MinerChris

Thanks Jeremy, hopefully I'll get something done on it soon! The printing list is certainly long enough to justify the postage costs. Best Regards, Chris.

Sorry Rich, this seemed to fall off the world fairly quickly and thus I missed it! I'm not too sure at what I'm after yet to be honest... I have another 16ft and 17ft6 body, but I was thinking of doing a different diagram from the V14 and V24's that I've already done. I always have an agent to consult my copy anyway, and plenty of other stuff to be getting on with. Best Regards. Chris.

Perhaps... I think that the ones I'm looking at are pre-Compair though. Thanks Don, hopefully a lot more interesting stock is still to come.. Best Regards, Chris.

Thanks Nick. I think I'll need it.. I already have some... and you can put other things on Lowfits other then bromine tanks...

Lydford Station has always stricken me as being an almost ideal location for layout, with plenty of prototypical interest; the combination of Southern and Western region lines running parallel to each other, the great views onto open moorland in a old mining area, to name but a few reasons. For me it is also ideal as it only requires a handful of buildings in this sparsely occupied corner of the country. Along with Lydford, I can only think of Exeter St David’s and Plymouth North Road as the other examples of where it was possible to travel to London in either direction either by WR or SR. Several different scenes will hopefully be recreated along the layout: Given the many viaducts and embankments along this section of line it seemed a shame not to include one, when a return curve would be needed to access the fiddle yards anyway. Lydford Viaduct is a good candidate for this, as it isn’t too big and is the first viaduct towards London from Lydford. The start of the curve will also be where the unusual home repeater will be placed on the opposite side of the track. The GWR track from Liddaton Halt climbed relatively steeply through an embankment, Thus I envisage that the track will emerge from the side of this, the return curve being placed below the layout as I have yet to think of a better idea, particularly if a valley prevents me from running the track below the baseboard to the same location as the SR main fiddleyard. The track highlighted in yellow was the original yard at the station, which originally acted as the transfer yard between the broad gauge GWR and the standard gauge LSWR. Hence why there were two sidings entering the goods shed, and no road access. Before the connection was reinstated, it was possible to divert trains through this yard to reach the other companies tracks. The station itself is very small, being able to hold 7 coaches, perhaps unsurprising given that the ticket sales were very low owing to the distance to Lydford proper. Immediately south of the station, the SR-GWR junction was reinstated during WW2, having been originally built as a means of the standard gauge LSWR traffic to access the mixed gauge GWR Launceston branch before the PD&SWJ built their own line from Lydford to Plymouth. The reinstation allowed trains to be diverted to Plymouth depending on the availability of either line. In ‘The Okehampton Line’ by Nicholas and Reeve, it is suggested that additional siding capacity was built during the second world, in order to act as a staging point for Plymouth. In later days a large amount of withdrawn stock was stored, awaiting its final journey. I have reduced the siding space considerably, as for one I doubt I could ever build enough stock to fill these and I wanted to keep the original station road access. In the real world, the SR station was accessed by using the GWR access and crossing over the footbridge. With all the distinct features of the prototype this layout is unlikely to be small coming in at 8.4m x 85cm and over 30 points needed between the four different yards. It’s quite likely that it will be under construction for at least a decade, possibly two, any suggestions of things to leave out would be welcome. In the meantime I will still be continuing with my other PD&SWJ layouts “Congdon’s Shop,” and “Hingston Down Halt,” as testbeds for the larger project. The mockout confirmed just how much of a project this will be! In the meantime there is lots of new stock that will be needed for the layout. When the WR line at Dawlish was closed, due to storms say, services would be diverted along the north of Dartmoor, allowing for a good variety of SR and WR stock to be passing through the station. This eventuality was well prepared for as a WR train would be run over the SR metals at least once a week to keep the route refreshed for the drivers. It’s my intention to run traffic from one of these occasions, perhaps twisting the axe a little to keep both the Southern main and Launceston branch open. Progress recently (last few years really!) has been focused on building rolling stock for the potential layout: Masterclass Maunsell BCK: Finally the start of a prototypical train for the Callington Branch... There isn’t too much to say about this really as I haven’t departed too much from Chris Higg’s MK1 instructions the different shape of the brake compartment does make the construction interesting however. The replacement chassis for the Ivatt 2-6-2T is waiting in the wings (and has been for the last 3 years…) Worsley Works Class 118: The ongoing saga with the Class 118 continues having started and binned a BHE kit and moved onto the Worsley Works scratch aid, but thanks for Jeremy for giving me the impetus to get started again. I’m still hoping to finish this before Dapol get theirs to market however the progress made 3 years onwards doesn't look promising. The Bodyshell of one of the driving units has been soldered together in order to get the correct measurements for a 3D printed roof and headcode box. I’m still working out how to draw a 3D printable representation of the bogies and the engine details, and reassemble the TPM motorising kit inside the WW shell. Mineral Wagons: A recent addition to the gloat box is a load of Stephen Harris’ mineral wagons. Again I haven’t strayed too much from his kit instructions and they are going together nicely. Hopefully you can see the improvement from the Parkwood kit (That came from the Starter pack!) although I’ll readily admit that the biggest improvements are below the solebar. LowFits: Two more lowfits have joined the fleet. I have a plan to 3D print some loads for these, to be added to the next order (the mystery continues… I will reveal that they would’ve been made in Cornwall and are yellow, guesses on a postcard please.) Mink A: Finally another of the Resin Minks joins the fleet albeit still needing a roof. This is a little more off piste that the predecessor on the left, as I was trying to recreate a V24 diagram, using the RCH 10ft wheelbase chassis, with steel solebar conversion, etched layered RCH axleboxes and a piece of scrap etch from a coach bogie kit for the running bar. I have another couple of Mink bodies, but I need a research trip back to the UK to consult my Atkins et al. Whilst I’ve been here 3 packets of DG’s have arrived, and a can of etch primer purchased from the Hardware shop. I should really get around to using them soon!

