katwigan

Hello Richard, Looking at the photo, I would say there are two options possible, One is that the plates would be welded to the Verticals and then Bolted down to a concrete base (Assuming the crane does not travel along rails ). Usually under the steel plates would be either steel shims or a layer of Grout to 'level' out the structure. If the crane was intended for some lengthwise movement ie on wheels and rails, flanged wheel sets would be bolted to the underside of the steel plates, while the rails would be bolted and levelled ( in a similar manner to above ). In either case painting the same colour as the rest of the crane after having fitted some evidence of bolt heads on top of the plates ( say every 8 - 10" inches, depending on scale ) would probably appear suitable. Regards Kev T ( Ex Maintenance Manager - MMC Iron Foundry ) PS I couldn't find much that clearly defined what I have described either.

I have 1 Black 5 fitted with sound that is usually turned off, it mainly gets switched on whenever several of the horde of grandkids turn up. or as a novelty value for adult visitors (not necessarily rail enthusiasts. ) But then most of the adults comment more about the clickety click as the trains pass over the gaps at the lift out access 'bridge' than the chuffing. I would probably cut some more gaps at a couple of additional places rather than add more sound chips. Kevan

You could also utilise some of the interior detail sections of several of the "downloadable and printable ' kits from the likes of Scalescenes, Clever or Smart Models etc. Kevan

Hi, keep your eye on umbrellas, many of them use a square channel section for the arms, I found one that gave me around 6 metres of usable guttering, having rescued it from the bin after a typical inversion. They are worth looking at. Kevan

Helmut, that 5 cylinder Ingerson Rand air winch is absolutely amazing, the only difference between it and the one we had in the Iron Foundry that I worked in for 35 years looks to be ours leaked oil from the drain plug on the gearbox. Fabulous!!! Oh and we had to reweld the forward/reverse control handle because some ham fisted fitter broke it off in a manner that shall remain undisclosed ! Kevan

Hi all, just had some pretty good news from my mid treatment ct scan showing " significant reduction, around 50% in size" of the splattering of tumours in my lungs . 3 or possibly 4 more doses of chemo will hopefully continue the same trend. The tiredness and loss of concentration i can deal with but the mouth ulcers are a right pain in the ar err mouth. It's a good job i like soup. But if thats as bad as the side effects go lets get on with it. Kevan

Why is it that every time I see another map of this area (either side of Wallgate ) the track layout particularly the pointwork is different ? Seems they must have got bored easily or something although i dont think i will be changing it any more than i have done twice already Kevan

No but I have used it as a base to raise up some of the land areas, with the ribs vertical it is quite rigid as you say. The only problem I struck was using hot melt glue to make the joints with several coming apart after a while. You may want to watch that the ribs dont show through though.

The company I worked for until retiring last year made blades for those great munching machines,one set of wnich could last nearly a week biting through the large railway track on the mining lines up in the N W of West Aust.To say it goes with a bang is an understatement. ( oh, and our blades lasted twice as long as some opposition blades!!)

The other thing to try Tony is printing onto A4 sized self adhesive label paper, then you can stick it to what ever thickness card you want. I have been using it for about 6 years now with no signs of anything lifting, the only drawback being you only get one shot at getting it down flat so you need to leave a bit of border for trimming if necessary. Saves an awful lot of messy gluing but you can also just print out additional layers to build up stepped wall sections or replacement bits if you stuff something up! Kev

Hi, When you open a photo in Gimp a small cell at the lower l/h corner of your screen will tell you what measurement form it is in , usually this will open in Pixels.If you L. click on it a range of options including mm will show up, select mm and then from the tool bar select the " Measure Tool "Icon ( a pair of compasses) . Using that you can measure what size the door or indeed any part of the photo is. Lets say for arguments sake it measures at 22mm high,if you now go into the 'Image' field at the top of screen then select 'Scale Image' you will get a display showing current size of the full image and it's resolution. Again alongside the dimensions is a click box that will enable you to select various ways of adjusting the size. If you select % you will then be able to increase the size of the whole image by 118% , which in this case will resize the the whole Image taking the door from 22 to 26mm . Gimp is very good for doing this sort of work but it needs a lot of trial and error to find out All it's capabilities. This building was developed from a single photo of what is the far end of the building as shown by resizing, cutting,pasting and correcting perspective distortion and then several layers all slightly different were cut out on the Silhouette Cameo. It is still, sadly . not finished ( my fault ) Hope I make some degree of sense, if not PM me if I can help. Regards Kevan

