Jon Baker

Are the Tramfabriek replacements for both Series 1 and Series 2 Manning Wardles? I've got a mixture of both and would dearly love to improve the running. Is it just the wheels that you have replaced or the whole pony truck? Is it an easy fix?

Would be good to see that put right :-)

To be fair, this is an accurate representation of the post card that I think Ian's model is based on, not a customer in sight. I think a trick has been missed though not depicting the little dog (which I assume because I have one is a wire haired fox terrier) looking out of the window on the left 😉 If only there was an oo-scale fox terrier on the market.

This and the other photo are very useful, thanks for posting.

Thanks for the tip. Have been following your Blackmoor project closely; I'm also modelling Blackmoor, but from the opposite perspective, which in itself is a bit of a challenge as there seem to be (almost) no photographs of the front of the station (non-platform side) and even Measured & Drawn relies on conjecture for much of the detail. I've also built Lynton (mostly "finished"), will be adding Pilton Yard once Blackmoor is a little more complete and I can add some more shelving/baseboard around my garage.

How did you assemble these kits? Usually etched brass kits are soldered, but these are so fiddly that I wondered if it is possible to glue rather than solder. My soldering skills are pretty much non-existent.

Out of interest what is the source of your water crane, or is it scratch built?

Paul, it is the one next to the tank, so it is the inside when the loco is facing forwards on a right hand curve. I'll have to try twisting it later on, but it is definitely the cause of the derailments, and adding a load makes no difference as I have posted above.

Running with load (wagon and coach) makes no difference to the derailing on right hand curves.

My post on the other forum (L&B) maybe one that you are referring to. The issue with mine is almost certainly that one of the rear pickups is not sitting flush to the underside of the loco, whereas the other one is, hence I am only having issues when the loco turns one direction and not the other. I guess if I can find a way of making the pickup sit flush it may solve the issue. Haven't tried running with a train yet (because I haven't risked altering the couplings), but in my opinion if this does help it is not a solution, only a workaround. The loco should run properly both light and with stock attached.

Did you try running with the loco in the opposite direction? Mine ran faultlessly for an hour forward and reverse round an oval. It was only when I turned the loco around that I found a problem - so that the loco was turning in the opposite direction. The issue I have with derailments is almost certainly due to one of the pony truck pickups not sitting flush to the underside of the body of the loco.