nightmail

Ingenious wiring Ian, solved a long-standing problem for me- thanks!

That looks good Julia.It is possible to get these little engines to run well but the weight has to be in the right place as Rich rightly says. My boiler is full of lead (skirts removed as yours) and I have plenty in the tanks over where the worm sits. As much is possible is needed to counterbalance the motor and put the weight over the driving wheels. There is a bit of room between the frames in front of the front drivers, but one of the nice things about cutting those plastic skirts away is the nice view under the boiler of the unfettered frames and wheels and the track below. Stuart Bailey has done a couple with the boiler removed completely and a new one turned out of (I think) tungsten. Whatever it is it weighs a ton. I have thought about a turned metal chimney and dome to add a bit more weight but mines runs quite well (I've proudly shown you the video!) and will only ever be asked to pull an autocoach. But who am I to give you advice? Such impertinence!

Pete

Nice talking to you on Saturday, as ever. And thanks for posting that picture of the siphon underframe- I can make sense of my etch now!

Best

Peter

I had a very pleasant time watching an entire sequence at St Ruth during which everything worked perfectly. I found the screens describing the moves really helped turn it into a piece of theatre and made for a very convincing experience.

I'm really interested in how you get on with the Dapol Western Jerry, so please keep us all posted. In the meantime I'd love to know how you guys made the Farish Westerns look so nice. Is it covered elsewhere? Best regards to all of you.

Peter

Hello Andy, Jerry.

The Hymek looks much better lowered, I must pluck up the courage to do mine, particularly as it has a wonky buffer beam. One question though to both of you:  did you replace the wheels on your Hymeks or did you get them turned down? Is it easy to remove/replace them?

OK that's two questions.

Best

Peter

You probably have seen a Fava bean Andy, it's another name for a broad bean. RMWeb, all human knowledge is here...

Which Haff pen(s) did you go for Andy? what line width do you generally aim for?

Well, I'm not the Pete you are waiting for, I'm a different one but for what it's worth I approve the Easitrac decision too...

Hi Julia, lovely talking to you on Saturday at Ally Pally and finally meeting Elvis in the flesh, although seeing the incredible standard of your work gives one the unique sensation of being inspired and dispirited- both at the same time!

My dad was with me on our traditional annual model railway show jaunt and I explained to him that you had made Elvis from an etch that even the designer admits is impossible to build. We'd spent quite some time at Swindon last year looking at the real thing together and he was only too aware of the complexities and compound curves you had captured. He was too shy to compliment you though, so I'll do it on his behalf...x

Grahame, hello again.

I'm finally ready! I've joined the 2mm Association (after deliberating for about thirty eight years) and have bought all the bits, together with the jigs and gauges via Noel Leaver.

But characteristically I have hit a snag before I've even started- or perhaps I'm thinking this through too much.

It's just occurred to me that the check rails are held in place by double chairs- and hence the flangeway gap will be to 2mm finescale standards.

This is going to be a problem isn't it? If so- how did you work around it?

Best

Peter

I too will be following progress on this with great interest.

I certainly don't feel confident enough to tackle pointwork (especially slips and scissors crossovers!) with so little experience, but I will be having a look at the plain track with a view to following Etched Pixels example on using it in conjunction with the Peco Code 55 points. His filing of the point rail ends to lead into the wider gauge of the plain track looks do-able as a trial with my skill level. I have a couple of spare small radius points available to sacrifice for a test piece.

 

You don't need to file the rail ends to match up the Easitrack 9.42 gauge with Peco points 9mm gauge. You can make the transisition at the end of the length of Easitrack so that the rails match up gauge wise - although they will still be different heights; code 40 to psuedo code 55. I'll add a photo to this thread showing a multi-gauge bit of Easitrack.

 

The 9mm gauge is on the left for the first two sleepers and the 9.42 gauge is for the last two sleepers on the right. The middle two sleepers are the transisition sleepers and have no inner chairs (cosmetic ones could easily be glued in place). Bearing in mind how blown up and times greater than real life the pic is, once ballasted, painted and weathered it should be more than acceptable with no obvious joggle or joint between the two gauges showing.

 

G.

You've probably seen this already but grahame has put up an article about his experiments with Easitrac in conjunction with Easitrac point bases relaid to 9mm gauge.

It seems many of us N-Gaugers are all ploughing the same furrow- lingering around the 2mm Association stand at shows- envying their lovely trackwork, but at the same time unable to find the time or money to convert dozens of locos and stock to finescale to build a decent sized layout single handed.

We desperately need a decent N Gauge code 40 trackage system. I have been toying with converting to Finescale but only being able to build a tiny layout with one loco and a railcar- or building handlaid track using the Canadian FastTracks Fixture system and ending up with finescale N Gauge track- but with American sleeper spacings and flat bottom rail. Arggh!

grahame seems to have found a good compromise.

thanks Grahame- the penny has finally dropped. because the Easitrack system has glued-down chairs holding the track to the milled point base- you can put it wherever you need it- right?

So, next question (you knew there would be!) where do I get the 'special n crossing jig" and flangeway thingummies?

thanks in anticipation......

Yes, the plain track is 2mmFS Easitrack built as it's supplied; to 2mmFS 9.42mm gauge - it's simply a matter of sliding the rail in to the pre-moulded chairs on the sleepers base sections (no soldering or gluing required).

 

The points are made using 2mmFS components (pre-milled track base, rail and chairs) but built to 'N' 9mm gauge and N gauge NMRA flange-way clearances (which are a lot finer than Peco points but a little larger than 2mmFS) using a special N crossing jig rather than the 2mm one. Obviously to join the plain track (at 9.42mm) to the points (at 9mm) the rail needs to be slightly flared/tapered. It's hardly noticable because you're only talking about a deflection of less than a quarter of a millimeter for each rail. In fact if you look at the photo you'll notice a small piece of Easitrack plain track base butting up the point at the left end with the rails slightly diverging between it and the point.

 

G.

Hello again Grahame- we have conversed on this most interesting topic before.....

May I ask- am I right in thinking that you are going to use Easitrack track bases for plain track- at 2mm finescale gauging?

And are the pre-milled point bases going to be used at their correct (finescale) gauge- but just with different flangeway clearances?

If so- this is going to solve a problem I have been mulling over for ..er...years!

If it all works (and I sincerely hope it does) please post your findings immediately!

Yours with bated breath and poised soldering iron....

Peter