Dave John

Could have a look at Langley; http://www.langleymodels.co.uk/acatalog/Online_Catalogue_OO_Cranes__Heavy_plant___Road_Machinery___RW1_RW21_29.html

Yep, been there. How much did this damn can of special varnish cost ? Ouch. Paints and varnishes have changed, I now have not a clue what I'm doing other than the trial and error method. Which works, but slows me down. I have a second test "model" on the go, usually a sheet of brass or a sheet of plasticard depending on whether its metal or plastic on the model. So primer on test model. if its ok , primer on real model . Then first coat on test , leave 24 hour at least , if ok apply to model. I work it through, even applying some test transfers and at each stage do tests to see how I like it and if it reacts. At the varnish stage I try several, see which looks best and doesn't react. It is a long winded process, but given the price of paint and transfers I think its worth it. Anyway, see that Class 29 and the bus I have just done? Slightly speckly varnish , but not bad and I think it will tone down in time. The varnish ? Lidl hairspray. I kid you not, its cheap, the nozzle never seems to clog up and given a few light mists over a number of days it forms a fairly tough coat. Ok, for a week afterwards the model has a perfume smell like one of those establishments I have heard about but never crossed the threshold of ( it wisnae me, must ha' been my twin brother ) but that goes away. Hope it all goes well this time Mikkel.

Just a simple question to the op. Do you need the turntable to rotate at the same time that you are running trains on the track? If not then a switch on the track output of the controller to choose whether it feeds the track or the TT would work nicely.

Jol Wilkinson makes a very valid point. "Perhaps because those posting to this thread, Tony included, have no interest in the prototypes covered in those ranges." So I'm going to mention Caley coaches, since without those kits I would have probably never have continued to model the Caledonian. Building a CR 1 class which not only looked right but ran like a dream convinced me that I could move up a gear and actually embrace EM and locomotive construction. That was over 30 years ago, and it still runs like a dream. Quality kits, you need to be able to solder and not a spot of whitemetal in sight, all brass castings. Designed for full compensation and EM/p4 clearances. I have built a good number of CC kits since then and I have only some DJH as a frame of reference to compare them. See my blog on building a DJH dunalastair 1 for how much of the DJH kit I ended up using. I accept that my weakness is painting and lining, I suppose that I could get stuff painted by experts. Just not my way though, I am an obstinate sod. For me it's not about what I own, its about what I can learn from making stuff. Then do it better next time. Anyway , a CC 104 class. Front axle driven , compensated second to bogie, compensated split frame bogie. Wonky paint job, but runs well. So , treat yourselves; http://www.caleycoaches.co.uk/index.php

Heh, thanks Mikkel. I have progressed reasonably well with things, but there are still lots of things to keep me going. Nowhere near finished yet. I might as well add a TTD list here so I can find it and so folk can prod me ; Signal box Telegraph poles Signal wire supports sort out the scenery at the right hand end Research a more correct goods shed and build one. Oil store/lamp hut Better yard facilities Build a fill in section for the other end of the viaduct and sort that corner out. More transport. Platform furniture/running in board Fix the jammed ground signal Stair down from bridge to street weighbridge Improvements to goods in yard Plenty of minor scenic corrections and additions Oh, and some manure........ Well thats a start, for the stock side; Coaches. More sheeted wagons( aye ok, a D299 on its travels) More npcs Brake wagons/vans The rest of the CR condensing fleet…… Operationally I am thinking about some sort of running schedule. I also quite fancy playing with an ambient soundscape. Ho hum.

Well there we are, No. 203 in service. It looks all right from a distance, but harsh close ups show my lining inabilities. I did try some of the 2 part Fox transfers where you overlay black on a red/white line, but I just couldn’t get them to look right. The CR red/black/white was subtle with fine lines, hopefully one day a transfer maker will take pity on us. Then again what matters is how it runs. These engines were built for trip and shunting work, so a bit of video showing 203 doing just that. I’m quite pleased with that. It will never win races with a 90-1 reduction, but it has considerable tractive effort and is very smooth, all previous pickup problems eliminated. The acid test is pushing a full train backwards through pointwork buffer to buffer and it passes that easily.

