wiggoforgold

Interesting thread. There's more than three layouts that have inspired me, but I was interested to see from the thread many of the layouts I thought of have been a source of inspiration to other people as well.

I'll say the following three, but the list isn't exhaustive - when I read the names of layouts that had inspired others, I thought "yes I was inspired by that too"

Grandborough Junction (and the rest of the Buckingham Branch) - Peter Denny

Harlyn Junction - Brian Fayle

Castle Coombe - Ken Payne

I would not call it a cliche but one scene I have observed incorrectly modelled on more than one layout is an old church perched close to the railway line, often near a cutting.

 

I can't remember the context now but I recall a story about an American tourist commenting on a UK railway "didn't they build the tithe barn too close to the railroad?"

Lime washed cattle wagons, well out of period.

Wagons without loads (not so much a cliche, more a way of life)

Single locomotive wheels in depots

Hi, I've had a look at your wagon photo's as above, Im curious what you do with the hoses & so on that clutter up diesle buffer beam. Don't these dangling appendages get in the way of the DG couplings?

 

Yours John.

John

What I do is to model as much of the dangling hoses etc as I can without getting in the way of the couplings. The couplings are quite narrow at the bufferbeam so detail can go either side, with the proviso that if it gets in the way of the operation of the coupling, or if it restricts movement on corners,it is cut back to allow operation, or left off completely.

One thing that always has to be left off is the scale coupling hook itself,as leaving this in place restricts the operation of the delayed action latch on the DG coupling.

On locos, I just fit a DG hook with the delayed action latch, and leave off the lifting loop and dropper.

Alex

I actually use DG couplings, which aren't mentioned in your list. Theres a bit about them here:http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/westford/dgcouplings.htm

The reasons I chose them over the Brigewood type were:

1. Theres no commercial support fo9r the Bringewood type-you have to make them yourself. You can buy an etch for DGs.

2. Ease of fitting: I mount them about 2mm below the bufferbeam, either on a square of plasticard stuck to the underside of the floor of 4w wagons, or on a wire bracket for bogie vehicles and locomitives with bogies

3. I found it easier to manouvre themover the uncoupler magnets.

The DGs are pretty unobtrusive. Have a look at the wagon shots in my gallery eg:http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php/gallery/image/23376-d6723-approaches-diddington/

Iain reckoned they would workdown to 2' radius. I think the minimum I had at that time was probably about 3' so I never tested the minimum. IAR suggested a mod to the Bringewood design which was simply a short vertical bar fixed to the loop of the coupler which would allow "buffers free" propelling of stock.

There's a description of making and setting them upon p27 of "Detailing and improving Readt to run wagons " (Irwell 1993) He called them the "Bringewood" coupling after the layout they were created for. Quick and cheap to make and install. I used them and found them reliable and unobtrusive, although when they first appeared the current generation of slimmed down tension locks were unheard of on rtr stock.

.... When are we going to see a J15 I wonder....

Seconded

my Dad worked in St Ives for Sir Clive Sinclair.

You'll recognise the prototype of Diddington Mill then!

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php/gallery/image/18112-corn-mill/

Leaving aside the technical criticisms of this monstrosity (which I entirely agree with) I think (as a former resident of Hemingford Grey (1964 - 1982) that it has completely ruined the area and it is so sad to see what has happened.

the bogie side frames pull off laterally, and the keeper plate has four lugs on it that need gently prising open, this will then let the keeper plate off.

OK

I looked at the blog and got the cab off.

I can see how the bogie sides come off, but on mine there's a stretcher bar at the back which is glued to both sideframes: I could cut this to remove the bogie sides, but is there a better way?

Got mine yesterday. GSYP D8233.

Test run only so far; Running is good, but not as good as the Hornby 31 or Bachmann 24. I'ts still better than anything else though!

One thing I found, which others may have noticed already. I first ran it using a Gaugemaster HH. It was noisy and jerky and I thought i'd got a dud. I then ran it on a Gaugemaster Model 100 which was much better. I think it doesn't like feedback controllers.

I've put my own couplings (DG) on it, and I'm just experimenting with coupling height/fixing.

I'll do a bit of mild weathering later. Getting the body off seems to be a bit of an issue; It would be nice to get into the cab to tone down the interior and add a crew, but I'm a bit reluctant to pull it apart. I would like to check the lubrication, but there seems to be no way of doing that without removing the body. Any thoughts?