doilum

Someone will advise a way forward with the magazine components but I followed the current common practice of converting to 10ba crankpins. The rods are retained by a tapped Slater's bush to which the return crank can be soldered. The wheels are tapped and the crankpins doubly secured on the centre wheels with a second shortened and tapped bush. A drop of Loctite ensures it all stays fixed.

But not if it looks like bauxite. From memory, whilst the vast majority of Yorkshire internal wagons were black, there were some steel 16 and 21 tonners in the kind of red that only Triang could have mixed. I have a feeling that these had been rehomed from the Durham pits as they closed.

After a close visual inspection try a shiny screwdriver or two on the rail joints. If things dramatically improve you have found the culprit. Time to learn the black art of soldering!

Building with 2x1 and Sundeala was how, aged 10, I learned the carpentry skills from my father that have served me for 55 years.

Could this be the escort popular model? This was a stripped out version of the MK2 with rubber mats and little else. To save money Ford used the standard wiring loom so that it was possible to add your own upgrades later.

I have solved my own question. The book was " The last years of coal mining in Yorkshire" by Steve Grudgings, a mammoth personal photo essay. And, guess what? The present ladders were part of the 1971 rebuild!

Sort of. They were simple ladders that curved round the tank top. By the time of the final fling at Wheldale they had developed the raised hand rail extension which is the loco's signature feature. The Preserved British Steam Locomotives website has a series of photos that illustrate the change. It appears that it lost its ladders during the 1971 rebuild and the ones seen in 1981 are a new fabrication. There is photo somewhere that shows S134 in store at Allerton Bywater colliery in the mid 70s. She is painted in a dull crimson base coat which suggests that the full rebuild across the road at Area Workshops was never quite finished. It would be interesting to see if the ladders are fitted. ( I would be grateful if anyone who knows this image would let me know of the source,). That said, it is the only local austerity with ladders although S112 (the 50550) and several of the 15" Hunslet had a footplate to tank top vertical hand rail on the right side only.

Agree with the basic point, but it depends on the quality of the plywood. A sheet of decent birch ply (smooth cut & no nasty splinters ) will be at least double that. Plywood prices seem to fluctuate like petrol and it is worth looking again in a few months time if they seem a bit rich at present. The quality of material stocked by the big DIY stores is also variable and it pays to be brave enough to walk away if you are not happy with their current stock.

Sorry , having a thick day!!!

Please explain the extra length. Surely they are rebated to be flush with the end face of the board? For the record, I am in the male at on end and female at the other camp. On Frydale they carry the current from the busbars too.

The level of engineering depends on how you power the bridge. If you accept the need for the " big hand in the sky", a simple bushed pivot bolt and counter weight should do the trick. If however, you intend the bridge to float in the air propelled by hidden cables or motors, a substantial bearing structure will be required, probably sourced from a scrapped car. This is a really good idea and deserves developing.

I hadn't thought of this before, but the hosepipe arrangement probably explains the bespoke ladders fitted to S134 and retained in preservation as "Wheldale".

The hosepipe filling S134 was needed as Wheldale had been dieselized for a couple of years when Hunslet arranged their efficiency trial in the autumn of 1981. The harsh winter that followed saw steam in service until the following September as the diesels failed.

This is very typical of the facility in most of my local collieries. The tank is an old boiler looking at the end plates. A Google image search for Wheldale colliery/ austerity / Diana should show something similar. This is the arrangement I modelled on Frydale. A photo is included under Sergeant Pepper.

Or just tin one surface with the 40W iron using 145 degree solder.....

Or you can play around with an empty cornflakes box and a pair of scissors and masking tape.

I had forgotten about that source. Mine came via a Vauxhall main dealer in 36x12 lengths pre treated. Amazing stuff.

Currently demolishing a large shed 23x15' for a neighbour. It has been recycled at least three times and was originally built, probably in the 1960s, from reclaimed floorboards. These would be pitch pine and are amazingly straight. A new life as a hay barn awaits them! Sadly, once common in reclamation yards these are getting harder to find. Machine cut ply is the only way to achieve permanently straight timber today. If you have the transport and are willing to travel, useful ply offcuts are to be found on the internet. Some years ago I built a large club layout having found a local door manufacturer who sold the 6x 96" 6mm birch ply offcuts at 50p a length. Ok, this was thirty years ago but there is still industrial waste to be had.

One advantage of the wooden girder system ( apart from weight and cost) over 4x,2 is that the plywood can be cut dead straight. The soft wood can be "corrected" to the straight edge making a very true girder. A good wood yard or helpful B&Q will rip a sheet of plywood into accurate 150mm strips free of charge.. A budget alternative would be to take two 150mm strips of hardboard and space them using 2x1 softwood too create an eight foot beam. Total cost around a fiver each.

Using the previous advice mock it up in card board. When happy, construct the basic shape in Plastikard reinforcing the inside of the joints . When complete set aside and complete the main sides. This will allow you to set the lines of slates or tiles so that they align all the way round the roof. It may be easier to do all the tiling in situ completing one row at a time all the way round. Don't forget the leaded gullies!

Not quite there yet. She needs a final chassis build with brakes and pick ups before I set the quartering design with Loctite.

Perhaps the topic has evolved away from the original post. I would suggest that the garage / workshop simply needs bright safe lighting. The layout can then have its own bespoke lights, preferably installed before scenic work commences. The alternative, if the layout is to fill the space, and height allows, is to install a translucent suspended ceiling in the style of Pendon. There are one or two layouts ( including a superb 2mm coastal terminus whose name escapes me) that run a 24 hour timetable with matching lighting.

A goods yard (unlike an old colliery) should not really be too muddy as it would have made operations difficult. Best bet might be to sand back the high spots and apply a level layer of fine sand or chinchilla dust. This can be painted in line with local stone surface dressing. Gordon Gravett is the go to author on roads and similar surfaces.

But you don't have to get dressed and go out at 11:30pm when you realise that you have left them on!

Replaced all mine with new 4' LED battens from Screwfix. Only regret was not doing it five years ago.