Londontram

The creeping banner has gone! Thank you Andy I am and I'm sure all the others are very greatfull for your hard work, sorry you took so much flack over Something you had very little control over. Steve

Thanks for the advice its all going into the pot. As to wires I've built overhead for my previous tram layouts and as trolley buses work of twin wires having a return and insulating it is no problem and I've already done it with alternate direction wires off a common span wire there's ways round that. With a train set of points the points them selves can isolate a section and you can also isolate sections but the Frog "Point" on the over head wire tends to work best with an a open frog the frog is positioned to let the bus/tram trolley plole/poles be dragged through an open frog following the direction of the vehicle so having an isolating frog is not really an option neither is isolating breaks. I wasn't looking at automated running either but would like to have bus number 1 sat at a stop and bus number two pulled up at the stop behind it then bus number one moves off. At one end would be a terminus with a turning circle and I'd like if theres 2 buses sat at the terminus maybe a 3rd bus on a different route can overtake them and move off and the first of the other buses follow after a suitable time. So as I say it's not going to be a case of buses running at the same time but more of a leap frog ability without having the need to have lots of isolating sections.

I'm an old die hard set in his ways annalog man with my model trains. I'm happy with this it fits my needs totally but I find I'm contemplating a new project that I can see that DCC would offer all the solutions to the problems my new project would face. I'm building Scottish single track main line with a passing loop at a station. With a maximum of only one train moving and only two trains on the track at the same time one in the loop so annalog is fine for that. But in the words of the great Monty Python "Now for something completely different" Being an old tram man I'm thinking of a small table top roundly roundly with not trams this time but Trolley buses using a Faller style steering system but having the trolley buses actually worked by power from the overhead. Building this is no problem but I would like to have maybe 4 or 5 buses at verious points of the layout and even cases of one bus over taking another. So is there a very simple basic DCC set up which would let me run as many as say 5 or 6 vehicles. I'm not worried about sound or lights ect just the basic control of the buses. Being new to this I would very much appreciate any help and advice you could give me

Thank you Andy now I know it was there l have read it and you appear to already have the matter in hand thank you. Steve

I too seem to be afflicted with the slow creeping banner on my android phone that makes it impossible to access any notifications or private mails unless you change to desk top mode then the screens to small to use so you have to expand the size to be able to click on what you want. Is there no way please that this one banner can be removed or even moved to a different location as its made a lot of faffing around. Steve

Thanks Ray that sounds well worth checking out.

Well I've found something interesting on Google, there's a tutorial on some chap in America repairing a "hot wheels" model car with a cracked Mazak body and once stripped of paint he used a simple home copper coating kit and he claimed after that any type of solder and flux could be used so maybe that's something to look at. As you can tell by the name I'm no stranger to this but sold off all my previous tram models about 7 years ago and have since been working on my other interest which is Scottish steam cir 1900 but over the time have built the white metal Bec E1 class, felthams and 4 wheel cars. I've also built and super detailed some of the Kiel craft trams as well. I did go down the same route as you making an "M" class car from a tower trams E1 using the tower trams E1 and plasticard chassy frames with drilled holes and thin rod for the heavy rivet detail and run it on a Bec 4 wheel bogie. I've also built an "A" class open top and a few HR2 with altered window boxes and panaled flush sides. I was awear of the scale size of the corgie trams but fancied doing a small end to end on the conduit or simple loop again with or without overhead and thought with a limited number of other vehicles the size difference wouldn't be a real problem. Any way it's just thinking aloud at this stage but it was the offer of the two Corgie trams for a sub £10 price for both that made me concider this option. Here's the link to the tutorial

Thanks for that it was just a thought but if it's going to be to complex I might think else where. The reason I ask is I also dabble in classic cars and I've seen articles where a badly pitted "Mazak" boot lid casting had been repaired by having the pitted areas cleaned out and filled with solder and then once the surface was redressed the casting was rechromed to look like new!

