Izzy

Turning between centres using say 1/8" brass would allow you to form the base nicely with a round nose tool ground to the right profile, as the bottom seems to be considerably larger in dia than the rest of the post. Izzy

Yes, I was thinking about the glue bond. I have found it can be weakend by too much heat, (you can of course lift the copper completely by applying enough heat!), yet still hold things together until sufficient forces arise that break it, thermal expansion/contraction, being caught/knocked etc. Having suffered in this way in the past, and found that generally c/c track with chairplates seems to be stronger and more resistant to these effects, I thought I'd mention it, as once the copper lifts than your a bit, you know........... which then brings you back to driving pins in etc. I'm currently reviewing baseboard joints in 2FS and how best to re-arrange them on an already built layout, with the thoughts that small home machined rivets fitted into the pcb (similar to ply/riveted) with cosmetic chairs might be a more easily repairable arrangement in the case of damage. Izzy

Hi Rabs, I know this is a bit late in the day, but could I suggest that for other PCB track baseboard joints you consider putting chair plate etches on top of the PCB? The reason is that it makes a stronger bond than soldering the rail straight to the PCB, and might help reduce/eliminate the chances of the copper lifting from the paxolin, as the plate absorbs/dissipates a lot of the heat generated from the soldering, reducing the risk of the glue bond rising to/above the levels at which it fails. This is more likely to occur as you have removed a lot of the copper surface which would normally help to do this. Izzy

Hi Julia, Re the number plates, part of the problem with small print reproduction is the material it's printed on as much as the printer resolution. Most home printers can have high enough resolution but using ordinary paper like say 90sgm inkjet gives high 'bleed' of the inks at small repro besides being quite thick and not ideal for 2mm purposes. You could try using say gloss photo paper at a fairly hi res, 1200ppi/dpi, and then taking the top layer off using a scalpel to get it thin enough. Izzy

That's looking good. Just changing the wheels (the etched inserts look very nice) makes a big difference even with the original valve gear and oversize crankpins. I take it the original wheels are stub axle castings with a larger diameter stub axle than 1.5mm. Pity they couldn't have used this size, it would have saved a lot of trouble and made conversion so much easier. Not quite diesel drop-in, but better than at present since retaining the heavier cast chassis seems preferable than an etched replacement given the light plastic bodies. As a North East Essex 60's diesel era modeller I keep telling myself I must resist the WD 2-8-0 (Vulcan was stationed at Cochester), and the Ivatt 2MT( also based there), but I'm finding my resolve weakening................ Izzy

The CAD looks as if current Dapol standards with regard to coach bogies and wheel size have been used. Undersized 6mm's but without the deeper solebars that Dapol have used on others to disguise the large gap between the bogies and solebars. I don't suppose they want to go to the extra trouble and expense of having 7mm wheels made since all their own stock continues to use 6mm's unlike Bachmann/Farish, and no doubt it would then push up the costs. Izzy

I do think, as a relative newcomer to DCC who continues to learn all the time, that the difference between programming in program mode on a program track and 'on the main' needs to be fully understood to appreciate not only the differences, but the dangers. Program mode has the benefit of working at minimal power output, so in case of any problems, the chances of damaging a decoder are greatly reduced. It at it's most useful for initial testing of a newly fitted loco where the wiring/connections needs checking/confirming, and of course reading CV's. I soon learnt that it is best to use a completely separate piece of track so that no danger exists of a loco breaching any joint between a track with program mode and the main DCC track output mode, because otherwise the command station program mode outputs will be blown, (guess how I discovered this?). For this reason I would not reccomend using any track in program mode where there is a possibility that this could occur, as even though a DCC system is put into program mode output, it does not always follow that the full mode outputs are switched off, as some systems have separate wiring outputs for each mode. Izzy

After asking for info re the 2MT on the Farish forum I checked out Bachmann's site and discovered the service diagrams in PDF for the WD. It would appear from these that the new steam chassis roughly mirrors that of the more recent diesel chassis except with regard to the split-axle wheel pick-up via axle bushes, but it's not clear how these parts (wheels/axles) actually fit together. I presume the 2MT and J39 loco chassis will be similar, although the latter is still tender drive. Are you using the original Farish WD loco chassis as the basis or a replacement etched one? Izzy

The newer Farish diesels, 24/37/20 etc, use correctly sized wheels rather than the 'standard' wheel sizes of the past. At present the only replacement sets appear to be the older standard size types, so I would tend to think contacting Bachmann might be required. I've obtained replacement wheel sets for both 04 and 08 diesels this way - complete sets with coupling rods etc. Izzy

Well, I'm no expert that's for sure, but I've just glazed a cab in a diesel loco I've built using some clear plastic cut from those clear plastic boxes products often come in these days. I'm not sure where it came from, (it may have been some Velleman electronics form Maplin) or indeed what it's actually made from (whether it's acrylic/acetate etc, just it's not the hard plastic like that of CD cases), but it does seem more scratch resistant than other forms of glazing I've used. Some does have a slightly blue-ish cast to it, but that which I used is totally clear. I simply stuck it in place with double-sided tape to stop any chance of any glue used creeping into the window section, although this was in 2mm and may not be sufficient for larger scales. Izzy

This might no longer be possible. As far as I'm aware the Walton/Thorpe-le-soken run is now mainly a shuttle service with just the occasional service going onwards either way at Thorpe as a local all-stations Cochester North via St Boltophs to Walton with the odd direct Walton/LS service at peak time. No split/join at either Colchester North or Thorpe for direct services any longer. Izzy

