robmanchester

Hi Steaurt ,

No, I can't do either. the pic I posted was on a website years ago and I saved a copy of it. I never purchased one ( as my post maybe suggested ). The details on the pic don't generate any hits these days. It wouldn't be too difficult to make one yourself. As others have pointed out you do need a flat surface somewhere on the wagon to use as a reference for the clamping. TBH I have assembled a few wagons recently and just eyeballed the joints. Luckily they were vans as I often find issues with open wagons as the sides tend to bow inwards 6 months after I make them. Not to bad on a wagon that will be loaded but not good if you want to run it empty.....

Rob

Sorry to hear of John's passing. Really nice kits - luckily I have a number of the structures tucked away for future projects.

The wooden caboose kits were really nice too.

Rob

Thanks to all. The motor in the loco turned out to be faulty so a refund has been received from the supplier. Not that this would have any bearing on the lighting though.

Rob

Can anybody help me concerning the directional lighting on a 'Slim body' Heljan class 33. It is running on DC without a decoder and when placed on the track I see a red glow behing the headcode box when moving forward and no light at the tail end. I removed the body from the chassis and there is two bulbs mounted on each end of the chassis. When you run it with the body removed the upper bulb lights at the forward end and the lower one lights at the rear end - when the direction is changed the bulbs swap over so the upper one is lit at the forward end etc. There is a light tube that runs across the inside of the body at boths ends with a cut out where the lower bulb is located on the chassis which I thought would send some light to the lenses mounted on the bodyshell - but you can see nothing from the lower lenses.

I assumed that the lights would be white at the front and red at the rear and they would change colour according to the direction of travel like many other locos. Am I missing something ? The model is one of those without the extra headlight that is mentioned in the instructions as being also available.

Thanks.

Rob

4 hours ago, Crosland said:

 

On-line selling rules are in addition to distance selling rules, see https://www.gov.uk/online-and-distance-selling-for-businesses

 

I didn't realise you couldn't order online. How do you order? The distance selling rules still requite them to provide the address before you place the order.

If somebody gets a faulty part from Brassmasters ( or another supplier ) that needs to be returned then they will have to provide an address in order that it can be sent back for replacement. Brassmasters state that they are a part-time hobby business which is fine and applies to quite a lot of our wonderful specialist suppliers. It isn't unreasonable to have a contact address when you may be spending hunders or even thousands of pounds with them though.

Suppliers that take credit cards as payment but don't accept Paypal sometimes worry me a bit - I understand the reason cited is that Paypal charge more in fees than CC companies. That isn't a dig at Brassmasters who have a large presence in the Hobby ( they only take Paypal for non-UK transactions ) but I know many people who don't like putting credit and debit card numbers directly into suppliers web-sites. A well known supplier told me a few years ago that he didn't take Paypal because the (Paypal)refund policy was so biased towards the buyer that he would get people cancelling orders if items went out of stock or special orders were not delivered by the quoted date.

Lack of response from "small" suppliers can be annoying when you send an email to ask questions. Some of them are holding down full time jobs and supplying us with the parts we desire so it is difficult to be too critical.

Rob

On 17/10/2023 at 15:55, Crosland said:

There's a 15 year old phone number on their blog page https://branchlines.blogspot.com/

Yes, I will try ringing him and ask if the 2008 price lists are still current 😀 . Seriously though the first question to him should be is he alright. I will post again with any update.

Rob

On 01/10/2023 at 19:14, UpDistant said:

Apparently it's branchlines100@btinternet.com

I tried contacting Brian at Branchlines on the this "new" email but no reply as yet. Has anybody managed to contact him this way ?

Rob

11 hours ago, jwealleans said:

If you see a copy, get hold of or borrow John Hayes' The 4mm Coal Wagon.  It doesn't matter if you never want to build a coal wagon in your life in any scale, the ideas and hints about useful jigs and tools for kit and scratchbuilding are worth the price of the book alone.  I've made both the wooden work supports he recommends and use one or other constantly.

Thank you, yes I have a copy of the book. I met John once, such a nice guy and such a shame he died so early

Rob

11 minutes ago, DayReturn said:

Bold assumptions!  Lots of Slaters floors are a touch too wide, and lots of otherwise masterful kits have a token rectangle of stripey embossed styrene in lieu of a floor.  It’s going off topic, but one tool I’m continually finding new uses for and the ability to refine models with, is my vinyl cutter.  I have a Silhouette Cameo, and Cricut ones are essentially the same.   One of the simplest outputs from it is wagon floors with precise rectangular corners and dimensions, with correctly scored representations of the floor planking (whose joins would only be discernible from the fillet of dirt lodging there), and entirely repeatable at the press of a button.  (And for the Woodham kit in my photos, the cutouts to step around the cast internal ironwork.). You can’t go thicker than 20 thou styrene without completing the cut by hand, but you can laminate two guaranteed identical floor pieces together if 20 thou is too thin.  And there are hundreds of other things you can do with the machine that involve sheet work accurate to +/- 0.1mm.   But that’s another topic.

 I often junk kit floors. By the time you have made changes to the wagon spec such as sprung or compensated w-irons that involve having a flat floor it is often easier to cut a rectangle of 0.040" plastikard than file the kit floor down. If the wagon is going to run empty I use an Olafa cutter to scribe the planks ( fingers crossed it doesn't have bottom doors....... )

The vinyl cutter sounds nice. Maybe I can get the wife interested as she does cardmaking and such like 😁 How long do the blades last when cutting styrene ?

