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Fen End Pit

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  1. Fen End Pit
    So the fifth baseboard got drawn, cut and constructed, together with the cork for the track bed. Then I got as far as sticking down the sleepers and laying 3 feet of track before the temptation to 'play trains' took over. As I now have a little bit of track at either end of the loop I can now pass trains. I got a variety of stock out of the cupboard to make sure it would run.
     
    A Cravens DMU (Bachmann) arrives from Cambridge passing the goods yard, the reason for a Class 31 and 4 Mk1s in the layby is a mystery!
     

     
    Shortly afterwards the ancient E4 (Alan Gibson kit) ]wheezes into view with a pair of elderly Gresley coaches. (The E4 is notoriously fussy and I'm very pleased that the leading wheel doesn't fall off over the cross-over.)
     

     

     
    Passing the coal siding the E4 slows into the Cambridge bound platform...
     

     
    and then having past the token to the signalman, who requests and get the road, the DMU continues on its way to Colchester. Just level with the rear of the DMU there will ultimately be an over-bridge. This had the advanced starter on one side and the home signal on the other. The original track here was straights not curved as the Stour Valley didn't have to go around a bend to fit into a room. I'm wondering about the positioning of the home as it might look better 'on the wrong side' for sighting purposes.
     
     
     
    I even managed to video the whole thing!
     

     
    Now I have to stop playing for a while and actually get on with laying the rest of the track!
     
    David
  2. Fen End Pit
    After a couple of weeks I've now completed the cross-over and catch point on the fourth baseboard. Following prompting from 'Western Star' I redrew the cross-over using a pair of C8 turnouts which meant I could use the pre-prepared Vs I'd bought from C&L earlier in the year. I'm quite pleased with the results. I also managed to get the baseboard pretty much wired up.
     
    Wiring up is quite straight-forward with DCC and the MERG control system CBUS.
     
    I drilled loads of holes and threaded through loads of short 'dropper wires', Red for the rear rail, Black for the front rail and then a different colour for each V which needs to be switched.
     

     
    The MERG CBUS controls an 8 output accessory controller which drives a pair of 4 relay boards. On those relays one output drives the input of a four Servo control board while the other output switches the V. This method means that once the circuit boards have been installed the actual wiring to the track is really easy. The rest of the control, the what level makes what point move, is all done in software.
     
    So, here is a picture of my Heljan Class 15 shunting the coal siding.
     

     
    The driver's view from the locomotive shows the end of the loop and the line to Long Melford you can see the route into the Cambridge bound platform.
     

     
    Looking back the other way (the camera is looking from the lay-by track)
     

     
    I'm now progressing on the cutting drawing for the fifth board and hope to get that cut during the week.
     
    I hope you enjoy seeing the progress.
     
    David
  3. Fen End Pit
    A couple of blog postings ago I included a photograph of my Claud in the platform waiting for more track to be built before it could proceed towards Long Melford. Well it didn't have to wait too long before it could go at least a little further. The siding kicks back behind the station master's garden and it is just long enough for four coal wagons. The siding was reconfigured between 1953 and 1957 as far as I can see.
     
    Now all I've got to do is build a pair of B10 turnouts to close the loop.
     


     
    Wish me luck.
     
    David
  4. Fen End Pit
    I got back to building more pointwork today, the first for some time. One job I always feel a bit wary about is getting the joggle in the stock rail where the end of the switchblade fits. One of the recommended ways to do this is to bend the rail twice with a pair of pliers. I've always found this a bit hard, because you need to get the two bends accurate or else you end up with the rail bent in the vertical plane and then nothing will ever run over the point correct ever.
     
    What we are after is a rail bend like this...
     

     
    I've come up with a way to do this which I've not seen written up before. I've christened is 'The Jogglater'.
    All it consists of is a piece of nickel-silver with a notch about 2mm wide cut out of it, the nickel-silver is quite meaty, the material left over from an 'old fashioned' kit's mainframe etch.
     

     
    The length of rail to joggle is put through the slot and positioned in a sturdy vice ensuring that rail is parallel with the top of the Jogglater which means the sides of the slot are at right-angles to the rail.
     

     
    Squeezing the vice firmly makes the rail bend, putting in the necessary Joggle.
     

