Pugsley

The bulb looks best, IMO, but the Miniatronics LED is a close second and has the advantage in terms of heat and power consumption.

I presume you were single at that point in time! My wife is very tolerant, but I don't think I'd get away with that kind of thing.

Oops!

The latest Polo is bigger than a Mk2 Golf. They're about the same length, but the Polo is some 300mm wider!

It was good to see this in the flesh last weekend. It's so refreshing to see something totally different, executed to a really high standard.

Do people need to pay to play with their balls in order to relax? (Other balls are available.)

I've always found the free ones to be relaxing enough

Hi all,

Anymore thoughts on the VAA van and OAAs. are they any good. 

 

Thanks Peter.

I don't know about the OAA, but the VAA is a typical Heljan model, IMO. Overall it's OK, but with some niggles once you start really looking at. The chassis is missing some strengthening ribs and there are a couple where there shouldn't be any. The springs are too shallow - the front of the spring mounts should be roughly level with the bottom of the solebar and the front links should project beyond them. The roof profile is wrong, it's too steeply curved, so they are a bit higher than they should be.

 

There are also the bits that drop off, but they're quite easily glued back on.

 

On the plus side, they're quite easy to rewheel to S7, if that's your kind of thing. So, I suppose, overall they're not too bad for the money, they just need a little tweaking, if you're a bit of a detail obsessive

Annoying, but we shouldn't assume this is a mistake. Part of designing a model is making it look like the real thing. Another part is making it cost effective to produce and fit together.

Whilst that is true, objective two should never overrule objective one, otherwise it becomes an impression, not a model.

 

Edit - I suppose, what I'm trying to say is that those two design goals are not mutually exclusive. The overall priority should be to make it look like a miniature version of the real thing, but it also needs to be cost effective to produce.

Blue diesels (or even later, if you like) for me please!

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=302213&nseq=40

Now you're talking! More like this please

It may be worth searching for some of the documents listed in the pdf linked to above, as some documents are also on the RGS online site, such as this one:

http://www.rgsonline.co.uk/Railway_Group_Standards/Control%20Command%20and%20Signalling/Other/BR1651%20Part%203.pdf

Have a look in the current group standards for signalling, it may give you some ideas, or refer to historical documents that you may be able to find on the web.

Oooops!

On the plus side, he kept two on the rails!

 

I think that may have been caused by exceeding the speed limit, it seemed to be going a bit fast for that trackwork.

Also noticed a reluctance to go into reverse when the gearbox is fully warmed up, the car has only recently had a brand new clutch slave cylinder fitted so I've no idea what's causing it. Awkward really as it has to be reversed in or out of the garage every time I use it!

If it's only when warm, could either the master or slave cylinder be getting too hot? That can degrade the fluid and reduce the effectiveness of the clutch. It may also be worth checking that the replacement slave cylinder is exactly the same as the one removed - it will have an effect if the pitson size is different.

Hi Pugsley,

 

the Class B tank wagons - (Esso & Regent anyway) are not numbered but the Departmental one - Waste Oil is numbered - ADB999074. My question is - what about the little valve that is fitted at one end of the tanks - why have they not modelled that? and has anybody any thoughts as to a source for them? Nice models though.

 

cheers

 

Mike

I didn't realise that - I was basing my observations on the vans and the opens.

I also think they should have really not added the data panels/numbers (like their locos) as I now have to remove them all from my rake too as they obviously can't all have the same number!

That's the one thing I can't quite figure out about these wagons - they supply the locomotives with no numbers, but the wagons, which you're far more likely to buy in multiple, come with numbers applied!

 

Perhaps Heljan is a Danish company with an Irish background

It was rail connected, if you look carefully you can see the connection at the far end of the depot:

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Bremhill+Bridge,+Swindon,+Wiltshire

 

At the other end there is another bit that suggests that a loop ran through the depot.

An odd film

It certainly is - I can tell it's weird just by that 4 minutes! The Taylor Brothers part is interesting though.

I tend to agree. At © I think we can see a groove in the board. If you look futher up in the opening, there is no sign of texture or cracks. The lighting is also better here, so any cracks should be visible ( B ). This indicates that there is metal sheeting covering everything.

Yes, I agree, the entire area is metal sheeted.

 

Scrutinizing the image I have also discovered som shadows behind the hinges (A). Could there be some brazing supporting the fixed three plank part of the sides?

I think that is bracing there - if you look just to the left of the hinge on the far right, I think you can see the same bracing for the other side.

The effect on the strapping is superb! (As is the whole thing).

I'm terrified of hand-building pointwork

Don't be, it's quite straightforward once you get into it.

 

Bullhead is well catered for from C&L, flat bottom is a little trickier in as much as the pre-machined rails aren't available, but still achievable. I built these for my, still unfinished, layout:

 

 

You can either use Templot, or C&L sell templates for standard sizes. I'd recommend Templot, it allows you to design whatever track layout you want, reducing your reliance on standard sizes.

Loving the Blue John!

The bogies are strange basically Y25s with the ends of the framing reduced

I believe that they're fabricated Y27's.

There are a couple of good pictures in the Wagonload book by Paul Shannon (in the Rail Freight Since 1968 series) of the ends of these wagons, on pages 55 an 57 (I can't post them here for obvious reasons. Comparing these to the picture above, the roof might be curved a little too much, but not excessively so, but it does look as if the areas above the doors, between them and the roof, are a bit too deep.

 

That might be why the wagon is a bit taller than it should be - it's probably only 1-1.5mm, just a bit difficult to correct.

What is a Roundabout doing in N. America...????? Do they know what it is?? Doesn't it confuse them???  

 

Coat on, left the building........

Dunno about the US, but they seem to be spreading in Canada. At one point I think there was only one roundabout in the whole of Nova Scotia, the Armdale Rotary, but there's a few more these days:

http://novascotia.ca/tran/roundabout/roundabout.asp