DCB

Something very wrong with that slip or crossing. The frog is raised right? Not the flangeway blocked. Peco have produced some rubbish at times they seem to do batches and some batches are atrocious and the next batch are modified but still bear the same part numbers. I model in 00 , I have gauge 1 fingers so can't cope with N ( I did try Once briefly) A few years ago we bought 3 new Peco live frog 2ft radius points, for "Ugleigh" they were rubbish and I got 3 broken ones from Cheltenham Model Centre which suitably bodged replaced the useless new ones. My 00 Dapol Mogul constantly derailed until I turned its leading wheels in the lathe so it might be rubbish track plus rubbish wheels. But the points, slips, crossings should be flat so that has to be number one change. Maybe a mate has some you can borrow? For track testing I have a number of very fast locos and if they have wont go through my points very fast then I fiddle with them till they do. It's usually a dog leg or something similar, but its very noticeable how much better older wheels are at staying on the rails than 21st century ones.

It was a bad car designed by idiots to appeal to people who wouldn't be seen dead in an Austin anyway , the good bits were common to the 1100/1300 which had far more interior space and the metro, the (4 door) 11/1300 needed a front mounted radiator and electric fan and a ballast resistor coil, not a supremely ugly smaller more expensive replacement Stupidly enough the end of the line Allegro1750 sport was a very good car, 5 speed good torque, reasonable handling, round steering wheel but the public had lost faith . Adrian Newey (Red Bull etc) had a brief expose to BL according to his book and wisely ran a mile

A size of around 4ft X 2ft 1200nmm X 600mm is quite manageable my 4ft X 3ft 3" test track certainly is not with a massive 1/2 " or so ply base C.J Freezer's Minories is a good example of a portable layout as it hinges back on itself from the middle with hinges well above track level. I would suggest following this example and have something well above track level to take loads if another baseboard is placed on it and protect scenery . . Sound design is the key to portable layouts, maybe use adjustable trestles which engage with the baseboards supports rather than legs, I thoroughly dislike thick ply sheets as a table top due to weight, but as framing it makes a lot of sense especially with lots of lightening holes which can slash weight with little or no reduction in strength Cars Wow Austin Ambassador, father in Law had one, points melted. Austin all Aggro Rear wheels were held on by one single nut and sometimes came off. and Mini 1275 / 1100. My specialised subject nearly I worked in a British Leyland dealership I had a really fast 1275 metro, Standard non MG cam, MG carb, exhaust manifolds and air cleaner and a 1600R series Maestro carb needle. It was torquey but ran out of revs at 7000 rpm It even ticked over and didn't bog down changing into 4th Even bog standard The MG Metro went over 8000 which was not hugely useful on the road. BL never used that spec my Metro had and it was the best Metro I ever drove. I did the same with an 1100 Mini engine putting Metro carb and manifolds on, it really went at town speeds , great torque not ideal on the motorway too low geared. Spare wheel, getting everything out would take a fraction of the time getting a modern spare wheel less car's wheel off and taken to a tyre shop and and new tyre fitted Turns a minor nuisance into a catastrophe. I have always sourced a spare wheel and jack when purchasing a car,

Castle with Hornby wagon wheels as bogie wheels, Cylinders need new lining

You don't really need a tablet catcher for stopping passenger trains but for expresses and fast freights the increased speed of exchange can mean big savings in time and coal consumption, might even be the difference between stalling and getting over a summit, The MGNR had seasonal non stopping ( I hesitate to use the word "Express" ) trains Northern Scotland has a lot of medium steep long gradients hence the GNSR had no 0-6-0 tender engines as it was boiler power not adhesion which restricted goods train weight and their profits were heavily weighted to whisky and fish, Fast Freight. The Highland was pretty similar with 4-6-0 goods locos. The Somerset and Dorset had detachable tablet catchers which could be fitted to "Standard LMS locos ( tender handrails?) probably 2P 4F and Black 5 borrowed for summer extras etc. Possibly also Bulleids?

