gordon s

Hi Mike, tried clicking on your YouTube links, but they are not functioning. Of course it may be my end, but could I ask you to check as I would certainly like to see Wibdenshaw again and to follow your progress.

At least the decoder fits into the tender......I’ll probably have a dig about and remove any capacitors. Currently running in on 12v DC and it seems quiet and smooth.

I’m the same, Mike. I have two pairs of prescriptions glasses with a magnification number of 3.5. They’re like looking through beer bottles, but least they make close up work possible, but even then I’ve noticed a drop off over the last 5 years. I had to pull out a 10x magnifier to see the bracket. Amazed that I even saw something this small in the first place. Checked out the smoke box and there is a hole where the bracket fits, although holding it in long nose tweezers will be fun. Took a look at the footplate and the other side is flat, so it could be an assembly issue. If the loco runs well, then I’ll probably take the body off and see if anything obvious is causing the problem.

Oh b*gger..... I’ll see how it runs first and then make a decision, whether or not to return it. Thanks for your kind comments, but I can’t take credit for the buildings. They came from an early version of Peterborough and were built by the late Allan Downes many years ago. They need a bit of tidying up after all these years, but I don’t want to mess them up...... Just had a ferret around in the box and have no idea if this is the missing bracket. It’s so small that even with a magnifying glass, I can’t be certain. How on earth I’m supposed to fix it in position with my eyesight and sausage fingers is beyond me.....

Ok, a few more pics. Not totally unhappy with the green, but it is lighter than I would have expected. Not in 71000 territory, but suspect some Klear would help. It's likely the loco will be weathered anyway. Same problem as everyone else. Water scoop 180 degrees out.... Just noticed from studying the pics that the footplate appears not to be straight with a distinct wave up and down about halfway along its length. I haven't touched the loco, so don't know if it is a cast metal footplate for weight or a plastic moulding. Certainly needs looking at unless it is distortion from my camera. Off to take a look after lunch....

...so which is the other pic you would like me to rotate as I can't see one.....

Happy to, but I can't see a pic showing under the tender. I'm assuming that's where it is........

Thanks for posting the pics, Mark. Mine should arrive in the next hour and of particular interest is the overall colour. The worst I have ever seen was 71000 Duke of Gloucester from Hornby which really was a washed out green and in the end I sold it as it really grated. Your pics are great, but as David says, there does appear some variation in colour, particularly the third pic. I'm sure I have some Johnson's Klear kicking around, so will wait and see what, if anything is needed. Once I get it out of the box and give it a test run to check all is OK mechanically, I'll post a few more pics. Suprised there are no flanged wheels for the rear truck as per the A4.

Morning all, that was a surreal night chatting away about switch blades with St Enodoc in Australia, particularly as it started at 3.00am..... Thanks for all your input guys. I had a play around this morning and I managed to file one up as suggested, but it seems a lot of very careful work for a very small area. I hadn't ruled it out and it was the first attempt, so I'm sure I could improve. Thankfully Martin came to my rescue this morning..... If you use a solid soldered tie-bar, it is better to make the blade tip as thin and flexible as possible, to relieve stress on the fixing as the blade opens. With a solid fixing the blade is actually forced into a slight reverse S-shape when open, so removing the rail-foot helps. Providing there is sufficient rail thickness left to be soldered to -- it's a good idea with solid soldered blade fixings to reinforce the joint with a rivet or vero pin. Of course all my tie bar fixings are solid and the length of the blade on a C10 turnout is very flexible as there is 135mm of free blade between the last solder fixing and the tie bar itself. On reflection I'll carry on filing it flat and as always, ensure I have a decent fillet of solder between the rail and the tie bar.........

I’m chuckling away to myself as it’s currently 03.40 in the morning here. Sadly the antibiotics I’m on have wrecked my sleep pattern, so I shall be glad to take the last ones tomorrow morning. Funny how such simple things get overlooked, so guilty as charged....... I guess the filing area is limited to the planing length and it’s only come to light from the close up pic. Thanks for raising it as I would never have known. Perhaps I’ll play around on the next turnout build and see how easy it is to do. As always, you’re never too old to learn.....

