brightspark

Interesting comments. We moved away from three link couplings because they were so fiddly (for the more senior members) and were also a pain in the Fiddle Yards. A couple of points of information for those not familiar with Swaynton (and lets face it, it don't get out much) It represents a station on a two track main line (End to End at the moment) We work to a sequence that takes around an hour to complete and move 30 trains through the layout. That is 15 trains despatched from each end. The train for the yard arrives on 1 UP and departs on 13 UP so effectivly giving the shunter 45 minutes to do his thing. However we only have two sidings. There are some videos of Swaynton on youtube. This the best one taken at Tolworth (from 1:00 onwards) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ezbx2fSa_8Q The unloading (removing the coal loads) is done at the end of the sequence.

In my last entry I mentioned that we had a few problems with Swaynton at the Tring show. The desire of the group that we should make an effort to run 100% to period. So far due to the lack of stock we have run trains of various regions and periods. We have always tried to keep each train within it's own period, i.e. Southern (1930) engine with 1930 Southern stock etc. However we were aware that this confused the public and really didn't present a good example of a finer scale layout that we thought that we should be striving for. Even if Richards LSWR stock was supurb. The last big jump was to convert from the LSWR 1912 period trains to 1960 stock and as these trains get shunted we had to have a fair amount of it. So the push was on to get all of our stock ready. All of the shuntable stock is fitted with AJ (Alex Jackson) couplings. Some of the members are not to keen on this as it has to be set up correctly, however we managed to scrape together sufficent wagons. But at the show we found that the electro-uncoupler was not strong enough to uncouple our new stock. At first I thought that it was just my stock affected, due to my usual inattention. However that turned to be untrue as nearly every bit of new stock remained firmly coupled after passing over it. No matter how many times we jabbed the button, the little drop links would only move part way. We fixed the problem in two ways. The first was to but a big hand magnet onto the electro-Magnet, underneath the layout, when we wanted to uncouple. The second, and I thought rather neat, was to modify a tea stirrer by cutting off the end to make an inverted V shape. This was a suggestion from the public side. Well done sir who ever you are. Now we have had a few thoughts about shunting the yard and at the end of the day we found that there was few more. So I invite you to add your thoughts and views to these questions, remembering that it is a layout on show at exhibitions; The main reason why we shunt the yard, is to keep something moving between trains. Do you think that we need to do this? And if so how much? We noticed that quite often the same train that arrives at the yard is the same train that leaves. Basically the shunter has just rearranged the wagons in the consist. I have noticed this happening on other layouts as well. Does this matter? If it does then we are thinking of giving the shunter proper instructions. Full coal wagons in and empty out using detachable loads seems easy enough. But what about other wagons how do we direct that they are for Swaynton Goods and how do we know when they are unloaded? Does anybody else do this and how? (Cards?) To use the electro-magnet to uncouple means moving the whole train into the headshunt or yard throat. We think this to be little unprototypical and found the hand uncouplers gave more freedom. But what should we show the public? Do you feel offended when you see the hand from the sky appear? And we can also talk about three link couplings here.

I can see nothing wrong with this. I imagine the S&D with coal trains taking coal from South Wales to France all hauled by Black GP40's

Always go for cardboard. I used Polystyrene on an old club layout. The mess was awful and I couldn't get any dips into the gound.