     
    You need to make a two, one for pressing the left-hand rail and one for the right-hand rail. Once used the tools stay in the shape put you don't want to keep rebending them in alternate directions of the metal with fracture.
     
    The final rail should then have a suitable joggle in it and, most importantly, is should continue to be straight in the vertical direction. This can be checked by holding against a flat surface, there should not be any gap between the rail and the flat surface over its length.
     

     
    Then all you have to do is thread a load of chairs on and set to with the track gauges.
     
    David
  5. Fen End Pit
    A good few hours in TurboCAD, followed by some time on the laser cutter produced parts for the fourth baseboard for my Stour Valley project. This board was a bit more complex than the previous three because it needed to accommodate the small stream which I think was originally part of the moat of the castle. I only had to recut one piece where I screwed up the drawing which is pretty good going!
     
    The ply was stuck together with Gorilla glue, which got me thinking, do they make it from Gorillas or for sticking Gorillas back together when their arms fall off?
     



     
    This board will take considerably longer for the track to get laid than the previous platform board because it has the point for the coal siding and its catch point, the cross-over at the Long Melford end of the station and the catch point for lay-by siding. A bit more work than the two 4 foot lengths of plain track on the previous baseboard.
     
    Next up will be transferring the Templot track plan onto 6mm cork.
     
    David
  6. Fen End Pit
    Over the last couple of weeks I managed to get the remaining line in the platform laid and wire up the remainder of the track. The result means that I can now play at shunting trains in and out of the goods yard.I tried with a mix bag of stock in terms of springing/compensation/solid axles and my fussiest locomotive - an unsprung Hornby class 31 (must order new sprung chassis from Mr Rumney soon). I filmed the result.
     

     
    We had a few days away last week and stayed in a beautifully renovated station at Rowden Mill near Bromyard on the old Worcester to Leominster line. The station was restored by the previous owner and is now available as a holiday cottage https://www.rowdenmillstation.uk/
     

     
    The platform has a line of track and there is a ground frame and some shunting signals.
     

     
    A wagon sits in the cattle dock.
     

     
    The original signal diagram is framed in the old waiting room (now lounge)
     

     
    Yesterday was a trip to Scaleforum at Aylesbury. I bought some more rail so I can start on the next baseboard!
     
    David
  7. Fen End Pit
    Having got the Marks Tey bound platform road laid together with the remainder of the track on the second baseboard I thought I'd celebrate with a bit of stock and some photographs. Having 4 coaches pass the 'Wheeeeeeeee' test along the main line was most satisfying! I've got enough rail to finish the Cambridge platform but will need to get some more from Scaleforum.
     
    A J15 sits with the pickup goods in the yard. This siding was also used as a lay-by. For some reason Clare castle has been replaced by a multi-way block!
     

     
    In the other direction an N7 leaves Cambridge bound with a pair of Gresley coaches on a local passenger service.
     

     
    At the other end of the yard 3 wagons wait for a load of sugar beet. How this siding was shunted is a problem because the point at the other end is directly in front of the good shed door. A locomotive would have had to enter the shed in order to gain access. I suspect it was horse or rope shunted but I don't see any signs of either a stable or capstan. Does anyone out there know?
     

     
    In the east bound platform sits a rake of Mk1's and a parcels van waiting for the rest of the layout to get built! Somehow Takeley's water tower has turned up in Clare!
     

     
    So next up in finishing the track laying on the 3rd board, getting the new track wired up (Simple as it is DCC and I already have the MERG CBUS and Server drivers available for the points) and then I think I get to cut the next board....
     
    A quick update on the personal front..... Finished the 8th cycle of Chemo last week and the follow-up MRI scan shows that it has done what was hoped. Much relief in the Fen End Pit household..
     
    David
  8. Fen End Pit
    I've managed to get a fair bit of modeling in over the last week working on a variety of projects.
     
    The major project was getting the Stour Valley P4 layout back up on its own new legs. It was previously on the legs used for Fen End Pit so I had to dismantle it every time I went out to a show. Getting the 3rd baseboard up then encouraged me into some track laying, this went well but threading Exactoscale chairs onto rail is even harder than normal when your finger tips are tingling from chemotherapy drugs! I've managed to get another 6 feet of track laid and once I've wired it up should be able to play at shunting pickup goods trains into the yard for shunting.
     

