Jim T

Just a quick query as one relatively new to the Association (this time)... Is there any plan to produce 3’6” dia. wagon wheels? Has this ever been looked at? I’m actually after 8 axles worth of 10-spoke tender wheels for two SR bogie tenders, but it struck me pre-group wagon wheels would do a fairly good impression, at least if these weren’t all 8 split spoke...

What lathe are you using there Nick? Looks a fabulous little tool... Jim

A bit more progress with the Grampus (planked floor now in, but it would have been better to have checked before assembling the body and scribed the planks in), and a chassis for a clasp braked mineral. After finally finding a decent block of time for modelling, I’m starting to adapt to the size of things and work out ways of making jobs a bit less fiddly! I wish I’d started in earnest ten years ago though, my eyes aren’t what they were.

Just a bit motivated after the AGM, so spent an hour or so this evening working on a (hopefully better) Grampus - Fencehouses chassis kit and Association plastic body. Nick’s Jubilee series of videos was a very good choice as winner of the Geoff Balfour award - it’s given me the know-how to sweat up the solebars without any major dramas, something I’ve found tricky in the past...thank all of you who brought layouts, demos, competition entries etc. to the AGM for your various inspirational inputs :-) Quick query after hunting around for interior pics without success: steel floor or planked floor in a Grampus? Jim

Hi Nig Both your and Ian’s work on the Princess are stunning (not that the 2P is any less brilliant in her simpler way). I always thought the Princesses and Duchesses looked best in the simple BR version of maroon, ever since seeing a fabulous picture of 46256 at Carlisle in a big 70s era book, “The Joy of Steam”. Is Ian doing commissions in 2mm for the general modeling public? If so is there a contact email / website? Jim

Any further news? Doesn’t seem to be on the recently posted March release list.

Just to pick up on that, 2mmKiwi, how did you do the window frames on the CK please? Looks fabulous.

Hi Tim Sorry to jump back to this. These look an excellent idea but what do folks who need vision correction do? I'm becoming increasingly long sighted, but don't need correction for anything but close-up work so I have glasses but not contact lenses. Many thanks Jim

Really useful thank you Izzy. The answer is in the region of 12.5mm from the Micrometer (must buy a set of digital callipers for this kind of thing), so I reckon a 10 thou shim each side should do it. I'll give it a whirl this way and report back. It's always easier if you can use standard stock bits rather than having to order wheels on odd length axles and do nasty bodge solutions like blunting pin-points. Thanks also Paul, hopefully thanks to Izzy I won't have to drill them out.

I'm just "FS-ing" a Farish Pipe Wagon. This has 14.0mm axles - yet another axle length thank you GF! What do folks reckon is the best option: ​6mm plain disc wheels on 13.70mm axles and hope they stay in! I can live with them not having 3-holes. Drill out the axle box / axle guard from behind and use 12.25mm axles with the pin-point bearings (I have a tool for opening out for top hat bearings for my 4mm wagons but how do folks do it in 2mm?) Dump the Farish chassis and build an Association one? If so which one - there are several 12' WB chassis listed... Cheers Jim

I'd concur with that. Especially in the Georgian period bricks could be quite thin. Maybe someone on here is close by and could pop round and measure. A pic of the model (or one you've built previously) usually piques the owner's interest! Jim

Those look like handmade wirecut bricks which were probably made very locally to the buildings. They likely predate the standardisation in size which came in the Victorian period, when cheaper transport meant that it was more efficient to manufacture bricks in huge numbers away from the worksite. I used to work for British Waterways and sourcing reclaimed bricks of the right size to repair old buildings was getting quite tricky - we often had to have them made by one of the few remaining craft brickworks. The manufacture and firing of bricks is a hugely interesting subject in its own right... Jim

It used to work so well back in the pre-BRM day as well. I tend to use the DEMU forum for modern image stuff, but is there a 2mm buy and sell lurking anywhere?

Thanks Andy. I couldn't find the TSOs because they're listed as SOs on many websites. A couple are on the way now. I was very interested to see the BSO, I've done a few cut and shut conversions in 4mm scale but not in 2mm so it was encouraging to see that someone had given it a go. I'll have to dig the mark 1 coaches book it and work out how best to get the various catering vehicles I would like to do, starting with an RB and an RBK. Anyway, thanks for the inspiration and the prompt response :-) Jim

They've just forgotten to scale the voltage in the blurb - but I think it should scale with the cross sectional area of the conductor so it's actually 25,000 / (76.2 ^ 2) = 4.3 volts. Scary!