The last entry found me in state of excited antisipation. I had at last manged to finish an engine that happily trundled up and down my little three foot of test track on the straight and on a curve of four foot radius. It had also been around the EMGS test track and seemed to meet all of the criterea needed to say that this was a runner. With the Tring show coming up, I carefully cleaned the wheels gave it a good oiling and packed it away ready for it's first public outing. As usual we disregarded the fomality of have a test session as the layout worked fine at Tuanton a year ago. We set up Swaynton on Friday evening and not having any power couldn't test it or 76009 until the morning. We had a few little teething problems with the layout (I will do another blog entry) so 76009 had to make her inaugural appearance in service. Now at this point I always have a feeling of trepidation as every loco that I have built, never seems to work on the layout unless someone else has totally rebuilt it. So confident that I had tested it and covered all the fualts found on previous builds I was ready to record its first progress and my first successful locomotive build on video. There once was an engine called 76009, who was afraid of the show, it went into a tunnel and squeeked through it funnel, I'll will never ever go! (with apologies to the Rev Awdrey) I won't post the video. As all it shows is an empty track before panning across to an elbow poking at a black shape. then there is some muttering before 76009 is lifted off the track. It left the Fiddle yard ok. But when it poked its nose out of the tunnel it stopped. It was as dead as a dead thing could be! I checked the controller settings and made sure that no-one had created a short on the track. The controller was showing a red light and getting hot! Indicating either a seized mechanisum or a short! I took the engine to a table at the back of the layout and turned it onto it's back. Nothing seemed amiss so I unscrewed the locking screw on the driving gear to test for any binding. The wheels turned freely (except for the usual click that I couldn't trace). I tightned the screw and checked for a short on a meter. Hmmm no problem. I then put a piece of track on the upturned engine connected to a battery. The wheels went round fine and the rail shot across the bench. So if there is no short, the chassis is free running and when power is applied the wheels go around, then it should chug up down the line? I placed the engine on the track again, this time in the yard so as to elliminate the original controller. The engine is still dead and still shorting! So I ask the question (to anyone within earshot) why can I never get a locomotive to work on this layout? When I get home I start to check over 76009. I manage to knock it with my elbow and send the whole thing crashing to the floor. Hmmm that didn't help much. The cab was smashed off and I wonder if I have twisted the frame as the front pony wheel was jammed into frame and the front buffer was bent. As I recovered the bits off the floor I found that the boiler had come adrift and all the fancy pipework was coming away. I was now starting to get a little dispondant with this project. However the bodywork is not too bad and has almost been repaired. the chassis seems to be flat. I stripped the whole chasis down and this is what I found. I had soldered the pickups to PCB strips that I screwed onto the underside of the chassis. I had seen other people do this and it seemed to work. However the copper part of the board had delaminated. So when the model was upside down the PCB strip was laying in place with the pick up against the wheel. But when on the track it flopped down slightly and was shorting against the chassis. Grrrr. On consultation with the 'experts' it would seem that I had used the wrong type of PCB board! Now not being an electrical engineer how am I supposed to know that? Which brings me back to the one question,why can I not get get a locomotive to run on this layout?

I am sure that the Grange was around in 1959 and even earlier on the Bournemouth Birkenhead. I will see what I can find.

So 76009 has finally rolled out the paint-shop and had its final fittings applied. So it is already to be pressed into service. It's first outing is scheduled to be at The Tring show next weekend. http://www.tdmrc.co....adRail2011.html Here are some pictures of the finished engine. I am quite pleased with the pipe work around the boiler. I purchased Alan Gibson fittings, mainly because I didn't realise that Comet did these as well and in a pack. Some of the Gibson parts I couldn't use because they just wern't right for this standard. Remember that BR Standards are quite often anything but! So I had to make from scratch new fittings. The other thing I found is that the lost wax brass casting are a swine to drill with a 0,5mm drill. This I do to try and get a good location for the pipes that are soft copper wire from Eileens. The whistle was also the result of disatisfaction. The only Horizontal whistle that I could find on the market is by Comet, but it looks too long. So I made this one up with some 1mm O/D tube on 0,5mm wire. It looks more like the photos of the prototypes. Finally I added the rubber seal between the cab and the tender. The first batch of standards had a terrible draft that went down the drivers neck and caused a lot of coal dust to be blown around the cab. This was eventually resolved with a redesign of the cab and the introduction of type BR2A and BR1B tender. The latter of which had a heavier axle loading than the engine! The interim solution was to fit the drafty Standards with a rubber seal between the cab and the tender. I made this out of thin paper (computer paper) that I folded every 1mm. I noticed that the prototype did not have many folds and this made life easier for making the arch shape at the top of the seal. When I had a nice springy paper seal I then painted it black. this cuased the whole thing to go a stiff as board... so the bits that I had missed with the first paint were filled in with black ink. When dry I worked the seal by 'wiggling' it in and out so it got back some of it's spring before glueing onto the tender. I then had to add some more weight to the front of the tender as the seal actually lifted the front wheels off the track. Finally after the final fitting and test run, a coat of matt varnish is sprayed onto the top of the engine and tender to try and give a uniform dusting of light paternaster. No heavy weathering as the layout s set in June 1960. If anyone gets to Tring please say hello, and if you take a picture of 76009 please post it on here.

