Caley Jim

To be able to give any advice I think we need a bit more detail. Exactly what do you mean by 'useless'? Does it refuse to run at all,or does it run erratically? Is there enough weight in it to give good pick up from all wheels? There may be enough weight with two wheels on the rails, but not enough when spread over four.

 

Jim

It wasn't so much the loading, just stop the wagon three times under the hoppers, but the unloading. A tippler designed for a 20ft long 4 wheel wagon wasn't much use for a 30ft long bogie wagon!

 

Jim

The CR also had some similar 30T coal wagons, but with the outer sets of doors slightly nearer the ends than these.  Unfortunately they were too far ahead of their time as there was not the infrastructure at docks, steelworks, etc. for efficiently unloading them.  Most ended up as loco coal wagons and some had the doors removed and were used as general merchandise wagons.

 

Jim

Recently I've been saving used tea bags, drying them out and putting the dried contents into a jar to use as scenic dressing, as done on Fencehouses.  It struck me that the material the bags were made of had a slight fabric feel and I thought they might be suitable for wagon sheets.  Some of the bags were from either green tea or peppermint tea and so were only slightly stained.  I thought this would give a weathered look to the white printing on the sheets and so make them look 'used' rather than 'new.

 

I drew out a CR wagon sheet from details given in the livery book and printed it onto a sheet of paper.  I then sellotaped a side from a tea bag over this, making sure that the sellotape was clear of the print, and ran it back through the printer, printing in 'presentation' quality.  The sheet was then sprayed with satin varnish, cut to size, turned over and given another spray.  Once dry it was fitted onto one of my recently built wagons.

 

This shows the printed sheet still taped to the paper.

 

The sheet fitted on a Dia 24 8T open wagon.  The 'load' is formed from layers of small pieces of foam board with the sheet held in place by tiny bits of double sided tape in strategic places.  How long this will last remains to be seen!  (apologies for the three link being caught up on the hook.  I didn't notice it until I was posting the photo here)

 

Jim

As an alternative to skrawking, as something which with even the best care in the world always manages to get off the rails, try getting grooved plastic sheet, with the grooves all exact in spacing and depth? Evergreen or Wills are two options, hopefully you're getting to a state of being able to run to bits like this.

Another way is to use a craft knife backwards. I.e. draw the point of the knife along the lines but with the cutting edge facing away from the card. This will produce a 'v'-shaped groove and will 'plough' a slight ridge on either side. This can be shaved off by running the sharp edge of a curved blade, lying almost flat, over the surface.

 

Jim

Railway modeller 1966 a series of articles by Terry Gough. I used them to build the Brighton push pull set in the picture.

 

CAT

Thank you for the correction CAT.  I think I assumed it was the Constructor because it seemed to favour the Southern, rather than that other company which the 'Toddler' favoured.

 

Jim

They may not be perfect models of anything that ever existed, but Castle Aching didn't actually exist either, and if it had existed, the world would have been slightly different.

Who's to say that WNR wagons were anything like any other company's?  Scratchbuilt or hacked RTR bodies off Ebay, running on similarly hacked underframes from the same source and let your imagination run riot!  

 

Jim

A simple fiddle yard is essentially something which can be sacrificed once its use is over, but if you use cassettes they can double for storage purposes.

 

Talking of cassettes, I am often amused and sometimes horrified by what I see at exhibitions. The original scheme, as espoused by Chris Pendlenton, was a complete integrated system that had been fully tought through. The aim was to have separate cassettes for engines, so that trains would remain in single blocks but the motive power could be turned as well as "run round" without leaving the cassette deck. Other than brakevans, and maybe some goods stock, manual handling would be eliminated. The couplings would confer mechanical and electrical connectivity and ensure correct alignment. There were even cleverly designed handles for lifting cassettes so that stock would remain undamaged, and the cassettes were stored in a dustproof box which transported the trains an also provided the deck for the fiddle yard.

On my first layout, Connerburn, I started with a sliding 5 track traverser, which could be lifted off and turned round.  I found this cumbersome, so converted it to a rotating turntable.  I then got to the stage where I wanted to have more than 5 trains which was when i devised my own cassette system and it is probably to that which Simon refers when he mentions bulldog clips.

 

The prototype cassette

 

These are designed so that stock can be transported in them, with strips of foam draft-excluder along either side to prevent damage.  The strip of card down the centre, effectively producing a 'tramline' helps to stop vehicles derailing as the wheels cannot fall between the aluminium angle 'rails'.   They are also designed to stack on one another:

 

and with a storage box to transport them.

