TT100 Diesels

Hi, I would be very grateful to any of the knowledgeable folk on here who can please help me confirm what is required with respect to below. I am ok with the yellow and blue elements, I see the roof colour is specified by Dagworth in a similar post just down thread. So its just a confirmation of any other livery elements. (Have I missed anything?) Thanks very much, Cheers TT100 Diesels PS - I did try a search but failed to nail it, my apologies if this post appears to be a lazy way out 🤔

I agree, the Ribblehead viaduct model is well worth seeing, I enjoyed it very much. Also, just noticed we have cracked through 30 pages of 3mm workbench posts. Great stuff everyone, keep it coming. Cheers D.

Just a little update, but some positive progress compared to my last / previous post. Been getting on with making the flush glazing for the Peak, so far got 11 out of the 14 required pieces cut and test fitted. That's the windscreens (which were challenging), the cab side drop lights and the first of the triangular cab side quarter lights. And that's just from today, so a good result as a lot more done than I first envisaged. Regarding the chatter about "liquid lead", that is what I call it because that is exactly what I bought. It was roughly 2019 from a trader at Stafford Show (possibly Eileen's Emporium). I dispensed it into a plastic container so don't have the original packaging, but it looks like lead, feels like lead and tastes like lead (no, joking on that last one). And I always use it with super glue. Lead strip is also useful but I can get the tiny "lead shot" of my liquid lead into all sorts of awkward nooks and crannies, so find it very useful. Cheers D.

Hopefully Phil, but to be honest, the whole 08 running saga has been hassle overall and I have now got fed up with it so on to other things till I can be bothered. Ironically, at yesterdays EMAG 3mm meet up, the 08 ran perfectly on the groups billiard table flat test track. Different controller as well. (I have acquired a different controller at home which is better with the 08 but not got round to building a mounting shelf and wiring it in permanently). Cheers D.

Hi, Crate Lane was out on the road today in a small way. It was a 3mm society East Midlands area group meet up today in the WI hall at Bingham, Notts. I was able to display Crate Lane diorama together with the oval of Tillig snap together TT120 track. This was useful as it allowed demonstration runs of the traction and rolling stock on display and other members were able to run some of their locos on it as well. Loco wise, it was a Sulzer theme, i.e. all of my 3mm Sulzer locos, including the nearly completed Class 45/1 (just requires glazing). My Class 101 Met Camm twin set gets a chance to stretch its legs on the test oval. Cheers TT100 Diesels

Hi, Well its back to skool for me. Have a look at the next couple of pictures of the conflat kit build with extra pickups for the 08. Last night, finished the basic painting, ready for taking out to show and tell at today's East Midlands group 3mm meet up at Bingham. Looking reasonably smart, but still requires decals and weathering. Outer end Triang type coupler, inner end, a bespoke bar / pivot arrangement and wiring jumper with micro connector. All done underneath. Liquid lead application completed, everything in matt black. Came to it this morning, giving the brown time to dry off and harden a bit, just pop the wheelsets in and give it a test run. But, hmm, a problem 🤔. Came to the first wheelset, engaged pin point onto bearing, taking care to get the pick up acting against the rear of the flange, then same for opposite end of the axle. Hmmm, sure I properly engaged the first end ?, its riding up on the bearing. Try again, same, 🤔. If you have not guessed it yet readers, grim realisation time, flanges fouled by the liquid lead........... Same for both axles. Major foul up there then, straight to the back of the class, and face the corner of shame 😟. Just goes to show, its not always going to plan, this is one I got well wrong. It was the last straw for the 08 running improvement saga, I am putting it all away and leaving it for a while. I will come back to it when I am in the mood and look at faffing with scraping the liquid lead back to clear the flanges. Cheers Dave

Hi Phil, the way the bogies have been made by Lincoln Locos is effectively an 1A1A - A1A1. The front pony is a flangeless wheelset which is free to roll but is mounted in a slot, the bottom of which is slightly higher up than the centre line of the two powered wheelset on a bogie. The centre of the 3 wheelsets which would have traction motors in real life is also the same principle as the front pony. There we are, a picture says it all ! Hope this helps, Cheers, D. PS - 832, I remember that at the RTC and dumped at Egginton Junction. Glad to see it was saved.

And in other news, a sixteen wheeler was spotted at High Peak Junction....... Nearly there, just the dreaded hand cut flush glazing to do, and some sort of toy coupler at the No. 2 end to sort out. Even in 3mill, its a big loco and has a presence about it. Cheers D.

Hi Captain Kernow, This is the two esses photo, Subtle and Stunning ! Cheers TT100 Diesels PS - That man Chris Nevard, he is a bit handy with a camera.

