NCB

Looks very smooth!

Looks excellent. Couple of questions. Have you checked it using the Society's 14.2mm fine scale track gauge? Just from the pictures my guess is that it would be fine. Out of interest, do the shortest timbers match the plain track base sleepers for length? The latter are scale 9' but with markings to reduce them to 8'6" length. So not a big problem if they don't. Nigel

Took some time off the signal box and cracked on with this. Fitted the handrail on the smokebox front; hope it clears the door but can't check as I'm not sure where I put the door casting! Also fitted the pipe from the cab to the smokebox. Here's the result: Then had a go at fitting the cab handrails. These are meant to be 0.5mm nickel silver soldered to thin fingers which project into the cab opening from the tank and bunker sides. No joy! I tried a number of approaches, but my dodgy right hand meant I couldn't position them and solder them up accurately; with two good hands it would have been fairly simple. Think I'm giving up on this. Being in the cab opening rather than stuck onto the sides they aren't too obvious anyway. Unless I change my mind, that's all the soldering down. Yipee! I've a bit of filling to do, mainly the corner of the flanges at the tops of the tanks, and gaps at the base of the smokebox; thinking of using Milliput. And I need to add lead to the tanks and check balancing and running. Not sure which I'll do first. Nigel

Like the look of these. From the pics there looks to be a well thought out means off attaching the switch blades to the tie bar. These combined with the existing plain track should give a very straight forward way of getting started in 14.2mm gauge.

I quite like the smell of Plastic Weld. In fact I use it in preference to other stuff wherever I can for that reason However, I do use it in quite limited sessions and don't hang around in the same room afterwards. Nigel

I've been building compensated locos in 3mm/ft scale for quite a long time. Early on I decided that the conventional approach of fitting hornblocks to the chasses for the moving axles was a waste of time, difficult to do accurately, and prone to problems; simple rectangular slots in the chasses were good enough. And so it proved. Others have found the same. Admittedly my models aren't subject to endless running round radius 2 type curves. But slots in a hefty cast chassis should be fine. Nigel

Some years ago was on Caersws station; the dmu had broken down and we were waiting for a replacement to arrive from Machynlleth. Took a look at the main roof. Was surprised to see the tiles had been covered with felt. Presumably this was one way to solve roof problems. The driver of the replacement wasn't hanging about; the descent from Talerddig to Cemmaes Road is etched on my memory.

Here's the underside of Aberdovey canopy: I think using planking then laying felt and/or tiles on top was fairly common. Aberdovey used tiles but there might be felt underneath. Nigel

Useful pics. Wonder if the corrugated iron is a recent addition. The Cambrian become quite fond of the corrugated stuff, but I suspect when Newtown was built then either tarred felt or tiles would have been used. Interesting the similarity in style of the station building with Aberdovey. Newtown was built after the Cambrian Railways was formed; it's possible Aberdovey (then at Pwllheli) was as well. Nigel

Other end and the rear: Nigel

Well, you did ask. One end and the front: Nigel

The station building on my 3mm layout Port Aeron was "inspired" by Aberdovey. But compressed, built in stone, no fancy stonework around the windows, and a canopy based on Dunster: In 1982 I took a number of pics of Aberdovey, just before the canopy was finally removed and it was converted into holiday accommodation. Here's a couple of general ones: Nigel

Another who relies on an outdoor shed for airbrushing! My problem is that my shed blew down a couple of years ago (it can get quite windy 600' above the Rheidol valley)! Alternative arrangements are in planning but it could take quite a few months to put them in effect. Nigel

Latest stage: No difference? Not really. But now everything is soldered in place. I had intended to add the smokebox handrail first, but after bending a boiler handrail decided it would be too vulnerable to my ham-fisted methods! The soldering went quite easily, first the prongs in the cab from the firebox, then the smokebox front base, then the firebox cab join, finally the boiler-smokebox join. Some cleaning up is needed. I now need to add the smokebox - cab pipe and the cab handrails, at which point all the soldering will be complete. However, I'll be leaving this for 2-3 weeks, as I have a laser-cut signal box kit I've promised to do the test build of.

