2mmMark

That's correct, no reinforcement required, the box is very strong, neatly box-jointed at the corners. I've modified mine so the front hinges downwards, a fairly simple bit of woodwork. The top & bottom are 3mm ply so the track is laid on a removable sub-base of 9mm ply & Sundeala board. Mark

Great idea, well executed. I shall await subsequent issues with interest and can possibly offer some content too. The "four square feet" is an interesting definition, it does considerably favour my chosen scale, especially if it's narrow gauge. I wonder if there ought to be a proportionality of layout size to scale? Here's a sneak preview of a micro I'm currently working on, the Holzkastenbahn, German metre gauge 1:160. Roughly box file size but in a solid wooden box, sourced from ebay for not a lot more than a box file costs. Mark

I must admit to not paying much attention to this but Google's attempt to monetise things prompted me into action.

There has been an date-based "email mass extinction event"... Subscribing to just a few email discussion groups for a long period causes a surprising build up of mail. There's also a tendency now to send emails with huge attachments because it's much easier with higher speed networks. Mark

It seems that Gmail is no longer going to act as your indulgent uncle, granting ever increasing amounts of storage. I've had an account since the very early days (2004-ish) and got used to unlimited storage but now a 15GB limit is being applied, above which you can buy more space. Taking Google at their previously widely expressed word and rarely deleting an email, my account had ballooned to 10GB. If you're like me and got accustomed to using gmail as a sort of infinite searchable reference library of your life, you may have to change your ways. Thankfully, there are some useful search customisations that can help the search & delete process, or at least make it less painful for you. https://support.google.com/mail/answer/7190?hl=en-GB You can use the search operators to sort and file email in folders too. A bit more on the storage restrictions here https://www.pcworld.com/article/3604656/how-to-clean-up-your-gmail-inbox-by-quickly-deleting-old-email.html The 15GB limit applies across all Google's services - mail, drive and photos - and comes in on 1st June. I've been getting tedious nag messages inviting me to "buy additional storage" which is what prompted me to do something. Mark

The Farish mechs that we're discussing are like the classic British bikes of which I'm so fond. Ostensibly very simple and basic but requiring skilled assembly ("blueprinting") to make them work well. I suspect they were designed to make production and assembly affordable in a UK operation. Peter Graham-Farish was quite proud that everything they produced was designed and made in the UK. On the plus side of this, the mechanisms are relatively easily servicable and repairable. The Mazak chassis blocks are fine, the variation comes in the plastic armature holder. I've seen the same as Nigel, simply altering the tightness of the fixing screws can make a difference. Other benefits of changing the motor for an enclosed type: more space for lead weight and also a decoder, a cleaner running mechanism with none of that black carbon muck from the brushes. The truly sensible option would be to ditch the chassis entirely and build a new one using the Association's chassis kit and components... Mark

The gear looks very similar Valentin. Got to be worth a try for £1.79. I believe Farish gears of this period are 72DP

Ian, simple answer, yes. The Tramfabriek motor spins very freely compared to the Farish motor. The improved mechanical efficiency alone improves things. The basic "Poole" Farish motor design dates back to at least the early 1980s or maybe even before that. The only change was from 3 pole to 5 pole armatures. They respond well to early feedback controllers (ECM, AMR etc.) but this can will overheat them with bad results for the white plastic bearings. I can personally vouch for that! Farish did not recommend using this type of controller but it was just about the only way to achieve steady slow running. Motor technology, size and cost have all moved on massively so what you're seeing is a vivid illustration of the developments. The Tramfabriek website dedicates a whole section to coreless motor upgrades. Here's an example of a Poole designed Farish class 37 being converted https://www.tramfabriek.nl/gf-class37.html Mark

There's this chap on email in Nigeria with a bob or two going spare...

That bicycling bellend! I wouldn't give a penny-farthing for his thoughts.

That's the one. A lot of useful bits there.

