Beardybloke

They're cosmetic wheels, included with the kit, and are araldited to the inside of the frames, with careful checking that it's not going to short out hence the flats! As the clearances are rather on the small side there are issues with having a functioning front pony truck on much less than scale curves - the Backwoods version calls for some rather ugly cut-outs on the frames. As it stands, the chassis is supposed to be able to negotiate 12" radius curves. Once the layout is wired up properly I'll be doing some testing...

Sorry for the delayed reply, I've not been on here much of late - too many other things to do!

Thanks J

It's on a Fleischmann 0-4-0 chassis (I couldn't tell you which one - it's whichever one the FR shop sold circa March/April 2008!)

The progress isn't just to clear the decks for Brian's Hunslet - I've been frustrated by my lack of progress due to other constraints for a while. It's definitely part of it though, as my other half won't let me start anything new until I've finished what I've got!

Very nice work Frank - to me, it's the little details like this that really make a model. Probably why I never finish anything!

The drawings that I have show Taliesin as 22' 3.5" over buffer faces and Moel Tryfan as approx 21' 5" over the same - so pretty close. Both are 6' 8" wide. MT is 8' 9" from rail top to chimney, but Tal is only 8'. In short, they're pretty close, but it's worth noting that as the drawings that I've got are of the 1999-built Taliesin, it's to be expected that the loco will be somewhat bigger as I believe that it was built at around 13" to 1' scale!

I've seen models made of Taliesin using the Chivers NWNGR kit as the basis, so it's certainly feasible. If that's what you have in mind, I'd advise getting hold of a copy of the drawings and overlaying them to see where the differences are - what you can live with, and what you'll need to modify.

No, the front wheels are purely cosmetic - because of this I've filed the flanges back slightly to give a finer appearance, but because they're whitemetal fixed to a nickel chassis, I've had to be very careful that they don't short on the track. I'll probably find that they do when I test it properly!

It looks great, Frank - it's really come on since I last had the chance to catch up on your blog!

Thanks gents!

J - I've not built anything specifically in place for the legs yet, but I'm working on the idea of fabricating a couple of slots on the underside that the legs will slot into - either that, or put the layout on trestles. I have learnt from my last attempt, as I actually thought about it beforehand!

Frank - I've noticed that Wickes seem to be better, so I'll be using them in future I suspect... though the Orange one isn't too bad if you can spend the time trying to find straight bits...

Looks very good, Frank - I've just acquired some hanging basket liner on the cheap so will be experimenting with that... having seen the Silfor tufts in place too, I might have to give some of those a go for the wilder bits of the station area on my layout!

Thanks - I'm really quite pleased with how this is progressing when compared to my usual efforts - which probably means that I'm setting myself up for a fall!

I was lucky with the dome to be offered a turned one for a very reasonable price - something that I may well have to follow up again if I get another loco with a brass dome!

I had heard about the use of boiling water as a desoldering tool previously, but it completely slipped my mind at the time to be honest!

As I've been using 100°C solder, I'm not too sure whether it would have been as easy to remove as 70° stuff... and I may (I can't remember) have added some normal solder in a misguided attempt to get it to melt.

Ah well, what's done is done, and it seems to have survived so far! The next installment on Linda will follow soon(ish) - I'm just hunting down some photos of the cab interior at the minute...

Thanks Nick - I did consider the AG Salter valves but as I couldn't guarantee that they'd look right on the Fairlie I took the simpler option! They're probably nowhere nearly as fine as the Gibson ones, but it looks reasonable from normal viewing distances so I'm happy.

Thanks for the info about the 100 degree solder too - I've been using that for the whitemetal rather than the 70 degree stuff that I've also got, but didn't realise that the 100 degree solder would adhere to brass without tinning with 145 degree... it's a very useful thing to know.

Thanks gents!

The safety valve really is pretty small - it's made from 0.6mm rod and 1.2mm o/d tube, which means that on my monitor the bottom image is about 3 times life size! However, being that small hides a multitude of sins and I haven't even tried to represent some of the smaller bits like rings around the main rod.

The installments will eventually slow down as I write up the backlog of progress, but if people are still interested, I'll keep writing them up as I progress...

Looks very good, Frank - I was wondering how to do the riverbed on my layout, so I might very well have to pinch your idea!