Hmm, Spring steel is awkward. I tin it first, Bakers fluid flux , real 60/40 solder, clean it well afterwards. My main use of it is Alex Jackson couplings. These days I always buy the plated guitar strings which I find easier to solder and much more corrosion resistant long term.

Excellent pics there Compound. I note the little rope cradles the casks are lying on to stop them rolling. Thats going in the reference file. An odd point though. The photo of the Rhondda & Swansea Bay Railway wagon, is it just me or is the brake lever to the left and the horse shunting loop to the right? I thought they were standardised at the rh end early on, or maybe its a very early wagon? ( or perhaps they did as I have done in the past and made the wagon upside down on the bench and got it wrong ........ )

The Scottish companies had empty cask wagons for the whisky industry, but many of these casks had been previously used for wine. So some perhaps transported by cask ? I'd guess that more expensive wines would be crated as bottles and moved in a well locked van packed with straw for mechanical protection.

Garishly panted wagons for builders publicity purposes ? I really fancy doing one in CR blue livery just for fun. ( sorry if it is copyrighted somewhere , but its been about on emails and stuff so I don't think it is )

Oh, I had missed that pic Gareth. Certainly looks like the Bachmann one, minus the rail jacks.

I'd agree about the livery Paul, given that they were hired by the CR at a time of shortage I doubt that they would have been repainted, possibly just a CR number painted on the frame. The photo I was referring to is the prototype model posted by Midland Mole. The CR added bolsters ( paid for by the WD ) but I was wondering about the rail jacks. Would those have been left in place given that the wagons were hired ? If I could find a picture of them running on the CR, or in a CR area in early LMS days that might help. Since I converted a ROD 2-8-0 to the condition of one hired in during the same period ( mainly since the Bachmann model was going cheap ! ) it might be nice to have a parrot or two behind it as a cameo if the price was sensible.

Referring to P227 of "Caledonian railway wagons" by Mike Williams either 192 or 104 were hired by the CR. If so they were designated D126, but seem to be redesignated as D19 by the LMS. It would be interesting to see a picture to determine whether the D19/126 is similar to the one pictured above. They were built by contractors, so there may have been variations under a general diagram number.

There was a Decent Models etched kit designed by John Boyle. These had alternative ends for the CR or NB roof profile. Drummond moved from the NB to the CR and reused his earlier design. I'm not sure whether they are available, asking on the CRA or NB forums might come up with an answer.

True, you are talking 50 quid for a simple controller these days. The bluerail stuff does seem neat and not all that pricey, but it is pwm output so watch it with coreless motors . It is however an off the shelf solution. Corbs and Nearholmers idea of chopping up a cheap RC car is a decent start , but again it will be pwm output and probably lower than 12V . Worth a punt if you get one cheap enough, but getting it to behave well as a train controller might need some electronics. That circuit of mine worked fine with a 27 MHz Acoms set back in the early 80s, I think there would be better stuff about now. I could dig out my circuit from the late 70s with a remote that talked to a base station with ultrasonic bits from a telly remote, but then you would really be laughing at my daftness.......

I have found that they stick better to primed metal. For plasticard I make sure I give it a really good wash and scrub with cif first. I would agree with the above posts , do a small amount then seal them with a varnish or paint before moving on to the next section.

Ok, so you want to use a basic 2 channel RC combo, but instead of driving servos you want a reversible 12 V to the track. This converts the 1-2 mS pulse that normally drives a servo to an output that will drive DC trains. Channel 1 gives speed, channel 2 forward/reverse. It's an old circuit , but all the bits should be readily available.

