Mike Riley

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.

To answer an earlier post, I measured the flangeways on a Peco code 75 medium radius. Around 1.25mm but not entirely consistent. 14mm between wing and check rails which fits with the 1.25mm flangeway. Mike

The team that carried out the repairs at Dawlish has been awarded the Brunel Medal (for excellence in civil engineering) by the Institution of Civil Engineers. This award was to the whole team comprising Network Rail, Bam, Amco, Dyer & Butler, Sisk and Tony Gee and Partners.

Which High Level gearbox is it? The ones I have used are all a one piece etch with two folds. TBH I don't like that cut-out in the boiler. I would prefer to use a High Flier with the motor vertical inside the firebox. I've built several 4-6-0 chassis like this and they run perfectly smoothly even at the slowest speeds with no flywheel. Mike

I used to look at this in the 1950s on a Saturday morning when it was running. I seem to remember that the scenic side was made by museum staff but the rolling stock was provided by the Derby Model Railway Club (if that was the correct name then). So maybe the stock was all privately owned and has reverted to the owners when it was mothballed/dismantled. One magazine rated this the second best model railway in the country - after Mr Norris's. It was superb. Apart from the railway there were a number of beautifully made rolling stock models in glass cases. What a pity it has not been preserved in a city that was the HQ of the MR and very much dominated by the railway for so long. Apart from the railway, Derby Museum didn't have much of interest. Like other city museums it tried to be a mini British Museum with a bit of everything from around the world rather than trying to record local history. Mike

Ron, When I built my current layout I used C&L components and gauges. While a 1mm flangeway may work with short wheelbase and small wheels without adjusting the btb I found it din't work with a 6-coupled loco chassis. I have a lot of Romford/Markits wheels and it is difficult to reset the btb with these. So I compromised on a 1.25mm flangeway with 14.5mm btb. It doesn't look as nice but it works. I wouldn't like to you build all that trackwork and then find you rolling stock won't run smoothly through it. And I presume you will have lots of steam locos, some with large wheels (Jubilees?). One trick I missed but my son-in-law found; use slide chairs on the outside of the wing rails. They will support both the wing rail and the vee at the correct height. And a piece of plastic strip between wing rail and vee to give the correct flangeway. Mike

I remember long ago Mr Norris describing his fantastic railway. He too said that filing notches didn't work and he sawed through the rails and then soldered them back together IIRC.

For people who want to fit a 5 pole motor and flywheel I suggest a Mashima. The Hornby motor shaft is probably 2mm so a 1626 will do the job. For a flywheel try Mainly Trains(Dave hasn't shut up shop yet) - 14mm 2mm bore. I recently did this with a Star though it still doesn't run to my satisfaction at low speeds. One reason may be the high gearing - about 20:1 - while for my own chassis I use something more like 40:1. But then I'm not running at high speed on a main line layout. Mike

My calculation is 17,600 per house not 1,760. But still a small cost compared with house prices in Tavistock. And I'm sure Bovis will finish building the houses long before 2022 which is said to be the opening date for the line.

There are two photos in Russell of 1361 in ex-works grey primer. No lettering but there is lining on cab, bunker and cylinders. So maybe they didn't have GREAT WESTERN on the tank. Were there other classes that didn't have a GWR identity on them? So for people who model the pre shirtbutton era they only need to remove the roundel. Mike

Humbrol brunswick green is nothing like GWR green. But then the Hornby model is not the right shade either. The only way to match the Hornby green would be to mix your own paint. Or repaint the complete loco with Railmatch or PP paint.

Will 1364 have Great Western or GWR as in the photo? And Dave, will you make a space for a speaker? Mike

I have fond memories from th 1950s of the 7mm scale railway in Derby museum, especially when it was operating on Saturday morning. What happened to it?

