NCB

Hi Wayne I'm keenly anticipating the 3mm kits, so have been following developments with interest. As a means of quickly and accurately laying turnouts to 14.2mm gauge I think the kits are a game changer. I'm a bit worried about the latest changes though. I reckon swapping the common crossing casting for an all rail solution is fair enough; can't see any real disadvantages to it. However, the previous solution of supplying switch blades ready for laying and attaching to the tie bar was highly attractive and removed one of the barriers people hit when thinking of constructing track. I was wondering what the reason behind the change was. Was it simply that supplying the work completed was an extra bit of labour intensive work in the manufacturing process? Could you have another think about this? Cheers Nigel

Interesting one. The body looks like nickel silver. Is it? Didn't realise F&S kits used n/s. Nigel

A question, Jonathan. I've seen a press release for the first WRRC Cambrian drawings book (great news; my piggy bank is about to be raided ), which I believe relates to Cambrian & GWR structures. Does that mean there are still two Cambrian drawings books to come out, or just one? Thanks Nigel

Not sure at the moment. I have a sheet of alterations to do to the etch to correct the mistakes and make improvements! I don't want to think about it until I've properly completed the loco, which includes drawing up the transfers to finish it off. And I need to get some of the other projects out of the way, including the test build of a GWR signal box I've promised to do, a set of 4 of Chris Higgs' LNWR open wagons, and finish off my Rhymney Class M, which needs me to do some 3D printed fittings. Think they'll take me to beyond next Easter. But it's possible. Cheers Nigel

Garry, the ross-pop safety valve was my one and only 3D printed item drawn by me (so far), using Fusion 360 and printed by Shapeways. The dome and chimney were done some time ago by Coast Line Models, reduced for me from 4mm ones, and printed by Shapeways. I need to draw the chimney and dome for the Rhymney Class M I'm building, which means I need to crack doing stuff with a flare around the bottom. I've made a start but really need a concentrated effort, hopefully over the winter evenings, to crack Fusion 360. Nigel

My Cambrian Seaham 2-4-0T has acquired some boiler fittings. Only a few more bits needed.

Well, an LMS pacific did, Princess Margaret Rose in 1975. But the GWR did strengthen the bridge. Nigel

The bit I'd been waiting for; cleaned up the 3D printed boiler fittings and glued them on using Araldite: Only tricky bit was removing the stems on the bottom side of dome and chimney as there were no holes for them to fir into. I used a combination of drills and burrs in a Proxxon drill. The 3mm Society was out of the tank fillers I wanted, so I'll use some Pannier tank ones; not even Mike Lloyd knew what they should look like or where they should go The smokebox door was the smallest they had and even that was too large, about 11mm rather than the 10-10.4mm I wanted. As it stood it sat too low but I've filled the top a bit so that it partly slips under the handrail, and that'll have to do. Part of the problem is the handrail being too low, but it's too late to rectify. Nigel

Indeed. I had to be very careful in getting things right with my Dukedog: Nigel

Sailing ships, with tall masts.

It's a fast "outh", which then sounds like "uth".

Glad Bermo is being dumped. It always grated. Not sure that it had much of a history; think it was a rather clumsy attempt at a Welsh version of Barmouth. Believe the original name was Abermawdach, which is readily corrupted into Barmouth. But Abermaw should do.

It has a name. 14.2mm! Nothing wrong with that. And there's a lot right with it. It tells you, in general terms, what you're getting. As do 15.75mm (Irish in 3mm/ft), 21mm (Brunel GWR in 3mm/ft), and 9mm (Irish 3' in 3mm/ft). Nigel

Presumably that arrangement left more space for the inside cylinders. Nigel

See he's been considerate enough to do the holes for handrail knobs. Don't understand those who don't. Far easier to do it at the design stage rather on the finished print. Who was the designer, Garry? Nigel

The body of my Cambrian Seaham is in its final stages, just needs a few more fittings added: Nigel

Well we do have TM gauge for 13.5, the 3mm equivalent of EM. The reason for not using S3 or P4 is that they come with finer standards than we use for 14.2. Templot uses FM for 14.2, not sure where Martin got the name from. Think the reason is we have one Society dealing with all the different gauges so it's natural just to refer to the gauge. Nigel

Afraid not Try looking where you've already looked. I'm sure these things have a strategy to avoid detection.

Chris Things seem to go in phases The pic above wasn't the one I intended to post; I thought one taken from a lower angle would be better. But the battery on the camera ran down, and I couldn't find the spare, and then I couldn't find the charger either... If they don't turn up then I'm going to have to dig up a different camera. But that one, a 10 year old Panasonic G1, seems to be very good at snapping models, so it sits on a tripod waiting to be used. Nigel

Took a week to locate the chimney and dome. Couldn't find them on the very cluttered work bench, so started on various boxes and shelves, tidying up things as I went along. No joy. Finally went back and decluttered the workbench, and them found more or less where I thought they might be in the first place, in a small plastic sachet hidden under a larger plastic sachet. At least things are a lot more tidy! So, set to to fit the buffers, gluing them with Araldite: Next thing is to clean up the 3D prints. Toothpaste has been suggested. I also need to order the tank fillers and smokebox door from the 3mm Society. Nigel

Wonderful set of pictures. So much life! Excellent quality as well. When I was being brought up in Ruthin, me and a couple of friends often used to catch the bus to Wrexham to go to the swimming baths. Just before Coedpoeth the Minera branch would appear from nowhere and cross the road. Quite a distinctive scene. No trace there now.

Wonder if using a generic crossing would affect the shallowness of the reverse curve in a crossover. Nigel

I wonder how accurate the brown rain strip is. Think I'd be inclined to paint mine white, as I have done previously. Re the shallowness of the rainstrip (by shallowness I mean the curvature), looking at pics this seems to vary. Certainly some have distinctly more of a curve. Nigel

Interesting that the rainstrips are painted brown, and rather shallower than I'd have thought. I know some but not all Dean coaches had the area below the rainstrips painted brown, but if they weren't then I assumed that the rainstrip would be painted white.

In my 3mm/ft layout I deliberately put in a 32" radius curve in one siding as a means of testing stock; 32" was the minimum I was aiming for. All my locos managed it, including a GWR 42XX 2-8-0T. Templot gives 32.3" as the minimum internal radius of a B6, so I'd be reasonably comfortable with using a B6. A main consideration to me in using a B7 is not so much the question of individual turnouts but to obtain a shallower reverse curve in crossovers; I used body-mounted couplings (B&B) on coaches and this mattered. As regards steam locomotives I'm confident B6 would be OK. One consideration with the BF point kit is that it should be possible to assemble them to consistent standards, which should aid good running. Scratch-built turnouts (like mine!) are more prone to minor variations; I'm sometimes puzzled as to why mine work as well as they do Nigel