10800

Just had to use that lovely word lacuna! I've just had some 1:2500 map sections courtesy of West Sussex CC archives, unfortunately there is nothing between 1910 and the 1970s so more research needed to verify the 1950s condition.

Thanks Ken I agree about headcodes, something we will need to address carefully. There was a topic on the old site about working roller blinds in 4mm but I'm not sure we will go to quite those lengths. Obviously with a total scenic length of around 25-30ft and 12ft fiddle yards each end (if we want decent length trains) it's not going to be permanently housed anywhere and may only come out in full at exhibition - assuming we get that far!

John and I have been bouncing some ideas around and I've sketched out a possible layout concept. Effectively two dioramas, one of the station itself and one containing the viaduct. As if this is not enough, John has proposed making the join between them adaptable, FREMO-style, so that additional scenic sections could be added at a later date. Well, let's see how it goes with just this for the moment! Meanwhile I've ordered some 25-inch OS map copies from West Sussex County Council archives, and we will hopefully be off on a field visit in about three weeks to, well, visit the site in the field . The viaduct we have is 14 arches, as against the 37 of the real one, so it will be an impression rather than a full reproduction (it's still nearly 8 ft long as it is). Once I have the maps it will be time to fire up Templot again and we can scare ourselves as to how long the layout is going to end up. And if we want to run a 12-coach PUL/PAN formation (as we do ) the fiddle yards will need to be 12 ft long as well - each end. Either that or the fiddle yard operators will have to be very very quick, Gromit-like, in receiving and sending out trains!

As you know I've always liked this concept Raphael and I look forward to seeing more

Very nice Pete and something to aim for with mine, having bought one of the very last Kirk 2-BILs from Branchlines at Scaleforum.

Balcombe would see these as the main traction on fasts (which wouldn't stop!) http://semgorgu.ipower.com/gallery/6pul_1.html as well as Brighton Belles. Semi fasts and stoppers would be http://semgorgu.ipower.com/gallery/4lav.html and http://semgorgu.ipower.com/gallery/2bil_01.html Whilst Newhaven boat trains and freights would be either steam-hauled or with Bulleid's CC1/2 and 20003 Booster electrics such as (first two pictures, actually in Balcombe yard): http://semgorgu.ipower.com/electric/class70_1.html

Mightily impressive clubroom you have there!

Wot, both high and low level? Ambitious, would be a great layout, but there was no juice there until long after the LAVs, BILs, PANs etc had gone. If I was ever to get involved in a layout of that scope, Lewes would be first on the list!

Some of you will know of my planned Camberhurst layout from the old site http://www.rmweb.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=7091 I'm not sure any more whether this will ever happen. This is for a variety of reasons, including * Time for a sole project considered against other commitments * Space to put it up at home * I don't really like shunting, much prefer trains passing through the landscape (c.f. Eridge, Tawbridge) * I also feel much happier with real locations, or at least something closely resembling a real location - Camberhurst just didn't 'feel' authentic enough. Camberhurst was a useful planning exercise nonetheless, and if anyone wants to base a layout on its design then that's fine by me. What I'm now thinking of, in conjunction with John Farmer (Re6/6) is a simpler through station layout where we can both indulge in our interest in 1st generation SR EMUs and electric locos but also throw in a bit of steam and other stuff as well. Most of Eridge's stock will also be at home. So we're looking closely at Balcombe in Sussex, on the Brighton main line south of Three Bridges. This has the following attributes: * Fairly simple two-track layout * Still exists, although I'm not sure how much original infrastructure survives (sounds like an excuse for a field trip to me) * Electrified, and what's more used to have tramway overhead in the yard for CC1-3 etc - I think Balcombe was actually the test bed for the bigger yards equipped later such as Hither Green and Hoo Junction * Ouse Valley Viaduct nearby, and John is itching to use the viaduct we inherited from Nigel Hunt's layout on something etc etc etc

Yes, lots of that! These are all destined for my instant-gratification 00 layout so not much will be done with them apart from couplings, gangways and weathering.

