Chris Higgs

I hesitate to mention this, but you seemed to have used shell ventilators (shop item 4-455) on the roof, whereas LNER coaches had torpedo ventilators (shop item 4-456)

Chris 

A Thompson underframe should look something like this. I haven't put the fittings on this one but hopefully you can see where they go. Worth noting that LNER carriages had a different smaller dynamo than the dome-ended LMS/BR type that the Association sell. There is/was a very nice Ultima casting of this. The dynamo should go on the side next to the voltage regulator - which is that small box on the opposite side to the battery box, there is one of these provided on the LNER Battery boxes etch 4-732.

There is a very detailed drawing of this underframe that can be seen in a number of the Harris LNER Carriages books - Harris incorrectly describes it as a Gresley 51' underframe although it is clear from the dimensions that it is a Thompson.

Chris

58 minutes ago, Tony Wright said:

Good evening Chris,

 

I'm not sure I like the term 'box-shifter', either (that's why I put it into inverted commas). It's just that it's now common parlance. 

 

However, I do find it rather boring returning to shows now just to find the majority of traders selling stuff I have little or no interest in - just piles of blue boxes, blue and red boxes, red boxes, black boxes, etc, etc, all containing RTR locos, rolling stock or ready-to-plant items. Most have to compete with each other for the lowest prices, unless their RTR items are very, very niche.

 

I see more and more RTR stuff on layouts now as well; at exhibitions, on the internet and in the press. Wonderful though it might be (and it is), it really doesn't interest me that much. I glance at an RTR stand at a show, turn through 180 degrees and there's the same thing, but out of its box on a layout. I'd much sooner see something that's been hand-made, even though it might be inferior. 

 

If your friend stocks other stuff, I might be interested, but does he sell metal kits, motors, gears, wheels, chimneys, domes, whistles, safety valves, castings, metal stock - the list goes on? Time was when I could visit (almost) any show and find stands selling all these sorts of things. Not now.

 

It's a 'brave new world' indeed. 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

One thing was for sure (back in the day when I worked for him), what stuff we had for kit builders and the like didn't go to shows. People probably don't realise just what hard work it is going to a show as a trader, even when it's close enough to commute there and back in a day. Packing the van, driving to the show, unpacking, setting up, selling all day, and then all in reverse. I remember going to the Model Engineer exhibition in the middle of winter, the water squirters on the van had packed up, and I had to jump out at each red traffic light on the A40 into London (when there were still lots of them) to wipe the windscreen with snow to clean it!

Makes you wonder why anyone would want to do shows anyway. compared to receiving emails, payment by bank transfer, packing the order and Royal Mail coming to pick it up.

Chris

On 11/12/2022 at 07:52, Izzy said:

I don’t know if it’s right but comparing the BR and LMS roofs the association sells the latter seemed to be the closer profile. It’s a bit Hobson’s choice really but they are decent mouldings thankfully and far, far easier than making by hand Jenkinson style via individual strips. Been there…….!

 

Bob

 LMS roofs are mostly a semi-elliptical profile, whereas a BR roof is a triple-arc. LNER roofs were also semi-elliptical, so the LMS will be closer.

Chris   

2 hours ago, Tony Wright said:

Some specialist traders I speak to say it's just not worth attending shows; they run as fast as they can at them, just to stand still! Much more business is now conducted online, where there are no stand rents, no travelling expenses and no accommodation to find.

 

The 'box shifters' have the same question. One of my acquaintance, who I worked for many decades ago when a student, commented recently to me on how much stock he has to sell at a show just to pay the stand rental. 

Not that I like that term (box shifters). My friend is also highly knowledgeable on all things railways, and stocks a pretty good range of books, paints, kits, tools and the like.

Chris

27 minutes ago, Jol Wilkinson said:

 

The small businesses who have had to transfer their business elsewhere are now finding the cost of etches has increased considerably.

I am one of them. At least there were a choice of alternatives to turn to, let's hope it stays that way. Yes, the etched sheets cost more, although in hindsight I would say that they are now priced realistically. But the competitors are better priced for the initial photo tools, so if you only want a few sheets run of something new it works out not so bad.  