Hi all, Couple of updates / news Medically, latest scan done last monday show that midway through the Chemo treatment the tumours have shrunk significantly to about half their previous size On the Railway, As is my want I have been fiddling around in a previously untouched corner of the layout that needed to have the main running lines hidden from view. Also whilst invoking Modellers Licence the corner was to be used as a site for one of the many collieries that abounded around Wigan, The actual location is probably quite accurate but as it was closed down sometime in the 1920's (un)educated guesswork will get involved. Anyway a few pics of developments. This general view of the corner has the running lines in question hiding under the raised white area at the rear and then passing through / under the buildings on the right. The lines can be seen passing through the buildings and in front of the John Woods Engineering building. I am 6' 2" and looking down onto this area . In this shot the loco can be seen , however it is not normally visible from a 'normal viewing position' This shot is taken from a 'normal' viewing position, anything on the running line is hidden by the brick wall to the right of the gates. The area to the left of the gates I spent sometime trying to work out the best way of hiding the passing trains, the end result (hopefully) will involve sacrificing probably the body of the loco shown and possibly a van body, If I cut the bottom of the bodies off and support them at the appropriate height on a thin wire frame the end result should look like the above photo whilst still being able to hide trains passing underneath. ( Thats the theory anyway) Hopefully over the weekend I will see how the theory goes. The last photo shows the area to be occupied by the colliery with the loading area to go over probably the two farther sidings and the Winding house and head gear on the upper level at the back, still working on those bits, but I did lash out and bought a pair of 60mm dia sheaves for the Winding gear through shapeways, and very nice they look to. Edit: I seem to have mixed up a couple of photos, but I am sure that sense can be made of it all anyway. ( well it's no worse than normal ) Will update again after the sacrificial loco ceremony! Kevan

Without causing any neighborhood squabbles , that looks absolutely brilliant gents, I am just about to make a start on a small colliery ( modellers licence invoked here) attached to my Wigan Wallgate layout , I had a similar 'shorting' incident many years ago with ballast that I got for free, no wonder really when it turned out to have a significant quantity of cast iron dust in it! I wondered why it had weathered itself almost overnight , it had gone rusty due to the traditional method of adhering it in place being involved. Great stuff, Kevan

About 11teen out of 10 I think Sir, brilliant overall and closeup views. Very well done. Kevan

Eh , I hope you are going to let me know when those Southport trains are going to be coming through Wallgate, I may not be quite ready for them . Kevan

David, that Rotary Screen and conveyor look brilliant, and from one Chemo client to another, Keep going and don't let the Lethargy get hold of you if you can help it. I have found having a daily target to aim at helps to force me into doing something positive with my time. Keep banging the rocks together......(Douglas Adams) Kevan

Hi, Nice idea and looking good so far. I have been printing most of my building outer layers onto A4 sized self adhesive label paper for about 6 or 7 years now with no apparent seperation. The only downside is that you really only get one shot at positioning the skin. Normally i only peel back approx 20mm of the backing at one end of the label then position the opposite end accurately before sticking the peeled section down then work along somewhat like wallpapering. Many of my buildings are being made now from photos of the original buildings found in and around Wigan Wallgate. Hope the method description makes some degree of sense. Kevan

Most of my soldering seems to produce balls of solder in copious quantities or have I got hold of the wrong stick here altogether?

