lapford34102

Will be fine when they do an original version but on this simply looks odd. Stu

EM’ing a Class 22 There’s a fair bit about assorted ways of converting the 22 to wider gauges in the thread but sadly any pictures have long gone. They seem to have ranged from re-tyreing the Dapol wheel to simply pulling the stub axles out which is what I originally did . In practice this wasn’t that reliable hence my attempt at another approach.This might also appeal to anyone working in OO as it equally applies to that gauge (but with shorter Axles !) I’d noted on the Dapol 73 thread that adding extra pickups improved running and did that on one of my OO ED’s and this got me to thinking about a more radical solution for the 22’s. At EMexpo North I had a chance to discuss potential solutions with Colin on the Gibson stand and showed him the Dapol axle. After a bit of work with the micrometer he suggested a 3’8” 10 spoke tender wheel. It comes with 3 x 2mm axles, cut-to-length ones for OO and EM and a longer pinpoint. The pinpoint is actually a tad bigger diameter than the other two so suggested I try those first. They were quite a loose fit but the pinpoint was an excellent force fit so I used those suitable cut to length. Making up the wheelsets was straightforward, gearwheel centred, brass bush and one wheel then the other. I chamfered the ends of the axles slightly and a bit of countersinking on the wheel to ease things. The wheels have a slightly protruding boss which I filed off but not really necessary. Bogies/pickup mods started with removing the brass wipers which are held in place with some crude looking melted tags which needed digging out – carefully! Once free the pickup wires can be cut and the wipers discarded. The wires which run inside the bogie need to be teased out but take care here, the wire is quite stiff and has shrink wrap in places there I assume to reduce chaffing. Noticed on the green one I’d had to replace some wiring as it had obviously failed. If I’d been awake I’d probably replace it all with new stuff back to the motherboard but there. The replacement pickups are pretty crude, a bit of copperclad sleeper with springy brass wire soldered to it. I sanded the copper off the back of the sleeper and used superglue to fix it place as this has stood up well on the 73. I did put wheelsets into the bogie temporarily and marked off where the tyre would be as a guide to fixing. Originally the pickups were going to be behind the tyre but this looked a bit suspect so settled on a handlebar shape touching the top of the tyre. They were made overlong, adjusted and then cut to size in place. The pickup wires can then be reattached and the whole thing tested. Once happy removed the sideframes and a coat of dirt on all bar the pickup ends disguises them well when the sideframes replaced. Job done! Bouyed with success I then did the 2nd 22 using a set of gash 3’8” disk wheels that were doing nothing. I’ll probably replace them at some point but the hard works already done and at usual viewing angles not that obvious. D6329 in it's natural habitat, running on Sheepcroft. Hope this has been useful to someone and thanks for looking Stu

Thank you for making that post. A couple of years ago I replaced some RTP track with bullhead and copperclad points built to SF standards. Some things were happy running, others definitely not and I note couple are on your list. A bit disheartening and I put it down to probably indifferent tackbuilding skills and moved on so interesting to learn you've had issues. While here a couple of questions if I may. Do you have any bufferlocking problems with the baby Warship and Hymek when pushing stock through pointwork curves ? And you have some neat looking screwlinks on your stock, can I ask whose makes them. Cheers Stu

Brilliant, one friendly face at least then :-) Looking forward to as I don't get back down that often now. Cheers Stu

Deleted as already posted Stu

AAh, a good question. As it's built on a bit of scrap MDF rescued (legally) from a skip any dimensions are a tad approximate but in old money the scenic board is 5ft x 11 inches. As all the point operating switches take up space behind the backscene say 10 inch scenic. It would have benefitted from having a couple of extra inches width for the scenics. Fiddle yard is just over a foot long and about 6 inches wide. Cheers Stu

Thank you for the comment, I know someone else awaiting a SLW 25, sadly he's had to make do with a couple of dodgy secondhand Bachmann ones on the layout,...... :-) Sorry, a case of mistaken identity. I was refering to the irrepressible Mr Tailby, seen here in Phil Eames's photoin action at the show, you can ignore the other two shady looking characters, Stu

At Wakefield we had a good look at both the EMGS RTP B6's and the Finetrax A5 kits. The A5's might well have some limitations but at £20 from the society they're an economic (and space saving) option and you get to do some track building. Stu

Thanks to everyone who commented or tagged recent posts. It was good to see you at the show Dave and thanks for doing a stint on the layout. Tim was in full Cecil B. DeSpeilberg mode getting all artistic and doing a grand job but hopefully this one's clearer.......... Just for info Sheepcroft's next outing is at the Weymouth show in Oct, a return to the ancestral homelands for me. https://www.weymouthmra.org.uk/ Cheers Stu

Thank you, hopefully I'll get to see it at the Faversham show next month. A few of Tim's excerllent photo's from the show. Thanks for looking Stu

