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2 hours ago, Adam1701D said:

Exactly right, Tom - we are using the same mechanicals as the 86 for now. If there is sufficient interest, I would like to look into an upgrade further down the line that could incorporate a speaker.

 

The Flexicoil suspension units will now be moulded integrally, so as to prevent them from pinging off and getting lost! 

 

What else can I add? We are doing 87101 properly with a modified roof and extra vent on the cab roof. The cross-arm pantograph and the high speed pantographs are all-new and much closer to scale than the previous versions.

 

At the risk of saying "no use for me", is there a case in the future for modelling them in 1:120 or 1:160 to match continental scales? With more class 86s currently being exported and the current operators saying their existing fleets have at least another ten years life left there is a danger that their second life in eastern Europe might be longer than their first in the UK. 

Nice to see the proper roof details being modelled on 101, I believe this is a first for any commercial model.

On 02/01/2022 at 07:03, TEAMYAKIMA said:

I have only just seen this layout thread and TBH I haven't yet read every post, but I've just had a wild thought. 

 

If i was rich enough to subsidise it, wouldn't it be nice to have a two day 'foreign only' exhibition with as wide a range of concepts as possible, not just American HO switching layouts but all sorts of 'different' layouts which the average exhibition attendee never sees. 

 

@TEAMYAKIMA Interesting editorial in the August edition of Continental Modeller, basically lamenting the loss of Globalrail and the European Railway Society shows, and highlighting the problem of trying to find a willing and skilled exhibition manager and assistants to volunteer their spare time to organise such an event. I'm not sure what the solution is in the current era, apart from to promote good modelling and exhibition standards and possibly try to commit to more than two or three shows a year.

I've added additional detail to the crane rails and given it a quick rattlecan primer paint job between rain showers. Once fitted it certainly looks like it belongs in place and passes the test that the area looks empty once removed. I'll finish painting it the next time I have the airbrush out.

If you can't bring the eyes up to the layout height, then bring the layout down to their eye level...:

Obviously wheelchair users are also in need of a good view and it's fun to confuse people now that I can alter the height with a remote control, but this was probably one of my stupider ideas....

I've also had a nice surprise today thanks to Continental Modeller, but it wouldn't be appropriate to mention it for another month....

Messing around with some Plastruct and York Modelmaking N gauge trusses to make an open sided loco servicing shed as inspired by an article in RMC as sent to me by @doctor quinn about ten years ago (I knew it would come in handy one day). The horizontal beams are for a travelling crane, I probably still need to add some to the sides and am thinking about how much more cladding to add (or remove according). At least if it is too tall I can cut it down...

ATR72 G-CMMK at Birmingham last Saturday on the occasion of our 14 and 10yr olds first flight and they were both remarkably relaxed about it all. We were going to Belfast for the weekend because Mrs 298 wanted to visit Ikea. My verdict? It's like a gutless Q400... (The nose looks a bit funny because I edited some people out of the image in accordance with the Airline's photography rule).

Voyager ZZ343 on stand at Birmingham on our return last Sunday from another AT76, we had to do a tour of Walsall before landing due to it...

20 hours ago, St Enodoc said:

Make sure you get the reverse loop and wye wiring right. Whatever method you use to reverse the polarity, the reversing sections need to be longer than the longest train that will use them, to avoid short circuits (but you knew that already of course..)

Certainly for DC, DCC can be less constrained but the belt and braces method would be the same. In theory it only needs to be as long as the length between the vehicles with pickups (such as the combined length of a double header or top and tail formation, as you can mitigate against individual vehicles bridging the gap by using insulated rail joiners with a raised section so metal wheelsets can't bridge the gap.

21 hours ago, hmrspaul said:

I wish I'd tried Laira the one time I looked across at it - looked too big and remote to blag. Perhaps wrong.

I went round Laira on an official permit on a school trip in 1987- despite their reputation once official they were really accommodating with cab visits and offered to run TOPS searches. Probably having a persuasive Teacher from Yorkshire helped with other depots and once you showed them a permit for an official depot then unofficial tours rarely seemed to be a problem. I remember Barrow Hill asked for a donation to the Cat food fund and Allerton sold enamelled badges. Willesden was the only one deemed to be impossible and we were never in the area to go round March. 

Whilst on the Interurbans theme, last week I was sent a video of Brill Master Unit 21 running on Pine St in Yakima WA, prior to the Electric Railroaders Association visit last weekend. This car has been out of service for a long time, certainly before I first went to Yakima in 2002.

Which year? A quick Google search found this: http://www.trainweb.org/rews/diagrams/locodiag.htm

7 hours ago, SteveM666 said:

A corner sensor with an immediate power cut of 20%+ is much more elegant. However there is a safety concern as a car suddenly slowing as a result could be collected by the cars behind.

Like Verstappen does? Did his retribution go unpunished? If drivers are allowed to do that then they might as well fit bull bars and ram any cars for whom they feel need to be reprimanded. A bit like Death Race 2000, but in more of a dystopian future where a yukky energy drink runs the earth.

I quite like the idea of a drop in power or loss of DRS, and it'd be interesting to see how the boffins find a way around it...

28 minutes ago, SR71 said:

How come Max had noticeably more mid range punch off the corners at the beginning? Checko should have come out of that battle much closer but twice lost out on torque off the corner once they were both straight. I think they are being given different engine maps.

