davefrk

Damage to stock? yes very much.... We had a rake of Hornby Gresley and Thompson subs sitting on the club layout Larbert for track testing and the morning sun did for the glazing turning it opaque so they can only face one way now until replacement. In another room I put up old curtains to protect my stock on Wharfeside from the afternoon sun and it seems to have worked, so far. Dave.

DCC, yeah right, I've enough problems programming my satnav. Perth? yes but don't know what day yet, are you guys going to make it. Dave.

Been to the club today and managed to finish one of the fiddleyard panels, just a few LEDs to wire up to the switches fitted to the point motors, all now working, hurrah for me. Dave

All this talk of BR Britannias had me taking the camera to the club today, was determined to finish the LEDs on the up fiddleyard control panel, didn't take long so took a snap of a Brit on a bridge then home again. DJH Britannia built over thirty years ago with iirc, a Crownline BR1D coal pusher tender which isn't quite right, I will modify it one day. The 4F is Bachmann modified to an early LMS built one by stripping the beading off the splashers but still right hand drive. Viaduct based on Lob Gyll viaduct on the Wharfedale line, built in plastic sheet with stone overlays on a ply frame using a Midland Railway drawing. Dave.

It's a sad day if you have to think about it Porcy. Dave F.

Just can't quite see the bufferstops from here....😀

Having been asked if I was able to replace the missing pictures on the Wharfeside thread by a number of people I've managed to replace most but some are still hiding from me. To be honest I wasn't going to bother as I'm not on this place much these days but as people were asking I thought I better. The layout has been getting worked on every club night with fettling and wiring improvements or fixes, 12 uncoupling electro magnets have been fitted in strategic places, switches fitted to the panel, all wired up and working well. A weird fault at one end of the fiddleyard was showing up when certain points were set with one road being dead when it's point was set against it but became live again when a different point was set a certain way, this caused some head scratching for weeks but last Thursday the problem was finally found and sorted. So there we are, I'll try to post progress as it happens including the loco building which I now've got a bit more time for, 2P, B16 Black 5, 8F etc.

Oi!, less of the 'Great Uncle' if you don't mind.... Dave.

Hi Paul, the cores were 6mm x 150mm nails off ebay cut to 40mm long and these nylon washers also ebay https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/133930274723?var=433379499252 available in different sizes. The 15mm nylon washers were 5mm bore so I used a taper reamer to open them out till they were just a tight fit on the nail/cores. First I put a few turns of Tamiya 18mm masking tape on the core then fitted the washers, drilled a 0.5 hole in the bottom end washer to allow the enamel copper wire through and start winding with the core held in a cordless drill till the windings were just under the diameter of the washers then wound more tape round the coil trapping the wire tails which after burning the enamel off with a lighter and tinning will be put into a chocolate block connector. I,ve made these for a few layouts over the years and I believe the layout Montague Field which was at Glasgow still has them in use with B&B couplings. The brackets are N/S and just stop the magnet falling out the hole. My Jackson type couplings work fine with 12volts and a small 3 amp pushbutton switch.

Thanks guys, will try to finish the signal box before any other building work although the goods shed does have four walls done for a demo at the last Model Rail Scotland. Talking of which I hear a few people were asking where I was this weekend which was nice of them. I had decided due to my health condition I would stay home this time however work has continued as I have now wound all the electro magnet uncouplers I need for the layout so time has been used constructively. I have heard Model Rail was quite busy though it was difficult to tell due to the wider aisles to allow some distancing, our demo guys did well so good on you guys.

I mentioned a viaduct which has taken a number of years to come to fruition, originally started as a demo at Modelrail Scotland four or five years ago and then placed on the layout so running could be enjoyed. Luckily before the lockdown I removed it to work on at home, the corners of the piers needed filling where the embossed stone produced gaps, a bit mind numbing so a bit at a time was filled and filed to shape then end of last year it was ready for painting and weathering. Track was laid early on but I've left the ballasting till the viaduct is permanently fixed down. Plywood frame clad with 3mm plastic sheet (in one piece from an 4 x 2ft sheet) fixed with pins not glued, overlaid with 7mm embossed stone for the piers then 4mm stone for the arches, brick for the under arches, plastic sections for the details and coping stones. Luckily I had a dimensioned Midland Railway drawing to get the proportions correct as my eye is often drawn to structures which are too heavy or improbably awkward, there was a comment from a punter at a demo who said the piers were too skinny so I showed him the drawing, 'Oh okay' was his last comment. Dave.

Thanks for the invite, I'm not getting about much really, haven't seen my sister in Shields for over two years, might be down sometime over the summer. The group have been invited to Wigan with the Alloa layout so might see you then. Dave

Thanks John, been watching your progress on South Pelaw Junction too, looking very good, hope to set eyes on it in the future.

Hi mark, thanks for your comments, hope your house sale/purchase goes okay, friend of mine has had a terrible time trying to start a house build but he ended up dropping the project due to some blxxdy awkward potential neighbours who didn't like the fact the farmer had sold land behind their property... The layout is loosely based on Burley in Wharfedale but as there were three or four proposals of the line I have supposed a slightly different route up the valley slightly closer to the river where there was a hamlet called Wharfeside.

That's an awfully big word for you Mike, last I heard you had just about mastered four letter words... Cheers.

