hayfield

REPLY Given the numbers of traders making a living, the secondhand market is alive and kicking. True most magazines and books have little value. But a friend who is disposeing another friends collection had been pleasantly been surprised at the amount made Certainly kits and kit built items when well presented fetch good and high prices, similarly poorly described items can go for a song One way to assist those disposing of a valuable item is to leave a full description

May be too stiff to be used for sound reducing Migh work providing an elastic type glue is used

Nothing wrong with constructive comments, or airing genuine observations. The sister thread to this was about realistic looking track. No doubt this item is within their finescale range, so as with any stock that that is now introduced where it differs from the original I can understand the geometry of the first heal timber being as it is for practicable reasons, and is easily altered if required. As for the lack of bridge or slab and bracket chairs, its a bit like putting King cylinders on an A3 loco. Most will not have a clue its wrong, some will In reply to the hatch back reply not wing mirrors but not being able to un-clip the back seats from the hatch door

Not trying to be super critical, but just offering up some observations from the photo the first timbers being separated (timbers within the Vee now too short) rather than joined, which to me looks better Not really seen either up closer or the switch end, but they have missed a trick by not representing the block chairs or the slab and bracket chair (A position on common crossing) Some may think this is nit picking, but if they fitted the wrong valve gear on a loco, observations would be accepted I will wait till I see one in the flesh, but simple attention to basic details would lift it even higher

Nothing wrong with modelling in 00 (whichever variant) as there is nothing wrong with using EM or P4. At last 00 scale/gauge modellers have a RTR turnout to compliment their ever improving range of stock. On the other hand if the modeller feels that track in H0 scale better reflects the appearance of the narrowed gauge that's also fine. We are a broad church with lots of differing modelling needs, from the pure collector to the finescale scratch builder. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. On the other hand without constructive criticism and pushing the boundaries nothing will ever improve.

A couple of things come to mind, can you drill a hole in the lever and bend the wire to a right angle? make a loop in the end of the wire and either screw or put a pin through it through it, clamp the wire to the plastic. How about a photo of the two parts, then we may be able to be more specific Epoxy glue may be better or even one of the modern types like Gorilla glue. A proper impact adhesive may also work

It allows two crossings to mesh together, for some interlocking timbers would be a step too far, easy to rectify if it bothers you

Nearly as good but in my view not as good

Good to see a decent check rail being used, rather than the smaller 3 timber version, depending on size though should it cover 5 timbers

Picked up a lot comprising of 009 coaches, vans and wagons, mostly built, many up painted, a few without wheels only a few had couplings 8 coaches, 2 being bogie, 6 vans and 27 wagons, half of the wagons being quarry size the others being larger, plus 1 diesel loco body Just under £48 inc postage, think I can live with just over a £1 A recent lot of 15 items went for £76, OK all had wheels and couplings, but cant help wondering if more could have been got had the lot been split into smaller lots. With the one I bought the photos were awful, there were 2 batches of unpainted wagons one of 8 another of 6 which if head either decent photos and or sold as two lots would have commanded this price on their own Still very pleased with it,

Martin Simply stunning

Luke Looks very good, how does it look with a coach or two behind? As for lead, most glues are fine or just get some sheet so you can glue one side to the body

Said items arrived today and very pleased with them. 8 coaches, 6 vans and 27 wagons and a RTR diesel loco body Most are made both painted and un-painted, some needing wheels nearly all require couplings. A good selection of smaller quarry wagons and 4 wheel coaches and larger stock with 2 bogie coaches, I have bought 6 other narrow gauge items this month and have several bogie coaches and 4 locos, just need a layout and more flexi track The selection of items which arrived have reinforced the idea of two different circuits, one for the smaller quarry based wagons and workers coaches, the other for the larger coaches, vans and trucks. Might be worthwhile buying some s/h set track curves just to play around with a few ideas

Steve In the old days it was simple 2, 3 or 4 foot radii. To be quite honest not too much has changed, as a rule of thumb for hand built track *though most will differ) smaller radii is an A5, medium A or B6, Large B7. having said this an A5 will be just over 4' radius in old money

Steve Ask for the thin timbers to be exchanged for the thick timbers, better still as for them to be exchanged for the Exactoscale timbers as the thick flexi track is actually Exactoscale. In my opinion far superior to the C&L product. C&L do do flat bottom products using the ST baseplates and code 82 rail, no pre-made common crossings, vees or switch rails If working in 00 gauge buy a set of 00sf gauges, perfect for 00 gauge hand built track using the pre-made common crossings as supplied within these kits

Unless its a modern superglue, is it not affected by water, especially steam?