Although I haven't started building the layout yet (next month maybe?) I have been assembling a few trains to run on it, especially some reasonable length ones, and here's a couple of them (straight from the box, no weathering yet or replacement couplings). (Note that in these photos the trains are more or less plonked on temporary track - the DB is on 00 track on the new DRAG TT2, but has humps over the board joins where the sleepers haven't been removed yet; and the Western and Mk1s are on P4 track on the old and soon-to-be-replaced TT1). This is the down Ilfracombe portion of the Devon Belle around 1953. The formation is correct, and all the Pullmans ran on the Devon Belle, but maybe not in the same rake. From the locomotive the cars are: Brake 3rd no. 27, Kitchen 3rd no. 61, Kitchen 1st IBIS, Parlour 1st ROSEMARY, Kitchen 3rd no. 31, Kitchen 1st MINERVA, Kitchen 3rd no. 171, Guard 3rd no. 208, Observation no. 13. Then, moving on about 10 years we have the Wolverhampton-Penzance 'Cornishman' at about the time when the pure chocolate and cream rakes were getting the odd maroon replacement. From the locomotive the formation is BSK-SK-SK-CK-CK-RU-SO-SK-BSK.

Another routine DRAG meeting last night, with both TT1 in use and work continuing on the trackwork on TT2. Here it looks like we've left CK on his own (not true, others were busy threading rail into trackbases etc ) But meanwhile, John (Re6/6) had just taken delivery of his new Noch Grassmaster for Matford, and gave us a quick demo. The following pictures speak for themselves really, although it is difficult to convey the 3D effect on a 2D image. Now that's all very well as a basic demo of how it works, but it's a particularly bright green set of fibres with no (not yet) additional texture. John also showed us a demo board he had done earlier, but starting from a position of existing basic ground cover (which could be hanging basket liner, lint, carpet underlay or whatever). This next picture is the initial groundcover: Then with the Noch fibres added: And finally (after the PVA has set) after a good suck with the vacuum cleaner: Which gives a good base of rough ground for further detailing. Update from The Captain, Tuesday 27/10/09 A few of my own photos from last night (apologies for quality, taken on camera phone). Brain Harrap (right) seemingly caught in mid-ballad.... Clearly, something doesn't seem quite right in this photo... Re6/6 had brought in a recent acquisition for us to admire, but someone forgot to remind him that we were only laying P4 and OO track that night.... Mr F. Adder made a surprise but welcome appearance, and was immediately put to work on slave labour the important task of threading rail onto track bases. As usual, he did his modelling on his feet.... This was clearly a source of some amusement.... Peter Archard brought in his scratchbuilt 16XX pannier for a spin. We ran it on TT1 first, then laid a bit of spare track on TT2 as well.

Or an Ambis one

Thanks Craig - anyone will be welcome to visit when it's operating - just give us some notice! I'm not sure about Scaleforum either, you could get several small layouts in the same space, and I don't want to get into a Deputy Chairman's Cup revival! AGM is not a bad idea though, we were thinking of offering to host one (but it's Bristol next year so can't really have another one in the SW for a while, even assuming enough members would come this far for one.

Ah, so that's what TT2 track will look like

Although somewhat depleted in numbers the DRAG meeting tonight managed to complete tracklaying on the first straight side of the test track, except for the transition curves into the ends. This included the 00/P87 track, and there's no denying the contrast between the P4 and the Code 75 Peco (maybe a cruel comparison as I know 00 track can be made to look much better). John's Heljan Cargowaggon with Kean Maygib P4 wheels went through the crossover at whatever speed we could shove it. Meanwhile, some recent purchases on display included John's Hornby Maunsell CK in blood & custard - I'm not sure about the blood myself, seems too dark to me. And my complete (at last) authentic formation 9-coach Ilfracombe portion Devon Belle (destined for Tawbridge) Thursday 22/10/09 A slightly belated entry here, but a small number of us had a very focussed session chez Re6/6 last Saturday, where John was able to set up 4 of the 5 straight boards from the other side to that already completed (above). I was very pleased to see that the A5 crossover that I thought had been 'mislaid', had in fact been laid on one of the boards back at the original Saturday session at Holcombe a few weeks ago. In fact, we found that it had been laid on the wrong board as compared with Rod's Master Plan, but a bit of quick improvisation and executive decision making saw us quickly shuffle the other crossovers around to achieve a new configuration, which should serve us just as well (I really didn't want to have to lift an already-glued crossover, plus plasticard base!). By mid-afternoon (at which point I had to leave to attend CTMK on her sickbed back at home), we had virtually laid a double track, with crossovers, along the 4 boards. A short while later, the others left and John continued laying plain line on his own, until virtually everything along the 4 boards was down, with the exception of the OO P87 track (due to me not taking it with me that morning!). So we now have to finish the 5th board, which will probably take the evening next Monday night at Holcombe, and then start on the curved boards. These will feature superelevation on the centre two tracks (the Up and Down Fast lines). Photos to follow when uploading becomes possible again!

