numbers you want might be worth a try?  After all, how many people actually use all the transfers on a sheet, with many gathering a collection of part-used sheets.  At that price I assume this is 7mm scale - I've just taken a quick look at the HMRS site and all the 4mm stuff seemed to be under a tenner.  

[60526]

On 31/10/2023 at 10:02, gr.king said:

 

As you probably know, the Rapido NRM single has driven trailing wheels too.  I haven't yet attempted to build a single, but I did find space in an Atlantic to add suitably geared drive to the trailing wheels, courtesy of a bag of mixed cheap nylon gears and axles from Squires some years ago, giving it six wheel drive hence much better adhesion and haulage power, as well as ensuring that those trailing wheels tracked correctly without the aid of any other special measures, since they could be set up to carry weight just as the coupled wheels always do.  There's nothing to stop you from arranging for as much weight as possible from the tender to also ride on that driven rear end of the loco too. The bogie is also pivoted to miss the cylinders by the way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Graeme, thanks for the response, the gear train looks like a good option, unless there has been one on Grantham I'm not aware that I've seen a Rapido Single. Does your Atlantic run on Grantham? I'm still going to look for details of a tender motor/cardan shaft drive, I'd be able to pack out the loco body with extra weight, but it would only be single wheel drive. As for piggy backing the tender onto the loco, I can remember the explanation you gave for your D10 with the loco drive axles pivoting together within the loco frames, it was on video? Pulled about 20 coaches, impressive.

[john new]

12 hours ago, thegreenhowards said:

Thanks to all who replied to me. I don’t really want to spend £25 on an HMRS transfer sheet for two numbers, so I’ll give the fine sable approach a go. I suspect that I’ll need to give it a heavy weathering to hide my none too subtle brushwork!

 

I’ll report back when I’ve given it a go.

 

Andy

 

As an alternative do Sharpie do a correct colour? Personally I would find the solid nib of a pen easier than a fine brush that is flexible for small lettering. I have done brush letters for chalk names on wagons, isn't that I can’t, just don’t find it easy and am intending to try Sharpies on a recent cheaply bought parcels van as an experiment.

[cctransuk]

15 minutes ago, john new said:

As an alternative do Sharpie do a correct colour? Personally I would find the solid nib of a pen easier than a fine brush that is flexible for small lettering. I have done brush letters for chalk names on wagons, isn't that I can’t, just don’t find it easy and am intending to try Sharpies on a recent cheaply bought parcels van as an experiment.

 

For wagon / NPCCS chalked inscriptions, I can supply a transfer sheet - BL99 - with extremely varied writing styles, as per the prototype! 150 markings!

 

John Isherwood,

Cambridge Custom Transfers.

Edited November 1, 2023 by cctransuk

[Kirby Uncoupler]

15 hours ago, CF MRC said:

Your view is to the SW, Tony. Highgate is to the north.  The copper cupola is just visible above St Mary’s Free Catholic Church (a weird sect I hadn’t heard of). 

Courtesy Phil Parker 

 

Tim

My recently late French aunt Suze was a practising Catholic, and her Welsh husband (on my Mother's side) had converted to keep things sweet, and enable them to marry in church, whilst living in Rhodesia/now Zimbabwe. After UDI in 1965, my uncle brought the family back to the UK, and they stayed at Kirby Towers in Penn Road, which is just a couple of blocks north of the church, modelled at the north end of the Copenhagen Fields layout. Come Sunday (in 1966/67) my aunt needed to attend a service, so the Kirby clan suggested this very church, having seen the "Catholic" sign outside. Taking their three children along, they entered into the sparsely attended service (less than 10), to their horror everything was spoken and sung in Latin, they were in the "wrong branch" of Catholicism (it's complicated), so they beat a hasty retreat, and sneaked out.

    I used to walk past, or be driven past, that church every day of my life, often on the way to the Tube, it was a strange place of worship, rather run-down, and there never seemed to be any activity? The crypt had been let out to a clothing manufacturer (sweatshop), and had a separate entrance on the east side, complete with colourful sign, which was out of keeping with the architecture. The church eventually fell into dis-use, was demolished in the late 70s/early 80s.