Chris

22 minutes ago, Chamby said:

 

Indeed.  Not a good environment for any small business owner at the moment.

 

I’m very sorry to see EE go.  

Indeed, I think it quite likely this is the result of the general economic situation with esclating rents, heating costs and the like rather than a specific result of a decrease in demand for modelling materials. I understand PEC had a healthy order book when they shut up shop. So not down to a lack of people wanting to buy etched kits and the like.

Chris

On 08/12/2022 at 20:58, Tony Wright said:

I've just been going through the edit for the Little Bytham sequence video, so it looks like it's almost ready to go.

 

It runs from the first train in the sequence..........

 

 

A York-Kings Cross empty stock working................

 

To the last.

 

 

Move 52, the Up afternoon 'Talisman'.

 

The hardest part has been my trying to remember who to thank in the credits. There are so many contributors, so I hope I don't miss any out. 

 

At every stage, work shown must be credited, otherwise folk will think it's me that's made something, when it's been built by someone else. If that becomes a belief, that's wholly unacceptable. 

 

Once Chris Walsh has finished the video, I'll put in on here. Brickbats welcome! 

 

 

What is that lurking under the bridge and seen in a number of shots? Looks like a Quad-Art in teak livery. 

Sorry if that is mentioned somewhere later in the video, I have not got all the way through yet.

Chris

9 minutes ago, Nigelcliffe said:

What's the wheel hub made from ?    I'd be tempted to make a cylinder with a flat fixed inside it (or a grub screw which is outside the hub), which then slides smoothly over the stepper drive.  Then fix that cylinder inside the wheel hub - ideally Loctite retainer assuming hub is made from something suitable.   There's 0.65mm wall thickness in the hub, which ought to be enough, and it can be thicker when outside the hub.  

It's diecast metal and is painted - it seems also inside the hole. Rather a beautiful thing, actually. 

Well, it does say anything answered!

In the attached photo are two items. The left one is a stepper motor, with a 5mm diameter shaft with flat on it. On the right, the rear wheel hub of a 1:12 Routemaster bus, i/d of the hub is 6.35mm i.e. 1/4". I want to make a sleeve to connect the two. Thoughts are turn something on the lathe (I am wondering if that can be persuaded to grip without slipping), making something in tufnol or aecetyl similar to a 2mm axle muff, or 3D printing an item. Any thoughts would be welcome - I know some of you do rather larger scale modelling. The inner part of the hub does not protrude beyond the outer, so I don't think using a grub screw would be possible. 

Hopefully the mods will not notice that not only is this not 2mm scale, it is not even railway related. 

On 09/12/2022 at 22:42, Chris Higgs said:

 

I did indeed although they sold out a long while ago and in particular I ran out of the resin roofs. Might still have some body etches, really not sure.

 

Chris

A quick rummage tonight and I found 4 of the BT(4), the one you modelled, together with various T,C and F. But no roofs.

Chris

11 hours ago, Izzy said:

I decided to start out with the 4 compartment brake third and it’s turned out to be a bit more of a job that I envisaged. It would of course have been nice to have been able to build these from some Masterclass kits I now understand Chris Higgs produced a while back if this is correct but without them this seemed the only alternative option.

 

 

I did indeed although they sold out a long while ago and in particular I ran out of the resin roofs. Might still have some body etches, really not sure.

Chris

5 hours ago, Caley Jim said:

That brake block looks a h**l of a long way from the wheel!  The lever is going to be right down at the bottom of the guide before it makes any contact with wheel at all!

 

Jim

With that brake lever I would have half-expected the brake block to be one of the original massive wooden ones.

Having said that, this diagram 4 wagon has the brake arrangement you have modelled.

https://www.lnwrs.org.uk/Wagons/open/Diag004.php 

Chris

5 hours ago, Tony Wright said:

Good morning Tony,

 

I held the pose as if it were the twin lens reflex I used. 

