DCB

The 39XX seem to have been an exercise in sheer bloody mindedness, Churchward could not ge authorisation for new build so he created rebuilds using the absolute minimum of old parts they were ostensibly rebuilt from dean goods but must have needed new mainframes and of course new Std 5 boilers. The intention may have been to show just how ugly a tank loco can be but again he failed as the Midland Flatirons and Hughes L&Y 2-6-2Ts out uglied them hands down. No doubt after a suitable interval most of the parts were restored to the stores, cylinders, valve gear, boiler, wheels, leaving just the frames and tanks to be scrapped Creating a convincing ,model is difficult as the wheelbase is 7ft +7ft which ivery different to a Dean Goods or 57XX but in 00 the Triang Hornby B12/Hall/Saint and H/D Wrenn Castle chassis are the right wheelbase for the 39XX but not for Hall/Castle etc.

That's doable but tight. We have used similar spacing for 30 plus years, see pic I don't think much fiddling is intended as the remarshalling and re engining will mainly take place in the station and auto uncoupling is proposed. However the platform widths in the station area are very marginal and you will have to breathe in to get through the pinch point between baseboards Info from the dates on your blog...

Ah but you have to buy Mabuchi RF-300s whereas you get free CD drives when your computer dies...

I don't know why they stopped using Arny Top Brass but they did a much better job than todays shower in a fraction of the time. Todays shower are really keen to know precisely which straw broke the camels back, where it was made, who packed it, whether the documentation is complete and if it takes four years and the fact several other camels suffer broken backs in the mean time is irrelevant. Back in the 1930s they could establish what caused an accident in a week, and have any necessary changes put forward for consideration by the Board of trade. As long as it is a serious mechanical failure and there is no one to fit up for manslaughter todays lot lose interest, Rant over. As regards run what you want plenty of locos survived well beyond their withdrawal date and plenty of modellers run models of locos scrapped in GWR livery in BR late crest Lined green and run the lined green locos on branches which closed before the late crest came out. Conversely plenty of locos didn't turn a wheel for years before being formally withdrawn. Atlantics seemed particularly prone to this, NER ones and the Tilbury Tanks at Carlisle for instance. I like the idea of warping history so a Saint and 9F can run together but don't like to mix Kings and yellow warning panels. I really hate BR Mk1 coach bodies grounded as mess hut on a pre nationalisation layout, but I really like fictionalised locos, re liveried Adams Radials and Terriers, or completely free lance locos on fictitious systems. As regards the Flatiron I don't see any reason one wouldn't have lasted to BR days Mechanically they were the same as the 3F tender engines but I'm guessing when replaced by Stanier 2-6-2Ts and 2-6-4Ts they were stripped for parts which were reused on 3Fs rather than simply cut up.

Can't get the video to run, says Video not available.

My Wrenn Ring Field motor powered 42XX would run at around 24rpm at the motor on 60:1 gears without a fywheel which was entirely pointless. However it destroyed itself due to too much torque which is why am plotting ways to use a big flywheel while not destroying the final drive, crankpins or coupling rods when something goes badly wrong Latest weird idea two flats on the driving axle and two rod magnets through the drive gear collar instead of the grub screw on a Romford or H/D gear wheel. maybe 4 in a Romford, 2mm dia X 4mm or maybe smaller. Magnet should be attracted to axle and pull onto flats, maybe enough to drive? Not sure if a band needed to keep the magnets in or not. Just need to wait till 20th April when my magnets are supposed to arrive from China. 15 magnets for 99p inc postage and packing.

Not sure if suitable magnets are available but by placing magnets in the brass gear wheel and more in a collar fixed to the drive axle it should be possible to make the drive gear slip on the axle under sudden shock loadings. Have to see what is on ebay. Might even fit tiny diesel shunters. Even better it could fit those locos where the prototype almost never slipped such as GW 42XX tanks see doodle

1898 style. The Platform is level or very nearly with the street outside. Looks West Midlands because of the Industrial building across the road and what looks like new build industrial building/ wall beyond right hand end of station building. Looks closed as gate is open, probably unstaffed but line still open. Was (at least) double track, has been relaid in FB era, can't see if more than one track laid. Location of building makes this a through station.

Plumbers use similar but 240 volt motor gearbox units for motor valves. A friend gave me some dead motor valves with lots of lovely gears in, big ones useful for 00 scenery such as breakdown crane gears and small brass ones ideal for 00 gear trains.

