PGC

You really couldn't script write this better! Dublin Tram Crash Wednesday, 24 February, 2010, at 9:14 This is the collision between a Dublin Bus and a Dublin Tram Now have a look at the ad on the side of the bus that the Tram went into. Priceless!!

As the layout is going to be set in the 1930's, who's going to model this? Phil

The thought of laying a board brings tears to my eyes!!!!!!!! Bet Jonathan didn't realise he'd taken a picture of me in full and blooming man health. I'm just to the right of the man in the blue overalls! Phil

...and about time to! Welcome back. Phil

Hi David The layout is split 50/50, so the scenic section is currently 4 feet long. Earlier I said it was 2 feet deep, which is, in reality, slightly incorrect. The left hand end, where it goes in to the fiddle yard, is about 4 inches deep and the right hand end of the scenic section is about 18 inches deep. If you have any further questions, please feel free to ask! Phil

Last weekend I was given dispensation by the domestic authorities to erect the layout for the first time and I have now had a chance to work out what few repairs need to be made for the layout to become exhibitable again, and also what changes I want to make. The repairs are few - the disused signal needs to be re-positioned, the plate layers hut at the front of the layout needs a new roof and there's a small hole in the goods platform at the back of the layout that needs filling somehow, Dave had a hut covering it that I won't be replacing. Changes, however, will be more. Dave has wired the layout using chocolate box connectors, and personally I don’t like these. The screws can work loose, and if that happens, electrical faults can prove a nightmare to resolve, so I will be replacing these with solder tags and soldered joints that won’t work loose! In post #4, Mike Morley commented about the small length of plain double track between the layout and the sector plate. I will be making this part of the layout and making a road over bridge to disguise the entrance to the sector plate. OK, I know the idea of the road over bridge is clichéd, but I can think of at least two examples on ex GER lines within 10 minutes’ drive of where I live, so it’s not that bad a cliché for me! Once I have completed this, I will be looking at the lighting. Dave Zelly, one of the members of the Mid Essex club who also happens to work in Brentwood theatre, is a lighting guru who has given demonstrations at Expo EM and other shows about layout lighting, and he’s going to help me get the lighting right and then I will rebuild the facia to accommodate the new scenic section and the intended lighting. After that, I’m going to sit down, have a cup of tea and start getting stock ready for the first outing of Saxlingham under my ownership to the Bishop’s Stortford railway circle exhibition in September. So that’s the plans, but in the meantime here are four photographs I took at the weekend that show the layout in its current state. As work progresses, I will post further updates and photos. Phil

Dear alcohol We had a deal where you promised to make me funnier, smarter and a better dancer. I've now seen the video, I think it's time for a talk!

The preview button doesn't necessarily show the censorship. Personally, I always post and if the censor strikes, then I edit the post and use alternative methods of spelling the word so the meaning doesn't get lost. OK, I'm an4l, but details matter to me! Phil

I'm not modelling 5" gauge, although having seen the display the Warley show last November, if I had the room I would seriously consider the opportunity. Is it model railways or model engineering? Personally, I care not, I just loved the Western with smoke units, sound that was sampled from a real Western, so, unsurprisingly, sounded just like the real thing! etc. and would love the opportunity to do something similar if the opportunity arises. Phil

I look forward to following this layout thread. Anything East Anglian is good to my mind! Phil

Bet it's nowhere near as expensive a bike as the one that Hamster (Richard Hammond) damaged (wrote off?) in St Petersburg last Sunday on Top Gear! Phil

It is the uninitiated (one could call them ignorant, but that starts to sound deriding and stooping to their level) who don't realise that we don't just "play with toy trains". I was once discussing with a long standing friend my interest in model railways. He was a teacher and had been gently teasing me about my interest but was quite astounded when I suggested there should be an O level in model railways. When I explained that building a model railway involves historic research, woodwork, art, miniature engineering etc., he began to see the sense behind my thoughts and agreed there was quite some substance to my suggestion. I started a posting on this thought here. Phil

Many years ago, before I met my current partner, I used internet dating and put model engineering as one of my hobbies. I was told by several ladies that it was "not sexy" and I replied that neither is knitting, crochet or whatever, but if that's what they want to do, I won't deride them for it. If I ever got a response, it was usually a fairly terse one along the lines of "go and have some sexual intercourse". At first, I was upset, but a female friend had a serious chat (it cost me a couple of bottles of wine but was well worth it!) and I then realised that actually it was a good way of weeding out the time wasters and women I wouldn't want to meet as they were of such closed minds. We know, as RMWeb members, that model railways are interesting, but I feel that how we portray that interest to the outside world in a positive light is really the question that needs to be answered. Phil

Not sure what is causing the demise of kit building, but if it's happening, is there a way that something can be done to reverse the trend? Last night SWMBO was watching the review of last years Sewing Bee and I happened to be in the room at the same time. The woman who won has now started a charity teaching children how to sew, and it costs them nothing to come along, they have material supplied, sewing machines etc. I can't help but wonder if there's a template there that model railway clubs could modify to introduce youngsters to the joy of building their own kits etc. Phil

It was raining hard and a big puddle had formed in front of an Irish pub. An old man stood beside the puddle holding a stick with a string on the end and jiggled it up and down in the water. A curious gentleman asked what he was doing. 'Fishing,' replied the old man. 'Poor old fool' thought the gentleman, so he invited the old man to have a drink in the pub. Feeling he should start some conversation while they were sipping their whisky, the gentleman asked, 'And how many have you caught?' 'You're the eighth.'

