2750Papyrus

I have an annual PSA blood test and a physical check at least every other year (the nurses won't do that!).  It really is no big deal and I would encourage anyone not to be fearful of the examination.

When my old GP retired, I gave him an A4 version of this cartoon:-

On ‎03‎/‎02‎/‎2020 at 18:27, Tony Wright said:

Speaking of Isinglass and 3D-Printing, I have the Pigeon Van to review for BRM......

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

I'm looking forward to your review. 

I looked at the isinglass kits at the Stevenage show and they seem to provide a means of producing quite a wide range of LNER and constituent prototypes unlikely to be made available by other means.  I was particularly taken by the 6 wheel bogie catering vehicle built for the 1906 Sheffield stock, and I see that the 1932 buffet car conversion is available - scope for a model of a Cambridge "beer train".  Any possibility you could finish the review sample in teak rather than in BR livery?

I have followed the Isengard website for WHR/FR info for some years but there has been no update for several months.  Plse does anyone have (hopefully not bad) news?

I have a GN "Long Tom" 0-8-0 (from a Sutherland Models kit?) fitted to a modified HD 2-8-0 chassis, which is a good and powerful runner.

The Jersey Lilly (GC Atlantic) is often reckoned to be the best looking, though personally I prefer the 4-6-0 version such as "Immingham".

The shots of the completed "Valour"  look super, a worthy memorial indeed.

I have a GN van kit whose sides are a little dished.  Would the "flattening" process be helped by prior immersion in hot water?

Tony, is there any chance of working Geoff Lund's notes into a publishable form, assuming his family etc would be agreeable?

I like the shots of the station building taken from the road.  Not a train in sight but reminds me so much of Great Northern stations of my younger days.

21 hours ago, Jesse Sim said:

I really need to go back to school. 

No need, you have a personal tutor!

Sadly I will miss Doncaster this year but saw this layout at MK and can recommend highly. 

Plse may I echo the request regarding the other 2 exhibitions this year?

OK, back to the J72.  I have spent a three figure sum on a locomotive I cannot use because Bachmann did not warn us it was not compatible with certain types of currently marketed controllers!

Having read a little on "stay alive" threads, would this technique help run a J72 on feedback controllers? 

I'm guessing this could be done  either by adding capacitors etc or by fitting a DCC chip with stay-alive capability but still running on DC.  Clearly there would still be no feedback but how would the controller  cope?

On ‎16‎/‎01‎/‎2020 at 23:08, drmditch said:

I believe the actual quotation was 'Pepp, if you design an express locomotive with five driving wheels your name is made!'

 

Now I will have to look up my source for that - but please may I get some sleep first!

Allegedly contained in a letter from J F Harrison to Col H C B Rogers, quoted in the latter's "Thompson & Peppercorn Locomotive Engineers".

Have you been asked for help by Hornby with the Wi models?

For the record, I attach an email from Bachmann in response to my query.

"The  J72 was tested using a Gaugemaster HH feedback controller and it was noted that the running was not that smooth. But as it uses a half wave rectification, very few loco’s do run smoothly in our experience.

Although many modellers use feedback controllers we would suggest that any loco with a coreless motor should ideally be run on straight DC power and  that high frequency track cleaners should not be used on a layout with loco’s containing coreless motors.

Apologies, on checking the service sheet we have noticed that we missed out adding a line regarding the type of motor used but would suggest contacting your controllers manufacturer to see if it is compatible with this type of coreless motor. This will be added on future instruction sheets for locos using coreless motors. 

Many thanks for your comments and I trust this information is of interest to you."

2 hours ago, thegreenhowards said:

Tony,

 

I was surprised at the choice of Best in show for Stevenage. The first time I saw Brinklow, I saw one RTR 9F whizz past at a ridiculously high speed and moved on. I did go back for a second look after I heard it had won, and can appreciate that it is a well modelled prototypical location with good scenery (and I appreciate that scenery was an important part of the criteria) and I enjoyed the constant action and reasonably accurate formations - no C1 on Thompson stock! But it seems to represent a lot of what you complain about in the modern hobby. I.e. RTR/ course scale/ Unrealistic operation/ non working signals. 

 

There were many better contenders in my view. And my own best in layout was either East Colne - a delightful small east Anglian Branchline terminus, Little Salkeld as already mentioned or Burntisland 1883. I appreciate that Burntisland had a lot of running issues and that certainly spoilt it. But that has to be set against the enormity of the challenge that they have set themselves. Everything is Victorian kit or scratch built stock and the ability to get wagons to run up and down a ramp onto a ferry with a rope capstan (reliably when I watched it) was truly stunning. Also coal wagons being worked via working wagon turntables to a waiting ship and then discharged into the hold was really impressive.

 

They get a perfect 10 for difficulty in my book if only a 5 out of 10 for attainment. Whereas the winner was the opposite.

 

Andy

I'm pleased that the wagon turntable worked when you saw the layout.  When I was watching, the operator removed a wagon from the loading spur by hand and placed it on the siding feeding the turntable.  Another operator happily pushed a rake of wagons along a siding to where he wanted them by hand.

Burntisland is a remarkable layout which I've seen before, when it ran well,  but it wasn't at its best on Saturday.

My son says she's also soldering one of only two components on the motherboard which clip in and out...….

The version of the story that I recall is that, on the Scotch Goods,  Bill Hoole ran down the Talisman.

Post in this thread on 4th November and review in November RM both confirm can-type motor, otherwise I would have cancelled my order.  There is no warning in Bachmann's instructions.

Depends if the watershed is a noun or a verb.

In the context of reliable running, I found the earlier reference to 3 link couplings interesting. 

I have seen a number of beautifully modelled layouts at exhibitions where the trains run reliably until a shunting move is required, whereupon the great hand from the sky appears, clutching a tool to undo a 3 link coupling.  Whilst skilled operators familiar with the layout manage OK, sometimes those helping out for the occasion struggle and resort to using their hands to move stock and slacken the couplings.  On one layout previously discussed on this thread, the operator slid the whole train along the track so he could see better! 

1 minute ago, colin penfold said:

Hattons platform 1 blog on you tube has some images of the new 4mm mogul. No filthy version yet....

Not till after the watershed......

Tony, do you not get pleasure yourself from just "watching the trains go by"?

On ‎24‎/‎12‎/‎2019 at 19:15, Daddyman said:

Mine too - noisy and jerky at low speeds, despite oiling, and worse the more I run it in. Not what you would call a smooth runner. 

Thinking about this problem on Christmas Eve, I wondered whether the new J72 is allergic to feedback controllers (I use Gaugemaster)  and emailed the supplier to ask what they test on.   I had an email on my return from visiting family over Christmas to say they test ran the model for 20 minutes using a straightforward GM controller.  I therefore hooked up an old H & M Duette to my layout and the loco ran sweetly and quietly (though not slowly), even on half-wave rectification! It therefore looks as if my suspicion is correct.  I have checked the instructions and there is no warning about the use of feedback controllers.  (The only warnings are about sharp radius curves and not to use DCC fitted locos on analogue DC layouts with electronic track cleaners).

I wonder whether Daddyman and other users experiencing problems are also using feedback controllers, and whether Bachmann would care to comment? 

Also, would magazine reviewers PLEASE run review samples on a range of currently available controllers, not just one!