CloggyDog

Sad news indeed. The micro layout community has lost one of it's leading creative figures. His numerous micro layout ideas will live on though in print and around the 'net and give us something to remember him fondly by. Condolences to his nearest and dearest.

I think so, but they appear to be fitted seemingly randomly across the various batches - I think I have photos of most/all batches and if there is a pattern, it's pretty damn obscure! It's not a critical (or even minor) issue to my Grumpy modelling, I was merely curious

My latest toy has arrived, a Kühn 749 (catalogue number 33412), finished in EpV CD red/white livery. Lovely model, very smooth and quiet runner. Looking 'round the 'net for 749 pics for weathering inspiration, one thing that struck me was the randomeness of the 'dangly bits' either side of the bogie. The lead loco here, 749 181 doesn't have them, but the rear machine, 749 146, does. Now, I do have a resin shell for a Grumpy (cheap ex-ebay), which I might try and bodge to fit on the Kühn chassis, effectively giving me 2 locos for the price of one-and-a-bit. The resin shell has the 'danglies', but I doubt they would fit over the bogies, so I could take them off. Really just wondering if there was any logic, rhyme or reason why some Grumpies had danglies and some not??

I've cut down 3 of these to correct the length/width - carefully cutting alongside the strapping keeps everything square enough - for the majority of the wartime LMS/LNE/WR and early BR ones with equal side panels, you need to cut the one piece shell into 12 sections, 4 corners and 4 side panels, 2 doors and 2 end middles, losing 1mm at each cut, then reassemble. For the very last BR batch (D1/261, Lot 3227 Swindon B887135-59), as these had unequal panels, you only make 8 cuts and take 2mm out of the each outer side panel. I used some 60 plasticard strip in the inside L angle to reinforce and align the shortened sides and ends while it all set. The ends need a little bit of reprofiling to smooth the roof arc out. Roof was a plasticard rectangle with the over-door extensions and with 3 microstrip ribs attached once the roof was on and set. I mounted my reduced bodies on modified Parkside 9' wb 4-shoe RCH chassis while the last batch one sat on a modified Red Panda 10'wb 8-shoe clasp BR chassis, reduced in length over headstocks. I still have 1 to complete, one of the earlier D1/260 standard bodies on a 10'wb 4-shoe RCH underframe (1/261, Lot 3099 Swindon B887120-34) Dave Furmage (who'd also done a couple for his Longcarse West layout) and I wrote the process up for DEMU's Update magazine, Issue 50. I am looking forward to the Rapido one, though the last I heard, it had been pushed back down the production schedule due to more pressing commitments.

Back when the only (easy) way to do EM gauge diesels was to use the Ultrascale conversions, I used those to convert most of my Hornby and Lima fleet - Lima 20/26/31/37/40/47/50 and Hornby 25/58, plus DMUs from both. Personally, I found the Ringfield-motored locos much less affected in terms of tractive effort - possibly because I tended to opt for steel-tyred wheelsets and I used steel rail. The NS-tyred wheels did seem 'slippier' than the steel, but as I was only running shortish trains, not an issue. A solution I did see (and tried once) was to bodge a double-motored chassis (cut & shut 2 chassis together) which would certainly solve the problem! I did a double-motored Lima 47 which even today would give a Bachmann 47 a run for it's money! The Hornby diesels were much easier to double-motor, only requiring a cross-member to be cut away and a 2nd ringfield dropped in. The re-wheeled Lima 20 did have serious traction problems, though this was tracked down to the friction of the pick-ups on the trailing/unpowered wheels. I replaced the Lima stamped metal pick-ups with 0.45mm brass wire, much freer running and that solved the problem.

Indeed they are - even though there appear to be the correct number of windows and in the correct layout, everything is compressed slightly to lose the inch or so in length... the devious so-and-sos... Plenty of the later (non-'Lightweight') Met-Cams had the 4-lamp front as built, most losing the 2 middle lamp when refurbed. One small point Northmoor, is the little nubs above the outer lamps should also come off - these were Tri-ang's representation of the high-level 'yellow diamond' MU sockets that the early sets (like the Derby Lightweights, with which the early Met-Cams were compatible) were fitted. Dispensed with on the 'blue-square' standard Met-Cam 101s which (like all B-S DMUs) had the MU mounted on the lower edge of the headstocks. A neat reworking of a classic RTR model, nevertheless!

