Mountain Goat

You could also cut down the back as well.

Now you are getting somewhere. Just make sure the screw does not electrically cause a short between the pairs of pick-up contacts.

This is a clever steam and a diesel locomotive all in one design. https://www.lner.info/locos/IC/kitson.php

What I love about this thread is that everyone is making progress building their unique creations to their own abilities and styles, and having fun and learning at the same time!

What material did you solder the wires to? It should be a piece of printed circuit board (PCB) as the copper side which one solders onto can be gently cut or filed on just the top copper surface, so that the two pickup sides can be isolated.

Have you tried making a chassis from a piece of metal U channel?

For me, it is not the smell itself, but it is the effect the smell does to me. My sense of smell is no better then anyone elses, so this is not what I mean by having a sensitivity, but it is how it triggers a partial or a full on shutdown with me. Some of these smells I find pleasant which is annoying! It would be fine if it was only the fowl smelling things as it would be easy!

Certain smells cause me shutdowns. Always been sensitive to wool next to my skin, or tiny bits in my socks, and I have to remove most of the clothing tags... And these can't be cut off as the remains will irritate me just as bad. I have to rip them out and sew any hole that the rip has caused, as the tags have to be completely removed before I can wear them. (For those who may not understand this, with autistic traits, the cause is where one gets missing brain connections during the brain development when born. The brain growth compensates for these missing connections by overdeveloping another area of rhe brain that does work which makes sense that one can be a complete genuis in one area but a complete dunce in another (No dissrespect intended). Now think along the lines of hypersensitivities which are caused by the rain overdeveloping these areas. (Likewize one can be under sensitive incertain areas due to missing brain connections). Now hypersensitiviries can come out in many ways. One way is where the brain is hyper tuned into the skins nerve endings, and this can cause big issues where one perwon probably would not notice clothes tags and to another it would be as if one has placed some wirewool down ones back! I for one find that I can't stand getting my hair cut without immediately going straight into the bath or the shower, and the clothes I was wearing need to be washed five or six times, as one piece of cut hair left in my clothes sticking into me will drive me crazy! In the past I have made the mistake of having my hair cut at hairdressers and the trip home was torture! I now have dedicated clothes I wear just for having my hair cut in, and when they are washed, they must not be washed with my other clothes on the first few washes. Even after a few washes I have been known to spend ages picking out every hair that found itself sticking in the fine fibre of my clothes! Wool worn right next to my skin.... I can tollerate woolen clothes that are worn out next to my skin, but I can't with fresh wool. The traditional Welsh blankets for the first two deacdes I can only use them as a top blanket. I can feel a grain of sand in my bed! I feel like the male form of the princess and the pea! Socks. My feet can feel the slightest small stone or bit in my shoe. I have gone to stop to remove a tiny stone and others say "Was that it?" and yet I have to as it is soo irritating that it may as well be a big stone! (I know it sounds daft to those who are not hypersensitive!) And a little hair in my sock would drive me wild! I have always foud I MUCH prefer to wear baggy old almost worn out clothes. I am happy in them as I am comfortable. I find that if someone gives me clothes I have to have them washed a few times, as I don't get on with most washing powders. Also due to having sensory issues to smells, I can end up getting shutdowns while in a clothes shop or a carpet shop due to the smell of the clothes dyes with the new clothes or carpets. Usually I partly shutdown and can just make it out in time, but if I don't I risk ending up stuck on the floor in a full out shutdown!

Last night I realized one of the reasons why I have found it so difficult to ask a girl out. I tend to get mindblank if I try to talk directly, especially if I am nurvous, so I usually avoid direct conversations. I automatically keep going off on tangents to avoid hitting mindblank. Also, I miss some of the obvious flirting signs that women do and I can't tell the difference between a flirt and a lady just being nice, so I assume they are being nice. It has been pointed out to me many times by others who have noticed ladies flirting with me and i did not know! Why do they tell me AFTER the event? But also, when a lady has to make it soo obvious that I can't ignore it I think they are being far too forward and I run a mile! Finding a lady who likes trains is like discovering gold. Finding a lady that is available and likes trains and likes me is... (Any word I can use here as I can't think?)

Anyone get any sensory issues? Things like taste, smell, touch or light sensitivities?

