bertiedog

Mine ran first time at about 150ma and has no binds etc. It has been lubed with Labelle PTFE, which is plastic safe lube. Runs very well indeed, and pulls well for an 044., pulling 6 assorted coaches on the flat The detailing is good throughout, but will have brass plates and a polished brass base for the safety valves cover made. Apart from that nothing much to add. Excellent item from Hornby all round. Stephen

Unless known by others here to be an exact covering, the consensus of most of the books and the net appear to show the seat cloth was a patterned olive green moquette cloth that was used on the cars that Dapol cover. Some had quite complex patterning, others a quilted appearance, so may have differed across the GWR railcar fleet. Interior shots show that the Dapol only has a passing nod at any fidelity to the real thing, and deserves a better interior. The cabs are easy to correct, a small glued in plasticard unit at each end, leaving the two seats as fitted. I have done the floors and the boxed section, just needs the brakes and controls added. The main unit of the floor could be replaced if a smaller motor is fitted, but with the original, best a paint job on the seats, and the bulge painted in flat grey to hide it behind seated passengers. Roller blinds were mentioned, but in the shots do not seem prominent in the windows pictures on line. Mind you some down near the bulge might help! Each area of the glazing between the windows needs painting in proper wall finish. The floors seem to have been a lino finish in mid brown, deeper in tone than the Dapol colour used over the lot. No complaints about the exterior at all, minor quibbles aside, due mainly to each unit differing as built, as they were modified as experience was gained in service use.

First completely forget the pointless Hornby advice about not requiring any running in, all model locos require running in, even Hag...... you really should run light on the track, or rollers for about half an hour each way. During this time a multimeter should be added in line with the power to measure the current, which with most modern motors should be at about 200/250 milliamps, a quarter of an amp. Coreless should be lower figures, at no point should the current rise above 400 to 500 milliamps. If it rises more then reduce the speed till a safe result shows, continue running during which the current should fall. If the current remains high then you have a faulty motor. It should never rise to one amp running light. If it is getting near an amp, then the motor got over oiled at the factory in China or there is a mechanical bind. The motor could be cleaned or changed etc. The meters are dirt cheap on Ebay, £5 or less. After a problem is encountered, check everything, miss assembly, tight gears, it should all be free running with the motor out. At no point should the motor smoke, or heat up beyond warm. After the run in, re-oil with silicon oil and grease with PTFE added, like Labelle. Stephen

A bit of a curates egg, nice overall but with the problem of the interior and cabs controls missing. It runs fine, but they chose far too large a motor and it has resulted in a bulge in the floor that was quite avoidable. Still what's done is done it cannot easily be altered. The cab can be improved very easily, but what possessed them to leave it bare? Also the plain 1960/70's interior colour. Come on Dapol you must do better! What colour cloth was used on the seats in No11?? it all needs finishing properly. Other markets like Germany would never put up with being palmed off with a part finished model........... The lighting is good, the wiring OK, but why did they not used a simple power bogie, with any bulge hidden away, leaving the rest open. Any small motor could power it, it is not hauling anything after all. So it cannot be rated 100%, and it has no innovations in design, just a sad air inside of Tri-ang standard finish, with modern exterior detailing.

Is it all wheel powered or one bogie. or as suggested one central motor and drive shafts? Odd running could occur if the motor drives by shafts as they could be U/Ja out of phase, or if one bogie then the gears are too tight.....pure speculation till it arrives. Stephen Pictures were sent whilst writing

As the wire drive goes under the footplate I would persist with it, perhaps a sleeve of 1mm heat shrink plastic insulation would just stiffen it a bit. With all the flywheels it should run well, and even coast a bit, but before anything else make sure the chassis is checked over for tight spots, cleaned up, etc. The layout is a clone of Guy Williams type drive. Stephen

First Parkside is still going, they were bought by Peco........but no 8,mm wheels that I know of....... apart from Markits MRJ08nsBD Rmfd 8mm Solid NS Bogie Disc [ NOT ASSEMBLED] These would need a lathe turned bush added for insulation.

Dependant on the parts I would suggest taking the fly wheel off the motor shaft and investigate shortening it a bit so that the flywheel acts as the sleeve for the shaft extension....use proper long set Araldite epoxy to reassemble Stephen

Ebay has 2mm internal bore tube for £1.10 for half metre, Stephen

Ultrascale and Markits do UJs..... but the silicon tube works without a lathe.

