eetype3

Hiya - I've just discovered this thread, less-than-coincidentally soon after discovering the joys of US HO-scale diesel railroading (after too many bits falling off/indifferent running from several recent British OO RTR locos, but that's a different story...). Sound is perhaps the most divisive aspect of railway modelling because we all perceive it differently. I'll liken it to musical preference; for example, I'm a bit of a bass-head but my collection includes everything from modern-classical through all aspects of indie, prog and metal to modern electro, but I cannot abide country music - but even then, with the exception of Sheryl Crow. Doubtless many of you would not appreciate my iPod's eclectic offerings, but some may embrace all or part of my preference...the way we listen is equally important as what we're listening to; some enjoy clarity above all, others appreciate a balance and still others like chest-rattling bass, and all possible combinations of the above generalisations exist. Nobody's right or wrong, but it's handy if your particular audiophilic sensibilities match those of the individuals who recorded the sounds and mixed them for tiny speakers. Anyway, back to subject - and assuming that the common element is a quality speaker with a matched enclosure because without that, all discussions regarding sound quality are rendered moot - would you hook-up your audiophile amplifier and CD player to your laptop's speakers? - I find that the ESU Loksound Select and Select Direct sound decoders are the most impressive overall and hence, also the best value. ESU LLC's EMD Roots-blown 645 soundfile is my favourite so far, fitted to my GP38 - it's all there; the deep throb, the generator whine, exhaust resonance at higher notches, the whole nine yards. I'm delighted with it. The same applies to the factory-fitted ESU sound decoder in my Intermountain SD40-2, which is simply superb straight out of the box. Conversely my experience with Tsunami decoders has been less satisfying; I was expecting big things of my Athearn Genesis SD70ACe but it disappoints with indifferent sound (and no switchable start-up/shut-down, despite the air-start being present and playing each time the loco is powered-up on DCC, regardless of whether or not the loco address is selected on the throttle). I'll upgrade the speaker first but I foresee a switch to ESU in its future. My Tsunami EMD 645 non-turbo, bought for my SW1001 project, is also so-so. Perhaps I'm expecting too much from a decoder which effectively announces itself as a generic representation - but to me, the 8, 12 and 16cyl non-turbo 645 EMDs sound very different, particularly in the lower registers, so it's not good enough for me. I have no connection with ESU except as a satisfied customer. Sound decoders represent a significant investment, hence anything less than "great" is always going to disappoint. Hopefully ESU LLC will release a 16-567 turbo soundfile in future so I can model another favourite, the GP35!

Thanks folks! I'm on a 'restoration' tip with this one; looking original, but capable on my Code 75 trackwork and, in particular, pointwork. Minimum radius is 27", so sharp curves (in train-set terms) aren't a problem. Eventual plans include adding the Dublo tool van and mess coach, if I can locate examples of each; power will be my Dublo 4MT 2-6-4T :-) Anyway... overcoming my 'Code 75 blindness' which had persuaded me that the original Dublo wheels didn't stand a chance, I've just test-run the crane set on the layout - without problems. It coped fine with Peco Code 75 medium-radius (36") pointwork including 3-way points, and negotiated 27"-radius Code 75 curves without problem and without riding on the rail chairs. Hence, green Meccano string it will be; and no need to swap the wheelsets after all! Just for the sake of completeness, my example is fitted with the following original wheels: Match truck/jib carrier: 12mm-dia plastic spoked wheelsets Load-spreader bogies: 12mm-dia plastic spoked wheelsets Crane, outer wheelsets: 13.5mm-dia plastic spoked wheels on 2mm metal axles (supported by "tin" inner chassis) Crane, inner wheelsets: 13.5mm-dia, unflanged plastic spoked wheels on 2mm metal axles (again, supported by "tin" inner chassis)

Hi again :-) I'm attempting to make my old Dublo breakdown crane compatible with my Code 75 00 trackwork; hopefully via a 'minimum necessary mods' route because I like the ex-factory Dublo condition. I've found a supplier of replica decals (my example needs a repaint, having received poorly hand-painted wasp ends at some point in her history!), but so far I'm stumped on replacing the wheels. Can anyone guide me how to fit replacement finer-scale 00 wheelsets to Dublo wagons and cranes please? Mine has the retaining clips holding the axle ends in place - I'm not familiar enough with Dublo products to know whether or not this was de rigeur. Also, my example (acquired for peanuts from an "antiques" (sic) centre) has the inevitable sisal string replacing the original factory rigging, but at least the original hook is still present. Can anyone point me towards an original-spec rigging diagram please, and give me an idea of the material which was originally used for the cable(s)? As always, any help and advice will be greatly appreciated :-) Thanks & best regards, Jim H