Depends what you mean by finished Rich - with a fair wind we might get most of the trackwork down before Christmas, then there's all the wiring. Personally I'd like to fast track the wiring and electrics so that we have one complete track powered up around New Year. We are having some additional Saturday sessions to speed progress.

Hi Ian Nice pics . I look at the gallery feature on here as analagous to Fotopic or Flickr but 'internal' - you can post your own images and receive comments but as you have discovered it's not made for photo contributions by others. I'm running my Teignmouth scene as a topic rather than a gallery for much the same reason.

however, undeterred they

miffed - as emerging

and onion flavoured

just arrived from

O10800WB - a little holiday modelling by 10800 original page on Old RMweb Go to comments __________________________________________ ??? posted on Sun Feb 22, 2009 12:08 pm Blimey, is it so long ago I last looked at these? Yesterday I decided to try out the operating system concept described earlier in this thread on the nearly-finished Eridge up starters. Remember that the idea is to have the signals unpluggable, so no connections or hook ups with gubbins underneath. Real engineers should look away now please ... Firstly, the main bits - signal, various diameters of brass bar and telescopic tubing, razor saw, mitre box etc I slid some tube over the ends of the control wire. They are different lengths so that the 'clock weights' finish at different levels for convenience (Eridge has plenty of room under the boards for this). The tube was soldered in position (at the end away from the signal baseplate) with the other end hard up against the baseplate guide tube with the signal in the stop position, thus making a limit of movement when returning the signal to on. The wire was snipped off at the end leaving about 1 mm proud. I don't have a pillar drill or a lathe so out came the minidrill stand. Having cut lengths of 3/16" brass bar in the mitre box with the razor saw I wanted to drill a 1mm hole in the centre that would fit over the protruding wire left over from the previous stage. I probably didn't drill quite deep enough because soldering the bar onto the wire and butting it up against the tube whilst keeping everything in line was a bu**er. At least I found a use for the two pairs of reverse tweezers, one with the offset points! Next time of course I will drill a 3/16 hole in a block of wood for the bar to stand up in while doing this, but it worked anyway. The original idea was to slide 7/32" brass tube over the bar and solder it to the underside of the baseplate to act as a support and guide, but the resulting additional friction prevented the easy movement of the bar, even after lubrication with graphite. Probably because of the alignment issue referred to above (I could have said I put the slight dog-leg in deliberately to give more clearance between the two weights! ). But it seems fairly robust anyway, and the 5/8 tube which will go over the lot (and plug into 21/32 tube mounted in the baseboard) will provide additional protection. Main thing is it works. The brass bar is heavy enough to pull off the signal arms under gravity when support from below is removed. __________________________________________ Comment posted by pinkmouse on Sun Feb 22, 2009 12:47 pm 10800 wrote: The brass bar is heavy enough to pull off the signal arms under gravity when support from below is removed.[/attachment] Hmmm. Fail safe? I think not. The Ministry of Transport inspecting officer might have something to say about that! __________________________________________ ??? posted on Sun Feb 22, 2009 12:53 pm Damn you Carruthers, you've spotted the flaw in my design! __________________________________________ Comment posted by beast66606 on Sun Feb 22, 2009 6:57 pm I made a signal with working mechanical slotting using similar techniques - but mine did fail safe - although the balance weights were at the bottom of the post so a lot easier __________________________________________ ??? posted on Mon Feb 23, 2009 12:21 am Mounting tube now fitted, also lamps, finials, balance weights, the main ladder and a phone/electric cabinet. Apart from sorting out the SOUs underneath, which will have to wait until that bit of the layout is finished, all that's left to do on this one is some plasticard support plates at the top of the main lattice post and then paint it. Then it's on to finish the other two Eridge brackets. __________________________________________ Comment posted by timlewis on Tue Feb 24, 2009 10:34 pm Looks excellent Rod: well done. I'm a long way off building signals yet, but looking forward to it in a masochistic kind of way __________________________________________ ??? posted on Tue Feb 24, 2009 11:55 pm Cheers