Caley Jim

Bob, I'm doing all my programming with Decoder Pro in my PC via a Sprog, guided by @Nigelcliffe's article on the 2MM SA website, so I'm not aware of the values in each CV. I usually contain the speed by changing the reference voltage as Nigel advises, but with this one I found that setting that to anything other than 0 stopped it working altogether! I therefore resorted to the speed table, set the top speed to half and then 'matched ends'. Screenshot below. Not entirely sure what 'forward trim' and 'reverse trim' do, but will be able to consult with the guru on Saturday at or AG meeting. And BTW, @Clive Mortimore, much of this is way over my head too! I just follow advice and instructions from said guru! Jim

Thanks, Laurie. Much easier to follow on the videos! I hadn't quite appreciated the expanse of your empire! I take it that Syphon is a 'cripple'! Also notice several of your locos sport WSLR livery!😁 Jim

I'm getting an 'oops something went wrong' message on both these YouTube links.😕 Jim

I've recently fitted two of my locos with 470uf flat/wide caps. The first was my recent 2-4-0 which I found was somewhat lacking in traction. I therefore moved the decoder + stay-alive circuit to sit alongside the motor and replaced the 4 x 220uf caps which had been there with two 470uf's, one on top of the other, at the front of the tender. The theory was that caps are heavier than the decoder, so would move the weight to the front of the tender where it could be passed on to the rear of the loco. This has worked fairly well, though traction is still a bit limited. The second was my little Drummond 0-4-4T which suddenly threw a short. On checking I couldn't find where that was, but discovered the CT decoder was blown. I suspect the Branchlines minimotor had drawn too much current. It now has a Tramfabriek 0615 motor with a Zimo MX615 decoder along one side and the stay-alive circuit and a 470uf cap on the other. It took a little bit of tuning in Decoder Pro to 'tame' the motor, but it is now running well. Jim

It is indeed. Earlier maps show just an embankment there, but you can still see the landing alongside the road, either from the road itself or a train. There was a gate in the back wall of the market through which livestock could be driven. This was the inspiration for part of my Kirkallanmuir layout. The market will be on the backscene behind the wall. Yes, these were pens just off Portland Place. As far as I can tell there were no pens on the landing itself, but there were probably hurdles which could be used to guide the beasts. All this was gone by the time I came to the area. Jim

At Lanark there was a dedicated livestock loop siding running on the opposite side of a back street from the market giving almost direct access to the market. https://maps.nls.uk/view/82893816 The market has now moved to a modern building, with the lairage fully indoor, on the outskirts of the town. Jim

Progress has been slow over the past couple of weeks, what with the festivities etc. A fellow member of our group kindly gave me some more components for stay alive circuitry which let me finish of re-motoring my Drummond 171 class 0-4-4T which now has a Tramfabreik 0615 motor with a Zemo MX615 decoder along one side and a flat wide 470uf capacitor and the circuit along the other. It took a bit of tuning in Decoder Pro to tame the motor a bit, but it's now reasonably under control. I also assembled the stay alive for this loco, but, for some reason which my consulting electronic engineers are unable to determine, both the circuit and the decoder get very hot very quickly as soon as it is put on the track. Hopefully they will be able to solve the issue at our next group meeting. Meanwhile some work has been done on the loco body, attaching the cab/splasher sides and tops and crankpin splashers to the footplate along with the cab front. Handrails etc were fitted to the sides before assembly as was the beading around the spectacles (brass wire). The two strips of 40x40thou styrene either side of the gearbox are temporarily there to centralise the body at the rear. That job will be done by the firebox sides when the boiler is fitted. The front boiler support is not at nearly as much of an angle as it appears here and the two lugs on the cab front are to locate the rear end of the boiler. As far as the boiler is concerned, the 10mm diameter brass tube being OoS at Squires, @CFMRC has kindly sent me a 'manufactured' length and work has started preparing that to be fitted. There will be a slight lull in progress again, however, as I have promised to give a talk on the Quintinshill Disaster to my local PROBUS club next month, so preparation for that will need to take priority for the next few days. Jim

Well, you know the teacher's motto - Nil illigitimus minimus carborundumI!* Jim *(Very) loosely translated as 'Don't let the little b******s grind you down'!

Now, that livery is going to be a challenge! Jim

Thanks, Lilley. It is done on the advice of fellow dental professional @CF MRC. All toothpastes contain a very mild polishing agent. A small dab on each gear pair is all you need and I run it jut for a few minutes to smooth off any tiny roughness. In the case of a tender loco there's no issue about washing it off as the motor is in the tender. For a tank loco with the motor in the loco, I simply remove the motor before washing. be sure to give everything a good scrub with an old toothbrush to remove any small traces and dry the chassis over a radiator or in the airing cupboard. HTH Jim

My method is to start at the top and work my way down the whistle (using a minidrill and needle files), leaving the spigot to go into the firebox until last. Take this down as far as you dare, then grip the whistle in a pin vice and part it off by flexing at the join between stock and whistle. If the spigot is too big for the hole, open out the hole. Jim

