Neil McGrath

I think you may be correct. I have only seen photos of both models but the cargo hatch on the Tomy boat looks a bit wider. Thanks

Hi all I am bulding a OO gauge Thomas the Tank Engine childrens layout and want to include a dock scene with a working dockside crane. I would like to feature the boat Bulstrode, which could be loaded and unloaded by the crane operated remotely by the kids. I am not after exact scale accuracy but would like the scene to look reasonably proportioned. There are two models of Bulstrode that I am considering. One is the ERTL model and the other is made by Tomy for their Trackmaster system. Any thoughts on which would be the best choice?

Orpington and District Model Railway Society are pleased to announce one of the areas very popular annual two day events , The Pratts Bottom Model Railway Show is being staged on Saturday 12th and Sunday 13th January at the village hall just off Rushmore Hill. This friendly show is designed to appeal to both families and the enthusiast. It will feature high quality layouts in a variety of scales each depicting a fascinating miniature world through which the trains are kept running. Younger visitors will have the opportunity to operate layouts themselves, some with extra play value for the toddlers.. THE PRATTS BOTTOM MODEL RAILWAY SHOW THE VILLAGE HALL NORSTED LANE. RUSHMORE HILL. JUST OFF THE A21. PRATTS BOTTOM, KENT.. BR6 7PQ 10am to 5pm Both days Admission. Adults £4.00. Children £1.50 For further information: Email: Neil McGrath exhibition@odmrs.uk Facebook: Orpington and District Model Railway Society Web: odmrs.uk Model Railway 2019 Show Flyer v1.pdf

One of the youngsters at our youth group would like to produce a campsite as part of his layout. Can anyone suggest an easy way to create simple tents in OO gauge? Neil

What is your favourite modelling tool? Mine is the Antex soldering iron. It is cheap and does not lose its heat when you try to tackle larger jobs. The tip has a large thermal mass which really seems to help. I have used expensive temperature controlled irons but always come back to my trusty Antex when I want a simple and effective device. Let me know your favourite modelling tool and why you like it.

I checked the layout last night and the PVA heads seem to be well stuck to the mountain. I will give the dilute PVA a go and then see if I can paint them. Thanks for the suggestion. Neil

Thanks for the insight Robert. I think I will need a barrier layer of some description as you described. I did wonder if the paint used for damp patches in walls would work. Neil

Here is an interesting conundrum. One of our junior members wanted to reproduce the sculptures of Americn presidents on Mount Rushmore for his layout. However, rather than just stop at the original founding fathers he has recreated an image of all 45 presidents in plasticine. We have fixed the heads to the foam cliff using PVA but I am not sure how we will paint them to match the general colour of the rockface. Any ideas?

I have a small n gauge oval that is used for a game called the "Stop the train game". The idea of the game is judge the stopping distance of the train based on the speed shown on a speedometer which is linked to the PWM signal applied to the track. The whole thing is controlled by an Arduino and the train runs at a random speed each time the game is played. I run a small 03 class Bachmann shunter around the circuit and find that it always runs at its slowest when the layout is first set up and subsequently takes the shortest time to stop early in the day. The motor tends to free up during a days exhibiting and will take longer to stop near the end of the day. I am sure that it does pay to run-in a loco prior to each exhibition to be sure that it performs well on the day. My theory is that there is probably a small amount of oxidisation that buids up on the commutator and wheel contacts when the loco is not used and this gets cleaned by friction once the machine is in motion.

Wow Ray! What a fantastic and generous offer. The young lad building the layout has seen your photographs and really likes the loco. Unfortunately, we are located in Southeast London and Derby is a bit too far for us to travel. However we would be pleased to cover the delivery costs if you could post it to us. Details and progress of the modules can be found on our facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/OrpingtonandDistrictModelRailwaySociety/ Thanks Neil

I am currently running a youth training course for our club and each of the participants is building a module to their own design and learning the basics of model railway layout construction. One of our group wants to build an American themed module but I am not sure where he could obtain suitable rolling stock in HO scale at a reasonable cost. a simple switcher is probably all he needs or possibly a complete US style train set. Any suggestions?

Thanks for the info.

When I built the "Stop the train game", I initially used the default PWM frequency (around 700Hz) for my N gauge prototype. This worked fine for the little trains but the audible whine became quite unpleasant when I upscaled the design to run a 32mm gauge loco. There is a library available to adjust the frequency of the PWM, so I experimented with different frequencies. In the end I settled on a low pulse frequency of around 50Hz. This seems to work well with both scales of locomotive.