DavidLong

67018 at Holyhead on 14th November 2017. Had worked 1D34 from Manchester Piccadilly. Awaiting return at 13.05 with 1H89. David

Excellent idea, if possible. However, wouldn't the Manchester show be an idea? Sort of bringing the layout home based on its supposed geographic location. And closer to South Cumbria . . . David

Martin's jigs are from the Canadian company Fast Tracks. Not to be confused with the purveyors of British N gauge, Finetrax. . . https://www.handlaidtrack.com/ David

Hi Chris. I sent two emails. One for 2 x 64xx and another adding a G6. I didn't get any replies but I just assumed that you wouldn't reply to each individual message. David

Paul, For LNWR buildings you may find these to be useful: https://www.yorkmodelrail.com/n-scale/windows-templates-and-headers-2?product_id=1223 https://www.yorkmodelrail.com/n-scale/windows-templates-and-headers-2?product_id=1224 Do try out the DG couplings. You'll never go near a Peco/Arnold or Easi-shunt again! David

Finding CT decoders these days is the challenge. My latest two DCX76 are currently winging their way to me from Oz. Last one came from Lille! David

I think you're right, Chris. 5 thou is 0.127mm and when added to 0.8mm gives the same thickness as the Farish footplate and would look better. David

Bob, Could you explain a little more about "inner strengthening layers to the chassis around the gear layshaft areas"? I should mention that the raised noise level is not quite so noticeable on the 04 and 08 which makes the 03 more baffling. I do think that this sort of thing is always more noticeable at home in a quiet railway room; take them to an exhibition and no-one would probably notice! I would like to have a go at a stay-alive, i suspect that the 04 may be the first guinea pig. Would the stay-alive fit in the cab? For the 08 footplate I have a piece of the Association 0.8mm pcb which I intend to try out. This is single sided and the outside frames could be soldered to the copper side. The Farish footplate seems to measure a little over 0.9mm so the pcb should be a good match. I'm unsure whether to glue a piece of 10thou nickel or brass to the top to give a bit of overhang around the edges. David

I think that I would tend to agree, Chris. The size of the wheels is something which distinguishes the G6 from many other 0-6-0 tank locomotives. It may only be a matter of three to four inches but it is certainly noticeable. David

In my near sixty years of exhibition attending it is simply one of the finest layouts that I have seen. Magnificent in concept and execution! Hope it enjoys a long and happy retirement. David

Ordinary PVA will be fine, used it for years. David

Andy, The ex-Parkwood Highfits make up into nice wagons especially when combined with Association underframes which are, incidentally, in nickel silver which is the preferred medium in 2mm scale. Here's a couple of mine. One has the standard 4-shoe underframe for a BR wagon and the other is from the LMS build from which, with a couple of small differences, from which the BR design was derived. I built these a while ago and the Association has some rather nicer buffers these days. Love the layout by the way, although the locos would be greener and redder for my preference David

I'm in for a G6 chassis as well although I have no idea how/where I would use it. Back in the '60s Bob Wills released a 4mm kit for the G6 and I thought then what an attractive class of locos that they were. The proportions seem to be 'just right' so when Nick Tilston released his kit I bought one and it has been sitting in the gloat box ever since. Incidentally, I'm wondering which size of wheel would be appropriate. They have 4' 10" drivers so are we to use 9.5mm or 10mm? David

Association members may have seen a note in the newsletter about the laser cut ply sleepers that are being sold by York Modelmaking. I bought some of these as a trial. They are sold as 'N gauge' but are 17.5mm long which would be entirely correct for the 1:148 true gauge of 9.7mm but of course incorrect for British N 9mm gauge. Using my Northwest Shortline Chopper I removed 0.5mm from them to give the correct 17mm for 2FS and made up a short length of plain track as a trial. If you were being really picky they are fractionally chubby for 2FS by about 0.1/0.15mm. Thickness is 0.81/0.82mm. This is how it turned out: The staining of the sleepers didn't inhibit the adhesion of the chairs to the sleepers using my usual mek as the adhesive. No matching strips for point timbers have so far appeared. David

Thanks for the comments. I thought it may be helpful to show the chassis as it is at present. The photos show it with the body removed and it was removed from the track when it was going forwards which is when it produces the noise. As I stated it is almost silent when moving in reverse. Apologies for the flaky paintwork but I started this loco about two years ago and it has been a cause of much frustration in its running so it has suffered a lot of dismantling and reassembly! I may even build it a new chassis although, apart from the noise, it is now running rather well. The 'izzy type box' is intended to have a hat added which would take the DCX76 chip. See, Bob, I do take notice of your good ideas! The other chassis that I had mentioned was for the 08 which is destined to have a Farish body added. I'm really pleased with this so far as its running qualities are excellent. It's held up at the moment while I try to work out a way of making the outside frames removable as I'm reluctant to have them permanently attached. I actually preferred the method of them being attached to the footplate/body structure as in the Association 08. I have plans for a small fleet of 08s (green 1968/blue 1977) so I'm trying to work out assembly methods that will work consistently. More 'izzyness' on this one as well! I may yet end up making a new pcb footplate using the Farish footplate as a pattern and attach the outside frames to it in a similar manner to the Association kit. David

They don't use the gearbox, Chris, as it has been removed and meshing takes place via the height of the motor mount. Bob did this on his 04 and 08 chassis' so I'm not alone in using this method and he doesn't seem to have the noise problem. It's also a pretty stndard method across the scales. Surely it shouldn't be necessary to go to the faff of dog clutches to solve it. Your most recent etches which you have been illustrating don't include the gearbox. David

Interesting thought, Bob. How to eliminate the end float though? Edit just to add that an 04 and 08 exhibit the same problem although the noise is slightly less. With the 04 it is also in the forward direction, the 08 going in reverse. David

Simple question. An Association 03 chassis with 7mm Chinese motor. Runs absolutely fine and in reverse is almost silent while in the forward direction sounds like a miniature coffee grinder. Why in one direction but not the other? Any ideas? David

Mark, 2FS would be your friend We have several refugee P4 modellers Looking forward to seeing the layout at DEMU. Enjoyed it at Staffordshire Finescale last year. David

Thanks, Chris. That's excellent! David

David, I've noticed that the instructions are only for the chassis' without outside valve gear along with a slightly more expansive set for the 08. More noticeable is the lack of an etch drawing or one showing the suggested drive requirements. Perhaps it would be best to contact Chris directly. David