Mike Riley

R 4680 is the right hand brake third.  Looking at various web sites, some show a picture with the luggage compartment to the right looking at the compartment side (Hattons for example) while others show it being to the right looking at the corridor side (Hornby, KMRC).  Which is correct?

Tony,

I fully agree with you about a grub screw on the final gear.  I also use Markits wheels and like to be able to dismantle the chassis, not only for painting, but also if a problem develops.  But I realise that some of the High Level gearboxes, for example, don't have space for the boss on the gear.  So I stick with the ones that do have room for the boss and grub screw.

The best part of your thread is seeing pictures of locos under construction.

Mike

Allan,

What to you do with all these derelict buildings?  Sell them to Barratt or Wiimpey as brown-field development sites?

Very nice modelling though.

Mike

Alan,

I only found this thread this evening.  I am tremendously impressed with the progress you have made with this over a few months.  Please keep posting.

Mike

Mirek,

I've only just found this thread.  Your work is just amazing.

Mike

Morning all from Huntingdon.

 

We had a good day with the layout at the East Anglian show. Quite a bit of interest but plenty of visitors not interested and just walk by or don't know what country the layout is modelled on. I suppose the Czech flag hanging on the front of the layout just isn't recognised by many. So the presentation is one area that I really need to improve which will involve a few signs stating it is a Czech model. I am also hoping to build display in for panels that will clip onto the front of the layout with photos etc.to explain things a bit better.

 

Anyway some photos taken yesterday showing the warehouse extension board. Still a bit of work to do on this as a fence is required in front of he tank wagon.

 

Another photos shows the concrete sleeper stack.This needs to be twice the height that it currently is plus another couple of stacks alongside.

As Neville Chamberlain said, "a small country far away of which we know very little".  Not much has changed since 1939.

Tom

 

100% agree with you re smaller suppliers. It's certainly put me off ordering from some of them. I agree High level has a good and informative website.

 

I can understand why a one man band may not want to have a web set up, payment system etc. It has struck me that there's an opening for an enterprising, web savvy model shop to act as a bit of a broker and to provide some of these services to bespoke kit manufacturers.

 

David

For many years Mainly Trains was almost a one-stop web-shop for bits and pieces.  I could order Markits drivers, Gibson tender wheels, Mashima motors etc all at once with very prompt delivery.  Sadly, Dave Cleal is running down the business prior to retirement.  Of course, the manufacturer will lose some commission on his sales with such a system but then he is relieved the chore of processing many small orders.  But time is money and he can concentrate his time on the manufacturing process which is probably what he most enjoys.

I feel there is a need for a replacement for Mainly Trains.

Mike

A rail tour that may be of interest for 2016:-

 

http://www.ukrailtours.com/product/tre-pol-and-pen/

And I see it is already fully booked!

The Steventon High Street bridge is a spectacularly ugly concrete thing but I understand that it is also a listed structure. That may well have had an influence on whether track lowering or bridge alteration was seen as the way ahead.

It is a brick arch bridge, not concrete.

http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1537442

Though hard to see why it is listed grade II.

Apart from the shade of green, the thing that stands out for me is the lining - the orange lining is too wide and the black too narrow.  This is particularly noticeable on the boiler bands.  From a distance all one sees is orange.  This is not unique to Hornby - I have the same problem with a Bachmann Hall.

Maybe the printing process does not allow lines below a certain width.

Mike

Actually aren't we asking the wrong question here? What were the road surfaces actually made of in India back in the teens and twenties? Were they mcadamed at all? This could have a fundimental effect on the way the train behaves too...

 

Maybe for the road surface you could lay blocks of carbon?

 

Andy G

The Patiala monorail was built to replace mules (it was primarily a freight system).  The roads at that time would not have had bituminous surfacings - probably natural gravel or water bound macadam at best.  The preserved example at the railway museum has a concrete strip for the outrigger wheels which the original would certainly not have had.