So for this post, we continue to examine the eavy' metal scene in the late 80's. Except this time its home grown traction, featuring the last loco to be built at Doncaster, 58050. Toton's re-railing school's compound sees 58050 spending some time there on static run up testing. It was a good place to shove 050 out of the way to facilitate run up development and test work carried out by Brush Traction engineering staff. 27/08/1987. 58050 was built as a standard spec loco then converted to "sepex" control by Brush with the removed standard components locked away in quarantine. Once Brush finished the 'sepex' programme, 050 was reverted back to standard trim. On 16/09/1987, 58050 pilots 58039 on a Bentinck pit to Ratcliffe on Soar Power Station MGR working. Seen here with most the train having gone through the rapid unloader. The modus operandi for 58050 running trials was to tie onto an existing service, and do the work. Mostly it was a case of arranging to stop something at Toton Centre and run over light loco and tie on. Then after a coal plan circuit, detach again back at Toton Centre. Whenever 050 played up, it was a case of whistling up for the train engine to assist till 050 was sorted and ready to take over again (this was often and usual, hence not sending it out on its own!). 18/11/1987, sees 58050 gone all triple grey coal sector livery at Bentinck pit rapid loading bunker. 050 is doing the work propelling the MGR's back through the loading bunker, with the train engine being 58033. Later, after the hoppers were loaded, the locos ran round the train, and 58050 piloting 58033. Seen standing at the Bentinck pit branch junction with the Kirkby Lane End Junction to Pye Bridge Junction freight line. Once its got the road, its back down "the wash" to feed the dragons belly, aka Ratcliffe on Soar PS boilers. From a modelling viewpoint, if I were ever to do a 58, it would have to be the Railfreight red stripe livery for me. The livery was designed around the 58 class and it carries it well. Need to dig out some more pictures and notes so I can do some more updates in due course, but hope these few posts have been interesting. Cheers TT100 Diesels

Absolutely spot on Woodenhead, particularly the 'bridge between rtr and finescale' comment. After all a heck of a lot of shows mainly have rtr new and secondhand traders - nothing wrong with that, rtr represents the lions share of the hobby. So it is also great to have shows where trade stands offer modelling bits and pieces, tool etc, have demos and society stand representations. York is one of the latter and it provides a boost to the more modelling and building side of the hobby, and surely that is a good thing. Regarding society stands, these are reliant on volunteers, and those are a finite commodity. I doubt any just happen to be professional marketing types ! Also, it was quite clear in the advanced publicity what the spread of attractions were in terms of layouts, demos, traders and societies. If I may comment specifically on the 3mm society stand, at York the volunteers manning it were telling me that they were getting a lot of interest, and were able to also point people in the direction of the two 3mm exhibition layouts so they could see stuff running (its quite hard in our scale, not that many layouts out on the road compared with most of the other scale societies - again relies on people making an effort to build one and take it on the road). The stand also had a collection of both steam and diesel outline models on show, and a scale comparator i.e. four Britannia bodies mounted on a board together with 4mm/OO, 3mm/TT3, 2.5mm/TT120 and 2mm/N versions which apparently proved to be of great interest and information to folk I was told. I was at the show as a paying punter only, but did obviously catch up with fellow 3mm peeps on the stand. Cheers TT100 Diesels

Gosh, every day is a school day ! Cheers Bradford B, I knew match trucks were very commonplace with 03's for track circuits, but never knew of any 08's with match trucks, so that is great, there IS a prototype for everything after all. Thanks for digging up this gen, Cheers D,

Cheers for all the comments folks, I must admit, last night I was thinking that Red Devil and the radio control stuff eliminates all this faff........ Anyway, after a second dose of super glue drizzled around all 6 wheel to extended crank interfaces earlier today, I am pleased to say that the 08 is running again, so I finished off the development work on the match truck Conflat. After tweaking the pick up 0.3mm rod to about minimum possible force on the flange backs, it was on with the permanent weight. Liquid lead carefully poured at one end and super glue very carefully drizzled in to capillary through the lead. Seen waiting for the glue to cure. The toy coupler that was on the 08 has been re purposed on to the business end of the match wagon. A bar coupler is fitted to the loco end. And on the front of the 08, a bar coupler of sorts is screwed in place also trapping the new pickup wires to stop them snagging point blades etc, they are very low. A 0.5mm dia rod "U" link drops in from above to couple to the similar bar on the loco end of the match truck. And repairs to my cack handedness last night wait for the super glue to harden before painting ( vac pipe and screw coupler). So starting to get back on track again. The main issue with the 08 for poor pick up is that I reckon the centre axle is a thou or so below the two outer axles. So the loco pivots on the centre axle, but it is dead subtle and took some discovering. Then coupled with my "average" track, it is not billiard table flat, and the points are a problem for it too, and they are live frog and I tested them with a meter yesterday as well. So it has to be a match truck with extra pick ups otherwise its a damned expensive back of the shed scenic item! And just to be clear, my 1957 Triang TT3 08 blows this out of the water performance wise. But, anyway, at least progressing in a forward direction again. Cheers D.

