Kenton

A credi' to 'n

Personally, I would dig a bigger hole and loose it again. I think Brian Lambert's site has a wiring diagram - if not I have one somewhere - but IIRC there were different models ... as they tried to improve upon a bad thing.

Just a small comment - and I realise it is a personal thing - but the grass looks too green to me especially between tracks ... or is it going to be toned down?

I have to agree with Davi's comment above. I cannot see why you should have a need to add omega loops to a Tortoise throw - it just doesn't make any sense unless you are just not installing them correctly. In many cases one needs to increase the tension of the wire as the one supplied is often too easily bent. Why is it that so many folk install a Tortoise incorrectly - failing to adjust the throw of the wire at the tiebar so that the motor would reach its stop just after the position when the the wire is applying a small amount of pressure on the switch rail against the stock rail. Even if you are mounting the Tortoise remote and linking to the point with cams there will be more than enough movement in the wire to have a dampening effect.

Looks great .. I wouldn't muck it up with weathering

Ok a decision has been made Scale: 4mm Gauge OO Peco (modified) Code 75 ... so nothing too surprising there. Plans still being formulated but as it stands sector plate driven and containing 5 points The board is 20 inches deep at its widest and 10 ft long along its viewing side. - 2010 It is 5 inches deep at its narrowest. It folds up into a box 5 ft x 25 inches (that's 5 times 5 in case you missed it) ... and I haven't stopped yet Inspired around a Scalescenes Factory assuming I can print it out on my antique printer and then get it to go together. The name? Well if you hadn't spotted it "QUINT" = 5 Provisional outline trackplan - just to illustrate Version 2 with more discussion on the blog diary

Of course there is always this HO kit http://www.greatlakesmodeling.com/headlines/hdln_Bearco_11_07_05.htm

I am pretty certain there is a layout around the circuit that has one operating on a dock side. I have been trying to remember its name but as yet cannot. It was IIRC an EM layout and it was either at Railex or Abingdon 2 or 3 years ago. The crane lift and rotation worked and magnets were used to attach items to the hook. It was fairly effectively used to raise bundles of wood from a hold of a freighter in dock and on to a flat wagon. I asked the operator for details and again I think he described it as servos. It was quite shaky and the planks wouldn't always line up. I don't recall it moving along the track. I think one of the biggest problems - Bertidog eluded to it - is going to be keeping it balanced. It is a pretty unstable kit (top heavy) on rather flimsy legs so adding anything to the cab is going to make it worse and it will need strengthening. adding more weight at the bottom would help but there is nowhere to hide it. Hence the idea of something attached and underboard make perfect sense.

eh? some type of optical illusion? and they are basing it on preserved images (or should that be imagination) There are enough photographs of the prototype around - why non get it right.

Then it has to be either Tortoise or servos ... I don't think you have much room for Tortoise so either servos or good old manual wire in tube

Ha! just read the other pages of the blog - so ignore my dumb questions and last comments .... that's what comes from reading a blog upside down/back-to-front ....

Are you going to have room for the station as well ? I wouldn't have thought so. Downings Maltings would make an excellent scenic break to the FY. I guess you will have the viewing side along Station Street so having the plain backs of the terraced houses as the backscene. How far will you go to the west - the High Street crossing? There was an office to the back of the shed and original coaling stage against the Maltings wall. Actually to call the replacement a coaling stage was incorrect. It was a ramp - a simple raised track replacing the original coal road that was on the level - it looks to be level (counting bricks in the photo) for 3 wagon lengths than a very steep drop to the point - hence my comment about doing that in S7. I am afraid I cannot help with narrowing down the date other than between 1937 and 1948. There were two small "utilities" built as pretty low lean-to's against the yard wall both before the engine pit and water column. Only the furthest is shown on the 1900 OS map and matches the plan in LMS Engine sheds reference - which refers to it as a toilet - which is interesting because the 1900 OS mapp has a "urinal" clearly marked on the opposite side of the track at the end of the Maltings.

I think all this discussion about the typeface is a bit irrelevant - the Hatton's site could hardly make it clearer "IMAGE FOR ROUGH GUIDANCE ONLY" "(ACTUAL LIVERY AND COLOURS TO BE CONFIRMED)"

What a lovely compact and somewhat claustrophobic choice - definitely approve. A perfect excuse to use a 3-way point. Are you intending to build it post LMS alterations to the coal stage - converting it to a ramp with a shelter? The track was raised slightly so should be a challenge in S7.

