Trofimow

Excellent news indeed - and cheaper still here https://www.brooklyntrading.co.uk/plasti-kote-spray-paint-for-wood-and-plastic-light-suede-400ml

Mine is a certain locomotive engineer whose valve design allegedly saves steam and makes the engine more free running which pleases the fireman, but makes the driver work harder at building up his biceps on the reverser.

Another vote for Track Shack! Ordered some stuff yesterday at 11:04, acknowledged immediately by e-mail and delivered today at 13:34. Good prices too. Can't get better than that.

Oh well, sh1t happens. It would have been nice to have them by chrimbo, but it's hardly the highest priority in life. I was happy to put my money behind Dave's project when he first announced it and nothing that has happened since has changed that. I'm still confident that he will deliver a product that will be worth the wait. Who knows, I might even be able to start on the long delayed layout rebuild by then and actually have something to run them on.... Alan

Here's my rather less elegant take on the same issue. A box with lifting lid cobbled together from wood , aluminium sections and acrylic sheet, all from the "it'll come in handy one day" pile. The cooling fan on the emblaser is ducted to an intake through the back of the box, and a small brushless fan exhausts through a 35mm pipe in the side of the box. A length of extension hose for a central vac connects the exhaust to a central vac point on the wall (not connected to a central vac, I hasten to add) . On the back of the central vac point on the other side of the drywall in the loft space is a 100mm extractor fan and ducting out through the soffit. Not pretty, but it works. Alan

I had one on order from Hattons, but had an email from them to say that now they have had the opportunity to examine one, they will not be able to offer the decoder fitting service. Alan

It's heritage, but I'm not sure under whose auspices. It was giving rides within yard limits when we came through on a Turkol steam special with Wolsztyn's OL49-59, and did a parallel run for some distance as we departed. Alan

For comparison, a Polish tkh photographed at Zagan a couple of weeks ago.

For tension locks, I don't think you can beat the Brian Kirby magnetic method as described on here some while ago. Simple, very effective and inexpensive.

I finally made some time to try out the emblaser. A few odds and sods to begin with, cut from thin greyboard from the back of a notepad, nothing as clever as others have shown here. Sorry, I don't have a pound coin to put in the picture, so an 00 gauge figure will have to do. Slightly annoying that Darkly have announced a new and improved machine before I've had a chance to learn to drive this one.... Alan

IMHO extraction is necessary if you intend to use it indoors even with the 4 watt laser. My experience with it so far extends only to running the test file, but that was enough to make me decide that rigging up something to remove the smoke will be the first priority once I have time to use it. Intrigued as to what they are going to announce - hope it will be compatible with what I've just bought. Alan

21, which surprised me - I would not have been at all surprised if it was somewhat higher.

Well, the beast is built and working. It went together without any difficulty and first impressions are extremely favourable. Here it is doing the calibration test. It became immediately apparent that if it is to be used indoors, I will have to cobble up a cover and extraction system. My office quickly filled with wood smoke and clearly any intensive use is going to produce a lot more than this simple test did. Alan

A kit of parts has arrived.... Thankfully free of antipodean wildlife. Alan

It seems that mine is on its way from Oz. DHL have just relieved me of 168 quid for VAT. Alan

Resistance is futile..... I've been following the Silhouette cutter thread since the beginning, and been amazed at the work that has been demonstrated. I was going to buy one as a retirement present to myself, until this thread came along.... I was only looking at the Darkly Labs site out of curiosity - I tried to resist, honest, but somehow the "order now" button got accidentally clicked. It's all the fault of that monkeysarefun. Just hope one of his arachnid friends doesn't come along for the ride. Alan

A couple of panels from Father's erstwhile Temple Meads layout, recently dismantled. None of your new fangled technology here... Main panel And branch line sub panel

