john new

The lineside grass of former times at scythe length would be a binder and hold some water back too. I also think the value of lengthmen on both the railway and in County highway teams has been seriously underestimated.

Link to Stuart Morris' video of the Weymouth trial - see YouTube

Interestingly this came up in conversation at the club this afternoon as a discussion had arisen about shortage of wheels. Is there a case for thinking part of the shortage is perhaps that in 4mm there are three gauges/wheel standards rather than just the predominant BRMSB as was the case a few decades back? Two/three versions per diameter plus different axle lengths to make and/or stock rather than one being part of the cause of the shortages? Unsustainable to do so with a concurrent drift from kits to r-t-r reducing overall demand and trader turnover.

Saturday: Magnets put in for future use with Sprat & Winkle couplings. Ballast now down and drying; remembering to put the magnets in first. Numpties error avoided. Taking advantage of the two working days at the club rooms so that the ballast dries overnight and hopefully I can also paint the track etc., during tomorrow. Sunday: Layout now back home. In testing this morning whilst it was still over at the club rooms I tried it on DC and it ran fine. The Heljan Class 33 test loco traversing all tracks nice and smooth. The test wagons propel through all the track with no problems of jammed bits of ballast etc. I then tried a bit of DCC running. Very jittery with the two test locos I had with me and therefore it needs further testing. In the light of the jittery running on DCC no further track painting is to be done until I get smooth running in both power modes.

Agree. What I have read and heard hasn’t inspired confidence. They (whose idea?) have also messed up what was an informative Moorsline members journal into a glossy waste of paper. I have to say they as I have no knowledge of where the idea for the change came from but as a member since the 1970s* it is a retrograde change. * now a life member.

Thanks for this. Big help.

Are the flush hub wheel sets for tenders a push on stiff or spline fit? The sub-chassis idea makes sense. Just thinking it through before ordering wheels. A very quick look on line at brass kit images suggests you have to have the wheels off the axles. More to research on the steep learning curve.

Having spent the last couple of days trying, and not yet 100% successfully, to get the wheel sets and motor/gearbox combo needed to complete the 2nd hand started DJH B16 kit I bought a couple of years ago it doesn’t surprise me that kit building is seen as problematic. Even if the kits are available the vitals to complete them may not be. So far - motor/gearbox as recommended by DJH = yes. Ordered from them. It is an old kit so hoping the new iteration of the stated type will still fit. correct size set of Markits driving wheels. Yes, sourced 2nd hand via EBay but not 100% accurate as 2 spokes short (18 not 20). The stockists of Markits wheels I have found are all giving the right diameter as out of stock. axles, fibre washers, crank pins and Romford/Markits screwdriver. Yes and new. Front bogie wheel sets - yes to diameter and new. Tender wheel sets needing extended axles. Plenty in correct size with flush to hub axles. Pinpoint extending out of stock everywhere I have looked. Nearest I have found so far are a Bachmann spares set that are 0.2mm bigger than recommended. The kit says 16mm whereas my translation of the prototype’s 3ft 9” would be 15mm so putting in 16.2mm wheels might make it ride a bit high. I think onwards and upwards is the motto but the hill seems rather a steep climb!

Forgot that. Thanks for tip off @woodenhead I should have remembered because if we need anything for tea back at the house after the show we have to find one of the small shops that is open. Clifton Green SPAR usually.

The bottom image is not the train described in the caption. .

A Single's unencumbered ability for speed was IIRC why Stirling built No 1 etc. Was he the CME with the (alleged/true?) quote about locomotives with coupled wheels being like a man running with his breeks (trousers) down? For the theoreticians amongst us I wonder what the theoretical maximum speed for say a replica GNR No 1 or the Caley 123 would be with modern laser aligned erection, roller bearings, fully honed steam passages and some form of mechanically aided firing or oil? I guess for stopping power though it would need something like a brake-tender behind it. Perhaps one for the Imaginary Loco's thread though not this one.

Saw those earlier but they are out of stock. That has been my problem all day tracking down wheels. So many of the listed items are not actually available as marked out of stock.

Saturday, busiest, especially in the morning. Sunday you will have less no options for general shopping with her (Sunday trading hours/Easter Sunday enforced closures of the large shops). My guess would be try Monday, possibly the quietest of the three days for us (But very weather dependent) and shops in the City likely to be open for their normal trading hours despite the bank holiday. Hope this helps. Pre-paid tickets are on line via our website.

Similar problem to the OP. I can find plenty of 16mm dia OO bogie wheels but the only tender wheels have axles flush to the hub. I need extended axles to fit the tender kit I have. Any ideas. The only type available seem to be the withdrawn by PECO type (R-18) which from the photos appear to be a nylon (or similar) moulding not ones with a metal tread. EDIT: A suggestion I have seen is use the Bachmann Manor Tender wheels but the Bachmann spares site does not give a wheel diameter. Info request has been sent.

Although it will be only an occasional visitor to the layout finally getting the B16 rescue from ebay kit I bought from @Mark C nearly three years ago out into the actually getting onto the (a)round tuit workbench. Currently watching @Tony Wright's excellent loco kit building video (ex-DVD I am assuming) on YouTube. The kit is part built, I am guessing at about a quarter done. The age of the kit is shown by the references to various options for the mechanisms - Romford Bulldog or K's. Luckily it also suggested one of the DJH gearboxes and that is now odered. Today's task is tracking down a source of the necessary wheels and axles. 23mm drivers, 12mm front bogie and 16mm for the tender. plus the necessary Romford/Markits screwdriver. I am anticipating a struggle given comments elsewhere on availability of Markits components. I do have three axles and two sets of the 23mm drivers I can liberate from another round tuit project but, hopefully, won't have to. The more you delve into the field of kit building the more there is to know/learn. Hopefully by Missenden I will have sourced the wheels.

Just read elsewhere that the Shipley - Ilkley line is also shut for about a month with bustitution due to cracks in a cutting side near Baildon.

News item on the BBC confirming. Worcestershire Cricket Club ground flooded as many times in the last 20 years as in it took the previous 100 to attain.

Low sales. Partly due to cost v available income. It was what I aspired to when I went digital, I.e. a traditional camera like I was used to but with a digital back. IIRC it was around four times the price plus need for extra lenses on top of the basic and with a young family at the time it was out of my price range. These days I rarely do enough serious photography to warrant changing what I have.

Do you know whether it will be available to NERA members later as a recording? It clashes with our WMRA working open day?

Thanks for that.

I have today updated the London Road Models weblink. I will be doing a routine check of the traders page weblinks before the show; however, there are a few gaps. If you are attending as a trader and your entry in the Traders page listing is wrong, missing entirely or missing a website or Ebay link that you now have then please let me know via a PM. Thanks in advance.

Roger's obituary has now been added to the Show website. It is located here.

My suggestion is to put talc into your PVA mix. No idea why but it helps matt the result. Also if it adds any slight colouring to the fluid it will be slightly white so will aid the greying effect. PS: (1) Make sure the baby powder type stuff is actually talcum as since posting above I have remembered recently reading that at least one supplier (Johnson & Johnson) either have, or are about to, swap talc to corn starch. My modelling box stock of it is quite old so is definitely talc. (2) Found a link - from the BMJ, so definitive stating change was due during 2023.

Thank you @John of York61 for posting the picture above. A long term stalwart of the show along with his wife Fiona. A tradition currently being carried on by his son, Fred, to whom the whole show team express our condolences. His excellent Easter fruit cakes were an annual York tradition.

Good tip. Had not heard of it before your post. Thank you, will give it a try.