I am glad that it's not only me that gets farther and farther away from what I was intending to do after I actually start something! But, sometimes it is better that way although it does tax the memory 3 weeks later when you get back to whatever it was. Kev

Don't the vast majority of we 4mm scale modellers readily accept one of the largest examples of 'Modellers Licence' by happily running fabulous models of various trains through wonderful countryside or grotty urban areas on rails that are only 4' 1 1/2"apart ? On my own model it took me about 10 secs to decide between the original ex L&Y wooden signal box or the awful looking concrete pill box that replaced it about 5 years before when my layout is based! A bit further up the line I have the option of modelling a relatively uninteresting piece of waste land or the Meadows Colliery that closed down some thirty years before complete with the original narrow gauge wooden trestle that crossed over the line looking remarkably like a Pier, this being of course on the Wigan to Southport line. Will I invoke M L / Rule 1, Damn right I will. Still no sign of the giraffe then? Kev

Well, thank you all for the Ticks of support and well wishes although no Uncle Joe's have turned up yet. . Have to say though Apollo the Vodka variation sounds interesting! Anyway after several hours of fault finding the offending short has been located and sorted! What sort of blithering idiot uses PCB sleepers at the end of the rails in a set of sidings that hinge up for access then drills a hole right through the centre of the slot cut between for the rails AND STICKS A TRACK PIN IN IT so the head bridges the gap ?????? . As the problem hadn't raised it's head before now I can only put it down to a variation in temperature causing movement??? , just sheer bad luck, incompetence or divine intervention ( choose whichever option you see fit ) Anyway the new arrival is happily running round at half speed not that it appeared to need freeing up judging by the absolute smooth crawl it managed straight out of the box on DC. All this exertion has left me feeling rather shagged out and unable to concentrate, so I had better have a kip before I stuff something else up. Cheers Kev

Owd Bob, I thowt tha'd got thi finger stuck fer a time theer, but nough, Cheers mate, Kev

Ian,I am thinking of building a 'spare' Uncle Joe's Mintball into the factory building with a little fan a bit like one of the room deodorizer that hangs on the wall and squirts lavender or whatever at you periodically. Hmmm maybe that would provide the incentive for working on the layout! My taste buds may have gone west again but I bet I could taste them! To any of you poor deprived readers out there, get some and try them, if you dont like 'em send them to me Uncle Joe's Mintballs, Keep You All Aglow Cheers Kev

Hi all, Well 2 weeks post 1st chemo dose and I feel human again, one chemo at the hospital and one in a takeaway pack that went on for 4 days left me constipated and with a mouthful of ulcers. Dr's 'surprised ' by the rapid onset of those events! However both have cleared up now and I have one week before they belt me again! In the meantime the new loco has turned up from the UK for me alas it sat unopened in it's wrapping for almost a week such was the Lethargy associated with the treatment, Yes I know , shame on me! Anyway finally unwrapped it, removed the DCC Locos from the track 'just in case' and set it up to run in on DC. It did two laps of the track at ' running in ' speed and stopped, Fortunately not the Loco's fault, Unfortunately a full short in the track was trying to melt the controller, mad panic hit the E/Stop ! Now all I have to do is find the problem in roughly 280' of mainline plus about 50' of sidings, Oh well where's my meter and that screwdriver? Let you know shortly Kev

Hi all, Not much to show as an update for the trains although I am working on it still. Mainly been working on the running reliability which seems to include crawling about under the boards as much as on top. Received and installed the DCC Concepts Powerbase under the the incline that gives the Hornby Black 5 all the grief, will still have to fine tune it somewhat I think as it has improved but really only from 4 to 6 carriages which is reasonable but then the Bachmann Ivatt tank hauls 7 of the same with no problem up the same slope. I have a feeling that the rear axle on the 5 being sprung is causing half the problem. I have a Hornby Patriot on it's way with the same drive train but No sprung axle so that will be an interesting comparison. If it does the job the chassis may end up being donated to my Jubilee in order that I can get 'Mars' into it's role with the L/pool to Newcastle express which I would like to see with at least 8 on board. I f I extend Wallgate's platform a smidge I think I can get 8 plus loco against the platform face easily, we will see. Figured I had better sort the running reliability out before the Chemo inspired Lethargy kicks in, had the first dose of that on Friday after what seemed like an eternal wait while they ran more checks, tests etc etc. All of which confirmed what they had said in the first place ie "It's back but in your lungs this time". No Radiotherapy this time which did as much collateral damage as good last time, only immediate side effect to show up is I have had around a dozen sessions of Hiccups since Friday!! Hopefully that wont last much longer. Stay tuned I will try and get some more pics up soon. and let you know of the running trials between the Black 5 and the Patriot. Cheers Kev