Simond

well, maybe for Mr Holmes, but not for this investigator… the sticker is modern, it’s presumably the MRC’s record of to whom to pass on the £25 that I paid for it. I can see no other clues, not even when I removed the sticker! Seasons Greetings to all, have a great Christmas and a Happy & Healthy 23! Simon

The wagon is wooden, but not, I suspect, a kit. It’s a little bit crude, but the lettering is rather nice. I think it’s a DIY, as noted, it’s wooden, the buffers are solid metal, the coupling hook slots are not quite vertical, and the solebars are not quite long enough to reach the headstocks… I’m just printing a new set of running gear, hopefully it’ll be a happy marriage of old and new!

Hi Annie sorry, not a clue! No markings whatsoever, but they do look nicely made. I’ve just had a request from t’other channel, so they’re “gone”. thanks for looking in Simon

Abject apologies, the photo should have been there. I’d not seen this before, but the wheels are not fixed to one another and appear to be able to rotate independently. Good and solid, though!

I recently acquired a rather nice vintage wagon, it was fitted with these, which I do not have any use for. Free to a good home, indeed any kind of home! please pm me if you would like them - yours for the cost of the postage - btw they are not insulated for 2R !

I wholly agree, it’s irritating & amusing in equal measure when said “knowledgeable critic” tells you what “would have been done” but you have the photo of the real thing, and your model is right. I found myself rivet counting last week. I can’t hope to emulate Mike’s skill with plasticard, but I’m pretty handy on the CAD, and I purchased an Elegoo Saturn 2, which is mind-bogglingly good at printing things with rivets on, all nicely aligned and identical. Then you find that the photos & drawings you do have are just not quite good enough, and you’re not quite sure about the spacing, or the exact dimensions of the bit of metal to which they’re fitted…. So you stop and wait for an opportunity to measure the real thing (GW crane match wagon, there’s one at Didcot). it’s another excuse for never actually finishing a model…

I don’t think this is the right forum for HO brass. Model engineering is more 5” gauge live steam… and what do you mean by “validated”? I suggest you might want to find some active modellers/collectors in your scale, and ask for their opinions & experience I fear it may not be easy to find what you’re looking for but there are some folks who might be able to help. You might try “mickoo” on Western Thunder.

Well, I think the answer is “not enough” either interest or money!

Sore point - most of the history of my last 12 years of modelling was in the lost pictures I do not keep the photos I post so if they’re gone, they’re gone. I can take further photos of my turntable and the associated arduino-gubbins if that would help, though it’s installed…

I’m not betting any money, but talk to Andy Duncan.

I used to live in Claughton. It's "Claw-ton", which is pretty easy, but not much like the spelling. I do recall a BBC news reader saying (the one and only time the place was famous enough to make the 6 o'clock news), "Cluff-ton". It was funny when I was six.

Michael, please don’t scrap it. You obviously spent many hours honing your wagon building skills, surely a few goes at painting is better than throwing away the fruits of your labours?

Horses for courses!

Yes, I think RM suggested getting two choccy blocks and joining one row of each of them together with brass pins, leaving the outer screws to attach the wires. You could then separate the connectors by loosening one of the rows of screws securing the pins. frankly too much hassle! old aircraft or military radio connectors, for those war surplus shops…. I remember Bert Ault, down by the park gates in Birkenhead, what a treasure trove!

European trailer plugs are 7- and 13- way. They’re certainly robust, and easily available with not too outrageous pricing, but I’d suggest they’re serious overkill for most modelling applications. They’re big, huge, too. D-sub connectors are available as ready-made leads in convenient lengths, or as individual plugs and sockets. They’re rated at 5A per pin, but don’t pull the plug under load! I don’t think I’d like to run a D25 at anything close to 125A even if it’s theoretically ok…. But you could connect a four track line using D9 connectors, and 5A is far more than even Heljan 0-gauge locos would typically draw. It’s true that they’re fiddly, as you do have to solder to the connectors. But I think for most (like 99.9%) portable layouts, board links using D9 or D25 connectors would be the cheapest and easiest way to go. if, on the other hand, you’re copying Simon George, go right ahead with the trailer plugs!

This is really very lovely. Might I suggest some kind of neutral backdrop, as the rather nice wooden blinds are rather obvious in your photos? It’s a perennial problem, the backscene on PD is about 18” high, and this isn’t enough for some photos.