Here's a question can "mazak" type metal body's of the type that say Corgi models are made of be soldered? I have if I want them access to two Corgi 1/72 scale 4 wheel London trams cheap and have an idea to try a cut and shut them to make one of the longer London E1 8 wheel bogie trams but it all depends if the type of metal can be soldered. Thanks for any help and advice The idear is to use two of these as the starting point To make one of these

That looks absolutely superb well done! Don't forget the bunker like the tanks should step out from the cab on the 19 class!

Wow now that is a big high pitched boiler but the chassis looks very much like the wide splasher T9 has any one done the math on that. A bigger boiler and a more than passing resemblance could be made

Nothing to do with the op question but out of interest I've fired 4027 while it was at the Midland Railway center way back in the day. Sorry just thought I'd throw that in. I'll go now!

Plastic bags are no good the sharp coal just shreds them so I use an old cotten cloth money bag but the bottom corner of an old pillow case might work as well. Also make sure you do it on a hard surface like a concrete path - the wife's kitchen work surfaces are not an ideal alternative not unless you budget for buying her a new kitchen.

Thank you Richard your a real gentleman sir.

Has anybody got a set of instructions and the exploded diagram for a DJH Caledonian 812 class loco kit that they could screen shot or scan/copy and send to me please. Thanks Steve

Perhaps that was the time of day, it was a Tuesday in March I believe and it was raining and that famous Scottish loco expert Angus McCoatup was in a bad mood and wanted to be away for his tea said at 18-38 let's get rid of those bloody vacuum pumps. Warning the the sorce of the information is a bit patchy so there is a slight..... a very slight possibility that might not be true and ive just made it up. Anyway joking aside thanks again for all you help chaps Steve

Yeah sorry Nick my fault mate, don't know how it happened but I did read it before it went so thanks for the response once again the wealth of knowledge on this site alway astounds me. Thanks to Andy for sorting it. Steve

Thank you Darryl on the link you posted was a lot of information including this which seems to wrap it up

Thoughts so just wasn't sure, thanks

On the right hand side connected to the slide rod on the motion of the LNWR 2-2-2 Lady of the Lake/problem class is this piece of equipment fitted just under the running plate. Would I be right in thinking its a force feed boiler water pump? Here's a close up and a more general view. Thanks for your help

Thanks for all your help everyone. The ones Gordon mentioned the fold up ones I'm sure I've had before and got on well with them so will put them on the short list but will have a good look at all of them. Steve

Cheers mate, I think your right but joking aside the only Caley truck that might have made it was the CCT vans I believe some got to London over the LNWR from time to time.

High everyone Where's the best place to go to get an etch or pack of brass coupling hooks for standard 3 link coupling. I would prefer something robust and up to the job not super light weight and delicate. I've got plenty of chain for the links its just the hooks I need. Thanks Steve

To add to the above the buffets and 3 link couplings have now been added now i have some super glue. The buffers are Caledonian 4 bolt self contained buffers from the Wizard range of white metal fittings. These will just need painting when the glues dried to finnish the hopper of. Now painted Hmmm just just give those buffer heads a quick file to get rid of those casting marks

When all the rubbing down was done the hopper section was painted a red oxide. The hopper in the next picture shows it with the C and R added it still will needs new buffer heads and three link couplings fitted. Really the only reason they haven't been done is I've just found my super glue has become a solid lump so will get some more next time I'm out. As can be seen its had a load of iron ore added on a false base of plasticard this is from one of the well known scenic material suppliers and the wheel rims are painted white as was the Caledonian style. The red oxide paint is one of those pound shop red primers, so that it its just about done. I hope you've enjoyed this little build and hopefully the end result has captured the spirit of the Caledonian hopper as can be deen here in this reminder and using the Mainline wagon as a base has made an exceptable layout wagon at a reasonable cost. Just got another five to do now. Thanks for following Steve