Jol Wilkinson

I have just been advised that London Road Models have had to cancel at the last minute. John Redrup has become unwell and has been unable to make the journey north to ExpoEM.

Hopefully track safety has also improved, including run off areas and barriers. Many years ago I witnessed a driver die when his single wheeler spun backwards into an earth bank at Snetterton, which broke his neck. This site; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Driver_deaths_in_British_motorsport_series shows that Snetterton was quite a dangerous circuit, while Silverstone was less so.

I always refer to the motor installation that Arthur used as "underslung" as the gears effectively go under the axle. I use simple single stage gears (a LRM motor mount and gears, but similar also available from Branchlines) for small wheel engines. The attached shows a 1224 installed in LNWR Coal Tank chassis. The motor has to be low because of lack of headroom in the resin boiler casting, but the same approach works for LNWR Coal Engines and C Class 0-8-0s with etched boilers, which also have small wheels and short fireboxes. In those cases I shortened the tail shaft of the motor (as Arthur has on the J24), which allows me to rotate the motor to a more vertical position

He told me he had bought a 3D printer and the samples of some P4 wheels he was producing for a LNWR Jubilee I am building were produced on this. That's where he was having problems with the alignment of the wheel bores. I will have to use a set of Sharman Wheels I have in stock for the Jubilee and hope the BB wheels turn up for the Renown kit I have.

John, I agree. However, it sometimes becomes necessary and a looser fit than you usually get with SW and AGW wheels is a help. Ultrascale wheels tend to be a "looser" fit. That then needs a means of positively locking the wheel to prevent rotation on the axle. The benefit of a "looser" fit is that the wheel centre boss doesn't get distorted when the axle is pressed in, therefore reducing wheel wobble and run-out. The late John Hayes used to pin Ultrascale wheels onto the axle by drilling through the boss and into the axle with a .5mm drill and then using Loctite (IIRC) to hold a wire "pin" in place. Another approach is to cut a 45 degree .5mm slit into the end of the axle - using a fine piercing saw blade - and then drill into the plastic wheel boss to take the wire pin. The wheel can pulled of later if required as the pin will come out of the slit. Frankly, there isn't a really good 4mm wheel "system" available. The Exactoscale system promised that but is not currently available and covered a very limited range of wheel types. Colin Seymour (AGW) was looking into self quartering versions of his wheels and Bill Bedford (Mousa Model) has been researching 3D printed centre, self quartering wheels but I believe has found some difficulties with getting the required accuracy for the wheel centre bores. Jol

Also confirms my view of Audi drivers.

I think that you meant Portugese for an unfortunate translation of Ascona. Puta also has a unsuitable connotation in Italian Remarkable how they got those wrong.

There are also a number of Plans Books featuring the work of Allan Beattie and others, an internet search will turn up what is available from the new and s/h booksellers. I would suggest contacting the appropriate prototype Society, who will probably have access to Works Drawings. Modelling drawings cannot always be relied upon, likewise Weight Diagrams are usually fairly too inaccurate for our purposes. GAs can sometimes be difficult to read (and those may be from where the Model Drawing artists took their information). They should always be used in conjunction with photos as the "works" sometimes put their own interpretation on things and minor differences can be found.

Why? Despite their failings, which could be overcome with some care, SW provided the widest range of wheels in 4mm, covering many prototypes that Ultrascale, Exactoscale, AGW and Romford/Markits have never produced. It is ironic that Ultrascale and Exactoscale produced a number of identical wheel types, while ignoring many others. The concept of a plastic moulded centre with a push fit axle isn't ideal, especially if you don't know how to fit them well. Tom Mallard's articles on building a couple of LSWR Black Motors in MRJ 165 and 167 showed how SW wheeld could be used to provide very good results.

Perhaps the technology became the Koenigsegg Freevalve camless engine. https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiGpIbwgpTWAhWSblAKHSGNB80QtwIIJjAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DOZWeNPi2XkE&usg=AFQjCNH1Q9zSIEax9X9-Pyfs57JLBdyR-w

£ shops are of course unlike Canadian $ shops, where things cos 1$ PLUS Tax. Confusing for the Brits, where we assume the listed price will be what you pay at the checkout.

Was not some of the first new "Mini" version also based on AR design and components?

The quartering jig looks rather like the Cooper-Craft etched one. http://shop.cooper-craft.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=763 The GW version that I have is a wheel assembly and quartering jig (my description), with two aluminium blocks equipped with crankpin locating slots and sprung loaded wheel/axle "locators" and aligned by steel rods.