Hi, I posted a review a while back when my "Esso edition" Sentinel was performing rather less than satisfactorily. Time to set the record straight... My original beastie was a bad'un. Two days after posting my initial review, the motor started misbehaving and then the geartrain locked-up completely. A little investigative work found that the motor, at less than half-current on DC, would stall at approximately 3/4 of a rotation. Discussing this with my friendly local retailer revealed that this had been seen before (but not on Sentinels), and was apparently caused by excess solder on the polepieces dragging on the casing. Hornby declined to supply a replacement motor via said retailer ("not yet available"), which turned out to be a good thing when the geartrain also locked-up under DC rolling-road test the next day! Repeated attempts to free it off, including a full strip and rebuild, proved to be futile. I still don't know what the geartrain problem was. Hattons were, as usual, superb in dealing with this - I sent the loco back, and a replacement was sent as soon as the second batch arrived in Liverpool. My second example runs perfectly on DC, and is also much better built - the glazing and side skirts both fit properly. The tasked Hornby decoder isn't brilliant - "silent drive" it ain't - but I now plan to hardwire something decent in its place. So, the good bits of my earlier review still stand - and most of the bad bits have been resolved, decoder excepted. Not a bad result by modern standards.

Hello, Long time no post - but the modelling's continued when time and health permit. Time to right a long-term wrong.. that being the general ill-feeling towards Lima products - which (and it pains me to admit) I have also been party to in the past. Lima diesels are now well into bargain territory; with little searching, it is possible to obtain a near-mint example of most Lima diesels - limited editions possibly excepted - for £30-£35. In most cases, what you get is a robust, reliable locomotive with a more-than-reasonable level of fidelity and detail, especially when the age of the tooling is taken into account. Ah, that motor - the reviled Lima pancake. OK, it's not the smoothest performer off the blocks and most locomotives are geared for a just-subsonic top speed, but it's reliable. Cleaning off the gunk and original lubricants, then replacing them with minute quantities of Tamiya ceramic grease on the geartrain and a modern loco oil on the motor and axle bearings, makes a useful difference - and a couple of hours' running-in on the rolling road in each direction (I use 15min periods before reversal, to even-up the initial bedding-in) has resulted in some really rather good runners. DCC conversion? Easy. Either hardwire a decoder in, or fit a spare Hornby decoder socket assembly (which has 8 solder pads provided, ready to go) - there's loads of room, but you may need to modify the glazing unit a bit to clear the decoder. No biggie; a decent excuse to fit either South Eastern Finecast vac-form glazing, Shawplan Laserglaze (SO good!) or homemade flush glazing - however, only masochists will attempt the latter on the 117 DMU... By the way, extra phosphor-bronze pickups on as many wheels as you can - the middle driven wheel is difficult, but all others are a walk in the park - are also worthwhile for smooth slow running and provide extra opportunity for homebrewed fettling. An hour's-worth of fettling CVs results in a loco that will happily crawl around at walking pace and accelerate/decelerate smoothly - particularly if extra pickups have been fitted. For those - like me - with Code 75 trackwork, the nearly-drop-in Ultrascale wheelset conversion kits are a reasonably-priced improvement; however, note that this (of course, and thankfully) deletes traction tyres so you may wish to add extra ballast - but put it in the correct end, i.e. around and near the motor bogie. Then the fun bit - detailing. Identify what's there but shouldn't be and remove it; identify what should be there and make/fit it. There are plenty of etched-brass detailing parts out there, and it's a decent way to build your modelling skillset before tackling expensive modern locos. Carving off the moulded handrails and fitting suitably-fine wire replacements is cheap and very satisfying as a first step. My own recommendations? The 31's a peach, I consider the body to be better than Hornby's SD version. The 47 polishes up very nicely, but needs work on the underframe. The 40 is worth a look, even if the body/nose sides are a little deep and the windscreens need the Shawplan windscreen surround panel and some careful filing. The 37's generally good (once the Shawplan windscreen panel has been fitted) but if modelling a 37/4, avoid the early models which - for some reason lost in the mists - were all based on the RSH bodyshell tooling with divided cantrail grilles, which none of the 37/4s carried - also, all of the bodyside grilles are undersized, but this isn't glaringly obvious if the rest of the loco looks good - and can be replaced if desired. Anyway... my Lima diesel-related catharsis is complete, and I'm proud to be adding a few of these underrated niceties to my fleet. Give 'em a bash; you might enjoy going old-skool for a project or two. I am!

