Rob Pulham

An Evening With... Rob Anderson Saturday, 26 August, 2023, 20:00-22:00 Online via Zoom Join Rob Anderson from Northumbrian Painting Services for an evening of figure painting. Rob Anderson will share his tips and techniques for painting figures in O gauge. The event takes place on Saturday 26th August @ 20:00 BST The event is FREE to members or £2:00 for non-members. You must register for this event as places are limited. Registration for this event will open on Thursday 27th July.

A major personal issue has kept me away from the bench for a few weeks apart from a few intermittent sessions. I will reveal the issue when I know if/how it's going to be resolved. During those sessions I have managed to move the reversing support rod so that it now passes through the hole in the frames. Once I have finally set the ride height, I may need to make further adjustment. Nick Dunhill kindly supplied me with a few replacement parts at Barnsley show and I have managed to refit a slightly shorter combination lever.

Guildex 2023 Date: 2nd & 3rd September 2023 Location: Bingley Hall on Stafford County Showground. Weston Road. Stafford Price: One day - £10 members & £15.00 non-members / Both days - £15.00 members & £20 non-members On-line tickets: https://www.gaugeoguild.com/onlinesales/ticketsales.aspx Please note that for Guildex, we have introduced one day tickets as well as the two day tickets. Prices quoted above are for advanced tickets. Tickets on the door are £1.00 extra each for one day and £2 extra each for two day tickets LCut Creative are celebrating 10 years in business in 2023 and are offering 10 x £100 vouchers to advanced ticket purchasers in 2023. We have agreed that advanced ticket numbers, for each event, will go into a free prize draw and there will be: 4 numbers pulled out of the hat for Guildex (2 from the one day ticket hat and 2 from the two day ticket hat). Layouts Booked So Far East Midlands Test Track - accommodating live steam - Nelson Keen York Test Track - York O Gauge Group Kimble - Large continuous run layout - Leamington and Warwick Model Railway Society The team have contributed to the costs of bringing this layout to Guildex for which we are very grateful Blakecaster - Peter Wilson Wedmore - Ken Banks Dove Dale - MIOG Holcombe Brook - Jeff Geary Mordant Street - Bill Campbell Glebe Street - Andrew Allerdyce 2nd Hand Yard - Arry Dodd Grafty Green -Tony Walmsley Guild Stands Loco Clinic and DCC Advice Service Bring & Buy Guild Sales Membership Publications Technical team with small layouts competition and modelling competition (Sat) and Modelling Display (Sun) Demonstrators Booked So Far DCC diesel and electrics Brian Daniels Scenery & buildings David Wright Goods wagons Peter Sylvester Painting & lining Ian Rathbone Weathering Gary Lane Modelling a reduced radius curve Harold Jones Soldering techniques Rob Bishop Building coaches Robin Taylor Memories of Guildex 2022 View the highlights video View the gallery of photos View the seminars videos View the competition winners The future of O Gauge Modelling - hows This family gave permission for us to use this photograph to show just how much they were enjoying Guildex. Photo © Tony Andrews In 2023 For Guildex – we will introduce one day tickets One day - £10 for members & £15.00 to non-members Both days - £15.00 for members & £20 to non-members § These prices will be for advanced tickets Prices on the door will be £1.00 extra each Demonstrators: See Above Stands: Traders Confirmed So Far (30/06/2023) A.W.Adams Loco Boxes & Cradles Ace Products AirFramed Amberly Components Bill Hudson Transport Books Brushes 4 Models Buzz Models C & L Finescale Track Building Systems Ltd Chrezo Modélisme Ferroviaire of France Connoisseur Models CPL Products CSP Models/Sanspareil CRT Kits D.C.Kits Dapol Diane Carney Duncan Models Easy-Build Coaches EBMA Hobby & Craft Ellis Clark Finescale Brass / 55H Finney7 First Class Kits Footplate Models Gladiator Greenwood Railway Products Haywood Railway Heljan A/S HMRS Intentio J & M Hughes James Green Artist J S Models KMS Railtech Lanky Kits LCUT Creative M & J Models Marcway Mark Cook & Margaret Phillips Martin Bloxsom Masterpiece Models Metalsmith (Leeds) Ltd Minerva Model Railways MMM (Made in Manchester Models) MMR Models Modern Outline Kits (MOK) Moor View Models MPB Model Supplies MSC Models Natural Scenics Nick Tozer Railway Books Northumbrian Painting Service P.R.Model Railway Products Parliamentary Trains Ltd Peartree Engineering PECO Peter Clark Models Petite Properties Ltd Phoenix Precision Paints PLM Cast-a-Ways Poppy's Woodtech Pre-Grouping Railways (Was Furness Railway Wagon) Premier Components Primo Models Ragstone Models Ray Heard Model Railways Realism Redefined S M Models SBT Developments Scale Factor Scorpio Models Shamrock Trains Simon's Sort Out Skytrex Ltd Slaters Plastikard Squires Model and Craft Tools Steamline Ltd. Taff Vale Models TMS Models Tower Collection Blackpool Tower Models Trainsporters Walsall Model Industries Walsworth Models Warren Haywood Warren Shephard White Rose Modelworks Driving: By Road The Showground is situated on the A518 Stafford to Uttoxeter road some 4 miles from Stafford. Drivers from either the North or South using the M6 motorway should exit at junction 14 and follow the signs for the County Showground. Distances in Miles Birmingham 32 Newcastle 173 Bristol 116 Norwich 194 Edinburgh 265 Nottingham 64 Liverpool 72 Oxford 95 London 145 Shrewsbury 32 Manchester 60 York 106 By Rail The Showground is just 4 miles from Stafford Railway Station. The station is situated on the West Coast Main Line offering a direct service to London Euston with a journey time of approximately one hour and twenty minutes. It also offers direct services to Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Manchester and Liverpool. By Air Airports - Birmingham International and East Midlands airports are both a 50 minute drive from the Showground whilst Manchester Airport can be reached in little more than an hour. Transport: See Driving for road details