    From the top floor of Kirby Towers, the view north was dominated by that weathered copper cupola (another Catholic church) around two miles away, alongside the equally prominent "Suicide Bridge", as the Archway Bridge was referred to by all North Londoners. Even at that distance, the gap/cutting through the Northern Heights was very distinctive, and you could see the cars crossing the bridge, even at night. Amongst our neighbours were actors Kate Winslet, Bob Hoskins and Julian (?), who played the character from "Rumpole Of The Bailey" (with the Wagnerian named children), and not forgetting Copenhagen Fields team member Martin Cook. I live "overseas" now, but I miss N7, well some of it!

                                                                                                                  Brian Kirby.

[Chas Levin]

21 hours ago, Tony Wright said:

ecgtheow wrote: "Graham Nicholas has found a far better use for his ex-place of worship..............

 

Surely you mean it's a place not an "ex-place" or somewhere that no longer exists of former worship or ex-worship if you prefer? Posted to tease you!

 

William"

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Tease away William.

 

I still think my phrase is correct - it was a place of worship (a chapel), but now it's not. 

 

In fact, immediately prior to it housing Graham's splendid layouts of Grantham and Carlisle, it was an ex-garage/ex-workshop. 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

 

"Look, matey, I know a ex-chapel when I see one, and I'm looking at one right now. This garage is no more! If you hadn't nailed it to the ground it'd be pushing up the daisies! THIS IS AN EX-PLACE!"

[Ray Flintoft]

On 30/10/2023 at 19:45, Tony Wright said:

Good evening Ray,

 

You did warn me, but I knew already. 

 

I picked up the Comet B1 chassis today, so I'll be building that very soon. Horn blocks? Horn guides? Springing? Too fiddly for me!

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

 

On 30/10/2023 at 19:45, Tony Wright said:

Good evening Ray,

 

You did warn me, but I knew already. 

 

I picked up the Comet B1 chassis today, so I'll be building that very soon. Horn blocks? Horn guides? Springing? Too fiddly for me!

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

  Generally speaking, I am in agreement with you regarding springs, compensation et al. However , I built my Proscale B.1's years ago, possibly before Comet produced a B.1 chassis kit & certainly before the later more accurate one. Due to this I decided to have a go at the sprung horn blocks . Was it fiddly? Yes. Do they run any better than the Nu- Cast B.1's I have built? No, but at least I got there in the end. They are, incidentally, the only sprung locomotives I have built!

                                 Best Wishes,

                                            Ray. 

[MJI]

I think singles are a good place to use tender drives removed from locos with more wheels, converted to loco drive.

[gr.king]

6 hours ago, 60526 said:

 

Graeme, thanks for the response, the gear train looks like a good option, unless there has been one on Grantham I'm not aware that I've seen a Rapido Single. Does your Atlantic run on Grantham? I'm still going to look for details of a tender motor/cardan shaft drive, I'd be able to pack out the loco body with extra weight, but it would only be single wheel drive. As for piggy backing the tender onto the loco, I can remember the explanation you gave for your D10 with the loco drive axles pivoting together within the loco frames, it was on video? Pulled about 20 coaches, impressive.

The six wheel drive Atlantic and an example of the Rapido NRM Stirling Single (the latter in move nine-and-three-quarters) have indeed appeared on Grantham.

[Kirby Uncoupler]

As an amusing afterthought, if CF Tim extended the Copenhagen Fields baseboards, north by a few feet, he could then model the old Holloway Prison (which looked like a Disney fairy castle), Kirby Towers, AND Doctor Crippen's house, which was demolished in the 1950s. Crippen was hanged in Pentonville Prison, which is on the east side of Caledonian Road, so just off-scene on the CF layout. BTW, Pierrepoint the hangman, would arrive and depart by bus or trolley in The Cally, at either of the two hanging jails, carrying his tools of the trade in a small suitcase, having come to London from Manchester, by train at St.Pancras. or Euston.  No doubt he sometimes used the Cally tube station, which iwas halfway between the two jails, lots of prison staff would commute via here too.  BK

[jwealleans]

2 hours ago, gr.king said:

The six wheel drive Atlantic and an example of the Rapido NRM Stirling Single (the latter in move nine-and-three-quarters) have indeed appeared on Grantham.

 

Indeed they have: here are 4426 at Leeds show, on one of the heaviest teak expresses we run, the 13:40 down to Ripon and York -

 

(Photo Graham Nicholas)

 

.. and No. 1 on its way to Move 9 3/4.

