Caley Jim

You could use phosphor/bronze wire, which is more flexible (and easier to solder), or you can increase the flexibility of the springs by introducing a coil into them. Each coil increases the physical length of the wire, and so the effective length of the spring, by pi x d, where d is the diameter of the coil, without increasing the length the spring occupies. Jim

On our fortnightly group Zoom meeting this evening I mentioned to Nigel your issue with the bogie wheels. A file already exists for 12 spoke 3ft diameter bogie wheels. All the chief shopkeeper has to do is order them! Jim

Soldering 10thou guitar string behind the truss rods has made them pretty much rigid, so it will take some real clumsy handing to distort them! They and the battery boxes have been fitted and then i turned my attention to the Westinghouse and steam heat pipes. I had been mulling over how they could be modelled as if they were connected together between the first and the brake thirds. I eventually settled on bringing them out to the centre line , just below the coupling hook, so that they would look to the casual observer that they were connected. I dismissed the idea of trying to make a semi-permanent rigid coupling which would simulate the pipes as this would have to be pivoted on each bogie. The 1st has a 8thou p/b wire loop attached to the bogie and lying just below the pipes. The brake 3rd has a similarly positioned vertical hook which engages in the loop allowing a gap of c1mm between the buffers and pipes when pulling. The hook could do with being a little more vertical, but that's easy to fix. They will pull happily over the crossover on my test track, but propelling is a no-no as, even with the oval buffers, buffer locking occurs. I don't anticipate that they will be propelled in any case. I think the small gap will not be too noticeable when they are running. Now to do the same at the other end of the 1st and the inner end of the other brake 3rd. Jim

At Glasgow Central when a train off the intensive Cathcart Circle service arrived the loco uncoupled and pulled forward. Another loco then came off a lye siding on the Clyde Bridge, coupled up and subsequently departed back round the Circle. The train was followed out by the original loco which went into the lye. The process being repeated with each arrival. When we were in Sydney we went to get the Manley Ferry. It came into Circular Quay (which isn't circular BTW) bow first (as I thought) so when we got on we sat at that 'pointy' end. When it didn't turn round after 'backing' out of the dock I went to investigate, only to find that it was 'pointy' at both ends! ☹️ Jim

If you speak very nicely to the wheel centre designer, I'm sure correct wheels could be provided. As far as I understand it's just a matter of changing one parameter in the CAD file. Jim

You want a very fine abrasive. A nail buffer is ideal as the smoothest grade will give a polished surface to the rail. Jim

I have always left the fitting of grab and door handles until after painting, on the basis that paintwork is likely to get damaged when trying to take paint off them. I fit the handles through the holes in the side and then apply a spot of cyano, on the tip of a probe or pin, to the inside where the wire pokes through. This avoids any glue getting on the outside. See the link to my current project in my signature. HTH, Jim

Did you wrap the sellotape around the bottle or along the length? Jim

End of Year report. The bodies for the brake 3rds have been assembled, buffers and coupling hooks fitted, bogie mounts fitted and bogies attached. There are still some pieces of styrene to fitted for the electrical sockets and alarm gear plus fitting the Westinghouse and steam heating pipes. The tops of the step end handrails have just been Blu-tacked to the inside of the ends as before. Now for the truss rods and battery boxes. I'm going to try soldering a length of guitar string behind the truss rods to see if that makes them less vulnerable to distortion. A Guid New Year tae yin an' a' when it comes! Jim

I thin you mean 'Forfar 5, East Fife 4'. Queen of the South are from Dumfries. I heard one English chap say that he used to think PT's name was 'Partick Thistle nil'! 😄 A Guid New Year tae yin an' a' when it comes! Jim

Are they similar to Partick Thistle? Actress Molly Weir said that their ground was the only one where the names of the spectators were announced to the players. It took less time them the other way round! Jim

The arrangement I use for tender mounted motors driving the loco via a shaft below the footplate can be seen in this build of a CR 6ft 2-4-0. I used the same arrangement in a 7'ft 2-4-0 some time ago, but in it I angled the driveshaft down from the tender so that it ran under the rear driving axle. Jim

Are these 'Elf class' coaches behind the flat? 😀 Jim

Carr's 188 solder paint is good, or you can use plumbers solder with either Carr's flux or 'Fluxite' resin flux. Whatever you do DO NOT try lead free solder it is hopeless for assembly work. The basic requirements for soldering are clean metal, flux, a decent sized bit and plenty heat (and solder of course!😀). Jim

The prototype seems to have 2 Salter safety valves on the dome, while the virtual model only seems to have one? Jim

Th E&G opened in 1842. Jim

They did better than third class on the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway! They didn't even get roofs! In fact that looks rather similar to an E&G second. First Class - roof, glazing, upholstered seats. Second Class - roofs, no glass, bench seats. Third class - Seats, no roofs. Fourth Class - (you've guessed it!) No seats! Jim

A good coating of neat PVA will seal the card. Jim

Progress report on the Brake 3rds. Four bogies built and as mentioned above four ends assembled (apart from handrails) and four side with the turn-under created. The floor sections are also bent up ready to receive the solebars and stepboards. A merry Christmas to you all.

The bogies were given a spray of black from a rattle can, then a thin coat of 'almost black' (matt black with a touch of grey in it). I also spent a couple of evenings painting 18 sets of wheels (for this and the two brake thirds), so, with the bogies fitted back on and the footboards painted this one's done! While waiting on the etches coming I had made up the ends for the brake thirds, formed the turn-under on the sides and fettled the buffers. batch building of the bogies is now underway. Jim

I've always used a suitable diameter of tube. I now draw out a development of the boiler with the various holes required, firebox opening etc, print that out and cyano it round the tube as a template for cutting a drilling. Jim

It's not the rail dimensions which are critical, but the wheel profile, back-to-back dimensions and check and wing rail clearances which are important. These things have to integrate with one another as is the case with the 2MMSA track standards. There was discussion on here recently as to whether 2MMSA wheels could be made to run through N-gauge turnouts, or vice versa, the answer being 'no'. Jim

The Engineer was a magazine published from some time in the 1800'S. The Mitchel Library in Glasgow has a full set of them and they are a mine of drawings such as that. The CME's of the day regularly submitted such drawings with accompanying articles. I once spent the odd afternoon in there and photocopied several drawings from both it and The Railway Engineer. Jim

I generally use 10 thou n/s with Association p/b bearings. Unless your locos are going to be doing CF type milages, that will be perfectly OK. Jim

Sunny off and on here, but still b****y cold! Jim