34theletterbetweenB&D

One of two things then. Either the front securing screw above the pony truck wheelset is still in place, or the close fitting metal parts of chassis and body are binding on each other. (Sometimes Bach's steam models are assembled with the paint still soft enough that they are 'tacked' together; had a real wrestling match with all the Ivatt 4F 2-6-0s I have opened as a result of this.)

Michael, if you are sure that the securing screws are all removed, then - gently - use the drawbar as a lever to start moving the mechanism out of the body. As soon as there is a little movement the drawbar will come free from the boss inside on which it pivots, and may then be withdrawn allowing the body to lift clear of the mechanism. The majority - and possibly all? - Bachmann tender locos from the start of the Blue riband introductions have this feature of the drawbar through a slot in the body engaging body to mechanism; until the 9F was introduced.

A quick and easy test is to remove the loco to tender link with the contacts on it, and make a temporary replacement drawbar from a piece of plastic and hitch on the tender; then see if the shorting problem is eliminated. In which case permanent soldered wire connections, and a more permanent drawbar, and you are done. But what if the shorting is still present with the temporary drawbar attaching the tender? There is a lurking problem in versions of the Hornby Gresley pacific (and other's!) model mechanisms, which is that the loco's chassis block is live to one rail. That can lead to shorting on the loco. You might think you have covered that as the loco alone is not showing the shorting problem, but its dynamics when moving are altered by having a trailing load. It's usually a side rod live to the chassis block contacting a wheel rim or axle end when this problem arises; watching the loco running in the dark will show the location with a small spark should this problem be present.

My wife is the gardener. She gathered seed from those in our previous garden (and from many other plants of course), and slung it round all the locations where they would be desireable in our current garden. The fritillaries 'took' and are thoroughly established in two places, and are going a storm this year.

Regrettably this proved to be the truth for all the larger split chassis models if operated frequently - only the small types like the 0-6-0Ts had reasonable longevity thanks to lighter weight and less running mileage at speed. In my experience of the Mainline and Bachmann versions of these mechanisms it was a race between wearing through the plating on both the tyres, and the axle to chassis half contact areas, resulting in very poor current collection; or the plastic components in the drive train failing, resulting in various mechanical failures. Generally some plastic component failure(s) would be repaired or replaced before the plating was all done, at which point the mechanism was a throwaway after salvaging any serviceable components for the 'replacement parts' pool. Acceptable enough when these models were available cheap, for an 'operator' like myself whose primary interest is watching trains running to a timetable service. Bachmann's provison of replacement complete mechanisms was in my opinion an acknowledgement of the short life characteristic of the materials choices and construction found in these mechanisms. As the better steel axle wheelset with wiper pick up mechanisms displaced the split chassis mechanisms in their range I extracted the last of the life from the old, and 'moved on'.

You want the road vehicles to stay put while the train is in motion, but also easily removeable. Stop all the road vehicle wheels rotating is the first thing, and assess. If they don't stay put when the train is in motion I'd think magnetic for this application; ideally iron strip on or under the load deck, small magnets under the road vehicles, so you have complete freedom to position the vehicles.. For your proposed eight to twelve carflat trains, on a level layout: since that loco will easily shift 4kg, the carflats can gross 250g each on the longest proposed train. Body mounted couplers would be better if you get up to that sort of weight. There's also the little matter of plastic bogie frames spreading under load on the pinpoints, just have to assess that in operation.

If any of these models have the white/pale grey cased 'pod motor' then the Replica motor spare RS1000 - if still available - would be an option. http://www.replicarailways.co.uk/spares-and-accessories/spares However, the general fragility of the Jubilee running gear, especially the brittle gears and tendency of the driving wheels on round stub axles to slip out of quarter, would incline me to the thought of trying one and seeing whether the near forty year old mechanism parts are still up to the job.

The attractive young lady canvassing, Had a leaflet that made interesting reading, June's plan of attack, Gauge O plastic track, And battery powered or steaming. That's the easy bit sorted out...

