SM42

On reflection, the number of times I've had to fully drill out the bearing hole can be counted on the fingers of one hand. At most I've just given a quick twist to open / clean out the opening to get the bearing started on it's journey. Solvent does the rest. In fact the 2mm drill bit hardly removes anything as there is very little to remove generally and I find with Parkside it is often not needed. The trick is not to force the bearing in. If it doesn't go in with very little pressure, then the hole needs fettling. Trying to force it will either split the axle box as mentioned or risk of breaking other things like axle box tie bars when things slip under load and finally check that the bearings are not sitting at an angle inside the axle box once fitted. I've built mainly 12t vans of various vintages and designs, 16 tonners of all shapes, various 21 tonners,, 24 tonners, fish vans, Lowfits, Conflats, Grampus, Tube , Pipes, Clams, Rudds, PMVs, CCTs, Plates and derivitives (Grrr!) and all apart from the latter have not presented any major need to drill out the axle boxes. I agree with enginelane that if you get an early Parkside Dundas kit (pink tops anyone) and some older design plain red tops, they can be more work but anything with a red and white top or the Peco Parkside version should be OK and almost fall together One major improvement that the OP can make in another area is to replace the plastic buffer heads with some nice turned metal heads. There are numerous sources for these out there, from the head only to the whole buffer. A selection of drill bits from 2mm downwards and suitable pin vices are essential wagon makers tools. Andy

I thought so but couldn't be sure. Reaching for my copy of Gamble's Opens and Hoppers, I opened at the page marked with an old instruction sheet and what should be there? A diag 107. Spooky eh? I think the 119 on the opposite page was my reason for marking the page in the first place. Looking at the picture though, you could get away with an unmodified door I think. Nice work, Nice rake of wagons,. Now where did I leave my mojo? Andy

Now you've gone and done it. Just when I thought I could step away from the wagon obsession, you go and do this. Like the idea. This route hadn't occurred to me, mind you neither had a diag 107 troubled me for several years till now. I did look at grafting two 108s together but it just didn't look right.. Have you done anything to the end door or is it just the way the light hits the model? Now where is that book on wagons. Andy

I usually find a drop of solvent will do the trick and press the bearing home using the handle end of a needle file. They are usually a slight interference fit. I find this sufficient to hold them in place. If the hole is too tight a twiddle of a 2mm drill bit will do the trick Things to watch for are the parting nib (?) at the bottom of the bearing stopping it going fully home, moulding flash around the axlebox hole on older kits and on some kits (plate wagons and derivatives, I'm looking at you) the solebars are too close together when fitted to the floor for the wheels to turn freely. In this case I countersink the hole with an oversize drill bit to sink the bearing further in, but you could just as easily pack the solebars further out. If the bearing sits proud, you can file some of the back, there is quite a bit of meat there. I use a piece of plasticard with 2mm holes driled in it to hold them whilst filing. Do not use superglue or such like, as if need be you can adjust the position of the bearing after construction of the undeframe by prizing them out (being careful not to split the shoulder off the bearing) and using a packing piece on the inside of the w irons to bring them closer together or countersinking the holes to move them further apart. The biggest cause of poor running tends to be the brakes actually being brakes, so be careful when fitting these as they tend to be quite close to the wheel (as they should) and make sure any flash is removed from the brake shoe face and rear and they are not rubbing against the flanges. It's easy to add some unintended tension / compression in these parts when fitting and it's surprising sometimes how far things will move before and as the solvent goes off. Andy

EMR ( I believe formely known as Dunns) at Saltley (next to the old depot) is also rail served. Andy

Clear out the stock box and stop buying things on a whim for the maybe layout. Just stick to the 3 interests. Need to concentrate efforts Maybe build something Make some space to build something. Andy

Christmas dinner mark 3 today. Why does Mrs SM42 do it? Family invited over for the dinner we didn't have together 4 days ago.. I don't think it's going to be too complicated an affair though, but it will definitely be Christmas dinner like with the usual suspects on the plate. Pass the sprouts Andy