Thought the HD Castle green was pretty good, just like the Castles I used to see on the Swindon/Stroud/Gloucester line in the 1950s. Locos seen in the death throes of steam aren't a good guide to what went before. Nigel

Battered but survived! Was only in one night, which surprised me; they normally look at me and think decrepit old git, maybe don't let him out too early! Started on the handrails. The holes in the knobs need clearing out and enlarging. I found this very fiddly and several knobs shot off into space, to the point I was in danger of running out. Finally I hit on sticking the knob in a pin vice, and putting that in turn in a bench vice, so that the knob was rock steady. I intended to use 0.4mm nickel silver rod for the handrails, so used a 0.45mm rod held in another pin vice to open up the hole. Similar problem feeding handrail rod through the knobs, until I hit on the idea of using the above technique for that. I cut some over-length rod and put a right angled bend in one end to stop the knobs sliding off, then fed the rod through the knob held in the pin vice, with the same again for the second knob. Another bend on the other end secured the knobs on the rod. I was hoping to use my fine-tipped soldering iron to solder the knobs into the boiler holes, but the heat in the boiler tube dispersed too rapidly, so I used my new medium-tipped iron. This did the job but with rather a lot of solder scattered around, which had to be cleaned off. Also, Antex irons now seem to come with the tips ready tinned; I don't know what they use, but it has a nasty smell and produces a black crud when in use. I used a U shaped bit of 0.7mm rod to act as a spacer between handrails and boiler when soldering. Finally, I trimmed the handrails to length and cleaned up the boiler. Here it is with another test assembly of it on the locomotive. Before fixing the boiler I need to add the smokebox front handrail, and also remove a bit from the underside of the boiler to make space for the motor and gearbox. Nigel

Good video on that link.

A modern moderately high resolution digital camera with a slide scanning attachment and an appropriate lens is probably what I'd use these days. In the past I've used an Epson 3170 Photo scanner, which I still use for scanning prints, at which it is excellent. Wasn't so happy with slides, but that may be my slides. Drum scanning used to be at the high end of commercial scanning; suspect it still is. Maybe send a few off to a selected outlet and see how they turn out.

Saw the reference to the time-lapsed video, but couldn't find the video itself. Nigel Edit: had a look at the page source and managed to extract the link to the video.

Here's a pic of the work, with location: https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/6860973 Also a pic of a silent Machynlleth station: https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/6860945 Doesn't take long for the railheads to get rusty. Hadn't realised that the signal box had gone, and the old goods shed. Nigel

Think HD only started to vary the numbers when the 2-rail versions came out. I wasn't knocking Triang. The LMS 3F was a very nice model and I wanted one. It was the sort of thing which Hornby didn't seem interested in. The B12 was another.

Don't think 3-rail was really the problem. It was robust. You get get it out, lay it on the carpet, no complex wiring needed, and it worked reliably. And next time you could do the same and try a different layout into the bargain. The 2-rail track available didn't look any better, even though it had the correct number of rails, and the individually sleepered track which came along had no ballast. Remember a lot of people didn't have room to lay the track down permanently, and if you did you lost the play value of changing the layout. Track only really starts to look good if layed down permanently, properly painted and ballasted. At least the 3-rail track had ballast. Your comment about price is a bit strange. I explicitly mentioned that point.

I suspect these shots are fairly underexposed, and don't give a correct impression of the actual green. Having said that, I've a feeling that Bachmann do GWR and BR greens best.

Marketing. Triang, by their background, had some understanding of the market potential of model railways in the 1950s, what customers were out there, what sort of products would sell, what the prices needed to be. Hornby was stuck in a 1930s mentality where model trains were superior toys purchased by well-to-do families. My brother was bought the HD around 1950; it was scarce and the only local source was the local electrician's shop. I took it over a few years later but at the prices charged my parents were strongly resistant to buying more stuff for it. In contrast my friend down the road had Triang, which was reasonably attractive, affordable, offered products I envied, and was available in local toy shops. I bought a Triang bridge and elevated piers rather than the HD one, and other bits and pieces. HD added products slowly and failed to realise their potential. They were slow to produce different versions of the same model, so ended up with stocks of unsold castings. Once they moved off the familiar ground of 3-rail they came unstuck. They were a classic example of a British company which failed to adapt to a post-war world. HD might have been better sticking with 3-rail. It was part of their identity, robust track, easy to use on which trains ran well; they could have made the third rail less obvious. They could have put more resources into expanding the types of locomotives, and improved plastic rolling stock, and more scenic accessories like stations. The system was crying out for development, but in the right direction. HD had clear advantages over Triang. The locomotives had presence, valve gear was much better. I treated myself to a 3-rail 2-6-4T recently (I'd always wanted one) and was impressed by how nice a model it was. The system had possibilities but Hornby didn't have a clue.

Went back and checked the handrail knob holes. Found on one side I'd got them too far forwards so drilled some more. Think it's now OK. Off on Friday to sample the delights of Prince Philip Hospital, Llanelli, for a routine op (bladder and kidney stones), so that's probably the last bit of modelling I can manage for a week or so.