MrSimon

Can all your trains get past the new signals? The one with the shunting head looks to be in the danger zone for long foreign coaches/railcars/wagons - but it might just be the angle of the picture.

Thanks Jonas! Hello everybody, This afternoon I got the weathering powders out to finish what was on my desk. The final two blue steel tipplers and the tankers that I’d been working on this week. During the week I finished all the little bits of painting, then I gave everything a test this evening: Also on this video, see if you can spot what’s in the repainting queue... if anyone knows how to get a Bachmann Scott to rub freely I’m all ears. I bought the Scott to convert to 2mm, but it’s not going to reach the top of the conversion queue for quite a while so it’d be handy to run the charter rake through Gresby! I satin varnished this this week and it turned yellow, it’s been sunbathing ever since to lighten it up, I don’t fancy repainting the white again! Last two of the blue tippers. I’ve got two more sets of seven to finish, but I’ve not completely decided what colour they’re going to be yet. Also today, I pulled this out the wardrobe: I don’t remember buying it, I thought it was a 5MT - I could have used it to replace the Scott on the charter rake. It looks like it’s gone down the previous owners stairs, I reckon it’s definitely going to go into the 2mm queue, it’s not big enough for charter work... With everything that was on my desk finished it’s time to start something new! Simon

Did they? Hope not I’ve got flasks on Gresby and that’s just down the line from you The 31s looking great

Hello everybody! This has been a busy few days finishing off things that have been on my desk, as my desk is a mess... Some time towards the beginning of lockdown I decided that I my ratio of hooded to non-hooded HAAs wasn’t right, so I bought a 5 pack and they sat on my desk ever since. On Saturday I picked 5 hoppers and stuck them on. The whole train needs work, I want to weather them, repaint some brown cradles maroon, and sort out closer couplings... but all that will just have to go on the to-do list on trello... After months (maybe two years) of having a pair of tankers on my desk waiting for me to finish the details I turned my attention to them. Then, when I was looking for the ladders I remember painted for them I found another tanker even less complete: After fitting the detailing kit and new bogies it was ready to join the paint queue: I stuck the painted ladders I found on the first tanker, matt varnished the superglue and got the powders our this afternoon: It’s cleaner than a lot of the earlier ones I did, and I prefer that. I might still run a streak of glossy black down from one filler, but only a small one. While the powders were out I did two more of these: Two more of the blue+orange left to weather and that’s 1/3 of the train finished! Lots to do... Simon

The soot looks really good, there’s always spot on top of the boiler. How much have you weathere the wheels? They look really effective compared with the standard Dapol. It looks like a clean engine that’s been at work, and that’s really hard to do, well done! Cheers Simon

Hi Duncan, They ran well when I tested them on Gresby, I swapped out the wheels for replacement ones from Bachman though - they’re free running and the inners stay coupled. I need to look into the couplings between the buffer/outer wagons though, the only real issue I’ve had with the running is keeping the three sets coupled together, it’s definitely fixable though! What issues have yours had? Are they the new release NGS ones? Cheers Simon

Hello everybody, It’s been a while, this is the 3rd weekend without getting the unitrack out - but I’ve been busy since my last update! I had a slight issue with the J94, when the motor turned one way the worm lifted off the gear; I soldered a bit of scrap etch on to keep it in place: Next I need to check all the wheels/axles/muffs to get it running and get rid of it’s new ‘waddle’... Today I had a weathering session. I finished fourth post van, this is the rear vehicle so has a tail lamp and a bufferbeam. It also got new buffers from the 2mm. I can’t do the final van until Etched Pixels opens back up. Next, I finished the next two pipe train wagons: I think there’s just two or three left to go. Finally today I made a start at weathering the Tipplers. This last week or two I’ve fitted the brakewheels, painted the underframes and bogies. Here’s one that’s ready for weathering. I started with dirty powders on the underframe, then I rubbed dirty/ore colour in to the corners on the ribs, then I rubbed it off and gave it a dust of dirt. Three down, four to go (and then 14 others I’ve barely started finishing yet). Plenty done but lots to do! Simon

Disappointed that they haven’t chosen NorthWestern/First North Western blue with the big gold stars. Again. Fingers crossed for batch 3, cos that’s not a livery I can paint myself...