That’s probably why I never realised before, as the blades are certainly strong enough to handle continual switching from a Tortoise motor. In all those years, I cannot recall any joint failure or blade damage. Looking at a pic above, there are 25 sleepers between the crossing and the tie bar, of which 12 are soldered. This allows the blades to be very flexible which again reduces any strain on the blades or tie bar. It may be an issue on much shorter A or B turnouts with minimal radius, but at this size, not a problem other than purely visual.

Totally intentional as I didn’t know any different...... I refer my honourable colleague to my ‘Disclaimer’ statement, but will see if it can be done. Thinking about it, the rail end would be hidden within the solder blob holding the rail to the tie bar, so perhaps the effort may not be worthwhile from normal viewing distances anyway......

Way back in 2003, I was off work for a while and needed something to occupy my time. Apart from Airfix kits 60 years ago, I hadn't built a kit before, but saw the range of Townstreet buildings and tried one. Enjoyed making it so much, I bought another.....and another. Never really got round to weathering and brick detailing, but had fun with the castings. Here's some pics...

Mind? Not at all. Pictures of hand built track are always welcome here..... Some beautiful flowing curves Jonathan, that really can only be done with hand construction and Templot. There was another reason why I stayed with pcb construction and that was the sheer number of turnouts within ET. I’m guessing the final plan has over 70 turnouts and whilst I have built one chaired turnout before, the sheer learning curve to quickly and accurately build that number of turnouts meant I took the easy option. Knowing that Hornsey Broadway used pcb pointwork and I had never noticed before, just confirmed the decision was the right one for me.

OK, just to finish this build, here are a few more pics from this afternoon. At some point you have to transition from 16.5mm to connect to whichever flexible track you are using. Years ago I used to make that change within the turnout, but soon learnt the error of my ways, so I use 16.2mm gauges throughout and only make the transition to 16.5mm in the last 30mm or so. Typically like this... Once both crossings are complete there are four point blades that require filing. Martin has very kindly supplied planing lengths within Templot, so I use a very simple jig with a ratchet clamp to hold the rail in place and use a large file to create the shape. I file one side flat first, remove it from the jig and pull in back in line before turning it over and then filing the other side to the required planing length. John (Hayfield) has clearly shown this before, but the route that curves away, does require a set bend in the rail and then a short straight section before curving away. The positions of these are shown on the Templot diagram. Last job in the build is to attach the tie rod. For years I have used a PCB strip and have never had one come apart as I use Tortoise motors that generate no shock whatsoever on the blades. From the common crossing I solder back 12 sleepers towards the tie bar which leave loads of flexibility remaining in the blades. I do use a shim of card/paper under the blades when I solder to just raise the blades a few thou and remove any drag on the blades when they move across. This lifts the blade a few thou above the rail, but a few strokes with a needle file across the top of the blades allows them to sit snugly and provide a smooth change of direction. The 20p coin is perfect for spacing the blade away from the stock rail. In essence, that's it, job done......apart from the electrical gapping, a good scrub in hot soapy water and a coat of red oxide primer plus track colour. Disclaimer: I said at the outset, there are many ways to build pointwork. This method works for me, but I fully accept I make compromises and the finished article is not a scale representation of a C10 crossover. For a start there are no chairs...... It is just a way to generate free flowing pointwork which in itself offers loads of flexibility in layout design. I would rather have smooth running quality any day over poorly built chaired pointwork. Every time I look at Hornsey Broadway, I'm taken in by the whole scene and had never noticed Kier uses pcb turnouts on his wonderful layout. I probably still wouldn’t have noticed if he hadn't mentioned it a year or so ago. If I can get a finished product anywhere near that standard, I will be a very happy man. Up until a few years ago, I had never built a turnout and never believed I could. Go on, give it a try. You really only need a few gauges and a bit of patience. Turn on the radio and enjoy........

