Chrislock

Hi Nick. Two things about the track really - I don't particularly like the way I finished it. It looks bit messy to close scrutiny, and has not worn well so far. Mounting the track on sellotape sticky fixer strip as a base was not a good idea on reflection. Some of the track has lifted as I only lightly ballasted the easitrac. Secondly, the turnouts I can now make now are a lot better, stronger and more reliable. The running problems are partly in the turnouts and in the stuff I'm running, as well as the dirt which has accumulated over the year and some rail expansion/ movement. The Union Mills tenders, even though the wheels have been reduced to FS standards, are still occasionally in conflict with the existing pointwork, even though b2bs and rail clearances seem accurate. A feature of 2mm is that it seems far more sensitive to such things than larger scales. Thirdly if I started again I would use Templot more effectively for a more flowing and natural look. I would also extend the layout by another foot or so on the tunnel approach and use a lightly curved baseboard. I also think that other aspects of this build could be improved - my buildings for example, are ok but window frames could be etched and as a result look much neater. So ripping up the track would be perhaps too labour intensive to justify keeping the layout at all ! Balanced against this however is the amount of research / work put in to make it resemble the prototype reasonably well, even with the usual compromises.The biggest feature for me is the 3D historical reconstruction of a Midland Railway station which no longer exists, which means more or less mission accomplished, as a static model at least. Regards, Chris

I have returned to a little 2mm scale modelling. I need to add some more stuff to the Glenfield layout as it is looking very neglected, so have been soldering together a station seat and a hand barrow from Shirescenes. Hard on the eyes but I managed to do it ok. I also gave the track a good wipe along to try to get some of the dirt off and improve running, in the process of which I managed to remove the sign ( again) from the Gents. I don't think now that the track on this little layout is the best I can do, and I am sorely tempted to rip it up and relay it all. However, if I start this it is likely that I will chuck the whole board and try somewhere different! The evidence for that is my mark 1 attempt at trackwork, Barnoldswick, the board of which is in my garage propping up a wall, rails rusting nicely.. So instead I chose the option of trying to complete the scenery and put up with the odd glitch - after all, it's never going to be exposed to public scrutiny and is purely for my own amusement. This led me into running a train behind the converted Union Mills 2F, of which I have attached a couple of photos. I must also get round to changing the couplings to get closer and more even spacing. That has been on my to-do list for over a year, and applies to the older wagons, as I quickly realised it's easier to get it right at the time of construction! Regards, Chris Emerging from Glenfield tunnel... Shunting the yard.... Shunting as black and white image...

Reading this thread has made me realise how far technology is leaving me behind - but I guess you have to get off the bus somewhere.... ! Must be exciting to be working (paid working) with this as its a great way to get trained up and build up your skills. Me -I still don't see how a 3D drawing with hidden edges can be rendered by a machine though I've long since given up worrying about it! Interesting stuff!

"I thought I told you to clean this bl**dy engine!"

Greetings. I have not been doing a lot in the way of modelling lately, although I have been rebuilding the chassis of my 2mm loco 0-4-4T. I am really struggling with this, in particular actually seeing what I am doing. Fiddly does not enter into it! By contrast, I 've also been casting around ( excuse pun) for a loco crew for my Bachman 04. I sent off for figures from Aiden Campbell, Langley, Dart and Springside. The best in my opinion, were the Dart castings, (which I've also used in 2mm scale). Although they are a tad large ( 25mm?) they are very detailed and not as gross as the Campbell ones, which have great character but seem to have over-large heads! A couple of shots of the crew, awaiting "weathering" and matt varnish and adding to the footplate. My how easy that Robinson photographs compared to my little 2mm engines! Having just viewed them again under photographical enlargement, I might have to go back and tidy up some.

Now you just need to add sound and you're away!

Trials and tribulations for sure. I went through something like that with DAS on my goods yard surface. Those white objects - is there a nuclear facility adjacent to the dries? Yes, watch your eyes Pete - I'm convinced 2mm has done for mine! Working in 4mm is so much easier.,,, so 7mm must be a breeze by comparison to 2mm!

Thanks Mikkel - I have ordered one or two of those to try out, plus some thinners and white and black primers. Chris

You should have stayed and chatted for a bit Chris, I could have sat down with you and helped out on a few things. Thats what I go to those things for!Anyway Im just about to add another post about the crane...M Well I passed by a couple more times and you were busy so in the end I just stopped off to say hello. Anyway I daren't loiter in case you noticed and asked me what those lengths of C&L 4mm flexitrack were doing in my backpack!!

