DavidLong

Really messed up on the holidays this year. Canada for the Supermeet and Ireland for the AGM. I'll be getting my membership revoked at this rate! So while you're all enjoying the delights of Chelford I'll have to make do with contemplating this view on Vancouver Island. Tough but somebody has to do it

That's good news on the underframes, Chris. As far as I know the only difference with the LNER version is two extra straight pieces of ironwork on each side which are easy enough to add. They would also need pre-BR type axleguards. Shown here on E187844: http://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/lnerpipe David

Chris, A couple of questions. Would it also be ok for the Parkside kit which has rather more subtle plank lines and, at £1.95 from Shop 2, is considerably cheaper. Also, what brake gear did you design it with? LNER fitted or BR 8-shoe would be quite nice as a change from the RCH 4-shoe. David

Another vote for solder balls. Ian Morgan mentioned them on here recently and Ebay provided me with a good choice. No more slicing up bits of cored solder for me! I've been building some standard gauge track with Code 30 strip and the 0.76mm solder balls give just the right amount for the joint. With Code 30 you have to make sure that the amount on the inside of the rail doesn't creep up too high as it could get quite close to the wheel flange. David

Come on, Nigel. Never mind those passenger wagons, tell us some more about the Standard 2 tank! David

Can we do 'loose' and 'lose' as well? Popped up a couple of times in this thread. Try this: "If it comes loose, you may lose it" Simple - and they are pronounced differently! David

Edgbaston and Bilton ! Gosh, Andy I didn't know you were that old. Did your Mum know you were out? I remember Edgbaston for the first occasion that I met Stephen Harris, introduced by Bernard Taylor. I saw some interesting diesel models (Class 40 and Class 20) on display and asked Bernard who had built them and he told me it was Stephen. I discovered that we lived close to each other, he in Amersham and me in Chesham. It was the beginning of a long, but more occasional these days, friendship. David

Thanks, Mark. I'll check out the quality of our erasers and give it a try! I did manage to produce quite a reasonable scale 120' using the Templot 30' setting as here: I did feel that for turnouts it would be better to have the rail in slightly better shape than achieved with vice, forefinger and thumb! David

I've been fiddling about with The 2mm Scale Association's Code 30 strip rail. The main difficulty with using it is the unusual curve that it shows. Here is a photo of a short length as it comes from the coil: The important point is that this is the profile view i.e. looking at the rail from the side and shows the horrendous curve which needs to be removed before laying the rail, If this curve was along the length this could be dealt with fairly easily but straightening along the 'thin' side is a bit of a battle as my rathered battered forefinger and thumb can attest! I have a suspicion that this subject may have been discussed previously on the forum so I would appreciate a pointer towards the discussion if anyone can recall it. Any other suggestions in resolving this conundrum would be appreciated. Just to prove that it is possible to use it I have built a 120' length using the 30' settings on Templot and below are a couple of quick snaps of the result. 2FS flanges have no problem with the height of the rail providing that the solder isn't too high on the inner gauge face. I have already asked this question in the 2mm area of the forum but I thought that widening the audience may help with a solution. David

I think it needs something like this: https://www.handlaidtrack.com/tl-0004 Except this only does down to Code 40 and costs $85! Still a bit safer than electric fire elements . . . David

I've been fiddling about with the Association's code 30 strip rail. The main difficulty with using it is the unusual curve that it shows. Here is a photo of a short length as it comes from the coil: This is a profile view i.e. looking at the rail from the side and shows the horrendous curve which needs to be removed before laying the rail. If this curve was along the length this could be dealt with fairly easily but straightening along the 'thin' side is a bit of a battle. Does anyone have a suggestion which may be easier than using my, by now, rather battered forefinger and thumb? David

Superb work. Well done to both of you! David

Correct, Simon. The only LMS vans and opens that received the four-shoe RCH vacuum brakes were previously unfitted vehicles that were selected for British Railways' vacuum braking programme in the late-1950s. This was in common with other 'Big Four' and BR designs that were so treated. David

David, Do you have a reference number for that Heki paint? It may be just what I'm looking for. David