More good advice above. I would also suggest, as already mentioned, going back to basics to find what has caused the problem. It will be either a mismatch in the parts or something has gone awry in the assembly. If the former, then any chassis - rigid, sprung or compensated - won't work. Parts first. Do the rods match each other , centre to centre? Do the axle bearing holes in the frames match the rods and are they consistent with each other? - The tapered axle jigs shown (available from several sources. I use the London Road Models version) will show any rod/axle bearing misalignment. Do the crankpin "throws" match? Are the wheels accurately and consistently quartered? The last two should be okay with Romford/Markits wheels, but it is worth checking If you take off the rod on one side and rotate the wheels until the crankpins are fore and aft (as in the LH picture in the OP) and the rod is not binding, then those axles and rods are matched. Then do the same for the other side. If that is okay, then it would seem to point to a wheel quartering and/or, crankpin throw problem. . Assembly process. Were the axle jigs in the Avonside jig set up accurately and checked? I have read that they can move when finally tightened. Did you use one set of rods to set up? If there is any mis-match in the different rod centres, then that could cause the problem. There may be other issues, although I can't think of anything else significant at the moment.

Sorry that you have given up. It would seem that you had all the gear and information to build a working chassis. I wonder if there could be some serious difference between the coupling rod centres. Did you use just one set to set up the Avonside jig? If the other one of the pair had different distance between the crank pin holes, then the problem you describe could be caused by that. Different radii of the crankpin centres would have a similar effect, but I would think that was very unlikely with Romford/Markits wheels. Perhaps a fresh set of eyes will spot something.

Sounds as though the correlation between the coupling rod hole centres and the axle hole centres in not correct. The photo shows that the binding is happening when the alignment is most critical and if a crankpin is shearing then there is some significant force and therefore definite misalignment. I have built twelve compensated loco chassis using firstly Perseverance parallel end and latterly London Road Models taper end axle jigs (bottom of first section - https://traders.scalefour.org/LondonRoadModels/various/components/ ) to set up the horn guides in relation to the fixed, driven axle. I have only occasionally had to slightly ease one or two of the coupling rod crankpin holes. So I would suggest getting a set of axle jigs (if you don't already have them) and check the axle/coupling rod correlation. If these are correct then the chassis should work, although you may need to open out the crankpin holes very slightly. Ensure the rods always go back on in the same place. As for you last point, I would never build a rigid chassis again. Setting up a compensated or sprung chassis using axle jigs ensures correct alignment between the axles and coupling rods, something you can't always guarantee with a rigid chassis where the parts are used as supplied or where you have to ream out any bearing or crankpin holes.

The US market has been wedded to gasoline for car engines for a long time, largely because of the ready availability of lower cost fuel. There was no real benefit in moving to diesel car engines for better economy. More recently the increasingly stringent EPA regulations and the VAG "scandal" have further weakened the demand for diesel cars. Toyota led the Hybrid charge, especially in California, although the total environmental impact of building them - which was apparently higher than the overall lifetime manufacturing and usage damage form a "normal" car - was never highlighted. Notable that Toyota's latest tv adverts of the Yaris Hybrid extol the virtues of using it's petrol engine to charge the battery, with no need to plug in.

Manufactures quoted fuel consumption figures are, unless things have changed since the tests were introduced, based upon a laboratory run rolling road test. To get consistently comparable data across different manufacturers and dealers, government tests were introduced where the car is "driven" through a speed/power cycle on the rolling road. While that can reflect speed, load, acceleration, gradient, etc. it doesn't reflect, AFAIK, wind resistance, driver ability and other "real world" variations. See http://www.dft.gov.uk/vca/fcb/the-fuel-consumption-testing-scheme.asp So it is only really valid for comparing one vehicle against another. Unfortunately, the media and other parties ignorant of the facts seem to believe the "official" figures show real world consumption and incorrectly use them to criticise the vehicle manufacturers. Of course the media, like consumers and drivers, are never wrong.

The "low cost" receipt has been available from London Road Models, f.o.c., upon request for purchases at shows for many years. With the increasing use of credit cards as opposed to cash, the facility is rarely asked for nowadays, presumably because CC accounts's don't give you anywhere to hide if the domestic authorities can get hold of it.