Was that the usual way ? To be fair its a 16 tonner and a Stanier but it sort of proves a point. Bromsgrove cut a chunk out of 92079 (?) bunker to make coaling easier for Lickey banking duties

Most loco depots were near major marshalling yards so the fulls were tripped in as required, By and large I wouldn't expect full length coal trains to be destined for a loco shed, 40 to 80 wagon seems typical and I would expect the loco coal to be tripped from an adjacent marshalling yard. Exmouth Junction was the SR (LSWR) marshalling yard for Exeter and right by Exmouth Junction Loco depot, Whether the move would be within yard limits so not needing a brake van or along a running line so needing a van would depend. Brake vans didn't generally stay with trains, hence engine and van moves. Backing a loco up to a coal wagon was a good way of coaling at a small shed, or alongside, where tracks converge, It really depends on whether you are modelling Old Oak Common or some tiny out of the way shed, and even then which period as some like Barnstaple were transformed by a mechanical loader (Coaling Bullied and BR standard locos is just about impossible direct from 1 13 ton wagon)

The Forest of Dean the Eastern end of the South Wales Coal field was house coal and the coal field was very busy even when the Steam Coal pits were in severe decline in the 1920s . The GWR avoided using the Severn Tunnel for coal trains, banned them at certain periods and routinely routed coal via Gloucester to Swindon, and presumably empties through the tunnel. The GWR loved asymmetric flows. Much of the Forest output went by River. The River Severn flows backwards uphill most of the time and the Canal network opened up markets for house coal as far East as Lechlade on Thames long before 1800 The Thames lacked modern locks so effectively Lechlade was the terminus for narrow boats, albeit there was a break of gauge at Brimscomb Port where the Broad Stroudwater Canal with short locks joined the narrow Thames and Severn. Rail flows presumably went over the Severn Bridge as well as up the South Wales main line to Gloucester. The railways took over these coal flows to established merchants, Cirencester Goods yard being just yards from the Thames and Severn wharf, and the Parkend and similar colliery liveried Forest wagons were seen over quite a wide area as the coal was premium House coal, and pretty useless for steam engines. The Canals could undercut the railways on price but were unreliable and the wagons could be emptied at leisure, the boat crew were desperate to get unloaded and get back for another load. Its a big chunk of forgotten social history. The river Severn is super weird. Second largest tidal range in the world, the "River" is a constant flow of fresh water along the river bed. Superimposed is a brackish tidal layer which flows upstream twice most days "The Bore" This lets boats float up from Bullo Pill to Framilode on one tide but they can't get back down stream on one tide, they need two. The Severn kills. The cold less buoyant fresh water flows under the brackish more buoyant warmer top layer and anyone swimming who sinks drops into unseen cold less buoyant and swiftly flowing water which catches the unwary.

You could communicate by block bells, or hand bells, if you wanted the first exhibition invitation to be your last, or maybe lights representing the bell code which I have planned for "Ugleigh" to communicate between operator in the shed and the one outside so as not to annoy the neighbours excessively..

Done well flush glaze can be an improvement but all too often the flush glaze actually bows outwards doesn't fit the aperture too well and is semi opaque even if you keep glue off the clear glaze. I flush glaze my steam locos with crystal clear perspex from old CD cases cut to size and pressed into place. The old kitmaster kits were flush glaze and the glazing routinely fell inside the bodies from which the roof was not removable. There are glazing films for model aircraft canopies which might work well on the small windows of the class 31 while the Hornby and Lima 37 front window shape does not look right to me flush glazed or not.

