richbrummitt

Missy, I'm not going to build my point rodding stools. I thought they would be gwr ones, but when they got here I found out they were not. Do you still need some more?

Do I know you..

You might have been able to dye the gears, resin dependent. Alas they are assembled now...

My prototype has this kind of problem. The track is cut in at one side and there is a 7' wall right along the rear of the siding behind the station, the entrance being from the road overbridge to one end down an incline. (The wall also continues up the approach.) I considered having the viewing side over the wall from behind the station because the curve of the line would be away from the viewer (and I could have had a rather amusing layout name), but eventually decided to go for viewing down the small banking. The only negative comment I got when displayed as a work in progress with the topography partially formed was "are we going to have to look down the bank at the stock then?" I'm unlikely to change this now, but I wouldn't mind viewing from the back. Out of interest, where is the yard?

What's going to happen when the empire strikes back in episode V though? It could be disaster just around the corner. Sorry; couldn't resist

I think you forgot to put a picture of your painted D49 up?

Someone (Laurie Adams ?) made a working shunting tractor in this scale a number of years back. I think it used an X,Y traveser under the baseboard and ran using a magnet like the faller road system. It was impressive: you should look it up...

Shame it's not N gauge. You could have 'compromised'

My 'modelling' at the moment is trying to write some articles. Easier than doing some actual modelling badly. I haven't done anything constructive since mid year. Some posts here and attending Farnham show have helped with the cba factor reducing. I think now the body is sorted this will be flying along... Sorry - I'll get my coat. btw nine should be IX.

I've given some (not a lot) of thought to this and come to the initial conclusion that a solution with sprung buffers is the way forward. When the association buffer castings finally appear (I live in hope/belief) then this may well be quite easy... Prototypically I'm pretty sure you should have gone for 7' bogies though. Sorry.

Some days I can't survive on £10. I do know people who have lived on £15 a week, but they weren't paying board. What mountain bike part are you looking for? I have quite a collection of offcasts spanning 10+ years of upgrade and abuse, even though I don't ride very much any more. Standards change every few years in mountain biking depending on model and component manufacturer. Then lower end bikes use the older stuff for ages. Oh wait this is a model railway forum. Sorry. Reading your post just reminds me why I didn't bother to start mine.

Plan 2 has a major advantage in my opinion that the trains always face the direction they should travel. Unless every train is going to have an identically formed return working then I don't think that Plan 1 wouldn't work for exhibition. If I was building a roundy roundy then I would probably do it with a traverser at the rear for a single track line. A double tracked line may be easier with loops.

It's difficult to know. The grey is somewhere between the colours that I paint Midland (almost the colour of my etch primer) and GW (quite a bit darker). It's not as dark as it looks in the second picture - it has been rainy for the last few days and new camera also means that I haven't got everything looking quite right. I took some with flash, but that made everything richer and distorted the colours to my eyes. Regarding the underframe, if it had flitch plates (which the LNWR were big fans of) then they would be black if they were on the outside of the solebar along with the rest of the underframe metalwork?

I finally unfolded the layout on Sunday night after it's trip out the previous weekend. I haven't tested it yet, but I believe that it will work again now that it is in more comfortable climes (even if the room does get hot in the evenings, having a west facing). Something that I became aware of is how much more stock I need to build for the layout and in the meantime I have started to chip away at the shelf of unfinished models (that have spread to the desk behind my window workbench). I purchased an LNWR diagram 88 box van when they were advertised cheaply to clear some stock and have had it built for some time now - it just needed a paint job. The base coat and lettering are all there now but I'm not sure that it is right. Here's a photograph of such a vehicle and livery details that I used to determine the livery. The grey is what emerged from half black and half white with some extra black because I thought it looked too white. What I'm not sure about is the solebar. Should it be grey with only the remainder of the under frame and fittings where they attach picked out black? I want to make a decision before I finish the weathering. Opinions below. (I don't know if you can have a poll on a blog entry?)

Ah, now I know who you are I didn't think that trains passed there. It was interesting to hear your thought on the signalling even though neither of the home signals are actually on the layout. I still believe that the signal at the end of the platform is an early distant signal though. Does your book tell you anything else about the station? Which book is it? Ta.