Tim - for a first one it's taken a while, so long that I look back at some of the initial work on it and cringe in a way that only the builder can about his own creation! The next two will be a bit troublesome because of having to add more landing at the front, but it's all experience ... oh yeah, and fun as well __________________________________________ Comment posted by pinkmouse on Wed Feb 25, 2009 9:18 am Look forward to seeing them next time you're up, very impressed with pics. __________________________________________ ??? posted on Sun Mar 15, 2009 6:58 pm While on holiday last week I took along a small toolkit and a pile of plastic wagon kits with the intention of putting a few of the basic body shells together and giving some impetus to finishing them in the forseeable future As an aside, we stayed in the village at Portmeirion, and the views from our carefully-selected double aspect apartment were like this Anyway, here is the basic set up - piece of plate glass, cutting mat, small try-square, some MEK and a few files and knives By the end of the week I had put the bodies of these together (most of one rainy day and a few other odd hours while Mrs 10800 was reading): Three Parkside BR standard 12 ton vans and a Ratio LMS van. None of the roofs are fixed yet (the floor in the case of the Ratio van) pending addition of lead weight. The Parkside vans were quite old (labels with 'W&H Models, ??????‚??1.95'!) and the floors needed trimming to fit so there was quite a bit of draw-filing going on. Fortunately I glued together the two side/end pairs and then joined them together rather than building around the floor as per the instructions. Chivers SR 20 ton mineral, Ling, Tunney and two Parkside Grampus. The Chivers kits are a joy to put together, showing how a bit of thought and design can aid the modeller (just like the old Chivers brass kits) and the moulding quality is superb. Because of the tabs and guide ridges you have to put these together in the stated order! The newer Parkside Grampus were pretty good too. Parkside LNER extra long CCT, rain strips filed off because they're in the wrong place (will glue some plastic strip on in the right places later) Parkside Mink G (a dedicated Masokits chassis will be going under this) Chivers pigeon van, again a lesson in how to make a good plastic kit And finally a Cambrian Salmon. This was a bit of a pig compared to the others - soapy plastic (all black so it was hard to see what was going on half the time), lack of crispness, poor mating surfaces etc. In this particular kit the floor is in two halves which you have to just butt-join together, and the sole bars and internal bracing have nothing in particular to attach to. Here is the recommended use of a square to line them all up: Despite all that, when it's painted and weathered it will hopefully turn out to be acceptable, especially with 2 or 3 track panels as a load I'm away again next week (work this time) so I'll see what I can do with a few Bedford springing units in the hotel in the evening and get some of these rolling. __________________________________________ Comment posted by Adam on Sun Mar 15, 2009 8:54 pm Hi Rod Impressive productivity there, more so if you get them finished! If you think the Salmon was a fiddle, wait 'til you get to the track panels, and more particularly, the chains... One tip you may find of use based on dad's experience. Weighting and keeping these wagons from warping can be a problem which dad resolved by gluing (I think he used some form of reasonably heavy duty epoxy - not Araldite) a pair of bicycle spokes to the underside of the wagon. A useful 2 in 1 approach. Adam __________________________________________ Comment posted by timlewis on Sun Mar 15, 2009 9:22 pm Well, you have been busy! Pretty impressive. Now all you need are the W-irons, and the wheels, and the brakegear, and the weight, and the sprung buffers (you did think ahead and drill for them before joining ends to sides didn't you ), and the vac pipes, and the painting, and the transfers and the weathering. So, nearly finished then . Seriously though, that's a damn fine effort for a couple of days work. Amazing what can be done with a bit of forward planning and some uninterrupted modelling time. (And a nice view from the window too). __________________________________________ Comment posted by Captain Kernow on Sun Mar 15, 2009 9:33 pm timlewis wrote: Well, you have been busy! Pretty impressive. Now all you need are the W-irons, and the wheels, and the brakegear, and the weight, and the sprung buffers (you did think ahead and drill for them before joining ends to sides didn't you ), and the vac pipes, and the painting, and the transfers and the weathering. So, nearly finished then . Seriously though, that's a damn fine effort