 

One held the camera (a Rollieflex - I was posh!) at waist level and just looked down at the screen. In fact, once set up, one could gaze into space and actually observe the train, pressing the shutter at the right time. I used to take a point of reference (say a lineside object), and the moment the loco passed it, fire the shutter, without even looking down. Very clever? Hardly, not where I'm concerned. In fact, it was easier to take a picture that way, because the image was reversed on the screen (not inverted, as with a plate camera). 

 

I wonder where that camera is now?

 

Regards,

 

Tony.  

I know where mine is, in a case in the shed with all the other pre-digital cameras. I remember thinking that digital stuff will never catch on ... until I actually got one.

Chris

20 hours ago, Nickey Line said:

 

Masterclass CCT?

Yes, the picture is actually a link and if you click on it it takes to a gallery of photos.

18 hours ago, Andy R said:

Aren’t the H & M duettes amazing pieces of kit! Mine brought in 1980 from the old Hattons in Liverpool while travelling in uk on our OE… still going strong for my small, DC only branch line layout. Simple and effective. 

Yes, indeed. As someone once said, after a full day running at an exhibition, you could also do a bit of toast on them!

When I was young (in my teens) I built whitemetal kits using a 12V soldering iron running off an H&M Duette with the voltage turned down (trial and error). They came out fine and the soldering iron cost next to nothing. These days I seem to have lost the knack. But the Duette is still going strong 50 years on.

One tip, never use an RSU on whitemetal. The one thing is it not is temperature controlled. Mine can happily vaporise brass wire on brakegear if allowed to. But it is only thing I ever use on etched brass/nickel-silver. The regular soldering iron only ever comes out for track and electricals. An extra hand? - more like two. 

Chris

On 01/12/2022 at 12:18, Tony Wright said:

In my view, soldering is the best way of assembling metal kits. The late Bob Essery once said to me his take on building metal kits was......' If you can bolt or screw assemblies together, then do so. If you can't do that, then solder. However, if all else fails, then glue!' Wise words..... 

Heard that in the slightly more snappy form "Never glue what you can solder. Never solder what you can screw"

On 01/12/2022 at 21:23, 2mmMark said:

Nigel makes a very good point. Large layouts need a home and proper storage.  The reason why Copenhagen Fields has survived well is that the scenic sections have protected storage boxes.   I'm not sure that Chee Tor did as I once helped the team load up their truck and from memory, the layout simply rested on the floor of a 7.5T lorry.  It was also extraordinarily heavy, the scenery consisting of carved plaster.

My impression is that the layout served it's purpose, pleased the public and builders and then came to the end of that particular phase of its life. 

Mark

Another reason layouts don't last is they have not been built with that in mind as a goal. I can say that from experience as I own a couple of them! CF has heavy-duty baseboards, other iconic layouts did not do so and have not stood the test of time. Heckmondwike was junked in the end when its boards warped.

And, unless the modelling is of superlative quality, layouts will be left behind by what follows them. With all due respect to that featured in MRJ 292, for example, as a trip down memory lane, it mostly demonstrates how far we have moved on since the 1960s in terms of finescale modelling. 

Anyway, most large layouts are built to exhibit, and have a certain shelf-life. before moving aside for their successors. Do we really want to go to exhibitions and see the same selection of layouts decade after decade?

The only real 'layout' that has lived on for 60 years (no, not Copenhagen Fields!)  is actually a museum to a former age, with a permanent home.   

Chris  

On 28/11/2022 at 17:17, slilley said:

 Question 1. The cylinder covers were painted blue and the red and white lining around the parabolic curve was reinstated with Garter Blue.

 

Question 2. According to the RCTS Locomotives of the LNER Part 2A Four A4s had the E prefix added to their numbers, Nos 4, 21,22, and 27. 

All got BRITISH RAILWAYS with Garter Blue bar Nos 14, 25, 26, and 32. No 25 retained LNER until 16/12/1949.  Meanwhile 4 locomotives in June and July 1948 were given an experimental livery of purple, Nos 60024, 60027, 60029, and 60029. 

