Chris-GNR

Evening. Just added a few more layouts to the line up & a bit of description for each. Cheers Chris

Your right Paul, but you know how it is putting on an exhibition space & man power are at a premium. The general running of the show & the number of operators needed to man Leicester South GC plus the other club & members layouts will leave us a bit short handed for Clayton this year. Cheers Chris

Evening all... A momentous event has taken place this evening in the development of Clayton. We now have all the track laid giving us continuous circuits in both directions. To mark the event the final 4 chairs laid have been painted gold in the spirit of the ‘golden spike’ tradition. I think a little track side sign might be in order. Cheers Chris

Thanks again Don for some more comprehensive info regards using these types of lower voltage motors on a 12v supply. I'd be keen to try installing some diodes just to be on the safe side. Would you have any recommendations of the right values i should try? Cheers Chris

Evening Don Thanks for your very informative response. The loco runs on DCC control, a DigiTracks system. I'm not sure how/if that effects things. Cheers Chris

Evening We had a great time at RailEx over the weekend with the layout & as Jason has said above we were very pleased to receive quite so much interest & have a lot questions regards the layout. Overall the layout ran well the whole weekend with only one incident of note. Late on Saturday afternoon one of the Tortoise motors looked to have failed it would still throw the blades fully each way but there was a dead spot in the track between the slip & loading shed when it was set to that route. After a bit of investigation looking for loose wires, head scratching, swearing & then starting to prepare to just change out the offending motor it was realised that the adjustable fulcrum point for the actuating wire had made its way down (speculating due to the heat inside the sports hall that afternoon) beyond its very lowest intended position & was stopping switch its self from trowing all the way over in one direction. Once this was rectified by simply repositioning the fulcrum point all was back as it should be. The only other thing that occurred was within the first hour or so on Saturday morning the Neilson started to show signs of poor running & would short out over various bits of track work. So it was taken off the layout & I started to look into what the fault could be. After removing the body & checking for anything obvious such as misaligned pickups or brake gear making intermittent contact with the wheels etc I discovered that the back end of the motor had nearly fully broken away from the main body of the motor!!! This is something I've not sceen or heard of before. Its amazing to think that the motor & loco had ran at all. This is the offending Mashima. The screwdriver is wedged in just to highlight the location & extent of the damage. I had brought along a couple of motors just to show to a few people these being a couple of square 6pole motors available extremely cheaply on eBay. One is 10mm square x 15mm in length & the other is 15mm square x 18mm. The one used as a replacement in the Neilson is the 10mm one & it is really powerful & torque-ee (is that a word? I doubt it) for its diminutive size. The mounting screws alined perfectly with the Highlevel gearbox re-using the M1.5 screws from the dead Mashima. A downside is that the shaft is only 1mm diameter so I made up a sleeve to allow it to fit the 1.5mm diameter worm. The other negative is that the top end of the motors rating is at 7.2v so not perfect for 4mm locos on a whole but the Neilson never runs at high speed & certainly isn't romping round & round a big tail chaser of a layout. While not being an expert I wouldn't think the motor is ever pulling a full 12v. I'm sure there might be some electrical wizards (who are experts) out there screaming no(!) but it ran the rest of the day & all day Sunday with no issues whatsoever, the quality of the running being equal to when i'd first built it. This is the 10mm motor fitted in place of the knackered (technical term) Mashima. The two motors mentioned above. The larger one is 15mm square x 18mm has a 2mm diameter shaft & is 12v so a contender for medium/large 4mm locos. Thanks to all of the people that made it to RailEx & stopped by the layout. Cheers Chris

What a bloody brilliant weekend! A huge thank you to Dave for the invite way back when to have The Mill at RailEx this year. Also, another huge thank you to Dave & his team for putting together & running such a top draw exhibition. The standard of the layouts was (as always) exceptional & the range of traders in attendance was excellent. London Road Models managed to make the most significant dent in my funds by way of a LNER K2 kit. Both Friday & Saturday evening saw Jason & myself in the pub enjoying plenty of the available refreshments. It was great to get to meet & chat with many of the other exhibitors & traders over the two evenings & thanks again to Dave for arranging the Saturday evening Social. Very much enjoyed the vintage bus ride to the pub that evening. A snap of The Mill late on sunday afternoon. Cheers Chris

Good to see you at RailEx yesterday Mark. Always nice to have a little catch up. Hope you have a good un at DEMU at the weekend. Chris

