hayfield

Mark I googled the 3mm Society and they do do plastic chairs for track building https://sites.google.com/site/3mmpublic/getting-started-in-3mm-scale/what-track-is-available Society also supplies plastic chairs for Code 60 rail, mainly for constructing finescale pointwork in any gauge. The chairs are designed to be glued to either ply timbers and sleepers (provided by the Society), or plastic ones cut from Plastruct or Evergreen strip. You could also use these chairs to construct plain Fine track in 12mm gauge, or indeed other gauges such as Irish 15.75mm gauge, for which bases don't yet exist. You could even use them to construct track to Intermediate standards in 12mm scale (of finer appearance than the Code 80 rail and Ratio bases), but only if you use the Society's modern Intermediate standard wheels; older Intermediate wheels have flanges which are too deep. No idea what they are like, cost or availability

No doubt that if those who say they have paid for goods which have not been delivered, or refunds refused can be contacted and asked for a statement I am no expert on the law, but there must be a line between a trader not supplying goods, which I believe is a civil matter and someone obtaining money with no intention of supplying goods, the more information that can be gathered by both the police and trading standards may assist in stopping this type of trading

I do hope you give action Fraud links to both (or is it three) threads on Coopercraft. Doubt if they would do much about a single transaction but when its several they may take a bit more interest, could also be worth copying in trading standards with the links as well At first I felt sorry for him, now my view has totally altered Good luck

Peco's turnouts are generic so follow the principal rather than any one prototype. Their geometry follows their well tried and tested format which allows the construction of complex formations with ease. They are to 4 mm scale using 00 gauge principals with chair details including some (but not all) types of special chairs As you have said, if you are following a particular prototype it is highly likely both C&L and Exactoscale between them have the correct type of chairs, perhaps with the addition of special chairs for turnouts, crossings and slips, so you can get as close to the prototype as possible I tool a quick look at the posting for your layout, its a pity you have not come across Martin before as his Templot system would have saved you hours drawing up turnouts and crossings, as for your comments on Peco's looks here is a comment from your own layout thread My point building method (and there are many) is not the most elaborate. I could of course spend days building each point by using real wood sleepers, chairs, and all the other complex real life parts All I can say is unlike the vast majority of copperclad built turnouts, Peco's turnouts have chairs and no slits across the sleepers/timbers, I can understand that with such a large layout compromises have to be made, just like the ones Peco have to make so that their product is not only compatible with their existing range but also appeals to the greatest audience Good luck with your layout and do look up Templot as it could save a bit more construction time for you

Initially my thoughts were where is the line drawn between" Kitbashing" one or more kits together and using commercially available items (wheels, chimneys, domes etc) on a model where the great percentage is made from raw materials Them came to mind the "scratch aid" kit I have of etched sides and ends I have from Worsley Works, where basically the hardest part has been done. Cobbling two or more kits together is I think Kitbashing Using parts like wheels, chimneys and domes is in my mind scratch building Using a kit of scratch aids (Worsley Works) comes more in line with kit bashing As for the likes of MTK and Jedinco, they are in the main just poorly designed/made kits, that need a higher degree of model making ability to complete In the end does it matter ? to be quite honest if you are able to alter something and lift it to another level, it must be just as satisfying as building something from scratch

Another one will soon start emerging, as I have said it will be based on Bodmin General, the track plan developed to what I require plus buildings from either whats available it kit or RTR and built to EM gauge We moved house 18 mths ago and the initial plan was to banish the railway to a purpose built shed, this changed as the cost of incorporating the railway room into the house was much the same, whilst at the same time both improving the new family room, giving better security and saving on heating costs. The room consists of most of the old (tiny) kitchen and part of the wraparound extension. It was plastered last week, and I am now finishing off the floor to the new part At the moment being used for DIY jobs and storage until the new flooring in the main area goes down in 7 days time. The old kitchen cabinets will go down the side for storage and a support for the layouts boards. Giving a 16' run into a 6' (portable) fiddle yard Bit of a mess which will tidy up once the Cabinets and cupboards are fitted, L shaped work bench at the far end and right hand side of the new part (after the pillar)

