Ian Morgan

You could try a temporary fitting of thicker wire, or combining 2 or 3 lengths of thinner wire, to prove the diagnosis. I would avoid removing the built-in Peco springs unless you have other means for locking the points once thrown. Some Seep motors do include over-centre springs. Ian Morgan Hampshire

Questions: Are you using Capacitor Discharge Units (CDU) to provide a good bit of Oomph to the Seeps without risk of overheating them? Are there long runs of thin wire to the point motors? (a few yards of fine wire and connectors can soon build up to a few ohms, possibly halving the voltage at the motor) Are the Seeps mounted as close to 90 degrees to the track as possible? Ian Morgan Hampshire

I had a blue HB90 at Uni in 1978. Its main foible was that it would not start when the engine was warm (such as after stopping to fill up with petrol). The only way to start it when warm was to pop the bonnet, unscrew and remove the damper from the top of the Stromberg carburettor, start the engine and then slowly screw the damper back in again. It also broke a valve spring during the short time I had it. I sold it when my uncle offered me his Hillman Avenger GLS at a bargain price. Ian Morgan Hampshire

I suspect the corrugated iron shed by the former cattle pens at Freshwater would have been used for general merchandise traffic

Ah, so it is pointing away from the viewing side of the layout and will only be seen by the operators? Pity. Looks great though.

With the grass on the platform and lack of wagons in the yard, I would say the last photo was shortly after the line closed in 1953. The other one I would say 'post war'. The loco has 36 on the buffer beam, is lined and has a nameplate low down on the tank sides, and is pointing the 'wrong way' (locos on the line normally pointed towards Freshwater).

That is the photo I meant. By the time the line closed, that building had been reduced to half its length: These photos show the station end of the yard (and the petrol station opposite the station): This last is poor quality, but shows some intriguing erections. Does anyone know anything about them? It looks like a boring rig, possibly, but why? Ian Morgan Hampshire

It can be partially seen in a photo I have (I will try to post it this evening). Rather than a single 'wharf', there were a collection of covered platforms and coal bins (one of which looks like an old wagon body with the curved ends) along Jollife's Siding. There was also a large brick shed with a large sign on the roof declaring 'Freshwater Coal Depot'. A small part of this shed still stands in the garden centre, and used as their 'Xmas Barn'. Two coal merchants used the yard, one of which (Honnor & Jeffrey) later acquired the site and built the garden centre there. Hope this helps, or is of interest.

A busy club evening, with Robin building more points for the TMD area, Graeme fitting point servos on the second board, and Pete and I painting track on the first board in preparation for ballasting. So, for a change, some views of the tops of the baseboards. The two scenic boards: The first two crossovers: and some of Pete's stock that will be running on the layout, one day:

Also, the Merg mounts (and the 'Dingo' mounts produced by a Merg member) use the full 180 degree sweep of the servo to produce a final movement of about 5mm, so any switch-on twitch is not a big problem, and there is plenty of movement to operate any bolt-on microswitches.

Thanks guys. Looking at the photos again, I really need to fill that gap above the radiator. Where is my Milliput? BTW, does anyone know what the big lever behind the driver's door is? Is it something to do with the massive sun roof?

Still on my workbench, after many weeks, are 2 Oxford Diecast Bedford OB Buses for use on Freshwater. Repainting the bodies and adding transfers, so one is Southern Vectis and one is West Wight, was quick and easy. However, I wanted to add some passengers and improve the glazing. Some cheap and nasty seated figures from China needed some surgery to fit, and the seating bay sides needed removing where two passengers sit next to each other. The driver is the excellent product of ModelU, and is, unfortunately, not visible in the photo below. The vertical pillar just ahead of the back seat, used to hold the floor in place, was removed. Having fitted the passengers, it was apparent that the seating is too high, so some more surgery was required to the seating unit to lower it about 1mm. Then, I had the crazy idea of flush glazing. For this, some new pillars had to be created to replace those that are just painted on the Oxford glazing. Then little pieces of transparent sheet had to be whittled away carefully to fit the apertures. They are fixed in place with Krystal Klear glue. It has taken 3 evenings to complete one side of this bus. Please, somebody tell me if it is worth the effort. (I seem to have lost the front number plate with all the handling) and an Oxford original as it comes: and the real thing