I was a fairly regular punter in the Pentonville Road shop once I started working 'up the smoke' around 1990. And while it was the Penguin who flogged me my first few US H0 locos and stock, the rest of my early fleet all came from Victors. All those Athearn and Roundhouse freight cars for £2.50 or £1.50 respectively, blue-box locos for around £20 and running so much better than the Hornby/Lima UK equivalents. Always enjoyed listening to the robust banter coming from behind the counter. And while I didn't start my continental H0 modelling until long after Victors closed, a couple of ebay buys of Piko (old blue box, DDR/Wende-era production) stock have borne 'Victors' price labels.

Model Trains International Issue 22 has drawings in 2mm, 3mm, 3.5mm and 4mm. I do recall a 7mm drawing in the Modeller, late-5os/early-60s?? I'd need to dig out the NPCCS folder in the shed to check, will try and do so over the weekend.

A couple of cheap recent(ish) acquisitions were an Athearn sound-fitted Rio Grande RS3 for £30(!) with battered handrails and a missing fuel tank moulding, replacements for both easily sourced from ebay. And a Kato/Atlas New Haven RS1at the SECC show, bought labelled 'non-runner' for just £13 (!!) from a well-known trader. Lifted the lid to find the motor had come loose and the drive shafts popped out of their sockets, easily fixed Although my US modelling has taken a back seat in recent times, these were too good a bargain to ignore. Just need to decide how to finish them... The RS1 as NYC is a no-brainer, but the RS3... I might look at using the chassis as a common one across the fleet so I always have a sound one. My layouts tend to be one loco in use at a time anyway, so that might work. Just need to see how the different shells fit on it.

You could try a #19 on one car and a #20 on the other? I do mix my NEM Kadees (on UK OO and Continental H0) to ensure close coupling without affecting ability to go round my layout's curves - so quite a bit has a #17 at one end and a #18 the other. On my mid-50s-era US H0 stock, I've now standardised on the #153 scale short whisker wherever possible.

If it's the same as Continental Modeller on Exact Editions, you can 'print to pdf' for either an individual page or a double page. It's useful for saving those very useful articles.

It depends.... My German H0, US H0 and UK OO stock is all Kadee'd (NEM Kadees #17 or #18 in the NEM-pocketed German/UK stock, retro-fitting pockets where necessary) and the US stock is slowly being standardised on scale-head 'whiskered' (ideally the short #153) The German and UK stock have a mix of #17 and #18, sometimes one of each on the same wagon to give me nice close coupling - yes it means my stock is handed, but as some of it is only finished on one side, that's quite usual for me! The EM UK (and UK O stock) is all 3/instanter/screw link, as that's what the prototype uses . I've standardised on Ambis hooks and Smith's links as giving a decently fine appearance without compromising operation under exhibition conditions. Screw links are Smiths or Ambis. IMHO, that consistency is key to successful operation with 3-links - you don't want a mix of hook shapes and link length/thicknesses, get them all the same and it does make life a lot easier. A correctly-shaped shunters' pole helps too. Oh... and that's on a predominantly shunting layout! Interestingly, there's a piece in one of the German mags this month (either MIBA or ModellEisenBahner) about fitting and using Dinghams on German H0 stock.

Sorry, I think they are the DB Umbauwagen (rebuilt coaches), 3-axle, close coupled, not 2-axle Donnerbuschen. Lok looks like a Br78 2-C-2 (4-6-4T) As... just noticed the question was correctly answered further down the thread... that'll teach me to scroll right down!!

Lok + 2/3 is prototypical, I travelled on a number of DB trains so formed in the early/mid-1990s. Can't help you on the Piko front I'm afraid (being a DR modeller) but AFAIK the Piko one is the correct scale length.

My info concurs with Herr Lamb's, only a handful done, possibly late-60s, certainly mid-70s. Some may be ply sides only, other ply sides/veranda ends and cabin ends. I'm guessing the economics of rebodying with ply were marginal by the time it arose - I've read somewhere that only 2 or 3 were 'official' rebodies, presumably to cost the process. The rest were ad-hoc repairs. The original Bachmann release was B955055, iirc, all ply cabin.

I could, but I rather like being 'mains-free' at a show - for my micro layouts I also run trains using a battery controller (detailed elsewhere, but basically 6 x AA rechargables, a PWM module and a DPDT switch in a RUB, cost less batteries of under a fiver)

There's also the plastic point hand levers by Dornaplas http://www.gaugemaster.com/item_details.asp?code=DPB8&style=&strType=&Mcode=Dornaplas+B8

Handbrake standard (Wizard Models casting)

The best album ever.

I think I'm right in saying that there has been at least 1 steam loco legitimately running on a layout at every DEMU showcase.