Mick, as someone brought up in the Midlands, then went south to start a career that involved living and working in England, Wales, Scotland and (briefly) Ireland, I think your extensive post contains some serious errors. You appear to be a supporter of "The North", but I don't recall seeing any mention of "Pies", or did I miss something. Or is the blonde having an in the video clip eating one? Firstly, the picture of a pint of "beer" would appear to be something called "lager", a fizzy, sour tasting concoction of p*ss foisted upon the stupid members of this nation by the colonials and continentals. Proper beer is available from Adnams of Southwold among many others. However your admission to liking Vimto as a younger person shows you were badly influenced as a child. You should have been brought up on Ginger Beer or Dandelion and Burdock, which may have helped you develop a better palate. Chips should be taken with salt to bring out the flavour. Vinegar causes sogginess, but a pickled onion for contrasting sharpness and a proper "crunch" should be mandatory.The addition of gravy is acceptable as a cultural aberration in some regions, but the addition of cheese (something the Yanks seem to do with all and any food) is definitely not on. You can walk slowly in London, just go off the beaten track, especially around the City at the weekend. You also get to see some great old architecture, cosy pubs, etc. We should rejoice in our regional heritage. However that is something we have largely and willingly given up, through our wholesale adoption of other cultures food and drink and a seeming desire to ignore, and deride old traditions. I would love to see the English rugby team do a Morris Dance in response to the All Black's Haka. Greggs went down the pan when they stopped doing a really decent custard slice (that's a sort of Mille Feulle for the southerners). Martins Bakery in Ipswich does far better stuff than the Greggs several doors along, a good example of a local, established, business beating a "corporate" chain. They also do great "batches", but I never know whether to ask for a barm, batch or a bap. You have also not recognised that all day drinking - like the All Day Breakfast (something of an oxymoron) - is a national activity. It has been strongly supported by national pub chains, such as Wetherspoons, who look beyond any local boundaries in their dedicated search to help people drink too much. "Housewives of Cheshire" (or whatever) is presumably as ghastly as TOWIE in presenting people with orange skin and too much money as having some sort of intelligence. Such programmes should not be tolerated but replaced by serious depictions of real people such as East Enders ,Coronation Street, etc. Jol happy to have had a Yorkshire father, Scottish mother, been brought up in Rugby, and now living in Suffolk. Enjoyed Bucks, Shropshire, Northants and Dublin, but I'd prefer not to think about when I lived in Essex and Sussex.

What inner diameter is the hole and what outer diameter are the bearings? Opening out the hole is okay if you only need to remove a small amount of metal. The etched inner frame spacer looks a bit thin at the lower edge, so it may be worth getting some smaller OD bearings if you have to remove too much to accept the existing ones. Markits list a 2mm ID, 3MM OD bearing. London Road Models supply a 2.0mm ID, 2.6mm OD bearing in their kits, possibly supplied by Alan Gibson Workshop.

I think that the cast w/m kits are mainly no longer available although some items were also absorbed by other manufacturers, e.g. London Road Models took over the LNWR 10T Brake Van, 6 wheel 26' Milk Van and 6 wheel 26' Luggage van. Despite this, original D&S kits - despite being listed on the LRM site as former D&S kits (and in the case of the 10T BV, updated with new etched running gear) - invariably usually fetch more when sold on internet auction sites than a new LRM kit costs. Whether this is down to stupidity or ignorance is the question, or do people really collect and resell "old" kits?

Chris, manufacturing the 4mm may still be done by Slaters. I believe that the deal probably was for CC was to market them, while Slaters presumably got to market the 7mm CC kits. Slaters are now better known for their 7mm products and CC were more involved with 4mm, especially when they took over the Ian Kirk, Mallard, etc. stuff. So that would seem to make such a marketing deal sensible, but the problems with moulding the products CC took over seems to have rather undermined all that. The CC website still carries the same explanation for non availability of CC, Ian Kirk, Mailcoach and Slaters kits being down to problems with his moulding machine (now ongoing for a very long time), but I don't think he ever got the Slaters moulds. Of course this is conjecture, we don't know the real truth and probably never will. I don't see things ever moving forward with the products for which CC have the moulds . Jol

Guy, I think they are still the Slaters PO kits. I believe the arrangement was for CC to market these, as part of a reciprocal agreement with Slaters, covering 4mm and 7mm kits. Whether or not he would actually been able to have manufactured them is questionable, given the situation with the other plastic kits in the range. It may be that the POWSides contract was outside that deal. Jol

Ah, the broad church philosophy. I consider it is more like a collection of different places of worship, church, chapel, synagogue, mosque, etc. Those attending share a belief in miniature models with wheels and running on rails, but often little else. little As a model make/kit builder, can you explain how what goes on in the RTR market place is of benefit to me. If anything, it seems that the greatly improved RTR models available today have done little or nothing to improve the supply of kits and bits. As discussed elsewhere, they may even have had a damaging effect. I am model making enthusiast, with an interest in the LNWR. I do not regard myself as a model railway enthusiast, as that implies I am interested in all and any model railways. We have "labels" to describe what we are or do. When someone asked what hobby I have, I reply by saying model maker, because that more accurately describes what I do and enjoy. Looking at the model railway market as I believe the OP meant (RTR mass produced products), then it seems to be going the same way as most consumer goods. A mixture of purchasing a particular item as soon as it is available to be "on trend" and where hence price is a therefore lesser consideration, or discount driven purchasing. This thread and the various wish list and frothing threads provide evidence of that. Either way, "modellers" end up with a choice of models from a range of models chosen by a manufacturer. Increasingly that choice seems to be driven by what is available for ease of research and production (e.g. 3D scanning of existing and preserved prototypes). Obviously manufacturers will seek to produce products that attract maximum demand at the lowest production cost. The ideal would be to manufacture a quantity where sales exactly match demand, but it would take a miracle to get that right.