Back to late winter here today. Yesterday was sunshine, shorts and t shirt, lunch outdoors listening to the birds all shouting away, Brimstone, Peacock and Speckled wood butterflies flying about. Could almost watch the hornbeams coming into leaf, they started the day with bare twigs, ended covered in a fuzz of pale yellow-green. Put new protective feet on the aluminium garden furniture using some parts from a Texan manufacturer that 'really work' according to a US based cousin. I can definitely use some more of that sunshine.

Trying yesterday evening to explain to a group of girls in the 10-12 age band, how a full and enjoyable social life was possible in the stone age. That would be before 'everyone' had a mobile phone you understand. My greying beard and lack of mobile phone, combined to convince them all of my troglodyte status. It did provoke the thought that we might might benefit from a national 'mobiles disabled' day, on which the only numbers that would function would be exclusively for emergency and essential services use.

They are nesting here. there and everywhere. My wife's ever-optimistic use of garden twine is resulting in plants unsupported all over the garden as so many of the birds shred it and take it in beak loads for nest building. (My mother being a great knitter would put her wool ends out at this time of year, and it was a great entertainment when the blue tit box was cleaned out at summer's end, to see what they had taken and incorporated. There wasn't much on the telly back then...)

I read that plainly in everything that Love Productions have put out so far. We want people with the knowledge to work on a project to make us a lot of money. Anyone contemplating involvement should particularly keep in mind that the 'personality presenting' is an unknown quantity. Could be a Dan Snow, that might be OK; or it could be something in the Chris Evans category. I don't believe there is any significant financial obstacle, you only have to thnk about the budgets that must be involved in getting telly entertainers, 'name' specialists, and locations with all the necessary crew, kit and support together, over weeks of filming for the likes of Great Throw-a-Bee Off the Island Challenge.

Fourteen wheels for the complete ensemble, 3 shots = 15, leaving one 8' wheel spare I suppose? I guess someone has done the calculation for the lowest cost trade between tooling and net materials use.

I had to be in the bank this morning, and while there 'someone' dropped something very heavy in the adjacent retail unit which is having a refit, A significant thud, floor shook a little, some dust came down from the suspended ceiling; no shouting or fire alarm so hopefully no one hurt. And then I became aware that my right leg was encumbered. I had grown a firmly attached small child. On looking down a little face was looking up, so I said "Hello". Got a most accusing look accompanied by the reply "You're not my Daddy.".

That's the effect I would expect, with a multistage gear train it takes a while for the lubricant to get evenly distributed on all the working faces of the gears; no substitute for running at moderate speed in both directions so that it is 'exercised' in all the positions the gears can take up against each other, especially as the wheels shift about to take curvature. Alternative version on this theme: film could always record colour, but the real world was originally monochrome. (This must be true because we know that the ancient greeks described the sky as a shade of grey, and anyone who has been on a Mediterrean holiday knows that isn't true any more.) The US government spent a fortune getting Walt Disney and others with proven expertise in their domestic film industry to have theatres of combat 'coloured in' during WWII, because it made photographic detection of camouflaged equipment much easier. And that's why most of the WWII colour film of combat operations is of US origin.

I think Bunnings may have opened a store in St Albans, from what I read of an advert on the back of a bus motoring off into the distance, seen during this morning's amble. Shall have to take a look sometime. Gone for a well heeled locale, but with much competition already in place.

Saw a driver get flagged down by a PC this morning for going across a Zebra crossing while occupied by pedestrians. Although not so much of a problem on Zebra crossings, I perceive a rising trend to go through reds on light controlled crossings if they are not occupied, or the lane ahead of the driver is not occupied. And off the motorways and trunk A roads, it's the potholes and lifting tarmac that induces quite a lot of faulty road placement. One location near my home where there is considerable dificulty in keeping on the correct side of the road while also phoning and calming down baby in the back seat. That's why they need Discos, Ranges, and similar: the tyres don't deflate on those due to a damaged rim whether from hitting the pothole edge this side, or accidentally mounting the kerb the other side. Of course if they knew where the car's wheels were and could straddle, all this expense could be avoided...