An Evening With... John Gay Wednesday, 26 July, 2023, 20:00-22:00 Online via Zoom Spend an evening with John Gay of Digitrains Ltd where he will discuss the installation of a DCC decoder to an O Gauge locomotive and take any questions you might have, as well as advice about DCC in general or about any issues you may be experiencing. Digitrains will be producing a video specially for this session, and a link will be published when this is available to watch. The event takes place on Wednesday 26th July @ 20:00 BST The event is FREE to members or £2:00 for non-members. You must register for this event as places are limited. Registration for this event will open on Tuesday 27th June.

Monday, 26 June, 2023, 20:00-22:00 Online via Zoom Nick Dunhill continues his series of presentations on scratch building a locomotive. This time he shows us how to build the locomotive frames and associated parts to go under the locomotive body. It follows the boiler, smokebox, firebox and footplate demonstrations from earlier sessions. If you have not seen them already, you can still watch them via the Gauge O Guild YouTube channel, just search for Nick Dunhill. The event takes place on Monday 26th June @ 20:00 BST The event is FREE to members or £2:00 for non-members. You must register for this event as places are limited.

A wider discussion on the subject over on Western Thunder has highlighted that there is more wrong with the motion than just the reversing rod supports. So far I have modified the Radius Rod, moving the pivot hole nearer to the slot by 1mm. I have also modified a spare set of Combination Rods as those supplied are too long too. Nick Dunhill had a replacement set of motion etched when he built his three. He has very kindly offered me some of his spares which I will collect at Barnsley. Progress on the chassis will be put on hold until I have the alternate etches.