Well its been a while hasn't it! This evening Jason & I have loaded The Mill into the Volvo ready for a weekend playing out. We're made up to be taking The Mill to RailEx in Aylesbury as its one of the best on the exhibition calendar & a show we've both been looking forward to since the initial invite back at some point in 2016 I think. Always an excellent show with very comprehensive trade support & always a very high standard of layouts on show. http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/125099-railex-2018-26-27-may/?p=2810214 Also very much looking forward to a coupe of nights out in the pub after the show. If your planing to be at the show be sure to stop & say hello. Cheers Chris

40th Anniversary Model Railway Exhibition Baildon Recreation Centre, Shipley 15th & 16th September 2018 Already confirmed to appear at this year’s exhibition are: LAYOUTS - AMALGAMATED WAGON WORKS O - Industrial Shunting Puzzle - BURNHAM ON SEA N - S&D Terminus Station - BURNROYD WORKS OO - 2005 - Present Day - CALLATON 2FS - BR Blue Diesel - THE DEPOTS, ROSEDALE EAST EM - Remote NER Outpost - DER STEINBRUCH HO - 60s/70s South German Quarry Scene - GREEN POND MINE 009 - Industrial Micro Layout - HUDSON STREET EM - 1950s BR Steam - HYDE LANE O - Late 60s Diesel Depo - LEICESTER SOUTH OOFS - Late 40s / Mid 50s BR Steam - LONDON E1 TRAMS - N - KENTUCKY BRIDGE O - Late 60s Louisville + Nashville - KINGSBEY OO - West Yorkshire BR Blue Diesel - MARINE PARK YARD OO - BR Steam Minerals Exchange Yard - ST. GEORGES DOCK O - 1930s Dock Yard Scene - STALY VEGAS N - Industrial North BR Steam - SCAR GHYLL (under cons.) OO - West Riding 50s/60s Transition Steam/Diesel - SUMMER DAYS OO - Have a Go Thomas Layout Proceeds to Martin House Hospice TRADE STANDS - ABC MODEL RAILWAYS - BOOK LAW PUBLICATIONS - DIGITRAINS DCC - EBMA - ELMET IMAGES - FRIZINGHALL MODELS & RAILWAYS - MILLENNIUM MODELS - MILNSBRIDGE MODELS - TEN COMMANDMENTS - TODMORDEN MODEL SUPPLIES DEMONSTRATION & SOCIETY STANDS - 2mm DEMONSTRATION - 2mm ASSOCIATION STAND - SMRS SALES STAND - SMRS 40th Anniversary Stand Refreshments Free Car Parking A High Quality Exhibition for the Modeller & the Family not to be Missed More info & a few layout photos to follow. Cheers Chris

Evening Mark Sounds good. I think a couple of trees down the lefthand end would work well. Cheers Chris

Looking good Mark. Very neat. Are you going to be extending the embankment out to meet the new fascia? Chris

Evening. A couple of cameo shots from The Mill. Cheers Chris

Its going to be a Hybrid

Thank you Frank, to kind to kind. The build has been very enjoyable with only a few very minor head scratching moments all soon rectified with a quick chat with Frank & the offending component then tweeked accordingly. Truth be told I feel honoured you asked me to carry out the test build. Totally forgot about scanning those pics & sending them over. I’ll do it after work tomorrow if that’s ok. Planning to be at Scalefour North on Saturday morning. Cheers Chris

Evening As ever apologies for the lack of updates & all that. Here are a few pics of the Q1 as it currently stands. All work regards proving that the etches are correct is now complete & the few minor things that cropped up have been rectified in the art work & instuctions by Frank. As I understand it the kit is due to be released in September at EM North through London Road Models. Not a lot left to do on it now before the loco is complete. It needs a safety valve cover which I plan to get from London Road Models at Scalefour North at the weekend, fit shorting strips to the wheels & axles on one side of the loco for the ‘American Pickup’ system that’s being used on this build & I’m planning to turn my own smoke box door the cast w/m one I have isn’t bad but I’ve had success in making one on a previous build so I want to give it another bash for the Q1. Oh yeah & a tender. I have that already it just needs building. I’m sure there will be a load of other little jobs left to do before paint but the above are the main things I can think of right now. Cheers for now. Chris

Spanish Castle Magic - Jimi

Look What the Wind Blew In - Thin Lizzy

Mother and Child Reunion - Paul Simon

Any Colour You Like - Pink Floyd

Don’t Get Me Wrong - The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band

Me and Julio Down By the Schoolyard - Paul Simon

Fire - Jimi

We Can Change the World - Graham Nash