The Matrix display by the bridge is blank! How did you do that? It must be on the LSWR judging by the footbridge and Signal Box.

A couple of years ago or so, I was chatting with the late Alistair Rolf when the subject was rasied about Hornby et al were going to enter the '3rd rail' market. His view was that other kit manufacturers were just going to withdraw from the market. Checking earlier forums about the antisipated launch confirms this view. Alistair however was relishing the new stuff. He reasoned that first of all it would introduce a new generation of modellers to the 3rd rail, but more importantly he knew that the manufacturers would get it wrong and was planning on modification kits. So on behalf of Alistair "I told you so". Happy modelling.

So what does Culture Club, The Clash and the Beach Boys have to do with Electric Cars? You know the "zero emmision" vehicles that are going to save us from global warming/next ice age/etc while taking us to Tesco. Well the answer is Steve Levine who is a record producer for the above pop beat combos. The story in the latest edition of the Engineer (19/9/11) is that he is working on the HALOsonic project with Harmon and Lotus. Apparently, there is a concern that as electric cars are silent(?) Pedestrians (especially the visually impaired) might not hear them coming. So this project is working out what noise an electric car should make. Apparently noise "forms part of the sensory landscape" i.e. gear changes, sharp engine note rise as the car accelerates etc. It is antispated that there will be an opportunity for after sales sounds especially among the boy racers. So I was thinking...what sound do you want your electric car to make?

Finding a bottle of Beatties glue is the Fat Controllers way of telling you that you need to do more modelling. These are coming along nicely.

I paint my sleepers and depending on the age of them I tend to try and give them a bleached look. Obviously new sleepers are almost black with creosote. But old sleepers can go almost white. Be subtle and don't paint the sleeper a uniform colour.

See you there. I will say hello!

Careful Chris. Your comment about comparing shading in B&W... Different photographic technics give different shdaes of grey! The old plates (Circa 19th Century) were red sensitive so tended to make this colour darker.

Finally the tender is ready for the paint shop. I think it would have been quicker to make a real one! Attached are photos showing my efforts at modifying the Airfix BR2A tender into a BR2. Starting at the front. Windows reduced to the smaller size. Note that the tool hole is unmodified and so is too narrow. This has been left as is for practical reasons and also won't be easily seen when the model is finished.The white plasticard filler is to bring the front plate out to width of the tender side. (compare against the photos in this topic) RHS Not too clear a photo here. You can see the filler piece on the front plate. Also note the filler on the filter box (under the tank) where the moulding collapses and forms a hole. Also an additional strip for the reinforcing of the bunker edge. Rear This is where most of the detail work went. 6 lamp irons. I made many more of these but the carpet people had them away before I could find them . All of the steps, ladders and the two lifting eyes are from Branchlines. The handrail knobs that I fitted are medium, not long as recomended in the Branchline pack. Although not fitted yet I noted that the Airfix instruction has the Brake and vacuum pipes around the wrong way, possibly because it is showing the assembly upside down. Does anyone know if the Rosebud instruction is the same? LHS much the same as the RHS. Perhaps this is a little clearer photo. I have stuck some lead shot inside around the bunker to stop the whole tender lifting off the track. Not so visible is the detail of bunker. I now wonder why I modelled all of this as it will normally have a coal load. Anyway I cut out the moulded coal load and put in the tool tunnel and the bunker bottom. I will later add a false coal load. Next task is to add paint.