OK, here's my take now that I've received my model - R3179 in Esso Bitumen livery. My background: mechanical design, electrical engineering and several years of railway modelling. First, the good: a lot of detail for the price, and it looks like a Sentinel to me. A particularly fine job with the handrails too - very impressive. The bad: I'm hoping it's confined to my example, but the bonnets and cab are unpainted; on lifting it from the (well-designed) box, the living room lamp shone through the sidesheets. This return to 1980s Lima practice is unwelcome, and in my view lets the model down badly. Mine's now due a respray - I was hoping to just remove the Esso Bitumen Plymouth printing with T-Cut and retain the factory red finish, but there isn't one... Hopefully someone will offer etched replacements for the Sentinel and Powered By Rolls-Royce plates - such a shame, as the printed versions are excellent. I'd rather pay another £10 for a paint finish. The overall design of the model is a disappointment, as it has obviously been compromised by the requirement to be compatible with the Hornby R8249 decoder - hence the huge decoder slot. The fact that even this has not been achieved, and that we're expected to buy a version of the R8249 decoder modified with a 4-pin plug directly from Hornby, is rather an insult. If the model had been designed to accept a 6-pin 'N-gauge' decoder, perhaps a better method of breaking the model down to its component parts could have been found. The panel split line between the cab and the front sidesheet is fortunately prototypical for the chain-drive versions - it was a welded joint - but when Hornby get around to the rod-drive locos, the one-piece sidesheet is a very distinctive design feature. I can't help thinking that if someone on the design team had been brave enough to point out the poor choice of the standard Hornby decoder, we may have ended-up with a less-compromised model. Perhaps the motor could have been mounted to drive the rear axle, with a decent-sized flywheel accommodated in the cab and the decoder at the front end of the front bonnet - a better excuse for the half-height cab interior, and better tolerance of average trackwork with such a short wheelbase. I can live with the poor fit of the cab glazing - it's no worse than the various design tolerance problems that I had to correct/fettle on my pair of 72xx to make them fit together properly - and also maybe with the poor fit of the plastic sideskirts into the metal frame; but the overall impression is that Hornby are steadily losing the plot. After both 72xx and now the Sentinel, I'm losing faith more than a little. I've ordered a Crosti 9F, and it's fair to say that that model will be make-or-break for me.

As promised, a pic of the completed Bogie Bolster A: Thanks again, folks!

Gents, that is superb advice - a big 'thank you' to all. I shall be seeking out both the recommended book and the edition of Traction! No doubt there'll be plenty of wagon projects coming my way from Dad over the next few years... Right, I'll get the chains to the mounts at the ends of the bolsters, and no protection it is. And I'll keep my promise to post a photo when it's finished. Thanks again, eetype3 (slowly learning about the '60s after years of researching the '70s and '80s!)

Hello again, I'm working on an old Mainline Bogie Bolster A for my Dad's 50s/60s WR layout. I've finished detailing and weathering it, fitting sprung buffers and RP25 wheelsets, but I've hit a snag with loading it. I've got a very nice Duha load of flanged steel pipes, and I'm planning to chain it in place; this is the pre-ratchet-strap era, of course (my own '80s layout is rather easier to research!). I've so far failed to find a single period photo of a chained load on a bolster wagon, so I have the following question: Was anything laid over the load to protect it from the chains? My pipe load is generally pyramid in cross-section, so if I pick-up the chain loops on the solebars, the chains will touch the bottom and top of the side raves, the side of the 'bottom layer' of pipes, and of course the top of the load. I'm assuming that something was placed between the wagon/load and the chains, particularly when fully-finished products were loaded, but what? I've considered folded wagon sheets, or maybe canvas sacks, but it'd be great to get it right. Any sage advice will be greatly appreciated! I'll post a photo when it's done. Cheers folks

Back to Bedford HA vans again... Here's a simple tweak to improve the Corgi Trackside HA. I realised why my two examples didn't look quite right in profile, comparing with photos of the prototype - the sills were missing! Quite representative of the real thing as it approached maturity, but... Cut 23mm-long sections of 1 x 1mm 90deg angle styrene. Glue to the edges of the plastic "underframe" insert, such that they sit inside the bodyshell with the 'point' downwards - to represent the angled outer sills. Prime and paint - done! Photo below (which will hopefully work - I'm better with styrene than technology, and I'm not great with styrene) shows untweaked KYM8P on the left, and modified YCH625Y on the right. Took about half an hour, including paint. Right, now to provide KYM8P with sills, and finish YCH625Y with roof bars, rear fog lamp and T-handle on the right rear door.

