Dad-1

An interesting way of getting 2 out of a pack !

I thought '0' wouldn't have as much of a problem. Proves me wrong.

In O-scale, yes O..., I cut the magnets in half, across the middle not lengthways!  OK it doesn't eliminate wagon roll on those Delrin-frame trucks, but it helps and means the uncouplers go twice as far!

Jason

Sorry Richard,

I don't see how else one can retard free running stock. A friend of mine used a small shred of sponge to act

as a brake, but a brake it still is. Remember though coaches are a different animal !

I have reason to believe the between the rails magnets are weaker as they seem to work much closer to the

trip pins. I've not played around with them as I don't like the visual effect of something between my rails.

Dad-1

That was really interesting! I was especially impressed by your point changing apparatus!!! Kadees are something I have toyed with as an idea for avoiding the hand of God. But I like my stock to run feely, and the thought of having to put on artificial braking seems a bit odd. Do you know how other people solve the problem?

Thanks Mikkel,

Ha, Ha, Yes my little demonstration piece. I used several different sizes and colours

of ballast to show how they look in-situ. For fencing the invisible sewing nylon thread

was run through drilled standard matchsticks and then looped around some 2.0 mm

jagged plasterboard nails, with heads suitably cut off after insertion.

I used to take this to exhibitions where I did demonstrations to show cheap and easily

available fencing IF you're prepared to do the work. Now I use it to line up couplings on

wagon kits I make where I want the buffing bar of a coupling to match exactly to my other

stock.

Thanks for the input Mikkel,

Never yet had problems with HMRS decals, some of which must be at least 7 years old.

I had wondered about a thin varnish, or my first experiment will be with Johnsons Kleer

acrylic floor polish. It's like water and used to seal decals on and float larger decals about

by many aircraft modellers.

The possible down side is that the allocation locations are made up from 1.0 mm individual

letters, you can't hold a complete word with scalpel points unless you have around 8 hands !

The question will sliding off the top tissue disturb any letters ? Only one way experiment.

My LNER HMRS sheet has arrived so all basic decals will come from that. It also includes

the allocation 'Gateshead' and with this model being for a friend we have flexibility !!

Next posting will show how I've got on !! Fingers crossed ..........................

Dad-1

Thanks Southernboy,

Derek has another on the way and I expect to be asked to make it. Although not an easy kit it certainly

is an interesting subject.

Having had it's second Bauxite painting (still damp here) it's looking quite nice. Next the foot boards

need painting up fully, the tall stove pipe chimney adding, several lamp brackets, roof painting then

decalling. I expect this will hang around for another week at least.

MMMM don't know how to add a picture in 'Replies'

Dad-1

O.K so it's clean .......early days I suppose

Every piece of coal came off the bottom line !!

Dad-1

Hi Tim V,

How do you get so many weekend passes ?

Thought you may appreciate this though :-

My wife was beginning to get close to the weekend pass limit where out Thomas layout has done 23 outings since May 2015. Then a few months back when she was with the Diabetic Nurse for a check up she let slip I was away at the coming weekend running my Thomas layout at a fete. Said nurse then asked for the phone number as she's running the Axemouth fete this coming year and thought it would be an interesting addition to attractions.

We had a good laugh at her becoming my booking agent !!

Dad-1

Oh, That reminds me, you see those two vehicles near the front.

They are our point levers !! Surperglued onto lengths of welding

rod. I thought it a clever idea.

Dad-1

I have tended to upload via the RMweb service since it started.

I have been loading photos into Photobucket for in excess of 10 years. I still have all

my photographs here in my computer files, but to obtain another hosting organisation

and try to replace images into threads/articles from all these years is simply not practical.

However "The Cloud" or any other hosting service either paid for, or free is there as long as the

organisation running it stays solvent.Could Microsoft, or Apple go like Woolworths, British Leyland,

British Home Stores ?

Nothing is forever,

Dad-1

Well, Phil Parker - You are Art ...... A nice little comment you received.

Does it count ? - You bet !!

MikeOxon, Please to see I'm not the only one who gets as much enjoyment 

from a 6 x 3 as anything else. A big layout can soon become a nightmare as

I know from experience.

Dad-1

I thank you guys for the comments and it's good to know

that I'm not alone in the images that catch my attention.

Even the leaning telegraph pole and fence posts add

something.

It's just a little 6' x 3' oval with passing loop behind a back

screen. Something to play with and run in my smaller tank

locos, also where I try odd ideas ..........

Dad-1

I thank you gentlemen,

I've always loved the countryside and I suppose the 'open road' having been a club and racing cyclist,

a rally driver and for many years a technical sales engineer. It looks like something from my 1.5 million

miles of driving has stuck in my memory.

