BWsTrains

I'm just a glutton for punishment!

My suspicion is it doesn't matter. Do I get my 5 Quid this time? (or more shame and embarrassment heaped upon me!)

This is the "lost" photo AFAIK. It was of interest in these parts as I revisit the best location for my starters in a "between the tracks" situation on UH.

see my PM about British Finescale 3D printed turnout kits.

That is tight, the switch blade of the forward turnout (at far left) appears to reach back right to the check rail of the next turnout and similarly on the frog side. It's like they needed every mm of that siding length.

I thought that the recent SVR Spring announcement shows what a vibrant former steam culture remains available there. Be grateful for what good fortune you have, I reckon. It could have been far less. Our trips on the WSR, SVR and Mallaig lines remain some of the best memories of the last decade when back in Old Blighty.

I found an old lump of lead # which had been used to weight down a swimming pool ladder, as one did in the old days. A few kilos worth which should see me right for a while ##. I hope they watched their pool pH so not to suffer the Roman fate! # I assume, anyway. I guess it could have been depleted Uranium, I've often wondered about the faint glow in the railway room at night 😈 ## recently I've moved on to using coated iron shot of which I also have a large free supply

More Testing and Fitting All the uncoupler installs have now been thoroughly tested and the remaining four fitted into the Creamery and Tannery sidings. As I've done more work on testing all my individual stock items I've become familiar with the best way to operate them and am very happy with how it's turned out. As to individual freight wagons and vans, I've decided that the diverse PO and Big Four open wagons will mostly be "standalone" for now, i.e. I can shunt and mix any combination, minimum unit of one. That may change once I settle into running a full schedule of Ops but for now it leaves me more flexibility / challenges. For Covered Wagons and Vans I've decided to pool these into designated groups of two or three to travel / shunt together # . This simplifies the task of providing damping to axles as a weighted rake weighing in at 100-150g should not give problems with unwanted uncoupling. It also saves on the fitting of Kadees to the insides of rakes. For now I can leave them with tension locks. NPCCS of which there will be several, all will be standalone, the majority remain in their packs awaiting winter assembly, (which winter I'm not saying 😎) I've got about another week's work of completing weighting, damping and checking Kadee installs before I can move back to work on the station precinct. # ultimately these will comprise the unit modules in a card system for deciding Goods train compositions, as per Hintock Jct. Colin

I think its expansion / contraction of the layout superstructure you should focus on. The answer primarily depends on movements in relative humidity and the materials you use to build the structure. Even the hardest of commercial timbers will shrink and expand as relative humidity changes, softwoods are far worse. Some high quality laminates might provide a solution but at a cost. Where we live never gets prolonged humidity UK style but our (very) hardwood timber framed house still moves around swelling and contracting with the seasons, enough to give us the occasional crack in plaster board. Laid on a timber frame, even fractions of a mm have the potential to mess with your track. I'll send you a link (PM) to give you an example of how catastrophic it can be for layout design.

"You call that savings?" (with apologies to Crocodile Dundee). I switched two separate insurance policies recently for multiple reasons, cost being the major, arrogance a very close second, total contempt for the customer third and saved myself in XS of Two Grand (AUD); "That's Savings". Fat chance I'll see one cent of that going to Railway Modelling though, so I guess that puts you ahead in the main game! 😞

I've seen several reports from modellers who on choosing an outside building or even a loft, were later dogged by all sorts of climatic problems. There are some well known names caught out in this way. For example fluctuating humidity causing timber warping; glasshouse in summer, freezing in winter etc., Climate control can add up front and unexpected extras (e.g laying in power), ongoing running costs, best to research all aspects carefully if going this route. Colin

A friend of mine suggested using desoldering braid but I've never had that much joy myself. At least if you can melt the solder it "should" wick into the braid rather than spreading elsewhere.

You're very welcome to come and have a play with mine to break that "evil cycle" 4869 Running Session Weather rather better than in Old Blighty right now (or just about any time TBH) 😎 Colin

Posted in error Colin.

It strikes me as bizarre that someone sells off their "failures" and yet it seems you can't find the undoubted successes being offered somewhere at higher prices to great fanfare. Must be some new business model I've not heard of! 👾

Yup! I've tried various methods and the old cheapie Coles Generic Hair spray rattle can is the best. Probably its best use TBH 😈

It looks superb. Meanwhile, assuming it is really meant to be a "spot the bus" comp, I claim my 5 quid, having spotted 8 buses on bridges in pic no 2. There were other strays elsewhere dotted around in other pics but I ignored those. Colin

Except make them bend around curves in space. 😎

Great Win indeed but I've one thing that's always been a slight niggle for me on the Dapol/Rails model viz. the direct DCC socket which AFAIK rules out adding a Stay Alive without major structural re-engineering. In my experience, even with the best, cleanest and most level track, sound projects will reset on the faintest interruption to power. I always add a small Stay Alive to my projects as per the supplier's recommendations and get virtually no issues. Let us know how you go once you gain more experience with your lovely new machine. Colin

They'd need a very long cable to be able to communicate back to Earth from the facing side!

As with the layout itself, that last pic shows the outstanding planning which has gone into your entire project, bravo!

Checking everything Works! I've had my fair share of helpful encouragement from @john dew to test everything thoroughly before gluing anything down and ballasting. These last two days, that sound advice has rewarded greatly! First to Turnouts. I thought they'd had a good workout by Grandson James and issues resolved ( one frog polarity needing to be reversed) but when I started testing Uncouplers I immediately found a dead section thanks to a dry soldered joint. The British Finescale kits require the builder to solder together the switch/ stock rail pairs for 100% connectivity and one of these joins had failed on a very early build I'd completed. First up recheck every one of my kit builds. All were sound electrically and I could see nothing but clean soldered connection to the rails. To test everything more thoroughly would involve pulling it all up, risking unplanned damage in the process. Hence, I contented myself with developing a repair plan should ever one of these joins fails in future. Next to Uncouplers I have a mix of own built and the Kadee under-track (#308) devices installed, all have worked very well as has been shown in earlier videos but I wanted to do a thorough testing of the home built ones (the majority) for any unanticipated issues. Uncoupling and delayed uncoupling all worked very well but then I hit a snag. I'd always tested pulling forward with 3 or 4 wagons in tow and rarely hit a issue. The present testing regime was more thorough and after a few runs with a bigger load I discovered that a single wagon or van however well weighted would uncouple, even at speeds above those I'd use. I recalled reading here about damping an axle to prevent this and hence gave it a try. The test was with the Parkside Beetle Prize Cattle Wagon, weighted to 65g. A strip of dense 10mm foam on a cardboard backing was cut into a 10mm strip and a small section inserted under one axle of the wagon. There was no detectable increase in load on the loco (via Ammeter) but the effect at very slow speed (Speed step #5 of 128) was dramatic. No more stuttering but smooth running and not a sign of an inclination to uncouple. Mission accomplished. The video illustrates the results of the tests.

Uncanny resemblance as well! 😈

I see that Accurascale are acquiring the Hattons Originals Toolings, progressively over 2024 Accurascale acquire Hattons Toolings Maybe that gives some hope for a 48xx class based on this comment deep down in the post "Other former Hattons tooling (sic) have also joined the Accurascale line up and news on those models will be revealed later in 2024. "

Hi Jeff, Good to hear from you and hoping your new project starts firing your interest again. Colin