As in using the PC to build things rather than scalpel's, solvent/solder and brass/plasticard (which was the BHE attempt, the less said the better.) Best Regards. Chris.

Hi Jeremy, Glad to see that someone else has the WW 117/8 in there gloat box... now will it make it out before Dapol announces/releases their version?? I was planning on doing a bunch of 3D prints for the roof's headcode boxes, engine details etc.. but then I got distracted by relatively easygoing goods wagons. Perhaps if you were interested, I would actually get on with some virtual modelling instead of real... Best Regards, Chris.

Perhaps it's more an academical question then, as I appreciate that complex shunting moves aren't on my mind either when it gets that warm. I'd still be interested to know at what temp the wire starts to move though (i'm guessing its a bit lower than the 34oC quoted), and if it is sufficiently high not to pose a problem. Chris.

Are you worried that in a slightly warmish hall (Oxford 2010 for those who remember...), or on a hot day in your shed, all of your points are going to throw themselves without any current being applied? Chris.

Hi Ian, your trackwork and TOU look impressively neat! Just one question occurs to me, not knowing too much about memory wire; what temperature is the wire at when the point is thrown to the sidings? Best Regards, Chris.

Nearly missed this post... You'll be needing a layout to run all of these bromine tanks on soon... did you manage to put the right phone number on the hazard label this time? Best Regards, Chris.

Perhaps, (I do have a spare motor,) but I am still thinking more along the lines of improving the Vomit Comet, so that it can be used on goods as well. I sort of toyed with the idea of 3D printing a chassis in brass similar to Mr Ashton's Manor Chassis (i.e solder in the bearings), but decided in the end that the tolerances wouldn't be good enough. A new chassis is waiting for a final go with the etch. Thanks Pete, The weather has warmed up now to the point where the daffodils are starting to come out. Whether this has any impact on progress remains to be seen. Certainly am enjoying myself out here, I have found several nice IPA's to keep me going. Best Regards Chris

I might have to use the 45xx instead. Plans are afoot for the improvement of the 14xx, that will hopefully mean that it will be able to haul one coach with a reasonable degree of control. Best Regards, Chris.

Thanks David, Although the mouldings are good, they do benefit from a certain amount of filing, particularly the floor. I wouldn't mind some more of these once I have finished the other 3, but I have no idea about where they could be picked up from. These were only happened upon by chance at East Somerset Models whilst visiting Cranmore station. Thanks Don, I look forward to seeing your efforts with the Higgs coaches. Unfortunately not... Doesn't stop me from starting even more things though. Best Regards. Chris.

Thanks, Three months = 5 wagons and 2 coaches none of which are finished, I'm sure that doesn't represent a good rate of progress... The official livery of the North Somerset Light I seem to recall... I did threaten to put some primer on out of a can, but that's still some months away I suspect. Possibly just in time for winter to arrive.. The history of the PD&SWJ railway does make for interesting reading and raises the inspiration for future layout's too although I suspect that a replica of the viaduct, wagon incline plains or lift are some way off as yet. I certainly intend to keep a Col. Steven's influence in the buildings. The livery of the bubble car is correct, however the lack of headcode boxes is not, hence why that area is hidden by the Class22. Hopefully I will include an etch for these when obtaining some more Hawksworth's & ventilators etc from Mr Etched Pixels. Hardly... There's a reason why I didn't photograph the underside, (I realise now that the comparison photo didn't come out too well, will have to have another go later.) The fit is good lengthways, with the buffer beams parallel to the ends. The photo's that I took of No. 190 at Didcot show this to be correct (what else from Mr Higg's?). I'm more uncertain about the width of the Dapol body being too wide. Best Regards, Chris.

