Dave John

Thats a cracking bit of film 7tunnel, thanks for posting. ( I know its a bit off pre grouping Mikkel, but I'm sure the practices shown in the film go way back before the grouping)

Agreed Hayfield, that is a serious design / manufacturing issue. The outer glass has clearly not been sufficient to provide adequate containment. An issue worth taking further for sure.

When you say that the bulb "exploded" do you mean that something inside went bang with sufficient force to destroy the outer casing of the bulb and spread debris over a distance? If so then that is a serious design or manufacturing issue which I would certainly report back to the shop so that the matter could be relayed back up the supply chain to the actual manufacturers of the components that went into it, wherever they may be. I have had a number of LED lamps fail over the years with what was reported as an audible bang. On examination it was found that this was invariably due to failure of capacitors, dielectric failure leading to rapid localised heating and the resultant pop, though none ruptured the outer casing of the lamp. I suspect that mass manufacture in prc with lower quality control is the issue, though difficult to prove. I estimate that I have fitted well in excess in of 5000 LED lamps and LED light fittings over the last few years and when examined after failure it is nearly always the driver electronics ( particularly capacitors ) that fail rather than the LEDs themselves.

Sound on model railways tends to be a bit of a contentious issue. Some folk love it, others hate it. I’m not sure. Many would advocate the dcc and on board sound route, when done well I’d agree it can be very impressive. Well, it could be if anyone starts doing sound chips for CR locos. A decade or so back I had a go with dcc. No technical issues, I got it all to work but I really didn’t like it. My mistake was probably to use a Bachmann dynamis controller. I just didn’t get on with peering at a tiny lcd screen instead of watching the trains. My preference is for a simple hand held controller with a rotary knob and a proper direction switch which I can use without having to look at it or keep the controller pointing at the base station. ( I dug it out earlier this year to see if it was worth bothering with and discovered it has now packed up. Oh well. ) But what do I want from sound? Most of the time I am observing trains from a scale 100 yards or more. I would hear whistles, perhaps the heavier exhaust beats and some rail squeal, perhaps buffers clanking during shunting. These would be in the background of all the sound generated in the urban environment, a horse and cart on a cobbled road close to me would be much louder than a train in the distance. The highly detailed sound files for dcc now available might be right if you are very close to a model, but they don’t seem to scale well over a normal viewing distance. At least thats the impression I get from seeing them at exhibitions. Anyway, a while back I came across this; http://www.icstation.com/voice-playback-module-sound-module-music-player-voice-broadcast-device-development-board-arduino-p-6148.html It’s the price of a fish supper, so I bought a couple on spec. Tests show that it works exactly as it should, put 10 sounds on a micro sd, switch a pin down to 0v and the chosen sound plays. Here is a pic of it on the bench with a twin infra red detector board. ( I could post the circuit diagram of the board, but there are probably simpler solutions. I just happened to have the bits to do it that way) So, what about the sounds. Ah, my record. Well, this record; I have recorded the whole thing into a computer file then split it up into identifiable bits using a program called audacity. Still messing about a bit with the files to get a good clean sound. The idea works, I could have two types of whistle triggered by the IR gates then the rest called at random intervals. something like that. I do know that there are a lot of fancy things out there, sound cards that are dcc addressed and so on. My thinking behind this is that it is a very cheap project, if I decide I really don’t like ambient sound at all then I haven’t wasted a lot of money.

I have often wondered why LOCO COAL wagons were so marked by all the pre grouping companies and your guess that money was involved seems correct. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coal-tax_post From which; "The railway companies were initially allowed some coal free of duty for their engines." The wiki concentrates on London and suggests that the taxes were stopped in 1890 but I'm wondering whether some general tax exemptions for locomotive coal succeeded them. Anyway, I had never heard of Coal Tax Posts, so I have learned something today.

I have used Scale link diamond etches for a variety of projects over the years. I have always found them to be a good clean etch and they do a useful selection of sizes.

