CF MRC

I am a firm believer in steel valve gear and coupling rods looking nice and chunky with decent bearing surfaces - because that is what steam engines have. My next engine a, P2, will obviously have a scratchbuilt chassis and needed fluted coupling rods. I always drill the frames and rods at the same time with them sweated together. The first photo shows the front axle and coupling rod hole being centre-marked with a gramophone needle ground to a cutting three sided pyramid shape, prior to drilling. Second photo shows one side rod sweated to a bit of scrap brass and the rods filed down between the bearings to leave these proud as a boss. The technique of 'draw filing' Is being shown here with the file moving up,and down the rod at ninety degrees to it. Third photo shows a small marking gauge being used to scribe the flutes between the bosses. This was fitted with a gramophone needle ground into a D shape to plough out the required shape. The crank pin bosses automatically limited the length of the flute and the cheek of the gauge was held firmly against the side of the rod, to run parallel between the crank pin holes.

This steel forging has been occupying my time a bit just lately. I'll post some pictures of how it was made in the next couple of days. Tim

One of the problems with all these new commercial models is the huge variability in axle length, even from the same manufacturer. I have some of the Farish bogie wagons for the WW1 tanks that are close to acting as spirit levels when fitted with Association wheels. Other Farish wheel replacements are much less free running. One trick to try, if the emplacement wheels are a touch tight, is to squeeze the axle boxes in a vice over the replacement pinpoints and form a new, looser, bearing surface in the plastic moulding. Tim

On my American 2-6-0 there wasn't room for thin wires as the motor and massive tungsten flywheel got in the way of any current collection from the front bogie. There was insufficient length for the requisite flexibility using thin wire: the bogies are almost square, so their tracking is easily biased by soldered wires. I therefore used phosphor bronze wiping pads lightly sprung down onto each side of the rear bogie which also took the current up to the motor brush tags (Portescap 1016). The p/b wipers also gave some springing to the rear end of the tender. Tim

Gareth With my extensive experience of American 2-6-0s (!) I would make internal frames for spilt frame pick up and dummy external versions. Extended pinpoints will be harder to make and not good for pickup. They will not stay as pin points for long if the juice is going through them. Tim

To get fine coach lining in straw and black I use the Mecanorma pens with Magic Colour inks (Goggle the names for supplies). Certainly worked easily for my Oerlikon set. For magnification I am spoilt by using high quality professional loupes and co-axial lighting. However, some of these are available at relatively low cost from the web. Quality may not be as good, but depth of field should be better than single lens systems. Massively good lighting will always help older eyes.... Tim

You could always try one of these Jerry: This one is 3' gauge, there is also a standard gauge version. Will you be at GDSF with Kim? Tim

Jerry Bit difficult to judge from the photo and with the hills and trees yet to be filled in, but is the sky pelmet a bit high / too short? Doesn't quite seem to meet the golden proportion when seen in conjunction with the visible depth of the baseboard. Might be different with Tucking Mill on the other end of course. Just a thought. Tim

The Dapol teaks are much improved by washing a darker, warmer brown over the grained panels to even them up a bit with an equivalent lighter wash over the brown mouldings. Most of the teak coaches on CF use a strong yellow undercoat, followed by washes of browns to bring up the grain to taste. Better on any small scale model to stay on the light side, with higher value: details are lost with dark colours. Tim

My first scratchbuilt engine was a single driver, so no reason why Rapido shouldn't do it as a first-off steam engine. They are not difficult to do, as Mike Sharman has demonstrated many times. There is plenty of scope for well placed weight in this engine, so haulage should not be a problem. With modern motors there would be absolutely no need to put the motor in the tender in 4mm scale (different story in 2mm). If you want it to go round hairpin bends then maybe the front splashers would need to be removable, but as mentioned before, making it in OO would allow more tolerance for curves. Shall we just let Rapido get on with it? Tim

The gold safety valve adds valuable extra weight and doesn't tarnish. Tim

Motor in tender, driving the big wheels only. Pulls well: 40 axles on the MRC test track, a little less in service because of tighter curves. It was written up in MRJ a few years ago. Tim

Here's one I made earlier. Tim

It's a radial truck, but if you make that rigid in the frames, in order to drive it, then your 0-8-0 will need non existent clearance at the front end. Tim