I admit some are dodgy. My local Rover dealer (no longer in business for some reason other than Rover going out of business) told me my brakes needed doing at one service. I said I'd leave it for a bit as they weren't all the way down and had " a couple of thousand left in them". They said the same at the next 3 services and on the fourth they said nothing. I asked about the brakes and they said "they were fine." These were still the same brakes I'd left for a bit. I think I did around 60k on them in the end. Regardless of the dubious advisory, they were still competitive on service costs. Finding a good one that's local is the key. Andy

In really hope that stick to the original animation rather than new fangled computer stuff. TtT and Thunderbirds have been ruined by being computerised. Part of the charm was the (seemingly) simple production methods. Andy

I find the franchised dealer charges are on a par with the independents I would trust. Replacing the wipers on mine for instance, is cheaper (including fitting) at the dealers than buying from Halfords (other motor factors are available) and fitting yourself Similarly, replacing brake pads is about the same price as my local trustworthy independent. Headlamps, maybe £3 - £4 more expensive than buying your own, but that includes taking the front bumper off to fit it. Mind you this could all depend on what you drive, my experience has mainly been with Renault and Honda dealerships Andy

There's a distinct possibility that I was chatting to her at Warley. I chatted to a lot of people and some of it was in very bad Polish too. If she was chatting to someone near some SM42s then she was very likely chatting to SM42. Last time I went to Zakopane it was EU07 haulage and we had three goes at getting up the bank. Nice video, the 27 Web at 9 mins (according to my Polish ABC) was built by Pesa, Bydgoszcz in 2012. I believe it is a new unit with origins in the ED74 and ED59, Andy

A bit like me then, I'm in post Christmas limbo too. As they say on the radio, "that strange time between Christmas and New Year." It's bit like a very long Sunday afternoon Was thrown out for one day at work this week which was yesterday, Friday felt like Monday, no-one wanted to do anything and now I'm just waiting the onslaught that is New Year. Back to work again on Monday, the treadmill starts again. (yesterday was a sort of phased return I suppose) but have New Year's Day off so that's a silver lining to the cloud. Andy

I blame my brother. He's the one that would take me to the "wooden bridge" (that long grey footbridge just outside the SVR station at Kidderminster) to watch the trains. The resident 08 would be burbling away under the bridge whilst the crew were in the cabin (it's still there) probably reading the paper and drinking tea. Sometimes there would be work to do and the 08 would be busy sorting out wagons, loose shunting a plenty. Occasionally the pick up goods with a 25 (normally 25 222) at the helm, would arrive in the yard and all this to the background of DMUs turning to form services back to Birmingham New St using the crossover outside the signalbox, or being stabled in the mileage sidings and the through DMU services to Worcester with the occasional freight thrown in for good measure. The clatter of semaphore signals, the sound of the signal wires, the clash of buffers and the background music of the 08 going about its business. We didn't live too far from the railway and the clash of buffers in the yard was always one of those daily (except Sunday) background noises. The exciting memory from those times was being evacuated from my pre school (now a scout hut) because a train of vans with a peak at the helm had derailed entering the down good loop. This was on the embankment behind the building. I can still see that higgly piggly line of 12t vans now Andy

I've heard good things about sprouts cooked in olive oil and coated in breadcrumbs Sprouts at reduced price in the supermarket now so time to experiment without any pressure (there may be some pressure elsewhere later though.) Christmas shopping for next year is half done too. Andy

I find the main problem with Poland is that it tastes too nice. Go, you'd love it. Coffee and cake takes on a whole new meaning. Now that Christmas food is mostly down to leftovers and chocolate, (Christmas goes on till 6th Feb though) I now look forward to Tlusty Czwartek (Fat Thursday: Doughnuts as far as the eye can see) and the meat fest that is Easter Day breakfast. Easter stress anyone? I'll never be slim Andy