Mikkel, lovely looking track. Using wood for the sleepers is very effective. What paint did you use for the rail sides? It is really realistic. Cheers Chris

Mikkel - they are actually quite easy to produce if you haven't had a go, someone of your skills would find it very straightforward. I made the first by pinching some rail from a cut section of flexitrac and using the £9.30 point kit sleeper set. The second used one of the pre formed V's - extravagant but worth trying. The third as the first, but this time I ordered 10m of bullhead with the kit! All three work like a dream! Regards, Chris

I just tend to fill the centre cut by rubbing over some filler, then once painted it is nigh on invisible. Also the fewer cuts as possible is my order of the day! Also I'm hoping that the 4mm points will be servicable enough in the context I'm using them. The only thing I've needed to do is to add some cyano here and there to strengthen and prevent the rail from sliding through the chairs. But, as they say, points taken... :blush thingy: What I still have to get to grips with is a good method of tiebar construction. For the modest shunting board I'm planning, I will stick with Cobalt motors ( I have 3 spare which is exactly enough). I just have to reconcile somehow using an 04 on a Norfolk single line ex GER working... Anyone happen to know the weight/loading comparison between an 04 and a Claude Hamilton 4-4-0.......!

'Tis the curse of the overactive mind I'm afraid - and a diet of Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie at an impressionable age! I look forward to an entertaining exposition in due course.... Regards, Chris

Ian, I have finally caught up with your blog - forgive me for adding remarks from several entries in one place! First up - love the wagon, though 3D printing mystifies me and I have no idea how this 3D sketch can be turned into a template to print from! The chassis for the Metro looks very neat. How do you plan on isolating the body/runningplate from the chassis - if it is split chassis? The boiler and fittings fittings look lovely too. I have tried this turning technique myself once or twice - but found my files obliterated by the process afterwards! Luckily, NBrass sell a wide variety of ready made fittings! I like the simplicity of the layout - I think often they are overdesigned. I particularly like the long sidings, again how often do you see stubby sidings on model railways? Keep up the good work, I am now following your blog! Regards, Chris

Missy that crane is looking fantastic. When I saw it it had just the jib and that was the neatest bit of soldering I think I've seen.

It is also easier to cut a chair in half and add a cosmetic half-chair to complete the look. To construct a 4mm turnout in this way using C+L components is considerably more expensive than a (glued) easitrac one ( £9,30+rail as against £4.50*+rail by my reckoning). However, you get more for your money in terms of material in 4mm. I switched over to simple soldered turnouts for the advantage of strength and durability, so I can't say how strong easitrac abs sleepered points are once gued down. I do know that the couple I did make are almost impossible to adjust once down if anything shifts, whereas the soldered variety are relatively easy to tweak. I find it is easier to get the 4mm points right from the off, as eveything is easy to see, and you can get a scalpel under a chair without breaking it if necessary. Still I guess that's part of the challenge of working in a small scale. It does appear a lot easier to get things working well in 4mm. My wagon rolls smoothly through all 3 points I've made so far. One of them uses a C+L v-crossing assembly I picked up at AP show recently, though at £13,50 each, I won't be using another! Regards, Chris *Providing you avoid the expensive milled bases of course, and you need to add a few pcb sleepers for strength.

My last entry perhaps came over a bit more glum than I intended, giving the impression that I was abandoning 2mm rather than just having a break for a while to give my eyes a rest! So am adding this one to balance things out a little! Firstly, as I indicated I have been tweaking my little 2mm goods engine and am pleased to report that it is now running more smoothly, having traced the cause of the intermittent the short to a frame catching a crank. I also mentioned that I have been having a go at building some C+L finescale points using code 75 bullhead . My experience of constructing 2mm turnouts has been of good use in this process. Just a quick resume of my method, as I'm not sure I have mentioned this before, and which I have used for the 4mm turnouts.: First a template is printed off Templot. Second, the sleepers are measured and cut to size. With copper clad obviously the isolation cuts are made also. The sleepers are then stuck to the template with pritt stick.( This holds them very nicely while glueing/ soldering, and peels off the template easily on completion, with a little water if required.) Outer rails cut and fitted using the templates as a guide. Gauges / plain track used to check gauge. V crossing constructed - I have used the association jigs and gauges; but also just used the Templot template as a guide - both seem to work as well as each other. Switch rails filed and added again using the template as a guide. Then a temporary pcb tie bar is attached to allow the turnout ot be tested more easily by rolling a wagon through. When happy, the check rails are added. Using this method I can build a working turnout comfortably in an evening if I so choose, although with the glued points I like to leave time for the Butanone to dry thoroughly. I have used the same construction method with a 3 way point in 2mm, but that is the limits of my experimentation. Of course, I have not added chairs to the 2mm points, which would improve their appearance but be extremely fiddly.. If I were planning a sizeable new layout I would need to get to grips with Templot to learn how to print off the complete track plan for better transition. I have found the C+L turnouts ( all Butanone) relatively straightforward, and because of the increased gluing area compared to 2mm scale, have found the completed turnout strong enough not to add any soldered sleepers, even where a chair has been trimmed for clearance. Whether I still think this after fixing them down and running the loco over a few times remains to be seen! Something in the C+L instructions which I completely endorse - point building should be enjoyed. Regards, Chris

See that big packing crate that Porter Saunders is about to topple over onto the obnoxious Mr Crummles (jr)? Of course it was a complete "accident", but that small coffin shaped box at the front there proved just too much of a good fit....but it took all of them to wedge the theatre owners body into it and despatch it on the 3.47pm local pick up...