Some interesting thoughts there.... I can see how all the apparently limitless free time can evaporate - things are already being pencilled in for me to do and I've not even retired yet. And who knows what hiccoughs may be in store... A complete rebuild of Effingham would be a major undertaking and not one to be entered into lightly. "the longer I left things to just get added to and bodged" - this pretty much hits the nail on the head; I could continue with work arounds and retro-fits to better adapt the layout to current requirements, but is this ever going to be satisfactory or will it just lead to long term disappointment? I suppose the "critical audit" has so far only existed in my thoughts, but to formalise the main points... The layout was designed for manual sequence operation using analogue DC. Not more than 2 trains would be running at one time. This it did with adequate reliability and flexibility. Then came DCC and computer control which led to intensive automatic operation with up to 5 trains moving on the visible part of the layout and as many again moving in or out of lower deck storage. This began to show up the limitations and niggles. Reliability and flexibility become much more important. A lot has been done to harmonise wheel and coupling standards, which had been major causes of problems, but other issues are inherent in the design and construction of the layout itself. 1. Storage loops had been designed for minimum length of point ladders at each end. Consequently, loops are of varying lengths and the paths in and out are convoluted. Some of the points are very old and not to current standards for check rail clearances, etc. OK for manual sequence operation, but makes timetabling complicated under automatic operation, and increases the risk of derailments. Proposed solution - rebuild with parallelogram loops all the same length and only requiring one diverging point to enter or exit. Design to be around a standard train of a locomotive and six coaches. Each loop to be able to hold two such trains, or one train of up to 12 coaches. 2. Solenoid point motors with Peco sliding microswitches for frog polarity have not been entirely satisfactory for intensive operation, quite apart from the constant noise they make. A start has been made on replacing them with slow action types. A rebuild would probably use servos, as these have worked well on the Faller roadway. 3. The layout was converted from analogue to digital piecemeal, learning how to do it in the process. Consequently the wiring is not structured in any way, and has been continually added to. This makes gremlins difficult to locate. Also it has not been possible to modify the already laid points to be DCC friendly, although to be fair, this has not caused any apparent issues. I’d also feed point control and track from separate DCC breakers, and probably add at least one additional power district. 4 Gradients. To make the rising gradients from lower deck storage manageable, falling gradients are as steep as 1 in 30. This requires feedback control, either analogue or digital, to prevent heavy trains running away downhill while out of sight. I am concerned that some RTR models are now incorporating coreless motors, which do not like feedback control and my steep descents may become a problem in the future. Rising gradients have now been retrofitted with DCC Concepts Powerbase system, which has proved successful and would be incorporated throughout in a rebuild. 5. Basic design errors. There are places where hidden storage entry has been placed too close to a change of gradient or curvature. I’d seek to avoid this in a redesign. 6. The Faller roadway was quite literally an afterthought. Consequently, it looks like one, and also has steeper than desirable gradients and areas of restricted access. It would be far better if integrated properly from scratch. I think this summarises the main areas of concern. Alan

Hi Peter, Thankyou for the kind words. Yes, cost is going to be a consideration once i'm an OAP, but I would like to take the opportunity to get rid of some of the legacy issues with the layout. It might be better to re-design for the intended operation rather than trying to work around the existing limitations, although baseboard building, track laying and wiring are not my favourite parts of the hobby. At the moment, this only extends to exploring possibilities in Scarm as time is still in short supply. I'm currently emulating Dr. Beeching by lifting track at Temple Meads on Father's layout. Not an enjoyable experience on any level. As to critters, thankfully, Phoebe has decided that since she can't eat the trains, she's not interested in them, so no worries there.... Alan