You got alcohol? Non here for Wigilia. (Christmas Eve) We ended up going to a friends this year as they couldn't come to us due to a very recent family addition and we all cooked a little bit towards it. Beetroot soup, wild mushroom soup, cabbage and mushroom pierogi, carp (mind the bones) piernik (ginger cake) and two different cheese cakes were Mrs SM42's contribution. This was added to the Greek style cod and another cod dish (of which I gave no idea what was in there apart from cod,), fried cabbage, and Szarlotka (apple cake) and carrot cake for afters and I think we hit the 12 dishes I just had to get the soup 15 miles in the car without spilling any. Easier said than done when you have several roundabouts, speed bumps and Worcester's one way system to navigate. Yesterday was a more traditional dinner, turkey crown, pork joint and veg. Due to a timing error visiting mum it ended up a bit late though and was more like tea than lunch. Hope everyone has recovered a bit. Polish cakes for breakfast for the next 3 days now. How will I cope? Andy

It's alright for some. We're a whole day ahead here at SM42 towers. Christmas Eve stress, (well not that much really, most was yesterday for Mrs SM42, cooking 3 diffferent cakes, preparing carp and making three different soups.) I will be helping out later with the only job she trusts me to do; cutting out potato pastry circles. Cutting mat and Swan Morton at the ready ) Meanwhle I am on standby for dashing to the shop for things that have been forgotten. One of the advantages of doing it all a day earlier than most. Having said that Mrs SM42 takes it all in her stride with little fuss and fluster. I become chef's runner and drinks server and most of it is now just a reheat job later today. Tomorrow is for leftovers. I think the reason Christmas is so stressful for many is that you cater for more people than normal, the perception / expectation that something out of the ordinary needs to be presented and there is no real chance of popping out for supplies on Christmas Day. The stress starts with the food shopping. If you ain't got it on the day, you ain't going to have it, so everyone buys everything they think they could possibly need and the pressure is on to use it not waste it. As the OP says, all you need (unless you are in a Polish household) is meat and veg + a few drinks and the ingredients for a nice cup of tea. KISS is a very good philosophy. One thing you can do to make it all less painful is not try and cook a banquet for 500. Cook just enough for everyone. Who needs to eat for 10 minutes before they find the plate? Andy

No Well to wheel for emissions, LPG is the worst, diesel the best. LPG has a huge carbon footprint during production. Also not sure what it is like now, but LPG power used around twice as much a diesel and about a third more than petrol per mile. Technology could have moved on though, but I still wouldn't like to be near an LPG powered car suffers a fire. I used think the price (tax) at the pump was influenced by the amount used, hence everyone pays about the same per mile. Anyway, it's Christmas, almost, a time when traffic lights and indicators are used to make the roads look festive.. No other reason for them it seems. Andy

Well that pcture and the box diagram has helped no end. I did think it odd to have a signal like that into the goods yard, but you never know with these railway companies. they do odd things sometimes Andy

Looking at the map, sighting it to the left could be awkward with the other lines and this could be a cheaper solution to cantilevering out over the sidings to get to the left of the goods line, and then where do you place the arm for the lesser route? Andy

I'd go for option 3, but, I can't shake off the nagging feeling I'm missing something obvious. I'm sure someone else will be along soon to confirm or deny. Actually looking at the disused stations website, by 1967, it appears to have been replaced by two miniatuere arms vertically mounted on the same post, which would seem to indicate option 3 as being most likely Andy

It has been mentioned elsewhere on RMweb that there are the remains of coal drops at Bridgnorth station. Just behind the current SVR car park. https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@52.5324072,-2.4214468,3a,71.1y,271.18h,88.27t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sWwQFXmPd8PrHMIREiJDhzA!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DWwQFXmPd8PrHMIREiJDhzA%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D125.5691%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656 Exacly what wagons would have used these I don't know And of course some of the Shropshire coal field was served by what is now the SVR. I have a vague recollection of being told, or reading, that Alveley Colliery had a rope way across the River Severn to the railway Andy

For me it would be a toss up as to which is furthest away between Da-Ta, Lodz (Poland) and Budapest (visited several in one afternoon). My regular quite far away from here shops, are in Poznan, namely Dataland Hobby and Lokomotyw Andy

But this is not as thorough as a camera up there annually (sounds grim) to check for early signs from your mid 40s is it?, although it is comforting to know that there is something being done. Andy

Why is the dirtiest fuel the cheapest? Huge CO2 impact not to mention the oxides of nitrogen. Andy