2mmMark

I've come to the conclusion that I am my own "man from Porlock". I'm so easily distracted from whatever path I've embarked upon. I could have been CEO of a major British .... ooh what's that shiny thing over there? Anyway, back here on Planet Mark, at the 2mm Expo in 2013, I was chatting with Allan Doherty about various things, including 2mm narrow gauge stuff and he gave me a part completed loco body for a Letterkenny & Burtonport Extension Andrew Barclay tank loco (top one on this page): http://www.worsleyworks.co.uk/Image-Pages/Image_NG_Irish-Locos-N.htm A few days after the Expo, on what was probably the hottest day of 2013, I took a look at the loco and decided to desolder and reassemble to tidy it up a bit. I also wanted to cut a hole in the footplate for the Marklin mechanism I intended to use. Unfortunately, while the cab & tanks came apart very easily, the footplate distorted and corroded very badly. Not sure why, I was using a small blowlamp to melt the solder. Perhaps some flux was still active and extra heat caused it to eat into the metal. It was simpler to remake the footplate from 2 layers of nickel-silver, 10 thou and a slightly smaller layer of 20 thou to represent the valance. I made a boiler from some K&S brass tube and a wrapper for the smokebox. What I ended up with was this: The footplate was fretted out to be a snug fit over the chassis and this shows the components loosely assembled. You might spot that the loco is now a 2-6-0 rather than a 4-6-0. I did try some experiments to see if the chassis could be altered to suit but by the time the necessary changes had been made, it would have been simpler to build one from scratch. So a 2-6-0 it became. Then the project, as so many of mine do, became dormant for a while as other things took over - like the unfinished Peckett.... ! With the prospect of Narrow Gauge South West looming in a couple of weeks time, the project needed a bit of a jumpstart, so I took a day off work yesterday to complete the major assembly. I'd already remade the boiler, smokebox and smokebox saddle as the originals didn't quite match the drawing I had (Model Railway News May 1962). Fortuitously, I'd found some suitable boiler fittings from sample castings Nick Tilston of N-Brass gave me to review. These were for a Midland Railway 1F tank loco but suited the LBER loco quite well. Correction - they are actually the boiler fittings and smokebox door Nick offers for the SECR C-class 0-6-0. The cab, tanks & footplate were soldered together using 180 degree solder, as were the boiler, smokebox door, saddle, chimney, dome & safety valves. Then the boiler unit was soldered to the footplate, tank & cab unit using 145 degree solder. This was the first time I'd used it. Until now, I've always been a bit of a "one-club golfer" where solder is concerned. The low temp solder allowed me to get the two main units joined without disturbing previously soldered items. I can see myself using this stuff a bit more. At least it's a little bit easier on the fingers! What I'd like is a heat insulating soldering glove, about the thickness of a rubber mechanics/surgeons glove. If someone could invent one of those they'd make millions. Here's few shots of the bits: The end result is this: Next job is to pop on a set of couplings ready for it to haul some Tralee & Dingle coaches on An Clár at NGSW. The coaches are also in an unfinished state... So that's one distraction moved on significantly. I can now see a part-completed Peckett beckoning. Addendum 20/2/15 Here's a photo of the loco on my layout. The camera can be a cruel critic but I think it's useful to see where improvements in your work can be made. The Marklin wheels do show up as rather coarse in this view and the valve gear could do with a lot of refining.

I'm liking the interlaced turnouts. A typically parsimonious use of timber. I wonder if any survive nowadays. My first 2mm layout had three of them. Fun to make, tricky to ballast.

I'm sure Mr. Greenwood could oblige...

I notice there's some cheeky narrow gauge on the stone wharf. Functional or cosmetic? I've got a 4.5mm gauge track jig if you want to borrow it. Mark

"That's really useful Mark. I've fitted electro-magnets on the Wharf itself which can be connected to the power supply on Tucking Mill when the two are connected. I've left a slot on the fiddle board for a manual magnet but hadn't thought too much about how I was going to do it. Your solution is really neat and I think I will adapt that. Jerry" Make sure you leave a bigger gap that I did on the fiddle yard magnet for British Oak. They are quite powerful! Mark

Good stuff Jerry. Pardon me for butting in on your thread but here's how I made the sliding magnetic uncouplers I've used on British Oak. A collection of brass shapes using K&S tube, plus a 1/4" diameter rod magnet from www.powermagnetstore.com: Soldered together to make this: Installed on layout thus: The magnet is powerful enough to be installed under the trackbed: Voila - electromagnet & transformer-free uncouplers. You just slide them under the appropriate track. Some small marks on the inner sliding tube help align the magnet. The neodymium magnets don't lose any of their magnetism. I made these in 2006 and they are still good today. Mark

A lighting comparison as I finished the modifications this afternoon. Same camera (SONY RX100) same settings. The Tungsten & CFL combination: With LED lighting: Quite a difference. A much more even light with the LEDs and I think a better colour balance overall. Mark

Don, I tend to work using an empirical vacuo-visual(1) methodology but you set me thinking so I consulted Dr. Google and found this useful web site: http://heracolights.com/2014/03/10/3528-vs-5050-vs-5630-led-smd-diodes/ which tells us that a single 5050 LED is in the range of 16 to 22 lumens. The strip I've used has 60 LEDs per metre so conservatively using the 16 lumens figure, that's 960 lumens, roughly equivalent to 60 watts. So my 231 LEDs are effectively giving around 3600 lumens or 240 watts of illumination. If they are nearer the 22 lumens figure, that's over 5000 lumens (660 watts!) for the layout. On An Clár, the lighting is about 400mm above the scenery so the light falls very brightly on the scenery. What the LEDs would be like suspended at about 900mm above a layout remains to be seen. Holding the LED lighting board waist high, there was still a substantial amount of light reaching the floor. I think there's potential there. On the Heraco Lights web site, I also found this: http://heracolights.com/2014/06/05/warm-white-vs-pure-white-leds/ which explains why the cool white LEDs were disappointing. Pure white looks interesting with a colour temperature of 4500k. An Clár was built and painted under incandescent lights, hence why the warm white LEDs work well. Mark (1) a.k.a. "suck it and see"