Another quick couple of questions for Merf if I may... maybe a bit of a memory test! On your Flickr 'Railway Road Motors' collection, there are a couple of good photos of YCH 625Y - Llandudno S&T Bedford HA. I've finally persuaded myself to model the roof bars, but picking out other details from the photos: 1. Were the pair of white plastic vents (one towards the top of the bodyside at the rear of the upper panel, and one in line with it but just above the side panel/sill joint), fitted only to the offside, or were there a similar pair on the nearside too? 2. Was the blue windscreen sunstrip fitted from new, or was it a bit of local esprit d'corps later in life? Cheers!

Cheers Merf! I don't hang about... It's the Trackside model btw, with the track narrowed by cutting the 'brake drums' in half and locking them on the axles with slow-set thick cyano to lose the unlikely negative camber on the rear axle. The rest's just Phoenix Precision pre-84 Warning Panel Yellow, homebrew decals, PP matt enamel varnish and detail painting, plus TPM etched stainless mirrors & wipers. She'll do. Got two RTI resin crewbus bodies in stock now, but can't promise they'll appear here quite as quickly!

Bit of a random enquiry this one, but... Can anyone suggest a suitable registration number for a mid-1970s yellow BR Bedford HA van please? I'm modelling a chrome-grille, chrome-bumper version; just a bog-standard van, not an S&T with vents/roofracks/ladder (I'm saving that for next time!). WR or LMR registrations will be fine, to suit either of my fleets. A pre-'72 one with silver-on-black reg plates would be particularly appreciated! Cheers all

Definintely an improvement on the original, Merf, but... I bought a Base Toys/BT "D Series", and quickly realised why Ford had not licenced the model. In brief, comparing with a photo blitz I did on a D1000 Perkins V8 tractor unit at this year's Gaydon Classic truck show with a view to modelling it: Mudguards incorrect shape Bumper incorrect shape, and shouldn't wrap around into doors Doors too long, rear quarters too short, bumper wraparound prevents bottom swage from being incorporated in doors No inward rake to rear panels (much too upright), and curvature too sharp Quarterlight/main cab door window relationship incorrect in size and proportions; windscreen pillars in wrong place and wrong shape/angle Headlamps too close together Indicators/sidelamps incorrectly shaped and in wrong places Grille and styling panel above it bear no relationship to the original Cab roof too flat... etc. I gave up at that point on a "too much work" basis. I now keep the model in view, as a reminder to research with photos before committing to buy anything! The Langley Ford D-Series cab is a work of art and is available separately - highly recommended. I've yet to see the RTI Ford D-Series in round-headlamp form, but given the quality of other RTI cabs I have in stock, that will probably be worth a look too.

Thanks! The pipework took a couple of weekends'-worth of work, and a lot of research. "Railways Illustrated", October 2010 has some very useful photos of RSG. "Modern Railway Modelling" (much-lamented...), Winter 2006 includes an article on detailing Deltics which was also pretty handy, although I stopped short of modelling the AWS guards because the front of the bogies would have required more surgery if the swing and roll clearances were to be retained (my trackwork's more 'siding' than 'ECML'!). I've since decided that I'm going to add the parking brake linkages and chains - I was also going to lower her 1mm on her bogies, but my 36"-radius pointwork won't allow me to without flanges scraping on valances. Maybe if I fit an Ultrascale wheelset conversion kit...

I've finished my model of KOYLI, based on the early 4-axle-drive Bachmann version. I've added extra phosphor-bronze wiper pickups to the unpowered wheels, an Olivia's Trains sound decoder with bass-reflex speaker in the underbody tanks area and detailed the shell. I chose her final in-service condition, so all tweaks were based on photographs from 1981. In fact, I was visiting the NRM with my parents on the day that KOYLI was handed-over, and the memory of the hulking, gleaming, bellowing brute moving slowly into the hall is still vivid... I modified the glazing so it actually fits in the apertures, then fitted single wipers in place of the original twins, Hornby Class 31 sprung buffer assemblies, sprung Romford coupling hooks with Smiths screw couplings, nose-corner steps and all pipework - the latter a mixture of scratchbuilt and Shawplan. I also replaced the cabside numbers and crests with Fox equivalents and fitted Shawplan etched nameplates. Only some light weathering to add now, and some remedial paintwork to the No2 end RH bonnet side... Here are a couple of pics: Next: Class 20, and some further practice with my new airbrush.