     
    I also got to paint/weather my first bit of wall.First up a picture of what I was aiming for...
     

     
    I found an Vallejo 'model wash' and tried it first on a bit of test wall. Pleased with the results using the 'Grey' wash I then tried adding a bit of their white acrylic to add just a bit more pigment and lighten the effect. I was pretty happy with the results. You can adjust the tone quite a lot with multiple washes, I could try adding a bit of their green wash but I think that might be a bit too much as I suspect the lichen colour might not have been quite so prevalent 50 years ago.
     

     
    Finally I also got around to getting the airbrush out and priming the Slater's Simplex. Quite pleased with the coverage and texture ( no 'Orange Peel' ). I've also replaced the DCC chip I fried so the chassis is complete again. The loco has so many 'sticky out bits' that I'm not sure how (or whether) to try and mask it. I'm suspecting I might need to apply an 'all over green' coat and then pick out various details with a brush afterwards.
     
    The picture has the fuel tank removed as that fits on, with the speaker inside, once I've finished.
     

     
    It's nice to actually feel I've achieved something...
     
    David
  9. Fen End Pit
    Yesterday was spent with Fen End Pit in the loco shed at Page's Park. The conditions were far from ideal as the temperatures were in the 30s and the shed environment was pretty filthy, not a combination designed to allow model railway layouts to function flawlessly. The 009 and O16.5 guys were in the cleanliness of the station building but the larger scales were in the shed. Temperatures and dirty made several things fail, I had to jury rig the power to the conveyor and revolving screen at one point. Trying to work under the layout on a oil stained floor didn't improve my temper and the trousers I was wearing have been consigned to the bin today.
     
    Despite these tribulations the layout was appreciated by a lot of people and it was great to meet and chat to lots of people. Seeing several 'rmwebbers' to put faces to names was particularly good.
     
    Not wishing to appear to moan but I think the issues with the catering should be mentioned, if only to get the LBNGR to reconsider who they give the franchise in their cafe too. The organisation and attitude of the franchisee would have made Basil Fawlty proud. They appear to have been totally unprepared for the numbers of people to cater for, even though they had presumably been told how main exhibitors were coming and had some idea of the numbers of visitors expected (which was sadly down on last year). However they appeared to only start preparing any food as it was ordered, including running out to the local supermarket to buy basic ingredients. Time from order to delivery increased during the morning to over one hour and several exhibitors left before their food had been delivered (bet the franchisee still tries to claim the value of their lunch tickets). complaints and concerns were met with a 'don't care' attitude and general rudeness which unfortunately left a bad taste in peoples' mouths. The LBNGR need to remove this vendor as quickly as possible to avoid reputational damage.
     
    On a lighter note here is a picture of Doll leaving with the first train of the morning.
     

     
    David
  10. Fen End Pit
    Exhibiting a layout can be a hard work and great care has to be taken to avoid damaging the layout. Stock and 'removable' scenic feature are also liable to damage in transport so packing can be very important. Having an 'everything in its place and a place for everything', approach limits both the potential to forget to take things and the potential for damage.
     
    So this week I've been making boxes to help transport bits of Fen End Pit.
     
    First up is are the boxes that fit the new large engine shed, a load of various power supplies and controllers and the dragline. (the box with the 'nose' is the one that takes the dragline jib. The plan is that these fit nicely in the foot well of the car when the seats are down.
     

     
    I designed a standard loco box which fits each of my narrow gauge locos. These 'unfold' around the loco holding it gently in place with foam. The 'jig-saw' tab on the top ensures that they remain closed. These boxes have 6mm ply bottom and ends and 3mm ply sides and top, the result is light but sturdy.
     



     
    Finally, one of the concerns I've always had taking the layout out is what happens if I have a catastrophic failure of the DCC system. Given that if the command station or booster fails I would not be able to run any trains at all I decided that having a spare would be a good idea. As I am now using the MERG kits for both buying and building a second control box wasn't a ridiculous cost (~£60 for the CAN-CMD and NB1B booster).
     
    I've put these in a box which is the same size as the loco boxes, just added some additional vents and lots of sockets on the ends.
     

     

     
    So the preparations for our second outing with the rebuilt Fen End Pit to Leighton Buzzard continue, I still have to sort out a better box to put the wagons in, but we are getting there.
     