I'm more than a little reluctant to replace mine - I model in EM and have an Ultrascale conversion. With the revised pickups and Mashima motor it runs far better than the standard model, but still not good enough for me! As I've received no messages with interest in the gears, I suspect I will have to go it alone. Ultrascale can provide me with the necessary gear and worm to convert my loco, but as a one off it's not the simple drop in job that the conversion offered in my original posting would be. When I get the gears and convert the loco, I will put a video on here so people can see what I've been aiming for. Phil

It is safe to go back in the water, he's disappeared again (last activity 8 Jan). Has he deliberately gone missing so we restart this thread; could it be that he's really just a very sensitive chap who's missing the notoriety and by going missing is really putting out a plea for help? Phil

I agree about the pickups - that's why I've taken the bars off completely and replaced them with .35mm PB wire on both bogies. Makes a dramatic difference to the haulage ability as well. I know the Bachmann is good, but I've got the Lima one that I've had for 15 years or so, and I want to use that rather than sell it and have to try and find a Bachmann unit in green Agreed - but all locos have to run slowly at times, and my class 20 doesn't at present. Phil

I trust people don't mind if I intrude a little bit in to this thread - this posting that is to do with Class 20's, but not photos! Over on this thread I am looking to improve the slow running of my Lima Class 20. OK, I know the model's old, but it's what I've got and rather than sell it and buy a Bachmann Class 20 in green (which means, from what I can see at the moment, a respray and possibly body mods as well to back date it) I want to get my Lima job running slowly. I'm hoping other Class 20 owners may feel the same way, hence this post. Thanks and I won't intrude any more! Phil

Thanks for this, Richard. I have never heard of Parkside Electronics before - such is the power of RMWeb! Phil

The controller I use on my test track is an H&M Clipper and even on half wave it doesn't make my class 20 crawl, well, not as I expect it to! In case you wonder what I'm after, this link will take you to a video of a Y7 0-4-0T that I've built, and this video was taken using the Clipper and before I'd run in the loco. Now it's run in, it's even slower, just as I like all my locos to run. Phil

Hi Tony Last night, while looking through some of my books, I found pictures of N7's on the North Woolwich branch. The pictures confirm that you are correct (does this surprise us?) about the positioning of the number so at some point in the future I will have to reposition the numbers correctly (unless you wish to undertake the task as penance for pointing out the mistake in the first place! ) Phil

Are you happy with the slow speed performance of your Lima Class 20? OK, I know this sounds like it might be a cheesy advert for some performance pills, but I promise you it's nothing of the sort! I have a Lima Class 20, and as my layout is a shunting plank, I need slow speed control. I've already replaced the standard Lima motor with a Mashima 1830 motor with a big flywheel on it, but it still doesn't give me the slow speed performance I need. Wondering what to do next, I took the gear tower apart and found a worm that has such coarse pitch that you could almost sling a hammock between the teeth. It it this that causes the problem, the Lima worm is a two start worm that gives a final drive ration of about 7:1 Earlier today I was with Ultrascale speaking about this, and theoretically they can produce a different worm and gear set which will give a final drive ration of 30:1, which will obviously be much better for slow speed running (but if you like your Class 20 emulating an HST, stop reading now!). The key word here is theoretically! Ultrascale don't produce this item as stock, but if there are enough people prepared to make a promise to purchase a set of these gears, they would be prepared to start looking at the project with a view to turning it from theoretically possible in to practically possible. To make this project viable for Ultrascale, however, we need to get at least 30 people promising to buy the gears, and until we get those 30, nothing will progress with Ultrascale. An approximate cost of a set of gears will be £25 plus postage. The worm will include a shaft to replace the existing Lima shaft and the gear will be a direct replacement for the existing Lima 1st stage gear, so the work to convert the loco will be very easy, I estimate 30 minutes. So, to the crux of the matter; are you interested enough to purchase a set of these gears? If you are, please PM me and I will create a list of people interested. I look forward to hearing from you. Phil

Many thanks for the people who have replied. I am now in the position to make a decision about which controller to buy, and the current choices are either the Trax controller handheld, the Gaugemaster HH or another controller that has just entered the arena, the Pictroller hand held. Does anyone have any comparative experience or thoughts? Thanks Phil

Thanks, the photos there certainly look the same so I'll order a set and if they are as good as they seem, I suspect that's what I'll be using from now on. Phil