Thanks Jim, Izzy, Andy and Chris! Following Chris’s suggestion I have secured the other side of the gear box to stop it moving upwards when the motor runs clockwise: It’s not pretty but it’s worked. Lucky I had the .25mm PCB ready for my next chassis . Now that the motor/gearbox issue is sorted it’s time to sort out the waddle. I’m going to check each pair of wheels for concentric running/check they’re square in the muff, etc. If they’re not straight in the muff is it fixable by taking it out and putting back in again or do I need a fresh one? Thanks again all Simon

Looking good Graham - what are Hunt couplings?

Hi all, I gave the J94 some running, and the gears now mesh really well but with two issues: 1) the worm doesn’t seem to stay fully engaged with the gear while running backwards, and 2) it’s got a waddle: The reversing issue seems to be the worm lifts and the motor just spins. It’s probably half to do with resistance at the wheels, but also with the motor turning anti-clockwise lifting the top of the gearbox up - does anyone have any suggestions? I’ve tried altering the angle of the motor to press down on it the top gear more, and it’s done wonders for forward running, but not backwards... The waddle. It seems to be a pretty uniform waddle. Any suggestions? I know the real thing had a bit of a shimmy, but much less I’m guessing? Many thanks Simon

Hello everybody, It’s not Saturday, but here’s this weeks Saturday testing, which included some fixing... I think I might have got to the bottom of the coupling issue on the NMT and managed to get the pantograph car to run the other way round. I also lubricated the other coaches and it’s fine except for at top speed. The coal has two wagons that aren’t behaving. I’m not sure what’s going on with them, they don’t like curves but only sometimes. This might be the first time the class 170 has ever run. It must be 7-8 years since I started the repaint but I should see about finishing it off. I moved one or two of the section breaks in the fiddle yard to accommodate it as it’s the only member of the Gresby fleet that doesn’t have the powered car as the first vehicle - I made the changes after testing a normal 170 running backwards. I just need to get some transfers sorted... Lots to do! Simon

Thanks all! It’s definitely got a slight tight spot and it would catch slightly sometimes when I ran it with my finger - I figured I’d sort this when I permanently fixed the wheels on. I’ve noticed that one of the centre driving wheels isn’t running quite straight, it seems to point slightly outwards. Would some sort of washer fix the end float or would fixing the rest of the running make it less noticeable? Jim, do I need to do that in each direction or just the jerky direction? Thanks Simon

I got the motor fitted to my J94, I used the stiff wires to anchor the motor in place. I’ve got it to run quite well going chimney first, but it’s not great cab first. I haven’t glued the wheel into the muff on the geared axel yet, so I don’t know how much improvement that will make; but is there anything that would normally affect running in one direction? Many thanks Simon

Hello everybody! Today was an exiting day (after my nap), I got the motor fitted to my J94 and it ran all by itself for the first time ever! At first it wasn’t great, but then I adjusted the motor around, I think it wasn’t meshing very well at the top which was causing the motor to get really hot. I have to take the wheels back off to paint the chassis so I’ll be able to address one of the running issues - the geared wheels is slightly loose on the gear and it spins sometimes, but it seems to run better forwards than backwards... going to need advice on that one! It must have taken 2 years to get to this point! The next ones going to be loads quicker normal Saturday unitrack testing tomorrow Lots to do Simon

Hi Dave, Its a strange issue, the coach just doesn’t stay coupled - the rest of the rake was a bit hesitant staying coupled on the corners until they’d done a few laps but this one just wouldn’t. I think the last time they ran before last weekend was 2012 so I don’t know if they’ve seized up a bit (I’ll give the cams a rub over with a pencil) but I’m not sure if the rogue coach needs something more involved. I’ve got a similar issue with one of the NMT MK3s too; at Christmas it would only stay coupled running one way round, unfortunately it needed to run the other way round for the rest of the rake (which is the problem with using slightly different liveries on each side... it’s on the ‘test list’ for tomorrow’s session. The regional train’s one of my favourites, it’s based on the Hope Valley loco hauled trains, but add another Mark 1 and it could be North Wales with a class 37. All well here, hope you are too Simon

Saturday again everybody! This week I spent all my modelling time on a stop motion video for a Eurovision party... so there was no N Gauge/2mm action this week. That said, I chose some trains for today’s testing that were previous failures and could be fettled/fixed/diagnosed as I went. My main victory was the 4 coach Regional Railways train, when I tried to test it before there was issues with the mk1 - the couplings locked a bit (I think after weathering). I used pencil on the bogie pivot, the coupling cam, the underside of the buffer beam, and the faces of the buffers and gangway rubbing plates, and now it’s fine. Do coaches need running in? It took a while for pretendolino to stay coupled but after a few stop start laps they were fine. Except one: This ones going to need some work I think. Maybe it’s marked up backwards or something. I’ll try pencil on the coupling mechanism and all that, but I’ll have to see... does anyone have any tips for getting Dapol MK3s to behave? Thanks Simon