for a couple of days work. Amazing what can be done with a bit of forward planning and some uninterrupted modelling time. (And a nice view from the window too). But he won't have been able to enjoy the view if he's been enjoying the view of the underside of a Cambrian Salmon instead!! Good start to the wagon fleet, Rod, and as Tim says, the hard work (but fun! ) is still to come!.... __________________________________________ ??? posted on Sun Mar 15, 2009 10:18 pm Adam wrote: If you think the Salmon was a fiddle, wait 'til you get to the track panels, and more particularly, the chains... Hi Adam What's the problem with the track panels - I was just going to make some 60 ft lengths using Exacto thick ply sleepers and chairs, am I missing something? One tip you may find of use based on dad's experience. Weighting and keeping these wagons from warping can be a problem which dad resolved by gluing (I think he used some form of reasonably heavy duty epoxy - not Araldite) a pair of bicycle spokes to the underside of the wagon. A useful 2 in 1 approach. Now that doesn't surprise me at all - I was thinking in terms of thin strips of lead sheeting in between the trusses and around the bogie pivots, but the bicycle spokes idea is quite good __________________________________________ ??? posted on Sun Mar 15, 2009 10:20 pm timlewis wrote: and the sprung buffers (you did think ahead and drill for them before joining ends to sides didn't you ), Might have done ... __________________________________________ Comment posted by Tony W on Sun Mar 15, 2009 11:42 pm Hi Rod Since you've been so busy modelling I'm guessing you weren't on Porthmadog High Street the other day at 5:30 in the morning to see the first train to travel between the Festiniog and Welsh Highland Railways. Hope you had a good holiday Tony __________________________________________ ??? posted on Sun Mar 15, 2009 11:54 pm Unfortunately not Tony - I only learned about it afterwards, and I doubt if Mrs 10800 would have been impressed if I'd gone out to see it anyway! We did travel on the Ffestiniog on that day though (see separate thread), will be back in September for the full Monty most probably! __________________________________________ Comment posted by nevardmedia on Mon Mar 16, 2009 1:06 pm Nice looking job them there signals! How did you 'chunky up' the etched laddering? Solder? You're a lucky man - If I took all my modelling stuff when we go on holiday, the Mrs would be seriously upset "this is a supposed to be a break from everything so you can spend quality time with me" __________________________________________ Comment posted by Grimleygrid on Mon Mar 16, 2009 1:25 pm Wow, the semaphore signal looks fantastic. Absolutely stunning modelling. I am impressed that you can take modelling on holiday with you. Mrs. Grimley would not be for that!! __________________________________________ Comment posted by Adam on Mon Mar 16, 2009 1:56 pm 10800 wrote: Adam wrote: If you think the Salmon was a fiddle, wait 'til you get to the track panels, and more particularly, the chains... Hi Adam What's the problem with the track panels - I was just going to make some 60 ft lengths using Exacto thick ply sleepers and chairs, am I missing something? The tedium of doing it? No, seriously, it's the chains to hold them on that are the real fiddle factor (unless you get into drilling holes in the end of the rail for the fishplates of course...). Stick them on firmly enough of course and there's a bit of rigidty from the rail too, which is handy. Adam __________________________________________ ??? posted on Mon Mar 16, 2009 3:46 pm nevardmedia wrote: Nice looking job them there signals! How did you 'chunky up' the etched laddering? Solder? You're a lucky man - If I took all my modelling stuff when we go on holiday, the Mrs would be seriously upset "this is a supposed to be a break from everything so you can spend quality time with me" Cheers Chris The ladder was just strengthened by tinning all over (still illegal in some counties I believe ) before removing from the fret. I think it still needs a support bracket half way up but I don't remember seeing one on photos of the signal concerned. As for taking modelling stuff on hoilday, it was Mrs 10800's suggestion - on rainy days she relaxes by reading and I model! __________________________________________ ??? posted on Mon Mar 16, 2009 3:48 pm Adam wrote: No, seriously, it's the chains to hold them on that are the real fiddle factor (unless you get into drilling holes in the end of the rail for the fishplates of course...). Stick them on firmly enough of course and there's a bit of rigidty from the rail too, which is handy. I'll have to check out some photos as to how it was done and see what the options are __________________________________________

