garethashenden

And I just saw a video on how to do it in Fusion360 as well. Thanks!

What do you think of this setup? I added sacrificial skirts to the open. I can't add them to the cattle wagon as I didn't design it, I only have the stl. Its at 60 degrees and the open is upside down at 30°. The supports are the ones generated automatically by Chitubox.

I have a new Photon Mono 4K. I've been trying it out with some 2mmFS wagons and I've got some weird problems. The beginning of the print has some ripples and tears in it, then it sorts itself out and prints beautifully. I have the whole body angled upwards. Once it gets above the end of the wagon it looks great. I tried it at 20° and 30° with the same results. All the other settings are the same, 0.035mm layer height, 2 second exposure, and Anycubic Craftsman DLP resin. While I have been printing for a while I still don't really know how to fix things like this. My two ideas are either a 0.050mm layer height or increasing the exposure a bit, but I'm not sure how much a bit should be. In the most recent batch I also printed a cattle wagon. It needs more supports in places, but doesn't have the ripples per say, but there are some gaps. There should be gaps, but they should be straight.

I have been working on the trackplan. Fenny Stratford at the bottom, Woburn Sands at the top. Looking north from inside the layout. The thin red box in the lower left is am approximate hinged bridge for access to the room. The next step will be to plan baseboards and see how they will actually fit in the space.

Possibly. I'm going to wait to see it in the room before I decide. I don't want the two main stations to blend into each other. I want an expanse of countryside and fields, and if Bow Brickhill infringes on that too much then I'll cut it.

The only book I have is Volume 2 of Bill Simpson's Oxford to Cambridge. Which other ones would you recommend?

I'm in the planning stages of a 2mmFS layout based on the LNWR's Oxford to Cambridge line. Specifically between Fenny Stratford and Woburn Sands c.1927-1930, which I suppose means its actually the LMS Bedford branch. In the space available I can model both stations to scale. I will need to curve their ends and compress the distance between them, but that's ok. There's also room for a through fiddleyard. Anyway, the reason I'm starting this thread now is that I will need lots of PO wagons and I have no idea which owners are appropriate or how to find that information. I've found a picture of a Fenny Stratford based coal dealer's wagon, but it was a builder's photo from 1905. I doubt that would have a 25-30 year service life, especially as it was a 10 ton 5 plank wagon. How do I go about doing this research?

Sure! Why not? That can be the next broad gauge locomotive I build. I do have a lot on at the moment, so the realistic completion date might be 2075. Is that ok?

Southeast Finecast do nice big sheets. Not sure if they're still available, anyone know?

There is also a Stephen Harris kit if you don’t want to use the Peco body.

I have, I think, finished.

My personal take is that the NMRA standards are a little heavy handed. The current standard is 33 years old and a lot has changed in American N since then. Free running metal wheels were unheard of then, and they're very common now. Etched 2mm underframes with their brass bearings roll even more easily than the best new US boxcars. Adding weight can help mask problems, but there are often better solutions. Poorly laid trackwork, too tight curves, misaligned couplers, jerky mechanisms, can all be smoothed by more weight, but they're not cured. A consistent weight is good, but it doesn't need to be that heavy. Two big issues with train handling are heavy next to light and long next to short. You can run a long train of 16T minerals and they'll be fine, because they're all the same length and weight. Their actual weight doesn't matter. The opposite example is American centerbeam flatcars. They're long, light, and have a high center of gravity. As a result they fall over on the inside of curves all the time. Consistency is key. Find a target weight that you can bring everything to and do that. But it doesn't have to be to NMRA specs.

Amazon has had a print on demand service for a while. You upload your thing, and when someone wants it they print it and send it. It cuts down on inventory costs associated with larger printing runs. It also cuts down on quality if you care about the paper your book is printed on and that sort of thing. This actually seems like a good use of the service to me. The book is available again and Peco don't have to fork over large quantities of cash for a book that will sell slowly.

What are my best options in 2023 for assembling a trains worth of private owner coal wagons? Ideally suitable for a 1927-1930 timeframe. I know there are some body and chassis kits in Shop 2, and there are some 3D printable body files. I don‘t really know what any of the N gauge manufacturers are offering. What about transfers? The few that exist seem to get mixed reviews.

I've been building myself a test track. Basically just a crossover with four stub tracks. It also gave me an excuse to try out the etched chairs. They're really fiddly! But they do look good. I was getting the hang of it by the end. Still needs tiebars, wiring, and testing.

I don't know anything about Keen Couplings, but is there a reason you don't want to fit Kadees in the prototype position?

Do you have a copy of LNWR Portrayed? It has some large scale drawings of locomotive fittings. As Crewe was quite standardized, a lot of the fittings are pretty similar with just the height changing.

Well Done!

What I would do is throw out the etched parts. Assemble the four sides and then make a styrene sheet floor to fit. Use Bill Bedford's sprung w-irons, they don't need and clearance to rock. I think I did have to grind some of the inside of the solebar for clearance, but not as much.

I count 5 outside crank steam wheels and three diesel wheels in the catalogue, Obviously most will be the wrong size. Do you know the prototype size?

The only outside frame engines I've built so far have been Great Western which are actually double framed. Is that the case with this one as well or are the outside frames the only frames? With double framed engines its common to build the inside frames functional and the outside just cosmetic. You can do what you propose, but most of the commercially available hornblocks aren't really visually right. It would probably be easiest to have the indie frames functional and then have something along for the ride on the outside frame that looks right. This would let you have any springing/compensation out of sight. What gauge are you working to? Generally the outside frames should be to scale regardless of gauge. Which wheels are you using? Gibson and Markits both do extended axles with outside cranks for some of their wheels, and it should be possible to mix and match things to get something to work. There are also etched cranks from Finney/Brassmasters and probably others.

Yes, its from N Brass.

They’re reduced from the LRM kit. See this thread:

The motor is a little bit big for the tender, that's true. I have also seen numerous pictures of Jumbos with ridiculously high piles of coal in the tender, so I think it will work out ok. Maybe it will get changed though. Aside from size, this is an excellent motor. 6 pole coreless with loads of torque and nice and smooth. Only 6V, but that's easily accommodated by the decoder.

I’m not sure lighting them on fire would improve things, but you’re the expert…