 

Originally I used bulldog clips for both alignment and electrical connection, but for our group layout 'Sauchenford' we had problems with alignment, so we developed little tongues of pcb which fit between the connectors on the baseboard and project a couple of mm onto the cassette, providing more accurate alignment both horizontally and vertically.

This shows a cassette with wider Al angle, the ends of which have been cranked in to match the connectors on the baseboard.   As can also be seen, the bulldog clips can be modified (bent) to keep them well clear of stock. 

 

For 2FS I settled on 700mm long cassettes for trains which remain intact with shorter ones for locos and for shorter trains or ones where the loco is to be changed.  This is a comfortable length to handle and adequate for the size of train I wish to run and upward-sliding end doors ensure that things don't slide off in the process (providing of course that you remember to close them).  Kirkallanmuir uses the same system.

 

Jim

This is all beginning to remind me very strongly of ........

I don't know about others, but for me, to whom the area we're talking about is part of a foreign land, the line bordering reality is becoming rather blurred.  Presumably the additional part of Norfolk came about through volcanic action taking place in The Wash, causing a split in the land mass which was filled with ash and solidified magma.  The remnant core of the volcano remains as a rocky outcrop , the seaward side of which has high cliffs which support large seabird colonies.   Yes, you've guessed it, these are the source of a ready supply for the guano industry!

 

Or am I getting carried away in the fantasy here? 

 

Now that is strange, as I live no more than a mile from World's End Hill and it there are none of the above mentioned places between me and the end of the world.

There's a pub in Edinburgh called 'The World's End' which was originally beside one of the city gates.  It was at the end of the world as far as Edinburgh folk were concerned!

 

Jim

I've finally got round to finishing off my trial etches as can be seen in this post http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/109476-caledonian-wagons/?p=2365785 .

 

Jim

Thanks, Jim, that is kind and I will happily take you up on the offer and give that a go.

I've now sent James a pdf with 'scale rules' for both 'S' and 7MM scales.  If anyone else would like a copy, let me know, or I could post it here for you to download.

 

Jim

Ed you know the old adage: if you can't do it; teach it!

Or, if it's to do with computers, ask a 10 year old!

 

Jim

Thanks, Jim, that is kind and I will happily take you up on the offer and give that a go.

You're welcome.  I'll try and get it done over the week end.

 

Jim

E.g. 4mm scale is 57% of 7mm scale, so, if I have a scale drawing in 7mm I can print it out at 57% of the original to achieve 4mm. 

Sorry to drag this thread kicking and screaming back to modelling matters.

 

Rather than faff about trying to reduce a drawing to whatever scale you're working in it is much easier to create a 'scale rule' and work off the drawing, especially if the drawing is to a larger scale.  I would never dream of trying to work off a 2mm~ft drawing.  You can use a simple drawing package to draw a line of a specific length, then divide that up into equal divisions, each of which represent 1mm in the scale you are working in.  Print that near the edge of a sheet of paper, cut the paper close to the baseline and you can then easily measure off any dimension you want in your working scale.

 

James, I'd be happy to draw one up for you and send it as a pdf.

 

Jim

For coaches it will mostly be scratch built although some old Tri-ang clerestories are in for a good cutting up as I am led to believe they can be made into rather reasonable Brighton coaches. Although I have lost the sources of where I had seen this done but I shall try anyway. ....

Gary

Back in the 1960's there was an article in, I think, Model Railway Constructor, on creating a SR push-pull set from Tri-ang clerestories.  I distinctly remember it as it was my first attempt at modifying something.   I think i still have them somewhere!

 

Jim

Is there any chance that you could tell me the sizes you used for the main windows, please.

 

I had read that the maximum size for plate glass before float glass was 4' x 2', but I am struggling to reconcile the sizes with what little photo evidence that there is.

P320 of Jim Summer's book on CR signalling has a drawing of Cambusnethan box.  The glass is quoted as 32oz sheet glass and the windows on the upper section are 2'3 wide and scale at c6'6" high overall (including the immediate frame).  Also in the same book on p209 is a drawing of the standard signal box for the Lanarkshire and Ayreshire railway which quotes the same glass  and width, but the height scales at nearer 6'9" (neither drawing quotes the height).  These dimensions correspond closely to measurements a friend and I took of Haughhead Junction box in the late 1960's, literally just before it was demolished (we went back a week or two later to check some measurements and it was gone!).  My notes for that have 2'3" for the width and 6'4½" for the height.  I have the divider between the sashes (and the handrail) at 2' down from the top.  The uprights between the windows were 3" wide.

