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Caley Jim

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Posts posted by Caley Jim

  1. I don't think having the signal box name on two lines was completely unknown.  Camperdown Junction (Dundee) for example, although a large box, had the name boards on the end with 'Junction' below 'Camperdown' on one deep board and I'm sure I've seen photos of others.

     

    Jim

  2. This shows the point I've got to with the 900 class drive.

    image.png.3f7713e46c5e1e1b918bc7e320903197.png

    It has 6'6" driving wheels, which means there isn't room for the driveshaft above the axle, so the whole drive has to be angled to take it under.  I had to do the same with my 98 class 2-4-0 which has 7' wheels.  One benefit will be that the majority of the tender weight, which will come from the capacitors lying alongside the motor, will be at the front and will transfer to the loco chassis through the drawbar resting on the rear loco chassis spacer, the front bogie being lightly sprung.

     

    Jim

    • Like 1
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    • Craftsmanship/clever 4
  3. Ideally, with a bogie tender, you want the tender end of the shaft behind the pivot of the front bogie.  I'm currently designing the chassis for a CR 900 class 4-4-0 (Dunalastair III) which has a 4125gal bogie tender.  I'm putting the motor 'back to front' to the arrangement for the Jumbo with the motor sitting over the front bogie and the gears between the bogies.

     

    As far as the loco end of your 4-4-0 is concerned you could run the shaft just above the centre of the rear axle to a worm in the bottom of the firebox, worm wheel on top of it and then a gear train on one side from there back to the rear axle.  In 4mm you'll have much more space to play about with than I have in 2FS!

     

    Hope that makes sense.

     

    Jim

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  4. 2 minutes ago, Compound2632 said:

    Curiosity: why so?

    It avoids the drive having to take up too tight an angle when going through an 'S', e.g. a cross-over.

     

    4 minutes ago, Compound2632 said:

    And, especially in 2 mm FS where there's not much mass, what stops the tender drive spinning the engine off the rails?

    There's nothing to stop that happening, but , although there is a slight tendency towards it before the body is fitted, it doesn't happen.

    This was the first run of the 0-6-0 chassis and there's no sign of any tendency for the loco chassis to spin on the driveshaft.  Lack of adhesion means it can hardly drag itself along, though!

     

    Jim

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  5. 1 hour ago, Skinnylinny said:

    Careful, Jim - you'll have me wanting to roll a boiler out of sheet soon!

    Incidentally, may I pick your brain at some point about drive connections from a tender-based motor to a loco-based gearbox please?

    No, NO!  Brass tube for the boiler! 😉

     

    I keep the driveshaft under the footplate out of sight.  That involves having a pair of gears in the tender to drop the drive down and the worm in the bottom of the firebox with the wormwheel on top and a gear-train from there to the driven axle.

    Drawing of the arrangement of my 'Jumbo' 0-6-0

    Drive.png.a6ea17acb8fd518afb768a2386641692.png

    Numbers are the teeth in the gears, but that's for 2FS.  The driveshaft is a piece of 10thou steel guitar string with a loop on each end which fits in a slot in the end of the gear shaft in the tender and the worm shaft in the loco. The shafts end flush with their bearings, which stops the drive shaft falling out.  there is about .75mm end play in the driveshaft to allow for negotiating curves.  Note that the ends of the driveshaft must be within the wheelbases of the loco and tender.

    This shows the bare chassis where you can just make out the driveshaft.  The springs take current from the loco frames to those in the tender and the while 'blocks' are the decoder and stay-alive circuitry at the front and the capacitors alongside the motor, both wrapped in PTFE tape for insulation.

    03completedchassis.JPG.66320a7a0fd77538d7b04fa0de3b9c2d.JPG

    The full build of my 417 class 2-4-0, which uses the same arrangement is detailed here.

     

    Jim

    • Craftsmanship/clever 6
  6. 12 hours ago, Nearholmer said:

    I remember when I first spotted it. Overnight sleeper from somewhere, out into a very cold, icy, sharply bright morning with the sun about one degree above the buildings. What was impressive was how it glowed red/orange, whereas that photo stolen from Wikipedia makes it look a bit dull.

     

    Thinking about it, it was closed at the time for the reconstruction of the underground, so that must have been c1977. Some LT guys that I knew were seconded to Glasgow and I was going to see them to get a tour of works in progress, or maybe it was a look at the old stuff before work really started.

     

     

     

     

    I've always thought it one of the most attractive (of many attractive buildings) in the city. Especially since it can be viewed from all sides, standing as it does in splendid isolation in the middle of St Enoch Square. 

     

    Jim 

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  7. I wouldn't class it as at all decadent, but Glasgow Central must be one of the most practical large terminal stations in the country and still retains essentially it's original layout from the 1901-6 enlargement.  The approach track layout has been rationalised, doing away with the original 4 track bridge over the Clyde, some of the kiosks at the end of the platforms have been removed and the original departure notice windows replaced with modern screens over where these kiosks were.  Despite the track changes, it is the busiest station out-with London.  The concourse is light and airy and the buildings on it were all designed with gentle curves so that you are extremely unlikely to bump into anyone when turning a corner.  It is also on a gradient sloping down from the platform ends to the Gordon Street main entrance so you can see over the heads of those in front of you.  I am, of course biased!

     

    Jim

    • Like 7
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  8. 6 hours ago, cctransuk said:

    Careful - as I found out - you are likely to be accused of putting other kit designers out of business!

    Don't think there's much risk of that @cctransuk.  The market for CR items in 2FS is minimal to say the least and the other stuff I've done has been one-off bespoke items for specific projects for friends and other 2MM SA members.  I don't see any of that as threatening the business of professional kit designers.

     

    Jim

  9. Bruce has hit the nail on the head. I design the etches for what I want for myself and those I sell to others are a bonus. I'm not out to make any money out of them, just cover the cost of the etches. Anything other people ask me to design I charge pro-rata the cost of the sheet per sq cm. 

     

    Jim 

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  10. 2 hours ago, cctransuk said:

    I think that it would not be unreasonable for potential purchasers to expect that you had undertaken a test-build before offering the kit for sale.

    I totally agree with this.  I've found that even with a fairly simple etch there are often minor (and sometimes not  so minor!) errors that you pick up at the trail etch stage which you can then correct before you offer it to others.

     

    Jim W

    • Agree 1
  11. The strength of a spring depends on a) the type and diameter of the wire, and b) it's effective length.  Note that the effective length can be increased, without increasing the physical length, by introducing coils or one (or more) return bend(s) in it, or both.  the return bends can incorporate a coil.  Each coil increases the effective length by π(3.142)d where d is the diameter of the coil.

     

    Steel wire, e.g. guitar string. is much stiffer than phosphor bronze.  Nickel silver is fairly soft and not really much use as a spring in my experience.

     

    Jim

    • Thanks 1
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  12. 3 hours ago, ChrisN said:

    There was a '57' bound for Edinburgh and the owning company was given as 'Cal'.

    Pre WWI there was a through coach attached to the up 'Corridor',  CR and GWR each providing a carriage, vehicles running on alternate days.  The CR carriage was lettered 'Glasgow and Bristol via Severn Tunnel' on the eaves panels.  I wasn't aware that there was also one to Edinburgh.

     

    Jim

    • Like 1
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