Gauge O Guild Summer Show 2023 Date: Saturday, 3rd June 2023. 10:00 - 16:00 (09:30 for advanced ticket holders) Location: Barnsley Metrodome, Queens Ground, Queens Road, Barnsley, S71 1AN. Price: Members £8.00. Non Members £12.00 for advanced tickets. £1.00 extra on the door On-line tickets: https://www.gaugeoguild.com/onlinesales/ticketsales.aspx Layouts: Ceddesfield Halt, GWR Falcon Road, 1960s Edge of City layout, Arcadia Pennsylvania, USA diesel locomotive industrial, Vale of Meifod Light Railway, and Circular Test Track with 7mm NG track as well as 7mm. See Traders and demonstrators below Gauge O Guild: Membership Publications Technical Guild sales Loco Clinic and DCC Advisory Service Nick Dunhill of the Technical Committee is also doing a scratch building demonstration View more information including photos of the venue LCut Creative are celebrating 10 years in business in 2023 and are offering 10 x £100 vouchers to advanced ticket purchasers in 2023. We have agreed that advanced ticket numbers, for each event, will go into a free prize draw and there will be: 2 numbers pulled out of the hat for Kettering 2 numbers pulled out of the hat for Kempton 2 numbers pulled out of the hat for Barnsley 4 numbers pulled out of the hat for Guildex (2 from the one day ticket hat and 2 from the two day ticket hat) Demonstrators: Building modern wagons (MIOG), Building road vehicles, Soldering, Tree building and Electrics Stands: Traders 55H AirFramed Amberly Components Bill Hudson Transport Books Brushes 4 Models Buzz Models C & L Finescale Track Building Systems Ltd Chris Pulham Railway Artist Connoisseur Models Dapol Diane Carney Duncan Models Easy-Build Coaches Ellis Clark Finney7 Gladiator Greenwood Railway Products Haywood Railway HMRS Ian Kirk Models Intentio Judith Edge Kits Lanky Kits LCUT Creative Marcway Masterpiece Models Metalsmith (Leeds) Ltd MMM (Made in Manchester Models) MMR Models MSC Models Nick Tozer Railway Books Northumbrian Painting Service Peter Clark Models Phoenix Precision Paints PLM Cast-a-Ways Poppy's Woodtech Premier Components Primo Models Ray Heard Model Railways Realism Redefined S M Models SBT Developments Scale Factor Simon's Sort Out Skytrex Ltd Slaters Plastikard Squires Model and Craft Tools Steamline Ltd. Tower Collection Blackpool Tower Models Walsall Model Industries Walsworth Models Warren Haywood White Rose Modelworks Driving: Barnsley is approximately halfway between Sheffield and Wakefield, in Yorkshire. The Barnsley Metrodome is just off the M1 so very accessible. From the South, leave M1 Motorway at junction 36 then turn right at roundabout and take A61 north. Or junction 37 and turn right at roundabout using A628. From North, leave M1 Motorway at junction 37 and take left at roundabout using A628. Transport: There is a bus & train service to Barnsley. From the Barnsley Transport Interchange, The Barnsley Metrodome is about 5 minutes' walk. Follow the brown signs. Yorkshire Folk don’t often bite so if you get flummoxed by so many timetables or helping folk finding places, don’t hesitate to ask someone.

It seems that I am not the only one to have had the same issue. So while I need to do something about it, at least I know that it's not as a result of something that I might have done wrong earlier in the build.

me much of the way. Some of the issues have been of my making, mostly due to my clumsiness in dropping bits on the floor which subsequently disappeared into the black hole in the workshop floor. As I was working my way through the motion and I got to the motion bracket, I discovered that he support rod for the reversing mechanism wouldn't go through the chassis due to it hitting the middle wheel set. Initially, I wondered if the cast wheels were slightly oversized but they aren't and a bit of further investigation got me to the support brackets which are too long when compared to the GA drawings in the Wild Swan book. I wonder if other people who have built the DA kit have experienced the same issue?

Gauge O Guild Southern Show 2023 Date: Saturday 20th May 2023 Location: The Grandstand. Kempton Park Racecourse. Staines Rd E, Sunbury-on-Thames TW16 5AQ Price: Members £8.00. Non Members £12.00 for advanced tickets. £1.00 extra on the door On-line tickets: https://www.gaugeoguild.com/onlinesales/ticketsales.aspx A New Show and New Location in the South. Members in the South have been requesting a Gauge O Guild Southern Show for many years. Finally, we have a date and venue which works.

An Evening With... Will Heath & Jackie Kneeshaw Friday, 26 May, 2023, 20:00-22:00 Online via Zoom Spend ‘An Evening With’ Will Heath & Jackie Kneeshaw on Friday 26th May 2023 who will talk about researching and building St Neots MRC layout, Bowaters Paper Mill. Will and Jackie will give some insight into why St Neots Model Railway Club chose to model a corner of Kemsley Mill on the Bowaters Paper railway, which operated in the Kent marshes up until 1969. The seminar will include how they went about researching this industrial railway and what challenges it presented to model. With some of the original locomotives still in steam on the Sittingbourne and Kemsley Light Railway (SKLR), and an extensive Bowaters archive to draw upon, the project has proved to be much more than just a model. The event takes place on Friday 26th May @ 20:00 BST The event is FREE to members or £2:00 for non-members. You must register for this event as places are limited.