 

(Photo Tony Wright)

 

Edited November 1, 2023 by jwealleans

[Tony Wright]

14 hours ago, Ray Flintoft said:

 

  Generally speaking, I am in agreement with you regarding springs, compensation et al. However , I built my Proscale B.1's years ago, possibly before Comet produced a B.1 chassis kit & certainly before the later more accurate one. Due to this I decided to have a go at the sprung horn blocks . Was it fiddly? Yes. Do they run any better than the Nu- Cast B.1's I have built? No, but at least I got there in the end. They are, incidentally, the only sprung locomotives I have built!

                                 Best Wishes,

                                            Ray. 

Good evening Ray,

 

I've only ever tried to build one sprung locomotive - a Brassmasters Beames LNWR 0-8-4T. I failed miserably to get it to go, until I jigged every hornblock up and soldered the lot solid. It then worked fine! It runs on Rob Kinsey's EM Merthyr Riverside......

 

 

Very well!

 

Seen before but worth a second look? Geoff Haynes painted it.

 

 

The Comet B1 frames matched the Pro-Scale ones very well, with just a small amount of metal needing removal. 

 

Once again Markits wheels proved their efficacy. These are temporarily in place to check all was square. They're off now so I can paint the frames, to be put back on again tomorrow! 

 

By the way, is anyone interested in the Pro-Scale B1 chassis (those who can build sprung locos?)? I'll be selling it for CRUK. If anyone would like it, please PM me. The complete Comet B1 chassis cost around £35.00 (no wheels), so £25.00 for the Pro-Scale one (no wheels, of course)? Building such a thing is beyond me!

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

 

 

Edited November 2, 2023 by Tony Wright
missing letters

[thegreenhowards]

13 hours ago, polybear said:

 

Perhaps an ad in the "Wanted" section for the numbers you want might be worth a try?  After all, how many people actually use all the transfers on a sheet, with many gathering a collection of part-used sheets.  At that price I assume this is 7mm scale - I've just taken a quick look at the HMRS site and all the 4mm stuff seemed to be under a tenner.  

Yes 7mm. I think that makes the brush approach slightly easier.

 

10 hours ago, john new said:

As an alternative do Sharpie do a correct colour? Personally I would find the solid nib of a pen easier than a fine brush that is flexible for small lettering. I have done brush letters for chalk names on wagons, isn't that I can’t, just don’t find it easy and am intending to try Sharpies on a recent cheaply bought parcels van as an experiment.

That’s an idea. I think my lining pen should have the same effect, so I may try that as an alternative to the brush.

 

Andy

[Jol Wilkinson]

15 hours ago, Tony Wright said:

Good evening Ray,

 

I've only ever tried to build one sprung locomotive - a Brassmasters Beames LNWR 0-8-4T. I failed miserably to get it to go, until I jigged every hornblock up and soldered the lot solid. It then worked fine! It runs on Rob Kinsey's EM Merthyr Riverside......

 

 

Very well!

 

Seen before but worth a second look? Geoff Haynes painted it.

 

 

The Comet B1 frames matched the Pro-Scale ones very well, with just a small amount of metal needing removal. 

 

Once again Markits wheels proved their efficacy. These are temporarily in place to check all was square. They're off now so I can paint the frames, to be put back on again tomorrow! 

 

By the way, is anyone interested in the Pro-Scale B1 chassis (those who can build sprung locos?)? I'll be selling it for CRUK. If anyone would like it, please PM me. The complete Comet B1 chassis cost around £35.00 (no wheels), so £25.00 for the Pro-Scale one (no wheels, of course)? Building such a thing is beyond me!

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

 

 

 

This LNWR Class C 0-8-0 from the LRM kit has a fixed driven rear axle, compensation between the two leading axles and is sprung on the third, flangeless wheels, axle. Runs very well on Sharman P4 plastic centre wheels - absolute heresy!

 

Edited November 2, 2023 by Jol Wilkinson
typo

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

On 31/10/2023 at 10:47, melmoth said:

True, but from my unscientific experience, church weddings tend to take place on Saturdays and funerals in the week...

...and by statute, only during the hours of daylight, at least in England; few people realise that. It can get very tight December and January what with minimal daylight hours, bank holidays and general national alcoholic inebriation; combined with a tendency for deaths from old age to be higher in the cold and wet.

 

On 31/10/2023 at 15:51, grahame said:

A garret is the top of a building aka an attic.

Wasn't it Johnson who mangled this definition in his dictionary? Managed to define a garret as the highest room in the house, and 'cockloft' as a room above the garret.

 

Lexicographers, your advice is required