    David
  11. Fen End Pit
    This afternoon I spent a few hours on the CAD and laser cutter. I started off making the last diagonal bracing and sticking that in. I cheated a bit this time around and purchased a length of 45 degree timber molding. This meant I could put in the diagonals without the pain of having to sand the ends of the brace to 45 degrees. The resulting baseboard has virtually no 'wiggle' despite only having 50mm deep framing.
     

     
    I also spent a few minutes removing the cork underlay where the platform is going to be around the end of the loading dock. I wanted to try and get the construction of the platform 'right' based on the prototype. However I came up with a serious problem, I had taken multiple photographs of the platform at Clare last week and almost every bit of the platform appears to be constructed (or more likely reconstructed) differently. Particularly there is an issue with the slight overhang on the platform where the course which this step occurred was different depending on which bit of platform I looked at! Clearly some of the platform has been rebuilt since closure to ensure the platform remained safe for the public using the country park.
     
    I decided to try and make the cut below the 3rd course of brickwork. I've just used a strip of thin card behind to put the brickwork slightly forward by about .75mm.
     

     
    I also wanted to try and see if I could cut the very fine grooves in the brick edge of the platform in anything like a realistic size. Amazingly the laser cutter actually seemed to be able to achieve this. It will be interesting to see how this looks once painted.
     

     
    I've just tried sitting the completed platform top on the side just to see how it looks.
     

     
    What do you think?
     
    David
  12. Fen End Pit
    A wander around Clare country park on Saturday (boy it was hot!) spurred me on to cutting the plywood for the next baseboard of my Stour valley project. Last time we went a few years back the station building was all boarded up and in a pretty sorry state. Fortunately it is now opened up again as a Tea room and it did a very decent bacon bap and cheese toastie. The booking hall is available for eating and features some nice photographs and map of the station.
     

     

     
    Construction is all from 6mm ply, laser cut and glued. I got almost all the tabs and slots right first time (which was pleasing) and then stuck two bits together the wrong way and had to cut them again (which wasn't!).
     
    Today I transferred the Templot track drawing onto 6mm cork and cut it to fit between the platform edges. This gives a decent guide where to stick down the ply sleepers.
     

     

     
    Once I have the Marks Tey bound platform track built I'll be able to play at reversing pickup goods trains into the yard for a spot of shunting.
     
    I don't expect to get much done for the rest of the week, a new armful of drugs tomorrow will probably see me sleeping 23 hours a day based on previous form.
     
    David
  13. Fen End Pit
    Progress on the Slaters Simplex took a step back , a combination of 'Chemo lethargy' and 'cock up'. I was dismantling the loco prior to getting it ready to prime the body work and decided to try and test run the chassis having slightly increased the back-to-back to make it run through my points correctly. Unfortunately disaster struck and the DCC sound chip let the magic smoke out. A repair/replacement is on its way I hope thanks to Digitrains.
     
    I also decided to revisit my decision to abandon the 'Stour valley project' which I had made when I first got my unpleasant diagnosis back in February. At the end of the day none of us knows how long we have but what I do know is that I have more time available for modelling now than I've ever had before and I had damn well better make use of it!
     
    To that end I packed up the centre boards of Fen End Pit and got back out of the garage the two boards I'd built which had the goods yard for Clare built on them. There was a bit of work to do replacing a relay board I'd 'borrowed' for Fen End Pit but the track is now all wired and working back to the point I had previously got to. That has given me the chance to run a P4 loco up and down again which has been fun.
     

     

     
    I've got the next baseboard pretty much drawn up ready to cut, that will feature the platforms and station building.
     
    Also I've restarted work on a old old old project.
     
    A few years ago I was given a kit for a Crownline J20 which a friend had had 'maturing' in his cupboard. The packing date on the box says it all.
     

     
    The kit is very much 'old school', had drawn artwork for the etches (you can tell as they are sometimes not quite a symmetrical as you might like). The biggest issue I've had so far is with the splashers over the wheels. These were clearly designed to house oversize wheels with steam-roller flanges and were about 2-3mm too big in terms of their diameter, This has meant a lot of work because the holes for them in the foot-plate were equally oversized.
     