Please do. You'll be more than welcome! As I said above, I've been working in 2FS for almost 55 years, have no workshop and nothing more than basic tools. When I started there were no wagon kits and loco wheels were only just beginning to appear. Re-wheeling RTR wagons involved cutting and pin-pointing your own axles from (very hard) steel rod and then fitting the plastic moulded wheels to the correct back to back. Life is so much easier now! If I can do it, anyone with a modicum of patience and who is prepared to learn the skills can. You will find a wealth of advice and help through membership of the 2MM SA. We are a very friendly and supportive bunch! Jim

I would guess that glass should be OK, but you might need to exclude light, as that might cause some polymerisation. Jim

Go on! You know you want to! I got disillusioned with N-gauge track standards before I got the length of a layout, then discovered 2FS and have never regretted it. That was c55 years ago! A Guid New year tae yin an' a'! Lang may yer lums/exhausts reek. Jim

I had one of these when I was 5!! More years ago than I care to remember. Jim

Shocked to find it's over a year since I posted anything here, but truth is my time ahs been taken up with other projects. Some for other people and our group layout, but also the three 65ft coaches and now a loco to haul them. Just wanted to wish all those who have been so supportive and made so many appreciative comments over the years a Very Merry Christmas. I know you'll all be on Santa's Good List! Jim

I have a talk I have given to several local clubs entitled 'What The Railways Did for Us' outlining how many things which we take for granted in modern society only came about because of the railways. E.g. GMT being adopted across the country , package tours, national football leagues. Jim

"The best-laid schemes o' mice and men gang aft agley'' (To a mouse; Robert Burns). Sometimes because the schemes weren't as well laid as you thought! Such was the case with the outside frames for the tender bogies. These were designed to be in one piece with the stretcher running under, and bolted onto, the pcb spacer, keeping them electrically isolated from the frames carrying the wheels. What I omitted to account for was that they had to pass through the relatively narrow gap between the wheels. This meant the stretcher had to undergo a bit of surgery with a carbo disc, as can be seen in this photo with the underside of the completed front bogie on the left and the etch for the rear one on the right. The axleboxes have two prominent ribs on either side and this was the next idea that didn't quite work as intended. The plan was that the little half etched triangles on the etch would be folded out, with the etch including the axleboxes having fine slots in the axlebox back plates through which these would pass, thus both forming the ribs and locating the axlebox unit on the frames. Hmmm! Bending up the eight ribs to the same angle and passing them all through the slots simultaneously proved all but impossible! The previously non-existent plan B had then to be devised. This involved cutting away the triangles and using some of the longer half etched tags, with the end cut at an angle, passed through the side from behind. Two were used at first to locate the axlebox unit, and then the others added. This is the completed front bogie. The inner end stretchers on both bogies had to be cranked towards the bogie centres in order to keep them clear of the lower gear. The axlebox unit is a multilayer etch incorporating the axleboxes, the large inverted leaf spring between them, which was pivoted on the frame, and the compensating beam between their tops. This is the rear bogie (which also has guard irons on it). The axlebox unit layers are on the left, with the other unit fitted to the stretcher unit on the right. The little slots in the end stretchers are to locate the brake blocks. Here we have the tender with the front plates + cab doors and tool boxes added and sitting on its bogies. I suspect the cab doors will have to be angled out slightly to allow the loco to go round curves. The half etched areas on the bottom of the tender frames were put there as I was unsure how much clearance would be needed to allow the bogies to swing on curves without the compensating beams fouling the tender frames, however their short wheelbase and the close bogie centres mean that the tender will go round an 18" radius curve with hardly any swing of the bogies, so I may attempt to fill these in. I can now start on the loco body, however work on that can only go so far until Squires get 10mm thin walled brass tube, for the boiler, back in stock! ☹️ Jim

Perth was another location where not only loco changing went on, CR or NBR to HR and vice-versa, but much remarshalling also took place. On 7th August 1888 the 07:00 ex Perth comprised 37 vehicles from 9 railway companies, 4 LB&SCR; 8 LNWR; 1 NER; 5 MR; 4 NBR; 1 ECJS; 1 GNR; 2 WCJS; 11 HR, including 12 horse boxes, 2 carriage trucks, 6 luggage vans, 1 ECJS sleeping car, 1 HR PO van & brake van. Jim

Like the doo'cot. Keeping homing pigeons was very common in mining areas. Jim

The drawing office at JW Works has yet to commence work on this project as all staff are currently fully occupied in the erecting shop. Thinking will hopefully commence soon! Jim (MD,CEO, & General Factotum)

If it's this one to which you are referring, it's 2FS, not 00. Jim

tender body coming along slowly. The openings in the footplate and tank top needed a wee bit of fettling to clear the motor etc, but otherwise most bits fitted rather well. This side has the 'temporary' coupling rod. the extra weight is keeping the tender a bit steadier, but there is a slight stiff spot which causes it to wobble slightly. I think that's in the gears somewhere and will hopefully 'run out' once it gets a bit of lubrication. It's already been run with some toothpaste to polish the gears. Front plates/cab doors and toolboxes next, then I'll start on the bogie outside frames. Jim

Yes, indeed. The CR had some early similar asymmetrical ones with a raised centre section. Jim

Magnificent as always! Jim