Beardybloke

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?

Blanche, I'm ashamed to say, is still languishing at the back of the workbench awaiting a new coupling rod. I've not been very busy in a modelling-related way recently, but I've not been particularly idle either. A stalling point in starting to ballast and lay scenery on my Hafod Las layout has been uncertainty of where to bury the permanent magnets for the Sprat & Winkle couplings that I've decided to make a go of... this is mainly because I have nothing fitted with the couplings yet, and so can only guesstimate maximum train length at best. So, with Blanche on the back burner, I've embarked on making some new stock and fitting it with couplings... although so far, I've only fitted two and a half slate wagons with couplings! Still, it's a start: All of the kits are Knightswork from Mercian, in etched nickel, and go together very nicely. If anyone's interested in a step-by-step, I still have two slate wagons and a gunpowder van to make. The 2-ton coal wagon shown with the door open is going to be sat at the end of the headshunt for the loco shed, where I'm planning to have a loco boiler powering the works machinery (possibly an 'Alice' class boiler, á la Dinorwic). I've not decided on a load (or otherwise) for the 1-plank open. As the slate wagons are as light as a feather when unloaded, I've also chosen to add some weight to the undersides in the form of chunks of lead flashing. Top tip: if you get a chunk of lead stuck between the blades of the secateurs that you're using as tin snips, don't try to get it out with your fingers: blood's a b*gger to get out of clothing Below can be seen the progression of fitting weights, mounts, and finally couplings (filed down to give clearance for the wheels as the wagons are rather short). Other work done has included fitting bogies to the two Worsley Works vans (11 and 12), though I'm not happy with the mounting method yet - the pillar of washers used for the bogie mount causes a rather pronounced rolling motion, and so will be likely replaced with something with a touch more support - probably brass strips soldered to the bogie to give some lateral support. Couplings may be interesting to fit to these, but will come shortly after the slate wagons are so fitted. More on that anon!

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!

Looks like just south of Horam on the South Downs Way: Next one:

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!

Progress has been made on Blanche, but I've suffered something of a setback. I shall start at the beginning, and build up in a not-so-dramatic fashion until it all falls to pieces (though thankfully not quite literally). First of all though, a comedy photo of me and my Land Rover to give an excuse for my lack of updates: The last update was at the point where the rods had been placed cosmetically over the cranks... all well and good? No, not really... the bushes were also rather wider than the holes in the connecting rods and the washers, and this made the washers impractical as they couldn't be opened out enough... easily, anyway. So, a cunning plan ensued - I'd make some more washers myself! The nickel fret from the chassis provided the material of a convenient width: The pointy contraption that can be seen in the lower right part of the photo is a cutting broach - I acquired a set as recommended in the Backwoods instructions, and now have no idea how I ever coped without them - they're far better at opening out holes than files and craft knives... not surprising really, given that's their design purpose! The washers were then trimmed to a rough size (as my side cutters are very, very knackered I made sure that there was plenty of space around the holes that could then be trimmed to size: The rods were then opened out - the photo below shows just how thin the metal is at the top and bottom... I suspect that either these aren't the intended bushes, or there's been something of a cock-up in the design process So, with rods opened out and washers filed down and fitted in place, I was ready to fit the bosses to the cranks - which I did with a deft flick of the soldering iron. Sorted! Well, no. There were a couple of tight spots - namely, where the cranks on each side were at their rearmost point of travel. I'm not sure if that's a case of my poor efforts at quartering, or if it is a case of the rods being slightly out-of-length, or the bosses being off centre. It seemed to be too much of a problem to fix by tweaking... but then, disaster struck! (I told you that it wouldn't be dramatic ) So... now I have to make a new connecting rod and when I do, I'm still going to have the problem of the tight spot. I don't think that it's an issue with the compensating beams as it's at 90???? to their motion, but I could really, really do with some help here

Hmmm... must be a new wood then - I'm using a copy of Memory-Map dated 2006 (I think it is). Apologies for the inaccuracy!