I think the whole idea is that it quickly folds up and I guess the trick is to keep everything as light as possible. On the other hand I am considering making each board 18" wide and a bit longer than the original. The trouble then is that each addition increases the weight, so the hunt is on for an ultra light weight but strong construction. In the end I guess a compromise of weight for strength will have to rule.

Just pushed the boat out for a collection of about 40 wagons,vans and coaches. Sadly my new railway room is still cut in half (need a wall taking down) and in need of plastering. So starting the layout is still a couple of months away, though I might make a start on the boards in a couple of weeks. Trying to visualise if I can have an elevated section on a separate loop or more likely an industrial branch line, keeping the fold together format along with a scenic section in the rear half , which folds back on itself for transportation. Could be over complicating things

One of the appeals to me in marrow gauge modelling is that there are no hard and fast rules, I am new to 009 and only really collecting a small amount of stock for a fun layout. In general terms with 009 items are up scaled from N gauge, likewise 00 gauge to 0 16.5. I was lucky enough to buy a Beamo H0m loco, these are quite large items when put alongside 009 locos (being much nearer to standard gauge) and run on 12 mm gauge rather than 9 mm gauge Down scaling from 00 gauge might be more in keeping with 3' gauge than 2' gauge running on TT gauge track, just an idea

Thanks for the comments, as I said Railex was the last show I attended and from memory it was only a couple 4mm scale components with issues, 7mm was fine. I have no idea what happened since and can only guess its getting the balance between running the day to day business and preparing for the show. What has happened (and will in the future) is certain items have a run on, and sell out, these items do vary and from experience levels of such items are increased As I have said, I have no idea what happened at shows I have not attended, however your sweeping statement about stock and service standards over the past 2 years could not be further from the truth at the (larger SE) shows which I have attended during that period, especially with pre-paid sales. Thanks again and I will have a chat with Phil later in the week

Totally agree with you pre-orders must be made up prior to a show, this has been done in the past and was 100% achieved at the shows I attended. The past 2 years I have helped out at the larger shows in the SE, I do not recognise your observations. At these shows stock levels of both C&L & Exactoscale have been high, there have been minor periods when both of us have been busy but in the main folk were served quickly. I will add I have not been to any 7 mm shows, so if Phil has been on his own he may have struggled. Also since Railex I have not attended any shows, so your knowledge of these shows is far better than mine about the service At Railex( which was during the closed down period) agreed the supplies were slightly down in a couple of areas, only at a few periods were there queues but no complaints. We were very busy on the Saturday but that was expected owing to the lack of mail order at that time, and as far as I am concerned no one went away without being served over the weekend. . Sadly this year I will not be at Expo hopefully Phil will be able to arrange assistance. Please bear in mind this is period of a steep learning curve for Phil while he adjusts to both running the day to day business plus attend shows at weekends, in the past he only had to concentrate on preparing for the shows. Now is quite different and I am certain he will learn from his mistakes, I will have a chat with him and carefully relay the feedback, however there may well have been problems outside his control prior to the show which caused these issues.

OK a mistake had occurred, I was not there but I can imagine how this event has happened, and if he was operating single handed the effect will be magnified. All I can say is that over the past 4 years with the exception of Railex this year (just before the hand over) the stand has been well stocked, pre orders done and reserve stock in boxes under the stand, sometimes it has taken a bit of searching to find the odd item. But when there are two on the stand one can deal with an extended sale whilst the other does the quick sales With Phil now running the whole business it is a steep learning curve. Things like this will stick in the mind and hopefully will be avoided in future. Its a big learning curve for him and it will take him time to get both parts of the business working together. Larger shows do need two people on the stand and I guess something he will be thinking about. Normally I would say order in advance, but every now and then things will go wrong. That's life, and when something goes wrong it has a knock on effect. I would guess an hour later he was standing on his own waiting for the next customer

Phil probably is on his own and it sounds like the person he was serving needed assistance, the simple answer is go back when there is not a queue. I understand how frustrating it is when in a queue and the person is taking ages to be served (often being told the same info several times) but its up to the assistant to ensure the customer understands, and older folk take a bit longer to absorb info I am afraid that sometimes a customer either needs a help (some pick up the information quicker than others) or wants a chat. There is a very fine line between trying to serve someone quickly and being rude. Also there are time wasters or perhaps the chap is lonely and shows are the only place he can have a chat about the subject he loves. At shows just go off and do something else and go back at a quieter period

As peter has said it might just be a case of opening a hole(s) a tad with a broach. How about making the chassis rigid ?

Tim Check the chassis frames are straight, sometimes with the keyhole slots they were supplied bowed, owing to the slots being stamped out