Brian D

It has been a while since I posted any updates, basically because there has not been much to report. However, I have been busy upgrading the scenics especially in the dene area by adding bushes and trees as below. These images have been subject to focus stacking. Regards, Brian.

Despite its appearance faults and after a struggle, the main tender body, including wheels, has now been assembled thus. I say a struggle because the fit of the parts was not great and the wheels had to be somehow captured between the two sides whilst soldering everything together from the inside. But, it's amazing how useful elastic bands are and it's always good to have a skinny soldering iron bit. So the loco/tender combo looks quite handsome IMHO. The main purpose of starting the tender before fully finishing the loco has to check whether the loco could indeed pull the tender without massive wheel spin (the tender as you see here is a hefty old lump, heavier probably than some RTR locos) and whether the loco was then capable of pulling it up the incline to the fiddle yard. The results can be seen below. So, a big sigh of relief. But I haven't tried any haulage tests yet. More on that another time. Regards, Brian.

Thanks for this Dave, an extremely interesting article. In my former life pre-retirement my specialism was structural engineering so most of the article made a lot of sense. I think utilising the (extreme) weight of the tender will be the way to go. I know the motor is "pointing the wrong way" as it were but the whole motor/gearbox unit is extremely lightweight. I think there would still be a problem Centre of Gravity wise with the CofG still likely to be well forward of the leading driver. I'll also see what I can do with added weight, indeed this is an easier thing to experiment with in terms of moving the CofG backwards. I've also been looking at my (plastic bodied) 4-4-0s (Hornby D49, Bachmann D11) and I don't think that either front bogie actually carries any weight so the CofG must be within the two driving axles. Regards, Brian.

In between work on my DJH D20 build (see my other thread) I've been experimenting with the free to download "CombineZP" focus stacking software using my DSLR. So far, this is the pick of the results. Regards, Brian.

Using the techniques described above (paper, pin hole, plumbers' flux) I have succeeded in soldering the crank pin collars to the crank pins and thus retaining the coupling rods on both sides. A quick test on the layout with the match truck revealed all was well. I then spend a tedious hour or so enlarging the footplate aperture so that crank pins and coupling rods do not foul the body above when rotating. One or two parts came loose during this process and had to be reattached. Eventually, after several abortive tests, this was the result. I then got a bit cocky and tried a haulage test (actually, a pushing test) on a rake of four Bachmann Mk 1s. On the level, there was quite a bit of driving wheel spin before the rake got moving but move it did. I then tried to push these coaches up the slope to the fiddle yard but the D20 was having none of it. The loco is massively nose heavy due to the weight of the smoke box (and half the boiler by virtue of its "span") siting over the front bogie. Even if you filled the cab with lead, I'm not sure this would help much. I would be interested to hear what haulage capacity other people have obtained with the D20. Regards, Brian.

That is brilliant Andy - super job of hiding the rabbit hole. Regards, Brian.

Measure twice and cut once + finger and sand down work piece to remove blood stains. Railway modelling can be dangerous you know.

Thanks for this advice t-g-b. I have put it to good use. Yesterday,during further testing of the "naked" chassis, I detected a knocking noise which, after a lot of investigation, turned out to be caused by a slight wobble on the left rear driving wheel which, no doubt transmitted via the wheel's crank pin and the left hand coupling rod, was the root cause of the knock. The knocking only manifested itself while driving the chassis up the curved gradient towards the fiddle yard and intermittently on straight track. So I have followed your valued guidance and eradicated the knocking noise once the wheel was seated properly on the axle. Thanks again for your excellent advice. As a result of this gremlin hunt, progress has been sideways rather than forwards but all good experience. At least the chassis is now running super smooth in both directions on all parts of the layout and I can now proceed with confidence. Regards, Brian.

Hi Jon, That suggestion makes remarkable sense. I will certainly try that technique and let you know how I get on. Regards Brian

The crank pins have been fixed to the wheels and the coupling rods have been temporarily fixed thereon with tubing. After several trials on the layout I had to open out the holes in the coupling rods by 0.2 mm to get smooth running as shown in this short video. I have offered up the chassis back into the body and admittedly the crank pins need cutting back before the whole chassis/body combo runs properly but there will still be an issue with the coupling rods fouling the footplate aperture so more filing is required. I also need to research how to safely solder the coupling rod retaining "collars" on to the crank pins to ensure the coupling rods remain free to rotate on the crank pins. Getting there (slowly). Regards, Brian.

