Timber

Update on 3D printed wheels. I have spent time refining the artwork. In time I plan to produce engine specific rather than generic designs.....this one is modelled on Sharp Stewart Albion Class. I have also developed my own self quartering axle. It works and I am happy with the early protype but a little work to do as it is a bit too tight on the wheel and I have some ideas for self quartering outside cranks... Before anyone asks I get me wheels printed by Shapeways...I find the quality is better than anything I can consistently produce on my home resin printers.

3D Printed Catch Points...first one to protect the main line from a siding and the second sprung catch point to protect the main line (it is on a gradient) from any run away stock.

Etch looks great - love the way you number everything....will you be casting in brass - I will be very keen to see the updates on casting as and when you get to that part of the build.

Rob - these look impressive in the photo but even more impressive in the flesh. Great to see them at our AGM yesterday. They really are very fine detail.

I need to carefully test. Initial testing show no material drop in voltage across the tyres. I connected my analogue controller to one side of two steel tyres and my multimeter on the other side - and then did the same with the stainless steel. From 1 to 16 volts there appeared to be no difference in voltage loss. Hopefully one evening this week I will get time to re-tyre an engine. I have only got six coaches and two wagons so I will have to think carefully how to do a load test.... Interesting that someone stole an S Scale locomotive at an exhibition. They must have done it out of love for the locomotive....otherwise they would have had to go home and build a layout just to run it. With such a small community of S Scale modellers you would think that at some point it would turn up. But given the time it takes to build a locomotive it is a mean thing to do.....

In the last edition of the Gazette I shared progress on securing a supplier for loco wheel tyres. I have just received a second test batch. These are made with polished Stainless Steel - recomended to me by the people making them in China as more of their work is with stainless steel. Be interesting to see how stainless steel works out but a bit of research so far suggets that some of the better known RTR O Gauge manufacturers uses stainless steel along garden railway suppliers. In parallel exeprimenting with an ABS like resin to see if push fit axles are suitable. My immediate impression is that it could be. Need to test to see if warping is a problem but these have been made a week now and all good so far. Next step is to fit to a locomotive. The total cost of the wheel set here compares very favourably with any thing you can buy.

In answer to a question raised on Templot forum. The baseboards came with some nice wooden dowels but I replaced with 3D printed. M6 bolts go through the Dowels. I printed some extra large wing nuts so I can quickly dismantle the boards without using a spanner...nuts and bolts just slot in.

Track slowly being made - taking longer than planned but pleased with results..

good question - but I really like this filament even though I have to spray it afterwards....

Short clip of my Anycubic Filament Printer busy printing Templot plug track in S Scale. Chairs are subsequently printed on a resin printer. I could print more than two pieces at once but the print time just gets extended. Typically it takes a couple of hours a section. The printer runs warm, so I like to be around the workshop when it is running hence not running the printer for hours on end.

Baseboards are finished so I can get back to track building with Templot plug track. The track will be elevated onto an embankment but first I will build the track and lose lay it onto the baseboards before working out the landscape profile of the elevation.

Hi Schooner - I am not clear whether you want to model 2'6" or 3'6" gauge. If you want to model in 3'6" gauge then why not S Scale running on 00 track? If my maths is correct 3'6" in S Scale is 16.66mm which is close enough to 00 to probably not matter. Or maybe I have missunderstood - appologies in advance.

Steve - Thank you - the diameter of the circle is 9 foot. There will be a fiddle yard at the far side away from the viewing side - i have not drawn this yet but it will be a sliding tray so that I can swap engines and stock. When (if) it is finished I will stand in the middle and watch my engines running round! I will need a good few wagons but will get to that at some point in the future.

Not on the bench but on the floor. A big thank you to Grainge and Hodder who have made some baseboards for me. They spent considerable time producing all the art work and laser cut pieces. The quality is superb. One down nine to go. It is for a circular layout of Fochriw a small through station on the B&M. The shaded area of the track plan is the viewing side. I just need to add a couple of catch points to the plan.

Outstanding work - superb,