Been working from home since 1999 so she should be used to it by now, besides I'm either outside in the casting shed, at the packing desk or if I have a spare ten minutes the work bench. It is good to have some Mojo back though it's been quite a dark period. Fiona has just said hola.

Thanks Dave, haven't been on this place much, God the adverts are annoying... Always been around just pick up the phone. Railway running well, was talking to JW about having a Monday running day sometime, you interested?

Yes a good site but some of the descriptions are suspect, eg. a slope sided 16t mineral isn't a hopper wagon....

I Suppose it's tme I posted something regarding what's been happening with Wharfeside. Well, for the last two years I've been so busy, with lock down Lanarkshire Models went mental and I had very little time for anything else, slowly things settled down but still busy but I could take a Saturday off so the old Landrover would get worked on as an escape, it was eventually put back on the road last Autumn but has only done about 100 miles since, Hey Ho. The Layout is in the clubrooms which were closed by the landlords due to the lockdown so no work could have got done anyway. Fortunately I had brought some things home after ModelRail Scotland and I had a viaduct to work on in any spare moments, a lot of filling was done in 5 or 10 minute sessions until it was ready for painting. Painting and weathering were done last November, pictures were taken but my phone isn't talking to the computer at the moment so I'll take some with the camera this week,. Other work done in the last couple of months were a etched signal box, this was a Churchward kit which I'd started many moons ago and got disheartened by the flatness of the etches so when I looked at it again during my Christmas break I decided the corner posts needed beefing up a bit so some scrap fret was used to double up the thickness and I was much happier. I also raised the box up by 3 feet as there is a lye in front of it, The stairs are still to be altered to fit. The interior is a Wills kit which has still to be finished. Buoyed up by the signal box I decided to have a look at another etched kit, well, I took a maddy and started it on a Friday afternoon after posting a pile of orders and by Saturday 11 pm it was more or less finished with just a little cleaning up to do then a quick shot blast, fit the cast columns and out with the 'Acid 8' primer. The following weekend it was painted and weathered, twice. Yes I thought, the silvery colour of the paint mix was about right but I wanted the bridge to be decrepid so further weathering was done. Other work done on the layout was when the clubrooms were opened up again and I was able to get the fiddleyard wiring to a stage where the boards could be assembled together and everything tested, the power source which came from the powerbox under the front of the layout was feed round the layout with a heavy 4 core cable, this provided 15v AC for the controllers and the tortoises and 24v AC suitably rectified to DC for the diode matrix for the point motors. It all worked rather well to be honest, just a couple of wires going to the wrong places. the diode matrix works great firing up to six Seep motors at a time. The two control panels were built in the evenings and fitted to the fiddleyard boards and a thorough testing was done. So that's where we are, might have been a year further on if it wasn't for Covid.

It's looking good, you really are enjoying this change of subject aren't you Chas, no more loco building eh. I really have you to thank for pushing me back into doing something on my layout in the other room, just another footbridge really but a milestone for me. Oh and thanks for the knobs.... Dave

Well, burger me, that's the first complaint we've had about the postage on the website since it went live in 2011. Please tell me more. On the other hand we've had people thanking us for the 'simple to use' website..... Dave Franks. LMS

On the other hand, I have used Gibson plunger pickups to great effect on many locos big and small and found no problems with them. They work well if very fine wire is used so the plunger isn't restricted from moving and following the wheel plus if there is very little space between the wheel and the frames then shortening the plunger to suit is the way to go, that will ensure the lightest of touch between the plunger and wheel. Just my humble opinion.

Okay but what about all the BR standard vans that had 1'6'' spindle buffers and instanter three link couplings, they were all XP rated. Only late batches had various longer buffers and screw couplings. Cheers Dave

The first few months of lockdown was very busy and it's still busy now for the casting business however I did spend some evenings working on the Landie to finish off the 're-chassis', not as easy as a COMET chassis but just as satisfying. During 2017 the chassis and axles had been painted and fitted with new springs, brake pipes and brake cylinders, in 2018/19 with the engine and gearbox fitted the bare body of the Landie was sat on the completed chassis and things were slowly being bolted down and connected up. 2020 and things were nearing the time for trying the starter button, figuring out the wiring and the alarm system took a lot of thought as it had been 20 odd years since the first restoration and could I find my notes!!! However some petrol in the tank, pumped up the fuel pump and hey presto the engine fired up first go, it ran like a pig until I found that spark plug leads 2 and 3 were mixed up, sorted that and it settled down to a nice tickover, phew.. Filled and bleed the brake system and in August had a wee go up and down the road, magic. Madam came out and said 'I can see that big smile on your face again!' So, the Landie is back on the road but no place to go. Still some paint to touch up when I have time but it's useable again, I'm aiming to get an MOT this spring although it doesn't require it just to have it checked over. Technical details:- 1966 Series 2A 88'' petrol. mileage - 91000 I understand it had been a game keepers vehicle in the Borders.

Ballast on Wharfeside, Chippings from local quarry sieved out to 2-3inch lumps (sic) this was the nearest colour to the location of the railway in West Yorkshire. Glued with B&Qs Diall PVA which doesn't set as hard as EVO Resin W, a couple of drops of clear cheap washing up liquid, 'no green dye'. Ash ballast in yard, Early Learning Centre play sand which comes washed, same glue but with black poster paint added to colour the sand. Haven't seen the railway since last February but I'm sure it's fine. Dave Franks.