Further progress today has been made - I now have a running chassis. The pickups have been installed as below (I draw a veil over my soldering skills, needless to say there was much cursing before everything was finally assembled). I then tested the bare chassis using a match truck to support the motor as shown in this short video. Needles to say I was almost punching the air at this point - my first kit built chassis actually moves. Anyway, having calmed down a bit, I then slid the chassis back into the loco body and put the whole assembly back on the track for further testing, this short video shows the initial result. I was well chuffed (if you would pardon the expression) at this point but needless to say some gremlins crept in after this video clip was taken. I suspected various short circuits were taking place where the driving wheels fit within the footplate/splasher assembly and these were eradicated by judicious filing here and there to increase clearances. So far so good. Next up I'll fit the coupling rods before moving back to finish the various loco body fittings, hand rails, footsteps, etc. Regards, Brian.

Having finished various other projects on my layout, including this "modern" signal box... ...and now being in possession of everything I need... ...to progress on the D20, I have now made a bit more progress. The front bogie was bothering me. I assembled the bogie as per the kit instructions but thought there was very little sideways "give" using the kit spring so I tried another spring which I found in the junk box. The kit spring is on the left in the above pic and looks like something out of a biro. The replacement gives much more sideways bogie movement so hopefully no derailments from that quarter. The new soldering iron has been used to solder the connecting wires to the motor... ...and using some carp rig tubing from my other hobby... ...to avoid any short circuits, the wires were bent back and fixed to the side of the motor as below, The fit of the motor chassis unit into the superstructure was double checked before soldering the boiler to the footplate/cab assembly. I had to remove the internal "pip" of the dome within the boiler to acheive a nice slide in fit. The boiler was soldered at the front end to the footplate... ...and to the cab front at the rear. This is how it is looking as regards superstructure to chassis fit. I need to sort out the pick ups and ensure that I have a working chassis next. Regards, Brian.

Looking great Andy. What type of scenic break do you envisage for the new FY? Regards Brian

Final work on the signal box was completed yesterday and today. The windows were installed... ...and the roof put in place. I used a different roof texture than the kit which I thought looked a bit dark. I used Scalescenes "concrete" instead. As you can see I also added a suitable sign before placing it on the layout. Meanwhile, a DMU is about to depart whilst two other services await their path. In the colliery, a full hopper train is assembled... ...to be collected by the main line diesel. That's all for now. I need to get my D20 finished. Regards, Brian.

Hi Ian, Thought I'd reciprocate as it were . This layout looks great, keep up the good work. Complicated though, hope you haven't bitten off more than you can chew . Regarding videos, I upload mine to YouTube and then place a link on RMWeb. You could give that a try. I've only semi recently been able to upload to YT following an upgrade of our home broadband to fibre, previous upload times on copper wire would have been hours not minutes. Now following your build. Regards, Brian. Brian.

More (slow) progress on the signal box has been made. The kit provides for textures (grey paper parts) to be over laid on the various steps and landings . This I thought a bit tedious so cut the required parts from 2mm grey board and painted them with grey acrylic before gluing them in place - see below. I also made a representation of the lever frame in plastic strip and glued it in position. I know it's a bit cluncky but by the time the windows are in you will barely see it. The kit also provides for card wrapped in paper texture handrails which again I thought would not only be tedious but a bit of a challenge for my sausage fingers. So using the kit elements as a guide, plastic strip was used to make the handrails. They say a picture is worth a thousand words so this pic will give you an idea how I managed it. Various bits of Blu Tack and sellotape hold all the various plastic bits in position so I can give the joints a quick dab with the solvent brush. Quite a high Fiddle Factor using this technique and I and my eye sight are only glad its finished. Only windows and roof left to complete. Getting there! Regards, Brian.

This kit is proving to be somewhat fiddly and time consuming. I am also having to pause and think more because I am adding the additional storey height so the kit instructions are only being followed intermittently and in an ad hoc manner. So, this is the latest state of play. The lever frame has been left for now. The kit version is one of those "Life's too short" sort of builds as I have mentioned long ago when I built the other signal box so I will use an old comb (as I did on the previous 'box) or plastic strip. Regards, Brian.