Circumstance is a funny thing. Everything that you see in this post has travelled westwards across the Atlantic to my residence for the year in Canada. Whilst this makes some things easier, like not wanting to venture outside during winter, it makes the logistics of most things much harder. I’m afraid that I’m not going to give a blow by blow account of the kits that have been put together, as instructions for the things worth repeating are mostly available elsewhere. The Ugly (the Scenics) Firstly I should explain, the ugly isn’t a reflection of the quality kits or even (possibly) my ability to build them, more the fact that nothing is painted and is likely to remain so for some time. Finally, after much procrastination, I have finally decided on where my stupidly small layout would be based. Hingston Down Quarry backed onto the Callington branch and was originally rail served but was disconnected some time before the 50’s. Under my slightly dis-orientated time lime and geography, the quarry doesn’t lose its siding, exporting granite to Plymouth and beyond. Some passenger services will be provided for via the halt platform adjacent to the siding, with much of the infrastructure “borrowed,” from the adjacent Chilsworthy Halt and Luckett Station. I had originally chosen Chilsworthy for my dual boxfile layout, although I decided against it for Congdon’s shop, due to the impressive views over the Tamar towards Dartmoor. Hopefully the mock ups with views from google earth give some impression of the effect that I’m hoping for. One thing that I had been meaning to get around to before I left was the fiddleyard cassettes and adaptors, which of course were started when I finished the move and are still yet to finish. For this I took a lead from D869's layout’s and went for brass strip cassettes. It will just be my luck to ensure that they won’t be compatible… The cornflake packets mock up how big the bridge and platform will be, a purely temporary measure… Mark 2 of each is currently being drawn up in CAD. Also on view is the Higg’s Bufferstop constructed at the end of the siding, once I had finally made up my mind that this was to be a siding. The Coaches Several kits arrived from the trip in my hold luggage, with only slight damage, to reduce the gloatage sitting in the UK, under the premise that if they were here, there would be a marginally better chance of them being built. The first thing out of the box was one of Mr Higg’s replacement underframes for the autocoach. Whilst I haven’t gone to the same level of detail as Missy, it is a vast improvement on the moulded efforts of Dapol. With four left to start, and one still to finish, I doubt if I would get the chance to start on the auto gear if I have any hope of finishing all of these in the next year. Eventually I hope to recreate the auto-trains formed of 4 coaches which went up to Tavistock from Plymouth, if I have remembered correctly. In addition to this, I have been making progress with my first Higg’s coach proper, with an early CK Collett. These are really well thought out and the building of this was only hampered by my inability to read the instructions, which led to having to unsolder most of the underframe in order to put the V hangers on. Eventually this should be paired up with a Hawksworth behind a 45xx, in a scene reminiscent from the Launceston Branch. The sides and roof are only held in place with bluetac for demonstration purposes and to test the fit of the sides, the bending of which was a most nerve-racking experience. The Goods Naturally, once I got to my temporary residence abroad and had kitted myself out with a soldering iron, which could cope with less volts out of the wall, I felt the need to try it out. I had picked up a Midland Van many moons ago with the incorrect premise of trying to change it into an LSWR van. Again this is of a Higgs origin and went together well, with copious amounts of flux applied during the sweating. Also out of the time period, albeit no so far out, is the V14 Mink inspired by Rich Brummit’s build (on a Higg’s DC braked underframe) The Lowfit’s have a parentage from the parkwood range of kits on BR standard 4 shoe and 8 shoe underframes. The long term plan for these and the three more to follow will be revealed at a later date… although they do keep the bogies for the next autocoach underframe, from rolling away in the meantime. Perhaps I would have been better calling this entry “The Higg’s Boson,” given the parentage of the majority of the etched metal I’ve been working on.

Nice to see another autocoach chassis. Interesting to see the amount of improvement with the extra detail that your putting on, I have five of these... One thing that I am still pondering about is how to put a DG through the hangers on the front, whilst still letting it go through curves... Any Suggestions? Best Regards, Chris.

It's a shame that you didn't stick around until the Saturday, there was some steam on the line in Waterloo! (not London) http://waterloocentralrailway.com/steam

I personally blame the person who bought it.. Would it be helpful to add reverse Simpson springs to the clip to push the axles upwards instead of downwards? Chris.