I bet those brushes weren't much cop at the end of that though...

Mine's the same - it may be that the later ones were lowered and needed additional clearance? Or it could have been to allow them to traverse sharper curves, I suppose...

If I ever get around to having a working standard gauge layout, I'll make use of this method if my 12-wheeler needs it - thanks!

Looks very promising! What are you planning as the setting?

Very nice work - I do like the Worsley Works kits, they seem to go together fairly well once you've got the hang of them! The only problem that I've ever found with them is working out what some of the parts on the etch are for...

It's good to see Isle Ornsay progressing, Tom! It's making me want to start getting Hafod Las into running condition, but I think I need to finish the locos first...

I've just done the same as you too, and updated my blog for the first time in nearly 2 years...

The offer's still open if you want them!

I didn't seem to get on too well with the S&Ws, but to be entirely honest I think that's more down to my skills (or the lack of them) in assembling them consistently. I'm looking at Microtrains N and Z-gauge couplers (the latter for the good stock if they're compatible with N gauge ones if set at the same height) in the vain hope of coming up with a working autocoupling system!

Thanks for the welcome back, gents! Frank, I had a (brief) look at your latest layout blog at lunch - it looks very promising!

There'll be a few updates coming in relatively quick succession, but then they'll probably slow down a little as the source of already-complete material dries up a little. Due to other commitments, my modelling can be a little sporadic at the best of times...

Still, it might be some incentive to get some more done on the layout too!

I'm using the 2mm S&Ws, though at the minute the couplings are attached to the coaches themselves rather than the bogies to see how well they work like that - so far, the only potential problem is that I may need a larger loop part of the coupling, and some of the coaches may be coupled a little too far apart for my liking due to bogie clearances for the drop of the rear part of the couplings... I'll see how I get on with them.

I've been considering ebaying my rake of 5 Parkside wagons (or putting them up on the classifieds section of here) - if you want to double your collection in an instant, they're yours for a token sum and postage as you feel appropriate! They all run reasonably freely as I recall (though I'll check that first) and are permanently chained together.

I need to get rid of some stuff as I'm moving to a smaller place, so they might as well go to a good home

Thanks chaps Jam - all it is is a cheap airbrush and making sure that you've got plenty of paint and thinners to try to perfect the spray pattern/pressure etc.... and lots of light coats

The respray of No. 11 didn't go so well - quite a bit of green managed to leak under the masking tape, and there's a couple of bits where the paint lifted under the masking tape. I'm debating about whether to go back and strip down and start from scratch with that one...

J - I'd be very, very grateful if you can find a copy of that list for me - I've got a few tins of Precision's FR colours, but if I can't figure out what the closest to FR loco green is, I'm going to have to order a litre of the stuff

The track that I went into with the rover didn't look like it dropped off quite as sharply as it did!

There appears to be some very slight movement in the axle forwards and backwards, though I'm not sure if that's the problem yet. I'll wait until I've got the rods sorted before I make a decision either way on what to do about the compensation.

Any photos of Lyn to share?

Good luck with the dissertation Simon... I'm quite glad all that's behind me now

Looking forward to seeing the new updates when you're done!

Yes, the lack of boss on that rod definitely didn't help. It was present originally, but ended up firmly soldered to a bush in one of my earlier cock-ups. Rather foolishly, I thought that simply having a second washer over the top as a spacer would suffice - that's clearly not a mistake that I'm likely to make ever again!

The supplied washers were another error on my part - I assumed that they needed to be passed over the bush - wrong again. I did, however, use them on the other side.

Finally... 70 degree solder... I've got some of that somewhere too, for the contacts. B*gger Though I msy need to tweak the quartering anyway at this rate.

My first port of call is going to be to attempt to make a replacement rod - for two reasons. Firstly, because if I can manage it, it'll be a valuable skill to develop and cheaper to boot. Secondly, and probably more importantly: Pride. I've cocked this up enough already, and having asked about replacement bits for my single Fairlie from the very helpful Pete & Jen at Backwoods, they're probably of the opinion by now that I can't construct a coherent sentence, let alone an etched chassis... and they may be right. Nevertheless, I'm going to bloody well fix this!

Brilliant Kenton, thanks for posting this - it's just what I need before I attempt to build mine next week!