Finished one... Mods include narrowing the track by cutting-down the bosses moulded onto the rear of the original Corgi wheels by 1.5 mm per side, adding etched stainless-steel interior and exterior rear-view mirrors and windscreen wipers from the TPM "60s car details" etch, home-made decals and registration plates and some detail painting. A couple of photos (rather cruelly enlarged!): The decals were scanned from an old BR photo, tweaked in Word 2010, inkjet-printed onto Crafty Computer Paper's transparent waterslide paper and sealed with a couple of coats of Phoenix Precision aerosol satin varnish. When the finished bodyshell was varnished, they blend perfectly. Having now seen the enlarged photos, I'll go back and paint the headlamp rims silver again, as I appear to have overdone the yellow a taste. Othere than that, it'll do :-)

Ah yes, the HA vans... No 70s/80s layout is complete without at least one in the background. I'd originally been looking on eBay for BR-liveried examples split from the Corgi BR vans set; no joy, although the rest of the set seems widely available... It's clear that there's a market for HAs in BR Road Vehicle Yellow. Given the rarity of Mk1 Escort vans in BR service, it's perhaps surprising that a Mk1 Esky was chosen for the volume-production "yellow BR van" rather than the HA. Sooo... Quick rethink and a new approach. I picked up two for less than £3 each in other liveries, one unboxed from a toy fair and one in the Modelzone sale. Drilled out the rivets, stripped 'em, dunked 'em in Tetrion and repainted them. Four times. In order: Airbrush failure; too thin a paint mix; and the modelling board getting knocked to the floor by hyperactive kids (don'tcha just love the school holidays?), chipping the paint on both shells down to bare metal. Aaaaargh! They're now looking OK so far after yet another strip and respray, and they're hidden somewhere safe! Ford Signal Yellow over white primer is a near spot-on match for BR Road Vehicle Yellow, to my eyes anyway. A thin paint finish makes all the difference, bringing out the detail in the casting - does Corgi paint them in the dark? The wheels are dreadful - too wide even for a boy-racered HA Brabham saloon! - so I'm planning to fit TPM wheels. One van will be in 70s condition with chrome fittings, the other will be late-70s/80s with black fittings and grille. I'm still pondering whether or not to improve the grilles, which are a bit second-rate and carry the car-style lozenge badge. I know the whole model's closer to 1/72 than 1/76, but that's an advantage in this case as both will be parked at the front of the layout and will help with forced perspective. Any that sit further back will be TPM kits! Next: Detail painting, then decals - and I might be making my own 'cos I can't find any commercially available Yellow Period decal sets. Slightly dreading that, to be honest!

Road vehicles are my other modelling interest, so I've decided to separate them from my traction blog. My first effort is a Coles Argus 6-tonne SWL mobile crane, based on the Corgi 1/76 diecast model but modified slightly and weathered. The cab guard was knocked-up from fusewire, fine metal mesh and Microstrip. Other tweaks include copying the wasp stripes from the rear of the example that appears in the background of so many Crewe Diesel Depot photos, plus adding OLE warning flashes and red double-arrows, a registration plate (mine's 429 PRO, because it's based on a photo of 428 PRO but isn't a direct copy...) and a rear-view mirror. I then got the weathering washes out. Anyway, here's a couple of pics of the result. Overview shot: and a detail shot from the rear: Next: a pair of Bedford HA vans.

Empty I hope, at 6 tonnes SWL!

Inspirational and very useful thread - thanks! My contribution: Coles Argus 6-tonne crane, based on the example which appears in the background of many Crewe TMD photos. I worked from about 6 grainy images, plus the one Merfyn added of 428 PRO on Page 29 of this thread. Mine's plated as 429 PRO... I've added the registration plate, cab safety cage, rear-view mirror, red Arrows of Indecision and OLE warning flashes, plus some weathering. Please excuse the pic quality; it's from my phone due to my digicam being stored unserviceable at present.