Chamby

#528 My head hurts...

For me it’s about 75% that fits and the balance where rule 1 applies. Modelling the ex GC gives me some latitude about what fits, given the number of cross country services that used the London Extension in particular. I also include in ‘what fits’ the stuff that I run on the club layout, which is pre-Beeching West Country.

Had a scary moment with these points when I test ran my new Duchess over the new bullhead turnouts last night. Elsewhere on these forums there has been much debate about the visual aesthetics of the fixed trailing bogie that Hornby now regularly use on their Pacific locomotives, in that the rear end swings out unprototypically on tighter radius curves. So I thought I would test run my latest acquisition over these turnouts and was alarmed to see how much they swung over the rails at either end of the unifrog that carries the opposite polarity. Whilst the locomotive does not have electrical pick-up from the trailing bogie wheels, there is the problem that these wheels are flat faced and rather wide, creating the potential to create an electrical bridge between the adjacent rails of opposite polarity. See pics below: Fortunately with the locomotives I have tried so far, the trailing bogie dangles around in mid-air about half a millimetre above the rails so an electrical contact is not made. But clearly there may be exceptions and this highlights a requirement for very careful track-laying, making sure that both the turnout and at least a locomotives length of track either side of it are laid perfectly flat. The overhang is exacerbated when the turnout has been curved slightly, but it is still noticeable on unbent bullhead turnouts. There may be implications here for the design of the unifrog if Peco proceed to develop shorter turnouts, or curved ones with tighter radii. They may require a longer 'dead frog'. I must stress that so far I have not had a short on the limited example that I have laid, but I do wonder.... Phil.

I enjoyed the show, as usual there was a good number of nice layouts and also plenty to tempt me to open my wallet. My one criticism this year was the number of layouts where all the operators were excessively preoccupied with the fiddle yard and there was nothing moving ‘up front’ for protracted periods. Not all layouts of course, but it was more prevalent than it should have been. I overheard a number of the watching (and waiting) fee paying public complaining about this.

I wonder which parts of the country these Bullied diesels will be seeing now, in our 4mm to the foot world? I made an impromptu purchase of 10202 from the Kernow stand at Warley today, couldn’t resist such a lovely model. She will look fine working on the GC London extension.... (!)

Latest version was R3320 “Golden Eagle” 60023 in British Railways blue with early emblem, widely available about 12 month’s ago. I’m not aware of any with Gill Sans lettering in post war livery, though there is still available R3441 “Sir Murrough Wilson” in wartime black with Gill Sans lettering which would probably have still carried this livery for some time after 1945. These are still being discounted at some retailers. Phil.

Nice weathering. Your photo also shows up a bit of a dilemma for me, in that the thickness of the roof vent moulding is obvious from this angle. Would I rather have the operational realism of opening roof hatches, or the more visual accuracy of a thinner hatch that doesn’t open? My preference would be the latter. Phil.

Historically I’ve spent about 80% of my model Railway expenditure with Hattons. In the last couple of months it has been closer to 20%. I don’t have a downer on them, but have found myself happy to spend a little more for the greater certainty of service elsewhere. It’s interesting what you find out about yourself when your normal circumstances are shaken up! Phil.

I am wondering.... will there be some on sale at Warley?

You get twice as much noise out before they start distorting.

Hornby will be reviewing their releases for next year and beyond, in the light of their merger with Oxford Rail. They will make their announcements when they are happy with their deliberations, not before. It’s not as if Bachmann are exactly challenging Hornby at the moment re: new releases! Phil

The other thing I have found with Tillig points is that the flangeways in the frog are not as deep as Peco. I have a couple of loco’s that regularly stall when the wheels rise up off the rail when passing through the frog, on the dual gauge points especially. Not just older loco’s either... one is the Rivarossi USA tank, just a couple of years old. The same loco’s are fine through Peco points. Phil.

Oh well. Thanks guys. :-( Was worth asking.