Ian, glad to see you are trying to do something different in 2FS. I really enjoyed building the locos and as I said learned a lot, and I do hope you will achieve success. I would be interested to see how you designed your chassis for the 2-4-0T by the way - are you posting your work anywhere? Wouldn't mind seeing a photo or two! Incidentally, I never said I am giving up2FS completely. I have too big an investment - I just need a break trying something different for a while. If and when the novelty of having real shunting sounds wears thin - who knows?! In the meantime, I am enjoying weathering a few RTR 4mm wagons and building a little C&L track, painting some characterful figures and not having to scratch build most things! I still think 2mm is perfect for anyone who likes landscaping; and layouts like CF on the grand scale; and Highbury on a more modest scale, demonstrate the power 2mm has. Who could tell that those two Stirling singles on the cover of RM were 2mm? Regards, Chris

Wondeful stuff Mikkel. I reckon railway staff teamed up for this one to bump off the theatre director for calling The Western's Greatness into question.... and keeping them from a well earned beer of course!

Don. I am concluding that the trueness and accuracy afforded by simple machinery is actually fairly vital in such small mechanisms. I think the weight issue is less of a problem as it can be more easily resolved, except in the very smallest of tank engines. Some kind of universal gearboxes might be a possible solution. For me, I don't think building a 4F kit would be of particular interest or value. Rich, I don't think replacement wheels can be the answer for 2mm kettles for as you say, the varieties are endless. While loco body construction is not too formidable in my experience - after all, it is largely a matter of how accurate you want to be - square and accurate chassis are a completely different matter. Please PM me details and photos if possible about the drill press - I might be interested. Regards, Chris

Mikkel - forgive me, because I should have added your name alongside Chris Nevard's for inspiration! I think my Norfolk sojourn is likely to be unprototypical - but hopefully fun! Pete - sorry mate, I'll still be around to comment on your work As I said, whether I document any future efforts depends on time ... and whether I get withdrawal symptoms! Anyway, I still have those blue diesels to do something with, so you never know. One thing about this hobby is it can take you to strange places...I look forward to seeing your work develop. David - I understand what you're saying. I know of one other established 2FS at least who seems to have issues getting reliable running from scratchbuilt stuff. My problem is that to improve significantly I would need to splash out on machinery which i don't really have room for, and in any case I'm not sure that represents the best use of money for me. If in the future someone produces chassis kits for 2FS, or perhaps a chassis building service, it might make a difference to me - but then the point of 2FS seems to be in doing it yourself, doesn't it? Andy - I still intend maintaining my membership of the association and keeping abreast of developments and the work of others. I do have the 2FS community to thank for two things at least - that I can never go back to Peco code 55 even if the quality of N gauge stuff continues to improve!! And that I have a 19th century Midland Railway layout with some accurate rolling stock. Chris

Greetings. Since I set up my OO Bachman 04 with sound like an executive toy on my windowsill, my attention has turned back to my 2mm endeavours and I have been through a reflective period; trying to decide whether in fact I should continue with 2mm. My declining eyesight is one serious consideration. The Little Glenfield layout has required some TLC as it has been neglected for some months. I have had the engines out on parade and find that some of them just don't work reliably enough to warrant any more effort just at present. Only the 0-6-0T, the class 2 with UM tender and the Kirtley 0-6-0 goods engine , again with a UM tender, offer any encouragement. The 0-4-4T (kit) chassis has given up the ghost completely, and because I didn't build it myself, I have come to a dead end (too), as to why! I have therefore begun to construct a new chassis myself from the parts left unused in my original kit by Damien building the chassis for me. Either this will work, or at least I hope to work out what is wrong with the other! I am concluding that unless you are a talented and well-equipped micro engineer, or on close terms with one, there is not much of an option in 2FS apart from running diesels or EMUs with drop in wheels, if you want slow and reliable running. Unfortunately, steam is my first love! I think on the whole that a break from 2FS is probably due. I have travelled some distance- perhaps too quickly,as I had some ground to make up having not been involved in the hobby for many years, and have spent a good deal of time and money. I will continue to study the work of others I admire working successfully in this scale. I do have plans to build a new layout - but in 4mm, set in an area of Norfolk I am very familiar with, using my O4 and a few sand wagons I have been weathering. I have also built a couple of points from C&L glued parts, which I am very happy with.( How easy compared to 2mm they were ! ) These, a board six foot by one and the work of Chris Nevard will provide the artistic inspiration. Thanks to everyone who has been encouraging or even complementary on my N/2mm RMWeb threads. It has been a series of steep learning curves and I have certainly learned a good deal and much of this from advice given by yourselves. That has been a very rewarding aspect of my hobby. Whether I continue to wear my heart on my sleeve as I have done in the past remains to be seen!! Kindest Regards, Chris

Pete - your photographs are looking pretty good these days. Just need to stick the camera on a tripod and stop down the lens even more - f16 ish - and look out, Chris Nevard! Your new camera is clearly working!

Great work Steve - those electronics are way beyond me and in the realms of wizardry! I like the idea of setting routes. Back to the spade and spanner for me I'm afraid...! Nice to see it SB back.