Caley Jim

The CR certainly had red on the brake ends of carriages where the guard's compartment was at the end, including PBVs. I don't think there is yet a consensus on whether those with the guard's compartment in the middle of the coach, e.g. brake composites, had red ends. Jim

If the loco runs well on DC and like a donkey with the chip then the issue lies with the chip. Try a different chip or try tuning the chip. Can't help with LaisDCC decoders, but these articles might help with CT and Zimos. https://www.2mm.org.uk/articles/CT-decoders.htm https://www.2mm.org.uk/articles/Zimo-decoders.htm It's well worth investing in a SPROG and using JMRI to do the programming on a test track. Jim

I have a drawing for a CR loading bank buffer stop which has a beam with self contained buffers and hinged ramps which fold down to allow wheeled vehicles to be rolled onto a wagon with end doors. Jim

I never use gloss, far too 'hard' looking on a model. Always a satin finish. Jim

Although working in 2FS rather than 4mm, I can attest to the quality of Zimo decoders having 4 locos fitted with them. I also have several fitted with CTelectronik ones, which are also good, but unobtainable at the moment. These two are the only makes (at present) which have small enough decoders for my uses. I am lead to understand that the shortage of both these makes is due to the manufacturer being fully occupied with providing components for the German Military, and we all know the reason for that! Jim

I see no point in getting obsessed over trying to emulate the haulage capacity of the prototype. Unless you have a big layout like Fencehouses or CF on which you can run prototype trains, what's the point? For me all I want is for a loco to have sufficient adhesion to haul the train I envisage for it. Weight is always going to be the limiting factor, never motor size. I recently replaced a Branchlines Minimotor (iron cored) in a little Drummond 0-4-4T with a Tramfabreik 0615 (coreless). It will still comfortably handle a train of 5 4-wheelers, which all I ask of it. (And the wheels still turn if you put an obstruction in front of it!) Jim

What do you mean by 'if progress is impeded'? Impeded by what? A finger - yes the wheels will spin, but what is it's haulage capacity in terms of wagons? Why would you want to stall the motor? That's just going to draw current. I have a white metal bodied 0-6-0T which will haul 35+ wagons, three times what my layout is designed to handle and yes, put a finger in front of it and the wheels slip. Remember too, that if you have a whacking big heavy motor in the tender which is driving the loco, then that motor becomes 'train weight', so the loco needs more weight to have sufficient adhesion. Weight in the loco for adhesion is what is important, not the size of the motor. No point in having a motor which can provide more power than the loco is able to deliver at the wheel-rail interface. Jim

I suspect the refills were of water, not coal. water was always the commodity that any steam loco used the most of and the superheating would reduce water consumption. I've never heard of locos being topped up with coal èn route. Jim

I fully agree with @Izzy. There's absolutely no need to use the biggest motor you can fit, in fact I would say the opposite. Fit a small motor so as to leave plenty room for stay-alive capacitors. The majority of 2mm Locos will run out of adhesion long before the motor runs out of power. Jim

DCC will do nothing for a chassis that isn't already mechanically sound. Best to get them running smoothly under DC before fitting the decoder. Jim

There should be no need to put the soldering iron anywhere near the chip, unless you are needing to replace a wire or are fitting stay-alive. Even then, if it's a Zimo decoder the attachment points are plenty big enough to keep the iron away from delicate components. One of the few occasions where I use a small, pointed bit. Jim

Squires list it in the Railmatch range http://www.squirestools.com/files/12-18a.pdf . 199-633, near top left on p263. Jim

Nae chance! Jim

So why does an 0-6-0 diseasal shunter have a tender? 🤔 Jim

Sandboxes and brake gear now fitted. Because the sandboxes are hidden behind the front steps, I thought I might have got away with just a piece of brass with the sandpipe attached, but then I realised that from an oblique angle that would leave a bit of a gap, so proper sandboxes were created from the end of a pin from a 13amp plug. They and the brake gear have been treated with Beechwood Casey Aluminium Black which i feel gives a better representation of 'in service' condition than black paint. Since taking the photo I've added some thin strips of scrap etch in the area between the firesmokebox and the driving wheels, not to try to accurately model the valve gear, but just to put some 'clutter' in there to fill what would otherwise be an empty space. With all the etched parts now fitted, apart from the cab side lamp brackets, which won't go on until just before painting, and the number plates, which won't go on until after painting, attention will now turn to the 'round bits', So the trusty Black and Decker will be coming out! Jim

