A. Bastow

They look spot on Roger. If I saw those on a layout I probably wouldn't be able to tell them apart. I didn't consider that the balance weights could be incorporated into the design as well! I suppose if you're having an etch made then it can't hurt to throw a set of wheels into the design as well. Cheers, Adam

Hi Jim, I will look at adding weight to the chassis then with the body on. I might need to try and get some weight in between the chassis as well. Ta.

Thanks Jim, Roger. I wondered if it was feasible and with no less than two of you having had a go I think I may entertain the idea in future. I do have another question. I have scratch built a tender 0-6-0 chassis and the motor in the tender pushes the drive chassis to one side or the other depending on whether I put it in forward or reverse. I can hold it all steady and the motor drives everything, wheels turn, the lot; admittedly with a bit of an occasional stutter. How do I stop this lashing to one side or the other? Please bear in mind that the only kit that I have built before was one of Nigel Hunt's replacement chassis- nice and compact tank engine. Could my motor be too powerful? Currently have a 10mm coreless motor fitted - I think from Nigel Lawton. Is the link from tender to loco too loose? The link/drawbar is supplied by 12BA nuts with the threads pared away soldered to double sided PCB- threaded at either end through 10BA bolts. Is the gear train too heavy or does it have too much inherent friction? I think I didn't leave enough running clearance when designing the etch for it, but I am also working at something like 70:1 gear reduction Should I look at an alternative universal joint? Currently have the N Brass locos universal joint installed as the 3d printed ones from association shop 3 kept breaking on me. Cheers! Adam

Had a daft idea earlier today. Has anyone ever experimented with etched and layered wheels using the wheel tyres from association shop 3?

Does the creator of the Jubillee have any notes or a guide on how it was built, Jerry? Currently drawing up the artwork (for etching) for one of these myself! Gorgeous work! Adam

Hi folks, Had a parcel arrive today and I am rather excited! This is my first attempt at drawing something up for etching. I must give credit (and thanks) to Bob Jones, Nigel Hunt and Rich Brummitt who initially got me started with the whole process. The etch contains two versions of the same L&Y coach, with different methods of achieving the details on the sides, basically to see which one builds/looks better. Then there are some L&Y bogies for the coaches, as well as some spare for some 3d printed bodies that I acquired back in winter. There is also a chassis for the 3d printed L&Y class 28 loco body I showcased some months ago. Plenty here to keep me busy for a few weeks now! I will obviously post progress on these as they develop!

Thanks for the replies on the 4F folks. I think I’ll tackle the etch then in due course!

A question for those who have built an association 4F and compared it with the current offering from GraFar. How do they compare? Would I be better off getting an N 4F and converting it or is the association kit the better option?

Progressing bit by bit over the last few weeks. All the track has been laid and wired except for point frogs, which will be powered from a relay on the servo board. A converted Jinty and a 9v battery revealed that it all works where it should without shorts. There is a tight spot on the tandem that needs a bit of fettling. Incidentally, I had tons of fun assembling the MERG Servo1R kits, which are now all ready. Hopefully I can get it all finished, plus a fiddle yard/cassette board for the 2mm Association’s Diamond Jubilee +2 celebration next year. Not bad progress for 10 months in, I think. (excuse the out of scale track, mini-me demanded that we get Thomas and Percy out!)

Did you hear about the bloke who bought himself a new boomerang? He spent the rest of his life trying to get rid of the old one! I'll show myself out... After a few weeks of not sharing any progress, the layout has its first baseboard and track has started to go down!

Hi Andreas, I built one of these as well (albeit a few months ago). The construction looks good to me. I would check that the distance across the inside of the tophat bearings is correct. From memory, it should be 11.5 mm. I had to gently prise open the W-irons just a fraction to get the wheels to turn freely at the correct distance. It might also be worth washing the whole thing and checking that there is no debris in the tophats. Cheers, Adam

Kevin, you're steaming ahead with these designs at the moment! Making me feel bad for not doing anything with mine! Might have to have a night or two next week working on them.

I paid an invoice not 12 hours ago without issue. Probably best to give PayPal a call or send them an email.