It has been over a month since my last entry. So what has happened. As readers of my missive will know I am concerned that the Airfix Tender seems to be a lot taller than the cab. Approximatly 1mm or a scale 3 inches. In fact the reverse should be true in that the cab should be slightly higher than the leading edge of the tender roof and about the same hieght as the little raised lip on the rear of the tender roof. So having got myself some copies of the drawings from the NRM and done some measuring I can confirm that the Airfix/Dapol/Kitmaster BR2A tender is spot on! Height is ok. There are a few errors, the tender is a little narrow and the fire Iron door is too narrow but is the right height. You can correct the latter by filling and cutting but you find that you are then going to thin out the coal bunker side. In my view I don't think that it is worth it. I should also remove th eraised moulding that represents the gear cover for the water pickup. But again I don't think that it is worth it. Oh and the lip on the back of the tender roof is called the Deflector. So if the Tender is at the correct height then this means that the cab is too low. Now I did get a drawing of the cab layout and it shows some dimensions as does the drawing on Plate 91 of Talbot. The problem is that you have to measure from rail height. Not the easiest of things and as such I had a devil of a job trying to find the fualt. One of the things that I did notice was that the lower part of the cab, the angled bit, should meet the vertical part of the cab and at the same point as the bottom of the footplate. The Airfix cab is a little lower, in fact it looks like a 77xxx cab. Did the guys at Kitmaster look at the wrong locomotive? Raising the cab up 2mm just don't right though and there is a risk that you can start to expose the hole behind the cab moulding It is about this time that I was given a Kitmaster box containing two half built 76xxx's, along with the comment that "I started these some years ago and I don't think that I will get them going." hmmm are these two the embreos of 76010 and 76011? Then I spotted that under one of the half assembled chassis was a raising block that lifted the rear of the running plate by around 1mm. I checked my model and the other Kitmaster. Yes the footplate drops by 1mm over its length. So the fix is to put pads under the footplate. You can see them in white plasticard. This brings the roof up level (in fact slight proud) of the tender roof. I then raised the cab by about 1/2mm plus and this fixes the height problem. 2nd photo shows the packing uder the side rails as well as under the boiler back and under the front of the cab. Next job pipes and fittings onto the boiler and time to get the tender fitted out.