Excellent to see someone else venturing into the pleasures (and pains) of brass kit construction. You will often find it frustrating but hopefully also very rewarding. It is often the pleasure of the build rather than the end product that brings the most satisfaction. I have one curiosity on the build - you mentioned using "low melt" solder - that is very unusual and I'm not sure that is what you meant to say. The term "low melt" is usually applied to 70' solder (which actually is not really solder) that is used for "gluing" white metal kits together. It does not stick very well to brass (you normally have to "tin" brass with normal solder to get it to stick). Did you just mean "lower" melt such as 145 solder? Solders do come in quite a wide range. But again I would never recommend dropping to a lower melt solder until you get to the finer detail. There is nothing more infuriating when you are building a kit that just when you are putting a small detail on some other detail, usually an overlay, slips or drops off.

I guess I am the only one who thinks that is a step backwards. It is surprising just how many shed had their turntables along the access roads. This was both practical and economical. When this was not the case the turntable was on an adjacent road or at the back of a trough road shed. It was generally the very large depots that had a turntable sited at the opposite end of the yard and then this would have been more unusual at the end of coaling/watering sidings. Consider that turntables being round fit rather well on the inside of those curve that we tend to have to put on a model railway that do not occur in reality. But, as always, it is your layout.

Dah De Dah De Dah ;)

Finding a small box I have put the gussets aside for now. The instructions now continue adding more detail, the front footplate hand-grabs, more lamp brackets, more resin mouldings (the lights) and the buffers. As already indicated I do not like adding this sort of detail until the heavy handling is complete and I really don't like adding buffers and their springs until after the model has been painted - or just for show. So all these will be left off for now and hopefully remembered later. Moving on to the jacking brackets [49] these also have rivets that require punching out and are made up from a folded panel and a pair of tiny side wings. Once again, a part that is attracted to the carpet magnet and for which there are no spares on the fret. I also found that they were extremely sharp and managed to draw blood. After folding the bracket, the wings were soldered in place in the half-etched grooves and then the completed brackets were soldered to the buffer beams in line with the rivets. What is quite clear from the drawing and from photos is the position of these brackets, what remains puzzling is why the rivets on the buffer beam were required as they are obscured by the bracket. Now is as good a time as any to fit the wheel balance weights [58] to the wheels. They are positioned opposite the crankpin holes and obviously need to be glued in place. I used superglue. I also dipped the wheels in Carr's blackening to remove that shine after a thorough clean with the glass fibre pen and a wash in isopropyl alcohol. Alas they didn't come out as well as they usually do, discussed HERE The brake pivot flanges [46] each have rivets that required punching before removal from the fret. Then two lengths of 0.5mm wire were passed through the brake pivot holes on the frame leaving plenty of room on either side to suspend the brakes. The flanges were then added to the outside of the frames. The brakes were assembled by laminating together the inner layer [47a], the fragile middle layer [47b] and the outer layer [47c]. Remembering that the brakes are sided and lead the wheels. The wheels were refitted to the frames to assist in alignment. is difficult to avoid filling the holes with solder during the lamination process and I had to re drill them, they were correctly a little undersized anyway. The brakes are fitted with the shorter arm uppermost to the brake pivots. This is well illustrated in this photograph taken by John Howell (26power). Remember that the brakes must be set far enough back from the wheel rim in order that the wheel may be removed and that there is no chance of them touching and shorting any part of the wheel as it moves. Once soldered in place the wire was cut back and filed flat. Now, this is not a criticism of this kit in particular but a broad comment on brass and metal kits in general. If a model was produced without brakes it would look ridiculously incomplete, however, they are never going to be anything like the prototype they are modelling. Just take a look at any locomotive braking system and you will see just how close the brake shoes are to the wheels even when the brakes are off. In terms of scales they are in effect touching. No one can reproduce this appearance and especially in metal. As in the case of metal if they come into contact with the wheels then a short will occur. So they always have to be positioned away from the wheel rims. This is exaggerated even more when the wheels are compensated or sprung as there will be movement of the wheels other than pure rotation. Add to that the difficulty of producing realistic brake systems from laminations and I have to ask the question: why not produce them from cast resin? The brake cross beams [48a] were removed from the fret (good luck - the positioning of the tags on these must be a mistake, why not one in the middle?). These beams were soldered across the lower holes of the brakes, across the frames, the ends trimmed and filed back in the same way as the upper pivots. Maintaining clearance on the fixed axle was easy and the shoes can be locked in position quite close to the wheels, but on the compensated axle there is too much flapping about and they need to be set quite a bit back. Locate the cross shaft parts and remove from the fret. The cross shaft flanges [48] were soldered to the outside of the frames in their half-etched recesses. The main cross shaft was made from a length of 0.8mm wire (supplied) this was inserted through the holes in the rear of the frames and through the crank [62] before soldering to the inside of the frames. The brake cylinder arms [63] were then soldered on each end before trimming the wire with a piercing saw and filing flat. Once again, thanks to John Howell (26power) for his photographs of the preserved D2767 which clearly show the brake cylinder on only the left hand side and a spring on the right hand side (after messing a bit with the image's colour balance). The brake cylinder is another resin part and will be added later, prior to painting. You may have observed that I have replaced the steel pivot pins for the compensation arms with new shorter brass wire in an attempt to tighten the suspension - with marginal success. What was a very free wheeling model is now far too tight. The thought has crossed my mind a number of times to go back to both fixed axles. A brake pull rod is represented by soldering a length of 0.5mm wire from the crank to the centre of each brake cross beam. Once again I am unsure of the need for this and it may well be removed. The same old argument of trying to represent something on the prototype that cannot be realistically be done on a model and that cannot be seen anyway. Finally a length of 1.2mm wire (supplied) was cut to approximately 22mm with the end faces filed flat and soldered across the centre of the frames to represent the low level fuel filler. .