 

HTH,

 

Jim

Heres some photos of a Scottish themed layout I am currently working on (When I can get the chance) Scale is 'N' and the loaction is Bonkle, a real village in Lanarkshire just to the north of Wishaw. Bonkle never had a railway but nearby Newmains did. The Station Buildings are based on those of nearby Wilsontown. ,,,,,,,

My current layout project (link in my signature) is based on the premise that a line was built from a junction around Murdostoun, on the Glasgow to Edinburgh via Shotts line and passing between Bonkle and Allanton, to link up with the Climpy extension of the Wilsontown branch.  Kirkallanmuir being imagined as lying to the south of Allanton.  After planning the layout I've been led to believe that such a line was indeed proposed.

 

Jim

 

(Edited to correct typos)

Well, glad that's over. The Mem came down with it 24 hours later. I blame the children, they're like brown rats for spreading disease.

 

Children are just little packages of germs looking for somewhere to spread! My wife was a teacher and always came down with something as soon as the school started back from holidays (fortunately usually just a cold). We always thought we were doing well if one bug was through the family before the next one was brought in!

Hope your other issues get sorted out soon.

Jim

I also got some landscaping done where the coal merchant will be so that corner of the layoout is starting to take shape:

 

 

The new contours have been made with some DAS clay that I had lying around:

DAS is great stuff for groundwork.  I thin it down to a slurry by soaking it in water.  It takes a few days for it to fully soften and it helps if you break it up from time to time.  If it's getting too thick add more water, if it looks too thin add more DAS.  You can spread it with a spatula or, with a thinner mix, a stiff brush, the latter especially good in goods yards, track side etc where only a thin layer for texturing and bedding in round buildings, walls etc is required.  Details like cart wheel ruts etc. can be scribed in while it is soft.  If you use the grey type, it can be coloured with powder, or artists acrylic, paint.  Just be aware that it dries much lighter than when it is wet!   It also has the advantage over plaster that you can blend new bits into bits that have already dried by soaking the edge of the latter to soften it.  Again, brushing over the joint helps to smooth it.

 

Jim

There is a classic example of a long train leaving Perth with vehicles from a wide variety of companies and three locos at its head. I'm on holiday at the moment but will post the details when I get home.

Having now returned from holiday and more or less caught up on things, the details of this are as follows :-

 

The train was the 07:00 from Perth to Inverness on 7th August 1888.  It comprised 37 vehicles from 9 railway companies, made up of 4 LBSCR, 8 LNWR, 1 NER, 5 MR, 4 NBR, 1 ECJS, 1 GNR, 2 WCJS AND 11 HR.  Among these were 12 horse boxes, 2 carriage trucks, 6 luggage vans, 1 ECJS sleeping car, 1 HR postal van and an HR brake van.  It left Perth 20 minutes late headed by 2 locos and a banker came on the rear at Blair Athol.  It left Kingussie 72 minutes late!  So, if you want an eclectic mix of coaching stock, model the HR main line in early August!   

 

Jim

A relative of my wife's was working for a short time with a company who were involved in the restoration of the Great Eastern. Bristol University did a survey of the engines and reckoned that, with modern design, they could only improve the efficiency by around 5%.

 

Jim

...... The number 27 at the top is the plate number on that structure (in this case a platform wall I think?)......

 

Andy

I've only ever noticed them on platform walls. I suppose that is where clearances are most critical and have to be kept within pretty close limits.

Jim

Chin up, James. The darkest hour comes before the dawn.

Jim

It's a marker from which the pw engineers can measure the distance of the nearest rail from the face of the plate, in this case 1067mm, and also the cant of the track, I.e.the difference in height between the two rails on a curve, in this case 0. The nearest rail should be level with the top of the little white cube.

 

Jim

.........As any trainspotter railway enthusiast of long standing (and good memory) will tell you, that was the day when one could see a procession of extra trains, overnight sleepers and goodness what else dragged out of countless carriage sidings and setting of in a northerly direction.

Regards Roger

There is a classic example of a long train leaving Perth with vehicles from a wide variety of companies and three locos at its head. I'm on holiday at the moment but will post the details when I get home.

 

If you want variety of engines what about the G&SWR or CR main lines between Glasgow and Carlisle. The loco builders of Glasgow, North British and its predecessors,Dubs, Sharps, Neilson etc. all delivered their products by rail to many Brittish companies so locos on their own or in a train could be seen. Of course they would also pass through Carlisle and further south too so even more variety.

 

Ian.

There would also be wagons and coaches from the likes of Pickering and Hurst Nelson, all in 'out of the box' condition!

Jim