Wonderful thread for an Essex boy! Many thanks to all those who have posted images and thoughts and helped revive memories. Having lived by the coast since an early age I have fond memories of the 309's in particular, from there inception in the maroon livery up 'til withdrawal. It might just be nostalgia but I still believe they are one ot the most comfortable trains I've ridden on around the world. Trying to make sure you were in the right 'half' for the Clacton/Walton split at Thorpe-le-soken could sometimes be fun though........ A long term aim of mine is to make a set if I can, in 2mm scale. I've just completed a class 15 - so anything is possible! Probably be in the maroon, although I rode them most often in the '80's in the blue/grey. My fondest memory however is sitting in one going up to town to a railway exhibition on a bank holiday monday, the weekend of the (infamous) Weeley Pop Festival, and passing the fields of people, tents, etc at Weeley. I'd been there until just a few hours before.... but the lure of model trains was strong even then. Essex Express indeed! Izzy

Ah. Reviewing all the shots I could find I did rather come to the conclusion initially that it was a Eastern region variation, since I didn't find this practice of fixing the disc flaps upwards to exist in photos of diesels on regions other than this. However, what actually drew my attention to this was some black/white shots of class 15's in the original plain green livery on the website mentioned previously about these diesels. The supposed white dots really stand out in these and is what started this enquiry. The particular shots I was interested in showed these locos on the Walton branch among others, on local passenger trains to Thorpe-le-soken. Izzy

Thanks John, I had been looking at those particular galleries after posting, just realised what I was looking at - and edited my post just as you posted! Izzy

Thanks Mick, That would explain the total lack of information on this that I have been able to discover to date. Actually I have now discovered the cause of the apparent white dot. It's really quite simple, and shows how thick I can be at times! When the bottom half of the disc is fixed upwards then the hole in it to allow the light to shine through when the disc is fully open allows the white of the top half to show through this hole, and it looks just like a white dot. Izzy

Recently I have been building a BR class 15 diesel in 2mm, and in trying to finish off the detail bits like headcode discs I discovered in studying various photos, that the headcode discs were often fixed closed, hinged upwards rather than down, so the light was exposed, with a white dot on the disc rear showing. This is a variation on the normally stated positions of fully open or closed downwards which I have not noticed before, and which I now find is visible in shots of other types of diesel loco without headcode boxes. All three positions could be seen together, yet no headcodes seem to exist that I have been able to find, with no mention of this thrid position. Can anyone shed any light on this? Was it about train route rather than train type, and peculiar to the Eastern Region, or more widespread? Thanks Izzy

I would suggest that the ambient temperature and the 'warmth' of the metal item being sprayed/painted has a bearing. A few months back on one of the warmer winter days I tried to spray with Halfords primer a couple of 2mm SA coaches I had just built, and found that although the paint finish looked good it hadn't really keyed well to the bodies, later starting to peel and flake in places. I had to strip them down and decided to wait for warmer and better weather to arrive. I now have a diesel to spray as well - and I'm still waiting! Izzy

Having struggled with the tall coach issue I came to the conclusion that Dapol use 6mm wheels for clearance but deepen the underframe to remove the large gap between the bogie and body, as has existed with many of the Farish ones of the past. So fit the correct sized 7mm wheels and it's too high, but you can't lower the body on the bogies to compensate, as you can with the older Farish. Izzy

If you use either DG couplings or the N gauge types then buffer locking issues should not arise whether reverse curves are involved or not. The little micro-circular layout which I've built to 2mm 2FS has curves down to 12" radius and no stock has problems. This ranges from modern stock such as Class 66/86/156/ freightliner flats etc to older 1960's green diesel era stuff, 24/31/37/mk 1's/short wheelbase wagons etc. However, the only couplings that work reliably on curved track with regard to coupling/uncoupling are the DG's. I used them on a previous N layout on curves down to 9" without issue. Izzy

I'm glad your signal has revived itself. I had the self-same issue with the (only) Dapol N gauge signal I bought. It worked about 6 times and then went into the state yours first did. Sadly mine never recovered. Not feeling this was acceptable for a £25 product I returned it and got my money back. Now I am using Ekcon/Berko colour light signals. Much cheaper, more reliable, and closer to scale. Izzy

Could I suggest that you check that the crankpins are at right angles to the wheels. I have found that they can easily shift out of true and cause quartering issues. Izzy

To motorize the gate you might like to consider using a servo. Tam Valley now produce a single servo board with SG90 servo, the 'singlet' which can work off either DCC bus power or DC, and can be simply programed for end points and speed. Not too expensive at around

Thanks. As I use 2mm Association drop-in replacement wheelsets to convert most Farish stuff to 2FS standards I'm actually pleased the current system continues, at least for the present. If the system had changed it would mean these could no longer be used and the original wheels machined to suit, as needs to happen with Dapol stuff, which isn't a huge issue for me, but means it's a one way process. In actual fact, whilst I think the pin-point system is great for non-powered wheelsets, I'm not really sure it makes any difference with powered ones, since I find no particular difference in reliability of pick-up. Izzy

Hi Ben, Does this refer to the power bogie or just the other bogies? The current 108/101's I have use pin-point pick-up on all non powered wheels, but wipers on the powered one, and I had presumed that this arrangement had continued with the 4-CEP and Desiro. Is there now pin-point collection on the powered one's as well? Izzy

I had exactly the same problem with a N gauge one and then found it seems to be a common occurence with these signals in both scales. A bit too unreliable for my taste if it can happen so frequently for no apparent reason considering their basic cost. I didn't dare risk getting another to replace it and got a refund. Izzy