I will be following Stubby's progress on this project with interest.

Mike

My son-in-law recently built a workshop with feather-edge boards on the outside and plywood on the inside.  With a slate roof.  He is a builder and keeps a lot of tools in there.  He has not been able to get insurance at a reasonable price; not because of the fire risk but because the insurance companies think it is more open to theft.  So bear that in mind you potential railway room builders.  I built my workshop/office/railway room with concrete block walls (which is probably cheaper than timber) and have not had any problem with insurance.  I think the only advantage of timber is that it can be classed as a temporary building and may (subject to floor area) be exempt from planning consent.

Mike

A year or so ago I bought some Meldon ballast from the shop at Okehampton station.  They had it in various grades from fine to coarse.  I don't know if they are still selling it.

Mike

Given a choice between a sprung axle and sprung buffers I would choose the former.  What about other people?

Just found a nice photo of 5409 in lined black livery in 1950.

 

http://railphotoprints.zenfolio.com/p200288452/h2a1defb3#h2a1defb3

 

Does anyone know of any members of the 6400 class that received lined black livery? I know most of the were unlined but I have always found it to be a rather boring livery.

And I see that even in 1950 it didn't have topfeed.  I hope Bachmann follow up with a 54xx in pre-war condition.

I've noticed the brake pull rods on mine are low. Can they be taken off and raised easily?

This was a problem with the first batch and I pointed this out when the new batch were in production.

Yes, they can be raised, I did it to mine.

Mike

Tony,

Have you considered why your kit-built locos will pull more than rtr ones.  You say that you have put lead into the rtrs so weight should not be the difference.  I believe that all or most of your locos have rigid chassis.so it isn't improved wheel contact.  They are running on the same track.  So it comes down to the wheels, in your case mostly Romford/Markits I think.  It is something to do with the micro-texture of the nickel silver surface.  In the case of Romfords it is solid turned metal,  In the case of rtr it is n/s plating.  I wonder if the latter can be treated in some way to improved the friction between wheel and track.  Nothing so coarse as using abrasive, but some chemical treatment?  An interesting experiment would be chemical blackening the wheels on one loco and comparing with an otherwise identical untreated one.  Might require tender pickups though :-)

Mike

Seems unbelievable at that date so I wonder which RTR items were worth putting on a layout in 1982. 

In 1982 you could get Mainline.  Around that time I bought a GWR pannier and still have it.  Many of the Mainline models are still current from Hornby (Dean Goods) and Bachmann (mogul) for example.  There have been issues with the chassis but the bodywork was good.  Made In Hong Kong of course, not UK.

Thanks for pointing that out Mike, original post edited, but I'm not sure how to change the title.

When you find out can you remove the surplus "r" in herring :-)

kI was thinking of getting one of these and try to backdate it to a P7 as my period is early 1930s.  But I now see that the Southward Bridge range my be brought back to life and they used to make an etched kit for the P7.  So I'll wait and see what happens with that.

I think this wagon is dia P22 not C22.

The two battery boxes should be on the same side - Hornby has them on opposite sides.

The thread inspired me to improve the Hornby model.  Available from Hattons for 14 pounds new.  3.75 for SEF glazing on ebay.  Ventilators etc from my stock.  So came out quite cheaply.  I wanted it in original condition so comet overlays not applicable.

Many thanks Buffalo for the information.  I have been dutifully fitting the outside brackets to my Dean and Churchward era stock (Frogmore etches) and then attaching a lamp to the left hand one.  Now I will move the lamps the their correct position.

It's a tail lamp, not a loco lamp, and side lamps had gone long before Rob's time so no fitting problem.

 

Nick

That's interesting.  When did the GWR change the Churchward type lamp irons on their coaches?

Maybe a GWR lamp would fit on a SR lamp iron but it would be facing sideways.

I see the brake pull rods are still too low, only just clearing the rails - or maybe not on uneven trackwork.  On the prototype they are 4" or so above rail height.