5050

Some more photos of the stages of the build. The chassis etc. in the early stages. The High Level gearbox/inner chassis maintains the wheelbase itself so the 'outer' chassis is there 'merely' to support the body. The final drive gears are a force fit onto a 2mm wagon wheelset axle so for trial assembly I used a 1.9mm drill as a temporary axle. I also turned up spacers from 2.0mm internal diameter brass tubing to hold the idler gears in mesh, one of which had to be reduced slightly in diameter to clear an adjacent gear hence the shiny bit. The red patches are nail varnish to hold the cross shafts in place. I assembled the outer chassis with EM spacers as I had plenty of these to spare. With this chassis the final width isn't to important as spacers and bushes have to be employed to take up slack on the axles. High Level provide a length of 2.0mm steel rod for the idler gear cross shafts. I turned up some bushes for the outer chassis fixed end which extend outward and inward to minimise side play. The HL bearings just fit inside and the outer extensions just clear the wheel back-to-back. Wheels are 12mm 3-hole disc pattern and the pin-point ends have been turned off. Here is the basic chassis painted (roughly!) awaiting the motor. Lining all the axles and bearings whilst pressing the axles through the final drive gears was, shall we say, interesting! However, it all worked out in the end and the gears roll together quite sweetly. The 8BA screw in the spacer extends through to bear on the centre of the axle below to give a basic 3-point suspension. The flat plate in the centre is the motor support. The chassis now assembled with motor and wire pickups. The final connection to the motor is .45mm handrail wire with some sleeving taken from fine flex. The internal cab fittings are now attached. The 'rear' wheels (actually the front ones!) have spacers on the outside of the frames to reduce sideplay. There is very little clearance using P4 wheels inside the cast frames and I have had to pare quite a bit of whitemetal away to prevent short circuits with the wheels touching the body. Wire keepers hold the axle in place to stop it falling out. Nearly there. The body will be in 2 parts, cab with bonnet and footplate/frames, to ease painting. The fixing is the main chassis securing screw at the rear of the cab into a soldered 8BA nut and 2 self-tappers at the front into the underside of the bonnet. Cab roof is not attached to ease the fitting of glazing, the production of which is the next task. There has been a bit of 'fettling' needed to ensure the chassis fits easily but still securely into the body. And then it will be the painting...........................

Looks good - and a can of 'Batoil' in the grounded van door! Although I suppose that if you're not from't West Riding then you might not know what it is!

The frames are 2 pieces of 20thou brass soldered together with 2 long edges as straight together as possible and then filed in the vice. The basic shape is marked out with a sharp pointed tool using a black permanent marker as the 'blue'. It is then cut out with a variety of saws (junior hacksaw, razor saw etc.) to get a rough shape (to the outside of the marked line) and then carefully filed (with a selection of needle files) to achieve the final shape. With loco frames the long top edge is the datum and all measurements should be made from this. Having a reasonable sized clamp-on bench vise helps. Regarding progress on the loco, following some exasperating moments (!) over the weekend etc. I now have it running! Photos will follow shortly. This must be one of the quickest loco builds I've ever done! And yes, it is a 4-wheel drive - and no coupling rods and wheels to quarter!!

Here are some shots of the progress made so far. A view of most of the basic chassis kit parts and the simple 20 thou brass chassis sides. The High Level gearbox fret and gears is on the left. I have noticed that my brass chassis side members are different to Gordon's. I hope it works! I used a wheelbase of 24.5mm, the same as the recommended 'Spud'. The driven axle will be fixed and the other will pivot centrally hence the slot. The kit chassis sides and ends soldered together. The footplate surface has been marked for cutting. I drilled a series of holes along the edges and cut through with a heavy scalpel, filing up the edges afterwards. Footplate now has a hole cut in it to clear the mech, same size as the inside of the bonnet. I now realise that I will have to cut away some of the cab front inside the bonnet and also extend the footplate hole into the cab floor. Cab is now built (but roof not attached yet). I used 5 min epoxy for this rather than solder to allow some ability to get the corners as exact as possible. They are mitred which doesn't always work very well with white metal castings in my experience. They never seem to be exactly right even with some 'adjustments' and the epoxy does also have a gap filling purpose. The bonnet is here shown 'dry assembled'. Again the parts are mitred at the front and I think that some slight bodging may be required to get all the joints close. (Please note that 'Bodgers' are actually skilled woodworkers and chairmakers so my use of the term may be a bit out of place here!) Next job is to assemble the gearbox!

