Lemmy282

I think this is a standard tramway junction turnout, most only had one switching blade. These were manually operated points, they only have over-centre springs accessed by the two small cover plates adjacent to the blade, so unlikely to be part of a locking system. It would be for the line turning into Bridge Road that then ran onto Welney, the marks in the setts showing where rails had been removed. Nigel L

It is more complicated than that. The 1870 Tramways act did not make provision for street tramways to use steam, assuming horses would be used, but loopholes allowed some steam trials. Tramways that were rural or ran alongside roads were exempt from this act, so this allowed the Vale of Clyde Tramway Co. which was a roadside tramway, to start using steam in 1877, having used horse trams since 1873. Not until the Use of Mechanical Power on Tramways Act of 1879 were street tramways allowed to use steam. I think the wording on the Darwen plaque is misleading, in that it was the first STREET tramway DESIGNED to use steam trams from the outset in the UK, hence opening in 1881, after the act came into operation. Nigel L

Not been able to fund a report of the Sandy derailment, but the newspaper reports of the Great Heck accident state this was the 2nd accident for 91132 and various websites quote only two major accidents involving the class. Of the 10 set that will remain in service until 2023/2024, 91110 has been selected for the national collection as it holds the speed record of 161.7mph which achieved just south of........ Little Bytham. Nigel L

It is a bit difficult to give accurate figures as only a handful of HST power cars have spent their working life on the ECML, but according to an article in Rail Magazine:- "Virgin Trains East Coast 43238 and 43239 are calculated to be the highest-mileage power cars of the entire UK HST fleet, at 9.725 million miles each by mid-2018. Both were built in the first batch of HSTs and delivered to the Western Region in early 1977. They transferred to the ECML (where annual mileages have always been higher) in 1982, and have remained there ever since. The average UK power car mileage is 8.48 million miles. Within the VTEC fleet, 43305-43319 have been on the East Coast Main Line continuously since their delivery, and are calculated to have run 9.385 million miles each." Nigel L

Yes there are some that are being overhauled, but some are being withdrawn and having component removal undertaken. Interestingly 91132 was taken from service the other week, loaded onto a low loader, and taken to a scrapyard in Nottingham, without any components being removed. I wonder if it was because this was the loco involved in both the Hatfield and Great Heck disasters. Nigel L

With the class 91 electrics now being withdrawn from the ECML, I was wondering how their average mileage compared with the A4's as both had a working life of about thirty years. The Deltics averaged about 3 million miles over their twenty years, and the 91's have averaged about 8 million over thirty, so what did the A4's achieve? Nigel L

Try looking at the range from Zimo. Their cheapest is about £20 and has negative a connection pad at the edge of the board. Nigel L

I'm glad it is not only me that's struggling. I had great intentions of making all those loco kits I bought over the years when the first lockdown started. Looking back over the year I've made three, not even 5% of the total list of kits I have! The interest has gone, and enthusiasm is at an all time low. Maybe time to thin out the collection, at the present rate I'll need to live to 150! Nigel L

In early DCC systems there was the option to operate a non chipped loco as address 0. This gave a slightly reduced voltage which didn't do as much damage to a normal motor, although I wouldn't recommend try a coreless motor on it. More modern systems don't have this facility. One problem with running a DCC chipped loco on DC is that it will never run as smoothly as on DCC because the chip needs about 4.5v before it wakes up, so they tend to start a bit like a startled rabbit! To get the most out of a DCC decoder it is best to disable the DC conversion facility. Just to clear thing up, a DCC signal is not AC, it is a square wave DC signal, the information for the decoder is superimposed on this basic waveform.

Maybe, but if running DCC sound equipped loco's it makes sense to have all the layout permanently live, as sound would be cut off when points were changed. On the real railway, you would be in a lot of trouble driving against an incorrectly set route, so in a way DCC places more importance in operating in a more prototypical manner.