Well, here we are, 9 months after my last post on this thread. I had hoped to get so much done to the layout this year after having had so little time for it in 2014, but it was not to be. I've hardly set foot in the railway room since April, nothing has turned a wheel and this year's new loco and rolling stock releases are still sitting untouched in their boxes. Tumbleweed blows across the layout as whole communities of gremlins are no doubt nesting in the gubbins. In the lounge, half built wagon kits have been sitting in the drinks cabinet all year.... So what happened? Dementia happened. Father's, not mine, at least not yet! I won't bore you with the details, but suffice it to say that trains have been off the menu and will be for a few more months yet. Father has now reached the point where we can no longer safely look after him in our house and he has gone into care. So now it's decision time. I'll finally be retiring in the summer, and by then I will have (hopefully) finished sorting out Father's house and everything that goes with that, so I'll have all the time in the world to devote to the layout. (I will won't I?). So what should I do? As I've explained in earlier postings, Effingham is a layout that is doing things that it was never originally designed to do and was built using outdated techniques and recycled equipment with all the mishmash of standards that that implies. It also has the usual complement of mistakes and compromises and it would be fair to say that if I was designing it today I wouldn't start from here. When I can eventually get back to the layout should I institute a gremlin extermination programme and then continue with the not insignificant task of updating by replacing the dozens of solenoid point motors and finish retrofitting the PowerBase plates under the existing track, or should I view retirement as a one off opportunity to rebuild from scratch to modern standards with a revised design, more suited to the way the layout is intended to be operated today, but, of course, with a new set of mistakes and compromises ? Alan

Hmmmmmm, starting work on those six Hornby examples that I picked up from Ebay just dropped a very long way down the to do list.....

I've never had the opportunity to drive a Healey, but the I don't think MGC is as poor as it's original reputation.... Here's my wife's car.

Another of those unintended consequences has popped up.... I use the Brian Kirby magnetic uncoupling mod for tension locks, for which there are strategically placed uncoupling magnets at various places beneath the track. Locos that have been fitted with traction magnets for the Powerbase system will not pass these uncoupling magnets. Depending on the relative magnetic polarities, the loco will either stop short with its wheels spinning, or it will lock on to the uncoupling magnet and be unable to move. There is a simple fix: The spacing between the magnets works out just right to operate a pair of couplings when aligned along the track. When moved at right angles to the track, the loco passes unimpeded.

At last, the work to the lower deck under Effingham station area has been done. Hoffman point motors are fitted and tested, CCTV cameras installed covering the B and C storage areas, and the track cleaned. The lid has gone back on and the tracks through the station reconnected. Next job is to finish fitting the steel plates under the track for the DCC Concepts Power Base system. I'm fitting this to all the rising gradients on the layout, and the lower decks have been done as has the plain track on the top deck. The bit that I've been avoiding tackling can be put off no longer. There are only two small areas of the layout where the track had so far been ballasted, and a certain law dictates that these not only have to be lifted to fit the plates, but also they are the most complex sections of trackwork. At the top of the climb from storage D&E is Effingham junction itself, a double junction, with crossovers giving access to all 5 platforms plus the goods reception loop, EMU stabling sidings and Forest Road branch. All this pointwork has been ballasted the traditional way with granite chippings and PVA and needs to be eased upwards sufficiently to slip the plates underneath. Misting the ballast with water from a spray bottle softened the PVA sufficiently to permit a flat bladed wallpaper scraper to be inserted beneath the track and with much care and not a little muttering the deed was done, amazingly enough without terminal damage to any of the points. The track has now been partially reballasted sufficiently to secure everything and permit test running through the junction. Initial tests with a Hornby King Arthur show that it can now start 6 unmodified Bachmann Mk1 on the 1 in 80 from the signal that protects the junction compared with only 4 previously. The second area that still remains to be done is the top of the climb from storage B&C. This is the section through Canford station, with pointwork for three platforms. This area has not only been ballasted, but is the only part of the layout that has so far been fitted with the third rail. All this will have to be re-done, but the third rail was going to need to be re-done anyway, thanks to the depredations of Ming the Merciless, who had a habit of walking along the permanent way to get to the window to watch the world go by. Sections of third rail got displaced by her passage, and those little white insulator pots pinged everywhere. Ming is no longer with us, I hasten to add due to anno domini, not to walking on the third rail. Luckily her successor has not shown any interest in the railway. An 80 kilo Rottweiler/Dobermann cross would definitely not do the track any good. Alan

Yes, but it was a bit bigger.... http://www.tmnr.co.uk/his.htm