     
    I've got one side completed now and it isn't looking too bad. As an experiment I tried modelling up the sandboxes in 3D CAD and then printing on the resin printer. I was quite happy with the results and may opt to use them rather than battling with the rather crude etches of the kit. Amazingly the little .5mm x..5mm L section around the bottom of the sandbox came out in the print. Bear in mind this is ~10mm x 5mm x 6mm.
     

     
    Hoping for a 'site visit' to Clare over the weekend for some more photographs if I can stay awake long enough with the current quantity of drugs and the heat!
     
    David
  14. Fen End Pit
    The Ely Show was great, it was good to meet up and chat with several rmwebbers as well as various current and ex-colleagues. The layout operated well all day with faults limited to a broken rail joint on one point, a missing or failed dropped to one switch blade and a missing uncoupling magnet, not too bad for the first outing of a completely rebuilt layout. We had more troubles getting everything in the car than I would have liked but I think we just to learn how to back it better. The public reaction was very pleasing, being voted 'Best layout' was very nice.
     
    I'd like to record my thanks to the Ely Club, I'm not a member even though we are local. The show was extremely well organised, we arrived to set up on Friday night to be met by a team of club members all asking to help. We had 'our spot' marked out so people knew where we were going to be (You'd be surprised how many shows we have been to where you waste 1/2 hour trying to find someone who can tell you where they want you to assemble the layout!). Arrangements for exhibitors were good and the lunch catering extremely so (excellent shepherd's pie and apple crumble!). I know that these things take a lot of organising so I'm glad to hear theat the day was successful from the club's point of view too.
     
    Bottom line, if you get an invitation to attend the Ely show, take it, it is a good day out!
     
    Since getting home I've hit the 5th cycle of chemo so had the requisite week mostly asleep (fortunately without the trip the A&E, 2 days in hospital and industrial quantities of antibiotic required for 4th cycle!). I did manage to make it to visit RailEx and was then cream-crackered for several days afterwards (it was worth it as RailEx is such a good show).
     
    Still what you really wanted to see was some more progress on the Slater's Simplex. Sometimes with a kit there is a bit you are just not looking forward to, in this case I was worried about how the etch brass bonnet was going to go together. Straight-forward answer - easier than expected -. The etch rolled up nicely and fitted together well, even the reinforcing bits around the base fitted together nicely. I was really concerned about making the bonnet hinge using a small diameter tube but that managed to go together in about an hour on Friday night. The result is very pleasing, the bonnet sides each open as required to show the engine detail underneath and when closed the fit looks good.
     

     

    You can see the connector for the speaker sticking out, the speaker hides in the fuel tank and this get hidden too in the end.
     

     
    You'll notice I have yet to fit the brake wheel yet. the issue is not knowing exactly where to rotate the handle to because I haven't sorted out a driver yet and don't know where his hand will end up.
     

     

     
    I've just positioned a 'Perfect People' seated driver on the loco. I'm not going to use this figure but try to modify one to have his limbs slightly more suitably posed.
     
    Nearly time to get out the primer.
     
    David
  16. Fen End Pit
    With the Ely show rapidly approaching a couple of afternoon's help from my friends managed to complete the lighting rig. This is formed of a box girder made from 3mm ply, three rows of 'warm white' LEDs and two rows of colour changing LEDs. I also had to make a 'gallows bracket' for the centre of the layout. The whole lot got a coat of blue to match the facia and the result looks pretty professional, even though I say it myself.
     

     
    The LEDs seem to work well, and being able to adjust the colour balance slightly seems to work well.
     

     
    A 'Snag List' was produced which features lots of little jobs which are hopefully a few minutes each. I needed to improve a couple of scenic areas where changes to the layout meant that things didn't quite look right. Four inches were added to the board with the drag line on it and I've used the space to add a dumped wagon chassis slowly getting lost in the weeds.
     

     
    At the other end of the layout I'd moved the oil tank to go next to the new engine shed and this left a hole next to the siding ideal as a place to put some scrap wagons and other bits of old metal. It needs some more work but is going in the right direction.
     

     
    I've also done a bit of work on completing my Ruston LAT which has been half built for over a year. I wasn't happy with my first attempts to model the engine in 3D CAD or the quality of the print on my FDM printer. I redrew the engine with some more detail and printed on the resin DLP printer. The print took about three hours and came out on the build platform like this.
     