The locomotive named "Dunrobin" can be seen here (don't want to incur copyright-related wrath ) Whereas here's the area: So... onto the next square (let's hope I don't kill the thread like last time )

That would be about 3km WSW of Dunrobin castle... I'll post the new square up when I'm home from work

Bump! Let's see if anyone can get this without a clue, on the assumption that it was forum problems that have stopped people playing...

Next one:

Got it... just outside Gilberdyke

Next up:

Easy indeed, if I got it! Hayling Island:

Progress has finally been forthcoming on the Blanche kit! The last progress that I made before Christmas was way back in October, when the bosses were laminated onto the rods and the cranks were soldered onto the axles. The latter was an interesting exercise as to prevent the plastic wheel centres melting as rather a lot of heat was applied to the axle, the locomotive had to be about 95% submerged in water to dissipate the heat, like so: The paper bush that can be seen is there to prevent stray solder from securing the axle to the bearing and giving me a sledge instead of a locomotive... That, however, was it until Sunday, when I plucked up the courage to have a crack at the valve gear. First order of the day was to cut the lost wax brass crossheads from the sprue and try to tweak them into straight pieces. After this, the slidebars needed laminating together, and then had to be tweaked (and the crossheads opened out slightly) to give a free-moving piece: Next came the rivets - although I found that they were missing from the Blanche kit (and Pete & Jen at Backwoods are very kindly sending me some replacements) I found some spares in my moribund Taliesin kit, which allowed me to solder the crosshead and connecting rod together, using the standard Backwoods method of a paper bush between the two pieces to pivot - and very well it works too! (It was one of the few things that went well on the Tal) So, time to solder the cylinders and slidebars in place? No! As AER_2263 intimated, the front spring hangers are the wrong way round on the instructions, and as the slidebars mount into those, some de- and re-soldering was necessary luckily there was minimum effort involved, or I wouldn't have been a happy bunny! Once the springs were resoldered on the correct sides, the oversized cylinder wrappers were trimmed to size and the holes in the cylinder rear faces opened out to receive the piston and slide bar. The smokebox was temporarily secured in place and used (along with the slots in the chassis side) to locate the cylinders in the correct positions. These were then held with blu-tack and the connecting rods placed loosely over the rear crank to give me the length that the crosshead needed trimming to. This done, the crossheads were slid onto the slidebars, which were then passed through the cylinder (there's a small slot on the inside front face that these locate into, giving the correct angle) and soldered into place on the inside of the cylinder. Luckily, the cylinders held up to the abuse as repeated cock-ups when soldering the wrappers into place had led to metal fatigue, which in turn led to the front face falling off one of them! Finally, the cylinders and slidebars were soldered into place, leaving me in this position as of last night, with the coupling rod placed over for cosmetic effect: Onwards now, to some filing of rod bushes and soldering them into place on the cranks. The bushes provided seem to be rather short, only just passing through one of the rods and bosses rather than both, but I think they'll do the job. If not, it's a relatively simple job of de-soldering them and obtaining the correct ones. Wish me luck! UPDATE: The bushes won't play - they're too short and cause the running gear to jam as the connecting rod is effectively acting like an eccentric. I've just asked for some bushes to be added to my request for spares!

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

Adrian - very nice work, I've just spent an hour or so browsing through the blog, having managed to miss the original thread on RMweb3 - and I think I've picked up a few valuable tips for use on my 009 locos (between staring at the photos with envy, that is) - thanks! Looking forward to seeing the 4MT too, now... Steve

Thanks Gwiwer - glad to see Penhayle on RMweb4 after your deliberations on the old thread - I'll continue to follow with interest

Next:

Runcorn East. B*gger... now I need to find another square!

Another set of photos transferred over from RMweb3 - this time of the FR, with some in the snow - from sometime around 2005 - 2007 (they were dated on my old PC before it died ) Hope they're of use/enjoyment to some; as is becoming standard form on this blog, here's a taster:

Alsop en le Dale, between Buxton and Ashbourne: Next up:

Well, that puts my clues in the shade