After a few club-nights the main line wiring on one board is finally complete. The amount of wiring would have been a lot less if we had gone for DCC, but I am the only member of the group with DCC fitted stock, and it is not of the right era for the layout, so I lost that battle. The relays, controlled by Merg CBus modules, switch the various track sections between the 4 main line controllers. There are only 3 points on the main line on this board, controlled by the black Merg CBus CANSERVO8 module. The wiring along the edge of the layout consists the 4 controller feeds, 12V and 5V power supplies and the CBus pair. The wiring down the other side of the raised section is the feed from the relays to the track sections. The expanse of virgin white board, where the documentation is laying, will be home to the MPD, and will be covered with servos and more Merg CBus modules eventually. Meanwhile, the second board has had most of its hardware fitted and will be ready for wiring up to commence while track laying for the MPD area can start on the first board. This board also has just 3 points on the main lines. The tie-bars have been fitted and the servos will be fitted next week, hopefully. Note, the elevated secondary main line diverges from the main, main line on this board, running along what will be filled, brick arches.

http://www.merg.org.uk/ used to do a laser cut servo mount, and now supply 3D printed ones, which work out quite cheap. Ian.

It's a bit like a cross between Fred Flintsone's car, and Barney Rubble's car.

Zephyrman, do you have drawings and/or photos of all these IOW wagons you have built? It sounds like you should write a book. I am just starting to build suitable stock for my 'Freshwater' layout, and would appreciate pointers to the most useful books, drawings and photos currently available.

Nice. Quite local for me too. I imagine the farm workers cottage would have been 4 small cottages back when S15s pulled troop trains. Are you planning to create Odiham terminus as well, at some point?

possibly axles not at right angles to the rails?, or front and rear wheels not in line with each other?

I assume that the people who are worried about an odd inch discrepency with window positions, etc, will also worry about the 7 inch discrepency with the track gauge, and will demand Kernow produce it with P4 wheel standards If they do adjust the angle of the guard irons, should they angle them to the correct track gauge, or to the OO narrow gauge?

Some period photos that may be helpful can be found here: http://www.4tc.org.uk/unit/index.php/photos

A start has been made on the wiring proper now. So far, I am still only working on the elevated main line tracks that run along the back of the layout, and only one of the two baseboards that comprise this phase of the build. This wiring connects the sections of rail to the relay boards and the point frog switches on the servo mounts. This is not quite complete yet, but I have added a number of P-clips to keep the wiring a bit tidier, and hopefully to protect it in-transit when exhibiting. The relays will be operated by Merg CANACC8 modules, only one of which has been fitted so far. The other module is the CANSERVO8 that will operate the servos. The 2 wire CBus and 12VDC and 5VDC power supply buses also have to be added. I still have to add the all the feed wires from the four analogue main line controllers to the relays. The relays will switch the relevent controller to the required track sections depending on which route is selected. One section of track can be controlled by any of the four controllers, depending on which route is required. Each controller is associated with one of the exits from the layout to the fiddle yards (Up Main, Down Main, Up Secondary and Down Secondary) and will only be used when a route to that exit is selected. I am using 25 way D connectors and ribbon cable for connecting the five analogue controller feeds (the motive power depot will have its own analogue controller) and the main 12VDC supply between boards and to a central power case. The ribbon cable wires have been paired to reduce the resistance, and three wires are used for the 0V of the main supply, so the 25 way ribbon cable only provides 12 connections in total. Small veroboard modules have been produced to break out the 25 way ribbon to 12 screw terminals. The final photo shows that all this wiring is inside the elevated section at the back of the layout. The rest of the layout will be the extensive TMD and stabling yard, which will have a lot more points and servos, but will only have one analogue controller to worry about. There will still be a need for relays to control section breaks where more than one locomotive can be parked in the same siding.

One thing I always notice in photos from the early days of the railways is the scarcity of trees in those days. You might need to think of somethings else to mask the fiddle yard openings.

I was thinking that Chris Higgs (Masterclass Models) had done an etched replacement chassis for the B-Set, and I just realised I had purchased a pair a few years ago and they are in my 'To-Do' crate. I don't know if Chris has any left, or if he planning a re-run, but you could ask.

David Eveleigh does an etched chassis for the 45xx: http://www.2mm.org.uk/small_suppliers/davideveleigh/index.htm There are some suggestions for improving the B-set here: http://www.gwr.org.uk/pronbset.html Replacement coach wheels from the 2mm Scale Association are £1.40 per axle. You would need to contact David to find out what is needed in the way of wheels, gears, muffs and motor for the 45xx, but they will be available here: http://www.2mm.org.uk/products/shops.php?shop_num=3 Good Luck.

Next time you are in Munich, stand on this bridge here and watch the hump shunting: 48°11'46.2"N 11°29'41.0"E https://goo.gl/maps/ByA6h1pqVy32 Check the Street View