     
    I'd modeled the engine block to have a space on the top of the engine to hold a speaker. This has a space behind it about 8mm deep to act as a resonating chamber, the wires to the speaker can be attached and weathered to become part of the engine compartment.
     

     
    The left and right hand side of the engine compartment look a lot better than the previous efforts.
     

     

     
    The locomotive is coming together nicely. I'm considering adding an 'after market' exhaust modification. One of the first things to go on these engines was the exhaust and in a lot of cases the owners would look for a local replacement. This is probably mean a new exhaust pipe and silencer bolted to the corner of the cab and will make a nice contrast with the already completed LBT.
     

     
    Finally a few hours on Friday night was spent on the Slater's Simplex. I had to get a bit creative with the supports for the fuel tank as I want to be able to remove it to gain access to the speaker. I'm now down to three brass castings to attach, one of which is the brake wheel which is kind of dependent how long the driver's arm is!
     



     
    Hope you like the pictures
     
    David
  17. Fen End Pit
    This is not one of those blog entries about 'lost modeling mojo' or real life getting in the way but rather, hopefully, some useful ideas on layout support.
     
    Many years ago a company called IKEA introduced Britain to the delights of IVAR shelving. This simple system used pine uprights and pine shelves, and to keep everything upright steel cross-braces needed to be purchased. The first usage I can remember for layouts was on Middlepeak wharf and several other people copied the idea! To complicate things IKEA changed the design of the braces slightly and there are now two lengths 100mm and 80cm.
     

     
    The standard 100mm brace is probably at its maximum with a distance of 75-80cm between the leg uprights.
     

     
    Now that distance was fine on the original, two baseboard, version of Fen End Pit. Using four upright leg units I could support the layout. However as Fen End Pit grew and more legs were added the displacement between the position of the legs and the area of the baseboards which needed support became more problematic. We ended up with one baseboard supported by a leg almost in the centre and the two boards either side. This needed to be the last board put in place when we put the layout up and it was always a bit of a faff to get it into place.
     
    So when I started to plan the revised Fen End Pit I knew I needed to come up with some way to make the legs and the baseboards match. The difficulty was getting around the limitations of the, otherwise ideal, IVAR cross-brace. The solution came to me while on my way back from one of our Friday nights out, luckily John was driving so the eureka moment didn't have any unfortunate side effects (or impacts). The load on the actual cross-brace isn't particularly heavy, so if I simply got a second cross-brace I could do a 'cut-and-shut' job. Joining the two lengths of brace with a length of brass tube and cyano.
     

     
    The resulting structure now has legs which match with the ends of the frames of each baseboard. Ignore the book case, in the railway room each unit has a bookcase underneath but it isn't structural!
     

     
    Originally the leg uprights on Fen End Pit sat inside the baseboard framing and the top of the leg rested on the bottom of the baseboard. This isn't ideal as the strength is obviously in the framing. However, balancing baseboard frames on the top of legs isn't really a good idea, particularly at a public exhibition with children (though somehow in my experience it is often people who should know better who rock the layout).
     
    My solution to this is to use a simple ply shape at the top of the leg to provide positive location for the baseboard frame. The slot in the ply needs to be wide enough to take the thickness of two frame thicknesses (in my case 12mm each) plus, and this is critical, the space needed for the baseboard alignment dowels to come apart.
     

     
    As you can see this gives a secure 'seat' for the end of the baseboard to sit in. I can now sit any baseboard in place, in any order, and should sit firmly.
     

    Just a few words about how the baseboards get put together. As you can see the laser cut ply frames had holes cut in it and was made double thickness to give a total 12mm of material. You can see that there are 'bullet' type connectors of 9mm diameter and a hole for an M6 bolt (these are cut at about 8mm diameter because I use a threaded 'pronged T' on each side. This means I can just carry the bolts and not have to mess about with wing-nuts to hold the boards together. A socket spanner makes light work of tightening the boards together.
     

     
    The 2-pin connector takes the DCC power to the rails and the other RJ-45 connection takes the rest of the control and power for the MERG CBUS control system.
     
    I hope all of this is of interest to someone, if you want a closer look at the real thing then see you at Ely on the 19th May.
     
    David
  18. Fen End Pit
    We had a busy week on Fen End Pit, the Easter break meant additional assistance was available from my Son so we managed to complete the cutting and fixing of backscenes and the revisions to the layout legs to better support the boards.
     