Would you like to make mine too? :cheeky:

I thought that most cast axleboxes/springs were back in stock. If you can get used to doing the etched ones reasonably well they do look better imo - and you'll save a few pennies (or eurocents). I hate this part of assembly too - once the central hole gets smaller than the top hat and there is no location (why can't we have stepped top hats to provide location for the outer layers and make this easier?) You can get solder off with glass fibre pencils and all manor of scrapers such as Geoff had on display last weekend, but it's so much easier to put a bit less on in the first place. Make them nice and dirty, especially below floor level and they'll look fine.

I know you looked at my set up but I didn't meet you for it to be explained and there are parts that are neither visible or obvious so here goes: I've used an Easitrac check chair for my loose heel switches. This spaces the rail perfectly at the heel. It remains to be seen how robust they are long term but I'm taking my chances - I can always fix it later! I feed the switch rails from the L shaped operating wires that are soldered to the underside of the toe. As you have identified these need to be fairly robust. These are connected to a copper clad sleeper strip tie bar that is gapped with dropper wires on the ends of it directly connected to the dropper wires from the adjacent rail. There is a pin or wire link from the sleeper strip to the telescoping brass limiters and thence by an omega/bent wire to the operating switch. If I were to do it again I would combine the sleeper strip part and the limiters in a neater unit.

Thanks all. I received a bunch of positive comments and a lot of interest as a result of Mick's Easitrac seminar. Kris, It's all that could be fitted in the design. They are okay as long as the adjusters are extended so that the cassette portions are tight against the ends of the main boards, then if you knock them the whole thing moves as a unit. Missy, No, I've had a Worsley Works railcar for quite some time. Oxford had them early on for routes such as the Thame branch and the many others in the locale. I don't know if I'll ever get round to building it because they are relatively modern. It might be easier than it looks but I struggled to get my head around it the few times I've distracted myself to it.I think I know which coaches you refer to - I've got loads of coach fits from most of the known sources. The 4 wheelers that I've been working on are the ones that come as a set from Worsley Works - 2 van thirds a 5 compartment third and a 4 compartment first. More to come on these - I want to get them off the work bench. Nick, No problem. I actually think it's a pretty good solution that I hit upon in a proper light bulb above head moment. Andy, How many wheel sets did you try before finding the right ones? I looked up about wheels: The first disc wheels appeared on diagram AA19s (I think the Farish van most closely resembles AA24 or some other later type) in 1927 and 3 hole disc wheels were used progressively after 1930 so your van should probably have discs. Sorry. Maybe it could have had some replacements and spoked were to hand? Bryn, Sorry. I was around most of Saturday, forgiving 15 minutes to grab lunch from upstairs, but not so much on Sunday. My point operation could have been implemented much better but I really struggled on the design and had to fit it on after. I think it is a decent idea that could have better execution with some forward planning. Pete, Great to meet you. I copied the track plan straight from that reproduced in one of the line history books. I'm not the only association member that enjoys the 3 link. I was told that it was better to solder the links up once fully closed to prevent them stretching open and falling apart by someone with a bit more experience than myself.

Doh. Something else I missed. Ah, well it was good to meet you. When the layout comes to the UK it will be great to see it. If not we may have to visit Barcelona. It is one of the places in Spain that we wished to visit but haven't fitted in to our travels.

I seem to recall hearing that it went in a skip after there was no interest when it was advertised for sale and the space needed to be reclaimed.