WOW! Thanks for that. It was a looong way to go for a show but absolutely worth it and we had a great time at our first Expo. Got to see some layouts we'd probably never get to see down here and hopefully got Sheepcroft to some new viewers. Was a good atmosphere and had some entertaining chats with visitors. Thanks to Tim who did more than his fair share of operating plus Dave T who did a stint on Sunday. We did have the odd gremlin but nothing too bad so pleased with how things went. Peter Rigby loaned us sound equipped 26 and 27 which made a change and fitted in well. Tim took a load of photos so will put them up but to be going on with. So thanks to everyone who stopped by and had a chat over the weekend. Stu

Bodge I've used successfuly on my ancient 150. Cut a thin mm or two wide strip of masking tape and wind round nozzle thread. How much is a bit of guesswork / trial and error but enough to make a seal between the nozzle and the airbrush body. HTH Stu

It's been 4 months since I first wrote about "bert" as some of my associates have labelled it! There's been progress of sorts and it's even had it's first outing in spite of it's progress. Only a small affair but there were a number of people there very knowledgable of Kent's 3rd rail system and so they should be, they all worked on it. Plus it was a good as a shakedown cruise as it threw up a number of glitches and gremlins. Notably a couple bits of stock that weren't happy and an 08 that did a passable impression of a drag racer. These can be sorted along with the fiddle yard trackplan which was very temporary but at least gave me an idea of what's needed. The layout might be laughably short but that doesn't mean it can't be operated with at a least a nod to the prototype. Now some somewhat random pics from it's outing. It now has a canopy cobbled together from a couple of Airfix's 1959 vintage kits. Not sure when I last built one but despite it's age it's amazingly adaptable It's been stretched both ways and the glazing alteredand having done this one tempted to have a go at another more refined attempt. Yes, one support is a bit wonky. It's actually secured by pins through the two rear supports and removable. The wall behind it was temporary for it's debut and I have a few ideas to develop it plus there's the yawning gap and the end that needs something. The blue behind is not a backscene, it's a wall! The 350hp that should go to Santa Pod ! It's got an old Lenz 1024 chip chip that needs sorting unless I can fit a Hornby Bluetooth sound in it which I'd like to.# Parkside PMV and Hornby BY. Both SR parcels stalwarts but the BY isn't happy over some of the pointwork. B to B, wheelbase length, who know but needs lookinf at. Hornby's LMS BG lurking behind; stunning model. DJM's E5000. I'm probably the only person who appreciates it's placid performance and it IS a nice rendition. No 3rd rail down yet and Margate's road never did but having a number of 3rd experts around I now know where I can justifiably juice. All pictures so far courtesy Tim. JA electro-diesel. The Dapol version. Hornby bluetooth sound though opion from those familiar with it weren't convinced it was the original EE powered version but possibly a re-engined MTU unit. Sounded fine on electric power though. Photo Courtesy Dave Smith One thing I have done is make the lamps removable so they can be changed for different eras. The pics say it all. Early 60's Late 60's And yes, I do need to bed the platform in more convincingly......... There are some shows lined up from 24 on but hopefully it won't be 4 months before another update. Thanks for getting this far. Stu

Took my bluetoothed chip Dapol 73 to an event recently where there were a number of modellers familiar with the 73's sound having either worked on them or with them. The question is which 73 did Hornby record ? There was some serious doubt it was the 4 cylinder EE engined original for the diesel power soundtrack and possibly the MTU engined version. Anyone else have any thoughts. Stu

Well said, that particular bit of propaganda needs a large pointy stick, bucketful of garlic and permanently laying to rest. And in the early days of Privatisation things weren't all rosy for everyone especially if you had to suffer Connex. Yes, TPWS is a great development but I never remember the railways ever being regarded as a risky mode of transport. Stu

Sounds right, the half dozen Brush Type 4's the SR borrowed in 67/68 were adequate subs for the MN and perfectly capable of handling trains like the Channel Island boat trains. Worth noting the 3 car Hampshires units weren't to happy on some routes such as the Alton line due to the climbs involved and were effectively banned from Weymouth. Stu

Are we legally obliged to have ROSCO's ? It's possible to lease direct from the builders so what, if any, advantage is there to having a middleman in the system. Stu

Anyone else watch this, really interesting programme https://www.channel4.com/programmes/ben-elton-the-great-railway-disaster Stu

It's been mentioned before but when I went in today looks as if the full range on sale at the visitors centre. The 08's look very good. Stu

Actually a real action hero as he did fight in the Korean war though. https://www.fusiliermuseumlondon.org/art24491 Stu

Hi Jon, Going to plead the 5th amendment and incipient senility on this one but the bald answer is NO :-( Got caught up in other things I expect and if I look probably find they've been plonked in the garage crate of doom.... Cheers Stu

Very sad news and a great loss to modelling community. Very nice and helpful gent. Thoughts with family and friends. Stu

Agreed, has worked hard for the company and deserves his retirement. A bit of an act for someone to follow though. Stu

Well done!. Any chance of a photo to show how you managed it? On a different tack looking at my 8 pin one end of the chip seems to be there simply for some info on one side and a QR code on the other with no circuitry at all. Measuring the "chip" bit only it looks to be identical in size to a Loksound 5 8 pin. Anyone elser looked at this aspect as if it's not essential then.......... Stu

So far with trying an 8 pin - No. Stu