    Friday evening meant another night out and a chance to work on the Slater's Simplex. It is convenient to have a project which can be 'carried out' away from the workbench. The buffer plates, couplings got stuck on to the ends.
     

     
    Also the axleboxes and the axlebox guides got stuck on too (Yes I can see there is some set epoxy to remove!)
     

     

     
    I also decided to have a go at reprinting some of the parts waiting to go on my Ruston LAT last seen at http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/186/entry-15979-ruston-latlbt-now-made-progress-on-the-lat/
     
    Previously I had printed the gearbox and engine parts on the Ultimaker in Makespace, a traditional FDM printer which uses extruded filament. I thought I'd have a go on my new DLP resin based printer to compare.
     

     
    You can see on the green filament printed version that there isn't much detail on the top surface and there is a fair amount of 'ridging' visible from the filament layers. I've not treated this part in any way and would usually prime and sand which sorts out the surface texture somewhat but tends to loose even more detail.
     

     
    Compare this with the resin version from the DLP printer. The curved surfaces are smooth, the flat surfaces flat and the bolt heads on the top came out perfectly.
     

     
    I also printed a pair of new buffer beams/weights, these again have a much better finish than the FDM version, I've modeled a pocket in the rear of them to take a piece of lead to give the loco some more weight in the right place.
     

     
    Finally a great day out was had at the 16mm Associations Garden Railway show at Peterborough yesterday. It was good to catch up with some old friends and chat with new ones. I'm particularly looking forward to seeing Campbell's Quarry again (featuring, not one, but two 10RB models) as we are both booked to attend the show in the engine shed at Leighton Buzzard in August.
     
    I made an interesting purchase for Fen End Pit from PDF models, they have just brought out a 3D printed kit for a Bedford 'O' series LWB lorry in 16mm. Scale vehicles in 16mm scale are not easy to come by, you can find things in 1:24 and occasionally 1:22 but not 1:19. The quality of the printed parts looks very good and I'm rather looking forward to putting this together. My wife says I should 'make it go' but I'm not sure that is really possible.
     

     
    David
  19. Fen End Pit
    I managed to get some more work done on Fen End Pit's washing plant over the last couple of days. The 3D printed steps got installed and the power up to the washer motor got routed into a conduit. Overall I'm pleased with the result.
     

     

     
    Now 'An announcement'
     
    Fen End Pit was booked to appear at the Ely MRC's show on 19th May 2018. http://www.elymrc.org.uk/exhibition.html .When I received my news back in January I felt I had no choice but to withdraw the layout as I did not expect to be able to attend. My good friend Geraint Hughes (Middlepeak of this parish) had kindly offered to stand in. Having got over the initial shock and started chemo I'm feeling more positive and I wanted to re-consider that decision. The Ely club have been most supportive and understand that it means a lot to me and 'the crew' the get Fen End Pit out on the road again, for as long as we can manage.
     
    So, barring further issues, it is now the intention that Fen End Pit will appear at Ely. It will be good to see you there.
     
    Thanks
     
    David
  20. Fen End Pit
    An enjoyable night out yesterday gave a chance to stick more beautiful castings on the Simplex. Getting the bearing for the fan into the radiator meant I could try out the drive for the radiator fan. Very satisfyingly the motor drive works, I had to reduce the 'dimming' on the accessory output (to increase the power to the fan motor) which had the benefit of reducing the 'whine' caused by the pulse width modulation effect on the coreless motor.
     
    Putting these castings on is a real pleasure, the quality is superb, though there are a couple of places when I wonder if they perhaps over did the castings and bending a bit of wire might have done just as well.
     

     

     
    I want to try and work out a way to make the radiator protection grill, which holds the second bearing for the radiator fan, removable in some way. I'm cautious about 'locking-in' the rubber belt which drives the fan. Might be a job for some fiddling nuts and bolts.
     
    David
  21. Fen End Pit
    So I thought I'd better explain briefly why I'm having various changes of plan and different projects going on. Bottom line is that I had a rather unpleasant diagnosis in February and 'the future' is now more uncertain than I might have hoped. I'm not intending to turn this blog into some kind of medical record, but I'm currently into my second cycle of Chemo.
     
