Bagpuss

Just 2 days to the show. Layout descriptions have been posted on our website.

The society's new O gauge layout Eyemouth will be making its debut at the show.

If you're feeling a bit less serious, how about the whimsical Emett inspired layout by Ray Clasper?

Not forgetting North Landing, a depiction of the never built Flamborough Head Tramway by our President John Farline.

There's a topic under Club & Society info but it might be easier to find here.

Less than 2 weeks to the 60th Wakefield show, featuring 18 layouts and 13 traders. There are 100 free parking spaces on site and refreshments will be available to purchase.

Full details at https://www.wakefieldrms.org/exhibition/

10 hours ago, Player of trains said:

thanks, it could be an AC? The differences seem rather trivial visually and mostly concern the machinery cabinet on the bonnet in front of the cab. I’ve no clue if it’s one or the other as I bought it advertised as an AC type and it came in a box from a Walthers hopper car!

That's definitely an MP15AC with side intakes for the radiator. MP15DCs have the classic EMD switcher front radiator.

Nice car and good spot about the number.

I'd say both colours are appropriate for WC. The MTH car is good for new paint but WC maroon faded to orange, particularly on earlier cars like your Atlas one.

http://rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=3057361

It does look like the reflective strips are on top of the graffiti - and faded paint.

On 11/02/2023 at 16:45, F-UnitMad said:

talking of which, there's an MTH hi-cube boxcar on Ebay.uk I want & have bid on - keep off it everyone else if you'd be so kind!!! 

So, did you win it?

Was it the one I think it was? And no, I didn't bid on it.

It's gone for good apparently.  Replaced by "The unofficial Wisconsin Central modeler group" on Facebook. 

If you message Bob Menzies via the group, he should be able to link you up with the WC2Scale photo archives.

Martin. 

19 hours ago, F-UnitMad said:

That overall view is very impressive!! This really will be one of those "must see" layouts when it's done. 👍👍👍

Come and see its debut at Wakefield show on 8th and 9th October. 

https://www.wakefieldrms.org/exhibition/

4 hours ago, Johann Marsbar said:

RS11M #308 of 1956

308 was an RS-20 rebuilt from an RS-3 in 1974 by the Green Bay & Western with a 2000hp 251 and a chopped nose.

It was sold to the KBS in 1995 along with RS-11 309.

It's now at the Monticello Railway Museum and, hopefully, will be repainted into GBW livery one day.

Shame. It was a nice layout. 

Thanks Mike. That's very interesting.

We opened the Wakefield clubrooms last month. Given the restrictions of our premises, we've chosen to limit attendance to 6 members in the building.

The society has always had a strong social side with many members just wanting to chat. In the current circumstances, this isn't easy so many have chosen not to attend so far, leaving just a few to restart work on the layouts in the clubrooms. 

We're looking forward to being able to meet more normally and catch up with friends we haven't seen since March last year.

I'm honoured that you've named your layout after me but a bit worried about the falling part. Do I need to start drinking? 

1 hour ago, F-UnitMad said:

At the risk of stating the screaming obvious, that is the idea....

In the same way that your hand laid O scale track looks much better than Peco O gauge track.

The short answer is code 70/83 looks much better than 75/100. The question is can you live with the appearance of 75/100.

If you can find code 83, it looks a lot more like US track than code 75/100. The smaller, closer spaced ties and moulded spikes look much better than the chaired flat bottom Frankenstein that is code 75/100.

My experience is that it runs better than code 75/100 too. The raised flangeways in the frog area prevent wheel drop.

6 hours ago, ChrisH-UK said:

I'm not sure your original identification was incorrect. According to bullsheet.com CSX got rid of its last GP35 in 1993 and I know it put the GP40-2 locos it inherited from Conrail in 1999 into the 44xx series reusing the numbers. There are only a few pictures on rrpicturearchives of 44xx series GP35 after 1993 but imho those pictures all look as much like, if not more like GP40-2, rrpa also suggests that 4420(GP35) became a road slug in 1991

 

Agreed. My 2005 and 2010 editions of the Locomotive Rosters both show CSX 4420 as an ex-Conrail GP40-2.

The loco in the video looks more like a GP40 than a GP35 - 3 full size fans.

On 17/10/2020 at 12:29, enginelane said:

Wakefield 2021 Exhibition planned for 4 th 5 th September is now formally cancelled. The venue have cancelled all external bookings for 2021. the Committee will be meeting at a later date to discuss future plans in terms of future dates venue etc. Traders are in the process of being contacted. 

The school are not currently accepting external bookings or allowing anybody but staff and pupils on site so we were unable to start preparations for the new venue. Given this and the uncertainties about how the coronavirus pandemic will progress, we felt it was unrealistic to commit to an exhibition and took the difficult decision to cancel.

Bit late to this one but I have bitter experience of the Peco SmartFrog. After many fruitless hours trying to get them to work, I gave up and went with a much simpler solution. I swapped the single pole switch used to operate the servo for a double pole switch and use the second pair of contacts to change the frog polarity. It needs a few more more wires to the panel but it's much cheaper and, importantly, totally reliable.