Hmm, all this modern image stuff with lamps just above the buffer beam. Spare a thought for us trying to model the Caledonian. Lamps were on the cabsides, smokebox top and rear bunker or tender, with a lens to both the front and rear and had a rotating filter so that either lens could show a white, green or red lamp. For example an ordinary passenger train would show a green to the right and a white to the left in the direction of travel, reds to the rear and a red on the end of the train. Add to that a route indicator with 64 theoretically possibly positions centrally on the smokebox top or bunker/tender lamp iron. ( read Operating the Caledonian by Jim Summers , there are pages of diagrams ) Knowing this and being able to model it are two entirely different worlds. I have had a go. I messed about with hooks and magnets. The hook bit sort of works, but I have to take the loco off the layout and put it on the bench with a good light, the right specs and a pair or tweezers to swap them round. Then they fall off as you try and put the loco back on the track. And vanish . harumpff...... Problem is I have an end to end layout not a roundy one. So I just have to accept that my lamp codes are right for an official train movement, but incorrect for getting a train back to the other end kind of movement. I did try and make a lamp with a pair of rgbw leds back to back. Hmm, thats 7 wires out of each lamp. If I ever move up to gauge 1 it might be a solution. So I am left with a compromise. I'd agree, correct lamps do add to a layout. Getting it right half the time is better than none of the time, but until one of us cracks the problem and finds a really neat and tidy solution to swapping correctly coloured lamps round I'm just going to have to live with being wrong half the time.

My thinking too regularity, but I'd have to think of a way of fixing it so it could be removed. Another magnet project probably.

Agreed Mikkel, that gable end does seem too angular. I also stretched the photo to fit so that the abutments between the gables are too long, the valley gutters would sit too low as a result. Definitely needs some rework. The Kelvin valley was used as power for many mills long before the railways and the development of the West end. Most vanished but remnants remain. Indeed, it was very rural until the second half of the nineteenth century. http://www.woodsideonline.org.uk/heritage/industry-factories-and-shops/flint-mill/ Something neutral, but in period and tapering down in height towards the boundary wall of the old estate.

Thanks Ian, that is the sort of thing. I will take a camera next time I am over that way, see if there is an uncluttered bit.

I have been sorting out the western end of the layout so the boards have been wheeled out for access. Getting a bit chilly this time of year so pvas do take a while to dry for the scenic stuff. Anyway, a few pics of that corner. I’m not entirely happy with the brick gable end of the factory. I keep an eye open for something more suitable but as ever its the problem of getting a good square on photo of it. At least the trains are running again.

Well, enjoy another build. I saw "Argyle Street" and thought someone was building the station three to the east from mine, but the CR version would be a bit limited.

Caledonian Railway, Grampian Corridor Stock. As paul suggests these were heavy weight coaches for a prestige service. Kits are available from Caley Coaches.

Hi Richard, The brick arches are cut on the silhouette from 20 thou to match the embossed plasticard walls. Technically the walls should be scottish bond , 3+1 but nobody makes it. I have tried scribing it on the silhouette but it doesn't work well. more experiments needed.

A late night train of thought, I wonder how long I will remain a subject Hroth. I am now for income tax ( whatever the genes might suggest ) a Scottish taxpayer, though still a UK taxpayer for VAT. For Baccy duty I appear to be Belgian, but perhaps we should keep that to ourselves. Perhaps my Kelvinbank project will get moved to the continental section of RMweb. Ok , trains. There is a delightful short article by Ronnie Cockburn in the TTL this month. I summarise. Describes a train of wagons of wagon components for Bengal sent from Pickerings of Wishaw via Queens dock. A route not advertised on the scenic posters of the Caledonian. The train consisted of 32 wagons ( the wagon numbers are in the article) from the CR, NB, GNR, GWR, GER, LNWR, NER and of all things the LBSCR. That has cheered me up no end, sod politics, I can build wagons to my hearts content.

Time and weight for laminating styrene. I use revell contacta which is not instant then put the laminated parts between 2 flat surfaces , add a lot of weight and leave it for at least a day, preferably two. For very fine glazing bars I just scribe with a silhouette, and use the whole thing as the base layer for a wall. The walls on this box are effectively 5 laminations thick at the brick, embossed, 20 thou and 3 10 thou. Oh and just for a bit of fun my youthful attempt at a co bo hasn't warped either Clive, made in styrene in the 1970s. Looks ok from about 6 foot away....