There is good news and bad, the universals are not needed, use silicon tube, with two joints. From what I can see the front shaft through the flywheel will need extending by replacing the shaft, which should be 3/32 This is sold in ebay or any model engineering shop, get silver steel. The same applies to the motor end but read on. The shaft lengths are cut about an inch short of each other, and the gap filled with two pieces of silicon tube, with a short piece of silver steel between them. You can add two 2.mm balls in each joint, the middle shaft should be over the tender pivot. The tubing should be thin wall 1.00mm to 1.5mm max Now,comes the problem, that is the motor shaft will not be long enough to extend to the loco tender gap, and the silicon joint.. So in some way the shaft needs extension, maybe using the flywheel as a sleeve. This is solvable, but without the loco on the bench I can't be certain what way is best. Please ask for any other advice, the design is sound and if in order should run very well indeed, There are lots of other solutions as well, some would need access to a lathe.. Stephen

No idea till it arrives or some else can look..........

As my old GWR country terminus station layout is P4, I will have to look into conversion of the wheelsets to scale sizes, I hope the bogie inner sides are not too tight to just change the wheelsets. It all depends on how the bogies are made, plastic outer, metal inner, and if the plastic parts are glue-able if alterations are made. It may be possible to use the Dapol wheels with new rims of stainless steel, turned in the lathe and pressed on to the Dapol centre after their 00 rim is machined off. If the rear unpowered bogie picks up as well as the powered, then pickups can be dispensed with, by returning the power to the opposite side. Anybody know if the interior lights work? Stephen

Hattons are just un-packing them for processing for despatch. They look worth the long wait... now to find some passengers..... The driver remains a problem, simplest to fit two, you can't really see both ends at once.

Looking at the figure of 3.8 (.1mm), it may be possible to paper wrap the shaft to take up the play, fag paper is about 1.1 thou, but my guess would be air mail weight, a piece cut and glued with super glue to the shaft with no overlap. Then a dab of super glue over the whole paper, let it set, then abrasive paper to just true it up, and the worm will press on with loctite. If done with care it should be super accurate. Stephen

Although agreeing that Loctite is the answer, 3.9 thou is quite sloppy, and it may give troubles. The best solution is to ream out the worm to a larger size, and loctite a good fitting sleeve on the shaft, and paper it down to a good fit in the worm, and again loctite it in place. By paper I mean abrasive paper of about 200 grit glued to a lolly stick. It should not need a lathe to do any of this, but you will have to find a good fit tube for the shaft. you could re drill the worm hole, but a reamer would be best or get somebody to do it in the lathe more accurately. Either way the final fit is best done by papering with the motor running, with a felt washer on the shaft to prevent dust getting into the motor bearing. The exact size of the reamer does not matter, just larger than the sleeve, probably 3.75mm Stephen

The new design is really the old one just folded in half, and that would be a very big and extremely high coffee table as the castle and base is 16 inches thick, on a normal table height card table.........I am not cutting off the legs to lower it, as you could not then sit up to it to work on the models.......... The fact is the older design needed me to stand to work on or operate the railway, and thats not easy with arthritis, the use of the table allows sitting to work on any side as needed, allowing more time for the detailing work needed on the kits. The legs can go under the table comfortably, and a normal dining chair used to sit on. The table has hard wood edges and an inserted ply top, quite sturdy, and can take the power unit under the boards, with a plug in walk around controller. Section switches can be recessed into the wood sides on plywood backing, glued and screwed to the back, after routing out the holes for the panels. I don't want to add to the edge much, it makes storage more difficult. I may make on side have a hinged panel about 9 inches wide, to act as a temporary work table surface for the models, or servicing the stock later on. The river can be routed out or jig sawed, and a new panel screwed and glued back as the river surface, in MDF or plywood, to leave it as strong as now. The rest of the construction remains the same for the scenery, with the proviso that it can be viewed from 360o. Got two packs in from Hong Kong, of loo brush pines that do not look like Xmas trees, but have curious layers, I think extra scatter and static grasses may make them presentable, several bigger one will have to be scratch built. The vines will be made from hollow fibre stuffing from a discarded duvet, it is white, so will need painting and a textured surface added to them from scatter materials, several collection stations will be need on the line through the vineyards, where the grapes are placed in tipper wagons to go to the winery for pressing. The Vollmer winery is far too small for production, so it may be possible to add a small factory unit perhaps built over the nearby lines. The Order of the Blue Nuns remains Schossed in the Castle........Which it seems is based on an Austrian castle. Full box of track arrived from Gaugemaster, with correct fishplates for Z gauge. Should cover most of the track in one go, with PC points from Peco rail section. It will be fitted with the sleepers halved in number. I am abandoning any attempt to grass right up to the track, only ballast, as tests show the Steam locos have clearance problems. It is all right to paint the track though, as long as your careful to clean it afterwards. The closest grass has to be 4mm from the track for safety, and none on the track middle. I will get a diesel or two to run, plus a home made 040, with slightly larger wheels for better clearances. I may add a spur connection to take another board in future, to take advantage of the brickworks wagons etc. Any cupholder would have to be substantial as it would have to take a large German beer stein... and no, I do not drink Blue Nun......there are far better British wines!