The Lima mechanism was marginal too, as already mentioned above. There was plenty of online complaint about its less than stellar reliability and robustness if you actually dared run it. I had at least three of the Hornby versions from the Lima tooling to 'doctor' into reasonable running order, all of them owned by the young. Presumably there were the sales at the time to support a retool to correct these and the other deficiencies.

Heljan's standard cosmetic bogie sideframe technique would accomodate this easily, as they slide on horizontally onto pegs in the same alignment as any axle ends; which could then protrude through holes in the sideframe. If Dapol use a similar system then really it is that simple. But it is an inconvenience with Bach's standard one piece clip on cosmetic bogie frames moulding, The main piece would need slots to allow the axle ends in, and then cosmetic overlays applied to supply outside detail covering the access slots, minimum of three pieces instead of one: design, production and assembly cost increment. (The Bach centre motor mechanism template is a stripped down to minimum part count and simple assembly unit, compared to the competitor designs I have looked at.) Do North American HO models typically have exposed and rotating axle ends when appropriate to the prototype? Long time since I went for a look at HO. Actually I feel it is a little more nuanced than that. The more recent small black locos from Hornby that I have purchased are not as comprehensively detailed as some of their past efforts. But what has been left off or done more economically has been better selected, so it's not calling attention to itself.

Yes, if you really want to look for it on a slow run past: the balance weight positions for example if viewing side on with your eye at track level. But in truth it is in the 'icing the cake' category for me, along with brake rodding, small painted detail in cabs and underframes and water scoops under solid side framed tenders: stuff you don't typically see at all on an operating loco. Having once fiddled around to make a correctly 'thirded' mechanism in 4mm I rest content that it can be done, but isn't worth the effort in final effect for an operating model. Better spending the time on detail and finish that can be seen, or working on the next model from the near endless list. And regarding the Stanier model that's the subject of this thread, I am in the camp that would fall on this model with delight if it was one my operation needed. Like all RTR, has its compromises: but a good starting point to 'make perfect' to one's own standard, and so much easier than building it yourself.

At the present precision of assembly of RTR OO, 'quartering' is sufficiently tolerant of the small dimensional and assembly errors in the chassis to work reliably. Pressing the wheels on 'thirded' (120 degrees) is technically not a problem, but as soon as you start coupling these wheelsets in the chassis the dimensional and assembly errors will result in a lot of defects. (Try it for yourself on a RTR model, or a kit built mechanism, you can do quartering by eye with a little practice; 'thirding' you need a good jig to press the wheels on very consistently, just for a start.) Since 'we' clearly don't welcome the higher price that the necessary superior precision that 'thirding' would demand, the RTR manufacturers do well to stick with quartering for its far greater tolerance. A question that interests me, do Golden Age's 3 cylinder productions or the Dapol BL A4 boast 'thirding'? The money asked should make it possible...

Quite so; and I would observe that there's no end of 'hot buttons' that trigger the 'no purchase' choices of individual potential customers. Mine kicks in when there is some aspect of appearance that I just cannot see a way to rectify, usually in what is otherwise a satisfactory or better model. When the general standard is good, an error that might sneak under the radar on a poorer model is a real irritant.

That made the Crocodile something of a bargain. Very few 4mm models at all I should think, and it would be surprising if this wasn't the best example from what have been made, based on its appearance.

I don't suppose BR's team were so considerate as to consider applying the full package to the Clan pacific? It would 'fit' in that the smaller boiler than that of the Brit would enable the Crosti heat exchanger to be accomodated underneath, as on the Crosti 9Fs. With all that heat scavenging and valve event efficiency, full class 7 performance would have resulted, cough, cough. But the real attraction is the name: who could resist a 'Claprosti' pacific?

Just a slight suspicion that the impulse of Hornby's Bulleid projectile may yet wreck the armour plate of fiscal rectitude then. Despite all my resolve, if Hornby make a good job of the finalised form of the BR 8P blue livery, resistance will probably disintegrate chez moi. It may not have proved the best colour choice in terms of wearing quality in service, but of all the 8P classes it looked most at home - very crisp - in the scheme developed for the MN; and quite unique in livery styling for a UK steam loco, looking forward to what would be seen on the later superseding traction.