I've run shows for 3 separate and rather different organisations (DEMU, the German Railway Society and my local Maidenhead club) with quite differing requirements. A good exhibition manager needs to look beyond their own preferences/specialisms (be it scale/gauge, era, prototype, etc) to get a good balance of visiting layouts. DEMU was relatively easy - a selection of D&E (nee Modern Image) covering across the scales, eras* and prototype GRS is similar, but non-UK layouts, wider variety of scales, eras, prototypes, continents... Though I do like to have a 'token' UK layout in the mix! And the local club show was perhaps the easiest, covering as wide a scale selection as possible, and across the eras, with at least 1 non-UK layout and at least 1 D&E layout. Ideally I'd find a couple of each of the latter and if they tick a 'scale' box, so much the better. A good variety of layout styles is also good - end-to-ends, roundy-roundy, beginner or 'average' modeller modelling right up to finescale. There are plenty of layouts out there, its just a case of balancing the space, budget and availability! I also think that 'approachability' of the layout crew can be important - people who can happily interact with visitors, share ideas, techniques, tips, info and encouragement. *yes, even back 15 years ago there were multiple 'eras' within D&E/MI covering the early transition late-50/60s, end of steam, corporate blue, sectorisation and privatisation - there were a few moans if I didn't get the balance right and booked either too many or too few EWS-era layouts!

Cool, so I got my 4mm one about right, complete with 'tray' for the coal https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7832/32357820027_5b631b33f3_k.jpg[/img]IMG_20190303_115423 by Alan Monk, on Flickr The 7mm Slaters 20t LMS road van comes with a neat casting for the stove, sadly it's all but invisible once the roof is glued on. Back when I used to volunteer for the Class 20 Loco Soc at Butterly, the overnight accom for working parties on 20001/20227 was a pair of Society-owned brake vans, one LMS the other BR. The LMS one was preferred for it's longer cabin (so longer benches), fewer gaps in the planking and a 'better' stove. Provided there was even a light breeze, the draw would help make the van very toasty indeed. The BR one never seemed to get properly going and the wind would fair whistle through the planks. Eventually a Mk2c FK (ex Test Service Vehicle brake force runner) was obtained to replace the vans, not sure if the CTLS still owns them.

3 out of 4 I could rotate/twist and move out with finger pressure alone (gripping the axle with some pliers). The 4th needed a 2nd pair of pliers to grip the tread before it would shift. Will do the 3rd wagon at the club later, will report back on the ease of doing those wheelsets. And yes, I wholeheartedly agree, a very nice looking 3-hole disc. Also worth noting that the lovely sprung Oleos (2' length/13" head) are a separate part which plugs into holes in the headstocks with the baseplate moulded on the headstock. Be nice is these were available separately to join the HUO's assorted buffer types. And those screw couplings/hooks!

Last evening I did 2 of the 3-pack bought at Ally Pally on Saturday. In both cases I reduced the boss behind each w-iron by c0.7mm (razor saw/sanding stick). Tried 26mm pinpoints (Gibson EM 3-hole discs) which pushed the w-irons out and were too tight to turn. So then tried the pair of 'Lima/short' Gibsons (about 24.5mm over pin points) I had and all was fine, free-running, no issues with brake shoes, etc. The 2nd one I did by regauging the Accurascale wheelsets to EM - the wheels can be shifted/hoiked outwards on the axle until an EM b2b gauge fits and again, free-running once installed with the reduced bosses. The Accurascale wheels are a very similar profile and thickness to the Gibsons I usually use, so do run fine on my EM track at least! Be careful when handling the wagon during any work on the chassis - the body to chassis join is simply clips (no glue on my examples) so can shift with rough handling. It's a beautifully detailed model though, even better then the HUO!

hi bécasse, An excellent resource! I started something similar over 15 years ago, scouring what details I could from printed sources and later the internet. Although I was listing each loco separately, like you, I made some basic assumptions around each build lots being broadly identical as new. A couple of additional details: The r/h exhauster box came in 2 varieties, the 'standard' one as built and a modified one with unequally-sized louvred opening panels extended outwards by an inch or two. Pretty certain this was done as part of the air-braking programme, presumably the kit inside required more clearance? And of course, there's also the 'air brake' cabinet fitted to some AB-examples between the battery-box and fuel tank on the l/h side only, covering the 2 lower filters on that side. I also tracked if a loco received the reinforcing strutwork on the cab rear and buffer changes (as a number received replacement oleos at one/both ends over time) In addition to the hinge straps on the early batches, those had plain/flat bonnet doors. The later ones with no straps had doors with a noticeable pressed out step all around the door. I'm not 100% certain, as clear top-down shots of them haven't yet appeared, but I believe the Crossley-engined batch may have had a slightly different exhaust arrangement?