Martin I think you may have already answered your own question in earlier post(s). The proportions are to 4 mm scale which have been altered to suite 00 gauge, the design is both generic to period and region and to their own existing geometry. It does actually cover two types of modellers, those wishing for a plug and play, and those who are happy to do minor modifications. You have also suggested it could be kit bashed further for bigger rebuilds. Whilst its now not relay acceptable to the majority for a LMS train to pull a rake of SR coaches, at least now we can have a train made up of GWR or SR stock on bullhead track, all be it leaning towards to LNER/BR design. The great thing is its not both H0 scale and flatbottom rail, more importantly by Peco changing to 00/4 mm scale mainstream 00 gauge modellers seem now to both accept what went on in the past was wrong and wanting more Peco by listening to modellers seem to have found a new market in bumper track sales in this trading quarter, which if the range is extended will continue for many months

Mike as a youngster I loved visiting London Termini, my favourites being Paddington, Kings Cross and Waterloo, though I guess Marylebone and St Pancras etc would have looked just as good in their heyday. There is a photo of Paddington (I think) platform 1 with all the different offices/shops along the wall which I guess was in the 30's, often thought would make a good model

Jol I totally agree with you if these persons were buying it on a whim. The intention of my reply was that at least 2 persons were not buying it on a whim, as suggested, but seriously wanted the item bewlieving it was no longer available. If you look at the bidding history whilst there was 11 bids there was only 4 bidders. The first two stopped under £25, so they knew its value. The winning bid was placed 4 days prior to the end and I presume in excess of the £74 paid, the other bidder stopped 2 days prior to the lot ending after making 7 bids ending with one of £72 What my points were , as there is clearly an interest in these coaches 1 Looking at the bidding activity, the bids were not on a whim but thought out. Had the winner kept his powder dry till the last moment he might have got it for much less looking how the other bidder bid, but thats a different story 2 Had both of these bidders known these kits are still available, I am certain John would have had 2 new customers, both having the ability to buy more than one coach. I would guess both of these buyers have no idea John sells these coaches. 3 If the search engines are not picking up John's kits, perhaps seeking advice on how to make them more visible could be profitable.

Hijacking this thread a bit, but just had a light bulb moment. We have a new kitchen, the old kitchen has been extended and will be my modelling room. We have a spare cooker hood, would it be any good for the extractor for a spray booth? I could easily make a box for it to fit on to, and at worst fit a pipe to take the solvent out of the window

Jol If you read #1180 you will see I paid a bit over the normal price for 10 x EM gauge Markits axles, (Though eBay gave me £15 off the total of 4 purchases and the postage was reduced in half). But that was because I had funds in PayPal and the reported difficulty in obtaining parts from Markits. Also for years now any D&S kit on offer sells for a premium even though Danny still sells the whitemetal kits and some (or is it all) etched kits have gone to London Road Models. Dont think is bored surfers buying these as if you looked the winning bid was placed 2 or 3 days earlier. John has done well with the upgrade of his website, which looks much better, however if search engines fail to pickup these models then John is missing potential sales

There are a few things you can take from this listing There is a requirement for this kit eBay is a good platform to sell items Those who want this kit are unaware that it is now available via London Road Models Would it be an idea to advertise one on eBay, using the buy it now sale method for £33 + £2 P&P, but list it as a D&S/London Road Models item, then describe in the description that London Road Models are now supplying some of the D&S etched kits.

Jason Phoenix Precision paints now do the ex-Kirk SR coach kits, both for Maunsell and Bullied periods. No idea if one or more of these kits would be of use, they are easy to build and reasonably priced https://www.phoenix-paints.co.uk/products/exkirk They also sell the parts from the kits, so a great resource for the kit bashers, for instance the basis to add Comet coach sides

As usual I never take notice of things and I sold two items to European buyers before I realised it was a default setting which I could remove. Its sooo expensive I just increase the UK postage price by the difference between 1st class and Airmail. Normally I would agree international not a large market for UK models but if you are selling Bemo then Europe is a big market and the £ v Euro rates will work in your favour, I would not limit my potential customers

What about the GEM turnouts with a softish cast common crossing where the exit rail often snapped off. I still have a few of the original Peco Turnout kits which I am saving for a retro layout based on a CJF BLT

The thin copperclad was 1.06 mm thick and the thicker 1.6 mm thick, other than the 1.6 mm strip when used with the cast chairs matches both 1.6 mm plastic and ply strip using plastic chairs. Phil has had to change supplier again and the new strip is 1 mm thick also he is going to supply shorter strips but in packs of 20. I think it is still double sided

That will be the total length of my new layout !!

