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6 hours ago, NZRedBaron said:

I dunno if anyone mentioned it, but what about for a Transition era layout, a steam engine piloting a failed diesel?

Steam loco piloting Interurban cars on my Hershey layout- the same happened in Cuba quite a few times when a hurricane destroyed part of the overhead. 

I took that photo a few months ago but recently rebuilt that section of overhead and had to drag the Interurban cars then.

On 25/04/2022 at 19:13, Nick_Burman said:

 

The WIF ferries used Havana only and were RoRo vessels (same for FEC). Seatrain used loading and unloading via cradles and special cranes. Looking at Santa Cruz del Norte from Google Earth I can't find anywhere where a RoRo ferry could have docked. However, one can see a small inlet right next to what is today the Havana Club rum plant where a Seatrain vessel could have just squeezed in and there could have been a crane to load/unload the ferry there. If so, the ferry could have taken the cars to Edgewater, New Jersey (where Seatrain had its base and a terminal), where the cars would have been unloaded onto US rails, then forwarded to Hershey, PA.. But all this is just speculation.

 

Cheers Nicholas

 

Interesting map from a historic Cuba Facebook group, that Google has translated from Spanish. So certainly by this time there weren't any international docks between the Havana area and Matanzas (shown as "Killings!!!") But there is modellers licence...

On 08/10/2023 at 12:27, Steamport Southport said:

 

Barrow Hill doesn't have a problem fitting mainline diesels and electrics, and that was the railway that only built small engines....

 

 

 

 

Jason

 

 

In early preservation days a homebuilt raised extension was used to turn large steam locos, but it was a right faff and fell out of favour if it wasn't exactly balanced and rubbed on the stonework. Large diesels such as Peaks had to have their unpowered wheelsets jacked and packed, and I'm sure Deltics were also too long. 

Turning one of the AC electrics was fairly easy with a working diesel on the opposite road, but if there wasn't we had to use pinch bars which took forever.

On 27/09/2023 at 19:55, JZ said:

My eldest granddaughter put together the first of her dinosaur kits the other day.

 

I helped my Dad make a few of those, I dug it out a few years ago to plonk on a layout to prove that the reasons why Dinosaurs died out was because they couldn't take a selfie of themselves....

Unlike something else this week FP2 has gone ahead in full, it is just over 4' long in order to fit over the main scenic board in the car making the whole layout look quite daunting at just a smidgen less than 15'. Unlike the other boards it has a built in leg. I have laid enough track to test it (although the frog isn't juiced yet) and after messing round with the DCC Concepts ABC board Hershey Interurban Car 153 made the first legitimate run over the road crossing. 

Each road can hold a 3' long train so that'll save some space in the main fiddle yard for stock. I'm not sure of the best way to operate it or decided where it goes in the real world, so haven't added extra switches to the main panel yet.

You obviously said "plonked" but it is worth checking the height of the furniture factory. Even with the base set at rail height excess height cars don't have a lot of clearance.

8 minutes ago, woodenhead said:

BBC announcing the announcement to cancel the line to Manchester will be tomorrow.

....to be followed in a few months with the announcement of the M6 Toll road extension to Manchester. HS2 obviously weren't shoving brown envelopes in the right direction...

Does anyone remember this regional airline? 

1 hour ago, Tallpaul69 said:

Thanks for the info, I have now found them on Rails website!

Is their any video of your layout using them on U tube or elsewhere.

 

Have you any experience of the Kadee company's version?

One reason for my interest is that I thought one of the Rapido version might work at the end of my curved platform. Any thoughts? Your comment about orientation is a slight worry!

Cheers

Paul

 

To describe the orientation problem, they have a line on top that aligns with the track-easy to set up before ballasting but should one fall out because the hot glue melted in a hot garage makes it harder to refit. I think I did so by trying to follow the original alignment but what I should have done was try it with a wagon or loco above to check the coupler was at it's maximum throw. 

This is a video on the small inglenook I built because I had a spare, the magnetic field is marginally affecting the steel weight in the hopper and causing it to roll away from the loco without stopping.