Still beavering away at the chassis. I had it running with just the inside motion for test today. Actually I had it running last night but then I realised that I had one of the insulated wheels on the wrong side so had to strip the rods off to swap it around. https://youtu.be/xv6bngf4Bfw As an aside I have reversed the front crankpin bushes to look more like the prototype and to give additional clearance for the motion. I was wondering about how to tighten the reversed bushes and remembered the late David Smith talking about making peg spanners as he called them. I chose a similar route but instead of pegs I used the same approach as the 4mm scale Romford screwdriver (I still have one in my modelling toolbox). For those who haven’t a clue what I am talking about this is a Romford screwdriver Original Romford Screwdriver This is the leading crankpin bush that I am talking about Front crank pin nut This is the custom big boy’s ‘Romford’ Screwdriver that I made to tighten them. The business end is 3/16 silver steel and the end was shaped with a 3mm end mill with the rod held in a square collet block so that I could keep flipping it over to take the same amount off each side. 8BA Romford Screwdriver Continuing my current ‘Dremel’ tool theme I used a ball burr in the mill to make the grip. Previously I have used the ball burr in a similar manner to an end mill by cutting into the top of the work piece. This time I did it differently and side milled it. This gave a much better finish and was easier to do. I milled the grooves before turning the taper.

Hi Stuart, Mike's contact details are mike@scale-factor.co.uk

I got around the problem last night by modifying a 12BA screw and soldering the etched covers on, making a small bush from tube threaded 12BA and a small spacer. Once I get them assembled, I may not need the spacer but if I don't they will go in the spares box. I still need to add oil corks to the eccentric rods.

Recently there has been much work but not a lot to show for it. I returned to the chassis in an attempt to get that running before carrying on with the body and cab. Much of the time has been spent fine tuning the fit of the gearbox so that it doesn't rub and getting the rear axle to pass through the gearbox and be a tight fit but still be removable for painting etc. This is more interesting because of the wheels being fixed to the axle stubs and the gearbox having ball races which want to grab onto the axle. I also had a rather frustrating time trying to make a pin for the outer end of the return crank which attaches the eccentric rod. I had tapped the small end of the return crank 12ba and the plan was to make a small shouldered pin threaded 12BA with a large flat head that I could attach an etched cover to. This gives an idea of the desired pin with the etched covers below The observant amongst you will note that the threads look very undernourished on the pin. This was possibly my fifth or sixth attempt and I kept putting it down to my having the pin too thin, too thick etc. as each time the thread came out too small for 12BA. Eventually I examined my 12ba die under some magnification and realised that one of the three cutting edges is out of line with the rest and is what I am sure was causing all the failures. I can't actually recall if I have used the 12BA die at all (I use the 12 BA tap set regularly but generally for fitting bought hardware) and if I have I would have only used it on brass or nickel so I very much doubt that I have deformed it. It has been consigned to the bin and a new one ordered from Chronos. in the meantime I will probably modify a a couple of 12BA set screws to get on with the job but when the new die arrives I will have to make another to prove once and for all that it's not something that I am doing wrong.

Thanks, that was my gut feeling but nice to have it confirmed.

More detailing of the cab has ensued since my last update. The reverser is a mixture of David Andrews and Ragstone castings. The David Andrews Seats are reasonable castings but I was struggling to work out how best to fit them. They look like the idea is that the two pegs fit into holes but I didn't really want to be drilling holes in the cab side sheets for them. With the pegs removed there is very little to secure them so I made some replacements with a rear strip to solder to the cab side. What is unclear is whether they fold up or down. At the minute They just drop down but if they fold up I can make a couple of stays to hold them when folded down.

Here is it is with most of the bling refitted - just resting in place it will be soldered in from the back later. I say "most of", because the production locos from 6203 onwards had a double regulator handle and I have only just got around to making it.