He certainly didn't during SQ1 when he deliberately impeded Hamilton in a revenge move for something Toto has admitted was a failure in communication on the teams part to notify their driver. I'm surprised the Stewards took no notice of either incident...

On 23/06/2023 at 09:03, papagolfjuliet said:

Full auction results here. In terms of where various items other than the Darjeeling stock are going I gather that the Channel Tunnel loco has gone to the Ffestiniog and that the third replica Indian coach has gone to a private line near Much Wenlock. Can't wait to learn the destination of the two Henry hoovers.

 

https://www.hjpugh.com/catalogue/15f99588d598e2b15425039c1d5224cf/1c3c2c7a814e240ee7e8f414f2bd69cf/the-beeches-light-railway-dispersal-sale-of-the-late-well-re/?fbclid=IwAR2MorW0cOi4PQ8Ew94kwwoZn1efqxXcF0Ex3MYgzDp9qk5S97v-ATkFPzM#saleDetails

I could have done with one of those vans as a new garden shed....

8 hours ago, roundhouse said:

The CF7 that I fitted a stay alive to improve it whilst on the ' street running' worked fine on test in the shed but at Epsom it kept stalling. However I did notice that some other visiting locos ran fine into Fort Myers station but when going into the hidden storage area behind the juice factory, they also started running erratically. Most ran fine though.  Never seen this before on Fort Myers or previous Freemo meets.

Is this also a paved section? My small fleet generally had quite raised keeper plates with plenty of clearance but visiting locos on my street running modules would ground on bumps in the four foot. Being foam meant it was difficult to sand and would expand slightly, and the only place to move was up.

I will be taking my Hershey Cuba inspired layout called Central Alonzo Mill to the Stafford Show for it's second exhibition appearance. Continental Modeller have the article and it will appear in the September issue as support.

Bit of a strange visitor to Alonzo Mill, in the sense that I haven't run my Rapido GMD-1 since deciding to focus on 1950s Hershey. If I build enough stock for the later era then this will run with the Budd railcar and a couple of Boxcar Coaches that the Steeplecabs also pulled. 

On 23/06/2023 at 14:12, GordonC said:

 

Les Ross - if you own the loco you can put whatever name you like on it - even your own name!

"Keep" whatever name- Les wasn't aware before the naming ceremony. And it's not like 86259 has carried better ones....

With that livery tho (and let's ignore the shade for now) it would have probably carried a continuation of the E name series originally proposed for the first AC electrics in the same typeface as the Westerns and Brush type 4s.

On 20/06/2023 at 23:21, Wheatley said:

In the smaller companies it can be much looser. Rail Operations Group's names probably reflect what Karl Watts and Dave Burley feel like naming them - both are former 'Lost Boys'.

ROG only own the headboards. The loco names are the choice of Europhoenix and are a continuation of ETL's constellation name series on their 86/7's.

On 18/06/2023 at 00:53, Nick_Burman said:

 

"Patio" - assigned to yard service?

 

Cheers NB

Now I remember where I've seen it before- as a yard marker in the Cuban photo in this book...

https://morningsunbooks.com/products/electric-railways-of-north-america-in-color

21 is currently in "Patio" service, thanks to a temporary marker made from plasticard and something that I have just had to explain to the kids is Letraset. It'll do for now, but I'll draw it correctly and add it to the next white transfer sheet.

8 hours ago, Nick_Burman said:

 

"Patio" - assigned to yard service?

 

Cheers NB

Very good, that certainly fits with the photos.

With the article for Continental Modeller submitted (watch out for it in the autumn) I have had some spare modelling time to address some of the many issues with the overhead and pantographs. For the former, I have added better tensioners thanks to my traditional use of Meccano and despite the heat it is more reliable (enough to convince me I don't need v shaped guides on converging routes), and for the Steeplecab pans that ended up sitting too high I have basically taken one apart and turned the base upside down to lower the pixot axles. It is currently on test with no.28.

44 minutes ago, teletougos said:

Thank you. Did second gen have the motor as an integral part of the bogie like first generation? 

Good point, I've amended my post above.

On 14/06/2023 at 07:41, teletougos said:

 

Thank you. Yes, it's hard to get one of the 3rd generation 44 tonners - where you can narrow the truck gauge, because no-one ever differentiates them from the earlier versions, where a motor is built into the truck.

First gen (motor bogies) have silver wheels, no holes in the truck retaining plates underneath and a hard shell case in a box where the stripes are more apparent. 

Second gen have a central motor and gained blackened wheels and five square holes in the retaining plates. Boxes contained foam but changed to the current type with a window when they were DCC fitted, which was printed underneath. Large worm gears were screwed to the frames above the trucks.

The third gen have white "DCC fitted" printing with a date underneath, and only three square holes. They use the same central motor as the second gen but have smaller worm gears that are clipped to the trucks.

It depends... the bow collectors are sprung so they are vertical, if the wire is too low or too taught then the bow won't push up with enough force to flip rearwards. I did wonder why the wire on Books Bridge was so high and the collectors so tall but that is to ease reversing. 

I used to switch on a HO scale layout with trolley poles, it was possible to back-pole but the public generally didn't get the amount of interference needed. The next trolley pole layout will use more through running.