Years ago I had the same dilemma. I had decided that I wanted to have a go at modelling pre-grouping Caledonian. Did someone say masochist ? Anyway, I knew a wee bit about the CR, specifically how they laid the track. 8' 11 1/2 " sleepers , the correct spacings for running and at joints every 30 foot. I also knew a bit about interleaved sleepers for pointwork, I had drawings and a few pics in a book. What I didn't have was modelling confidence. I had built layouts in N and made some pointwork but there was of course the appeal of OO to get things up and running . So I bought some rail and track parts. And I bought some OO track and a point. I bought some wagon kits from what was then model wagon company and built a couple with OO wheels and a couple with proper EM wheels, Keen Maygib. Name from the past. I stuck my first go at EM built to the dimensions specified by the CR and the very bad first go at a interleaved sleeper point to a plank. I stuck the bit of OO with a point next to it. I trundled my wagons along. Then I picked up some books with photos of the CR. I propped the books next to my test plank and squinted at it all. Compare and contrast. Which one actually looked like the track in the books from the same angles ? I gave the whole thing a very hard looking at. Its your choice in the end and depends entirely on what you want to build. But don't compare one bit of track against another, compare them both to the prototype.

No apologies needed, we all get bogged down with RL. I stopped using cyanos anywhere near glazing a while back having made a mess of it all. I now use glue and glaze which does not frost stuff and can be wiped off with a wet cotton bud.

Very nice Ruston. It has been an interesting build to follow, quite an difficult prototype but that has come out well.

Safety of a sort Mikkel. These boxes had a small timber built toilet at the back. I don't have a good photo of the real one, but this is based on the drawing and some photos of other boxes. That determined the position of the internal door. The roof is paper slates cut by silhouette with flashings from the type of self adhesive lead foil that anglers use for weighting flies.

Thanks all. Well, I did consult the signalling book Compound since I didn't want to have them just randomly set. Hopefully it is set for through running, though I'm out of my depth a bit with signalling. At least I didn't paint any levers yellow. I cheated for the floor down the sdjr. A search of the net yields hundreds of pictures of wooden floors, mainly from firms wishing to sell them. I chose one, put it into affinity and scaled it to give me 4" scale planks, adjusted the colour a bit then printed it out on matte photo paper. A spot of photo sealer then its just stuck down with glue and glaze which I find sticks paper well to plasticard if you give the latter a rub over with sandpaper first.

There we are , a completed signal box. I am happy with the way it turned out, a fair amount of modelling involved. So some shots of the box in general. I have tried to make the inside reasonably detailed. All those windows make it very visible and I think it was worth the effort. I may have got some of the details wrong, but given the information I have it looks the part. I also found a photo of a locking frame and put it a yard or so in from the front in the locking room, probably not all that accurate but it gives the impression of something being there . The lighting module connects to contacts in the locking room. Oh, and one at night. It is a bit of a reach to install it and I think I might want to have the board out a bit so I don't slip while drilling holes.

Very often npcs were at the head of the train Mikkel. Certainly no vehicles which were not fitted with automatic brakes would be after the guards brake at the end of the train. There is a chapter on the subject in "Operating the Caledonian" by Jim Summers. It becomes complicated in that trains would be marshalled so that vehicles which needed to be detached during the journey could be accessed easily.

Interesting thoughts about the affluent travelling with their entourage , so I had a go at running a special on that basis. Let's imagine a train booked from the south to someones highland estates. A carriage, accommodation for horses and grooms and travelling space for the family. All dual braked for LNWR/CR running. The coach would ideally be a D57 family saloon rather than a compartment first. A bit of fun but maybe I'll build one and get it right one day.

Yep, it is a lot of coal. Let's say an average of 10 tons per wagon, 7100 loads. 312 working days a year, 23 wagons a day, so 46 wagons in rotation assuming they all got unloaded the same day, probably unlikely. 2 days of demurrage and the figures really do add up. Quite a few of mine are the old MWC kits , they have been rare for years. Looks like I will have to start some scratchbuilding.