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Bridge identification. Help please. I've found this picture of a series of through truss bridges. There are outer guard rails on the track. Location? Possibly Southern. Possibly near Poole but not sure. Photo taken from one end of a push-pull. Have hunted high and low without success. It might well have been demolished but I am sure that someone will recognise it in the pool(e) of railway modellers. Dave

Thanks John A great film to watch as it is just up the road from me in Guisborough. Even though I have been on the line to get a view out of the cab is excellent. The bridge deck uses standard timbers rather than way timbers (which are no longer used except for very short spans). I see there are check rails and timber / tarmac walkways added. Useful stuff. Dave

Some more progress on bridge civil works. The Townstreet stone castings really lend themselves to creating a great deal of variation in appearance which makes weathering a relatively simple task. The abutments and central pier have been aligned and levelled via a laser with the bridges temporarily put in place. Next comes the painting and weathering of the truss bridges. Thanks Tony for letting me practice on your Little Bytham bridge! I have ordered handrail stanchions for the bridges but have yet to decide the design for the deck. 2mm PCB will form the base of the deck and there will be longitudinal timbers for the rails (with ties) and check rails, but not sure if a plated or timbered deck, or ballasted deck would be the most appropriate. There are truss bridge photographs available looking from the outside but views looking along the deck of such a bridge are in short supply. If anyone has some info to help it would be appreciated. Dave

It's been a while, but at last the first abutment of the twin span bridge is installed. The assembly was photographed outside to highlight the weathering. This is made up of Townstreet castings (semi-scratch built), as components had to be spliced together to accomodate the width of the truss bridge. The arch is also lower than the standard design which is usually used as a tunnel entrance. It was painted initially with Colron wood dye, and then weathered via enamel filters and washes, followed by various pigments . The central support pillar will need some position adjustment but I will spot the second abutment before doing this. The bridges will eventually receive plated decks and ballasting. No excuses - plenty of time to get on with it! Cheers Dave

Hi Jamie I appreciate the picture of the bridge as well! Dave

Just finished this central support for a double track twin span Pony Truss bridge. It is semi-scratch built using Townstreet castings, then painted and weathered. Waiting for parts to do the pair of bridge abutments. Dave

GAM coach modification. This is a follow up to earlier posts re the rewheeling of GAM coaches. Here is a link to a post describing the procedure. https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/40088-golden-age/page/4/ Tony / Juke I would appreciate your opinion re the GAM A4's and the apparent lack of tractive force Under 12 c) of the post Dave

Reducing rolling resistance / drag on GAM coaches Having purchased a set of Silver Jubilee (7 coaches) and Coronation (9 coaches) from GAM many years ago, I was rather disappointed that the GAM A4's could not haul the coach sets and loco driver wheel slip was present even with 5 coaches. The A4's could however pull 20 RTR Bachmann and Hornby coaches! Looking closely at the wheel sets and measuring drag it appeared that rolling restistance was high and that the stiffness of the bogie attachment was causing additonal drag with higher forces generated on curves. So I took the plunge and decided to change the wheel sets and install pin point bearings instead of the plain bearings supplied. In addition, the springs of the bogie attachment would be replaced with stand off spacers giving a small axial clearance. The following set of photos gives the sequence I have used. Before proceeding though it it worth mentioning that the modification has been successful and the GAM A4 can now pull the 9 coaches without slip. 1 The original frame of the GAM coach includes plain bearing and a sping loaded bogie attachment 2 Bogie removal 3 Dismantle the bogie. The cross member secures the bogie via M1.4 X 3mm screws Remove the plain bearings and clean up the oil 4 Clean out the holes in the bogie frame using 2mm drill. If a slightly deeper hole is needed to fit the bearing flush, use a 1.7mm drill at the bottom of the hole 5 Below is a photo of the Alan Gibson wasted pin point bearings and shim washers used. A 'little' is taken off the bottom of bearing to remove any machining pips and to reduce the depth of the hole required 6 Fit the shim washer over the back of the bearing. It will click into place or disappear around the room. If loose, then superglue in place. I mostly used the 0.25mm thickness although these varied between 0.28 and 0.38mm thickness. There was some variation between the wheel sets of the Jubilee and the Coronation but I erred on on the slack side when fitting the new wheels rather than a precision 'clockmakers' fit. 7 Superglue the bearing into the bogie frames. Ensure that the bearing / shim assembly fits flush to the frame. 8 Now for the new wheels. Note that standard wheel lengths in 4mm OO gauge will not fit into the width available but Alan Gibson also supply wheels with 24.5mm axle lengths (might be on longer lead time). These were purchased (14mm 4005 plain disc wheels). Reassemble with the new wheels and ensure that the wheels spin freely with minimal side play 9 Attach the bogies using stand off spaces 3mm long. Note that for some reason 2 different diameter shouldered screws were used, spacers with ID of M2.5 and M3.0 were needed. Supplied by eBay https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/323327974017 10 Modified bogies fitted and oiled 11 The wrong A4 pulling 9 Coronation coaches. I need to replace the micro plug on the Mallard. 12 Extra comments a) Extra fine adjustment of the sideplay can be made (if necessary) by the using the existing clearance in the holes for the M1.4mm screws attaching the cross member or even opening the holes a little. b) A Hornby RTR A4 can just about pull 7 of these heavy coaches after the modification. A weighted RTR might even do the job and adding weights to an RTR does not look as daunting as getting into a GAM A4 (there are no instructions), and it looks complex. So why is the GAM poor at providing the traction? They are heavy but perhaps the fully compensated wheels and / or the drag on the tender wheels which have spring loaded pick ups and / or the profile of the driver wheels are the issue. c) Having said that the locos and the coaches look stunning. It is a pity that they are (were) difficult to run but I hope the above can help those that have had similar issues Dave

