harry lamb

I like the weight of the model to be transfered to the rails via proper bearings so I use a triple beam system where the beams themselves have no contact with the axles. This system also works with 6 coupled steam locomotive chassis with HL gearboxes. Regards. HL

Just out of curiosity, 'Enterprising Western' mentioned that the rails in the pictures of the locomotive looked rather closer together than they really should be, considering the Irish gauge, but the platform road gauge appeared considerably wider than the outer roads! Are they? (I am aware of the Father Ted 'Far Away syndrome')

Just a note on 6 wheeled fish vans on Grimsby Fish Docks. I worked on Grimsby Fish Market for many years and 99% of fish by rail was loaded directly from the market platform (same level as van flooring) The fish market was served by single roads but mainly it was 2 and 3 roads. The boxed fish being loaded though vans lined up to pass the goods through to the vans on the outer roads. Curvature on these roads AND in the fish dock complex was severe and the later longer wheelbase diagram vans would squeal like hell when being placed and removed but I never saw any derailments, only battered ex.army lorries that carelessly got in the way of the trains. In all my years 'down dock' and before, as an occasional 'spotter', the only 6 wheeled vehicles I saw would be in New Clee sidings or the various yards and stations in Grimsby and Cleethorpes. Regards, HL.

Do any of you gentlemen know if the design of the bogies themselves will, or are to be changed? This was one of Bachmanns reasonably early designs and they ran very nicely and were relatively easy to convert to EM/P4 with full idependant springing to each axle. I have done a couple of the older ones and the running is superb but the older bodies really need updating. So, I wouldn't mind having a go at one of the latest ones providing the mechanism hasn't been drastically altered. But, if it has, I will give it a miss as I have enough on my plate as it is. Cheers. HL.

I will be very happy with a pair of these vans Ian please. I will Email you my details as I have moved home over the last year and I cannot remember if you have my new address. Looking forward to building stock again now I have enough of the old repaired track from my original test track to put them through the 'humps, bumps and bends' in my new workshop which is the home of my latest trainset! Cheers.

Steel for the 'purists' but Hi-NI for the pragmatist! Late last year l ordered 25m. of 18.83 gauge Hi-Ni B/H ready to lay 1m. track lengths from C&L and finished up with the very pliable steel rail instead! Didn't really matter but the chap at C&L was very busy with moving house etc so I accepted it and just got on with the job of laying it! However, the steel track was laid and all my turnouts etc. are N/S and Hi-Ni N/S but the visuals are not too obvious. The only real differences in rail 'colour' are my PB check, wing and siding rails but I use that material specifically for that purpose. Damp atmospheric conditions could be problematic with steel rail though. Incidentally, any steel rail I may use for switchwork has the foot and web pre tinned to prevent corrosion. Regards.HL.

Jeff, this is the page you need on the NLS site. https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=16&lat=53.51971&lon=-1.14395&layers=168&b=1 Cheers. HL.

Wow, it's a bit dangerous out here in 'threadland' so I'm off back to lurking after this! However, somebody did ask, after I posted a picture of my modified NRM DP1 with full sized 18.83mm. gauge wheels, the minimum radius that it can negotiate. But, before I answer, do I require a new 'thread' for this information? If I do then I don't have a clue how to start one! But, If you track back to page 43 or whereabouts on this thread and look at some of the curves on the photo of it on my old trainset you can see they are quite generous, 5 foot. On my new trainset they are even wider! 6 foot min. Both with wheel tops inside the valance and no scraping of the fairing in either situation.

I have no idea why you should say that! However, I would have been more interested in them had the prototypes been wrapped in the DP2 bodyshell which was basically a variation of the production 'Deltic' one and the locomotive itself was the forerunner of the 50's!