I've been working on a new lighting system for my 2mm NG diorama An Clár. For a while it's had a mix of a 35 watt Tungsten architectural strip bulb and a pair of CFL low energy bulbs. Bright enough and OK to the naked eye but a terrible colour mix for photography. Just goes to show what a remarkable device the human eye/brain combination is. Automatic white balance to a very high standard! I tried swapping Halogen candle bulbs for the CFLs which was much better but far too hot for comfort. I'd also be worred about the amount of UV a halogen bulb can put out. I obtained a couple of reels of the SMD LED strip with which to experiment. I chose waterproof 5050 LED strips with fairly closely spaced LEDs, warm white and cool white. For those not familiar with this stuff, it's a self-adhesive ribbon of surface mount LEDs & resistors which can be cut to length and rejoined electrically in a configuration of your choice. All it needs is a suitable 12v power supply. This does need to be fairly meaty as a long string of LEDs can draw a sizeable current. I arranged the strips on a sheet of 3mm white surfaced MDF which will fit into the lighting box. Delightfully easy work, the MDF was cut with a Stanley knife, the strips cut to length and fixed down. The only slightly tricky task was stripping back the silicone coating to uncover the pre-prepared solder pads. Next time I may use the non-waterproof strip which comes without the coating. I did stagger the LED strips to avoid possible pools of light but with the coverage I've used, it's not been a problem. The photos should illuminate (sorry!) matters. Above is the board with the strips attached. Each end of the reel comes with ready fixed wires and a connecting plug. The board is 580mm by 280mm. Lights on - really quite bright. There are 231 LEDs in total. Trial placement of the board over the layout. I used the warm white which I think is the right choice for An Clár. The cool white LEDs are very blue in colour and threw the colour balance way off. Overall I'm very pleased with the end result. I will definitely be doing more with LEDs in future. The reel of LEDs plus the power supply was just under £15. A reel on its own was £9. The non-waterproof reels are cheaper. Mark

I see nothing unusual with your approach Jerry. Seems perfectly rational to me. I once had a "no new projects" rule but rules are for the guidance of fools and the obedience of wise men, or something like that anyway. At least you have an overall theme. I'd struggle to reconcile all my interests into a single layout project. Mark

I've always found John Greenwood's seemingly casual confidence inspiring. Not much theorising, just getting on and doing it. During the mid to late 1980s, I got the chance to help John operate Bodmine at various shows. Invariably, it worked very reliably & smoothly. John's beer-can controllers were always a talking point. To the casual observer, it looked like the trains were running themselves while we took "refreshment"...

Yep. Jerry's proved that erudite isn't just a type of glue.

Reminds me that I need to crack on a bit with the project. The first part is here: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/1345/entry-13931-peckett-y-class-bodywork/ I would recommend the option of a pre-rolled saddle tank that Nick Tilston offers. Mark

Another day older & deeper in debt...

Excellent! Gets my vote for the 2015 Malcolm Stone Award. I made some non-working signals for Copenhagen Fields and knowing how fiddly those were, I'm doubly impressed with these working examples. Mark.

Nice work Pete. If the runners are conductive enough, how about using them as a common return and then you'll only need 1 alignment rod. On Burwell Fen's sector plate, I have the alignment rod going in vertically, so there's much less chance of derailing stock accidentally.

Definitely worth going to Tolworth to see Fencehouses.

600mm is generally considered the acceptable minimum for most main line stock. It's what's used on Copenhagen Fields in the fiddle yards. You can go tighter but you might have to accept some limitations on what you run. Issues such as bogie/pony truck swing on steam locos become a problem for scale size wheels. Lay out the curves carefully. An accidental tightening of the radius may not look much of a problem but it can result in a tight radius at that spot. Mark

I had a chance to run the Aveling & Porter on Jerry Clifford's "Tucking Mill" today. Looks quite at home, I think. There was one embarrassing moment when the pusher van accidentally uncoupled and revealed the secret of its propulsion but on the whole, it ran acceptably well. Mark

"And tonight on Panorama, we feature Tucking Mill"

Yes Indeed it will Jerry, Looking forward to it. Well, sort of. It's a bit freelance, if I'm perfectly honest. I'm using a Nigel Lawton MPD18 chassis in the pusher wagon. This has a 18mm wheelbase, a scale 9ft. The Ashbury composite coach used on the Brill Tramway also shares this wheelbase, so it's a possible option. Mark

Very nice work Ian. A real sense of achievement hacking stuff like this out of the raw, isn't there?

I've been adding a few details to the Aveling & Porter mentioned a while back in this blog. I had hoped to get this done and a lick of paint on the loco for the 2mm Scale Association AGM but I simply ran out of time. I did manage to add a boiler backhead and some rods & piping. There's a bit more to do. Brake shoes are quite noticeable on an Aveling and some steps for the crew will be required. Speaking of crew, I found some nice figures in the Farish range which are just right for the loco. Given that it's pretty open, a crew is an absolute must. Anyway, here's a few photos of the current state of affairs. The crew are glued to a small slab of black 10 thou plasticard so they can be removed for painting. I expect they'll have awful cramp sitting like this with no support, but that's their lookout. There's a suggestion of a firebox door, water gauges and also an etched pressure gauge, which is very prominent on the real thing. Most of the details are impressionistic, which is quite sufficient in 2mm scale. So I tell myself anyway. Mark.