Rod, good to hear you have a solution. Good advice from Ray. I don’t want to put a dampener on the festivities, but it is very likely that the replacement gear will also fail in time, as it is the same material, and same design as all the others that have failed. Engineering is a bit like that, do what you’ve always done, get what you always got! The failure seems to be a combination of time and load, so at one extreme it may take as long to fail as the one that has just failed; years, and at the other, it’s as old as the one that has failed and may likewise fail very shortly; days. So, I suggest that you seek a modern replacement, either from Gaugemaster, or a brass one if possible, and you put it in a safe place, for when required. If you’re anything like me, it’ll be so safe that you’ll not be able to find it for weeks if & when the time comes… atb Simon ps, if you do get a replacement, put it inside the loco!

As a hypothetical question, how much would people who don't want to build it themselves be prepared to pay to purchase a fully tested, motorised, 2R FS chassis including wheels and valve gear, for an A3 or A4? I'm imagining something that a Hattons body could simply be dropped onto in much the way an old TriAng body used to fit.

Rod, I would expect that the pinion has also cracked - I doubt very much that it would come off the shaft for any other reason. If it has only just happened, and if the grease is pretty clean as it appears to be, it will be difficult to find, but it will for sure be at the root of the gap between two teeth, and, there will be a matching groove on the inside caused by the knurling on the axle. You'll be searching for a very thin, probably faint, line running the length of the gear. If it is cracked as I expect, glue will not fix the problem, unfortunately. If Ray's suggestion works, I would suggest doing that, and then trying to source a brass gear. Jim Snowdon did a load of work to sort this out a few years back, and may have some gears left - you can perhaps contact him through the Guild, as I don't thnk he frequents RMW or WT any more. If he can't help, and can't suggest a solution, I guess you might have to trawl the various sources of miniature gears - hopefully Jim can tell you what the gear actually is - specifically the "module" which along with the number of teeth, will define the gear adequately. A custom gear will be pricy, but hopefully you'll find something that can be used. hth Simon belay that, Jim does still use RMW https://www.rmweb.co.uk/profile/6524-jimsnowdon/ perhaps a PM?

I am suspicious and a little cynical. I reckon the Slaters' pointy axle ends are so the axle can run in an ordinary drilled hole, without the corners rubbing on the end of the hole. Let us not forget that the bearing has to support the axle radially, to hold the vehicle up, but also has to prevent side play. The pointy end in a roughly pointy hole will do the latter with very much less friction than the flange of the bearing pressing on the hub of the wheel. I do not believe that they are intended to be used as a pin-point bearing in eg an N gauge wheelset/vehicle, and I doubt than any model vehicle with suspension has the necessary side control of the bearings to make it possible.

I think it’s true to say that pva does not bond to plastics, it will stick, but it’s a mechanical joint, so sanding will help. I’d tend to use contact adhesive or uhu for joints between plastics and card etc dont put too much on or the front of the plastic will bear witness…

Jon, please could you show us a pic of the underside of the stage? I’m interested in how the steelwork supports the woodwork, and the handrail stanchions! (im a finalist in this week’s “spot the anorak” competition!) atb S

I was surprised to see those have a 2.35mm shank. I thought the “standard” was 1/8”, but it’s obviously only a standard :) Carbide drills are used in the PCB industry, there are sets available on Amazon and eBay from as little as £12 for fifty. They are as hard and as sharp as you might expect, but they’re hyper brittle, and need to run very very fast, in a very rigid setup, otherwise the smaller sizes don’t last long enough to drill one hole, let alone lots…

The Guild recommendations seem to work, and I’d agree that trying to be consistent is worth the effort. Difficult though, I have a wide range of stock, some RTR, some scratch in plastic, wood, or metal. Lots of kits in plastic, brass, and whitemetal, and they have a wide range of weights too. it’s also worth making sure that all stock rolls freely, axles are parallel, and the wheelsets are gauged correctly.

No, I know, but having seen them in the flesh, the bodies are reasonably modelled and decently painted, but the chassis leave much to be desired. One pal bought several, and returned every one due to some failing or another. If one wanted an A3 or A4, and it was expected to pull decent trains at decent speeds, it’s going to need a functional chassis and drivetrain, and, whilst it clearly can be done in plastic, it probably means brass, and for the average modeller, if it can be screwed together (Premier chassis are made that way) so much the better. And you can be 100% confident of having a reliable loco at the end of it. So that would be my approach to answer your question. I’m sure other ways might be possible, and would probably be cheaper.