With a coarse worm and small flywheel you don't need any torque limiting clutch. A bevel drive or a fine worm like a Romford 60 :1 and a sudden stop can cause damage to the gear train or gearbox if you have a etched motor mount or severe damage to valve gear. Where you need a clutch is bigger locos, I quite fancy a Q1 0-8-0T or getting my Ks 42XX with H/D Ringfield motor running again. It broke its coupling rod when something jammed, I think a toque limiting clutch should be between the worm wheel or final drive gear on a bevel system and the axle. 2 spring loaded balls bearing on flats on the axle? Edit Took a while to figure out but putting a couple of flats on the axle and then drilling holes in a Romford or H/D drive gear where the screw usually goes so a ball bearing or two fit down with small springs, maybe a collar to give more spring length and to keep the springs in place an outer collar or band with a hole in it which when the springs are in turns and is secured by a set screw. This should let the gear slip if there is too much torque applied like when you ram the buffers . Hopefully fine tuning of springs bearings and flats should get a reasonable compromise. see pic

I do wonder how many lifetimes of retirement this project will consume. I don't see why the generality of the upper and lower levels cannot be done, It probably does need a bit od simplification in places but If Bow Locks blog is an example it took 2 months to lay track and get it running and another 46 months to finish. Laying standard Peco Streamline or Set Track track on a flat baseboard is very quick and easy. There are breeds of Crap Trax around which are a total nightmare so stick to PECO. However the N gauge does look like the telegraph pole which broke the Camel's back. Our shed is a similar size, the vertical spacing is fairly similar, it has taken 30 years to get to its present state but 90% was done in the first 18 months and for a lot of that time work has been limited to 3 hours per week . For a reasonable portion of the time trains have run on the continuous run as work has progressed, a 30 wagon freight trundling past makes working more interesting. Our concept allows most traffic movements, 1957 ish WR passenger goods, main line and branch, Milk, Coal etc. A Terminus, a Junction, A branch and a continuous run 2 loco depots. and with the terminus over the hidden sidings 100% of the surface is scenic though virtually nothing outside the railway fence is modelled. I think the lack of freight facilities and the tedium of having to shunt a train to reverse it every time you run on the upper level is a bigger issue than whether you can build it, because apart from that nagging doubt about tracks being too close together it looks entirely do able to me.

I remember circa 1967 when there was only Railway Modeller, Model Railway Constructor and Model Railway news in newsagents such as WH Smith. all covering railways in what was about the past 60 years with the occasional rebel like Mike Sharman modelling the earlier era. The problem with "Modern Image" and other eras is they didn't last for many years. My own favourite Inverness 1987ish was really only 86 to 88. I would have thought 2 magazines was the most your average punter would purchase and really it looks like an over supply situation best solved by amalgamations rather than any gap in the market..

One thing I would consider is a change to the loco sidings. Multiple roads off a turntable is a pain in the butt both to the full size and to the modeller. Normally there are multiple roads points one end and a turntable the other see Ranlagh (?) Bridge just outside Paddington and a great many MPDs. Getting the third loco in off a siding accessed by a turntable is so much hassle you never bother. I know, its bad enough with 6 feet if headshunt let alone having to turn 2 extra locos twice each time. Edit Kings Cross (KX) had a loco turning and coaling facility immediately outside the station and Paddington had Ranlagh(?) Bridge just down the line for oiling round and turning locos before their return trips. These make good models as you can see the locos. My experience is locos in an engine shed might as well be in a cupboard as you can't see them, except at night with the room in darkness and the engine shed lights on'. We scrapped a 3 road 2ft loco long shed in favour of a 2 road 18" one for this reason. BTW our Bachmann B1 can haul about 3 coaches up a 1 in 36, the Hornby Grange is similar. My heavily weighted Triang Halls manage 7 just and 13 on a 1 in 100 which was supposed to be the level part of the layout...