 

BR numbers were introduced from March 1948 onwards and Nos 60007, 60023, and 60034 had the number painted on the front at buffer level as before. The rest when renumbered got smokebox numberplates.

 

All A4s were single chimney at the time except for Nos 22, 32,33,and 34.

 

As for corridor tenders, well they could be one of two types depending on whether they were streamlined or not. The non streamlined corridor tenders have the beading at the top of the tender.

 

Hope this helps. 

 

Simon 

 

Mine is a non-streamlined corridor tender.

Chris

13 hours ago, Intraclast said:

I have a question about the bosses on Jinty Coupling rod etch.  How are they supposed to go on the coupling rods? The instructions state: "These [the coupling rod etches] fold-up to form a double thickness rod (for strength) with a fold over washer to represent the boss."

 

Are the bosses supposed to fold over the with the coupling rod sandwiched between them? Or are they supposed to be folded over on themselves to form a thicker washer which is then soldered to the outer side of the coupling rod?

 

The former is what I thought at first due to the length of the folding tab between the washers, but in fact it does not seem to quite be long enough.

 

The latter would be a lot simpler, but the double thickness of washer seems over scale to me.

 

I’m of a mind to just put a single washer on the outer side of the rod to represent the boss, but I would like to know how the etch was intended to be used and do it that way if it is better.

 

Here is a picture of the etch which I was working on when trying to put a washer on each side:

 

I have a separate etch of crank pin washers to use to secure the coupling rods.

 

Thanks

 

Mark

If you want use them (and it is optional) they will go onto the top layer, and just use one of them, they are not designed to fold over (it is the rods that are). Indeed it looks like those washer double as both bosses and crankpin washers. My kits used to have three layers, the third being the boss but I tend not to bother now as it produces quite a thick rod at the bosses and often there is not that much clearance to play with.

Chris

3 hours ago, Jan W said:

I had the same problem for a very long time but I recently noticed a notch in the shoe of the jigsaw.

If you follow the line with this notch and don't look at the saw blade it is much easier to cut 'straight'.

Not really straight but much better than I ever managed before.

 

Grabbed this image from iFixit:

 

Jan

When I can, I always use a steel ruler bolted to the work as a fence.

Chris

On 27/11/2022 at 16:07, martin580120 said:

Yesterday was a rainy day typical of the West Coast of Scotland, but I braved a trip down to the Clyde Coast and the town of Largs for a free meal and some help with the baseboards.

 

 

My dad is seen here dressed more appropriately for the weather than I was, showing me just how easy it is to cut in a straight line. Turns out, even under his tutelage, I still can't do it, so we agreed he'd cut and I'd crack on with the construction.

 

My dad is also a railway modeller - in OO Gauge, and formerly N, but I don't hold that against him. This will be the fifth or sixth set of baseboards he's built (or helped with) the first, an N Gauge roundy-roundy dating back to before I was born - family stories say I could run trains before I could walk...

 

 

Board one now complete and ready for track. Board two is about 60% done, with all the bits cut ready to be assembled. At the point the rain was coming into the garage sideways we decided to pack everything up, eat, and send me home.

 

According to my weather app, it hasn't been raining where I live today. I have evidence to the contrary, and so no further progress has been made on the baseboards.

 

However, I have been playing with Interlaced turnouts after a discussion with @Caley Jim a few weeks ago at the FCAG meeting, and there's definitely been some progress there.

 

 

I'm still to add the common crossing - which has been filed and assembled in the jig, just hasn't been soldered together yet, and some switchrails to file and fit, but it is coming along quite nicely for my first attempt.

Having seen Jay Blades do a straight cut on "The Repair Shop" I came to the conclusion this must be one of those things that divides the human race into two - those who can and those who can't.

Chris

There is even video

https://www.bbc.co.uk/archive/locomotive-testing-station/zv3rf4j

Seagull has the white line too:

https://www.facebook.com/1549224832004990/photos/a.1550675501859923/2099497466977721/?type=3