I must be an exception to that rule. The models I make I do not aim for a greater accuracy but rather I aim for a greater consistancy and character. My models are lacking in fine detail. The details I add are more suggestions to make the mind see an overall picture of what the model is rather then being an exact scale replica. But an exact scale replica of what? I love freelance modelling! And my models can't be described as accurate. Some may be shocked, but my locos and coaches are painted in gloss! (Matt for the rest of the stock). But what I do aim for is an illusion of realizm which is a different concept to aiming for accuracy which works for me as for years I had been trying and failing to meet even the standards of the past, let alone trying to make my models match todays fine standards... But with these "Failures", they were only failures because Iwas adopting the wrong approach. If I tried to match todays standards I would likely never get there. But with my current outlook on modelling style I can achieve. I am achieving consistency. Consistency is key! I was never able to achieve consistency in the past even with RTR models, as one thought ones older models were lovely until one of the new super detailed models came out and made the rest of my fleet look like toys! But as I aim for consistency I can achieve (Or hope to achieve) an overall picture of a scene through my modelling if I ever get things finished! Haha! An example of inconsistency that had to be corrected. I bought some lovely 0-16.5 Peco coach kits that were pre-coloured. These are lovely BUT, the lovely green livery with the fine lining made my painting attempts look crude. So the solution? The only sollution? I painted over these kits which gave them the consistency to match my modelling style, and it works well for me.

I am looking at this model ad it is lovely. The painting and lining are supurb and the uniquness of its shape... Everything about it looks to a similar high standard as todays fine standards one sees the RTR manufacturers achieving. It is really great.

My Dad used to have that issue, and I have noticed that I can be similar but with me, lately I have given up watching things if someone else is in a conversation at the same time as I can't concentrate on the one thing. I used to be able to but after I hit the last burnout it has been noticeable. One thing I rarely ever do is to switch a radio on in the car while I am driving, and once when driving to a place where I had to take two others and find the place we were going, one guy happened to have a satnav on his phone. Well... No way could I follow the sat navs instructions because the messages were coming too fast for my mind to process while I was driving. I have always used a map because I have a mind which thinks in pictures, so I pull in somewhere, look at a map and study the next couple of miles and remember it, and move on like that... But the day of the guys satnav was unreal. On this large roundabout that came off the M4 in the Bridgend area there were around 150 armed guards surrounding the roundabout as some world leader happened to be visiting Newport which was around 30 miles away. What they must have thought of us on that day "Acting suspiciously" going round the roundabout six times on and off as I kept taking wrong lanes trying to listen to the satnav ladies voice but by the time the next instruction sankin with the other guys trying to tell me getting nurvous themselves as we were attracting attention... All those voices! Haha! And those big guns... I was glad that we did find the place we were looking for!

