treggyman

Hi Richard Glad to see both you & Orchard Rd are alive & well....... I've enjoyed both seeing it in the flesh & on here & look forward to more pictures.... Cheers Bill

Hi I hadn't realised that 50034 was numbered 50007 on the other side 'till I saw the above photo at Penzance. Cheers Bill

Hi The two GBRF 50's came down to Penzance today on the Cornishman. My grandson had told me they were coming but I'd forgotten 'till a familiar loud engine noise disturbed me munching on my Pasty...... However saw them on their return at Cooks Kitchen..... Castle class headed I think by 43016 on it's way to Penzance........ Loud roar plus clag = 50049 & 50034 heading from Camborne past Dolcoath towards Redruth...... Not the best of pictures as I was looking into a hazy sun.... But better than nothing...... Cheers Bill

Hi Look forward to seeing you there.... Not had an invite so be nice to go as a visitor as a change.... Cheers Bill

Hi Thanks for the info....Really interesting.......I now have an excuse to run my large logo '37 after renumbering it.... Again apologies for the thread hijack........ I'll disappear back into the undergrowth..... Cheers Bill

Hi Are my eyes deceiving me but have all the CDA's except the front one got EWS covers the front one having ECC blue..... Was this a special working as I didn't realise large logo 37's hauled clay trains that late.... Brilliant picture....Sorry to hijack the thread.... Cheers Bill

Hi Well the motor has been 'Stalled' for 3/4 hour now so I would have thought that if it's going to have an effect it would have happened by now.... The motor has not heated up.... There is no buzz/hum other than a faint electrical noise that you have to put your ear close to the motor to hear....Exactly the same noise as when the motor has travelled full throw in normal use...... In restricting the throw the power is on full..... The motor can only travel less than a third of it's allowable travel..... As I said this is a Tortoise point motor but as far as I'm aware the working principles of Tortoise point motors & Cobalts i assume are the same..... I'll leave it a while longer to see if any change occurs...... I had heard that Cobalts can be noisier than Tortoise motors but I had assumed that this only related to when they were moving not when stalled.....This in my experience I would agree with...... The Cobalts I have are silent when thrown but I've not got one to do the same test as I'm doing on the Tortoise motor..... Hope this helps Cheers Bill

Hi Andy It's probably the location then as here in deepest Cornwall plants tend to flower earlier than in some other parts of the country & it can flower from November on but is normally virtually over by April........ As regards the saying regarding kissing Wickepedia says (so it must be true ) that there is always a gorse of some description flowering..... though not necessarily the bush gorse as I would call it..... I shall certainly continue to enjoy your excellent modelling by following your excellent layout thread.... Keep up the good work Cheers Bill

Hi Stu As far as I'm aware as soon as the motor can travel no further it should stop whether it has completed it's full travel or not.....Hence the name stall motor..... It should certainly not buzz once it has completed it's throw....... I may be wrong & am quite happy to be corrected but that was how they were sold to me.... If you have a spare one try wiring it up without fitting it to the point & see if it buzzes when power is applied & it reaches the end of its travel/throw.....I've just tried it with a spare Tortoise motor & restricting the throw stops the motor but no hum/buzz only the sound of the gears when the motor is actually moving.... My power source is nearly 40 year old H & M Duette. I'll leave it on with restricted throw for a while & see what happens ie if it gets warm or not.... Cheers Bill

Hi Stu I agree with Andy above....... That's how I wire both my Tortoise & Cobalt motors & they always work fine..... Don't see what you've done wrong..... Incidentally if your on off on switches are DPDT the wiring would be the same so the problem would also be the same. Post now irrelevant as hadn't read above post before posting Cheers Bill

Hi Andy Thanks for the quick response.... There's no rush.....Enjoy the rest of your holiday....That's far more important...... I've plenty of other loco's & things to do to keep me entertained.... Hear from you when you can reply.... Cheers Bill

Hi Andy Thanks for the response. This is the second loco...... The first was replaced when I contacted Model Rail (Kernow Model Rail) & explained my problem......ie that it ran OK on straight DC but was rubbish on feedback...... They tested both the original & replacement but only on DC as they didn't have a feedback controller & both ran OK on straight DC...... This loco performs in exactly the same way as the first & the conclusion from the supplier was that if the second was the same as the first there wasn't any thing that could be done..... Hence hardwireing & fiddling with the motor as If a third loco would be the same there was no point changing it again & i have had success previously with other DCC ready locos by bypassing the circuit board........ I await with interest the response from your electronics guy but as it runs poorly on feedback control having bypassed the circuit board I would be more inclined to suggest it's the motor that is the problem...... Thanks again for your response.... Cheers Bill

Hi Great work....Looking amazing...... Just a quick point...... You say the bushes are awaiting their yellow flowers..... If that's the gorse bushes they flower late winter/early spring & I had assumed your scene was set later in the year.... Keep up the excellent work.... I've been following at a distance for a while & have been enjoying your great progress.... Cheers Bill

Hi Chris Probably depends on the length/weight of rake. When I did mine over 20 years ago I used paper clips because that's all I had available as wire......Wasn't aware of brass/nickel wire being available...... Far to heavy duty although worked well. Probably a slight increase in wire diameter would be better but it really depends on the length of train & thus the weight of train being pulled. Using Nickel silver wire instead of brass would increase the strength & reduce the possibility of the wire bending under the strain of being pulled but keep the diameter the same thus keeping the coupling as unobtrusive as possible..... As an aside..... I've had instances when stock has derailed & a vehicle has become jammed..... When this has happened occasionally a coupling will break but normally the whole train stops dead with no damage or readjustment required.... By the nature of the coupling there is a certain amount of 'flex' built in as by nature the wire is 'springy'. Hope this helps...... Cheers Bill