I have built this type of engine to 2mm finescale clearances, making the front bogie wheels on the narrow spectrum for tread width to allow side play up to the bogie splashers, which were electrically live to the split frame wheels, but insulated from the front running plate. I would say that to build it in P4, whilst obviously no problem as such, would give you an engine that does not like curves. In this case the extra side movement available with the narrow gauge 00 clearances and the sloppy relationship with the rail will be advantageous. It is not flange depth that is the clearance problem but tread width. Pulling power in 00 may be reduced, if only driving one axle because of the poor wheel - rail relationship, a problem I found in making an N gauge Johnson Single. This engine spent most of its time going sideways and spinning rather than pulling properly, which was resolved once converted to 2mm FS. Tim

It will be interesting to see how they make it, as there are many subtleties in the design to trap the unwary (e.g. square section spokes). In reality, these engines have near zero clearances at the front end, with tight fitting bogie splashers and brake rigging outside of the driving and trailing engine wheels - all this will probably be helped by doing it in OO. Treating it as an 0-6-2 wthout side rods is a reasonable starting point, with no pivoting bogie at the front. It will be especially good to see it with the correct tender, although I wonder if the splashers should be filled in for this combination of engine & tender. These engines, and No1 in particular, went through many changes in their lives (what's new!) so for true prototype accuracy at an historic time point you need to do a lot of research. Either way, if they just copy the engine in its current preserved form, then that will suit me just fine and hopefully look good next to my 2mm scale version. Tim

That 4F wouldn't look out of place at Henley regatta! (I've got the land train set on order tho'). Tim

For a beginner, Jim, you're showing a lot of promise! Tim

Herewith a picture of the model of the model as dated December 1983, when the MRC committee sanctioned the building of the layout. The only real change from the original plan is that the York Road bridge is closer to the back scene (nearer scale position) at the south end and indeed the layout is a little longer and squarer at the front left hand end. At the right hand end the back scene was moved further back to increase the depth effect. I have also attached a 1985 picture showing how model railways keeps you young (TFW & MF)! Tim

The layout that won the GJ Trophy in Newcastle was 10% of what it is now! May have been 1991. Tim

Well we have certainly just had a very different weekend to the normal model railway exhibition! After a hectic few weeks of work with a major re-wire of the front boards (a fall-out from the Preston show 6 months ago) we got the layout moved to the Kings Cross Granary square complex on Friday 9th for their “Steam Extravaganza”. The layout was exhibited in the ‘Crossing’, a large exhibit space close to the Central St Martins school of Arts entrance. The aerial photograph shows the layout during setting up, taken from the offices in the Granary Building. Yvonne & Peter Chappell and myself are visible in the image: it also shows the major logistical issues around crating the layout and the plywood construction of our lighting proscenium arch. Amazing that it all fits in a Luton headed transit. The public came to see Gresley Beat and CF, along with other outdoor steam attractions aimed predominantly at a young audience. There were 9000 of them. It was so refreshing to have a public that was truly appreciative of the quality of modelling on show and who were amazed to see their area represented in model form, as it was 75 years ago. The trains were admired, but probably incidental. I think they could understand the quality of the individual models on Gresley Beat but they didn’t engage as well with the model as they did with CF. We saw people checking out CF using Google Earth on their smartphones. The number of comments and anecdotes from locals was never ending: I think the Club is going to be very busy at our next Open Day on November 16th. The layout settled down to run well on most lines, although we now need to be fettling the newly extended down goods to make sure it’s OK – especially on the brass track round the back. With the re-wiring now started, it is an ideal opportunity to re-organise the wire feeds and sectioning in the fiddle yards at the rear, much of which is well over 25 years old! Our newest train on the line was the ‘Flying Kipper’ from Matthew Wald. It was running on the up goods, behind the Baldwin and can be seen on its entrance into the Goods Yard. This train started life as some old Graham Farish fish vans but they have subsequently been filleted and narrowed to make a very effective fast fitted train. I also include a picture of our Queen of Scots Pullman set heading north, pulled by a Lonestar A4 Pacific. Work progresses on the buildings on the southern end, with Tom Knapp beavering away in San Francisco on the London Christian Mission building and Richard Wilson sketching out the other block of shops, houses and offices. Finally, it was pleasing to note that the layout was awarded the ‘Geoff Jones Layout Trophy’ by the 2mm Scale Association, for the second time, at their AGM on Saturday 11th October. Tim

Pendon? Tim

The engine was made by Marcus Graham from some 4mm etches that were reduced to 2mm scale many years ago: I think originally from Mike Bryant. The chassis is scratch built with a simple 30:1 worm wheel set - it's very nearly a rack loco with such small driving wheels! It has a Maxon motor in the tender. Tim

Not by the time you've sanded them into virtual oblivion... Tim