Dad-1

Hi Black5, Thanks for the support It's something I certainly want to feel capable of

although at the moment IF what I wanted was available I may have been saving my time

and just spending money.

Obviously you have made a few, perhaps you can help with the anchoring of point blades.

With a soldered tie bar how can one anchor by the closure rails, but allow some movement.

On long points I suppose one can rely on bending the blades, but short blades are a different matter.

I have the intention of using a brass pin of around 0.7 mm soldered to the ends by the closure

rails to allow it to swivel in a hole drilled in the copperclad.

Looks like 20 wagons is JUST over the top when it comes to pulling around a curve !!

I tried 22, but that really was just too much.

https://youtu.be/UPoSy5EtsII

A fun project !!

Dad-1

A video of a high speed run - it works fine.

Earlier I had it pushing 2 wagons and indications are it'll move rather a lot !!

https://youtu.be/enY1Ss7A8g8

Now I must make up instrument panel & work out which crew figure to add.

Dad-1

I always think a story helps create the ambiance from which to work.

I like this.

Dad-1

Hi David C

I do stir to excess but I'm thinking of adding a touch of IPA to the tin, if it dosen't work then I can always bin it. My stirring

implement is a small electrical screwdriver that has a ring worn into the shaft where it's rubbed it's way around 100's

of tins of paint, even the blade is showing signs of wear, a wonder I've not worn a hole through some tins !!

I'd not thought about adding a heavy agitator to rattle around inside. I wonder if this paint is thin enough to allow

enough movement to work, when I said sludge I really meant sludge. One tin I was working with I dipped the tip

of my brush into my thinners cleaning pot to thin the next brush full, just touched the paint top which was touched

as I could see the reflection change, yet the brush didn't pick up any paint. The stuff simply won't flow. Another example of non-flow is I have needed to rotate a brush as I worked otherwise a deposit (blob) on the side wouldn't

flow into the bristles.

This orange is going on thick, the only way to cover anything is to stipple, a brush stroke just moves paint off the surface. I could sand back, but in such a small sunken corner between wagon frames & roof that is going to be

difficult !!

I'm used to painting by brush, mostly aircraft, here is an example :-

Dad-1

I thank you guys for the paint suggestions. I have used Docraft paints, the blue I had was mixed with some waterbased

white I once bought from Aldi to create a light sky blue & it worked out quite well on my St Oval back scene sky. I then sponge painted some of their white to create clouds in the sky. So yes, a good cover pigment cheap enough to experiment with bespoke mixes. That Vallejo range has several orangy, brownish, reds, that should have something to offer me, the on-line colours may not be what the painted surface will look like but a good starting point.

So again thank you for he advice.

Dad-1

Last evening I lost my 'cool' because of couplings riding over oneanother when reversing trains of 13 wagons.

I expect to manage 20 through points without difficulty. Now adding excessive weight just adds to pressure  on the couplings making the problem worse rather than fixing it. I have tried a mixture of straight and drooped

NEM couplings and because of my sticking the NEM pockets into small triangular housings they are not adjustable.

My approach is now that couplings are in a strong and bendable plastic so I am actually bending them to match up

heights. So far it seems to be working much better ........ I'll also lift some of my welding wire tube from the 22 ton long tube wagon load, I think it's now rather too heavy !!

Dad-1

Hi Phil,

Thanks for the comment & advice.

One good source for weight are car balance weights, the stick-on type used on alloy wheels.

Often these are in lengths with thinning between sections graded at 5 Gram & 10 Gram.

Any running trouble has been getting couplings to sit straight and at a matching height. That said you will even get problem wagons when using RTR, some Bachmann sit high, whereas

Dapol tend to sag !! While I find RTR easy enough to modify, some of my kit built the NEM pockets are held in home produced sockets ..... but have stuck in - currently trying to

loosen without pulling right off !

Sorry to hear of the accident. Now the children have gone back to school we

have to watch out for the old drivers who come to our Dorset coast, at times

one wonders if they should still be driving !! (comment from a 72 year old !!)

Brilliant painting - my eyes still hurt at the memory of painting Langley 4 mm

scouts. You may as well ache somewhere else as well !!!

Dad-1

Thanks for the 'Likes' guys.

One thing I'm always pointing out is that railway modelling dosen't have to be mega expensive.

Much more a thing to take into consideration with prices rising so fast and soon as I see it, locos

costing upward of

I know what you mean about the Dapol couplings ...... they sort of sag slightly, fine

when attached to other Dapol wagons, but not too happy with slightly high Bachmann.

Hey what would life be like if there was nothing to have a gripe about !!

Dad-1