Hi Dave, You’ve not missed it, I don’t think this rakes appeared on here at all other than being in the lockdown videos - I think even the power car was repainted before I started either my workbench or Gresby threads. At the moment it’s a mixture, the 5 IC liveried ones had the buffers cut off from when they used to by my HST - I also took the buffers off the Virgin TGS, but so far none of the other Virgin coaches have had the snip. I’m not even sure if they’re going to get it, but I’ll have to see if I get buffer locking when I’ve swapped the rest of the couplings over... To get the closer coupling I took the coupling box off and used the box in the other end of the bogie. Looking at it up close for the first time I’ve realised the steps are nowhere near the door now...! Oh well! Hope that helps! Simon

That would be great Jo, I can only fit 2-3 maximum onto the train, but even one would add interest! It’s that time of the week everyone, the time I cripple myself on the bedroom floor... There’s been quite a bit of painting going on this weekend, this being the most photogenic bit: Touching up the load for the EWS. BDA and making loads for three more. I’ve only got 2 more wagons left to load so maybe there’ll be a strengthener one day? Customary Saturday video. This week I did a bit more testing on the multi-purpose virgin mk3 rake following the decision to change the couplers on the rake last week. I needed to check if it would still work on corners with a short Farish coupling in place of the normal Dapol. It did! It had to be a short coupling on the DVT because I need one FO that’s always next to the DVT/HST power car, and the coach needs a standard coupler to run as an HST... I don’t have this issue with the standard class end as the TGS isn’t in the rake when it’s being a west coast electric. Standard Dapol coupling with printed short coupler on the mk3. A coach coupled to a HST PC is included for comparison. Short Farish coupling on the DVT. I didn’t test the other combination because I wouldn’t have had the flexibility to run the rake both ways. Also, in the video, something weird happened with my schools. The bogie kind of locked and did a wheelie... is this a standard fault? Might explain why it was cheap! Lots to do! Simon

Thanks Jim, I’ve got Model Rail back to 2014, I’ll have to have a search - I reckon it’ll be a few years before I get round to even starting it (still have my fingers crossed for a print though haha) Cheers Simon

Thanks Dave! I grew up with the ECML going passed my school, so obviously preferred the WCML in the north west! If I’d known Gresby was going to take so long to build it would have been WCML haha! The original plan was for something south Manchester-ish where I could run IC/Virgin, MML, Central Trains and Northern/First North Western, but I only had space for a shelf layout and Gresby was born. Its always fun to get the west coast stock out . All’s well here, hope you and yours are too Cheers Simon

Hi all, This seems to have taken me forever to build, but I’ve made my J94 chassis run using the motor (instead of my finger) for the first time ever: The motor isn’t currently attached to the rest of the chassis, I was holding it in place. Which way is best to attach it? I could use the longer shaft on the motor but that would mean the wires being at the gear box end, or I could hide the wires in the smoke box, which would mean I had to cut ~5mm off the motor shaft. I’d been planning to use stiff wire to anchor the motor in place, but the movement in the motor with me just holding suggests maybe something more sturdy is needed. Today’s test also reminded me that I need to take the wheels off the geared axle and glue them into the muff. And I think I need to have the motor closer to the worm, In my mind it will lessen the effect of the motor moving and give smoother running. Thanks Simon

Hello everybody! Just a quick update, but a bit of a major milestone reached in another quick project that seems to have been going forever... (Excuse me forgetting that videos should be landscape...) This is the first time the J94 chassis has moved under its own power. Now, I need to quantify this - the motor was temporarily lashed up to the controller and isn’t fastened down in any way and was held in place... but I’m still counting it as a win! Lots to do! Simon

Hi Jo, Great work on the coach - filling windows is a pain but they’re looking smooth in the pictures! Another graffiti fan here, yours looks spot on! I’ve tried hand painting my own but it’s really hard to fade between colours in such a tiny size, but if you’re copying more block-colour work it’s do-able. Give me a shout if/when the RMC JGAs become available, I’d like 1 or 2 for my stone train. Cheers Simon

Hi, I used the liquid glazing stuff for fixing couplings level (Micro Kristal Klear) it holds the coupling firmly but can be unstuck and cleaned off with water - can’t remember the last time I used it to glaze an actual window! Cheers Simon