Just had a mail from Hatton's, that mine has been despatched this afternoon, although they do say it is sold out. Looking forward to seeing it tomorrow....

Most enjoyable presentation and great to see Accurascale moving into steam. Chuffed for all the GWR fans.......

Hi Kier, just decided to take a break from building pointwork and saw this post. Many thanks for showing my favourite show layout in video. I still have part two to watch later today, but so many memories came flooding back of the approaches into KX and North London as a whole. I could have sat and watched all day..... Thanks for taking the time to show us Hornsey Broadway.....Wonderful!

A little light relief....

Very good indeed. They have completely changed their manufacturing process and they now use a similar technique to their range of pre cut sleepers. There are 100 sleepers per sheet or 25 4mm pcb strips. They are easily broken away from the surround and all the edges are sharp. One thing I did notice is that the pcb strips are 1.2mm and the pre cut sleepers 1.45mm. No idea why, but as that’s just 0.25mm or 10 thou, it doesn’t appear an issue. All are single sided fibre glass. Price wise, they are excellent at £13.50 for 18’ of strip. This was the pricing when the strips were separate, so by my reckoning, a sheet of 25 would be £18.75. Postage at £9.00 seemed a little on the high side, particularly as it came via Hermes, but the price of the strips was excellent so I just accepted it as part of the overall cost. I would certainly use them again......

Yes I do. The picture is slightly misleading as I took it before soldering the third joint just above the knuckle bend. It’s then very simple to align the shim along the crossing vee and then use a small pair of long nose pliers to make the bend in line with the drawing. Once the knuckle angle is set correctly, I solder the remaining two joints and then repeat the process with the second wing rail. Here I turn the shim to a vertical position where is acts as both the 1mm clearance for the wing rail and then doubles up to indicate the bend position. Of course the drawing is only a guide as every piece of rail is set using gauges. I’m sure it’s been said many times before, the knuckle bend is not a sharp bend, so doing it in situ provides a smooth knuckle that accurately guides the wheels in or out of the crossing.

That all makes sense....but when did common sense win over force of habit...... I gap all mine when I’ve finished using the edge of a slitting disc in my Proxxon drill. I make all the cuts as close to the inner rail as I can, the idea being it’s harder to see inside the layout and your eye is naturally drawn down the centre line of the two rails. I know the gaps should be filled, but find by offsetting them they almost become invisible once filled with paint. It’s back to what level of compromise you can accept and the return on time invested. Edit: Forgot to say I split the gapping to make life simple. First isolate the frogs on both turnouts and then test for any continuity between the outer rails and the central crossing areas. Only once you test both crossings and have no continuity, do I slit the remainder. This splits the whole testing for shorts into manageable chunks and will save a lot of time in the long run. I did have an issue a few months ago where the sleepers were interleaved and I eventually found it was one sleeper touching both rails inside the supposed isolated part of the crossing. I have now moved the isolation cuts in the rails further away from the interleaved section and that solved the problem completely.

