john new

Just a thought. Wouldn't it be more sensible to put the results here where anyone who has already posted into this thread will find it more easily than if it goes into a new thread. Doing so will also keep the post-results comments together with those from the lead in.

Today's activity was posted on the Fitting DCC to a Hornby 0-4-0 thread. Progress on putting the loco through the works but as yet not a fully satisfactory outcome.

Love the super realistic condensation effect on the windows, in this instance it looks realistic so why not just leave it there? I bet if you tried to add condensation Murphy's Law implies it would fail.

Finally attacked one of my oldest 0-4-0s today and found the question raised back in October to be academic. There was a suppressor across the motor terminals but no other wiring. The motor got power from sitting on the pickup which had vertical arms. Other problems with the beast have prevented the final assembly but testing with the hard wired chip proves the motor does work on both DC and DCC; the problem is basically I can’t keep the gears in mesh or the pickups on all four wheels at the same time. I gave up in disgust after prolonged juggling without success. I will take a break and come back to it fresh in a few days time. One has to wonder though, as the biggest problem is getting the worm to mesh, why Hornby ever decided the crude and fiddly method of using a bent bit of wire to hold the motor in place was a good idea, and having done so, then put it in the entry level train set! It poses the question - how many prospective modellers has it deterred as their first model has this problem. Child drops it on the floor, comes unmeshed, nightmare for the parents to get it back working.

Could well have been Castleford, detergent from washing wool upstream I expect.

Rather like the foam filled river I recall seeing on boyhood trips to Yorkshire when visiting grandparents. It was probably from the Calder weir at Wakefield as the old bridge was still the main road back then.

Only just outside the traditional West Riding.

My review coming out in the Jan/Feb SLS Journal is favourable. The review copy will be going into the Society library now I have some Christmas money to allocate a personal copy will be ordered.

It has always surprised me that for exhibition use a U shaped cheat is not employed for terminus layouts, not just for Minories. Assuming the loco spur side is the viewing side an obviously visible L bend perhaps with a Maybank style loco depot above a fiddle yard at the l/h throat end (viewers/public side) at whatever front length is deemed appropriate. An L under a straight depot, perhaps. Given that the usually allocated exhibition floor area is rectangular the dodge to use the extra space at the buffers end by keeping the over-roof and station building in a straight line but bend the tracks into an L. A further gain is that the loco uncoupling of incoming trains is then in an open top setting. The big bonus is that should also gain an extra coach length into the train when it emerges from under the overall roof. If it has been done I don't recall seeing an example.

Perhaps better not to start something like the accuracy of 4mm track gauge wars. For my four-pennies worth on a current project I have designed overlays in a graphics package to print off and use on an old PECO Wonderful Wagon chassis found in my scrap box. This is 2D prep-work using modern IT equipment to replicate late 1950s modelling. I did not draw up the basic wagon drawing as I found a copy of what I wanted on line in black and white. Obviously I did not make the chassis but it is needing some minor mods to fit a tension lock in place of the original PECO knuckle type. I have modified the original drawing by removing the white to give it a transparent background (so that in the graphics I can use overlays) and scaled it to be 4mm. I concur that arguably this is design work not modelling, but I am now in the position of having my own bespoke kit, in the same way in the 1970s we could buy the Collett card sheet wagon side kits. I contend the above is part of the modelling process and surely DIY design and 3D printing is just a modernised version of exactly the same thing. I have still not worked out exactly how to retro-fit the tension lock to the PECO chassis as it needs either some research into the best adhesive to glue on a spacer block or some fiddly work to add a screw in mount. Below is a reduced size view of the final kit - my intention is that first up will be a plain card box, then it will be layered up to give some visible relief to the overlay components with each plank added as a separate paper wrap and then the strapping added as the last layer. Laser printed to avoid any ink runs.

Where is this?

I think Hattons in house DCC fitting is suspended, I’m fairly certain I’ve read that on their website in last few days.

With the missus out all day working on the Weymouth Pavilion Panto, (one of the only four professional one’s running in the country - Weymouth, Wimborne, Plymouth and Liverpool) a day working on the layout and stock. First up - the missing feed wire dropper to the rear siding added, I had drilled the hole for it, just not added the wire so that section is no longer prone to loss of continuity through the fishplate. Secondly - A control panel switch had obviously had the soldering iron on too long, I thought the wire had simply come unsoldered, but no, the wire was still soldered onto the tag, the tag had fallen off! Switch completely replaced. Memo to self next time revert to the big chunky Halfords car panel type as I have previously used. The solder spade is a slide on fit to the tag. Outcome the layout now running properly. Third - a dabble with fitting sprung PECO uncoupling ramps - not successful, the home made clear plastic type will be the next attempt. Finally - find where I put the spare pick up parts from Pete’s Spares I bought a while back for the Hornby Caley Pug but didn’t get around to fitting. It has been stuck in the get a round to it sometime box for conversion to a GN15 loco and so hasn’t run for about 20 years! I decided to try to get that going again as a OO runner. Spares found, motor checked as Ok, and the fiddly parts finally in. Sadly the tiny little motor support fixing screw that comes through from underneath is missing, which I hadn’t noticed was lost so didn’t order replacements when I’d ordered the pick-up parts. Without it the gears don’t stay meshed. Progress but not yet a completed job.

Drummond's book on Southampton Docks is not very clear about working the ECS trains although it does state getting main line locos out of the docks was a priority.

That was the trojans I mentioned.

Having watched it with the commentary on, the view was don't buy a model at the cheaper end - it is/they are c**p with hacked software packed with trojans and these have extremely high maintenance costs if not used almost daily as the ink sets with expensive consequences. Not an option for occasional hobbyists. Very good warning message.

Looks like it has worked through from London with a rake of Network Southeast coaches. A precursor to the current container train - Victoria - JININGNAN - TONGLIAO via DABAN.

As it does for many modellers, as an example the toy/model shops near here in Weymouth, Dorchester and Bridport are not bad for basics and have a wide range of kits across multi-genres but in the r-t-r railway section rarely stock diesels/electrics being steam only. If the demand was there I guess they would have them in stock.

Wishing all our regulars a happy Christmas Day, let’s hope as we head into 2021 that there is an easing of this crisis.

A temporary change from the end to end - with the dining table opened out ready for tomorrow a bit of Christmas Eve frivolity with last year’s HobbyCraft January sale bargain. £15 down from £50 was not to be sniffed at. Hopefully, as off duty for the SLS for a couple of days, I will have time to add some ‘Magic Rounabout/cartoon style, scenery.

It was, one of several problems of the system from memory of reading up on it was twisted track I guess uneven torque (f that is the right word) with the power always being on the same side would do that twisting. A modern cast wheel set, but from the original patterns so is a genuine Blenkinsop wheel set, is in the NRM at York. It was on display last time I was there but that was a while back now due to COVID stopping my York family visits this year.

I've voted, but would love to see Gladstone done r-t-r, the reason is obvious from the SLS icon in my signature - back in the day we got it preserved..

Not sure of the full rakes without looking in a lot of books but Stuart Morris’ film on YouTube of the Last Train to Easton also has a still shot of a pannier with a Bullied coach. As it was two Ivatt tanks that worked the last train top and tail (with at least two Bulled brake ends in the excursion set) the pannier had to be on an earlier date service train.

Probably the OS maps on the Nat Library of Scotland web site for free.

The (some?) funding may have been via the City of London but my understanding is it was a Bristol inspired scheme to shift goods out of the port.