Michael Edge

You've found a couple of oddities in those HE 0-6-0DH, one with Barclay wheels and one of the two prototypes for Snibston which were significantly different.

On the kit front I'm already working on a Hudswell, the MDHB ones rather than MSC though and I've now got drawings from Statfold for the two big DEs which have been in our wishlist for some time. If anyone can find a drawing for the Nasmyth Wilson 0-8-0T I would be happy to produce a kit for it.

Try turning the sound off, start the loco and then turn the sound back on - this usually works.

P4 does require springing or compensation, I prefer compensation and often use it for EM or 00 models anyway. I can fit the simple foolproof beam system found in our kits to any kit which has axle holes in its frames, it doesn't take very long. For any kit which was exclusively designed to use sprung hornblocks I would estimate more for any gauge. For scratchbuilding there is no difference whatsoever. Frames are by far the quickest part of the build in any case.

The GN part of Little Bytham could have been built just as easily in EM as 00 (and I'm stuck with 00 for many of the same reasons as Tony is), the fiddle yard might have taken more work without Peco pointwork and I don't think the M&GN would have been possible at the size it is. I estimate the same build time for 4mm scale locos regardless of gauge, P4 doesn't take any longer than 00.

I always thought it looked about right but it seems to be about 2.5mm short over buffer beams according to given dimensions.

This one is progressing slowly, I have already etched all the frame and motion components - intended to go under a Cotswold one I have but that runs so well I've left it alone at the moment.

Nice work but can I comment on the terminology, what you are calling "fuse plugs" are the washout plugs, the oval ones are mudhole doors. Fusible plugs are in the firebox crown and not visible from outside.

I found this adjustable resistor when I looked inside (it doesn't quite line up with the hole in the case) and turned it up to 15v at the track. I think it might go higher but I didn't want to leave altered too far. Last day's work was severely hampered by a long power cut and I didn't get much more experimenting done. We had to pack the car and get everything ready for 6am start yesterday, back home now and won't be back there before March at the earliest.

.015" brass is too thick to get really good nameplates although we do put some in some of our kits, much better in .010".

I didn't say that no coal could come up the upcast shaft but it could be that the tubs were on a circuit, loaded up from the downcast shaft and returned empty down the other one.

The only comparison I can give is the pink grease which was applied to Portescap gearboxes - and the instructions said that the guarantee would be invalidated if it was removed! This grease gradually solidifies over a few years and I have seen lots of these motors which have locked solid after about ten years or so. The issue with the DCC power supply hasn't happened suddenly, it's always been there but the two Co-Bos on the condor did run slower and slower over a few years. Checking the input voltage of my PowerCab which gives 16.5v at the rails it turns out to be 13.8v DC. I wasn't aware that the output voltage of the PowerPro (these ridiculous names are very confusing) was adjustable, I'll have to look into this. I've only got this afternoon left now after a power cut most of the morning.

We changed the transformer in May for one which produced a slightly higher voltage (I can't remember the numbers at that time) but my system at home (SB3) uses an identical transformer to the one we changed from and track voltage is definitely higher, I haven't measured the voltage into the Power Cab system, it uses the transformer supplied with it. I thought the ammeter readings were a bit low (some of the Portescap fitted locos barley register on it) but they do provide an accurate comparison. I have puzzled for a long time why all the locos I have supplied for this layout ran much faster on DC at home before they were DCC fitted. I ma wary of increasing the voltage into the ProCab very much, it gets a bit warm in use as it is.

Looking at your photo it would seem that the downcast shaft (on the left) brought up most of the coal, with a covered conveyer to the screens. The upcast shaft (on the right, with two fans) may have been mostly used for men and materials.

No load voltage on my test setup (NCE Powercab) is 16.5v, the layout is powered with an NCE PowerPro and runs at a little over 14v. Measurements were running at full speed on a rolling road, I did experiment a bit with increasing the load by holding the locos down but this wasn't very scientific - obviously sent the current up quite a bit. The locos are extremely heavy in any case and don't slip with any of our trains hooked on the back. The result after squirting GT85 in was instant, the current dropped right off. I am curious about the track voltages with these systems though, I am assured that 14v is normal for the PowerPro but as I have said the Powercab has a much higher voltage and on Herculaneum Dock I have an NCE SB3 unit which gives a track voltage somewhat over 15v. Measuring train speeds on Carlisle this week I haven't come up with one that will do more than 73mph yet, mind you with more than 200 locos on the layout I won't be here long enough to try them all!

Yes it is very good but I've had to get both the 3 axle version and the 4 axle one to cope with (nearly) all the wheelbase variations I need. I usually solder the spacers to one frame first, then slide the frames against one side of the box to keep it straight and solder up the other side.

I always use soldered pins for making up valve gear, however the Blacksmith GW railmotor etches are even skimpier than the Jidenco ones. The problem is really that there is far too little material round the holes and they break up very easily.

All our kits include accurate scale drawings, printed to the scale of the kit.

I think I've solved this now, I brought my test rig out to the layout with an ammeter attached. One of the Co-Bos running on the Condor registered .25A running no load, the other one was little better. I took the keeper plates off the bottom of the bogies, looked at the mess of grease and gears, sprayed liberally with GT85 and put them back on the test rig. Power consumption had instantly dropped to a normal .06A and speed back to reasonable (all the Heljan diesels run rather slowly on Carlisle). I was worried that the motors had been damaged but it seems that the grease is slowly solidifying in the gear trains - much the same happens with the "special grease" the Portescap gearboxes were filled with, after about 10 years this can go rock solid. If we had carried on running them like this the motors may well have fried eventually, the locos were getting a bit warm after a few laps of the layout.

£95 + £3.50 postage but I think we have only one left at the moment, we will be back home next week (17th).

Well done, that's really good for a first attempt. You may have left out some of the mechanical bits but otherwise it's very well built. Judith and Mike

It's one of the better Jidenco kits but the motion is very delicate and fiddly. Here's one I built many years ago, recently back with me for repair. 10617 was the last survivor, withdrawn by BR without re-numbering.

They did it with trams between Leeds and Bradford.

Good point, I hadn't thought of it like that. The centre coupling rods were removed because the axles were already coupled by gearing.

The 4mm one I built goes up a lot further than that, not sure what is restricting yours.