Interesting stuff, much of which I don't agree with! The critical clearances is between the track and what is above it. Now most people put a bit of 2 X1 and a 9mm baseboard between the track above and the track below then in 00 add 70mm for clearance giving 130mm between levels, I think my record is 70mm between levels at the critical point, the upper track being supported on a piece of PCB at the critical point I did wonder about soldering rail direct to the PCB to save a bit more. My Critical Loco is a Tender drive Hornby King, almost 60mm high. Hidden sidings with minimal overhead clearance are a no no in full DCC. Too much scope for crashes when you can't see which loco is which. Wire it as DC with points controlling which road is energised and it should be ok. We have used 4 hidden loops and 7 hidden sidings under a removable terminus on DC (see pic) and it has only been off once in 35 years. panelling in under the framing to stop wires etc drooping helps immensely as does Peco code 100 electrofrog 3ft radius points and H&M point motors. Note my wring loom and boxed in point motors and wiring above the N class waiting to use the turntable. Tje baseboard is about 2ft 6 wide and yes getting to derailments is challenging so I try to avoid them. Helix are problematical for steam locos. Somewhere around 2nd Radius most 0-6-0 locos start lifting a wheel due to the twist in the rails, less severe radius and the coning on the tyres lets the wheels stay on the track, certainly I have a bit of 3rd radius which does not cause problems except to long wheelbase 4 wheeled wagons which have had to be banned, whereas the 2nd radius spiral causes noticeable wheel lift on 4-6-0s etc. With 00 Bo Bo diesels and H0 Co Co diesels there is not a problem nor have I had any issues with vehicles falling in to the inside of the spiral apart from aforementioned long wheelbase 4 wheelers which have had to be banished to the cupboard and soon to be on eBay. If the planned station is to use steam locos up the spiral it won't work, if its for EMUs there should be no problem, as long as 1 bogie in 6 is powered though the gradient will be around 1 in 36 110" ish per turn so 2 3/4 " height per turn 70mm. No room for 9mm baseboard, but 2mm steel or Aluminium with settrack glued down should work. Add in a 9mm baseboard (which wont twist enough anyway and the gradient edges towards 1 in 24 or 1 in 20. Gradient radius and overhead clearance are all interdependent. My garden line has a ruling gradient of 1 in 14 that is not a mis print 1 in 14 and Lima class 37s haul 6 coach trains quite successfully as long as the rails are dry. If you have a station with platforms on the upper level with a minimum clearance track below use the platform as framing or bracing. I am just adding more hidden sidings and fitting fish plates when you can't see what you are doing is challenging, so I'm designing a jig. More than one way to skin a rice pudding. The worlds your lobster, Edited wrong value of Pie.

The Caley Pug is different and the crank pins just push in. Their wheel tyres come off and they wobble. I improved some of mine by popping t tyres off, making up a mandrel to fit inside the tyres for the lathe, then I cut the disc behind the spokes. Ruined six wheels making the four...

Just wondering about a small circular super neo magnet on the out put shaft and a larger super neo ring on the input shaft with a small clearance between, Its late, it probably won't work, I'll order some from China and play with them when they arrive in July.

Do you think the traffic would warrant a refreshment room? WSM was always a busy station and would do a good trade in refreshments but unless there was no pub anywhere near I wonder where the trade would come from?

There seems to be a lot crammed in to this small building. I would have thought the width 12 ft inside 14f/15ft outside would have been about right but the accommodation especially buffet area is far too cramped and should be a waiting room with a fireplace. Your design is very 20th century with electric heating whereas steam age stations had lots of fireplaces to keep staff and passengers warm. Many older UK buildings have a narrow span due to poor availability of indigenous long straight timbers. Waiting rooms were pretty much universal no body wants to stand in the freezing cold waiting for a train (or bus) so privatised railways reliant on traffic receipts provided warm waiting facilities. Nationalised and Quasi nationalised railways reliant on government handouts don't bother but Buffets were less common, a station Hotel or nearby Inn was a more usual supplier of hot and cold food and beverages.

The 47XX were highly valued as fast freight power and stayed on their fast freight diagrams right to the end. With only 9 in the class there were none to spare for menial duties. They were restricted to 65 MPH I believe though 80 was achieved on occasions. Much of their work was overnight. It seems that they ran London Birkenhead and London Plymouth principally but at times class members were allocated to Bristol St Phillips Marsh. The Penzance Kensington Milk from Plymouth seems to have been a regular when it was lightly loaded, heavy services were double headed to NA leaving a smaller Hall to struggle up to Whiteball on heavier trains. The main exception to overnight freights was their use on Summer Saturday passenger services. It is quite possible they picked up the passenger workings following their regular freight diagrams as around half the class would be returning to Old Oak Common in the early hours of Saturday morning with enough time to clean the fire before setting off for Devon. The only likely use of 47XX on short trains was running in turns from Swindon works.

The Peco Streamline 50mm separation is a good working figure for most layouts, The critical factors are locos with long overhangs, running on the inner track of a double track curve while long coaches, run on the outer. Forget pencils or Templot, it is whether they hit which matters, and the widest part of the coach is higher than the extreme corner of the loco which is at buffer beam level The worst case scenario mixes old 4-4-0s Triang L1s and M7s (running backwards) or the old tender drive Hornby King with Mk3 coaches, but I find 50mm Ok down to 3rd radius as I don't run coaches longer than Mk1s with long overhang locos. The set track spacing gives more than enough clearance for worst case scenario on 1st radius and a tolerance for misalignment and I would only use it for curves bringing the gap down to 50mm or less on the straights. As has been said previously the 50mm is the spacing between the tracks of double track. The gap to loops sidings etc or between pairs of double tracks is generally noticeably wider, I believe the LNWR main line had evenly spaced lines as do many modern full size track layouts but I made the mistake of laying 4 evenly spaced tracks through our junction station and it now annoys me and I wish I had brought the middle pair closer. Generally I feel the smaller the separation the better. OO scale is after all 4mm scale stock on H0 gauge track so the 44mm spacing for 4mm scale comes down to nearer 40mm for 3.5mm. I have pulled the clearance down as small as practically possible in the 40 to 42mm range to squeeze in as many sorting and storage sidings as possible (see pic) the critical dimension being an ability for 2 Triang Halls to pass each other on the straight without clashing. If you lay at 50mm or closer centres you need to be very precise with track laying I would always lay set track curves on radii under 2ft even if I have to cut the sleeper webs and curve it to a sharper or easier radius as it keeps to shape and does not try to straighten out like flexi. If you must use set track spacing a few bits of junk between tracks like bridge girders and signal posts helps give a "reason" for the wide spacing.

