Caley Jim

I have a vague recollection of these, but I never had cause to use them. Mostly 6 open spokes for me! Jim W

Or open with Microsoft Office Picture Manager, then select 'Picture'; Compress picture' and you can see what size the compressed file will be. Jim

Further to the above post, I have just been advised that they will go to the Scotstoun facility of Campbell Fabrications plc (Electra Couplings Division) as the Kelvindale factory is not equipped to handle such complex fabrication work. Jim

I have just completed 6 ex LNER 13T mineral wagons for the Forth and Clyde group's Sauchenford layout. These are the N-gauge Society body mouldings on 2MM SA underframes with cast axleboxes and springs and cast brass RCH buffers. I have attempted to portray them in a variety of care worn conditions, with replacement planks of different ages and a fair degree of rust evident. They are strictly modern image as far as I am concerned, even when they were built, but they will make a bit of variety among the masses of steel minerals which others are building! I chickened out of hand lettering them, using instead N-gauge Soc. transfers. At the next group meeting they will be passed to Campbell Engineering's Kelvindale works to have Electa couplings fitted. Jim

I had similar problems when i printed out a small section of island platform surface (not much more than the ramp) which pokes out from under the bridge on my Kirkallanmuir layout. I drew it out in AutoCAD and coloured the platform grey and the edging a stone colour, but when i printed it on my HP printer, it came out with a distinct greenish tinge through it. I tried several variations on the colours and went with the best. As I said, not much of it can be seen under the bridge so I wasn't too fussy. Jim

At Perth show there was a chap showing building kits and texture papers which you can download as pdfs from his website http://www.smartmodels.co.uk/ for 99p a time and then print off as often as you like. He recommends printing on matt photo paper and had examples of a kit printed on both that and ordinary 80gsm copier paper. the differences in both detail and colour were very apparent. This seems to be due to the inks running together on the latter paper. The idea is that you then stick the kit/texture paper onto a card backing. He also sells dvds with a selection of kits and/or texture papers on them. Jim

Watched the first episode of Gryf Rhys-Jones series 'Through Africa by Slow Train' today, which my wife had recorded. He was in Namibia and at the end was on a line that was being rebuilt across the southern part of the Namib Desert between Ludoritz and Keetmanshoop. Not sure what gauge it was, but at least part of it was baulk road!! Probably to get better support in the sand. Jim

these were originally produced through the late Neil Ballantyne, if I recall correctly. I certainly got 4 axles of the 7mm ones from him and they all run perfectly true. 2 axles went under my Officer's Saloon and the other two went into an etched chassis I had produced to upgrade the CR refrigerator van I first built in 1969-70. The body has now been corrected by adding the beading between the framing and the planking, removing the ventilator in the roof and adding the ice boxes. The drawing I originally built it to was wrong in these respects. Jim

Looked at this thread, out of curiosity, on my tablet while up in Perth for the show there. This is an interesting concept and the photo shows my only attempt at it, albeit printed on plain 80gsm paper, hence not as sharp as it might have been on photo paper. The pantechnicon is a Shirescenes etch, sitting on a 2mm scale association etched kit for a GE lowmac. The siding it is parked on will eventually serve an end loading dock, hence the absence of a buffer stop. The livery is entirely fictitious. Each panel was drawn out separately in AutoCAD, cut out and fixed in place with cyano, and then varnished. Jim

I've been modelling the Caledonian Railway in 2FS for over 40 years now. Link to my current (second) layout in the signature. Jim

Love the tarpaulins, Ian. From what are they made? Jim

I generally aim for a reduction of around 10x the wheel diameter in feet so you're as near that as you are likely to get. With a Maxon motor it should run nice and slow. Jim

I'm not familiar with either the Loco or the chassis kit, but, assuming the gear shaft centres are fixed by the etch, then, unless you can get some finer gears which have the same meshing centres, that's the best you can get with Association gears. Your calculations are correct. In fact, I would think this should be a good enough reduction, especially if you are using a coreless motor. What diameter are the wheels - 4'6"? Jim