Seeing your layout photo Brian, with its apparent mix of US and UK models, reminds me that a lad in school in the late 50's had an American book on 'Hi-Rail' modelling. This appeared to be the use of tinplate track but with added scenery, vehicles, buildings etc. from dime stores and the like. Is this term still used? At the time it had an influence on me - even if it was only the realisation that Americans, at times, use the English language in a different way to us!

Hello and welcome. Sorry it's taken a few days to reply but it's very nice to know from a native of the town that the model is recognisable as the real place! We've taken a few liberties with the design such as introducing the dairy, oil depot and agricultural dealers but they do add to the operating potential. It would have been really good to have had the bridge as well but due to storage limitations, the extra depth this would have added to the baseboard made it impossible. Regarding your proposed model, can you get the right era B&M models in N? Or are you going for the 'modern' dates? If you need any info I can possibly help as I did some extensive internet trawling to find the pictures etc, we used.

I've decided that the next project after the Impetus Fowler is the Roxey Planet. Main reason being that it should be a simpler one to get finished as it has a cast body etc. I've started on the body already which, after a bit of fettling has gone together OK and, following Gordon A's ideas, I've also made up the sideframes for a simple chassis to take the special gearbox that High Level make for this kit. Photos will be posted tomorrow! This is the link to Gordon's original thread on the old site - http://www.rmweb.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=25602

Thanks Nick. You can have a go then perhaps!

And I will be the one asking where you would like me to put them

Layout tested on Tuesday and one microswitch found slightly faulty and repaired. Now all ready for Nottingham this coming weekend. See you there?!

You could always ask a friend to do the wiring for you. If you have one that is......................

'Chaucer' eh? You haven't been raiding my bits box have you? I've got an RSH named 'Geoffrey'.

I've got a pair of the railbuses, the 'open wagon' trailer and the 'lorry' version, all bought from Trevor Hughes when he wound up his Mawddwy Road P4 layout. One of the problems with them is that they were built around a small RTR chassis - permanently! To service the mechs means virtual destruction so they've been in a box for quite some time..

Thanks, it all makes sense now!

I really like that. Fronfraith is a location that I've thought would make a nice small layout. I take it you operate as a passing station with a fiddle yard each end? Where does the front siding go to? How about making the building an outpost of Pryce Jones's?

Eeee, some of them photos bring back memories - and not all of them happy ones! Lost count of the number of times the front light flew off the bracket on bumps, the batteries that corroded inside the lamp, the rear lights that wouldn't work with bad contacts, the twin-cell batteries that hardly lasted a couple of hours etc. etc. etc. Good old days? Ever ready? Not a chance!

Yes, when I was a lad I remember being told to stick my bike lamp batteries in the oven to keep them going longer. How does this work?!

Looking at this, mine is probably the 1956 one with the Basildon address.

Just unearthed this little gem from the club library. Possibly dating to early/mid 50's? The reference to 'non-bogie' coaches is interesting and a close look at the Passenger Train illustration shows 4-wheelers. And just what did a 'Colliery Furnisher' supply?! Holdsworths were still around for several years after we came to Wakefield in 1971. They were a 'proper' ironmongers shop! But no hint of model railways as far as I can recall. And an address in Manchester?

This is an interesting read - However, my Double Junction isn't shown or listed. Anyone need any info?

So how many of you out there have one of these useful models running on your train set? A 2-4-0 A4 or a 2-4-0 Brittania - which do you prefer?

Ah, pasting table hinges. Very useful things if you can find them. I like the way you have used them 'doubled up'. Used individually they can be a bit fragile especially in the type of situation yours are. For a lifting section they automatically provide a gap for the tracks to fit when open. Normal hinges require a small block etc. Great selection of stock!

I could have sworn it said 'edible number plates' when I first opened it!

When I was a young lad (I was once, honest!) I used to love the big fat bulb in the smokebox door especially at night with the room light turned off. Who cared if a (nominally) GWR 0-4-0 tender loco had a light on the front?! Wish I still had it......................................

You can't have a Wrenn layout without one of these! Wiring it must have been an interesting exercise!