There is something I need to clarify here because there are many missconceptions which come out of certain statements like "We are all on the spectrum" which is not exactly true in that the classification of having autism is being within the autism spectrum dissorder classification. The more accurate statement is to say "We all have autistic traits of one kind or another". What the autism assessment does is to look for evidence of those traits and see how many traits they can find and how much those traits effect ones day to day living in a negative way. (This is how I understand it. Many more knowledgable people can go into more detail). I should mention there is a halfway boarderline stage of being neither off or on the spectrum known as BAP, which I believe stands for "Broad Autistic Phenominum" or something like that. It is someone who can be struggling in certain areas but does not have enough autistic traits to qualify as being on the spectrum. Now in order for you to understand a bit more about autism and what it actually is (Which includes asperges syndrome and the other descriptions within the autism spectrum dissorder), as there are quite a lot of frustrating missunderstandings (Usually unintentional) caused by those who do not understand the issue, is to explain first what autism actually is. Autism is a condition where the brain has electrical connections which do not make it. It is in nearly all cases a condition that has been there since birth unless in the rare event that the brain has been involved in a severe accident like a motor crash etc. But a good 99% of cases it has been a condition since birth, hence why it is known as a developmental dissorder. Now consider you have a computer and I know nothing about its internal workings, but I sever a random connection. Now no one knows at first what this will do. It could function fine until it goes to do a specific task and then it just shuts off. Now there is another aspect specific to the autistic brain that is caused during the brains development while in the womb and while the brain is growing, and this is that due to the missing brain connections, the brain growth then compensates by overdeveloping other areas of the brain instead and this tends to come out in one or two ways or both. The first is that the person can have a narrow area where the person can be a genius. The other is that the person can be hypersensitive in one area or the other. Now think that a highly intelligent person in one area can display all the characteristics of a highly intelligent person, but then in a different area (Due to the missing brain connections) may not be able to function at all. I will give you an example of hypersensitivity from my own life. My hearing. I was walking around a local country park that is near the beach, and a man had his dog loose and was walking at 45 degrees across my path. He was calling his dog who was not responding. Now when his path came right near me he decided to blow his dog whistle hard right near my left ear. My ear drum nearly exploded such was the noise! I can hear dog whistles and I used to be able to hear bats (The last year or two my hearing has deteriated slightly so I now struggle to hear them). Now all I could do was hold my hands over my ears and run forward, and the man assumed it wss all an act and got annoyed with me saying that they are dog whistles and no humans can hear them. He would not have it that I could hear the things! (If he could hear it he would never have blown it with such force as it was LOUD! ). Now that is one example. Hyper sensitivities can be with smell light and even touch. At the other end of things, the missing brain con ections can cause issues. I have rarely ever been able to speak in a short direct way. If I try I risk getting mind blank where my mind just stops. It is like hitting a wall. So whenever I talk, I will keep a "grain" of an idea where I want to end up and I will almost talk round the world and back in continual tangents to get there. By doing this I avoid mindblank. This is known as a "Coping mechanism" and in my case it has been self taught from an early age. Another self taught aspect is masking. I will put o an act to appear normal. For the first few years of my schooling life at all playtimes and even in lessons I was dead quiet and in playtimes I would go to a far corner out of the way and just stand there watching everyone studying "How" they played and "How" they reacted and talked etc. It was not that I did not play at home or I did not talk etc. It was that the new enviroment was a whole different ballgame and the stress of school meant I was at quite a dissadvantage unless the class was quiet and I was stimming. Not the rocking back and fore stimming. I didn't do that. But I would be clicking a pen or rapping my fingers or bouncing a leg up and down, which was done to enable me to focus. But ever so often I was noticed and told off. I remember spending a few weeks hardly concentrating on any school work and being petrified incase my body started to stim so I would be constantly monetering my every movement to ensure that my body acted and appeared "Normal". My schoolwork suffered under those stricter teachers. I also could rarely talk and look someone in the eye at the same time which also got me into trouble on ocxasions as there is a belief that people who lie can't look someone in the eye which for some people is completely untrue. Anyway. Sorry. I am going off on tangents. I have I think explained a few things. I wanted to try to explain that autism is often a very hidden condition except for the ones who can't mask the condition and for the autistic who masks, it is like doing two full time jobs at the same time. It is exhausting so when home tie comes along all they want to do is relax! It is why many on the spectrum are classed as introverts. Another reason is that they seem to (In the eyes of those who are not on the spectrum) be doing wrong so they tend to shut themselves off from society as they lack the confidence to be part of society. (There are a few loud extrovert autistics out there. It is a spectrum after all!

That is along the lines of what I was thinking if it wasn't for the need to program the thing. I can imagine what would happen if I tried to 3D print something! Probably get the wrong scale and get life sized components whirring out of the machine. The next stage in 3D printing will likely be self coloured components ready lined and liveried etc... After all, it can be done with 2D so why not 3D? An interesting concept!

3D printing is a difficult one to know where it fits in. There is quite a bit of skill involved in writing the programs and the parts do need a little work to make them look nice. It is along the same lines as scratchbuilding but from a different angle. The approach is very different, and there are more then one form of making the program, as one can scan a prototype and directly transfer the dimensions if one is lucky enough to own such equipment, or one can program the computer oneself which is a skill in itself, or one can in some circumstances (Or there is potential to do this) download ---》 Print ---》 build though I am not sure if this approach is available as yet. (I don't see why not if it can be done for card buildings why not on a D printing device?) I am kinda with you in that there does need to be a different term other then to call it scratchbuilding BUT this does not mean that it does not take skill, and to be honest, the results from 3D printing remind me of buying a resin cast kit where it is a half way between scratchbuilding and kitbuilding in that one has castings which need to be made to fit. (They rarely fit without a little filing or sanding). Having said that, the results are amazing ad half of the work that a scratchbuilder does is needed even when assembling a kit or a 3D build or a kitbash, or a RTR bash which is more of us actually do if we convert a Hornby 0-4-0 or any other locomotive into something more unusual. I have never 3D printed anything myself but I have tried a little resin csting which I did enjoy doing! Here is another thought along similar lines. One can have one modeller who finds all sorts of scraps like old tins or wood and creates a masterpiece, and another modeller can buy some brass or plasticard sheets, and buys in all sorts of lovely pre built and pre cast fittings, and build themselves a lovely model. Now are they both on the same level? As one could argue that the one who bought the more suitable materials at almost a no expense spared had a massive advantage on the other who had to think more outside the box to get his scraps of materials to form into a nice model? Now the element of 3D printing is along the same lines but at yet another level, so it can loosely be described as scratchbuilding but one has formed the parts in a different way.