O10800WB - a little holiday modelling by 10800 original page on Old RMweb Go to comments __________________________________________ ??? posted on Mon Jan 07, 2008 11:13 am While I have them with me for safekeeping during Eridge's rebuild, I thought I'd put up some pics of the Eridge goods shed, built a few years ago (it's the one on my avatar) showing some more details of its construction. The model was based on photographs and a drawing of a very similar shed (but brick-built) elsewhere on the Cuckoo line. Basis of construction was stripwood, Evergreen sheets for the main walls, Wills slate sheets for the roof, and lots of plasticard strip of various sizes. The roof was a bit of a problem because of the small size of the Wills sheets, which I attempted to deal with (not entirely successfully) by solvent-welding sheets together. It's not as bad in the flesh as it seems here. This shows the interior and the stripwood frame. The platform is just ply timbering for pointwork, and the crane is another Wills product. The roof was based on a plastic strip A-frame concoction. Finally, some paint and weathering experiments with the humble Ratio P-way hut. __________________________________________ Comment posted by number6 on Mon Jan 07, 2008 12:14 pm Lovely. I would have liked to see how a small shed like this worked back in the day... - you could get quickly overloaded inside if you didn't tranship stuff quickly. Lots of brute force required too. What was the gallows on the end wall for? I particuarly like your building corners. Raphael __________________________________________ ??? posted on Mon Jan 07, 2008 12:29 pm Cheers Raphael The corners were tidied up by yet another application of thin microstrip! It took me ages to find out what the gallows thing was. I understand it is a gauge used by the p-way department when realigning and reballasting in the station, to make sure the rail-to-platform height is maintained. Previously I had thought it was something to do with wagon loads and door access, so I may need to take it off and review its length! There was also one hanging on the signalbox at Oxted. __________________________________________ ??? posted on Mon Mar 10, 2008 9:15 am Nothing especially exciting, but for anyone who hasn't seen it here's how you change the wheels on a Heljan 33 (same process applies to other Heljan locos). The raw materials - in this case Kernow limited edition green 33/0 and Ultrascale P4 conversion pack. Pull off bogie side frames from the pins which also hold the pickup strips. Be careful with the 33 because you have to negotiate around the lifting lug on the solebar positioned mid-bogie (not an issue with the Hymek or 47). With the aid of a small screwdriver, gently lever off the bogie cover plate, exposing the wheelsets and gear assembly. Lift out original wheelsets. At this stage I also nipped off the RTR coupling pocket. With needle nose pliers, bend out the pickup strip to ensure contact with the wider-spaced P4 wheels. Check back-to-back of replacement wheelsets. Drop them into place, ensuring the gears mesh and the pickups are not caught on the outside of the wheel. Snap back cover plate and refit side frames. Rewheeled bogie to the left, original to the right. Repeat process on other bogie. The first bogie took about half an hour, mainly due to the photography and being interrupted by The Archers. The second one took about 5 minutes. __________________________________________ Comment posted by Captain Kernow on Mon Mar 10, 2008 9:38 am Excellent Rod, my blue one will be there tonight for the double-heading!... __________________________________________ Comment posted by Captain Kernow on Mon Mar 10, 2008 9:39 am 10800 wrote: and being interrupted by The Archers I don't answer the door to 'em now... __________________________________________ Comment posted by craigwelsh on Mon Mar 10, 2008 10:44 am I didn't realise Ultrascale had full metal backs on their newer conversion packs, much better for pickup than the older ones that just had a metal tyre. I should probably swap some proper Ultrascales into my Hymek at some point and put the Black Beetle wheelsets into something that should have 14mm dia wheels. ps I see your B2B gauge is as tarnished as mine although the cutout in my Exactoscale B2B allows the gear to drop down so the whole wheel is against the gauge. __________________________________________ Comment posted by Captain Kernow on Mon Mar 10, 2008 11:23 am craigwelsh wrote: ps I see your B2B gauge is as tarnished as mine although the cutout in my Exactoscale B2B allows the gear to drop down so the whole wheel is against the gauge. I think you probably have the later version, Craig. Mine is the same as Rod's gauge.... __________________________________________ ??? posted on Mon Mar 10, 2008 11:37 am craigwelsh wrote: I didn't realise Ultrascale had full metal backs on their newer conversion packs, much better for pickup than the older ones that just had a metal tyre. They must have changed some time ago Craig - the wheels on my Hymek and 47, which must have been purchased at least 2 years ago, have full metal backs. __________________________________________ Comment posted by craigwelsh on Mon Mar 10, 2008 5:17 pm 10800 wrote: craigwelsh wrote: I