Well much excitment at Brightspark Towers today. My drawings from the NRM have arrived. It is a shame that the just missed Expo where they could have answered a few questions that were raised. But more of that in a minute. I was at ExpoEM on the North West Surrey Area group stand. The plan was that we were there to encourage local members of the EMGS (and to encourage non members to join) to get involved with the local area group. Contact details are in the EMGS newsletter that was enclosed with your programme. Non-members are also welcome to attend. It was also nice to meet a few of the RMWeb crowd. 76009 seemed to attract a lot of interest. RMWebbers spotted it becuase they saw the pictures I posted, but others came across and at some point in the conversation said "I've got one of those somewhere". It seems that this humble little Airfix kit is sat in many cupboards awaiting the day of construction...will they ever see the light of day? A large number also seem to have a Kemilway Chassis waiting to be attached as well. A few people asked my why I was starting with an Airfix kit and not going with a Bachmann RTR and converting it. The answer I give is that although converting an RTR is fairly easy a new chassis is easier as I get more room to fit motors gearboxes etc. Anyway while at the show I took the chance to vist Alan Gibson for a few bits and pieces. They do a range of lost wax brass castings for BR Standards (as well as other companies). Their website has a handy chart...unfortunatly this lot cost me £42.00! I then went to Branchlines as he does the Safety Valves. Then came the hunt for working out where the little blobs go. It is here dear reader (if you get this far) that I found out my lack of knowledge on bits of steam engine. However a few passers by where willing to give a hand. So we are looking at the Steam manifold, that is the big square thing on top of the boiler in front of the cab, and the photos seem to show a whistle fitted around this area. The plastic blob from Airfix has the whistle mounted to one side that can't be correct so a search ensued in trying to find a picture of this area. First stop is to raid Roger Carpenter who was sat next to me. Sadly he has only one photo of a 76XXX and that was in the distance. I then rembered that I had a magazine picture taken from a bridge showing the engine approaching (Steam World Apr2011). Yes it showed the top of the engine but the Safety Valves were letting off steam obscuring the whistle area. So I asked Colin on the Alan Gibson stand where does the whistle go, remember that he hadn't sold me a seperate whistle in the bits and bobs, and the first assumption was that it was one of the sticky out bits on the casting. He looked through his stock and found that he only has a vertical whistle that fits behind a chimney (there is a little picture in the bag). A quick check of Derry (BR Standards pt1&2) revealed why. Alan Gibson once did a kit of the 73xxx class, that had a whistle behind the chimney, 76xxx had them on top of the boiler and they were horizontal. So all the Alan Gibson components are specifically for the 73xxx. Next a trip to Comet and £2 lighter had me a horizontal whistle. The excited crowd now proffered advice that there was what looked like a boss on top of the casting (a round blob) so is this were the whistle goes? The Comet Whistle (as does the Markits) has a boss at the base and this looks like it fits onto the boiler. Well as I started this with the news that I have drawings, one of them shows the pipe fittings around the cab and more importantly where the whistle fits. I also took the model to the test track. I am pleased to report that it went around quite happily in both directions. Although at speed it did jump off. I put this down to a lack of weight, a rigid chassis and a little kink and uneveness in the track. Oh and the where does the whistle go? It's a BR Standard, it's like pinning a tail on a donkey.

So here we are approaching Expo EM at Bracknell. My plan was to have had the complete model built or at least minus a few finishing touches by this weekend. I imagined myself proudly showing off a beautiful model that purred around the test track getting admiring comments. So what do I have... well little has changed since the last blog entry. I now have the tender picks ups fitted to the chassis but only seem to have the options of either having the pick-ups touch the wheels or having the wheels go around. I have also to shim up the height of tender coupling so that it doesn't lift the leading wheels off the ground. There is a also a clunking noise from the valve gear but only when the engine is in reverse So all is not lost, I can at least get the basic chassis rolling around the test track. By the way anyone is free to test out their EM or P4 locos and stock on the test track this weekend. Note that only EM and P4 stock works... While I have not been doing much to the actual model I have been busy with some research. Mrs Brightspark and I went to Yorkshire over Easter where I was treated to train immersion therapy. We stayed at Pickering (Bridge House B&B...recomended, right next to the station, good breakfast). Running up and down the NYMR was 76079 so I took one or two pictures especially of the tender height. I am not sure that those warning signs are original. I also had a stop over at the NRM and had a visit to The Search Engine. This is a fantastic resource and I spent an hour or two looking through the oficial drawings of the Type two tenders as well as a few drawings of the 76000's. I have ordered up some of the drawings and await their arrival. Hopefully these will arrive by the weekend. I will be with North West Surrey Area group at Expo, we are demonstrating and trying to get local members involved. EM member or not, if you are attending please drop by and say hello.