Hi ISW, sorry to take so long coming back to you. Regarding window and door openings, if you haven't got a small glue stick (The Range product I mentioned earlier has a suitable small stick which can get into small apertures like window and door openings. It also comes with three larger glue sticks) then scrape a little glue off with a blade and spread it into the window/door reveals and then press home the texture flaps with the (clean) blade. My windows comprise either, depending on type, (A) printing the frames on self adhesive (peal off stick on) labels (50 A4 size labels can be bought quite cheaply on Eb*y), cutting out the window panes and then pealing off the backing and gluing the "frames" to clear report covers or (B) printing the windows directly on to Over Head Projector transparencies. Either type is then glued to the inside of the relevant outer wall element using a small amount of Loctite all purpose adhesive (about £2 a tube in Asda) or UHU all purpose glue (usually a lot dearer). Glue sticks I find do not work very well unless you are gluing paper or card to another piece of paper or card. Hope that helps. Regards, Brian.

I just use the cheapest glue sticks on offer. The Range sell a nice set of four different size sticks for a pound. Liberally apply the glue to the card and press firmly to the texture, smoothing out from the centre to eradicate any air bubbles, a bit like wall papering. Make sure the cap is returned to the glue stick between uses otherwise the glue stick will dry out. This process works for me but you have to apply plenty of glue, hence avoid relatively expensive Pritt Stick unless you have to. My "The Range" stock is now exhausted so I'm using some Asda glue sticks meant for kids crafting. Hope this helps. Regards Brian PS the card is grey board and the texture sheet is plain paper. If you are using other combos then a different approach may be required.

The new "New" signal box is taking shape. I have made the four main walls utilising the Smart Model kit's wall patterns but overlain them externally with Scalescenes red brick paper and concrete paper (for the lintels and cills). Nothing is glued together yet but I have posed them using magnetic clamps here... ...and on the layout. More pics later as the build continues. Regards, Brian.

I have been ruminating over a possible accompanying "modern" signal box in line with the colour light signalling scheme on the layout. My layout history covering this issue would be that, despite the Deneside Branch being remote from the ECML, the branch was chosen by the North Eastern Region management as a pilot scheme for a colour light re-signalling project so "new" signal box would also be required as part of the project. Right, that's the back story out of the way, now, what to build? Smart Models do two modern boxes, the Low Gates box (already mentioned in a previous post) and another rather bland looking generic type. I favour the Low Gates box kit because it is a proper North Eastern Region example but it is not high enough, I think, to give the (model) signalman a clear view around the curves, that's why I chose to model the high South Gosforth style box. This is the standard Low Gates kit... ...which I've said I think is too low as regards site lines for the signal staff. But, I've had a thought that I could kit bash it and make it a storey height taller, a bit like this. If I proceed with this then I'll likely use Scalescenes textures for the brickwork but I should be able to use some textures from the kit, especially the windows. Regards, Brian.

Thanks for your kind words Pete. Regards, Brian.

Good to see you back on here Andy. I hope the move went well and you and Mrs P are safe and well. Best Regards Brian

The new goods shed is now complete... ...as is the ramp/loading bank (complete with recycled crane). So, some granite sets have been put down (Scalescenes texture sheet glued directly to the base board)... ...and the new "complex" put in place (please ignore the sub layout clutter - note to self - "must have a tidy up"). The last photo is a bit cruel as it shows up a bit of a gap under the office stairs and indeed the whole office. This will be recctified in due course. I'm quite impressed with the way the kit has gone together. So much so in fact that I am having a serious look at the Smart Models Low Gates Signal box which, being a 1950s style box is more in keeping with the colour light signalling on the layout. Food for thought. Regards, Brian.

More progress thanks to a card delivery earlier. The last main wall element was completed so all of the walls and the interior goods platform have been glued together as below (in the previous pics the various walls were propping each other up!). And a pic with the exterior ramp and platform added but not glued to the structure due to the length of the resulting combo. Main and store roofs and a chimney pot to be added to complete. Regards, Brian.