doilum

back to the saga with pictures! Having replaced the crankpins with 10ba, next step was final assembly of the valve train. After much trial and error, this produced a set of motion that worked freely, . Almost too freely. At the end of the session I reached across to turn off the work light and caught the chassis on my jumper. It rolled beautifully backwards, across the bench, off the edge and onto the floor. The flimsy rear frames did a perfect demonstration of an automotive crumple zone. Everything else was perfectly OK and it continued to run easily in both directions. As was now without my RSU, I put the project on hold until I had it repaired. One benefit of the flimsy frames is that they straightened easily with the aid of pliers, hammer and a block of wood. I filed a length of brass strip to fit between the rear frames and made provision for the switch which will allow a dcc option for running on the club layout.

Hornsea was a favourite holiday haunt when the children were small, but that was 30 years ago and even then, the trains were long gone.

Isn't "little engines:A7" an oxymoron?

I would have thought the multi mandrels were a good thing as they will accommodate a wide range of the number drills and all those spurious accessories we seem to acquire. My biggest grumble with dremel are the lack of alternative mandrels.

One of the best I've had came from Woolworths in Oban. 18 volt and a full set of mandrels, it gave over 20 years good service. They also turn up on car boot sales from house clearances, sometimes almost brand new.

They often do that! To be fair, that is running nicely. The test now comes with everything tightened up. Given your location, try not to loose any crank pin nuts. A spot of paint, blutack or even nail varnish on the end threads will help. If you are really lucky, it will continue to run sweetly, if not, any binding or oscillations will identify work to do. This is best done before pickups are fitted in order to limit the number of variables. In the event of binding, remove one pair of wheels and run it as a four coupled loco, then repeat from the other end. This is also the time to check it sits flat on a sheet of glass, and more importantly, flat on a short length of track. Like most old school modellers, I allow the centre wheels a half millimetre of vertical float.

Very impressive. Now to try the motor/ gearbox.

Cheers

Any further progress? I eagerly await seeing how you tackle the pony truck. I will outline my concerns on my 82004 post once I get my photo issues resolved

Take a sample to a diy superstore with a paint mixer?

Expect some progress soon. A few weeks ago, my ancient RSU gave up, the result of a life lived at "11". I made enquiries at London Road Models about a new one but John doubted it was truly dead and I agreed to deliver it to the York show for inspection. Well, this morning, Lazarus, as it will now be known has returned having cost me less than £40 of which over a third was postage. Given that I was prepared to pay £200 for a replacement, this act of old school honesty has really made my day. Thanks John.

Great photo of He 3776 "resplendent" in it's BBC #7 livery for the 1978 "Hills of Heaven" movie. Much of this was shot around Bickershaw colliery. Does anyone know why He 3168 aka S134 and later "Wheldale" was taken out of store, given an identical paint job and used to film some sequences on the stump of the Methley Joint at Newmarket? The beeb must have had a huge budget for a long forgotten childrens tv programme, or, did the NCB pick up the tab as a PR exercise? Continuity anoraks could have had a field day as "#7" gained and lost a kypor chimney! 3168 retained this livery through to its much photographed final fling at Wheldale in 1981/2. This little story has fascinated me for years, can anyone shed a bit more light?

A few years ago, a relative donated a chair with a vibrating massage facility ( pause for cheap laughter) to see if it would help my ailing back. Big and tatty, it quickly fell out of favour and was disassembled to make its final journey to the tip. Mechanical curiosity led me to salvaging half a dozen 1833 type motors fitted with asymmetric flywheels. One of these found its way into Antwerp, one of my almost scratch built austerities ( the bunker was a left over from a Mercian kit). This produced a loco with quite a low top speed, not really a problem, but sadly lacking in "grunt" compared to the rest of the stable. Around the same time, I bought another pair of 1833 types from a trader in Wales. These proved to be just about the equal of the Mashima motors and, at the time, very good value at £16. Since then I have pretty much standardized on the Canon 1833.