Nice work Red Devil, the BG all ready looks great. When its in weathered all over rail blue, be spot on. Got some wagon kits yesterday while helping with a packing day at the society shop. These took my fancy, Cambrian kits Dogfish ballast hoppers. Ended up with 8 going into the stash, to eventually make a nice little rake up. These were not even on my radar at all, just a massive impulse buy! What I had planned to get was a Parkside Dundas Conflat kit, which I did. Made it it up today. Its to go with the 08, as a match truck but with added pick ups. I know it was only 03's had these really but the 08 is poor runner so it is a possible solution to pick up issues due in part to it requiring billiard table level track and my not so super level track in places. So here we have the added pick ups, 0.3 mm n/s rod soldered to pcb sleeper, and decoder wire used to connect to half a micro connector, the other half hard wired to the 08 pick up pcb. The intention is to paint, add liquid lead underneath etc once proof of concept is proven. Trouble is, tonight, test running was stopped when a driving wheel came loose on the SQ axle end. So its in dock having had the b2b re set and super glue added to the outer interface with the extended axle, in fact I also added super glue to the other 5 as well to head this off at the pass. Also managed to snap off the cab end cosmetic vac pipe and screw shackle when removing the body. More flippin rework to do. So after the 08's moment of fame as the cover pic on this quarters Mixed Traffic magazine, it is now in the naughty corner. Cheers D.

This is astoundingly good modelling Red Devil, just fantastic....... Take a bow sir. Hmm, given the grot, Glasgow, trams, tenements, etc, how about Bellgrove / High St ish, on the suburban network, did not 303's terminate somewhere like that with a kick back DMU shuttle to Cumbernald, back in the day, plus freight lines radiating away. And then add a side order of your diesel locos running light between Eastfield to Mossend / Motherwell / Ravenscraig etc etc to take up freight workings, or reverse, coming back into ED. Then for dessert, trams on the street above.... Wow, I am doing your armchair modelling for you 😁. Can't wait to see what you do now, it is gonna be awesome, absolutely awesome. Cheers D.

Hi Ravenser, Since you quoted me, I thought it polite to leave you a reaction, in this case "I agree", but don't appear to be able to, hence this post. So yes, just to say I'me in agreement to your points made above. But as I am on, it also strikes me that folk getting into TT120 are in an even better position than the folk in TT3 in the 1960's because with the advent of current technology such as 3d printing, folk who are happy to do stuff can and are already taking advantage to produce some great stuff not in the Hornby catalogue. One only needs to pop over to the specialist TT120 threads to look at the innovation, a Deltic, a 313 EMU, shot down 33 and Hymek, et al. This is just the beginning. I thoroughly enjoy following these innovations, it reminds me of the sort of stuff folk are busy doing in the sister scale (3mm). And as a 12mm gauge man, I remain tempted to put my hand in my wallet and get some TT120 and flip flop the roster between 3mm and 120 when more current era stuff becomes available (don't want to do blue diesels twice, it would be a bit pointless to me). Cheers TT100 Diesels

As a punter at said show, viewing the layout from the front I agree, the locos ran very sweet indeed, I was very impressed. Cheers TT100 Diesels

It was great to see this layout in the flesh today at the show at Cotgrave welfare. Having been keeping an eye on the build progress in this thread, the photos of construction up thread all came together nicely. Cheers TT100 Diesels

Dave, it was nice to meet you and have a lovely chat today at the Bingham Club Railex at Cotgrave welfare. And good to see the layout up close and personal. Cheers D.

Pete, wow that is amazing progress, it is looking lovely. I am super impressed with the roof cream to body green interface, that must have been a total expletive to get neat with the lines of rivets all the way along the livery interface. Top work Pete, take a bow ! Cheers D.