A follow up to the GAM Silver Jubilee coach conversion on page 1740. The Coronation coaches have been coverted in much the same way via pin point bearings / shim washers and new wheel sets plus stand off spacers used to attach the bogies. So, now up to 9 coaches without slip. Please forgive the A4 (wrong period and loco). The Mallard wouldn't show any sign of life when put on track (another job!). I'm planning to detail the method used in a separate topic. Well done Tony for getting stuck into that rodding. Dave

Syd Found the thread and the earlier one thanks. Seems as though your thread was more about derailments rather than loco slip. I reckon that the GAM plain bearings and the bogie pivot arrangement are contributors to the high drag (causing slip). I want to run them (not display them), and so will pursue this until they run well. So far the pin point bearing conversion has moved the operation well in the right direction. Thanks for your help Dave

Golden Age Syd Thanks for the information which will give me a few more ideas to further improve the running. More testing done with the 7 coach Silver Jubilee and the only bit of slip of the A4 is when some of the coaches are sitting on the curves. I have minimum radius of 32" and cannot get more without knocking out an exterior wall to the house! So this might be the stiffness in the bogies. I will take the springs out as you suggest. Perhaps there is a bit of buffer or corridor connection contact as well. The buffers can be slightly retracted by fitting a shim behind the buffer beam. I believe this was done on the prototype? If you could send me a link to the original thread I should be grateful. Thanks Dave

Hi Tony Lets hope that replacement of the strong springs with the stand off spacers prevents derailments. I will update when done. I cannot understand why such great models were rather let down by the bogie / wheel arrangement. I guess if GAM does trade again this would be rectified. The bridge you see is a pony truss bridge (one of a pair) that I got from the states (ready made). I plan to cut and carve them, based on my learning from LB bridge so it will be more in keeping with British design. At some stage I will make another LB bridge but the high quality detail drawings I need to get even more accuracy might take even longer to get out of the MR archives in the current climate. The viaduct you see is made from Townstreet components - done a long long time ago. Stay safe and enjoy the point rodding! Dave

At long last I have had the time to make a modification to coaches by Golden Age Models. Some years ago I purchased the Silver Jubilee set and only got around to testing it last year! Sadly the GAM A4 Silver Fox could not pull the 7 coaches with even 5 being a bit of a struggle (loco wheel slip). After checking out the bogie / wheel arrangement I was surprised to see plain bearings. A few tests revealed a big rolling resistance with this type, irrespective of lubrication and running in. So I ordered parts from Alan Gibson. Shorter 24.4mm wheel sets that can fit between the frames. I have set wasted pin point axle bearings into the plates but also a 2mm bore 0.25mm thick brass shim set behind each of them. This gives a close fit which can be finely adjusted by the clearance in holes attaching the cross members to the side plates. Quite a gamble, but pleased to report no (or very little) slip with the new arrangement and should get better with 'running in' I am also planning to modify the bogie attachment as the spring causes a slightly stiffer rotation than desired which transfers forces between flange and rail (more resistance). This will be replaced by a stand off spacer fitting over the shouldered screw. Now for the Coronation set (9 coaches)!? I doubt if I am the only purchaser of GAM coaches that has experienced this problem but here is a relatively easy improvement / solution. Dave