    My approach to dealing with this is to take each day as it comes and try to keep positive, if I can continue enjoying building model railways well I'm going to do that for as long as possible.This probably explains the purchase of the Slater's Simplex (which I am very much enjoying).
     
    The other 'great project' was the Scalefour model of Clare which was intended as the complete roundy-roundy layout going around the railway room. Realistically this is probably now a project too far, so I need to review this plan. However I'm pretty clear that I still want to build a layout which I can run my Scalefour stock on. So I've drawn up a plan which is hopefully more achievable. The idea is to use the 19'6 wall of the railway room to build a 12' long scenic section with a couple of 3'6 fiddle yards at either end. The scenic section is currently planned as a bit of secondary mainline 'somewhere in Norfolk' with potentially a 'Reedham style' swing bridge.
     

     
    I've just purchased a load of ply from Slec, I've had a nice chat with C&L regarding pointwork and I've been planning how to make bits of girders for the bridge.
     
    Thanks for all those who have supported me through this blog, please continue to do so and I'll continue to write about my models, much more interesting I hope than my medical condition..
     
    David
  22. Fen End Pit
    I made a start on the etched chassis for the Slater's simplex. The etch is quite thick material so a little filing needed to remove tabs and cusp. Very pleased with how well the parts fitted. A fair amount of heat was needed to get the solder to flow but the resulting chassis is strong and square.
     

     
    The horn guides are cleverly made from the etched parts and form a slot which allows the horn block to move vertically. Again the fit the very good just requiring a few strokes with a file to get a smooth vertical movement with no horizontal wobble.
     

     
    The parts for the brake gear also got attached at this point, the pull rod, complete with turn-buckle is just located in the castings at the moment, the instructions suggest not fitting permanently until the wheels the in place.
     

     
    Next step involves sprung plunger pickups.... I'm enjoying this.
     
    I'm starting to consider the possibility of putting a sound chip in this. Trying to find a Simplex sound is hard but what do you think to this one?
    http://www.d-i-e-t-z.de/jd/mp3/micro/klanzh.mp3
     
    David
  23. Fen End Pit
    I decided to treat myself to a little project, working on the grounds that you can never have too many Simplexes!
     
    I particularly appreciated Slater's choice of packaging, though I suspect some other members of the family might have enjoyed the original contents more.
     

     
    Inside, surrounded by copious quantities of bubble wrap was a fine looking box.
     

     
    Inspection of the parts make this look like an interesting project. The 16 page instruction book looks very well produced and the quality of the moldings, in resin, plastic and brass appears initially to be very good. The kit comes complete with wheels and motor and delrin chain drive to make it go. I need to think about whether I'm going to try and get a second mini-motor to drive the fan separately!
     

     
    I'm intending to use the kit as an encouragement to draw up some 'bits of simplex' for growing Fen End Pit scrap siding, I think having a redundant Dorman engine for example would look tempting.
     
    Stay tuned!
     
    David
  24. Fen End Pit
    A couple more details over the last few days. The washer plant needed some steps to reach up to the cat walk. I decided to try and 3d print some treads and thread them onto some rod.
     

     
    Also, a few years back while visiting Orford Ness in Suffolk I found some ex-military steel duck-boarding which I thought would be nice to model. With lots of holes and ribs this one really did lend itself to 3d modelling and printing. With a coat of 'Scenic Rust' I think they rather look the part. The spare drag-line bucket also got the rust treatment.

    David
  25. Fen End Pit
    Over the weekend I did some work on the washer plant. This machine took the sand from the resolving screen and washed it removing the small particles of clay.The mixed water and sand would be pumped to a cyclone separator where the water would be removed. On the previous version of Fen End Pit the trough was brick built but I wasn't really happy with this. I decided to reuse some of the rusty plasticard from the original fiddle-yard and make the main part of the tank out of this, surrounding it with a low wall.
     
    I'm quite happy with the general look but can't make up my mind about the position of the 'gubbins' on top. Does it look better with the cat-walk at the front.
     

     
    or at the rear?
     

     
    While the FDM printer chugged away all weekend making walls I used the resin printer to make some track components. These are only meant to be for show rather than running, no industrial railway system should be without a few track panels ready for use.
     

     
    I made the sleepers with holes in for the rail fast and then a separate sprue with lots of little bolts. The whole lot sticks together with superglue.
     

     
     
     
    David
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