Light she was and like a fairy And her shoes were number nine Herring boxes, without topses Sandals were for Clementine... But on a more serious note, Ruston brings up the point of wagon sheets . The CR had many open fish wagons , some 200 D15 wagons designated " For fish traffic by passenger trains" ( P 78 CR wagons, Mike Williams ) Dual braked for working south, oil boxes, screw couplings. Clearly the wagon also has T cleats for roping either the load or a sheet. It was CR practice to run npcs at the head of the train before any carriages. Looking at the photo there are 3 eyelets fixed to the bottom of the top plank and a rope through them tied back at the centre cleats. The purpose of that rope is to connect the communication cord of the coaches through the npcs to the locomotive. If you put a wagon sheet over that and tie it down how it was arranged ? The communication cord would be jammed and just wouldn't work. My guess is that fish in barrels or boxes with ice but not sheeted would be how it was done. But it is only a guess, I would love to see some photos.

Very neat. The pre-cut boards with the extra mating section look very accurate, that curve at the rotating end particularly.

It sat in my old jar of brake fluid for a couple of days Mikkel, strips enamels easily.

To make a serious point, I do have concerns about how vulnerable folk who for many reasons will not be able to cope with "variable 1/2 hourly pricing made possible by “smart” meters" are going to be exempted from punitive tarriffs at time of high demand. I can see cases arising where, through no fault of their own, some people may end up with huge bills and in reality they will be the people least able to pay them. I expect the electricity suppliers will produce some general statements about protection in such cases but whether they will be applied before a vulnerable person has been subject to huge stress is debatable. Can you imagine the difficulty of explaining to someone with the difficulties of age that they can only have a cup of tea when that tiny display says 10 p and they mustn't have one when it says 100 p ? Indeed, by the time smart metering is foisted on us I might well be finding it impossible to cope with myself.

Many years ago I made a CR 782 class from the SE finecast kit. There are some pictures of in in service in some earlier blog posts. The basic whitemetal body was fine, pretty accurate and it went together well. It was getting to look very tired, needed a repaint and some details were the worse for knocks and being stuck back badly. I was never entirely happy with the chassis. Centre axle drive, semi rigid with slightly rocking outer axles. Never picked up really well, too highly geared and the motor filled the cab. Hmm. However the most obvious fault is that it is the wrong loco. A bit of history. The 9 members of the 29 class date from 1895 and were fitted with condensing apparatus for working the Glasgow central lines. The same basic design was used for the later 120 members of the 782 class built between 1898 and 1913. So for where I’m based the 29 class is a bit more appropriate. Right, it was 782 class No. 245 and now its going to be 29 class No. 203. Chassis built up. AGW frames and wheels re used. Rear axle driven from a high level gearbox and extender with a mitsumi motor. Compensated with high level hornblocks which I thought were a very clever fold up design. Having a silhouette makes cutting balance weights a doddle. The body ready for quite a lot of filling and a spot of primer. Backdating to a 29 class mainly involves extra pipework, a westinghouse pump, air tanks and different footsteps. Paint shop next.

Ring ring. " We are your electricity supplier , you should get a smart meter to save you energy" ( Translation , so that we or the government can turn your supply off if you are not rich ) " Ah but if I stay in all day the fitter will turn up and say that he can't fit one because the installation is substandard" ( Translation , he has been trained to fit meters on a series 7 cablehead and wouldn't know a 6mm pyro incomer if it fell out of a tree in front of him ) " Our fitters have been trained to the highest standard" ( Translation , nope, its subbed out to some firm you have never heard of) "Ok , so if I stay in all day and he says its a substandard incomer you will refund me 30 years of standing charges for supplying me a substandard supply ? " ( Translation , sod off ) " er.... " Silence.

Another discussion review of HS2? I suppose we could call it Shapps Summit. Though I doubt the mainstream media would get the joke.

Hi LT , I have used scale link ones in the past, very clean etch. https://www.scalelinkfretcetera.co.uk/product-category/frets/meshes-various-shapes-and-sizes-any-scale/