Michael Edge

I can't find all the stuff that went missing in the great crash, most of them were temporary files just for this thread but here are three pictures of the finished pointwork anyway.

My main purpose was to lift the rails above the timbers to create the right appearance, I wasn't really trying to reproduce proper chairs. I don't like the current fashion of building pointwork with plastic chairs glued to the timbers, they are just about impossible to adjust/fix if anything goes wrong.

12 hours ago, LNER4479 said:

So - yes, we now have the start of the all-important Upperby roundhouse, as part of Upperby MPD, part of the Upperby complex. Why install this now, in isolation? Simply, that this is the most inaccessible corner of the complex, necessitating crawling about on the board itself. So, better to do it now rather than trampling over other freshly laid track.

 

There was a conversation some way back up thread about a suitable turntable. In the end, there was only really one show in town and I duly acquired a Heljan HO 90ft 'table (cat no. 89121). That's approx 79ft in 4mm.

 

Did I pay full price? No I didn't! I bided my time and eventually plumped for a 'pre-loved' example for half RRP. It claimed to have been hardly used and that appears to be the case (mercifully!). Some minor damage to one of the turntable rails (easily repaired); otherwise G.A.N., much still in original packaging.

 

No going back now! As you might recall, I've already marked everything out on the trusted lining paper. So, all I had to do was to tape the Heljan template in the right place? Well, almost - there was just the little matter of adjusting the orientation to ensure that the 'no track' zone was not where I didn't want it to be (if that makes sense)

 

With the pit in position, I had a fun session mapping out the possible track plan in the allotted space - previously, I had just left a suitable area.

(For avoidance of doubt, although it'll be a full roundhouse, the stalls at the back are not full length - some only able to take a 0-6-0T 'Jinty'. That's just to balance out the space available. But at least half should be full length to host my beloved pacifics)

 

The 'Carlisle in France' files, made available to me by one Mr Mike Edge, proved invaluable in this exercise and I think I'm tending towards a trackplan which, although much compressed, contains sufficient features as to be (potentially) recognisable.

 

We only had room for a small segment of the Upperby roundhouse, no turntable (or track for that matter) in ours. These photos taken in 2014, this part of the layout is still very unfinished, track not even painted yet although it's all working.

The roundhouse would be more than 4ft in diameter to scale and this part of our layout isn't, there's a good deal of compression south of St Nicholas bridge.

We did have room for the outside 70ft turntable though - originally built for Leeds Victoria more than 40 years ago.

Close up of the building, constructed by the amazing Ukrainian modellers who did most of our buildings. Sadly and worryingly we haven't heard from them for over a year now.

12 hours ago, Tony Wright said:

Thanks Mike,

 

It's beautifully-built; from scratch or from a kit?

 

 

A bit of both, I etched the frames, motion and a few other bits but the rest of it seems to be scratchbuilt.

Photos of the completed Jidenco F1

It's not been easy or quick but I'm really pleased with this loco.

Packing for Scaleforum this morning, we have the LSW C14 0-4-0T ready now.

and we also have this compensated frame kit for the rtr class 14 (D9500).

This includes new frames with provision for compensation or hornblock fitting, spacers to scale width or narrower for 00 gauge. Axleboxes are multiple laminations building up to full thickness for P4 - or less for more clearance/other gauges. All brake gear and replacement cab steps are included. It is designed to be used with Gibson wheels which come with moulded plastic cranks.

Another job finished today.

This New Zealand Hillside Tr in 1:48 scale has been on the bench for quite a long time, it's a test etch build for a kit from Glenorchy Models.

I wasn't going to power it but fitting one of these n20 motors is really quick and easy.

This is one of the higher geared ones, runs just about right speed with approximately 2:1 reduction spur gears. The final drive gear can be slid along the axle to disconnect the drive if required.

I've dug out a very poor photo of the 3mm Jidenco W.

No details in the order book for this one but it looks like Romford wheels and probably a Mashima 10x24 on a Branchlines gearbox at this time. Building time was 22 hours, unusually for TT it has flanges on all the driving wheels.

I have actually built the Jidenco W, in 3mm scale but I can't find any photos of it. I have built two 7mm ones and the steps over the motion are a real pain, this is the most recent one.

The steps on this are more or less where they should be, more importantly the cylinder centres/slidebars are correct and there is enough clearance. EM or P4 would be more of a challenge but most of this was etched and could be scaled down.....

I've built quite a few Jidenco kits over the years, I still run these two.

LNW 0-8-2T, running on Sharman wheels. This has been the resident gravity yard shunter on Cwmafon for many years and even survived a dive to the floor once.

The first Jidenco kit was this L&Y 0-6-0T, this runs on the MDHB system on Herculaneum Dock after fitting with DCC.

Another early Jidenco kit was the L&Y railmotor, I ran this for many years on various layers but eventually sold it.

Some Jidenco kits were re-scaled to 3mm, this Crab was built to TT gauge with Gibson wheels.

A much later (possibly Falcon Brass) kit was this Ivatt 2MT.

Not Jidenco, this is another M&L LNW Coal engine, Romford wheels on this one.

The F1 is finally finished, last job was the smokebox door so I can now put on here a photo from the front .

This hasn't been an easy job, not helped by the Jidenco kit not being complete but it looks right and runs well.