Mix in a dash of PVA, improves the grip no end.........same with Polyfiller and Tetrion

Don't knock Gorilla, by the structural and load bearing they are referring to house construction!, load bearing beams, and wall fixtures, Gorilla is a form of expanding PVc, setting by moisture, like cavity wall insulation. It expands and fills and glues very well indeed. but it is expensive, messy, and has a limited time for use after the seal is broken. But it is a great wood repair glue.

Same answer, but you can also used Titebond wood adhesive, with a spot or two of filler added to thicken it up. The same can be done to PVA, the thickener can be talc or fine sawdust, or pollyfiller, Tetrion, or even plaster of paris. These combinations set like rock, and will grip the wood base.

Rough sketch only approx to scale till buildings are tested in place. Well I can get the lot in the space, plus two loops, mostly running above board height, connected by inclines that do not bother the Busch locos. Same buildings, but new positions, winery, hotel and shop, with a small loco works in the top corner. No background to do, plenty of trees to do, mainly pines, but a few others as well. The scenery now has to work at 100% all round. The table makes it easy to work at, and it could be stored on hooks on the wall, as the legs fold way on card tables. I feel the redesign is much better than the wall version, and contains more potential. Stephen.

A re- think is evolving now, the Kibri Castle is such a nice model from all sided ii is a pity to have half out of sight on a wall mounted layout, also I was falling for the bad idea of designing the track, then fitting the buildings to the design. I have an old card table about 42inx 42, which has long lost it's felt top, and used as a work table in the past, which could take the Castle and the other buildings and bridges etc., The Castle would be centre stage, surrounded by the Vineyard serviced by the Feldbahn. 42x42 gives a lot of area in H0f. I will draw up a new plan today.

Scaling back the design a bit, but will complete the lot, concentrating on the castle and vineyard end, with a loop under the castle to get things running. The track is proving expensive and difficult to buy, but I have enough for the project if reduced a bit at present. I am considering making the points direct on steel plates to get max pickup over them as well. Recent illness has slowed things as well. Stephen

Couple of things have come up, the track has to be very clean, and the Peco track needs a good polish with very fine abrasive before use to ensure good running. Also all scenic material of any kind must be 3mm clear of the track or the flycranks or cylinders on the steam locos foul things very easily indeed. I even now wonder if it is a good plan to paint the track, but I am making a brass scraper to remove any paint away from the top section of the flat bottom rail. This can also act as a clearance tester for the scenery. All tunnel track will be left clean and bare, no ballast or paint, etc. I may decide to leave the track without the rust paint, as the points will be easier to do without. Further tests are needed.

The filling of the rails is an accepted model railway method, after all copying the prototype closely is really for P4. Personally I assemble the switch blades solid, soldered at the V crossing, and get the point running and tested, before parting the switch blade to add a PB strip as a hinge. The electrical breaks are between the hinge and the v crossing. There are dozens of other methods, some nearer the real thing, but no more or less reliable than basic PC construction . On the soldering , it will help if 60/40 lead solder is used, not the pure tin.solder. As sleepers stand heat better if fibre glass board is used, then you can pre tin the whole sleeper, use a tiny clip of solder to get consistency. The rails are simply attached by heating, with flux. You can add more to get a chair effect, but there are other ways. Stephen