You can buy a new motor for a fraction of the price of a new model. (Peters Spares). Phil

The TPF website confirms that Montbovon is undergoing a refurbishment to improve access for disabled passengers and to extend all platforms to >200 metres in length to accommodate the longer tourist trains. At 259 metres long, one of the new platforms will become the longest in Fribourg.... Although Montbovon has just 260 inhabitants, an average of 430 passengers alight, disembark or change trains daily at Montbovon. The station and line will be closed a second time from 19 March to 2 June 2018 with a replacement bus service... works should be completed by the end of 2018. The improvements will cost an estimated 32 million francs, to also include a new depot to house a collection of historic GFM stock. Whilst the refurbishment obviously will improve accessibility for passengers, I really hope they don’t destroy the quaint character of the station, like they did with Chateaux D’Oex. Phil

Has anyone cut down the EM2 to make it smaller? It strikes me with all the chassis grinding going on, taking even 5mm off the length could help retain more structure in the remaining chassis block. I have cut the end off an EM2 and had a peep inside, the oval diaphragm is not driven, being a simple reflex diaphragm. With a little careful cutting and gluing, there is the potential to take a few mm off the length which would help with some installations. I’m not sure how much this would impact on the reflex performance though. More drastically, the reflex end could be removed completely, halving the length. I would expect this to have an impact on performance but by how much? Just wondering if anyone has actually tried this yet, before I consider having a go myself... Phil

I have joined code 100 FB rail directly to the new BH. If you grind down the end of the code 100 so that you are just left with the flat bottom bit, you can then solder the BH onto this and it is the right height - gives you a solid and smooth transition. Phil

I’ve tried an EM2 with the 8F chip and was disappointed too. Compared to other speakers it gave a nice deep chuff, but the hissing sounds were poorly reproduced. I have now swopped it out in favour of a 28x40 cone speaker which gives a much better all round sound, to my ear anyway. I’d like to try it with the EM2 doubled up with something like a dumbo, but didn’t have the space. Phil.

. I think this only reflects sales from their own website. Also, you overlooked the fact that four out of the five top pre-ordered products are premium priced models...

. Interesting... but I reckon it is mostly the Railroad stuff that has been heavily discounted, and we are led to believe that this strategy is what has compounded their recent woes. Items like the recent Duchess and Peckett seem to have got it absolutely right market wise, but like Clearwater says if they’re not making a profit even at these prices then as a money making investment their investors will be driving them to look elsewhere. For sure though, there is big money to make from the ‘grey pound’: Hattons and Kernow have found a way to make money here. Makes me think that it is Hornby’s business model that is wrong, rather than the products per se. If I was Hornby (yes, sat here in my armchair for what it’s worth) I would service the existing market where the money is right now - and get the cash flow sorted before sinking large amounts of money into as yet undeveloped markets.

I think the strategy outlined by Hornby has missed something. Yes their product is currently dependent upon the ‘grey pound’ but it is at a certain time of life when the kids have left home and the mortgage is paid off that people have the time, money and space to really get into the hobby. Older people will not just dwindle away as seems to be suggested. There are new people retiring every year... this surely should be the target market.

Ref my post #334 about cutting the webs between sleepers to ease bending of the points: I strongly recommend that you do NOT cut the web between sleepers with slide chairs. These sleepers only have two webs and two rails fixed, to allow the blades to slide of course... cutting here will create a weaker spot than the other gaps with 4 webs and 4 chairs, so the bend develops a kink. The cuts as shown in the pictures #334 work well to ease bending. Cutting any further away from the frog is deffo a snip too far!

Hmmm, something “Hush Hush” from Hattons, that would be nice...

Hi David, this shows how I have cut the web for a gently curved point: four cuts on the curved rail, three on the straight. I think I would probably cut them the other way round (3 and 4) for a wye, though I can't explain why! You could probably cut more but I'm being very cautious regarding geometry around the frog and the blades. EDIT: I would definitely recommend that you do NOT cut the webbing between the sleepers with slide chairs: these do not have any additional webbing beneath the blades and cutting here creates a weak spot that bends preferentially, creating a 'kink' in the rail... not good! Phil.

ah yes, it does shorten the rail lifespan somewhat when the trackbed is washed away and the track itself is left swinging in mid-air...