She'll get on well with DJT. He wants to is going to rid America of all socialist lefties in order to 'drain the swamp'! Jim

For loco driving wheels I have a Minitrix wheel cleaner. You sit it on the track with the two brass strips on the base in contact with the running rail, apply power, then hold the loco stationary on the two strips of brass wire 'brushes' on the top. Power passes from the strips to the brushes and drives the loco wheels. There's one listed on the Bay of fleas, but it's marked as out of stock at the moment. For carrying and tender wheels I use a brass wire wheel in a minidrill, applied to the rim of the wheel which makes it rotate and cleans it in the process. Jim

X-acto razor saw is another option. Jim

This type of wheel is described in Mike Williams' book on CR Wagons (p35, drawing on p34). In it this type had welded joints between the spokes and tyre, reinforced by two bolts, one either side of each spoke. The drawing is from one for a 7T mineral 'bogie' and dates from 1878. The same wheels are shown on a similar drawing of 1882. Jim

Post script to the above. Although the loco is running well, I found that when I either turned off the track power (when testing with a SPROG and JMRI), set a turnout against it, or lifted it off the track the motor gave a 'kick', enough to move the loco c1cm, which I realised was due to the CT decoder taking power from the capacitors. I hadn't experienced this with locos fitted with Zimo decoders. In consultation with my consulting electronics engineer, AKA @Nigelcliffe, it turns out that 'Zimo, being smarter, can tell the difference between "track DC" and "stay-alive DC". Most decoders cannot'. Changed the setting to 'NMRA digital only' and problem solved! Moral is, if you fit stay-alive to a CT decoder, don’t enable DC! At least with this loco I can unplug the decoder and plug the motor straight to the track supply for DC running (e.g. for running on Dunallander, which is why I enabled DC). Jim

The buffer beam, valances and footsteps, cab inside splashers, reversing lever, smokebox door and bogie were all fitted in quick succession. Then I found I was back experiencing short circuits. Now this didn't surprise me as the clearance between the rear coupled wheel flanges and the rear of the cab splashers is very tight, but even after I had filed the inside of the splashers back a bit and lined them with tissue, the shorting was still there! 🙄 Much checking and partial dismantling followed, revealing shorting where I thought I had made sure there was none, including some of the thin double-sided PCB pads. (That bent step support on the LHS valance has been straightened) Having got that problem dealt with I then had to spend some time getting the front bogie to behave itself. The wheels weren't for rotating and adjusting the springs taking the current from it either had one set rotating or the other, but not both. It also wasn't happy going through a turnout. Eventually I replaced the 8thou wire with 10thou and the stronger springs seem to have done the trick. Thanks to a new circuit from one of our group members the stay-alive is now wired up and it's running rather nicely, though traction is still not great. Just as well it won't need turned on Kirkallanmuir as the combined wheelbase of loco and tender will barely fit on the 50ft turntable! Sandboxes and brake gear next. Jim

There doesn't seem to be a 'sorry about that' button. 'friendly/supportive' seemed to be the best alternative! Jim

It doesn't need to know. Heat it is not readily transferred through a vacuum, therefore a hot liquid inside does not lose heat to the outside and a cold liquid inside does not gain heat from the outside. Seemples Igor! 😁 Jim

Well, that will make sure he takes his hat off before he enters the sanctuary! 🙂 Jim

All mine have a projection on the crank at the turnout end which operates the arm of a microswitch. See centre right in this photo. (The other crank operates a catch point, so no crossing to change) Alternatively you could have the microswitch at the lever end, but that involves longer wiring runs. Jim