I've only ever used Kadee permanent magnets before, didn't like them because of the odd phantom uncoupling event and ended up snipping off the pins and just using a skewer. They still don't get around the problem of having to plan where you need them and the couplers need to be set up properly and with consistency, but they are still my preferred option. 

Stafford show postscript: first of all a big thank you to Nick Palette for the invite and Nick Quinn for agreeing to operate, despite both never having seen the layout before Saturday. And also to friends old and new who I managed to talk to, I'm still amazed by the reaction the layout got from the public and other exhibitors. I was a bit disappointed with invites, nothing until Sunday afternoon but then enquiries from Shrewsbury, Pontefract and Glasgow which won't be straightforward but might be doable. 2024 is looking full up anyway but if anyone is organising any shows a reasonable distance from Coventry I'd like to hear from you. 

The next show is Nottingham in early November and I'm contemplating whether I have time to build a second fiddle yard now I've seen how much spare space is in the car. The overhead still needs refining and something doing with the sector plate to make alignment more reliable. I didn't have time in the end to finish something akin to  display boards explaining the Hershey but the new fiddle yard gives space to mount these.

3 hours ago, Oldddudders said:

Hard not to like!

 

3 hours ago, Rich_F said:

When I was big into HO I used to have one each of the little 44t/70t switchers. They're lovely little things & can be used for any setting. It looks right at home moving the wagons around outside your sugar mill.

It looks like Olddudders has caught the mixed diesel hauled local being switched after arrival. Although steam and diesel was used sparingly outside of the busy harvest period it was always the intention to model this working. Bachmann 44 &70 ton performance can be variable and do rely on a good decoder (ie not the DCC fitted one) and a Stay alive (AEmodels) is a necessity.

Photo: William D Middleton.

Just found this thread after being asked about them at Stafford at the weekend as my layout "Central Alonzo" uses three of them. I find you have to set their orientation exactly right and have to stop more accurately than on a between the rails permanent magnet but I generally find that they work really well. 

@Tallpaul69 Rails have single ones in stock. 

1 hour ago, sixteen 12by 10s said:

Attended the show yesterday as a club exhibitor, overall a good show, put on by the Stafford team, there looks like there are accounts of it been poorly attended, but the large isles diluted the crowds, if I have a observation, its the smaller exhibits and often the gems, of the show, are lost in the vastness of the thing.

Credit though to the organising team for providing on the website a comprehensive list, including images and descriptions. So it's easy to work out what will be of interest beforehand. And as for the vast aisles, that also made it easy to see the layouts from a distance- try doing that whilst trying to avoid people in a crowd.

Singles movie poster, with Janet's VW from the film...

3 hours ago, PaulRhB said:

Bet she chuckled when she saw that . . .

3 hours ago, Jon Gwinnett said:

To me, to you, it’s pure communism 😂

Wait... You mean.. that isn't Che Guevara...?

Destination boards added to the appropriate vehicles, they should probably be inside the windows but I ran out of time and the lettering is a bit big for that.

Mrs 298 has also sourced an appropriate Che Guevara T shirt, Cov market must have got a job lot in for the University Freshers...

59 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

I've no doubt they would have checked.

Annoying thing was, the particular miscreant seems like one of these people whose route takes them past the school twice but wonders why they are stuck in traffic. He was doing what most people seem to do when bored and was playing with his phone, oblivious to the Police ANPR equipped Volvo about 5 cars behind. I'm guessing they didn't catch him that day...

1 hour ago, johnofwessex said:

 

If its that bad as far as Tax & MOT is concerned have you talked to The Police?

Reported online. I've been reluctant to do so in the past since calling what I thought was the DVLA because of an "abandoned " car, when whoever answered saying "Hello, how can I help you?" to which I replied by explaining the situation which took several minutes for them to say "Well, thanks for that, but I really don't know what that has to do with Scottish Power. I now realise the accent gave that one away...

I'm glad you've found it easy to escalate your concerns, our Daughters junior school does sweet FA apart from putting out a few signs on the zigzags, occasionally parking enforcement turns up or drives past in their Camera Car but with only one team being shared by 70 schools parents know they are likely to get away with it and go into full Gob$hite mode when they don't. Running a MoT &Tax check on these vehicles is sometimes interesting too...

