Stringfingerling

Thanks very much Mikkel

Thanks for the nice comments and suggestions everyone! I am probably going to go the "leave it as derelict" lobby as represented very well here

That's a valid point but whether the viaduct gets restored or not is going to be an aesthetic choice rather than one driven by what would be the most likely outcome for such a structure. I've done sketches a long time ago which show the viaduct more complete though still derelict and they do appeal to me but the problem is that it might block the view along the main line a bit too much . I shall probably do a quick rough model of the completed viaduct to put in place and try it for appearance and then decide what to do .

Here's view of my new cottages. To the left you can see the start of a derelict narrow gauge viaduct which (in my world) lead to an abandoned slate quarry on the other side of the valley. I'm in two minds about whether to restore the arch across the standard gauge line; at the moment it's not immediately obvious to people what it's meant to be! However it will have a lot more work done on it whether or not the arch gets restored. You can see some cottages that I'm about to paint, on a flat piece of card to be stuck to the back scene. They will be joined by some more buildings before long. I've only just noticed the 1:1 scale cable ties abandoned by the trackside!

I think the Peco version is quite a bit more complex than the original. The original was photographed very well in Railway Modeller, and had an air of realism about it. Another layout from the same era which was very effective at using RTR OO equipment was Abermynach by Jurgen Mehnert, a lovely evocation of the GWR in North Wales, but built with modified continental European structures. Both these layouts still inspire me (in memory) now. I think the Peco version is quite a bit more complex than the original. The original was photographed very well in Railway Modeller, and had an air of realism about it. Another layout from the same era which was very effective at using RTR OO equipment was Abermynach by Jurgen Mehnert, a lovely evocation of the GWR in North Wales, but built with modified continental European structures. Both these layouts still inspire me (in memory) now.

Thanks - Not yet - I'll add that to the list of things to look into

I have a number of Tortoise point motors on my layout and they have all worked with total reliability . They are powered by an independent transformer and controlled by large switches which send the current to one side or the other and I’ve had no problems at all. On my recently added narrow gauge section I have just one turnout which is now also fitted with a Tortoise point motor. For some unaccountable reason it will decide to respond in the opposite direction to the normal setting of the switch occasionally! I haven’t yet tried to investigate the wiring thoroughly because it involves quite a lot of disruption and lifting up of parts of the layout. It’s not really a problem because it all works perfectly ok just as it is even though the switch sometimes has to be thrown in the opposite direction. Does anyone have a clue what’s going on here?

Here's my "Kerr Stuart ish" 0-4-0 again. It's my first attempt at building a loco from bits. It sits on a much chopped up Hornby "Percy" chassis which runs amazingly well with tweaking and ballast (old redundant lead type). The saddle tank is cut down from a Hornby "Smokey Joe" body, the chassis of which now runs around under my Grandson's "Percy". I purloined the "Percy" chassis as the Chinese chassis seems to be much better than the Margate one. The rear body work and the additions at the front are either brass sheet or nickel silver scrap etch. The glazing is courtesy of Krystal Kleer. The rather over-sized slide bars are Hornby 28xx spares, and the cylinders are from an abandoned NG kit. The camera is a cruel teller of truths but I'm very fond of this little engine and I'm looking forward to building some slate wagons for it to pull around.

There are developments going on in the village, but I'm keeping them under wraps for a little longer. Meanwhile I've been tinkering with the little Kerr Stuart style 0-4-0 and here it is in action again. It now has a crew, glazing (Krystal Kleer) , coal, some basic weathering (more to come), some rivets applied as decals and the big pipe running from smokebox to cab, which I'm hoping someone will explain to me. (I don't know what it does, but it's there on the 0-4-2 Corris version).

Thanks very much Jim, that's very kind.

Thanks very much

Once again thanks for your encouragement Wenlock !

Thanks Tony!

I haven't done any more to the Kerr Stuart type loco for a few days so here are a couple of pictures of the railway crossing the village street.

I'm actually 65 now, and I'm intending to still be modelling when I'm 95 or 99.

I suppose I'm hoping that the next one will also last 34 years

Thank you very much!

My old mini drill has died after 34 years of hard life I don't really need anything super powerful or elaborate as I have an old power drill permanently mounted in an upright stand as well. Am I missing something or is it quite hard to find them? I've had a look on Eileen's Emporium and Amazon and drawn a blank so far. Suggestions welcome please. Oh! I've just found lots of them on eBay, but recommendations still welcome!

Thank you very much Barclay! I have a few Portescaps and I think the ones I bought first are quite a bit better than the last ones I bought . I'm guessing that the later ones had less accurately made gears and consequently are noisier . I have a couple of the 1624's and they are practically silent and beautifully smooth . I did buy two Pentrollers many years ago but I was a bit disappointed with the fine speed control compared to the ECM controller I mentioned in my post.

I got the idea from here : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6h1zu9krSc8 I bought one of the Smallbrook kits but, finding it really unsuitable for my purposes I only salvaged the cylinders, and even those, I re-shaped to a profile that suited me better. I did use "Teacher Tiger"'s method but I reinforced the attachment of the cylinders to the chassis very heavily, rather than relying on a joint susceptible to a shearing force. I'm guessing that it wouldn't be that hard to form cylindrical cylinders from plastic rod, and that might that the route I would go on another occasion. I knew that I wasn't going to be building something that would ever get featured in Model Railway Journal but it was definitely a worthwhile exercise. Thanks for your encouragement

Thank you very much; that's very kind . I'm not an experienced loco builder and I'm very conscious that my knowledge of working with brass sheet is limited but I have studied parts of Guy Williams book and I'm learning :-) The loco runs really well and I think it's due to one or two things; firstly I spent a long time adjusting the wheels so that they were accurately quartered and making sure that the pickups were constantly in contact with all wheels. Secondly there is a lot of lead in the loco now in every available space. Thirdly I'm using an old ECM Compspeed CF controller which I bought in 1983 and which gives very good fine control . it's not on the level of DCC but it does show that these little Hornby motors can be made to work well . I remember reading an article by Gordon Gravett about his first narrow gauge layout in railway modeller back in the 80s and he described the Hornby 0-4-0 chassis as having the running characteristics of a startled rabbit :-) Perhaps the Chinese ones are better? If I build another narrow gauge loco I may try to use one of the old Portescap motors I still have from the 80's. They were wonderfully smooth, and although they were only supposed to be used with specialised feedback controllers such as the Pentroller, I found that they would work very well with the Compspeed on my old EM gauge layout.

Yes, it's great! I did have to Google it externally to find it.... I could just be me but the RMWeb site search facilities didn't help me much at all and I think that the way the topics are accessed is not always that apparent.

Does this count? It's a 7mm scale 0-4-0 based on a chopped up old "Smokey Joe" body. The shortened saddle tank and the smoke box (which is extended vertically) are raised to resemble Corris Kerr Stuart No4. The cab is sheet brass and the visible firebox is copper pipe. It has lots of old lead type in it for ballast, and it runs on a recent Hornby (China) chassis. The slide bars and piston are Hornby 28xx spares if I remember correctly. Cylinders are from a kit that I bought and abandoned as a hopeless case. The lining is done with Adobe Illustrator and printed onto printable decal paper. More details on this if anyone would like them. There's more pictures on my RMWeb blog page here: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/1200-stringfingerlings-blog/

Please would you send me the URL? I don't seem to be able to find it. Oh! Ignore that please, I've just found it.

Oh! thanks very much for that I didn't know about it :-)