The problem with a lot of N gauge layouts is too much in a small space, it is sometimes seen as a scale for people with not enough room for a 4mm layout. Cheese Tor (2mm finescale) takes the opposite and puts the railway in the landscape, something most 4mm layouts can't achieve, unless you are lucky enough to have space like Pendon. The finescale track standards make for smoother running than normal universal N gauge track, okay you have to be more meticulous about laying it, but that's the same in any scale. Some of the finescale modellers might cringe at this but I find 2mm less demanding in terms of detail. I know some will go to great extremes to put minute detail on loco's (working reversing gear on a 9F for instance), but I go the other way. Some of my stock doesn't have proper numbering, only a representation with some paint squiggles, a suggestion of pipework on a loco, buildings probably don't have the correct brickwork pattern, but once on the layout from a couple of feet away you can't spot the difference. Someone one told me 2mm scale was a great "impressionist" scale. "Gets tin hat, retreats to trench and waits for the bullets to fly", as Bluebottle would have said. Nigel L

True, but I've been using that method for forty odd years since I built my first kit. There are probably much more sophisticated ways now, but I've got used to it, so why change it? Nigel L

Would that be a Resistance Soldering Unit? Horses for courses really, I use one for soldering finescale 2mm bodies and chassis, the heat stays local so the rest of the thing doesn't fall apart again. I don't use them for 4mm though, preferring to stick to a 50w iron for brass, and 25w through a "glowing bulb" for whifemetal. The RSU does come into it's own for fitting small parts though, things like lamp irons etc. as you can hold the part in place with the probe, hit the pedal and once the solder has flowed continue to hold the part in place until it has cooled. Nigel L

Thought he was the drummer in the Police?

In the past I've successfully used "foam safe" superglue to fix clear glazing, but can't remember which brand. Deluxe models do "Rocket Odourless", which is also described as non-blooming. Nigel L

Try Shawplan

As OO scale is 1:76 they will look overscale

Diesel haulage through the tunnel had to be kept to a minimum, remember there were no ventilation shafts and it was lined with Portland cement, which would degrade with the diesel fumes. The difference in levels between the Midland lines and the GC would have meant quite a steep gradient would have resulted for a direct line, plus some engineering difficulties, the connecting line via Nunnery is considerably longer then the distance a direct line would have had to take. Nigel L

Found the pictures, they were taken in August 2001, I didn't realise it was that long ago. Nigel L

Would that be the large grey building? If so then a few years ago it was still in use as a Stagecoach bus depot. I went past one day and noticed the tram rails were still in evidence in the entrance. They were kind enough to let me in and take a few pictures, must see if I can find them. Nigel L

It is imprinted concrete, cost a fortune when it was laid. If I remember correctly the track slab was laid by a slip form paver then the surface cast separately on top of it using moulds.

Okay, I see what was confusing me, thanks for clearing that up. Nigel L

I'm confused here, "Bluebird" is of metal construction and surely the Feltham was the chosen design. Nigel L

As has already been stated, bows and pantographs usually need the o/h wire near the centre of the tracks, whereas swivel head trolleys can have the wire some distance from the centreline, saving on traction poles etc. You would think pantographs were the least trouble to operate, and they probably are if over a bogie pivot which would keep them over the centre of the track, but as the current collector is usually in the centre of the tram this means the wire has to move all over the place to accomodate it. The ten 1928 single deck Blackpool "Pullman" cars were originally equipped with pantographs, hence they became known as "pantograph cars", but by the mid 1930's they had been converted to trolleypoles,! Bow collectors, as used in Leeds, Glasgow etc. have the advantage of not dewiring and can flip over when the tram reverses, so long as the wire is high enough and slack enough to allow. Trolleypole equipped vehicles, with either swivel, fixed head trolley wheels or skates are subject to dewirement, need more infrastructure if they are to turn automatically and need wheel/skate replacement as they wear out. The tramway museum at Crich in Derbyshire operates all types except 'skates', so the overhead is a compromise to allow it to work with pantographs, bows, fixed head and swivel head trolleys.