Certainly not! I have no interest the class 50's and of all the 'EE' DE locomotives I find the 50's the least appealing! Awful looking machines! Bland is bland and then there are class 50's! I am not interested in wish lists whatsoever and I will pick whatever model I may deem useful for conversion to 18.83 gauge with correct size wheels and fully sprung/compensated bogies to improve running and appearance. I also re-gear some models if I find then too 'quick' for basic DC use, in particular some of Heljan's offerings which appear to have Mach 2 capability! However, if somebody gifted me an SLW quality 4mm. fully sprung 18.83mm. gauge model of a class 50 I would thank them very much for it, rip the body off and trash it and then have hours of enjoyment playing with the mechanism and maybe putting it in a EE type 3 or twin engined EE type 5. I also reckon the class 50's would have had more appeal, for me, that is, if they had wrapped it in a BR Mk.1 carriage shell! Anyway, I had always thought of 'wishlists' as belonging to the larger layout owners and users rather than small time bods like me who only 'dabble' in modelling in a small way. My biggest expense is in finding and purchasing components for the conversion of some of these RTR jobs to run on my very limited 'test/shunting plank' and that can be time consuming. Class 50's? Never!

Good morning, seeing that 'English Electric' type locomotives have been unquestionably the most long lived and reliable of DE locomotives on BR and it's successors, with many of the classes from the '50's and '60's still active in main line use, could possibly benefit from a dedicated thread on BR era EE products which may be concentrated on these locomotives as they share much in common mechanically and in longevity. I reckon 'English Electric' rail products as a whole deserve recognition. If there happens to be such an existing thread then please ignore this observation! I'm only a 'lurker'! Regards. HL.

Good evening Andy, I reckon your system is the only truly universal jig across a number of gauges whereas mine was and IS scale and gauge specific. Other than the adjustable one. The original jig's could only be used for EM/P4 and S4. Not 'OO'! But, the adjustable version could be squeezed up to accommodate 16.5mm. gauge wheels but I have never needed to do that. The 1/8" common steel axle is the datum I work to. When I fit my wheels to, or when I used to, each axle would be fully equipped, cranks set, with it's own bearings to be presented into matched hornblocks (Mr. Gibbons) in the models frames plus spacing washers and gearboxes before wheeling. All completed axles being ready pre quartered, balanced, painted and ready to go in their allotted positions in the fully prepared loco frames. So, the conclusion is that yours is a block for all seasons whilst mine is axle specific. The field is yours. Regards. HL.

Good evening. I have discovered a picture of my old quartering tool which had been in use for some time before this picture was taken. Originally made for Sharman's, U/scale, AGW and Maygib wheels. Unfortunately it was not successful with 'Exactoscale' wheels because of the pre mentioned problems with the 'grooved' stub axles. This was why I built the adjustable jig!

Excellent representation of the '1-CO' cosmetic bogie frames compared with the pathetic Bachmann, Hornby and other offerings so I reckon I would certainly chance one for conversion to 18.83mm. gauge. I do have a good stock of 'Ultrascale' 3' 7" and AGW 3' 6" disc wheels plus some second hand ones that are not too tight to the axle that I can play with by adding 'holes in the disc'....ish! Unfortunately I missed the release of the 'BR green livered' models so having never seen the model in the 'flesh', so as to speak, I may have missed my opportunity to have crack at one of these models! PS, I did see the actual locomotives at Euston circa '58-60', 10-12 years old then when on my way to Richmond visiting family.

It was never intended to work with anything other than 1/8" 4mm. scale axles and the only 'complication' I can see is the ability to alter the B2B to cater for the now gone 'Exactoscale' wheelsets with 'grooved' journals which was exactly the reason it was made for in the first place! It works perfectly for 'OO', 'HO', 'EM' 'P4 and S4'. NOT 2mm, 3mm. or 7mm. or any other 'mm'. Barring 'Romford' type and Hambling's and it does the job perfectly. Although presently O.O.U, railway modelling is, and has been for many years, no.3 on my current list of interests as I prefer sea angling and marine modelling. However, nowadays, I do enjoy converting RTR diesels with 'Penbit's bits' and my own form of compensation and springing when no suitable Penbits conversion pack is available. Complicated? The thing was made of scrap brass and N/S sheet and the base out of FG PCB so it must have been the 4 8BA nuts, screws washers and bolts that done it!