Hi Mick Similar but not quite the same as a cassette system. It is loaded / unloaded by simply pushing the cradle down onto a piece of track. There are profiled electrical strips in the base of the cradle to do this. So there is no lining up and elctrical plugging to do. The strip is fine enough that the loco will drive eaily onto the cradle deck. On my layout, this is done off scene. Dave

And here is the standard loco storage system More details can be found here: https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/152782-locomotive-storage-boxes-with-no-handling/ Dave

Thanks John Andy has moved the other topic to Modellling Q ... Seems you have some extra time on your hands for some reason! Cheers Dave

Thanks John for the 'lateral thinking'. Agreed! Perhaps you could help. I have just created this topic about storage boxes but it's under Heljan. Can I easily move the topic elsewhere? https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/152782-locomotive-storage-boxes-with-no-handling/

I have recently finished a loco storage system intended for home use rather than for transport between home and exhibitions. The idea is to minimise handling of the locos especially after they have been weathered - preferably no hand contact at all. And, also to be able to store them in dust proof conditions. The basis for the storage is by use of the Peco SL-43 Loco Lift cradles which enables direct loading and unloading from the track. I was looking for front opening stackable storage boxes and eventually came across 'shoe boxes' of all things. This is the end result To be able to get 8 locos in each box a Perspex shelf has been added, supported on 4 lugs screwed into the sides of the box. The messy part was trimming the top corners of the cradle handles so that it is straight rather than having a part projecting that can catch as they are withdrawn from the box. The boxes can be stacked and as they are front opening do not have be moved / lifted to get access. These are the boxes from Amazon - the sets of 6 also come up on occasion and are a little cheaper. The shelves £3.34 each https://www.theplasticpeople.co.uk/ Lugs / stand offs £5.40 pack of 40 - 4 used per box Nylon fixing bolts M4 X 10mm eBay pack of 100 - £5.95 There is also another version for storing larger locos such as Garratts https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/42598-Heljan-beyer-garratt/page/99/ Dave

Hi John Yes, that could easily be done. The only down side is the tapered guides for ensuring correct wheel alignment when driving onto the cradle would be missing one end. Dave

A little project just finished off today. Extended Peco Loco Lift cradles to make handling of the larger locos (Garratts) easier, especially good after weathering is done There is more detail of this on the link below: https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/42598-Heljan-beyer-garratt/page/99/ Dave

I have been working out some new loco storage sytems just recently, based on the Peco SL-43 Loco Lift. When it comes to the Garratt the length is clearly too small so I have extended the cradle. Handling of the Garratt (especially after weathering) is so much easier and less likely to cause damage. Two extended cradles can be made from three SL-43s. You will see bolow that a 55mm extension is added. At one end is the extended deck and at the other are the two matching aluminium profiles. To improve the stiffness at the joints 2 styrene sections have been inserted which luckily fit tightly into the profile. The profile self trims but ensure there are no burrs on the cut pieces so that it can be more easily inserted. I used 80mm lengths but perhaps shorter could be used. Below are the sections purchased via eBay The final outcome And 4 loaded to a 11L Really Useful Box

Thought you might like to see this. Email from DJH this morning! Dave

Tony Seems that 'the bridge' was a just in time delivery. At least you will be able to run those trains now that the gap has been filled. Looking forward to seeing all of that point rodding done! Stay safe you guys. Dave

Robert There are many thousands of rivets on the bridge. Those that were formed by etching material from around them are more prominant. Those that were punched through from the 1/2 etches on the back (accounting for a great deal more), have become rather faint after the successive paint layers. That probably happened on the prototype, but a shame that they are not more easily visible. The airbrushed layers were quite thin and I could not find any weathering technique to enhance them that would work. If and when I do another of these bridges for my own layout, then the design may include more front etched rivets or the shape and size might need to be altered. All part of the learning process and I will do some experiments beforehand. You can see below punched through rivets that were made on the layered flange plates over the top of the trusses. Dave

I have brushed it on coach sides and as John suggests it gives another step in the weathering process. I also airbrush it on when there has to be a very even or thin coat. No problem to air brush - usually 2 or 3 very fine mists. Cleaning of the airbrush - use Windolene which works a treat. Dave