Excellent work, as usual. Look forward to seeing more. David

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/feb/14/german-cities-to-trial-free-public-transport-to-cut-pollution Probably not with double-deck loco-hauled services as illustrated by The Grauniad. Interesting idea but fraught with more questions than answers. David

You'll have no trouble with the electromagnets being 5mm below the surface. Unless my eyes deceive me they are the PK type from MSE. They are seriously strong. I've been using them for years as they originated with Phil Kerr from The 2mm Scale Association and I think were designed to work with DG couplings which I use on all my stock. I'm with Pete on the track; that is some excellent work. The whole layout is quite delightful. David

Good to see your progress, Pete. You can always fiddle with track colour at a later stage. Anything with a Rat, green or blue, is absolutely fine by me! David

Excellent work, Mike and especially the choice of subject. The complete antidote to all those chocolate-box depictions that get churned out. I love suburban stations and they are the part of the railway that the majority of passengers have experienced since the early days of the railway in travelling to and from their places of work. I also like the fact that you have modelled a station on a railway with overhead electrification which is still a bit of a minority interest in modelling circles. I grew up with a suburban railway at the end of our garden in Southport which had both steam and 3rd rail electric services but I was also captivated by the developing 25kv system just along from us in Liverpool. By the way, back in the late 1990s I developed a real liking for Steve Jones' excellent photos, especially the wagons. I used to stay behind after work on a Friday and wait until the office was empty. I could then print his wagon photos in full A4 and colour on the office laser printer. I still have them to use as a reference for modelling. Looking forward to more posts from Perry Barr! David

Those pesky typesetters . . . David

Those were the days! https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/the-northerner/2014/may/08/railways-electrification-trains-british-rail-network I have a copy of that poster in my railway room. Inspiring times! David

Most courageous, Ian, as Sir Humphrey would have put it! I have used Templot for several years but I have no idea how to design a scissors crossover, especially inducing the diamond to sit between the four points. As for construction, I always follow the advice from the Protofour articles in MRC in the late-1960s - start with the crossings and gauge everything else from them. I realise that I may be in a minority here but I quite enjoy timber shoving, a strangely soothing activity. Until you print it out and find the ones you have missed! David

Nice work, Simon. Interesting choice of prototypes with the LMS container chassis'. I've been intrigued by them since seeing them in LMS Wagons many moons ago. They seem to be remarkably elusive in terms of photographs and I have no idea how long they lasted. I have a suspicion that it may not have been been much longer than the late-1950s as they would be swamped by the BR Conflat builds but that is nothing more than conjecture. The LMS medium goods is a nice little model despite the plank lines. This has been remarked on in 4mm models as well and it is baffling why Parkside can make their plank lines quite subtle but still noticeable but seems to be beyond Bachmann. The underframe is certainly incorrect for the LMS builds which were either Morton unfitted or standard eight-shoe fitted. In later life, towards the late-1950s, those that were to survive were mostly vacuum fitted by BR and received the four-shoe brakegear. Both of my examples shown earlier, which were for the PW fleet, have this brake gear. Even though current Farish underframes are way better than Poole examples they still have a chunkiness that can only really be solved by an etched version. And as for the couplings . . . Good to see you on here again. Any progress to report on Chorlton? David

Very cryptic, Jeremy! After nearly three years it's interesting that you have put this on the St Blazey thread. Is there something we should know about? David

Nick, If you fancy going the 'R-T-R' route there are a couple of examples available from the USA: http://www.builders-in-scale.com/bis/parts-metal.html Page down and you will find N scale (strictly 1:160) corrugated sheets in a number of sizes. I have some and it is very good but on any small projects such as huts it can be a nightmare to use as it is very delicate. Another that I have used in the past is: http://www.campbellscalemodels.com/product_p/0801.htm A number of different size sheets are available. Some might be a bit sniffy about it being HO but it is robust and can be cut cleanly with a sharp knife. The larger scale means that it has good definition even after painting and weathering whereas with a truer to scale version can end up looking a bit flat. I used it quite a lot on Ley Hill and nobody commented that my corrugations looked overscale. Perhaps I was just lucky! David