I have heard feedback from the 3mm society stand folk at York (when I saw them on the Sat and post show) who were saying that a large proportion of the people enquiring about 3mm were people who were initially swayed by TT120. But when they saw the 3mm models on display on the stand together with the 'Coniston Lakebank' and 'Bluish' 3mm scale exhibition layouts at York, thought the TT120 was a bit small and preferred the heft of the 3mm scale models. It's an interesting take on things and its only feedback from one show, so not a massive sample in the grand scheme of things, but interesting nevertheless. While I myself am a 3mm modeller, I have no axe to grind against TT120 or Hornby. In fact I am very impressed with what I have seen so far and remain tempted into possibly getting some stock in the future. But that said, I do also think that 3mm is the better size (but accept that is purely my personal opinion only). I am sure TT120 will continue to grow, and for most people it remains the obvious choice over 3mm for the simple fact that new rtr does not exist in 3mm. Cheers TT100 Diesels

Very nice collection there, ScR layout in the making....... With this roster, Pitlochry in 1969- 1970? Baby Highland sulzers, class 24/1 IS allocated with twin headlamps and the five slotted frost grille plating, you know you MUST do one if those.... Kep up the brilliant work, Cheers D.

Nice piece of kit there 03060. I guess worth it if you are having to work through a stash of chassis kits though. And the rolling road bit looks good too. So looking forward to seeing your actual loco progress on here as and when you get started. Happy to report to "the bench" that the two steps backwards on the Peak have now turned into forward progress again. Minor paint repairs and the spot re weathering done, plus final coat of rattle can matt varnish, the body looks just, well spot on to me! So its an enforced couple of days break to let the varnish proper harden before all the handling associated with flush glazing. So in the meantime, already started a wargaming terrain piece building, but obvs huge scope creep for this thread, so enough of that 😉 Cheers D.

As I said in the first post, this thread is a casual look back in retrospect, so I intend to mix things up and jump about a bit rather than following a strict chronological order. So off into the time machine to sample the eavy' metal scene in the mid 1980's, in fact the very heaviest available at that time, 4,300 tons of it ! So here we are, its late evening on 28/05/1986 and two class 59's stand outside the rail shed at Foster Yeoman's Merehead quarry. 59004 on the left and 59001 on the right. 59001 was booked on the 00.15 Merehead - Acton - Purfleet, loading 43 PTA bogie open box wagons between Merehead and Acton, where the train was split and some (cant remember exactly how many) continued to Purfleet. On 29/05/1986, its still dark, just, as 59001 stands at Slough, after being stopped for causing a hot axlebox activation en route. Happily, it was physically confirmed to be ok by the driver. Just another shot of 59001 standing at Slough while the driver attends to the HABD issue in the train. Not long after this run, another 3 wagons were added to this diagram, and ultimately, it went to 50 wagons, 5,000 t. Very impressive, indeed. Later in the day 59001 is seen stabled at Purfleet station, awaiting the wagons to be unloaded, before working the empties back to Merehead quarry via Acton yard. A class 302 EMU, 283 departs from the station heading out on an LTS service. And finally, on the return empties, running along the Berks & Hants, not too far off Savernake summit, passing the 14.18 Merehead Quarry to Theal loaded working, with another of the original quartet of EMD heavy haulers in charge. Looks like the local farmers are having a free lime top up! So, this time, a bit of a change from prototype Sprinters. Hope it's of interest. Cheers TT100 Diesels

Back to early Type Testing of 150001, seeing it out and about on the network. It's back to 18/09/1984 at Bromsgrove, with 150001 reduced to a two car formation for traction performance tests on the Litchfield City - Bromsgrove axis. Lickey incline was a regular traction test site used by all the new classes of units of this era of change. Speaking of change, this location has changed completely since this picture was taken, which shows the Sprinter recessed in the sidings on the fuel tank farm side of the line while a pair of 37's start to dig in to bank the 07.30 Penzance to Aberdeen, with 47029 being the train engine. The 37's are 37244 and 37275. Later in the day, 150001 is back at Bromsgrove, this time the day's testing completed and it awaits its path back to Derby RTC. But first, a conventional DMU needs to clear after making a call at the single platform. A few days later, on the 25th September, 55200 finds itself in company with 317335 and 317325 at Bedford depot. 150001 was on a Derby RTC to Bedford rtn test run. The family DNA can be seen between the MKIII steel build EMU's and the new kid on the block underfloor diesel hydraulic powered brethren. The next day saw 150001 up on the WCML, on another regular test site, this time, the slow line between Crewe and Winsford. It is probably most notable as being the test site for slip brake testing of freight rolling stock, but was also used for other stock as in this case. A possession of the slow line thus allows plenty of scope for shuttling back and forth monitoring stopping distances against the relevant technical specification. In this photograph, 55300 makes a striking comparison with a venerable old Class 304 EMU, 024. Due to a train crew changeover, the 150 had to be worked back out the possession into the station at Crewe to facilitate this. Hope these old pictures are of interest. Cheers TT100 Diesels