Out of the box thinking. A circle of PCB around rhe pivot. This is divided into a series of segments. Some segments remain unpowered. Other segments are fed by the out put rail as described above. Current is collected by plunger pickups, or better still, by spring loaded carbon brushes. This would be my definite route if given the challenge of modelling Top Shed in gauge 3. There are however mechanical wizards reading this who would have a go in Z!!

T the risk of being pedantic, this looks more like the Rialto. The original Robin was a much prettier design from the Ogle studio. The name Robin has been reapplied to create a mk 111 but this would only be correct on modern image post coalfield layouts. Even more correct, would be Del Boys Regal van. In perfect near showroom condition. Whilst many older miners never bothered with learning to drive, younger ones, often encouraged by girlfriends, traded their motorcycles / scooters for a brand new Reliant which could be driven on their existing licence. On our side of the Pennines, a "Michael's of Selby" sticker probably adorned the rear window. In my own case a second hand Bond Bug filled the gap between Lambretta and Spitfire.

Impressed with IT skills!!!!

Rear ones definitely behind the axle

No, I have never quite got round to that type of engineering, unless you count the black&decker in the workmate tool. My tender locomotives have mostly used the American system of current collection and Slaters work well on the tank locos. Perhaps one day......

For the benefit of anyone contemplating a garage reroof, I am a fan of the bitumen sheets. I would suggest that the manufacturers instructions of a minimum 10 degrees and supporting rafters every 60cms are followed. I have hands on experience of sorting out two or three badly installed roofs as well as three "new build" garages. One issue is condensation after snow leading me to line the roof of my modelling corner with thin ply. If I were to start from scratch, I would copy my daughters stables which have bitumen sheets over an 11mm OSB base. The decision to raise the floor of the modelling area with a green chipboard floor has not been regretted.

Thanks. I will master the art of internet linking the week after I manage split axles and diy driving wheels......

Whilst you are being a student of pickups, have a look on"Jims 7mm workbench: Acorn BR standard 3 tank". On the first page he shows an alternate type which I have seen used effectively. In your case however, the limited space would make Slaters a better option.

I had forgotten that DCC might be a source of suitable wire, but there again, I still dream of going spring powered in scale 7.

The insulated bushes: They measure 7 mm end to end. The outside flange is 5mm across. They are slightly conical and I have a "dedicated" 9/64 drill, but you are probably safe enough with 3mm. The important thing is to achieve a snug fit that doesn't compress the bush as this will compromise the smooth action of the plunger. I do the final fit with a round file. For best results the plunger needs to contact the middle of the metal flange, hence the use of a 1mm pilot. If you go slightly large, the situation can be recovered with a drop of the gel type super glue. I have even managed to reposition a pick up after the original builder had located it exactly in line with a rim insulation band. This was due to using cast wheels instead of Slaters. Subsequent owners had tried additional wiper types but it still ran badly. Once centered on metal it runs like a watch. If people have a problem with Slaters pickups, it is almost certainly one of three issues: 1) too tight 2) off centre 3) the electrical lead is too heavy or inflexible. This final point is often overlooked. My best source is usually from salvaged phone or IT cable. It needs to be copper and multistrand. : Hopefully this helps.

I had forgotten how large the L class were, almost as big as a Hunslet 15". I have been out to the workshop and put a fold up gear box and spurious 1833 motor over the drawing from MRJ #8. I would be reasonably confident of being able to drive the rear axle with the motor vertical in the firebox. Any compromise would be limited to the cab floor around the firebox door area, easily disguised by a pair of well fed crew. The boiler is now free to be filled with lead or a length of suitable steel bar. You can now go looking for houses to pull down.

Local library?? Be patient, show what you have done so far,and with a little luck, the "public assistance person" or volunteer, may be able to point you in the direction of the person who looks after the local history /map collection. These may be now held in a larger central library. The last major prewar survey was around 1933. I too love nevverwozza lines, especially those that were built by colliery owners but never really used. These were probably an insurance scheme to prevent a pregrouping company from holding them to ransom. Good luck anyway.