didn't realise Ultrascale had full metal backs on their newer conversion packs, much better for pickup than the older ones that just had a metal tyre. They must have changed some time ago Craig - the wheels on my Hymek and 47, which must have been purchased at least 2 years ago, have full metal backs. I must admit most of my Ultrascale purchases so far have been second hand to avoid the wait (and save some money!) so I haven't had any new production. Good to know though, will definiately have to change the Hymek wheels and put the 14mm ones in something else. __________________________________________ ??? posted on Tue Mar 11, 2008 1:56 pm Captain Kernow wrote: Excellent Rod, my blue one will be there tonight for the double-heading!... And very successful it was too! viewtopic.php?f=25&t=19496 Faultlessly smooth running from both 33s I must say. I still prefer the green one though! __________________________________________ ??? posted on Sun Jul 20, 2008 10:40 pm It's been far too long since I looked at these, so I thought I ought to try and finish them before the Eridge MkII track is completed! So out they came for a rinse and a health check. This is what they looked like at the current stage of progress - from left to right: down inner home bracket (SR railbuilt post, lattice dolls); combined up advanced starter and splitting distants for the next box - also railbuilt post and lattice dolls; and up platform starter bracket (LBSCR lower quadrant arms, lattice post and dolls. Some minor repair work needed to the counterbalance pivot on the latter and the movement-limiting wire on one of the distant arms, and a couple of the spectacle plates have gone (these will probably be replaced with Kristal Klear and coloured pen). And from the back Horrendously cruel enlargement of some of the crank and wire arrangements. Real signals have cables and pulleys, so this is a compromise of course, but when all the detail is added and the signals are painted it shouldn't look such a mess. I'll also trim off the tails on the control wires (0.33 mm brass wire) a bit closer when I'm happy with everything. I didn't plan sufficiently for the actuation arrangements, so the short sections of bearing tube that the control wires pass through (the three-arm signal in this case) were too close to the plug-in cylindrical section for the method I now want to use. I didn't want to unsolder the cylinder 'casings' because of the knock-on effect on the signal itself, especially in respect to the whitemetal railbuilt posts, so I have now removed them by carefully snipping them into sections with tin snips and levering the sections off. The tubes will now be replaced by new ones in a more suitable position. The diagram below (not to scale) shows in cross-section how I now plant to actuate the signals, using Tortoise motors mounted so the movement is vertical rather than horizontal, but most importantly enabling the signals to be removed easily for safety. The basic idea is that the 3/16 inch brass bar acts as a counterbalance enabling the control wire to be pulled down by gravity, and pushed up again by the action of the Tortoise. There will be additional limit stops added for the Tortoise arm itself to prevent too much movement being imposed on the signal arms, and the brass 'weights' will be lubricated with graphite (4B pencil). If necessary the wire/bar assembly could be removed for maintenance by detaching the control wire from the signal. The black bits on the diagram are fixed, the red are the moving parts on the signal assembly, and the blue the moving parts from the Tortoise(s). __________________________________________ Comment posted by pinkmouse on Mon Jul 21, 2008 7:19 am Looking good Rod, I look forward to seeing them in the flesh. __________________________________________ ??? posted on Mon Jul 21, 2008 8:03 am Thanks Al - next stages are: 1) Finish off all the crank and wire fitting 2) Solder on all the safety rails and ladders 3) Fit the details - counterbalance weights, lamps, finials, strengthening plates on the railbuilt posts, track-circuit diamonds if appropriate etc etc. To avoid bits falling apart when soldering, these will probably be glued with epoxy (and some bits will be plasticard anyway) 4) Paint 5) When I have the track boards, build and fit the actuating mechanisms __________________________________________ Comment posted by Horsetan on Mon Jul 21, 2008 9:17 am 10800 wrote: ......next stages are: 1) Finish off all the crank and wire fitting 2) Solder on all the safety rails and ladders 3) Fit the details - counterbalance weights, lamps, finials, strengthening plates on the railbuilt posts, track-circuit diamonds if appropriate etc etc. To avoid bits falling apart when soldering, these will probably be glued with epoxy (and some bits will be plasticard anyway) 4) Paint 5) When I have the track boards, build and fit the actuating mechanisms Any plans to illuminate them, Rod? __________________________________________ ??? posted on Mon Jul 21, 2008 9:24 am No Ivan, Eridge only runs in daylight! And TBH I'll be more than pleased to have the arms go up and down. Mind you, on the down inner home and up starters the backblinders are there to stop the signalman seeing the white backlight when the signal