The SmartFrog appears to be a relay that uses an input from the servo controller to determine which way the point is set and changes the frog polarity appropriately. This makes it DC compatible as well as DCC.

After connecting the many wires (7 for each SmartFrog), I tested the installation with a meter and verified that it was changing the frog polarity correctly when the point was thrown. However, a loco running through the point would stall. After much head scratching the penny dropped when I realised I could hear the SmartFrog clicking when the loco hit the frog. Testing with a meter verified that when the loco hit the frog, the SmartFrog changed the frog from the correct polarity to the opposite! 

Cue much cursing.

Temporarily replacing the SmartFrogs with a Frog Juicer got everything running beautifully and with a lot less wires.

I wanted DC compatibility as well as DCC so I've fitted auxiliary switches as described above. I would have used micro switches but the servos are buried in 2 inch deep foam.

I tried reaching out to Peco for help but all I got was the wiring diagram supplied with the SmartFrog.

I did wonder whether it could have been a power supply issue. The Peco instructions only specify the supply voltage not the required power capacity. I didn't have time to test that theory.

On reflection though the SmartFrog appears to be an expensive and unreliable solution to frog switching. Other solutions are more elegant, more reliable, simpler and usually cheaper. Anybody want 6 barely used SmartFrogs?

Apologies for the rant. It caused a lot of tearing of hair at the time. Hope you managed to solve your problem.

Another vote here for Peco code 83. It looks like US track with smaller ties spaced closer and prototypical geometry. Runs really well.

Go for it if you can.

Getting to the venue. Northern will be running a reduced service and website points to checking on Saturday which services are running. It is not possible to post which are running or not.

The following buses pass the gates to the Sports Centre.

268a

127

104

231

These buses go from Wakefield Bus Station or travelling via Wakefield Westgate on leaving the station walk to the right down the hill towards Westgate. You will pass the Art House on your left and the Wakefield Civil Justice Building on your right. The bus stop is across the road W8.

If walking is about 1 mile from Wakefield Westgate. Turn right out of the Station down to Westgate along the A 638 and onto the A642 towards Horbury. Gates on the left into the sports grounds.

Reminder we cannot put up direction signs. Entrance is on Horbury Road. Car park on left. There are limited disabled spaces available. Larger car park further up the road in the College Grounds. If have mobility issues drop off and pick up at Sports Centre.

The buses that go down Horbury Road past the Sports Centre gates are 116, 120, 126, 127, 231 and 232.

there's another option, printed on paper, resized to fit https://www.textures.com/browse/blocks/10233

 

glassblock-03_1023723_std.jpg

 

Ray

Evening all,

 

Does anyone know if there's any 1400's out on the Douro at present? My sense from a search of the web is that there's no booked work, but the off chance of a working on an unpredicatable basis out of Porto? is that fair? A friend is heading over there next week, and is after any useful gen!

 

Many thanks in advance!

 

Richard.

https://www.cp.pt/passageiros/en/how-to-travel/For-leisure/Nature-and-Culture/miradouro

A couple of prototype photos showing the look we trying to achieve.

They were taken from a 2014 post on a Michigan Railroad History forum by an engineer who switched the plant for CN (GTW) a few years ago. Unfortunately the post no longer exists so I can't link to it.

What are the dimensions for the layout,and do you have a track plan sorted that you could post for us to see?.

 

As i`d be interested to see what space your working with,as i`m just starting to building a street switching layout along a 12'-6" long wall with two peninsular`s off it.

 

Brian.

Track plan is below. The layout is 20' x 2' 3 on 5 4' boards. The track at the upper right will disappear behind the building to form a connection to the rest of the plant, allowing cuts of 3 cars to enter and exit the scene.

The genesis of the idea was an article in Model Railroad Planning 2014. 

This Google maps link https://goo.gl/maps/jZF1cbJogvk should give an idea of the feel we're looking to create. Lots of large industrial buildings. 

Yep, i was talking to Mike about this Sunday!!!

Surely not. Mike is very shy about his interest in American O scale and would never engage anybody in conversation about it.

Is it a Proto F3? If so, is it a QSI chip having problems like those described in this thread?

http ://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/121741-problem-with-atlas-0-scale-gp7/

AFAIK the MNNR has the last two RS27s in existence; it depends which ones they are & what their lineage is.

CNW traded its 4 RS-27s to Alco for 4 C-425s. Green Bay & Western acquired 903 from Alco in 1968, becoming GBW 316 and 902 in 1969, becoming 317. 901 went to the Precision National lease fleet and was acquired by GBW as 318 in 1976.

Apparently 317 rode badly and was unreliable. It was scrapped in 1984. 316 and 318 were traded to the Minnesota Commercial after Wisconsin Central bought GBW in 1993 and are still in service today. As Jordan says, the last two RS-27s in existence.