Yorkshire Square

As I understand it they're all different diameter axles and the length over pinpoints aren't the same either. You end up with items that are only suitable for a specific model or a small group of models. Frustrating to say the least.

I had a productive couple of days om the Roadshow stand at York. The plan was to finish painting some wagons and make a start on lettering. It went better than I might have expected, but now I need to get couplings fitted to the remaining stock.

Polo's??? 😉

Hi Simon There are various reasons that factor into the decision: Many of the items are N Gauge and thus unsuitable. Many of the items are duplicates of products already offered by the Association. If we introduce items into the shops, we need to be fairly certain that that they will sell in reasonable quantities and that we can maintain the supply in future (after any initial stock acquired has been sold). Often many of the tools (casting or etching) feature mixes of products such that to acquire item A, you end up with items B, C and D too. The Association has moved away from this approach in recent years ensuring that we have dedicated tooling for individual items. While this is more costly at the outset, it is more efficient thereafter. Most importantly, the process is long and arduous and needs members to volunteer to undertake the work involved. This is likely to involve inspecting bulk bags of parts, identifying them, assessing their suitability, identifying the tooling for them and recording this information (along with considerations as to other parts on the tool), possibly making the tooling good for future production, cataloguing parts, pricing them and shipping them to shops. The Etched Pixels work was enormous, fell on the shoulders of two or three individuals and ultimately yielded a relatively small number of parts. The owner of Etched Pixels was very helpful and accommodating, but there was still substantial work required by Association members. If members feel that there are parts that the Association should stock, they need to make the Product Development Office aware and be prepared to be assist in the development and production of those parts. I hope this helps. Tony Simms Sales Officer

How did you get on with stainless steel Westinghouse, Bob? They were a bit of an experiment and I was sort of disappointed when they came back from the printers. Having said that, it looks the part on your loco, along with all the other fittings. Nice work!

Are you wanting them for locomotive motion rods? Try 3-129 crankpin washers 0.6mm bore or 3-140 motion pin washers 0.3mm bore.

Please bear in mind that while a shopkeeper might be able to acknowledge receipt of your order, they might not be able to fulfil it straightway due to other commitments. I would say that a turnaround time of 7-10 days is not unreasonable. All of the shopkeepers and most everyone who keep the Association going are volunteers. I'm sure you will all hear from Bill in the fairly near future - he's not been in touch to say there are issues. Tony Simms Sales Officer

I always thought you had a screw loose. Now I know you have! 😆 Seriously, that's one hell of a piece of engineering. Wouldn't it have been simpler and cheaper to move the loft ladder, though? 🙂

We'll definitely be at Doncaster. Do call and see us if you attend!

As already mentioned our own 2FS turnouts are manufactured by British Finescale. I have always found Wayne to be supportive and very prompt in his response times. Plus we get products to the same high standard as his own Finetrax N products. I wouldn't want to dissuade the OP from asking questions, but we seem to see this type of thread quite frequently. My simple synopsis is: Happy with okay running and so-so appearance - stick with Peco etc. Would like better running and appearance, but don't particularly want to convert proprietary rolling stock or scratchbuild/kitbuild stock - upgrade to Finetrax N. Want high quality running and appearance and are prepared to convert stock or scratch/kit build - welcome to 2FS. Tried and test track/wheel standards and multiple options for track construction. If you want to start altering existing standards, fine, but you'll be plowing a lonely furrow and it would be a good idea to get an idea how some of the existing systems work before jumping in feet first.

Not a lot got done over the Christmas break as I seem to have acquired a raging cold and chest infection. The DASing did get finished though and is just about coloured to my satisfaction. There was an awful lot of cleaning up to do, particularly along check rails and through crossings. I'm pretty pleased with the way it has turned out, especially as only a month ago I didn't know exactly how I was going to do it. Happy New Year!

Could do with longer tails - a bit of wire maybe?

Oh. My. Giddy. Aunt. I'm not quite sure what I'm doing here, but I'm doing it anyway. I'm sure it will turn out okay in the end. Maybe... 🤣 Thank you to Ant Yeates for the inspiration and Andy Hanson for the DAS!

Our last order was c £11,000.00. It's not just the raw material, the production involves multiple draws of the metal to achieve the required profile.

Tim Check the gear size - I vaguely recall that the newer Deltic models have 15T gears which would fit with Kevin's observation. While you could use 3-301, the 6mm wheels are undersize being mainly for DMU units. I suppose it depends on what you planning on doing to the loco itself (ride height etc) and whether more prototypical 7mm wheels would be better. If you need 7mm wheels with 15T gears, drop me an email. Tony