With the current fine weather and in anticipation of nice summer, I felt I should treat the crew of my J94 to the cabriolet version. To achieve this, a chunk of the rear cab was milled away. It's a little bit of a faff to get it set up in my Proxxon MF70 mill but it's worth it as it's a lot easier to get a neat result than by hand filing. Mazak's not a nice metal to work so it saved clogging up a file or two. As we all know, British summers can be unpredictable so a detachable hard top and a draft screen were provided. Back on planet sensible, I hadn't really intended to do much to the body however I was faced with how to best block up the large inverted arches that passed for rear cab windows. I know there's an etching available from RT models but I wanted to use what was immediately to hand. A piece of 10 thou (0.25mm) thick brass was bent to shape and filed to match the aperture. The horizontial section has been filed back to represent the bunker beading. A full load of coal will hide the subterfuge. The cab window grilles are done using 4mm class 37 & 40 horn grilles. These are just about the right size. As always, close-ups are rather cruel. Looking at photos of these locos in industrial service (In "British Austerity Saddle Tanks" by Gordon Edgar, available in print or as an ebook), the cab rears did get pretty beaten up. In one photo, it looks like the glass got broken and was replaced by clear plastic bag taped across the opening. Mark

I think that's the route I'll take. It's a little tight on the sides but there's plenty of room to take the tube over the top of the motor.

Motor mount completed with the aid of that lovely hot silvery-looking glue. The mount is made from a slice of K&S brass tube which I had that was a little smaller than the 8mm diameter of the motor. A horse-shoe shaped strip of brass was soldered to the tube as a fixing strap. Conveniently, the diameter of the tube matched the curved recess in the chassis block casting. The strap was secured using a 12BA screw and nut across the frame. The tube & strap were slit lengthways and the motor just pushed in quite easily but with enough grip to hold it in place. The 0.27mm wall thickness of the tube was just right to keep worm and gear meshed nicely. I'm very impressed with these Tramfabriek motors, spinning the worm by hand, there's no appreciable cogging or resistance from the armature. When power is applied, the motor runs quietly and smoothly. The keeper plate was gapped ready for the pickup wires to be soldered on. All it needs is just the copper surface being scraped away, which I did with a hook-shaped "skrawker". The two large screw heads are countersunk and make no contact with the copper. The two round head screws carry the power from the plate to the motor. On these chassis, the block is live to one side of the motor. I'll need to find a tidy way to secure the insulated feed wire to avoid it rubbing on the worm. It's going to be interesting to see how the chassis performs with the new motor. The gear reduction is unchanged at 24:1. Mark

Treat my rough sketch merely as a starting point. An immediate improvement would be to either curve the tracks slightly or align them at an angle from the edges of the baseboard. You can see how that would better reflect the type of layout in your photograph and would look better visually. Mark

Here's an example of what I have in mind. it's 7mm scale and very nicely executed. From http://www.aidan-campbell.co.uk/model_making.htm

Thank you, that's very kind. I can see where this might be heading... The derailing of another quickie project. er, I'll PM you my address. Was it my imagination or did the 2mm shop have the correct Austerity wheels in a split frame format? I can only see normal 8.5mm drivers in there now.

Mike, Jim's idea of starting with something more achievable in the short term is a good one. With that in mind, I've sketched out a possible idea for an urban diorama, something in the region of maybe 2½ to 3 feet long. There are some plastic boxes under the "Really Useful" brand that can accomodate something like this and easily assembled baseboard kits - e.g. these: https://www.scalemodelscenery.co.uk/layout-in-a-box---micro-layout-baseboards-310-c.asp It's a reasonably simple concept and what you could do is lay one of the tracks to 2mm finescale standards using Easitrac components, the other to N gauge using Finetrax components in the same way. There wouldn't be a jarring visual difference between the two and it'll give you the chance to compare both systems without making a big commitment either way. The retaining wall can be typical of whatever suits your chosen area and topped with a rough scrub embankment or any other scenery as you see fit. Alternatively, allotments on top might also be a nice touch. The beauty of this sort of scene is that you can make it as densely detailed as you like. The backscene could be a run of housebacks and back gardens, again scope for a lot of interesting modelling. Down on track level you could add a huge amount of detail - point rodding, signals, ground signals, buffer stops, fogmans & platelayers huts, a grounded coach body mess hut, maybe even a signal box. It wouldn't be a lot of work to wire up each of the lines so things could run. In fact I'd strongly encourage this. A static diorama is OK but there's something nice to see models run. It might even be possible to plug this in to a more expanded layout once you've settled on what you want to build, like a sort of scenic fiddle yard. Just a few thoughts. I'm almost tempted myself! Mark