Daughter is 10 and would really like to walk to and from school on her own but as we keep saying, it isn't her but other people who are the problem. I'm not sure how addled the brains are of these people but I couldn't comprehend the stress if driving the school run ten times a week, we see parents who live a lot nearer than our 0.5 mile walk and they aren't doing it to save time.

Obligatory "layout in car" photo, I was going to build a frame to lift the baseboards and stuff everything else underneath but I'd only have to store it somewhere so instead made supports to square up the overhanging lighting rig support and the fiddle yard now fits on top. This also means I know how much space I have I in the car for the stage left fiddle yard so it fits above the main baseboard. 

Just a few final things to do tonight before setting off to Stafford in the morning.

On 20/09/2023 at 17:36, 2ManySpams said:

 

C16-C18 looks a particularly troublesome area.

And exactly how uneven is that uneven floor...?

Regards, from C20.

Ready for Stafford this weekend, this HO scale copy of the Hershey's homemade device to transfer the overhead power along the train using the existing redundant trolley poles. The white roofed car is the only one which is powered and is usually in the centre of the Train, so in theory could use it's decoder output through the poles to headlights on the unpowered cars. 

https://youtu.be/1xqO72WS8eQ?si=VCgJUmKZUFUUjy2e

On 17/09/2023 at 17:36, Willie Whizz said:

The East Midlands has suffered very badly with the loss of 'large' exhibitions - in the last few years Nottingham, Derby, the GCR event at Quorn and other locations along the preserved line, and the Newark (run IIRC by the Lincoln club) shows have all gone outright or been reduced to a shadow of their former selves.  There didn't seem to be a shortage of bodies through the doors at any of them (pre-COVID at least), except Nottingham (East Mids) was as I understand it badly affected by an 'extreme weather event' killing the attendance on the Sunday and never recovered.  All so sad ...

2 hours ago, PMP said:

The one day, small themed show is an area I think has the potential to expand, and I’ve started the initial process of looking at one in the East Midlands for potentially Summer 2024. I think had Derby, Nottingham and Lincoln still been active it would still have work in its own right, 

Nottingham upsized to the Harvey Hadden Stadium sports hall in 2000 but about ten years ago had to take a temporary hiatus to a nearby school due to the council closing it to build a swimming pool next to it. Despite show being as large as previously and other shows being held in similar venues the public didn't really get along with the change and attendance dropped even after returning to the Harvey Hadden. This coincided with the passing of long term exhibition manager Ian Trivett, and with no-one available with as much time to spare to organise such a show the club downsized to a smaller and more manageable annual event in Clifton. The council must have got wind of this and decided to close that venue too, so currently the club organises a small spring show in Hucknall, a larger one in the east of Nottingham on the first weekend in November, and members also organise one for the GCR(N) in Ruddington at the end of June.

Could the handrails be straightened by putting them through a thermal cycle? 

As Ray has outlined, it might be easier to upgrade than find the OEM parts, although I have used filed down Athearn parts before from the spares box.

14 hours ago, PaulRhB said:

That’s looking great and working well too. Shows off the detail and weathering on them, stunning job! 

The powered car (153) isn't running as well as the benchmark Bachmann 44 tonner chassis, so is on it's third motor this week.  The chassis was designed for a small flat-can to drop in but it seemed to be growling excessively so I temporarily tried new trucks, then a spare 1220? with a flywheel. I then replaced the driveshafts with silicon tube which is a first for me, before replacing the 3d printed gears with drilled out Bachmann ones to stop them from splitting.

The DCC Concepts decoder that is fitted and needed for the ABC shuttle doesn't have anything published in the way of tuneable motor control so I've since tried fitting it with a spare Mashima 1424 or something and it is running a bit better, but still cogging at speed step one and has symptoms of a split gear or something in one of the drivetrains. I don't think I've got time before Stafford to finalise a new chassis and print one as a spare so if it all goes wrong at Stafford it'll be weekend drags with a Mogul...