Agree there are many who for what ever reason are quite happy with either set track or code 100 or code 75 in the old H0 formats, and there is nothing wrong with this As someone who builds their own track and dabbles with Templot there are difficulties in making turnout and crossing formations and trying to keep the 6' way reasonably close when using individual items. These are easily overcome with Templot and building your own, but as I have said Peco have made an easy to use system which just clicks together. Agreed having an alternative option using basic crossing angles and switch sizes would give a much greater choice to modellers, but I wonder how big would the customer base be and how large a range would it support. I guess by supplying switches and common crossings separately would save some duplication and may be a cost effective solution in making a greater choice available I think this may be a small market, and far less than those who just want a click together option Time will tell and perhaps newer production methods may be far more cost effective for small runs

Joseph Whilst going off topic a bit, that is what you can do with Templot, which is to overlay or partially overlay one template on to another. A club I am considering joining wants to replace a piece of trackwork where a scissors crossover is partially overlaid on to a slips exit, to a facing crossover where one exit is overlaid on to one of the slips exits. With the new slip facility its quite an easy job. By the way few master Templot, most like me are able to use most of the functionality, sometimes with a little assistance from others.

Mike An absolute stunning bit of modelmaking

I do wonder if using prototype geometry is not mainstream enough for Peco, their own customer base likes the simple way their product range easily fits into formations of turnouts and crossings. If a company makes for instance A6 turnouts it is highly likely that if a modeller wanted a crossover then both turnouts would need splicing together (which is what some do to Peco turnouts when they wish to reduce the distance between tracks). The bulk of RTR customers I think would not like this course of action. The magic about Peco's geometry is that it all clicks together easily, which is what is wanted by the bulk of their customers

On the other hand the new releases include new etched chassis, perhaps a body only or with a basic etched chassis ? Do the masters even exist and if so who has them as I have been told the rolling stock is now in the GEM range ?

Dave Whatever the size they introduced would be wrong for some modellers. Their existing geometry though not perfect for some works well and means the turnouts can directly replace existing H0 turnouts of the same size, this way they include those with the existing track system. In my opinion the mere fact that they are in this market certainly protects most of their existing customer base and at the same time greatly reduces the potential market for an opposing company Strange that 2 years ago many were commenting that the existing (H0) range was perfectly acceptable for 00 (4 mm scale) and there was no need for another range and that if it were in a different price range no one would buy it. Fast forward 2 years and most agree its a great step forward and whilst its twice the price its selling out The greatest result is that far more modellers are now taking a greater interest in their track, even discussing if facing crossovers should be on a model, perhaps there will be room for a second company producing a product using a geometry nearer the prototype

Good luck with it, I did not look too close as the loco itself was not of interest. it has been mentioned Brassmasters has in the past sold spares, buying/obtaining a set of instructions could be the first step

After a few barren weeks this week has been a bit kind. Rather than a good buy a good set of transactions this weekend I had an offer from eBay for £15 off any transaction(s) where the total is over £75 excluding postage when paying with Paypal My railway room gets plastered tomorrow so my planned EM gauge layout edges nearer, I have also noticed that there have been issues with obtaining goods from Markits So when I see some Markit EM gauge driver axles and having a few pennies in Paypal £15 for 10 whilst double the price looked an opportunity worth taking with postage of £2 which in the end was reduced in half to £1 (see later). I bought a Bemo H0m loco for £30ish ages ago stated it was not working, it was just a duff chip. I kept loosing out on coaches, this weekend I managed to buy 2 Panoramic coaches for an average price of £27.25 each which is half price but postage a little high at 2 x £3.50. I now have a train to run on my proposed narrow gauge layout (now I have a railway room I am being greedy) but sadly short of the £75 worth of goods (£67.45) Well today there was a Comet Terrier chassis built to 00 gauge £14.95 +£2 postage, so with the eBay offer if I buy it at £14.95 I can claim £15. So I basically get a chassis for £1.95, a no brainer in my books, it got better as the seller of the chassis was the same seller who sold me the Markit axles and reduced the total postage by £2 Now by buying the Chassis for £14.95 + £2 postage eBay refunded £15 and the seller £2. I got the chassis for free plus 5p or the chassis cost me 95p and reduced the postal costs on my axles by £1, either way a good result The chassis will be rebuilt to EM gauge using 3 of the axles