Caley Jim

Hi Don. Thanks for that. I missed your post earlier with all the excitement of going up to Aberdeen! Looks like it might solve my problem. Jim

I can't give you a definitive answer for Inverkeilor, but as a general rule movements within yards which did not involve the main line were under 'yard control', i.e. the staff on the ground, independent of the signal box and those turnouts which did not involve movements onto the main line were hand operated. Jim

Just as we were starting to clear up after the Aberdeen Show , roy presented me with a box " We'd like you to have this". He must have seen the puzzled look on my face because he then said "It's not what it says". When I opened the box, this was the contents: A CR dia.8 horsebox Neil had built from an etch reduced from 4mm scale. Once the couplings are changed (I promised to give them back the DG's!) it will make a companion for the one I built many years ago from the same etch! Jim

Can I suggest that if you haven't already done so you peruse the latest MRJ. I read it today on the train back from the Aberdeen show (for my reason for being there see here ). A somewhat philosophical issue, but none the worse for that as the excellent editorial and a couple of the articles deal with how the hobby can help those who suffer from the 'black dog'. Jim

Graham just beat me to it, but here are another couple of shots. Roy talking to Neil's partner, Sylvia on Saturday afternoon. A Southampton to Invergordon troop train heads north with a VERY black 5 in charge. Jim

The issue is keeping the width between the sides the same as the narrower angles will reduce that by 1mm. The base of the cassettes is designed to slot between the sides when they are stacked. The two options I have in mind are a) use 40thou for the sides instead of 60thou, or b) put some plain rail along the inside of the angles, soldered to 0.5mm PCB ' sleepers '. The first would be the simplest, but leaves me with several large sheets of 60thou bought for that very purpose. Perhaps I should have stocked up on 12.5mm wide Al angle at the same time! Jim

I thought that it was what was coming up the tubes that was the problem! Jim

No, just odd! Better watch what I say, as I'm heading up into GNOSR territory tomorrow to help with Dunallander at the Aberdeen show this weekend. Jim

Thanks, Jerry. I'll point the group to your post. I had to leave early on Saturday and haven't really been involved in the work that had gone on with the cassettes. They were originally built to the same design as I described in the Magazine some time ago but we're never as successful as mine, partly, but not purely, due to them not having been built with quite the same degree of accuracy. The main problem I have with mine is poor pickup on them due to the aluminium oxidising, but at present the layout doesn't get run all that much, which probably doesn't help. My problem for my making more cassettes is that the only angle which seems to be available now is 12mm as opposed to the 12.5mm I've used up until now, which kind of upsets the overall design as far as being able to stack them etc. I have a couple of work-arounds in mind, however. Jim

Only problem you now ave is that the wagon will not be nearly as free running due ti the friction between the tube and the axle, but if you're only running short trains, that won't be an issue. It might have been better if you could have made the support removable, eg a half tube with a support under it, not glued to the floor,(I'm meaning 'under' when the vehicle is inverted) which could be taken out once everything had set solid and the axle could then be held in the bearings. Jim

Could it be that the weight of the axles and wheels, with the taper on the axle ends and in the bearings, is pushing the W-hangers out while the glue sets? Not a problem if soldering , but that doesn't solve it in respect of plastic kits. You could try putting a couple of small clamps across the axleboxes to hold the axles tight into the bearings while the glue sets. If you used G-clamps or the like then you could tighten them just enough to hold the pin-point in the bearings. Not a problem I've ever had to deal with, but just an idea as to how I might overcome it. HTH Jim

Problem is that if you've already got the joints filled with UHU, then the solder won't unite with the white metal as the glue will stop them coming into contact with one another. For that to happen the joints have to be completely clean. Jim

The main problem limiting the haulage capabilities of small locos is normally adhesion rather than motor power and the bigger the motor, the less room there is for weight. Jim

Would it not be a case of raising the running plate? Dropping the buffer beams would also drop the height of the buffers. Jim

Chris, the beauty of the split frame system is that every wheel can be used for pick up, be they driving, carrying, bogie or tender, without any pickups acting as brakes on them. Jim

Malcolm, what is the problem with having a motor in the tender driving the loco? It's still the loco which is doing the pulling. Jim

It's the predictive text on my phone letting me down again. I missed that one! Jim

Could you not have the ' signal box ' pervert frame in the centre with the ' ground frames ' controlling the yard points as depart units to either side? That way they would all still be in the one location. Jim

Another quote I recall from him was 'The great North of Scotland Railway was a terrible Railway. In fact it had no right to be called a railway', or words to that effect (I don't have the book to hand so am quoting from memory). Jim

I have 4 blue engines, but none of them have faces, though they are all DCC. I even have the Directors Saloon to go with one of them. Jim

Both the GNoSR line out of Aberdeen and the Ardrossan and Johnstone Railway started life as canals which were then converted into railways. the latter line on what started life as the Glasgow, Paisley and Ardrossan Canal, hence Paisley Canal station. Jim

The chimney, dome and tank filler have now been turned and fitted. My method with Drummond domes with the Ramsbottom safety valves on top is to turn the dome (or the valve seating where they are not on the dome) with a cylinder on top the diameter of the longitudinal distance across the two valves, usually 1.75mm, file this down equally from either side to 0.5mm wide, cut a slot down the centre to create the separation between the two valves and then file/carve them to a roughly circular cross section. (Hard brass is relatively easy to carve with sharp tools.) A short No.80 hole is drilled between them and the spring made from a piece of 16BA bolt with the top and bottom turned down. This is then soldered into the hole and the top trimmed. In the case of this loco, the whistle is also attached to the dome, which posed something of a challenge. It was turned up from a piece of brass rod with a flange at the bottom which was then trimmed to make the manifold and pipe projecting from one side and was fitted into another hole drilled in the rear of the dome. Needing the wheels now to help make it look like a loco, but I understand they may not be too far away. Meanwhile there are plenty other bits and pieces to make, however there won't be any more progress for a week at least as we are off tomorrow for our annual dose of Lake District rain. Jim

Motor in the tender with drive shaft to the loco is standard practice in 2FS. Jim

Ah, but if there is none in the tank, then they can't keep the boiler topped up! On one of the last runs in the races to Aberdeen the CR crew had been frugal with the water between Carlisle and Stirling and decided not to make the water stop at Stirling in order to save time. When they arrived at Perth, where there was a loco change, they pulled forward off the main line, dropped the fire and then called for a pilot to take them to the shed. The tender was dry and the boiler dangerously low, but they had saved some 10-15 minutes by not making the stop. Jim

Let's just hope they have enough water in the tank to keep the firebox covered! Jim