I had an enjoyable but tiring weekend. I was surprised by the quantity of layouts in attendance, including some that I had not seen before (even excepting the challenge layouts). The layout was transported and erected without problems and ran pretty well too. I had problems all day Saturday transferring from the layout into the cassettes with almost everything derailing, but the so far not very scenic section only has a few niggles. The problem with the cassettes is with the haste of construction and lack of care in ensuring the gauge was not too large. Inserting some plasticard strips just less than the back to back in the centre helped enormously and made Sundays timetable more enjoyable. Also on Saturday, just as the exhibition was opening ten minutes early I found that my second choice goods loco (1425) was short circuit on the track at some places and had to have the brakes removed for a cure. The reserve pannier tank was found to be permanent short circuit on the body so I was hoping for reliable service from the recently completed etched chassis replacement. Then the worm came off! The worm was specially bushed to suit the motor shaft and after finding the worm I tried to refix it with disasterous results What you see is a coreless motor with the can separated from the rear cap. I really needed reliable service from the rather lightweight 1425 now. Fortuantely she performed pretty well the whole weekend. Large amounts of wheelslip were reduced by running bunker first with a train and limiting the number of wagons handled. This was not difficult given that I had spent last week fitting three link couplings to as many wagons as possible and managing about ten. A few others that are still without hooks spent the weekend stranded in the goods yard looking pretty. On Saturday evening I solved the short circuit on the body of the reserve pannier tank and even got the coreless motor back together and kind of working. Not well enough to provide a locomotive for Sundays timetable. With two working locomotives and some loan wagons from Andy Hanson I operated a second goods train on Sunday. My something like 15 year old Farish railcar providing the passenger services with little compaint throughout the weekend. I got to to have a better look around when everything stopped at about half past two on Sunday afternoon. Something got too hot, possibly in the controller. I fitted an AC fan on the power supply box and that seemed to work really well. I had a couple of problems with the security of my leads, but that was not the problem this time. The controller would flash output, and then load, followed by overload and then there was nothing. After a time it would repeat this action. I gave up and took some pictures: This would be the approximate view from the house adjacent to the line on the north side of the line, with the diesel railcar paused where the station building will be one day. Another view, this time looking towards Oxford, showing the near empty yard. All the photographs show a yard brimming with wagons so I have some more work to do completing what is in my stock pile. I got some extruded polystyrene offcuts shaped into the rough shape of the landscape. There is a bit more work to do on them before they can be fixed and blended in but it has given me an idea of how it can shape up. For the moment the facia has just been cut to match and requires some smoothing when the final contour is produced. Finally a view capturing the whole layout within the exhibition.

You'll get it sorted. I know. It has come too far for you to give it up I think. I really like the colour reproduction and the attention to detail is mind blowing. I think you actually have far more patience than you let on. It is certainly a huge step forward from last time that I saw the layout in Oxford and a huge step in the right direction. I also love your Q1. As a general rule I hate Southern locomotives but it is portrayed beautifully grotty and neglected with the same level and attention to detail as the rest of your work. Keep up the good work because it is certainly inspirational.

I had real problems with the transition from cassette to layout. I also made my cassettes fractionally too wide. It was better on Sunday after I made some alterations (a central plasticard lump to keep the wheels centred and guide on and of the layout, but not perfect. Locomotives stopped moving entirely on Sunday at about 2:30-3:00 time. I presume it will work again when I try again in more normal climate. I agree with the comment about the lights. The lighting in the hall was particularly good for an exhibition hall so it was less of a problem. Unfortunately you don't get much light out of those LEDs, they glow more than illuminate. Fine when you are looking directly at them becasue the intensity if not related to distance, but when you try and light something with them the actual amount of light provided reduces as the square of the distance! Perhaps a straight swap for traditional filament lights in the next January sale would be an easy fix? Otherwise there are some small well packaged fluorescent fittings people are using with good results. I particularly liked the colour balance and reproduction on Highclere.

The aim was to have a portable layout that wasn't a micro shunting plank that would fit in to our (rather small) car. There's nothing wrong with shunting planks but I wanted the whole station, preferably uncompressed. I drive a Citroen C2, and there's not much room in the back. Unfortunately hobbies that require large objects to be moved don't fit in well with a love of small French hatches. Initially I thought the layout could fit behind the rear seats, but this is a daft shaped space that tapers in from every direction. The plan fitted in here once folded, but I later discovered that it wouldn't go, not with height considered. It would also be impossible to manouvre it into the space through the rear hatch. By this stage I had started construction thinking that the layout would fit lengthwise with the seats down. Wrong again! The car inside is wider than it is long behind the rear seats. Some more measuring revealed that the backscene height would be dictated by the 26" height of the tailgate opening. Unfortunately not high enough to have the lighting pelmet permanently attached, and I am still deciding exactly how best to attach and transport this. So my measuring did work out, but I could have planned better. The layout (without lighting) still all folds up with legs in one piece and currently tips the scales at 14kg. This makes it really easy to lift and load... ...once these are out (7 bolts). Lift up... ...and into the car I probably need something to make sure that it stays in place during transit. The castors aren't great on the lumpy bumpy outdoor surfaces due to their small size. Hopefully they'll make things really easy once inside most venues and I'll have a quick and easy set up and take down.