My son was given a Cambrian Coast Express set for Christmas. The Manor can't shift the 6 coach set on its own on our 1 in 100 main line gradient and it shed a rear driving wheel after about 30 minutes running. My Triang/ Mainline/Romgford hybrid Manor is fine on a 1 in 50 with it. Probably best to make sure your Manor can actually pull the train before adding any more coaches.

I have often thought about doing an NG 009 line. Its just too fiddly for my ageing fingers and eyes. PD Hancock's book on his Craig and Mertonford sort of provided some inspiration. 8X4 is a good size for a 009 layout and you should be able to model almost the whole line if you get inventive and create a model not a rabbit warren. Using the CJ Freezer books should provide some inspiration, Generally apart from the IoM the NG lines had simple 1 platform termini, some had raised platforms, most had several crossing loops, Ffestiniog and L&B had quite extensive works. Most NG wagons can be hand shunted easily so little need for dedicated shunting locos, so a couple of termini, a couple of crossing loops, somewhere to load wagons, quarry? and somewhere to off load them, either to Std gauge or Ship, a yard for spare stock and a works and you have a complete system. Sorry to wander off topic but Most British narrow gauge lines were built as light railways with 25mph speed limits and relaxed rules on signalling facing point locks etc. I dont know when the act came in but 1895 sounds about right. The Welsh lines, Corris, Tallylyn, Ffestiniog pre dated his but I believe the Vale of Rheidol, Lynton and Barnstaple and Campbelltown and Macrihanish were all around 1900. These last 3 had neat sets of matching coaches and locos, though each had an oddity, the VofR a 2-4-0T the L&B a 2-4-2T and the Campbelltown a couple of 0-4-0Ts. Each had its own character and this is where I fear most UK mainland NG layouts fall down by mixing locos from different lines and having a traffic frequency like the Glasgow Underground. I would try to keep to a set loading gauge and keep away from mixing 009 Ffestiniog and Tallylyn locos with L&B etc The difference in gauge woudn't worry me but everyone knows these locos, Going really freelance but keeping Peco bogie stock and Heljan locos either off the shelf or repainted is going to be a lot cheaper and less fiddly than trying to run long trains of 1 ton slate wagons etc The L&B trains were fairly short usually as the L&B locos had a max load of 4 1/2 coaches, though they did sometimes double head 9 coach formations, While the Ffestiniog delighted in running monstrous rakes of slate wagons infrequently, using its Fairies as main line locos and 0-4-0s as trip locos and shunters at least in its last pre preservation years. I think to add variety to a loco fleet I would consider kit bashing of scratch building some freelance locos and stock built to the same loading gauge as the RTR. The Dapol Pug and 04 shunter have formed the basis of many 009 monstrosities, but the old Triang TT gauge Jinty 009 ised appeals to me... Just remember there is not really enough room for inside cylinders on 2ft gauge

I can't remember whether it was covered earlier but before the Honeybourne line through Winchcombe Todddington etc was opened 1908 ish Gloucester - Ledbury - Worcester was the GWR Goods route from Gloucester to Birmingham and the North. Over sidings at Gloucester just over the river Severn from the Ledbury junction faced West for this reason, very awkward in later years when traffic went East for North instead of West.

Very professional. I do wonder if you have left enough room for push buttons. Mine are painted hardboard with 4BA bolts for electric pencil operation with a diode matrix and the studs are pretty close together , I couldn't fit push buttons in on mine.

It seems to me that to get the best of both worlds one needs a heavy flywheel but a torque limiting clutch to protect the gear train if te loco rams a buffer stop or something gets caught in the valve gear. The cheapest and nastiest loco I ever bought, H0 0-8-0T battery powered loco which came with two wagons and a circle of plastic track for a fiver actually had a spring loaded cam arrangement to act as a torque limiter so its not exactly rocket science.