My workbench has been packed up, safely flown across the Atlantic and is now set up in Canada (eh?) The lack of volts from the wall has certainly hampered any progress for a while, but with the purchase of a new soldering iron, that is now solved. It still remains to be seen if my controller likes 60Hz when I eventually get around to getting a 16V PSU. Nonetheless I have managed to assemble a MR D363 kit, with the exception of the roof, and a couple of bogies ready for the first of many coach kits. Chris.

Nice Bubble-car... Why not make it more 3D then, using the Russell card build up method? Would a less harsh change between the embankment and backscene also be an improvement? as I think the one that is riding high blends in better. Also is there a link to the mysterious location so that we can all see? Chris.

I should explain. The toad was left under the premise that if painted and transfers put on, that it would then be ready for use on St Ruth in the shows before I get back, where there seems to be a eternal lack of Brake vans when trying to complicate the shunting of the goods yard as much as possible. That, and etched primer sound's worlds away from my efforts with tin's of grey primer and acrylics. My "B5" Layout made the trip with me, along with several kit's and drawing's books for the suitable evening's (currently -25oC outside ,) but my efforts are slightly hampered at the moment by a lack of volts coming out of the wall.

Many thanks Don, Thanks Pete, We think that they would have quite often done this and hence there are a few of those moves in the time table, but at the more clustered points in the schedule, there isn't the time for us to get a pilot to bring the stock in. The time-table writer will know more. Best Regards, Chris.

One of the reasons that is most off-putting for people to move to finescale is the additional job of replacing the wheels of RTR stock in order to get things running. Inevitably this leads to a back-log of items in the gloat box of things waiting for wheels, alongside all of the additional kits. So far I have used the conventional methods of replacing coach wheels with replacements, sending wheels off to Gordon for re-profiling and attempting to build a replacement chassis (with only partial success,) however there are situations that require some more elaborate thinking. One of the problems with the track plan of St. Ruth, and even the real Penzance, is the lack of crossovers to release Loco’s arriving from up country, or bringing empty coaching stock in from Long Rock depot or Ponsandane. To combat this in real life, exemptions were granted to propel stock up and down the line and to allow coaches to be gravitated into the platform. Naturally we heavily rely on propelling in the schedule, but the addition of the new sea siding allows us to explore the other option. Several solutions were composed for this, including running a series of magnets in a channel beneath the base-board, but for now it was proposed to place a motor in a coach, and rely on a good knowledge of the location of section breaks, and the strength of the DG loop, to perform the operation. The basis for the “gravity coach,” uses a combination of pieces from a Farish MK1 and one of the motorised bogies from the infamous parcels DMU, so called as there are several others using said DMU for similar, rather than the intended purpose. Initially the wheels of the DMU were replaced with drop in wheelsets, and a mock up tested to ensure that the whole train wouldn't buckle off the rails when run. Initially the coupling arrangement was removed from one end of the MK1, in order to produce a flat floor for the DMU chassis to sit on. Then a suitably shaped hole was filed into the floor for the gears to fit through. Essentially the remainder of the work was filing the body and the chassis so that the two gave a good fit. The MK1 bogie was reutilised, but with the addition of the pickups from the non-driving bogie of the DMU, and some suitable holes through the floor and interior for the fixed wires to pass through. These are connected to the chassis via a IC socket, and a new fixing fabricated from some PCB, which provides power to the motor via new wipers (isn’t DCC isolation wonderful?...) and with that, what must surely be the most complicated conversion of a MK1 is complete, for now. All in all although temperamental, does produce the required effect. Certainly at the shows that we have utilized this, much amusement is caused behind the backscenes by moving the coaches a little, causing putners to say “I’m sure those coaches just moved on their own…” The other unusual conversion just completed concerns the Dapol Class 22. From conversations on the VAG I believe that it is possible for the wheels supplied to be turned down, albeit presumably without thinning the wheels down due to the spoked wheels. Instead of this, taking inspiration from Nigel Hunts Manor kit, I have turned pinpoints onto an extended axle driving wheel using a mini drill, and pushed these onto the existing muff. At the same time, these received a polish, in order to attempt to avoid the rusting which will affect electrical pickup. This may seem daunting (especially considering the price of a wheel-set,) but the pinpoints in the bogies are fairly generous and shorter pins can be paired with longer pins to even the wheel set out to the required length. As the wheels are 8mm compared to the required 7mm, the wheels are much more noticeable, and has the effect of lifting the loco up by 0.5mm, However when matching it up to a MK1, whilst noticeable, it is less so. Whilst there are simpler methods of changing the wheel-depth, these are certainly more satisfying and at the very least are a means to an end.

Hi Steve, I have looked at the photo too, and can't decipher... I went for disk wheels as they were the only ones with 14.2mm axles, that I used with association bearings, rather than the ones supplied. You can't really see the difference with the foot steps around the wheel, until I get around to building a new, thinner chassis. Chris.