An Evening With Peter Reynolds and Guests about how to control your model railway. 26th April 2023 at 20:00 hours BST The purpose of this Evening with programme is to discuss, and showcase, some of the more affordable DCC systems available for modeller’s use, plus other layout control options, including traditional DC, and direct Bluetooth Control. Mention will also be made of radio control. I have asked modellers with experience of various systems to come, and briefly talk, about their experiences with the systems that they use, plus systems that I own and use, and others I have researched specifically for the programme. So, if you are not sure how to control your railway, join us on the evening where I hope to, at least, give you some starting point ideas. The event takes place on Wednesday 26th April @ 20:00 BST The event is FREE to members or £2:00 for non-members. You must register for this event as places are limited. The event is FREE to members or £2:00 for non-members.

In between assembly of the 8f water scoop gear I also managed to prime and top coat the Back Head.

The back head is well on it's way now, but when I got so far I realised that the only hand wheels I had were the teched nickel silver ones that came with the kit. Nickel of course looks different when you are trying to represent brass so I thought I would have a go at turning some. I did one to work out how, but the four holes came out all over the place. Once I had a method that worked I made the three that I needed. They actually looked the part when fitted to the back head but what was missing were the handles. At this size I couldn't see any sensible way to add them to the ones that I had made so I had a rethink. I modified the technique and made rings to solder to the face of the etches and then added half round rod for the handle. This is the best of both worlds. the right shape and three dimensional. This is a cruel close up but they look pretty god at normal viewing distances. Out of the castings that I have from the various sources the one that is missing is a sight glass lubricator which sits at the upper left above the brake valve. Two turnings and a bit of rod and tube later... That's about it unless I think of anything else. I am struggling as to what was fitted the 1930's and what was fitted later. The Wild Swann supplement has a photo of Princess Elizabeth as built and there is a lot less on the back head than is shown in the GA in part one. All the parts are removeable until I have painted the main casting.

Still working on the back head, because I am using a mixture of David Andrews and Just Like the Real Thing castings, I have had to move/reduce the size of all the holes except the one for the regulator mounting boss. The JLRT castings are really nice (as are the couple of David Andrews castings that I have) except for the cab dials which are a bit misshapen and the 'unions' for where the pipes are proving impossible to drill. The simplest and quickest way was to make some more swarf by turning some more. Then I realised that I also needed a smaller version It made sense while I had the set up to do some for the Rebuilt Scot at the same time. Then I dug out the mountings and attached the dials to them.

I was working away on the back head this afternoon, filling the holes for the water gauges prior to redrilling the right size for the castings spigots when the door bell rang it was the postie with the final production version of the firebox print. I was then distracted so I will pick up the back head again tomorrow. This was printed by Mike Hopkins of Scale-Factor. These show the firebox print as received with all the supports attached. Then with the supports carefully removed. I still need to clean up the base and the cab end but I have tried the boiler on and it fits perfectly. A nice friction fit.

It was kindly pointed out over on Western Thunder that I had the drivers brake valve upside down and that it was too close to the centre line of the engine/heat shield. I measured it up and compared it to the Wild Swan drawing and sure enough it was 0.9mm too far inboard. As you can see I had made a small brass bush to reduce the size of the hole but moving it gave me the chance to re-drill at the right size for the brake valve stem. Here we are nicely aligned. I have also made a start on piping up the steam fountain. The brake valve is piped up the right way up now too. I had to remove a section from the inside edge of the heat shield to allow pipes to pass through it. The pipe at the side is one of the two main pipes coming down from the steam fountain and one thing that stands out on both drawing and photos is that there is a chunky union on the lower section. These are the parts that will make up a representation of those unions.

This week has mainly been about working on the back head, one of my favourite parts of a build. I started by making a driver's heatshield. The size and shape was worked out from an oblique photo and referencing it to other items located in the cab. Once I had the basic shape I took a short length of nickel rod and filed it to half round to create the edging strip. I did have it fixed in place but then when I fitted the Drivers brake valve in place and started to consider the other pipework I realized that there would need to be some relief above the fire door rails to allow pipes to pass behind the shield. The other castings that you can see in the photos are some of the few David Andrews parts that I have. The ready made holes in the back plate itself are causing a few issues as most are over sized and the ones on the fire hole door needed their placement adjusting to get the levers that open and close it to sit correctly with the two mounting brackets adjacent to the bottom rail. The shelf on the other hand fitted perfectly .