Hi Chris Yes it is..... I dabbled in 'O' for a short time & used them for the project & they worked fine..... Cheers Bill

Hi Andy Just looked & there is no reply in my 'inbox' for PM'S...... Although I have removed /isolated the circuit board I have wired in a ceramic capacitor to try to 'iron out 'any spikes......No difference..... My query/problem is though that the motor works really poorly with a feedback controller whether hardwired or with the board in place..... Other motors I've had similar problems with hardwiring sorts it out..... There is no difference in performance either way with this motor...... Anyway...Enjoy your holiday..... I've sort of accepted that there's no solution..... Cheers Bill

Hi Thanks for posting those pictures.... I hadn't realised that the 'Par Shunt' as I call it was still operational.... Does it occur every Wednesday or as & when required? I've seen it before but as you say it's normally a morning job On another tack I assume the other wagons went to Parkindillack/Treviscoe though I had been told that that facility had been mothballed.... Thanks again for posting Cheer Bill

Hi Although I agree that the trip from China to England & thence to the purchaser is a long one I would agree with Hellcat that the box is the best bit .It is well made & would seem to be capable of withstanding most knocks/temperature variations etc that it might encounter in it's travels. As Hellcat says.....The smokebox number was not straight.....Hardly likely to occur in transit...Fall off maybe.....But unlikely to be not straight. Refitting of pipes & brakegear that was one assumes fitted correctly when first arriving at Hellcat's abode is not a problem of shipping from China as it was OK when returned to be checked.... The fact that it was electrically dead is I suppose possible a transport issue but in my opinion unlikely....... I have previously in this thread explained my problems with the loco..... Looks great ....Runs C*** on Feedback & not brilliantly on ordinary DC(Analogue) & although I had the first one replaced both were the same......Looked great but ran nowhere near where the should have done even when hardwiring the power to the motor direct....In my opinion the motor is the main problem....... I PM'd rapidoandy several weeks ago as suggested & have still to receive a reply...... I concur with Hellcat......No more Rapido for me...... Cheers Bill

Hi Tony Thanks for the photo..... I'm pretty sure from that that I've got the door in the right place in the middle rather than the back end of the wall.... Oddly enough Bachmann produced a model of Blue Anchor signal box & I saw a damaged one for sale on Ebay.... I put in a bid but unfortunately forgot about it as I would have paid more than it went for..... Still my 'Box will be unique & it will be easier to fit a n interior..... Thanks again for the photo.... Cheers Bill Cheers Bill

Hi Well the Glacier has moved....Must be global warming..... Since my last post a month ago there has been some progress...... The new siding has been laid......This required a new point & trap point to be made & laid..... All in wired up & working..... This meant that I couldn't use the goods shed I'd previously built...... I could have gone half relief.....But the shed would've been huge so on the basis that the main reason that the station is there is to serve the Clay industry I assumed a small one would suffice..... With hindsight I should've built it a bit longer as I can't quite get two wagons inside if the doors were to be closed.....Not that the doors will ever move when made & fitted..... Again I've used the 'wallpaper' cladding..... Doors still to be made & various bits to be painted but I think it's come out OK. i've also started to clad the signal box....This with plasticard as the wallpaper brickwork is not smooth as proper face d brick should be but rustic/textured..... I've bought an interior for the 'box....A nice looking kit from LCUT Creative......Not made it yet & I've no connection to them but it looks nice..... Hopefully get a bit more done soon.... Cheers Bill

Hi Stu In my experience some are noisy & some aren't...... I've not used many but a couple have been very noisy while some are as quiet as Tortoise motors...... The noisy ones have lasted as long as the quiet ones so the noise has not yet affected the life of the motor yet..... I personally prefer Tortoise motors as I've had less issues with them....& I generally find them quieter...... All the tortoise motors I've used....Probably about 50 on various layouts....Have been second hand & so far I have had one that clicks & one with a faulty internal switch.... I started using brand new Cobalts with mixed success & have thus reverted to Tortoises..... I know some swear by them as being the Bees Knees .....I also swore but at some of them.... The three second hand Cobalt's I bought all ended up burnt out....I never found out why even though they were wired up correctly....... As I say.....Some people love them.......I personally don't.....Just my experience & I am sure others have the opposite experience to me..... Cheers Bill

Hi Thanks for sharing your work...... In my humble opinion I think they're excellent..... Indeed I think your version of George Bests face is far more like the real one than the one in the original picture..... It's easy to see how you produce such excellent models with that level of skill & observation..... Thanks again Cheers Bill

Hi Tony It must be an actor.... That's what they do ...... Cheers Bill

Hi Cracking picture.... Out of curiosity when was it taken? Cheers Bill

Hi again As the return trip was quite soon I popped round to Cooks Kitchen bridge to await it...... Running slightly early as the OZ62 59003 passed at about 11.53 on her way from Penzance back to Plymouth I then waited a few minutes for 2C19 Exeter to Penzance which was made up of 3 car 158957...... Although there is due another run later & I believe again tomorrow I probably won't get to see them..... Cheers Bill