Rob

11 minutes ago, DayReturn said:

The picture you show, Rob, illustrates another point to keep in mind.  The kit shown in the Railway Hobby Shop tool, sits flat on the jig, upside down, whereas lots of rolling stock won’t have  flat edges in any plane.  The LBSCR wagon in my example has rounded ends (to support a wagon sheet and hopefully allow rain to run off - wonderfully optimistic, those Victorians).  Likewise van ends.  Straight ended open wagons often had side and especially end door hinges, and in later years had a protective metal strip stapled to the upper edge.  And while the side rail, solebar and headstock might have had little to disrupt a smooth bottom edge, kit makers often include additional elements into the single casting, if not the whole axleguard assemblage.   In my example the opposite applies, the solebars are entirely separate so the bottom rail is 12 inches above the flat datum.   Likewise the surface detail interferes with squareness of the side plane and end plane, so geometrically solid faces on the jig, are not as helpful as one might suppose, compared with something tailored.

Yes, very good points, thank you. I have a wagon stock of Coopercraft, Slaters, Ratio etc and the top of the sides and ends is usually flat and 'upgrades' such as capping strips, decent metal end door bars and such like would usually be added after the basic body shell is assembled. You are of course right about covered vans and round ended wagons and not being able to use the base of a jig as a flat reference.

I must admit to often building a wagon by asembling the sides/ends without the floor in place but just using the floor ( assuming it is a decent moulding and the correct size ) helps a lot in getting things pretty near square.

Judging by the number of pictures including wagons with sheets I have seen I don't think either a round end or a sheet bar did much to prevent a build up of water ! I bet a lot of staff got wet when unloading....

Thanks for your thoughts.

Rob

This was the wagon clamp I was originally thinking of - just found this pic I have had for years. The company doesn't seem to exist anymore.

Rob

Thanks to all for the replies. I think the 1-2-3 blocks or the Lego sound options to explore.

Rob

Hello,

Can anybody tell me if there are any clamps or jigs available these days to be used when assembling the sides/ends of wagon kits. They would also be good for any other glue-ups that required holding at 90 degrees. I thought I had seen some advertised but can't seem to locate them now. I did find some clamps by Micromark which were $40.00 each and out of stock...

Thanks

Rob

5 hours ago, t-b-g said:

 

The big visible difference compared to "normal" EM is the relationship of the rail head width to the check rail gap. We are only talking about 0.2mm difference in gauge and in the check rail gap but having the rail head wider than the check rail gap just looks more "real" than having the gap as wide as the rail head. It also gives a smaller gap for wheels to drop in through the crossing, which should lead to smoother running.

 

 

Yes, spot on. EM-SF is a very sensible option rather than P4 if you want fine scale looking track but there is more flexibilty for buying used models and running stock from other layouts. Just watch the flange width - no RTR type wheels!

Rob

Wayne,

When you have a moment can we have 16.2mm gauge flat bottom, 1mm flangeways, tie plates and spikes for my US HO stuff to run on. If you are not busy of course..........

Just the flex track and a few sizes of turnouts would be fine.

Rob

On 13/01/2022 at 20:37, JB72 said:

I will put the instruction as a download on the stores page. I can also confirm that we will be supplying both 4mm and 7mm versions

 

John Birch - Chairman, Gauge O Guild

John,

Received my first set of 4mm Dinghams from the Gauge O Guild stores yesterday. Quick delivery and they look good - can I nudge you about putting the instruction sheet on to the Stores page so I can get started with them. That would be much appreciated.

Rob

t-b-g : Thanks for the heads up on the coupler availability. Does anybody have a copy of the latest instruction sheet - the gauge O guild isn't one of my current societies so I can't access the on-line one.

Rob

39 minutes ago, Steamport Southport said:

Unless the people in the GOG get a slight discount.

 

 

Jason

But that may be a bit iffy ? If a non member got a copy of the gazette at an O gauge show he would assume they were the general prices rather than discounted ones.

Rob

Thanks for all the replies. It looks like the prices went up after the O Gauge Gazette add was placed. Still can't decide about the 6 or 10 inch roller. The comment about the 70 foot coach roofs is valid which kind of puts me off the bigger one. At least the smaller one will do all of the 4 and 6 wheel coach roof I need and take up less space on the bench.

Cheers

Rob

Hello,

Does anybody know if GW Models are still charging the same prices as listed above ? It would be asking a lot for the prices to be the same especially the way everthing has shot up in the last two years.

I am after a roller for small coach roofs/boilers etc and for the extra £10.00 it would make sense to get the 10" one but the rail bender only sems to be mentioned on the smaller one - is it a useful feature for bending rail for checkrails and other rail used in point and crossing work ?

Thanks

Rob

I obtained my refund from Dingham. As far as I can see the couplers are not currently available.

Rob

There is an issue, with the last link in the supply chain. I don't wish to say too much but Trevor at Dingham is having personal issues. I have submitted a request for a refund.

Rob

Thanks David. Yes, if a break in the supply chain is causing an issue I am quite happy to wait. I will try phoning as Torper suggested.

Rgds

Rob

Ray,

Yes I just sent the Paypal money with the details of what was required. After 2 weeks with no response ( or package through the post ) I emailed to check but got no reply.

Rob

The website at Dingham.co.uk works fine but I ordered some couplings a few weeks back and sent money by Paypal. I haven't had any response or acknowledgement of my order. He ( Trevor ? ) may just be on holiday or similar.

Rob