Quoting myself. Bear in mind that I have only dated a few womwn in my life. The first time I was in my mid 30's. Prior to that prosopragnosia issues ruined my first date at the age of 16. How did I know I was standing next to her? 45 minutes later I gave up as I thought she had not turned up. I was so upset that when a lady wanted me in my mid 30's it took some convincing and she did the asking!

Straight away usually. Trains are part of my life! This does not mean she has to like trains... Uhmm. I am single. HAHAHAHAHA!

I have a friend who is a bit like me but differet. He is good with people in that he is natural and likes to get on with people. We met back in 1996 to 1998 where I used to work in charge of a bicycle department in a sports store. He is not into trains but does not mind them. He is very likely on the autism spectrum and though I mentioned it recently (I do not see him that often these days. 4 times a year to check he is ok?) he does not see it. Why I mention this is that though he is very good at communicating with others in that he can speak to a complete stranger as if they have always known each other, and yet ever since I have known him it is rare that he does not smell or does not have gaping holes in his clothes etc. When I have mentioned it to him he says he will do something but rarely does. BUT, if a woman he fancies says something, it is done! The last two years he must have a lady friend somewhere as he is actually not smelly and as clothing with less holes, though the last time I saw him he was not wearing pants and did not realize he was visible through the holes in his trousers! Now I tent to look a bit rough because I don't see the point of dressing up. Why? My life does not revolve around "Fitting in" with society. I only did that as part of a job and at home I would take the job mask off and be myself. When I worked on the railways I had a work college call in and he said I was a very different person at home to how I was in work. I found work exhausting as on top of doing a job I had an "Act" to play, in that while it was me, the masking was creating a confident type of extrovert, when in reality, underneath I am a semi shy introvert who keeps myself to myself and rarely gets involved in anything where I am meeting people other then a one to one situation. The only aay I was able to work trains was because when it got too stressful I had the back cab to retire to so I could open the window and de-stress and avoid shutdowns (I never ever knew they were called shutdowns ad doctors had convinced me they were "Some sort of allergy" but though I had asked for an allergy test for 20 odd years they never were availablw on the NHS at that doctors. In recent years I changed doctors and asked and had a test, so I realized the issues Iwas having had nothing to do with allergy. Cut a long story short. I am on a list to be assessed for autism). Now I too only wash and bath when I start to get smelly because we are on a budget where the cost of heating water means that we have to be careful. Also recently my brother and his wife have been living here so I have had no access to the shower for a few months and I could only shower when they were out, which was rare. So once every two weeks...(I can shower now so I will be showering soon!) But anyway... Now today they are going back to live in the town my Mum and I can now have a shower again and I really need it! But that is an exceptional circumstance brought on by the lockdown where due to the lockdown we have all been cramped up at home and my brothers workmates have also had to come back and fore here as part of their work which for me has been stressing as I have had hardly any time to relax without shutting myself off in my bedroom. But anyway... Luckily my nephew convinced me to get a Nintendo Switch and I only have one downloaded racing car game and I have played the socks off it during this lockdown! Haha! But what I said about hygene... About 5 years ago I went to the once yearly model railway exhibition near Aberaeron and is the last time I was able to attend there. While I was relitively clean, due to the stress of being around so many people I came out in an unconteollable sweat. I mean I went suddenly hot and sweaty. I liked the day but I find myself increasingly unable to cope with crowds. About three years ago I attended a big exhibition in Swansea and I went on a sunday afternoonas the crouds usually subside towards the last few hours of the last day. My brother and his wife went for a walk outside. I had a brief look around the exhibition and spoke to one or two people exhibiting so I could divert my attention away from the crowds as I really wasn't coping... But I wanted to see the layouts! So as I was told one can go out and back in as they had stamped my hand, I went out, called my brother and his wife and told them to come and look. They did not want to but they were happy there, so I had a walk with them to de-stress so I could go back in. Went to go back in and it was quieting down but the guy at the gate wouldn't let me. He said they were closed. This was an hour before the official closing time. I was soo dissapointed that day as I wanted to buy something from one of the guys with a trade stand, but ok. I have memories of the layouts even if I did not quite see them all. The wierd thing is that though I would be very nurvous, I can do it if I was exhibiting. Ok, it would take a lot out of me and take me a couple of weeks to recover from the stress, but I can do it because I can mask. But as a customer I can't do it. I can't cope with the crowds as I can't mask. It is wierd! I used to be able to mask more readily then I once did. I am a wierd contrasting mix! It is odd because I can potetially be on a stage and yet soon after I would want to dissapear and not meet anyone! It is the attention I would have AFTER that would stress me! If I have been invited to a gathering like a party I would always want to leave early unless it is a quiet party. (I used to dread my own birthdays incase lots of people turned up to make a fuss of me. But I think that is the problem. For me when I was in school I HATED rainy days because we would have to go in the school hall and the sound of all those shouting or talking kids... I would be in tears with my hands over my ears. Many a lunchtime I was soked through outside trying to avoid teachers seeing me to avoid the hall! And what I hate is the sound of hundreds of people talking at the same time! That I can't cope with. If an event happens, I am ok because everyone is quiet listening towat is being said on the stage, but it is before and after the event I don't like when everyone starts talking! I now absolutely LOVE rainy days and the rain as it means I get castles and whole beaches to myself! No crowds! What a contrast! Anyway. Off topic... Best I let youall speak! Haha!