Link to my 2fs layout below. No progress over the past three month or so due to lack of time. Jim

Or the Portpatrick local which started slipping going up the bank one wet and windy night. The driver said to the fireman that they would have to split the train, to which the fireman replied 'Hae ye got a saw? '. They only had 1 coach on! Jim

How do they justify calling S7, S/P4 and 2FS 'rare'? Jim

Anybody know the origin of the outside framed van body in this photo? http://cumbrianrailways.zenfolio.com/p328179906/h11f95c0b#h184f9d8d Jim

I meant to comment on this in my last post. Are you certain that the quartering is spot on? Try setting the rods on one side at top, or bottom, dead centre. Then turn the loco over without allowing the wheels to move. Now look at the cranks on this side and see if they all lie at the same angle, ideally horizontal, or at least near it. If any of them don't, place a small screwdriver between the spokes on that wheel and gently turn it slightly to the correct position. I've often found that the problem you describe can be cured, or at least greatly reduced this way and it's worth repeating it several times. If the running gets worse, then undo the last adjustment a wee bit.. A bit of running in can help too. Jim

Have you checked the back-to-backs of the loco wheels? Sometimes if they are slightly tight (i.e. the gauge does not slip in easily) it can make them tight going through the crossings, especially if the between checks is a little wide. I remember Anthony's 08 stuttered going through crossings until he found that the centre wheels were a tad under gauge. Nice to see such good progress. Wish I could get the time these days! Jim

I can relate to all of that! Amps, volts and ohms I can cope with - after that I'm lost! Jim

! used one on Connerburn before I went DCC and never had any problems. In fact we often found that the layout was running better at the end of a show than it had been at the start! Jim

Hi Justin, To my eyes, they look a wee bit dark - nearer mahogany than teak. I've built four of David's kits for GER NPCS, all finished in teak. I used the method recommended by David, applying a base coat of yellow, followed by brushing burnt umber artist acrylic along the grain with a stiff brush. Results below (which were to David's critical satisfaction) sitting in the carriage siding on Connerburn. Jim

If you look a the last photo on my Kirkallanmuir thread (link in the signature) you will see one of these carrying a large packing case covered in a GNSR tarpaulin! I also have an NB van and GCR cattle truck and my model of 499 also uses one of your kits. Jim

Thanks, Don. John lives near Cheltenham and, yes, most of his etches are produced in 7mm. They were marketed under the 'Decent Coaches' label, but another member of the CRA has now taken over the sale of them. The 45ft coaches in the photo of No.445 are from his artwork also. Jim

Thanks, Angus. All my lettering and crests are done by hand with a fine sable brush, 000 or the like using thinned enamel paints. Recently I've taken to using white artists acrylic for wagon lettering. The lining on my early locos was done with a bow pen directly onto the model, but on the last 5 I've built, plus a repaint of No. 29, I've used the following method, which I've just described on the CRA forum: 1. Stick some strips of sellotape to a smooth tile so that they butt up against one another 2. paint a thick coat of gloss white enamel onto the sellotape and give it a good 24hrs+ to dry 3. with a bow pen draw a series of lines in black gloss paint or indian ink leaving a couple of mm between them and allow to dry 4. with a new No 15 scalpel blade, cut lightly either side of a black line, leaving a small edge of white 5. carefully lift the end of the strip of lining thus produced and gently peel it off the sellotape. This takes a bit of practice and some strips will break. 6. dip the strip in a 50/50 mix of varnish and thinners and then place in position on the model using a couple of cocktail sticks to align it For curved lining, leave the strip in the varnish mix fr a little longer and it will soften sufficiently to allow you to bend it gently round with the cocktail sticks. The curves around cab and frame cut-outs etc. are a we bit too tight for this to work there, but I have got away with doing it with a few short straight bits. The lining has to be cut short of the corners and they are filled in with a fine brush. There are no transfers available in 2mm as far as I am aware. I'm embarrassed to say this, but the late Colin Brady showed one of my coaches to Fox Transfers at a Glagow show and asked if they could produce transfers for the crests. The answer he got was 'Not as good as these'. Jim