Phil Traxson

For a thinner solvent try plumbers pipe cleaner rather than the pipe weld, it's mostly MEK and is available over the counter at your local plumbers supplies at about the same price. I've been using it for over 20 years now and it's never failed me. Phil T.

Don't know how far you are on with this Neil, but I have single shoe SG brake gear, you even know where I live and could pick it up! Phil Traxson

Citroen BX and a right B---er to adjust the cable when the steel adjuster corroded in the alloy housing.

What are the dates for this please ? Phil T.

Most, or even all, british 4-stroke vertical twin motorcycles are both up together it evens out the power strokes on a 4-stroke engine. Honda on the other hand had some one up-one down 4-stroke twins and they sounded very odd on tick-over or low rev's.

The refurb of the building itself is done. It was designated originally as the Derby Silk Mill Industrial Museum but that all changed a few years ago when almost all its exhibits, except the model railway, were either returned to their owners, such as Rolls Royce Aero or scrapped under a manager whose previous record of unfinished ,hair brained schemes was only discovered after the damage was done. The present management are doing well with ideas for the lower floor but apart from the railway the upper floors are now about empty or used for storage so they have an almost blank canvas. For some reason we're not being told, they want to move the model up a storey and make it smaller. As I noted above I am told the curves are pretty much on minimum radius now, so making it smaller is not really an option. Phil T.

I believe the loco's and rolling stock had been removed but little or nothing else survived the breaking up of the layout by unsympathetic staff. I'm afraid the present model may well go the same way, and a high percentage of the buildings are very accurate replicas of real buildings although in a fictional setting. Just an example, a water tank made up of separate and correct, cast resin replicas of cast iron panels. Without going to the workshop and counting them there are at least seven or eight different size panels, top right & left, bottom right & left etc. and the rest of it was the same standard. Phil T.

I'm afraid that it is not good news. Over the past few years I have been supplying castings to patterns supplied by the (very small number of) people working on the layout. Over that time the people in charge of the museum have changed several times and the number of volunteers has fallen. The folks in charge, not all of whom have apparently actually seen it, seem to think of it as a "train set" which can be dismantled and moved at a whim. It isn't and it cannot, it is not in sections and is built in to the space allotted. Already the curves are tight in the storage area but the new space to be allotted is to be smaller. I saw one of the volunteers a couple of weeks ago and it appears that the last few have given up the struggle and walked out. I feel that unless some sort of high powered protest is made that the whole thing will be scrapped, but on our present council's record of ignoring the people who they represent on far more important matters I don't hold out much hope. Phil T.

100_0672 by Phil Traxson, on Flickr Andy Your tan is as close to these varnished droplights as you are going to get. Despite what the rivet counters say you can't see wood grain at 1/43rd full size. Phil T. PS For the benefit of others click on the photo and it will take you to my flickr album with these on and four F.R. Coaches and three different colours of droplights between them.

I had one of those as my first trainset, battery powered by two U2 batteries in the boiler. It lasted nearly 6 months before the motor let the smoke out. Give them their due it was returned as faulty and was replaced by one that lasted nearly twice as long, at which point Dad gave up and bought me an equally awful looking clockwork loco. Phil T.

Note that they are driving on the right and the writing on the video is in chinese, and yet the title of the collection is UK Car Cams ??? Phil T.

The wedge Princess with a tailgate was called the Ambassador, unfortunately only produced for a couple of years as stop gap before the Montego. The same shape as the Princess, it had better rear visibility as the rear window didn't have to stop for the boot lid and the rear side pillars had windows too. With the fold down rear seats it was an enormous luggage space, we put two push bikes in without any problem without any dismantling of the bikes. Unfortunately the 1700 engine was no use in such a large body shell and the 2000 not much better. I had a Princess with the old 2200 six cylinder lump (a tight fit across the engine space, it would only come out by lifting the car off it), it gathered speed rather than accelerated but was a great and comfortable motorway cruiser, would have liked that engine in the Ambassador. Phil T.

Immediate confiscation of the phone, to be destroyed if the case is proven, would be a better deterrent. Given the amount of information stored on smart phones by most folks this would hit them hard. Phil T.