I can't see how they could have been anywhere near the Waverley Route in BR days - Hull was definitely the furthest North and that is one heck of a distance away to stretch imagination. Of the ones sold on to private use, I doubt very much if they would have been let back on to such duties. We have also to remember that the Class 17 was often mis sighted as a Class 14. Of course it is always your model railway and if you want to run a Class 14 on it - I can't blame you for recreating history - I would do the same.

Hi Dave I am often asked that question and it regularly comes up on RMWeb. I have to warn at first, and it applies to all brass kits not just this or the JE kits in particular. Brass kit construction requires a different approach than white metal kits, the technique and the materials used are different. However, the confidence required is the same. The JE kits are rarely suggested as first loco kits - the reason for that is, I think, the fact that they do not employ slot and tab design, and some of the parts are a bit obscure in the way they go together. The instructions, whilst far better than some, make many assumptions that you have other resources of information on the prototype, previous kit building experience and often lack the detail drawing just when you need it - and no exploded views. However, I actually think that is not the full picture. The kits do come with the detailed CAD drawings (actual scale size), the parts nearly always are an absolutely perfect fit, requiring little or no further work. The instructions are detailed enough to make a reasonable attempt and, when asked, Michael Edge always seems happy to offer help and advice. Unlike some kit suppliers, he will have built it so has first hand knowledge. (even if his construction style is different to some - to quote his instructions: "The loco kits are designed to be built more in the manner of a full size loco than the usual modelling techniques"). When comparing value, the kits almost appear to be cheap by comparison to some of the, IMO, scratch aids sold at inflated prices by others, or what may be called the high end marketed kits. The range of kits is very good and still increasing, and where else do you get good shunter kits these days? Fiddly, yes there are parts that are a bit mind blowing - almost microscopic, but often you don't have to put them on (as seen on the next blog page) but that is the nature of all kits including the good plastic ones. I have built quite a few JE kits and this will certainly not be the last one. (I have another Sentinel and Taurus to do and will certainly get the other NBL at some point) So why not go for it? Just don't rush it.

4hrs! the paint hardly had time to dry ! Nice one.

As always with shed Allocations - take it as where BR sent them - not where they always resided. Most locomotive (of all types) got sent, usually at the front of trains, to all sorts of other locations connected by rails to the 'allocated' shed - and sometimes when their driver's backs were turned they were even photographed at these strange locations

Thanks yet again Michael, that is at least a little clearer. I am using the Alan Gibson sprung buffers as per recommendation, though would have anyway. The gussets are going to be left off for now and will be reconsidered (along with a few other details) at the end of the build.

Gussets! OK I give up, what, where and why? I have found them on the fret but haven't a real clue which way round they go and at what position. I think I have found the lower front ones [55] and rear ones [54] on the plan drawing but at what height? The top leading ones [64] are so small - blink and you will miss them. Anyway I did take the precaution of punching out the rivets on [54 & 55] before removing them from the fret. The instructions state "on this loco they are rather prominent, especially the leading ones which protrude through the steps". I cannot see how the small top ones can, yet still have a point of attachment. The lower ones will get in the way of the buffers and despite the hole will make attaching the body near impossible. Sure I know that the instructions say to add the buffers first but I do not like adding buffers and then clogging up the springs before painting. To add to this I have been unable to see any of these on the prototype photos and wonder if they will be visible on the completed model. The instructions also state "often these are ignored". I can see why. .