Morning all...Glad to say things are looking up and hopefully I've turned a corner of sorts..... Talking of turning corners, I've made a start on the last crossover and whilst building it realised that over the years I have changed my way of building pcb turnouts, so here's a few pics of this mornings work. Starting point is my Templot print for the large C10 crossover. I use pre cut sleepers for normal timbers and have now changed to Marcway/SMP single sided 4mm strip for all turnout timbers. I use a low tack double sided tape to hold them in place as it's very easy to adjust them slightly as you go along. First job is to fit all the plain timbers and interleave them around the crossings. I have a small Proxxon saw to cut all the main timbers to length and being single sided there is no need to gap the rear to prevent shorts. Some see soldering as a bit of a black art, but providing you have clean joint surfaces and a good quality iron with plenty of heat, the solder should just flow into the joint. I use a multicore 60/40 solder from RS. I have tried Hydrox solder, but didn't like the smell it gave off and it seemed to have a watery flow when heat was applied. It will get used, but not on pointwork. Even though these are new strips from Marcway, I always give them a good scrub with a fibre glass pencil to remove any surface film. There are loads of ways of building turnouts and I guess we have our way of doing things. Mine is slightly different in terms of the order of build, but it suits me and seems to work well. First job is to file the V using the tried and trusted EMGS filing jigs. I bought a pair of these years ago and they have been used ever since. Well worth the money and they make the job very easy. The jig for crossing angles 5,6,7 & 8 is much smaller, but rarely gets used on ET as most of my pointwork is C10 or D12. Once filed to the correct shape, I solder the half vee directly to the sleepers and then file the other half and repeat. I like to solder the whole vee to the pcb strip, so very carefully apply a tiny drop of solder to the blunt nose tip for electrical continuity. Once the vee is in place, add the wing rails and use the 1mm shim to set them correctly for 00SF. These are simply made from short lengths of rail. Place in position to get the flare position and solder. Using the same shim, you can align this along the rail to determine the knuckle bend position. Repeat the process the other side and you will have most of the crossing completed. I tend to go off piste at this point as I realise the dimensions in the crossing area really are critical, so I fit the check rails, long before the outer rails. I find it allows me plenty of space to set them correctly and in any case the dimensions to the outer rails are not that critical. The position of the check rails is accurately set using the 00SF gauges. Despite appearances to the contrary, the check rails are in the correct position and not out from the drawing. I guess it's simply an optical illusion.... As this is a crossover, I use continual rail from one vee to the other, preferring to build the whole thing in one go. This means the second vee is now filed up and fixed in position. This is then correctly gauged to 16.2mm right through the whole crossover with the change to 16.5mm limited to the last two or three sleepers on the plain track. Eventually you should end up with something that looks like this. The 1mm shim and 16.2mm gauges are both used to accurately space the outer rails. Close up photography can be cruel, so before this crossover is prepared for painting, I will check all the solder joints to ensure they are all 100%. The final test I have is an Bachmann chassis with Markits wheels. This uses a relatively tight side play 0-6-0 set up and before I push on with the switch rails etc, my goal is to push this test chassis through the crossing and not to be feel any sign of the crossing at all. I hope you found this useful. Just a simple method that works for me. A full C10 crossover takes me around 3-4 hours to complete from scratch and personally, I find it quite therapeutic as concentrating on the build shuts out everything else.... To be continued....

Evening all..... Although I've been lurking around in odd threads over the last two weeks, my posts were from hospital rather than home. Since the 13th, I've been back in twice to have stents fitted in my bile ducts which may solve the problem or at least provide an interim solution to my soaring bilirubin levels. I was dreading the procedure based on a previous experience, but so very glad to say I was sedated and never felt a thing when they stuck 3' of camera tube down my throat and then managed to slide a 120mm stent backwards into each bile duct. I can only stand in awe at the skills and technology required to even consider such a thing. Still not 100%, but hopefully I will certainly be better than before in a week or two and at least having taken some scrapings from the bile ducts they may be able to determine the cause of the problem. The good news is that whilst I was away, Marcway delivered 90' of 4mm strip for more crossover building. I just have one more to complete and then it will be a case of lifting old track work and fitting the new. That really is the last job on the main circuits and I was happy to get upstairs again today to start visualising some of the scenic elements. As it stands ET is a four track test circuit where trains just trundle around smoothly and quietly. I'm so pleased I took a lot of time setting up the boards and track carefully at the outset as everything just runs with no sign of hesitation or stalling. The track hasn't been cleaned for weeks, but it just works. Taking a leaf from Barry's instruction to test, test, test, I plonked some random stock on the circuits and happily ran four trains for an hour or so. Of course these have had little work done to them, but that can wait until the main circuits are completed and signed off. Note to self....I must stop parking locos on platforms....

Does this help? The switch only moves to the right or to the left one segment and you simply hold the switch in the direction of rotation until you get to the exit track you need. Sorry phatbob, our posts crossed.