Very few prototype railways can say they have had steam, diesel, battery electric, overhead electric and even human pedal power used on their railway.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sakuradani_Light_Railway

I was looking at this delightful railway with its unusual points and pantographs and it is crammed with track in such a small space and I thought "Wouldn't it make a lovely model!" And then I thought of those lovely narrow gauge trams from Smallbrook Studeo and I thought "Ideal!" http://smallbrookstudio.co.uk/kits-parts/4569521210/0e---7mm-Narrow-Gauge One day it would make a lovely idea to copy don't you think?

I think you are right. Even the wheelbase which matched the older Triang 0-4-0's seemed to match this loco well. I could almost reach into the old photograph and pick it up as it looks so much like the model! Mind you, if that loco was a real scaled up version of the model rather then the other way around, it would have left both the City of Truro and even the Mallard standing if run flat out!

It is either Triang or Triang/Hornby as it is missing its metal Triang motor bogie. It is definately not another make. It is 00 gauge. If I come across it I will photograph it. I may have sold it or given it away as I never did get a metal motor bogie for it. (Everyone seemed to have one except when I asked!) Haha!

I have (Or had if I don't still have it) a Triang class 31 body (Does not have a power bogie) somewhere that is of the "Toffeeapple" design that does not have the headcode boxes. I have not seen another like this. Is it rare? Also which Hornby catalogue is your favourity? Mine HAS to be their 1978 catalogue. I no longer have it as I read it to bits when I was younger! That preformed layout was impressive... It all was impressive. Their entire range! And here is ssomething... An aspect... That I miss, or is missing with todays "Finescale" models. Imagination. When it came to the older models ones imagination took over giving an element of excitement. Todays fine models are just too accurate for one to do this so features like the smaller tension lock couplings really stand out. With the older models such features seemed to blend in more and I assumed it was because those wide thin metal couplings were less visible? BUT, could it be because the models themselves were not so detailed so ones brain and eyes were more likely to overlook such things and capture an image of realism from them? I have to say that when one runs these older models, the main thing which makes them stand out is if they are stood next to todays modern models due to the vision of inconsistency. If one ONLY had models and buildings etc from around when these were made, then the consistency they give paints a more believable scene. The last time I bought a Hornby catalogue was about 10 to 15 years ago. Prior to that most years I bought them, but they just seemed to get so expensive. Iwas involved by trade on and off in the bicycle industry. They gave their catalogues for free. They once tried charging for them a fee to cover costs which was way below the price that Hornby charged for their catalogues. I think it was less then half price as the bicycle manufacturer that tried it had a similar sized catalogue. Do you know that customers looked, but not one was bought. Yet when they were free we would go through stacks of them and they would sell more bikes too! Model railways has more of the "Collector" element to it and this is how they can get away with charging (?)... I would not mind this if the price was more reasonable, but another element (Strangely) put me off. In the past their range was nice and simple. It was gradually expanded but somehow, even though very few people did, there was a feeling that if one was wealthy, one could buy one of every model they did. When Hornby took over other companies (Which to be fair, they needed "Rescuing" as had Hornby not done this, a LOT of wonderful models would not be seen today) their range greatly expanded, and in the catalogue (Which became three times as thick) things started getting a bit overwealming and confusing. I am not saying this could actually be avoided, as what a job it must have been to come out with a catalogue for each year! But somehow, for me they lost their excitement. (Don't ask why! I am wierd somehow! Haha!) It was like in my mind they had suddenly become "Super professional" when they used to be "Small and friendly"? Anyway. Just a few thoughts... Just to ammend... When I see those lovely Triang trainset boxes, they "Paint" scenes. They are works of art which excite! That is what is missing today. The "Exciting" element to it. We need that back! (It has not gone. It has been delayed?)