There was a grade of coal most suitable for Steam railway loco use faster burning than very soft "Steam Coal" which burned very slowly and was ideal for steam ships, not as fast burning as the Hard House coals. South Wales has all these with House coal to the East (Forest of Dean) Steam Coal to the West and good loco coal somewhere between, The GWR had two Collieries in this area for their own use. The Southern also used similar grades of South Wales coal on the "Withered Arm" landed at Fremington Quay (not sure of the spelling) This was the original line to Barnstaple and was built long before Ilfracomb or the line to Exeter. The Southern found South Wales coal (Not Steam Coal) was the cheapest, for Devon t had nearly as much calorific value per £1 as cheap stuff and you saved 20% on transport costs, unless you treated it harshly at which point about 20% was wasted as dust . Some railways had to use cheap local dross as coal, the GSWR in Scotland was one, but generally companies tried to get a decent grade for at least passenger locos. I don't believe the Kent coal was suitable for passenger locos so with good cross London connections it would have been easy for the SR to have sourced midlands coal from GC/GN / Midland or south wales coal via the GWR London was littered with Railway coal depots, some well away from their own railway served by running powers.

Stability I think the table looks unstable . Those kids will be climbing it. I used to get my Dads Matchbox toys off the picture rail 7ft up when I was about 4 years old. Our music sorting table was similar to your layout table and it has on occasion fallen sideways which not good (Brass Band 26 instrument sets to be sorted into maybe 60 parts sets) . My loft layout has a similar main member but the legs must be 3 X 3 and are diagonally braced as well as the ends being attached to the lofts end walls My childhood layout rested on a pair of chests of drawers, a window sill and various other bits of furniture. My sons "Bed" layout on an old double bed frame, His first and soon to be my test track fitted on the dining table and other layouts have central operating wells and are attached to the walls. Edging What the child and big layouts share is an edge to the baseboard, around an inch above track level or so stopping a loco or stock being flicked off onto the floor, and or a 200 mph shunter loco leaving the track on a bend Wiring. Run it on the surface neatly. Full size railway had point rodding along the surface, by the side of the track.. Track Plan Don't bother. Keep track away from the edge and Just change the set track round every now and again, worked for me as a kid

I give up Pic was an example of locos posed outside a shed as the text clearly explained.

Very few full size stations were busy enough for full time station pilots in pre Gronk days. Ramsgate Harbour was very well designed as a terminus for a moderately long main line, but the re design missed the key design features. All shunting can be performed by train locos, no shunter is necessary due to the centre road between platform roads and the carriage sidings bening adjacent to the station with access from down main and down bay platforms,so an arrival could back it's stock directly into the sidings. Apart from a very small number of conurbations with intensive suburban services and multiple termini ( probably just London) most main line termini had, have, an unbalanced service for passengers with two three or more morning departures before any arrivals and several evening arrivals after the last departure. sort of Up Up Up.Down,Up,Down , Up Down UP, Down,Down Down. The first departures needing stock from carriage sidings and the last arrivals also to clear stock to carriage sidings , with a batch of departures clustered at Morning peak and corresponding arrivals during the evening.. Some of the initial departures can be from the down main or down bay platforms, they don't need to be kept clear, no trains are coming along unexpectedly which haven't been arranged in advance . Platforms can be available for anything from a few minutes to well over an hour before departure. At busy times a relief train may be provided and the two departures can e at very short headways, the distance and running time between signal boxes being the limiting factor. It's only when you start operating to a time or sequence table that the interesting moves make any sense and only when operating that photos start to look "Right" and not posed. I can't post the Signalbox diagram due to copyright but my rejigged track plan is based on it. Especially the carriage sidings bottom right

And the only ones readily available

That is a very unusual trackplan. I cannot think of anything like it with a great big 75ft turntable beyond the platforms. Something from the 1850/75 era and never modernised with a 45 ft table maybe, but it's a huge waste of space. and horrendously dangerous for a full size railway. I just would not bother with a huge turntable on site. I would have the loco depot and carriage sidings off stage to get more movements Generally shunting will be along the departure line. That is because when the arrival line is occupied by shunting no other train can be in the section between the next station or signal box while the shunt is being carried out, that could be three miles nine minutes. On the outgoing as soon as the train is clear of station limits a shunt within station limits can be commenced