As I mentioned our wheel turning service earlier, I've just seen this email come in from the Association: "Unfortunately, due to health issues, we've had to suspend the wheel turning service (where N gauge wheels are re-profiled to 2mm standards). All existing orders have been completed. Please do not send any new work, anything received will be returned. As and when the service can be restarted, notices will appear on the 2mm website, and in the 2mm Newsletter. " Mark

Maybe you should ask Finetrax directly? It's a small market so don't expect to find much, if any, discounted selling. https://www.britishfinescale.com/

For 9mm gauge, Finetrax are the best choice For 9.42mm, components come from the Association Shop, only open to members Mark

Having now reconfirmed the attendance of British Oak at the 2mm Expo for 2022, it's time to get back to work. One of the loco conversions featured in the Beginners Guide was a Farish J94, which was one of the later Poole-designed models assembled in China. The work was deliberately kept as simple as possible, limited to having the existing wheel flanges turned to finescale standards and the back-to-back dimensions reset. Below are the wheels after the attention of the Association's wheel-turning service. Truth be told, it's never been a particularly good runner. It worked well enough but lacked that little bit of accurate slow running that's necessary on a layout like British Oak. Later on, a set of proper 2mm scale wheels were fitted. These came from the late Neil Ballantine, who produced a range of drivers to suit Poole-designed Farish steam locos. These photos show the resulting chassis, which needed a new keeper plate providing springy wire pickups to touch the flanges rather than wipe the backs of the wheels. This improved things a little due to the lighter pressure of the pickups but the limiting factor was still the Farish motor. The availability of very nice 12v rated coreless motors from Tramfabriek has opened up the possibility of a relatively simple remotoring. This time I chose the 8mm diameter 16mm long motor, which looked like it would fit. The chassis was stripped, cleaned and the gloopy paint removed. Removing the existing motor left a gap in the chassis block so a small piece of brass was milled to shape as a filler and strengthener. A new keeper plate was milled up from 1.5mm PCB and shaped to suggest the right frame profile. Incidentally, new keeper plates are a good mod for non-converted N gauge locos as the factory supplied ones come down almost to rail level. A shallower plate allows a bit more daylight in this area. The axle slots were very slightly enlarged until the wheels spun freely. This only took a few strokes of a fine round needle file. The long screw is there to support the front of the chassis under the body, where previously the plastic moulding supporting the armature did the job. A trial fit of the motor showed that everything fitted in the right place. The lower profile of the chassis will allow a significant amount of lead to be added to the body. People might be wondering about the coupling rods. The wheels and rods came from an earlier J94 I have which gained a more detailed body. This was converted before etched rods were available so the existing rods were thinned down a bit and attached to the crankpins with "top-hat" washers made using 2mm wagon top-hat bearings. Not quite as neat as crankpin washers but as the wheels are nicely quartered with the washers firmly soldered into place, I'm not going to disturb them. Without the pickups fitted, the chassis now runs very freely indeed and will roll down a slight slope unaided. A good starting point for what comes next. The next job will be to mount the motor properly on the chassis. As I've mentioned before, I'm not a fan of glueing motors in place. My preference is for a mechanical bracket or mount screwed into place. Being a cylindrical motor, the obvious approach is an appropriately sized tube. Mark

The Archers started out as instructional drama for farming. Perhaps the intention is to do the same for the Devil's Control Circuitry (cv 666)

If Ryanair ran a model shop...

It's been a while since I've sold anything on eBay as I only sell occasionally. Are people in my position being moved to managed payments? I've not received any notification about it. My wife is giving up eBay selling as she's very reluctant to grant eBay access to her bank account. Mark