Well after frightening myself about 76009 not being at Eastleigh in 1960...it was, so the money spent on the etched plate is not wasted. Right, work on the engine now comes to a rest. I have adjusted the pickups and now the engine purrs along the test track quite smoothly. For those interested I have three tracks on the test board. The first is a straight track with a few lumps on it so that you can detect if the chassis is square (it will jump off the track) or if, as it goes over a hump, one of the wheels is not collecting current. The other two tracks are curves. The first is at 1500mm the second at 1200mm. The design is for a main line radius of 1524mm or 5 foot. So it must be able to negotiate 1500mm and it would be nice for it to get around 1200mm. It does both but it is on the limit at 1200mm. Perhaps nect time I will make the frames a 1/2mm narrower. Now to progress on the tender. I have made up frames, marking out the centres from the Airfix axle box centres. I measured these as being slightly different to the published drawings. The cut down section at the front is more than intended as I was trying to get the height adjustment right, before realising that the error was not here. I have attached a picture showing a close up of the cab roof against the tender top with the little tender roof missing. Also is a picture of the modified tender front. (apologies for the poor quality). I have filled in the windows and removed the door hinge plates (I can't think what else to call them, answers on a postcard). For those interested I have also attached a picture of the inside of the tender showing the body mounts. The plasticard onto top of the frame is a height adjuster. Next job is to make the pick-ups and paint the frame. Oh yes and blacken those wheels.

Ah...on page 230 of the April 2011 Steam Days there is a picture of 76009 at Brockenhurst. Text reads "No76009 arrived at Eastliegh in February 1953..." Now where on earth did I get that 1958 date from doh! "and after spells at redhill, Eastleigh" well I got that bit right "(three times), YEOVIL TOWN" aha! "and Salisbury the engine arrived at Bournemouth shed in October 1965,..." What can I say, I am official numbnuts.

I was under the impression that it was an Eastliegh engine from new in 1958. It ended it's days at Bournemouth. It is a shame that the loco shed index has gone as I could have looked up it's history. I am making this up for Swaynton so it has to be an example that was in the area at the time. Please correct me if I am wrong.

I think that you could be right. I have looked at that bit myself. I have been trying to scale from photos the hieght of the front raised bit of the bunker side (61) side. Its a shame as the roof moulding (60) has a very nice lip on it. I think that the front plate (70) needs a generous amount cut off the bottom.

Now I have two angsts at the moment. The first is the height of the tender. There is a comment in the UK prototype forum about this. The Airfix tender is sitting to high. Having now looked at it I think that the moulding for the bunker is correct but that the additional roof makes it over height. The last picture published has th eroof missing. So as I have booked a visit to the NRM to spend a happy hour looking at the drawings of a BR2 tender. There are a large number of drawings but it seems no GA! I think that I have the likely drawings identified, but I figured that it would easier (and cheaper) to go have a look. There is also a drawing titled "detail when water pick up not fitted". As 76009 is a southern engine this is one for me. The second angst is the lining on the cab. I have not yet worked out how to reduce photos, so the pictures I have posted of the loco can be blown up. I had a crack at hand-lining. I have been told that so far it isn't bad and could do with a touchup. I had a look at some of the RTR engines on the stands at the Epsom show. I see that many of the manufacturers have opted for a red and single grey strip rather than the cream and grey. I have lost my nerve on the tender and opted for a Fox transfer.

Hi Gang, I have been told that I should get with it (daddyo). So here is my little blog. (No sniggering at the back) I am currently working on motorising an Airfix Mogul in EM. The frames are Comet, wheels Alan Gibson. it has a mashima connected to a Branchlines gearbox. This week I got the motor wired up to the pick ups. It is always nice to see the thing under it's own power. Although it does jerk along the test track. Probably due to the uneveness of the track and having a solid chassis and those Alan Gibson wheels that do have a tendancy to wobble. This week will be spent making sure that the pickups are hitting the wheels. The target is to get this running around the test track at ExpoEM in May.

Doh!...yes I meant to say Baltic Tank.. Hmmm Atlantic...no no too silly. If I recall the illistration showed it in Southern livery. I was thinking of a model as it was in 1960. Hmm a 2-8-2...I will have to get the book out of the library again.