Nice work there Andy Sorry to pick this up ages after the event but I'm looking to do a few conversions myself: an RB from the RU for example. Where did you source the interior from? It's the open second class bit that I'm particularly interested in as Farish have yet to do a blue/grey TSO. Jim

Great, thanks Izzy I'll get the wheel sets ordered and take it from there. Jim

That's great, thanks Izzy. It's the new one. I'd forgotten about ensuring the wheel size matches the 1:148 proportions not proper 2mm scale! I'll have a think. I may have a shot at getting the original wheels turned just to see how they "turn" out and save messing about with springing / pick ups. On the other hand I have the Asscoiation drop in wheels in my 25 and they are beautifully engineered and run well (at least on my 2' of Easitrack and the rolling road - is there anyone out there in Shropshire with a layout I can test on?) Jim

Has anyone finescaled a Farish Class 31 yet? Wondered whether anyone had weighed up the various options (turned Farish wheels, Association drop in wheels) and whether anyone had tried to replicate the smaller carrying wheels? I'd got as far as identifying that the driving wheels are 3'7" dia (so 7.17mm) and the carrying wheels 3'3½" dia (6.58mm). Perhaps there's scope to use 3-071 7.0mm dia drop-ins for the driven wheels and 3-053 6.5mm disc tender wheels for the carrying axle, but I'm not sure whether the muff on the tender wheels would fit? Any thoughts appreciated. This was the first loco I ever took a 35mm picture of and it's high time I had a model. The camera was a brand new Ricoh KR-10 which was my 11th birthday present - how lucky was I! It's a shame I hadn't learned to expose for the shadows back then... Hopefully the photo will appear below:

Thanks for the advice guys. Has anyone got a picture comparing the profile of Association turned Farish wheels (the newer style ones!) against the "proper" Association profile? Are they really indistinguishable? I might make myself a little jig and drill the centres of the wheels I've got to turn them into 3-hole wagon wheels so I can use them on Farish freight stock conversions, then either buy the 14.2mm axle wheels or get my Farish ones turned. I like the idea of having stuff turned (I don't like throwing things away and can't imagine I'd want to turn my stock back to N gauge). I like the idea of turning wheels down myself even more, if I can find someone to show me how to do it well! Does anyone have success with a clamped mini drill and hand held tools or do you need a proper micro lathe and toolpost?? The moral of my story is to buy the Farish item first and measure the axle length rather than assuming! Is there mileage in putting together a table showing the axle lengths of various RTR items to help folks avoid this trap?

Just a quickie! I've just ordered some Association wheels to rewheel a few of the newish Farish Mark 2 coaches. These have B4 bogies with 6mm wheels so I ordered 6mm diameter plain disc wheels on the 15.2mm axles recommended for Farish in the shop list. Unfortunately the axles are too long. Checking with a micrometer the Farish axles are about 14.0mm. Anyone any ideas on a way forward other than turning the Farish wheels down? Can I somehow shorten the ends of the axles on the Association wheels I have, or replace the axles? I can't see a 14mm axle on any of the shop lists though?

I've spent the last couple of months tidying and sorting all my accumulated projects of years and getting my snug /railway room set up. I had a brief fling in 2mm FS in the mid-90s when I was at Manchester MRS and (very loosely) involved with the iconic Chee Tor layout, but never got much beyond a small box of disparate unfinished projects. I've thought quite hard about my modelling (which is my second leisure pastime so I don't have a huge amount of time) and realised that what I really want to do is recreate some of the things I remember from the early 1980s when I first started travelling on the railway and taking pictures. So I've cleared out the OO stuff because I don't really have space and I'm starting on a project which should help me relive those happy memories! Having a look at the contents of my little box, I've restarted work on a lowfit and an ex LNER Toad E. These are N gauge kits but receiving 2mm FS wheels and DG couplings for my new project. A Parkwood (?) Lowfit on a Peco chassis. The buffers have been replaced with the old 2mm Association white metal castings. I've removed the Peco coupling box and filled in the gap in the buffer beams where the coupling would have been. Now I've laid in some Squadron Green putty to level out the areas where the DG couplings will be epoxied. Next step will be to file this smooth. Brake van chassis with new centre section of the headstock in 60 thou x 30 thou styrene. Next step is filler as for the lowfit, then a little work to the body. You can see the roof which has had separate torpedo vent castings added already. The wheels are old 1990s vintage 2mm FS - one or two had shed their tyres but I've tried to true them up as best I can by mounting them in the minidrill and using my fingers to find true, then CA'ing the tyre back on. Since I took the pictures I've located my little fibreglass pen and the tyres have cleaned up nicely, so 15-20 years in various garages seems to have done little harm! The next job is to get the DGs folded up and build the jigs so I can shim them off the floor and set the final level - I found a good blog post on that here: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/233/entry-2451-fitting-dgs/ Looking forward to a bit of track assembly (first foray into Easitrac) for those jig now...