Dr Al

Thanks for the number info - that is useful. I presume these numbers didn't change other than prefixing with M when BR took them over? Cheers, Alan

Yes, that will be my fallback. I too however would be grateful if you can point us to the link you refer to - I've done some Googling, but clearly haven't hit the correct search terms as I've not found it. Regards, Alan

Thanks everyone for the comments so far. It perhaps doesn't surprise me the wagons may have been gone by 1964, with BR building similar new. However, I presume these did however make it to BR days and therefore were around in the 50's? I may have to do something generic in terms of livery if no information or photos exist. Incidentally, the "British Railways, Classification of Special Wagons", is an excellent resource - thanks for posting that! Cheers, Alan

Hi, Does anyone have any pictures, links, details or otherwise that would help guide on correctly marking up a LMS 35T Flatrol (I think - it may actually be weltrol or trestrol) as in BR days. It would have been painted light wagon grey I presume, but the exact markings (Weltrol, Trestrol, Flatrol?), positions, numbering etc seem elusive to find. This is for NGS kit 15, for which there is a picture at this location: https://www.ngsjoin.com/ekmps/shops/dec4p0d/images/kit-15.-lms-br-trestrol-bogie-well-wagon-ngsk0150-616-p[ekm]100x33[ekm].jpg Any details would be welcomely received. Thanks, Alan

Don't throw it - keep at very least for spare parts - lots of useful stuff there. There is no other current manufacturer of a 9F - that's it. Minitrix used to do one, a long long time ago - but it's not remotely accurate with a ridiculous front overhang (a Britannia body on a continental chassis) and the newest ones are over 25 years old, so a pot luck purchase in terms of previous ownership. Very much out of date. Personally I think the Dapol 9F is infinitely better, and so long as you're careful handling the valve gear they don't give trouble. Cheers, Alan

If the crank pin has snapped then it's a bitch of a repair, otherwise it's pretty simple to sort out. Cheers, Alan

Interesting - shows yours was an early test one, as the 3D print now comes with a separate cab floor piece. It's a fairly simple part though, so should be able to be replicated in plasticard in your case - if it's any use I can take a photo of it. I've now done the first rear bogie - not sure if you have the 3D printed moulding for it? If so you'll need a Dapol NEM mount, some PCB, some stiff wire and some soft wiper contacts - Steve posted his solution on his own threads I believe, possibly here, but definitely on the N Gauge Forum, so have a look there. I have done essentially the same thing and it looks like it will work quite well, although I simply have not had time to actually test it yet. HTH, Alan

Check you haven't shorted the red wire on the left onto one of the small black components (Cap?) directly above them - and possibly also the other red wire has similar. It may be that those aren't meant to be joined electrically - check a stock picture of the decoder. HTH, Alan

Hi, I've not got need for DCC (I'm guessing you do), so the chassis is simple - desolder the two wires coming from the motor (red and blue in your case), and unfathom them from the tender which can then be put aside. I just tinned these wire ends and crimped them to the chassis sides with the front securing bolt as below, therefore directly connecting pickups to motor: To be honest, for DCC I'd just hardwire a wired decoder, rather than trying to muck about with the PCB. I concur on the necessity to file the small lumps off the corners of the chassis boiler base to get things to fit. In terms of the body, my first one has handrails now (you'll need 35 knobs per body, that's assuming you don't drop any like I did!), and just needs a cleaning up going over. There is a little bit of layering on mine, but not the worst I've seen on a 3D print - mine was shapeways FXD. Hope this helps! (and apologies if this is a slight thread hijack - I was getting the pics together to post elsewhere when I saw your latest post!) Cheers, Alan

I think this will be a very quick build - the primary reason being that the starting point is of such high quality. There are but a tiny few things I could nit pick on; but fundamentally Steve has done a really excellent job on these - the design shows well thought out approach. I look forward to seeing your builds, and hope mine will be done reasonably quickly - they've sped straight to the top of the queue! Cheers, Alan

No problem - I've been researching for my own - I have two just arrived from Shapeways. Not sure why yours is a 'test' one as they are available on shapeways! Either way, they look pretty nice, and I'm hoping for a quick easy build on mine. Cheers, Alan

Check the specific prototype - some had straight pipes IN BR days: https://www.flickr.com/photos/44544845@N08/8665461940/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/blue-diesels/6289155202/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/gricerman/26216052484/ HTH, Alan

No - that's older Poole chassied models. Cheers, Alan

Farish stopped putting slot headed screws on the central crank pins on their recent steam models - if you look at the Duchess, Ivatt, etc and you would see that, so I would expect that to continue, and that this first CAD is simply re-using drawing parts from the Black 5 (nothing wrong there, as the two locos are closely related in reality). Dead easy to swap them on slightly older new-tool models to all match as well. Looking at the fidelity of the rods it all looks very good, and the daylight under the boiler is something really quite impressive - the choice of the small diameter coreless motor Farish have moved to is really starting to show its benefits here. Cheers, Alan

Never use anything other than a proper worm puller. The original Farish wheels are heat treated on (basically moulded on to the axle) so they won't come off easy otherwise, and likely to be damaged just trying to lever them off. Cheers, Alan

I'm glad I fix my own - £25 from BR Lines and £30 from Bachmann (albeit, with new locos I'd argue they should fix it for free under consumer guarantee or consumer 'fit for prupose' laws) - the gears cost ~£1 each and the tool to pull wheels cost a fiver, and it's done hundreds of them, so essentially has been almost free if its cost spread per gear.....! Cheers, Alan

What a wonderfully evocative photo - even to someone like myself, born well after the years of steam - superb. Please do keep posting your photos, Tony - they are truly superb, and wonderful inspiration material Cheers, Alan

If you take this apart and paint over the LEDs with thinned black paint, it will dim them down, whilst still allowing their illumination to come through to a more realistic level. I've done this on several of my N gauge 101s with great improvement, as the LEDs there really were too bright - in daylight they should be barely visible. Cheers, Alan

No, the class 47s have different wheels than on the 24, and 16 tooth gears. Cheers, Alan

You can remove the body of the loco which should have the pipes attached, thus removing them from obstructing the pickup. When soldering, be quick as the chassis block is plastic, so you don't want to dump too much heat into the pickup or wire as the pickup may become detached from the plastic chassis. Cheers, Alan

BR green DMUs are unendingly popular in particular, and now all new ones have generally sold out, demand is pushing secondhand prices up again. Cheers, Alan

There's plenty of milage in using older stock - it can be obtained cheaper (especially stuff with rough paintwork or missing wheels or couplers if you're willing to do some fettling). Moreover, some wagon prototypes simply can't be bought new, in any form - e.g. bogie sulphate wagons, PGAs, and old style square tanked tanker wagons. Even basic changes can lift an older wagon - changing the wheels to new fine profile blackened ones (Bachfarish for old Farish wagons, and Parkside/Romfords for Peco), or repainting and weathering are simple ways to integrate older stock into a fleet. Doing so gives you something unique - not just another same superdetail wagon plonked on from the box. I don't think people should be criticised for using such stock as there are plenty of good reasons to do so, and with care it can be integrated into fleets of modern stock. Cheers, Alan

Gaugemaster controllers are perfectly suited to N gauge. Dapol shipped Gaugemester controllers with their train sets, and I personally have been using standard Gaugemaster D, 100, 100M and W controllers with N for the last 20 years no problem. Cheers, Alan

Indicates it may just be a need to run in and take off some of the wheel tread blackening and blackening where the pickup wipers work. Cheers, Alan

I've seen this too - but running in seemed to help things, so not sure the mechanism of this strangeness. Cheers, Alan