Nyeti

Always good to see your work, @JimRead!  That little Armstrong-Whitworth diesel is a great find too.

I found FreeCAD fairly easy to pick up, and as the name implies it's free.  It's also pretty good for specifying a drawing by geometric constraints.

Lovely work on that Sharp Stewart.

And how does the chassis work?  Is that a 3D printed bevel gear or a fan?  I'd be interested to hear what you have to say on building chassis with those little gear motors.

That's a lovely model and a very nice weathering and detailing job.  Reminds me of trips down the Mid-Hants in a Wickham.

Very nice work.  I've not delved into OpenSCAD but clever tricks like this might tempt me!

Cleverly made as always!  I like the cast iron bracket design, and nice attention to detail with the plaform scene.

I can answer this one, and the short answer is yes!

At NECGOG we have a member who regularly brings Big Big Train stock and I've got a Sentinel built on a Lima motor bogie.

They run fine on PECO plain line.  On points they are generally OK, but because of the coarse flanges they do bump up slightly on the frog, which can affect electrical contact.

Lovely job on the detailing.  Small things like signs really give you a sense of time and place - the site safety and assembly point tell me this is something within my lifetime 😉

Really nice work.  Your locos have a Studio Ghibli sort of charm to them 😃

On 20/02/2023 at 11:59, woko said:

I'm also toying with the idea of selling my STL's I have close to 150 now wagons and Coaches, but still wondering the best way to do it?

Cults3D or another online platform might work as a way of selling STLs.  I'm not an expert on the commercial side, though, just someone who's interested in buying and building your fine creations 😃

A little late to the discussion but I thought I'd add my tuppence.

I'd certainly be interested as a customer.  I own a 3D printer myself and while I do some of my own CAD, I'd prefer to pay a designer directly for the use of one of their STLs rather than pay the rather steep fees for Shapeways or similar to print it for me.

I've bought STLs in the past for wargaming and been satisfied.  For railway models I'd do the same; I'll admit that many of the Rue d'Étropal range are tempting but would be more so if I could print at home.

Excellent weathering job, and clever designs!  That Kitson well tank in particular is a gem.

Superb work - and a fascinating choice of prototype too.

Superb job.  What technique do you use for CADding up the leaf springs?

My laptop has died - a motherboard fault that put it beyond economic repair - so I've not been able to do any new 3D prints.  Fortunately I have other things to distract me!

(yes, I know I haven't finished the Springside kit; this is just how I work.)

I've started building a brake saloon and luggage van from a pack of 422 Models seconds I had lying around.  The chassis are Hornby with new metal wheels fitted.

Unsurprisingly The Transport Library has some interesting photos of the railway and its stock including coaches.  These two were both taken 1963 in Trafford Park, though aside from the cars it's hard to tell!

This one's undated but looks a bit older.

Does anyone recognise the coaches, especially the 4w brake coach at the top?  I have a suspicion it's ex-GWR but I'm not certain.

Baseboard construction has begun!  Please excuse the low contrast - all the better lit parts of my house are already occupied.

The top...

... and the bottom.  Jim Read's influence will be clear to anyone who follows his modelling.

There's still a bit more to do on the traverser ends, but it already holds together pretty well.  And it's so light!  5mm foamboard weighs next to nothing and the pine framing doesn't add much.

Another interested party here to watch!  I'm a fan of Jim Read style micros and am looking forward to seeing how this one develops.

I'm not sure where stereotypes of women really come into this unless you're thinking of athletes doing a different kind of street running! 

4 hours ago, Regularity said:

My, Lancashire was very big in the old days!

Maybe I should change the thread title?  Industrial street running obviously wasn't confined to Lancashire and there are some interesting prototypes outside the county - I only said because I was looking at Oldham as inspiration.  And then went off-topic with a picture of Aberdeen.

Here it is pared down to the motor unit and built back up with 3D printed frames, boiler, and tank.

These are just test prints so they're a bit rough, but I'm pleased with the overall effect.

Also in view is a 4½-plank open wagon acquired from eBay.

Not Lancashire, but I've found a nice photo of the rail entrance to Aberdeen Gas Works:

The sliding gates make a lot of sense for providing security without obstructing the street.  I imagine other sites of the same period did similar.

If I'm going to have a layout I'll need track and things to run on it.  The former is already mostly here, and I'm now starting on the latter.

This peculiar contraption is a Lima shunter with a (continental?) steam outline body bolted on top.  It's basic to say the least but it runs, it'll handle 700mm curves, and it was cheap!

Although the wheelbase is a scale 18" too long, I think I can turn this into a passable Andrew Barclay with skirts (along the lines of Aberdeen Gas Works' Mr Therm).  Drawings and 3D printer at the ready.

On 28/05/2021 at 22:52, Mike Bellamy said:

that's a Springside kit

Well spotted Mike!  That was a slip of the fingers on my part; the Smallbrook kit is further up the thread.

My current work in progress for O-16.5 is "Leah", a Springside Fowey shown here with the roof balanced in place on a dry run.  It's a lovely little kit and the weight of whitemetal is rather satisfying.

After a return to the hobby in my 20s and a few years of building 7mm narrow gauge, the standard gauge bug has bitten.  Since I don't have the time, space, or money for a great big layout it's going to be a @JimRead style micro - not quite the Arendtian four square feet but I'm setting myself a hard limit of 1500×600mm so I can move it up and down stairs and fit it in my car in one piece.

I've decided on a South Lancashire urban setting in the early to mid 1930s and have been asking questions on the standard gauge industrial forum here.

My proposed track plan is closely based on the sidings on Gould Street, Oldham, which served Platt Brothers' Hartford Old Works.  In operational terms it's a minimal Inglenook with the additions of a kickback siding and traversers allowing a run round.

The numbered scale is in metres and the green grid is in feet for the traditionalists.

The idea is that the viewing side is the lower edge, which will be part of a machine factory yard.  The two traversers at the back, each two position with three tracks, will be hidden behind the factory wall and buildings, and the double-track section is set into the street.  Backscene will be the front of another mill, possibly with its own loading dock.

Points are Lima and the minimum radius is 700mm (27½") for a scale 30.5m or 1½ chains, which is admittedly very tight, but manageable for small stock and not unrealistic for an industrial setting as long as you don't look too closely at the points - and by modifying those I can also ease the worst of the reverse curves on the drawing.  All visible track will be inset in cobbles.

Rolling stock will be small 4-wheel wagons carrying coal and raw materials in, machinery out, and the like, hauled by small 4-wheel locos.  I'm considering 3D printing a Black Hawthorn inside cylinder 0-4-0, perhaps later to be joined by a Simplex, Peckett "Yorktown", or Hunslet "Courage".

As this is inspired by a real place rather than an exact model I'm changing the location to a fictional town itself inspired by the real South Lancashire: Utterley, Swarfdale, made famous by the old TV show "Brass".  As you well know.

Please let me know your thoughts, advice, and dire warnings