Thanks for all the replies folks. I think I have it clear now what can be achieved with this idea. All the best, Adam

Thanks for the correction Cliff, the error is mine then in this case. I knew of reed switches but when searching for them online I was taken to products that looked like reeds but were described as hall effect switches and I assumed they were the same thing. It sounds as if the principle is the same (application of a magnetic field) but the execution is different. I hadn't considered the use of a relay - I thought I would be able to use the length of travel of an eccentric arm to enable the changeover of two reed switches, one at either end of the length of travel. A relay along with a reed switch would probably be better than two reeds wouldn't it? I was curious to see how many other people had had the idea and whether it is something that was (uncommonly) practised and what the pros and cons may be from people who have utilised such a switching system before. Cheers, Adam

Hi all, I have had numerous tedious experiences in the past with microswitches and point motors (I am modelling in 2mm scale). I had a intended to use lever frames with omega loops to take care of the physical switching and letting the DCC frog juicers take care of the frog polarity. It did occur to me that with the use of an eccentric arm and a magnet glued on the end, I may be able to make use of reed switches to change the prog polarity at the same time. I imagine that this will be far easier to set up than the use of finnicky point motors and improperly engaging microswitches. I was wondering if it would be feasible to use reed switches to change the polarity of a frog when switched and has anyone else had success with it? Cheers, Adam

Thanks Justin. I honestly wouldn't know about the print orientation and vacuum formation during the print process; I farm all my printing out to a friend who has a resin printer. I left the roof off initially for ease of painting rather than anything else. On the design the floor is in place as a solid entity with holes for the bogie pivots - which probably helped like you say, having an open side. I thought that it may be easier to avoid unsightly gaps where the roof and coach meet if they were unified in the design. The roof could also be a bit more substantial. At the moment it is very flimsy. I was hoping that with a redesign all the joins could be done away with or hidden inside. Perhaps a bit of trussing support designed onto the inside of roof as it is now would be a good option without having to chop the design up in Fusion. Thanks for the inspiration! I'm happy with how well it turned out though for a first go at a 3d printed coach. I'll have to get some paint on it and then see how it looks after that. Adam

Hi Mike, There's quite often something on ebay listed as non- working or a non-runner. I remember about 10 years ago, I think it was Del Prado did a range of N gauge miniatures that are static and can be picked up rather cheaply online. If you wanted to use the Farish bodies then the 2mm Scale Association does some etched chassis replacement kits but you'll need to source your own wheels if you didn't want to use the ones from the association. You could look at 3d printed plastic ones from various online shops if you are just intent on making them static models. Adam

Hi folks, There's some really inspirational stuff in this thread so I thought I'd share one of the things that I've been working on over the past few months. It's an LNWR full brake to D377 drawn up in Fusion 360. I have used the association LNWR bogie etches with DG couplings, and I have some turned brass buffers that aren't yet fitted. The windows will be glazed with spare pieces of clear plastic that one tends to find lying around the house. Still undecided on which paint scheme it will receive; LNWR or LMS? Things I would do differently; not sure that the roof needs to be separate so in future I would probably revisit this so that the floor is separate from the body shell instead. It will allow for easier attachment of the bogies. They are held in with some screw threaded brass rod with some plain brass soldered on as a stopper (in a T shape), a nut at the other end secures it all in place. I am working on some wagon bodies as well to L&Y dia.3 but they need some adjustment before I'd be happy sharing the results of my labours with that. All the best, Adam

I thought I was keeping it simple but it seems like I've opened a can of worms! I was just going to worry about the physical motion of the tie-bar and let the technology take care of the polarity on the frogs! It's given me so much more to think about than I initially intended! I think I'll stick with my 4ft test track for now, haha. Adam

Hi Jerry, I am reluctant to use microswitches because I have had bad experiences in the past, albeit 10 years ago now. Might be time to revisit with higher quality equipment?

I plan to throw tie-bars with wire in tube (with the Mercontrol system). I could be convinced to use servo or stall motor though I have no experience of them. Adam

@Ian Morgan Are there any other ways to reliably switch frog polarity without relying on short circuit detection and without the use of a physical sliding microswitch? (Showing my ignorance now on electronics) And as I understand it now, MERG supply the PCB and all the components and you assemble it all? As a true kit? I might be willing to give it a bash.

@Donw & @nick_bastable I have had a look at the MERG stuff, and quite a lot of it seems like another language to me, but I do like the look of the handset. The ability to unplug the controller and move it around without interruption does sound nice as well. It does seem very daunting though. I can design a (simple) circuit and make it work but it does seem very technical - which I suppose is why the guides and forums exist. Does MERG produce an equivalent of the frog juicers? If so then I might be tipping toward that one over any of the boxed sets. I have no clue on what kits I'd need to get started though - presuming base station, handset and power supply? Adam

Thanks for the replies folks. I would have put an order in for a PowerCab but there seems to be a global shortage on them! I hadn’t heard of MERG before and I am not sure my electrical knowledge is up to scratch. If it’s connecting ready done circuit boards then I can probably manage it, but if it’s full assembly from base components then it’s beyond me for now. I have kind of solidified on what I’m after though. I’m after something that I can walk around with (wireless), with 4 digit addresses, that can deal with altering CVs. The controller should have a potentiometer/knob to turn to alter speed. It might be the case that what I’m after doesn’t exist (usually my case when it comes to modelling). It appears that more research is needed before I put my hands in my pockets. Cheers! Adam