Hi Stu, The encoder has 3 pins that are soldered to the board. I thought they might be a push fit and tried to lever it out - until they broke. No problem - I could then grab the residual ends one by one and apply a soldering iron to get them out. I then drilled out the holes - IIRC 0.6mm is about right for the new encoder. The alternative is to pull on the encoder while applying 3 irons to the back of the board. Two people at least or an octopus. I'd be interested to know how the profesionals deal with this. By the way, the behaviour of yours is exactly the same as I had. And there is no need to glue the wheel to the encoder shaft. Mike

About 6 months ago the thumbwheel on the Powercab started behaving erratically. I contacted NCE and Larry replied that the encoder needed replacing and I should send the Powercab to them. I suggested that It would save time and postage if he sent me a new encoder to which he agreed. It never came and after several reminders and promises from NEC I now have an email from Ed Wilson saying that it is not company policy to sell spare parts and for any repair the item must be returned to NEC. Current turn around time is 4 weeks. Plus a week in the post each way from the uK. So yesterday I went to Google and put in rotary encoder and the part number on the old one. Several hits and I chose one almost at random. RS Components offered one for 2.21 plus VAT and postage. It came today and I fitted it (initially without solder just in case) and it works fine. As a by-product of my corrrespondence with NCE they did send me an EPROM upgrade though. I've posted this in case anyone else has the same problem. The part code is 3315C-001-006L. It took me less time to fit the encoder than I would have spent in the queue at the post office sending a parcel to the US. Not to mention 6 weeks. Mike

Plymouth airport was a thriving concern when it was run by Brymon Airways with 4 flights a day to Heathrow and 4 to Gatwick. I used it regularly to make international connections at Heathrow. Then BA bought Brymon and shut down the Heathrow flights - they wanted the landing slots for soemthing bigger than a Dash 8. Staff levels at Plymouth increased and BA said they were losing money on the remaining routes and gave up. All they wanted was the landing slots at Heathrow which are impossible for another regional airline to get back. Mike

There was something wrong with the decoder socket on my KoGC. I didn't try to find out the problem; removed it and hard wired. I'm pleased to say though that it didn't damage any decoders.

We must remember that Plymouth is a unitary authority and Plymouth Council was quick off the mark to state how much money the Dawlish closure was costing business in Plymouth. So it is not just DCC that should contribute to a diversionary route but also Plymouth. Torbay is also a unitary authority but they have nothing to gain by re-opening the LSW route. I presume they would favour the 1936 GWR Dawlish bypass solution. Mike

I noticed on another thread that CK in the midst of all the problems found time to fit P4 wheels to a Hornby Sentinel. A dedicated railway modeller!

People said that the blue pullman would not be commercially viable and then Bachmann produced one. But we don't know if it was commercially viable. Did Bachmann make a profit on it? Does anybody have a ball park figure for the number produced/sold? Whether rtl 00 track will be commercially viable will only be known if somebody makes it and then only after several years of production. Bringing any new product to market is a gamble. Mike

Mine hasn't cooked any decoders but I found it din't run nicely with a Hornby decoder. Now using a Lenz silver which is fine until it gets a Zimo. But even with the Lenz I wasn't happy with slow running in reverse - a little jerky. Yesterday I replaced the motor with a Mashima 1624 and now it is very smooth in both directions. Mike

I had a problem with the poll. Q1 I ticked scratch built. Q2 I ticked contine with the same. I didn't tick anything for the price I'm prepared to pay for a better turnout as it is not relevant for me. Result was a message saying I must tick something for each question. If I ticked anything there it would distort the results. Somebody will say I shouldn't be completing the questionnaire but if you want a cross section of modellers then people like me should do it even if we are not going to buy new rtl turnouts. Mike

Coachman, you said you were going to do something about the insipid green and was looking forward to seeing the results. Is it possible without relining? I've previously commented about Hornby green but most people don't seem to mind. It's not just the Star but other GWR locos they've produced recently. Mainline did it much better. Mike

Joseph, I think it could work. You need a vertical pin on each blade (say 0.7mm) and a tie bar, which could be quite slender, made of plastic (no electrical issues). And two holes. You could have 3 holes to allow for different wheel b-t-b - fine scale and rtr standard. Just a question of how to join the pins to the blades in mass production mode. Mike