Sorry to disagree but Tutbury station is on the Derby side of the crossing, not the Uttoxeter side. That combination of loco & coaches appears to be the "Tutbury Jinny" which was a shuttle service between Burton-upon-Trent and Tutbury linking the Crewe -Derby line with Burton, note the push-pull fittings on the side of the loco smokebox. The Nestle factory would be behind and to the right of the photographer. Across the crossing on the right of the line was the coal and goods yard. Phil T.

Hope they are going to lay the rails the right way though, there will be a big groove in the wheels running on that narrow head. Not many railways/tramways run with the wheel flange on the outside of the rail.

Hi John, I would love to produce these as a kit but need to get in touch with the chap I made them for as he paid someone to make the patterns for him and would not be happy at me just using them willy-nilly. Unfortunately I have either mislaid or never had his address to contact him as it was all done face to face at shows and the pattern maker also built them for him. I'm hoping some one on here either knows him or even that he is on this forum so that he gets in touch and I can offer him folding beer vouchers for the patterns and use of them , until then its on hold, sorry. Phil Traxson Port Wynnstay Models

I didn't measure from railtop to the platform height but the coaches do overhang the platforms or certainly the foot boards do, the rail to platform distance is 2' 0". If you go onto the FR/WHR site www.festrail.co.uk ,click on "more info" and then onto "webcam" there is a good view of the WHR loop at Porthmadog which might help, in fact at the moment (13.20)there is a train in the platform! Under "Plan your visit" there are timetables so you can work out when to look at the webcam for some action. Phil T.

From notes and measurements taken late one evening last year on the Welsh Highland run round loop at Porthmadog I have these figures. (after the last train had moved but before I went into Spooners bar) Track centres 8' 6" Sleeper spacing 2' 9" (at rail joints 2' 9"- 2' 6"- 2' 0"- 2' 0"- 2' 6"- 2' 9") Sleepers 4' 6" long x 9" wide x 6" deep(approx. depth as I wasn't disturbing the ballast to measure) Platform height 10" above the sleeper top Under pointwork the sleepers were 2' 0" centres reducing gradually to 1' 6" under the crossing nose. At Minffordd the track centres varied through the loop from 7' 2" to 6' 9" but were a constant distance from the platform edges, but then the old FR has a tighter envelope than the new WHR. Hope this helps Phil T.

50 years since I last used calculus, but the very mention still gives me a headache. Phil T.

Yes, built with engine rear suspension and cross member from the Imp, door handles and catches from the early BMC Mini(including the pull cord on the inside above the door pocket), steering box from a Standard 8 or 10, but upside down, rear lights were Rootes Group too. I built an engine for mine with the standard Imp pistons, rather than the dished van ones the car was supplied with, and a sports cam and cam carrier, put together with a lot of care. I'm sure the speedo was not accurate but it was possible to put the needle on the stop with that engine. Fuel consumption was excellent but oil not so as you couldn't fit the valve stem seals with the sports cam, any prolonged stand on tick-over resulted in a cloud of smoke as you moved off. The aero dynamics of the body were such that if you got through the 50-55 mph band it seemed to become heavier on the steering and was much easier to keep on line, you just had to be a bit brave!!! Phil T.

The handling was atrocious only if you listened to the "experts" who insisted that 3 wheelers should only be fitted with cross-ply tyres, fitted with radials they were only a "little skittish"! I drove my two for thousands of miles over a period of 6 or 7 years as the family car, even towing a trailer for holidays as the luggage space was non-existant. The only problem was that the bolts in the drive rubber do-nuts (and eventually the do-nut)would give up at regular intervals as due to the car being half the weight of the Imp the angle of the drive was greater and they didn't like it. I was as dab hand at changing them by the roadside. The universal joints also suffered from the same problem but at much bigger mileages, neither were helped by my "enthusiastic" driving!! With the engine low down between the rear wheels I only ever got it onto two wheels once and I was being particularly silly at the time. Phil T.

Owen Ryder used to produce them , I believe they are now in "The Avalon Line" range who are based in Glastonbury, Somerset. It might also be worth trying "Minimum Gauge Models" in Halesowen. Phil T.

Put it in perspective though, in 1971 as a maintenance fitter in a foundry, a reasonably well paid job, working weekend overtime you could take home nearly £30 a week after stoppages. Phil T.