Legendary, second only to Jasper Carrott's "Mole" joke and Frank Skinner "Every woman every man join the Taliban of love. Netherlands is a bit different to most of the UK as its flat, You don't really need gears, so a back pedal brake makes sense, You wouldn't last long in Yorkshire wi back peddle brakes, not down 1 in 3 to Grosmont any road. I had a front hub brake in the 1960's taken from an earlier bike , Almost useless. Most post WW2 bikes seemed to have cable operated caliper brakes which pulled on the sides of their 26" rims, pre war they were rod brakes which pulled up onto the underside of 28" wheel rims for gents bikes Those pre war bikes were big, bigger frames proportionately and those much bigger wheels, The bikes were known as "Push bikes" and older ladies would push their bikes around festooned with shopping bags and occasionally coast down a slight hill. Many were single gear and had dynamos which ran against the side of the tyre which was more effective as a brake than a generator while posh ones like my dad had new circa 1952 had a rear hub with a three or four speed Sturmey Archer hub gear plus a hub dynamo. This was a bit ostentatious and impractical as any serious pedalling the first gear stripped. 4 speed deraillieurs were common in the 1950s with big wide chains 5's needed the more modern narrow chains, and a front mech and 10 speed was common by 1970's Really common was the Raleigh Chopper. Utterly useless fashion statements. We used to raid the Council tip at Foss Cross station for bike spares, we seldom needed to buy anything. I became expert at making one good 3 speed hub from half a dozen wrecked ones . We built a push bike and sidecar and a tandem later shortened to a very very fast long wheelbase bike, With gearing I ran a two sprockets and a deraillieur plus a 3 speed hub gear, 98% of the pedalling effort was absorbed by the gears but top was super high. For modern image attach several cycle frames to a lamp post. They nick the wheels and leave the frames.

First thought is about safe. Would your electrical equipment pass a PAT test. I don't mean is it PAT tested. that is irrelevant as something can be damaged within milliseconds of being awarded a certificate, much as a car can after an MOT. I was electrocuted by a faulty controller as a child, Nearly died I think. Second weight. the good old 6X4 with 2X1 and 3mm ply top is not really going to do much harm stood on one end if it should topple over onto the Dog Cat or child, stick 12mm ply on top and it's a different kettle of horsemeat. In my day we put all the track and stock away before moving the baseboard, nothing was screwed down, that meant we could build a floor or dining table layout with the same track and stock. My Dad had a collection of Matchbox toys I was not allowed to play with and he put them around the picture rail 7ft above floor level. Aged under 7 I still climbed up and got them. So a layout too high for kids may mean they get hurt trying to see it, pull it over on themselves etc. As regards safety of the stock etc well laid track with prototypical track layouts helps, I generally expect my trains to stay on the rails when running flat out on the continuous run, maybe not light engine but with a Seven or Eight coach rake, Full size steam railways tried to avoid sharp curves, facing points and reverse curves to mention a few of the usual places models fall off the rails. Not very obviously a lot of 2000 era RTR is very bad at staying on the track. 1960 stuff acts like a ground effect F1 car by comparison. (1950 Hornby Dublo 3 rail is surprisingly fine scale and got coarser with 2 rail) Probably best not to let Junior play with the best toys. To keep kids interested a double track continuous run is great for races, as are lights, and exploding Giraffe cars .

Blue / Clear LEDs need over 3 volts to light which is why most LED torches use 3 X AA cells and a resistor. See Pic. I think that must be a red comes alive around 1.9 volt The Orange/ yellow In use for buildings are nearer 2.2, I measured my LED bus at 2,25 volts yesterday. while hunting a broken wire. Broken wire was delaminated PCB see pic

The Diode tester is for testing Diodes. LEDs work differently as they don't actually pass any current until a set voltage is reached , it used to be 1.9 volts for a red and over 3 volts for Clear LED but for modern ones used in Christmas lights etc its a lot less as they work from a single AA battery ( I bought a load after Christmas last year and operate them by AA battery with switching on /off from the layout power by using a relay . Most common LEDs go POP when tested with a 9 Volt battery without a resistor.