is pulled off ... __________________________________________ ??? posted on Tue Jul 22, 2008 10:41 pm Slowly but deliberately steadily progressing with the rod and crank arrangements. I'm using the cranks that come on Alan Gibson signal bracket frets, which come in two sizes - trying to use the small ones where possible but sometimes they just don't give enough throw so have to use the larger ones. There's a lot of trial and error, and moving of position to get the most reliable and efficient configuration. Also lots of frustration with the wire fitting - especially with the bending of the tails once fitted, where you can cause a bit of damage if not careful. For this reason I'm only doing a bit at a time, but the worst is now done Otherwise it would soon be a case of "right so you want to bounce do you, let's see how much you bounce off that *!@!** wall over there!". One useful tip is to use dividers and Bill Bedford's handrail bending jigs to prepare the wires. Saves the error of multiple measurements on something that rarely keeps very still. Just offer up the dividers to the crank-crank separation concerned, and adjust to fit: Then transfer the dividers to the jig and find the length that matches: and prepare and cut the wire accordingly. Works every time. __________________________________________ Comment posted by timlewis on Tue Jul 22, 2008 11:04 pm 10800 wrote: There's a lot of trial and error, and moving of position to get the most reliable and efficient configuration. Hmm, don't you just love trial and error. Nice to see these again: looking rather good. I always think that good signals really make a layout: it seems to be the thing that everyone leaves till last (maybe you know why!) and then it's not always easy to get right (one of the advantages of modelling a real place, assuming you have a signalling diagram that is). Tim __________________________________________ Comment posted by Hamilton on Wed Jul 23, 2008 3:23 am There are some really usefull little tips there thank you very much that I will take on board for my next signal construction project (after building some points and a loco and some rolling stock!) __________________________________________ ??? posted on Wed Jul 23, 2008 8:18 am timlewis wrote: Hmm, don't you just love trial and error. Best way to learn and improve, although sometimes it doesn't seem that way I should have started with some simple single-post examples (which I now have two of to do now that the layout has extended a bit at the station end) but hey life is for living __________________________________________ ??? posted on Wed Jul 23, 2008 8:24 am Hamilton wrote: There are some really usefull little tips there thank you very much that I will take on board for my next signal construction project (after building some points and a loco and some rolling stock!) Mick Nicholson of this parish has suggested pre-heating the wires with a match to make bending easier. Bending the tails round is just about my least-favourite task in modelling because of the potential damage you can do and the all-round fiddliness. I had thought about using a 1-2 cm length of tubing as a lever but the smallest I had available was 0.7mm bore and so there was still too much slop over the 0.33mm wire to make it effective. So it was back to the needle-nose pliers, perspiration and blue air! __________________________________________ ??? posted on Wed Jul 23, 2008 10:38 pm The good news is that all the wire and crank fitting is done! Not so good is that the various crank bearings (or rather my method of doing them) means that they (and the counterbalances) protrude too far forward and so the landing rails would be inboard of them on at least two of the signals Hmmm ... OK, just another challenge and part of the learning process I guess - what I will do is graft another plank worth of landing on the front of the existing landing to provide the space and clearance without the whole thing looking stupid. I could cut off the rear of the landing and move that to the front, but then I'd have to drill more holes for the uprights in the next plank in and I don't fancy doing that in situ; I could unsolder the dolls and move them back a shade - no I couldn't, not after all that effort in getting the wires working . So the landing will just end up being a little wider - another compromise, but the least of several evils I think. __________________________________________ ??? posted on Sat Jul 26, 2008 8:31 am Now that they're 'working' I've decided to take each one through to completion separately. So starting with the ex-LBSC up starter, this now has ladders on the landing and the rails added (authenically wonky! ). Starting to look more like a real signal now! There's just about enough room to squeeze the lamp in between the doll, arm, ladder and backblinder on the left hand one. __________________________________________ Comment posted by Horsetan on Sat Jul 26, 2008 12:00 pm The signal arms seem very similar to the GSR / CIE arms, Rod. __________________________________________ ??? posted on Sat Jul 26, 2008 4:02 pm Indeed so Ivan, straight out of the Saxby & Farmer catalogue! __________________________________________

So wouldn't that be better in a Conversation rather than a blog?