Yorkshire Square

That's very effective!

One of the drawbacks of N Gauge. There is no such word as "standards" in Bachmann's dictionary...

First try out of the FPL and detector on an old Easitrac point. The rod from the detector are 0.2mm each and are pretty much welded together. I think I'll produce the detector with printed rods, but if I were using them myself, I'd be inclined to use fine wire for that element.

On their way to shop 1 some time next week, the production run of FPLs: You'll notice that the Midland one has been tweaked to include the locking stretcher and the detector cam. The other two have been developed on the same basis. As the "bog standard" FPL sits on the sole plate, I've incorporated that into the print. These will be sold at £1.20 per pair.

Thanks Jerry Yes, the plan is to do a small range including detectors, locks and maybe point motors (the real ones, not Peco style ). As I no nowt about these things, I'm waiting on some pointers from Laurie. If you have any ideas and/or prototype info, let me know. Cheers!

From the big stuff to the little stuff. I've been talking with Laurie Adams about bits and bobs like facing point locks and detectors to go with his excellent point rodding range. With a bit of spare time yesterday, I drew up a Midland economical lock and this morning, printed a few. There is a small lug beneath the plate to position the lock in relation to the timbers. Whether it's worth doing the small bar and box type locks, I don't know.

"Sorry guvnor, we've only got ham or cheese. None of that Italian rubbish on here."

Not really, I’m afraid. I plan to have some of these in PO liveries on the layout. The model in the picture was just testing some lettering ideas. The H&B had a couple of basic opens, one three plank and one five, a bit longer than the RCH example.

I finally got round to fixing the Shapeways printed van to a chassis along with a suitable weight. The chassis has my own H&BR axleboxes and 9 leaf 3'6" springs. The chassis itself is one of the older 2-330's with the brake gear rejigged using some Colin Waite etches. Having gone to all that trouble I note that although there are only two of them, the brakes are the wrong way round... Using the same artwork, I have printed some more bodies. Unlike the Shapeways item, I have printed the bodies and roofs separately. I can print four at a time and two are trimmed from their skirts. More etches of the new 2-330 are on their way from shop 2, so I will crack on with these during the week. Keeping them apart is a 1887 RCH open.

Was there not a ply version of this van?

Station canopy MK3. This features thinner columns and better prints of the canopy valances. I’ve also omitted the central columns as these seemed to be overkill for such a small structure.

In between printing axleboxes and springs for the Association shop, which seem to be horrendously modern (LNER and LMS etc..) , I've been working on some artwork for some more relevant time periods. This is my first go at something so complicated, so I'm pretty pleased with how they've come out. These are Lancashire & Yorkshire B2 oil boxes on a 3'6" five leaf spring.

It seems to be a trade off between avoid excessive suction and hence shearing from the build plate or distortion, or pixilation on the vertical planes. Once you move the vertical faces away from 90 degrees, you get an element of stepping but you increase the chances of a successful print. I’ve tried to avoid angling the print across both the x and y axes as this seems to exaggerate the effect.

I’m currently reprinting some pieces for the canopy for Hull Bridge. My first attempt, shown below, is okay, but there are a few things I think can be done better. The original columns seem too heavy. I’ve redrawn these at a smaller diameter. The trim didn’t come out as well as I’d liked. I’ll print these in a different orientation having thinned the artwork down a bit too. Finally, I have reprinted the roof trusses with simple guides to locate a tab on the top of each column to achieve a more uniform appearance.

You’re going to struggle to get that between a 8.5mm back to back...

Hi The LNER decals may be some time coming back into stock. They were passed to the Association as excess stock from a member’s own project. The printer for these is no longer in business, so we will need to find a new manufacturer (once we’ve located the artwork). Thanks for the comments on the Guard branding, we’ll see if we can accommodate that in any future prints.

New in Shop 3, some decals! The Midland ones are £3.00, the Highland are both £2.40. I'm guessing Highland coaches are smaller than Midland ones??

Hi Jim The chassis is indeed a Fencehouses one, but the instructions in the shop list for 2-358 (not 3-258) are actually by Chris Higgs where he refers to this item as a LMS 17'6" chassis. So you've done very well to get so far! I'll ask Bob if he has any instructions for this chassis and let you know. I don't know anything about the NGS body, but what are those two bits sticking out above ribs 2 and 4? They seem to be what is stopping the chassis sitting down properly.

Today I got to try out my Elegoo Mars printer for the first time. The initial trial was quite disheartening as the prints attached themselves to the clear plastic film at the base of the tank rather than to the build plate... After trawling the online forums and doing a few minor tweaks, I manage a result - several dozen sets of these L&Y 3 bolt buffers. These are printed in an "ABS like" resin and right now are very flexible. I hope that they retain a little bit of spring once fully cured. We will see. Tomorrow I'd like to try a van or two.

My old J94 was desperately in need of some new wheels. Fortunately some of the first Mk5 wheels were the 8.5mm ones with "Austerity" profiled spokes. The chassis needs new brakes and a repaint and the body would benefit from some TLC too. The way things are going, I'm likely to have plenty of time to do just that.

Both of these statements cannot be true.

But surely none of you sophisticated Europeans will want to come to the UK? Now that it is in the dark ages with no electricity, no au pairs, no foie gras, no Lithuanian strawberry pickers? A veritable cultural backwater. Nice job (try) Messrs Barnier er al...

For Julia and anyone else interested, this is the spec for the axles on the new wheels. I hope to make these available in the shop fairly soon. Loco Wheel Axle 2020 onward.pdf

I need to get the drawing for the Association archive, so I'll forward it to Julia in due course.