I reckon for long term use making the sides in one piece is the way to go, Long experience suggests that the join will always crack at some stage and the only place one can get away with a join is at a doorway. I would get that A3 board or A2 ASAP because that body and interior looks fantastic.

It's not tedious it has never been bettered as it avoids reverse curves in the throat. It's what it is, a showcase for the small tank locos and suburban stock available in the late 1950s / early 60s, It's only about three coaches long, a coupe more feet would allow a loco release crossover and allow normal off peak traffic levels and for parcels trains (Which would use the passenger platforms as happened at many termini outside passenger peaks. It's even more relevant with today's derailment prone small flange models than back in the 1950s. Tender locos hauled ECS into Paddington from Old Oak Common Carriage sidings at certain periods. Often the train loco for a subsequent train pulled the ECS in, then followed the train to the platform end before backing onto its own train. Very efficient. No noisy snorting Banking. But Paddington was designed for efficiency with engine and carriage lines and no significant gradient. Other lines required serious grunt to shift trains to carriage sidings or even along the main line, Kings Cross had double headed L1 and B1 combos for ECS in the 1950s and wanted GWR 42XX tanks for the job, (WR said get stuffed) LMS needed the train loco to bank ECS to Camden , which Turbomotive could not do hence it remained a one off. The Southern usually banked trains out of terminus's. But its about ECS, and post steam most trains are turned round in the station and only visit a depot at night or (London area) off peak. My never to be finished loft layout was based on the station and outside a terminus and my express would run though, and then reappear as ECS with a tank loco followed block by block with its' loco. Later the stock would go back freshly cleaned with a tanky and a larger loco would follow to bring it back. That way each long distance train had two movements per arrival and two per departure. But it comes down to train frequency, Suburban London can run two minute headways, quick turn rounds, which Minories represents but it would likely be 8 coach close coupled sets, no real world railway runs frequent services with 3 car sets. Away from Inner cities station usually sprawl a lot more than Minories and are laid out for on loco operation with a run round loop. The Scottish would avoid a loop by pushing the stock out and slipping the loco into a siding while the stock rolled past (Banff Best of luck representing that one)

I wonder if the "New" pick up wire is the same spec as the old one. Even with old stock or recovered spring pick ups I find they are very difficult to solder, carefully melting the original solder and reusing it seems to work best, getting some old solder helps...as its melting point is less than lead free. There is no need to unsolder the Triang spring wire when stripping a Hall as the whole spring assembly passes through the gear aperture in the chassis. It's the similar Hornby Dublo / Wrenn assembly where the wire passes through a small hole which requires the spring pick up to be unsoldered / soldered when replacing the pickup

Is it a run round loop. Logically you would pull the empty 4 wagon rakes past the loader via the loop and then add them to the back of the waiting wagon. before taking the previously loaded wagons away. Otherwise you would have to wait while the wagons were loaded and could only run one rake of 4 wagons..

Did G R Wrenn change to Coarse thread or Metric screws from the original H/D BA threads? Father in law had 5 Hornby Dublo Castles, 2 X 1/2" and 3 X Ringfield plus I had a 1/2" on his layout. More recently he acquired a tarted up glossed Wrenn "Manobier Castle" with a Ring field with adjustable rear bearing. This last was troublesome, it ran roughly . Last week it was a right pain so as I has a spare Hornby Dublo Castle chassis and I swapped the motor etc over, No probs except the rear body screws just would not go it. I ran a BA tap down the screw holes ( not sure what BA) with my fingers no tap wrench, still the screws wouldn't go in so in desperation I fitted some screws from my BA screw tin and they went straight it. . The problem with the chassis was the back to back on the leading drivers was too tight and the slide bars were too tight to allow the back to back to be increased . Incidentally the Wrenn chassis had been cut away around he bogie wheel to allow modern Hornby wagon wheels to be used on the bogie, yet with the older chassis they cleared without mods. Had the dies worn out? I know the quality of the last WC models was dire. Anyway, does anyone know if /when Wrenn went metric (or coarse) or why my two chassis were different?