A Grand Day Out

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Yesterday was the 2024 Narrow Gauge North Exhibition at the Pudsey Civic Hall and I attended, as usual, with the EDM Models trade stand.

It was a excellent show by all account but because I was there on my own I only glimpsed bits of it (mostly on trips to/from the loo).  What was great was to catch up with customers and spend much of the day just talking.

It was the memories feature on Facebook that reminded me that I didn’t take any photographs during the day hence the image of our stand from 2018.

For some excellent pictures of the show I can recommend you have a look at my mate Panda’s blog “Rails in the Melyn Valley” here.

I did deliver the first two of the production 014 converted Lionheart Lynton and Barnstaple Railway 2-6-2’s.

In the run up to the show there was a lot of gloom as Leeds Clowncil proposed a load of cuts to deal with a budget shortfall and amidst claims that the Civic Hall made a loss it was down for closure or being flogged off.

There was considerable outcry which prompted a closer look at the claims. It would seem that there is hope as the detail seems to suggest that the Hall makes a profit but is lumped in with the large adjacent two part car park as a business unit and, post covid, with the lower attendance at in the neighbouring businesses the car park isn’t the money spinner it was. Add to that its only underperforming if you judge it by the same returns criteria as a city centre car park. Apparently it is to be reviewed in June but they need to be decisive or it will become a self fulfilling set up as the hall can only “pencil you in” for next year rather than take bookings.

One advantage for me of Narrow Gauge North is that its local and I was home by 18:20 but still twelve hours from when I set off.  At the time of typing the stock is still in the car as its chucked it down all day.

 

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Lionheart Lights – someone’s a bit dim

As I am still in the midst of the biggest regauging project I have ever taken on things with the otherwise superb Lionheart  Lynton & Barnstaple models the issues arising seem a bit relentless.

The latest – the carriage roofs don’t fit properly in the DCC fitted coaches.

This only affects the ones sold as DCC controlled lights by Dapol/Lionheart. The DC ones are fine.

 

Naturally, Dapol have used their own Imperium Function decoder and the problem is its a bit too fat. It fits between the lighting strip and the roof and forces the lighting strip to bend down which in turn stops the roof sitting down.

Dapol Decoder

Measuring the Dapol decoder we find its 3.43mm thick whilst the gap between the lighting strip and the roof is 2.5mm tops.

Having investigated this I can offer you two solutions depending on whether you have already bought the coaches or are about to.

Already got the coaches?

The ceiling/lighting strip has tabs on the end that are suppose to locate in these slots in the coach end moulding. They stop the lighting strip going lower which means the roof is forced up and can’t clip home.

Clearly these notches stop the lighting bar sagging but it seems pretty rigid so my solution for an already DCC coach is to trim the tabs off the lighting strip allowing it to go a bit lower.

My heart was a bit in my mouth doing this as the lighting strip is PCB with circuit pathways in it but I couldn’t see any reason they might go right to the ends. There was only one way to find out so I sacrificed one of my coaches so you don’t have to.

I cut the tabs off with a fine bladed piercing saw and then cleaned it up with a fine file.

With that done I refitted the decoder, screwed the lighting strip back in and tried the roof on the coach. The roof seated fully and you can’t tell looking through the windows that the ceiling is any lower. Its certainly less obtrusive than a roof that doesn’t fit!

Still to buy the coaches?

As I said before the DC lit versions are fine but if you want DCC control so you can turn the lights on and off and control the dimming of them but haven’t bought them yet then I have a solution.

First buy the DC version of your coach. Then buy a ZIMO MX689 function decoder. I can sell you both (and install it if you wish)

The ZIMO decoder is much thinner and fits in the N18 socket without deflecting the lighting panel.

The roof just clips back on without any problem now.

BONUS – there is a six quid saving doing it this way.

 

 

One thing that having the roof off the coaches does reveal is that we really need a cheap source of rent a crowd.

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Wheely Wepetitive

There was a lot of enthusiasm for the subject when Lionheart Models announced their L&B models. After a long wait the models have arrived and they are superb.

In a small corner of the modelling world their was additional excitement when they saw this statement.

For the first time a manufacturer was offering RTR O14 stock or at least stock designed to be convertible easily.

The models were announced in September 21 and delivered in December 23 and throughout many were asking how the O14 compatibility was to be delivered and no answer was forthcoming.

I was fortunate enough to be able to speak to the designer throughout. Firstly, it became clear they either hadn’t really thought about it or hadn’t fully understood the implications. The result has been a steady stepping away from any commitment to 014. Firstly, replacement wheels for the loco’s got binned as too expensive against and unknown demand. (missed a trick in the ordering by not including any way to measure who wanted O14). Next it was a promise to do O14 coach wheels that got binned. Finally, when it was pointed out that the supplied wheel profile couldn’t even be simply re-gauged any pretence of compatibility became denial they ever offered it.

The models are supplied with a wheel profile that is understandably aimed at OO as that is the track that the majority will run on. The trouble for O14 is that the profile has a thick flange and a very generous root radius.

If you set the back to back dimension to 12.5mm as per the spec then the gauge is 14.3mm and the wheels sit in the track with no sideplay as they are actually sat on the radius. Wheelset would be hitting every crossing nose. Set the gauge correctly and the back to back is too narrow and wheels will be hitting all the check rails.

Can it be Done?

I made the foolish offer* to do a regauging service before we knew the profile wouldn’t work.

The coach wheels are two half axle assemblies pressed into a plastic muff. This is to make them split axle to collect power for the carriage lights. Each axle half is a turned brass wheel and half pin point axle. Initially it wasn’t apparent that the half wheel/axle were two pieces.

-* seems foolish at the moment as I am surrounded by dismantled wheels

I have something around 60 coaches to re-gauge for customers so it was clear that a process was needed. Doing one or two yourself balancing them on your workbench with all the fine detail at risk is fine when its your coach you risk damaging. Something much better was going to be needed for customers expecting their models to be intact but with O14 wheelsets in them.

The first thing I did was use my new FDM printer to create cradles to hold a carriage upside down. The printed bits are glued to an MDF base and are lined with some felt. They are designed to hold the coach gently upside down with the weight taken on plain bits of the roof. The detailed centreline of the coach sits clear of anything that might damage it.

I printed twelve sets of cradles. The new FDM printer is a super high speed machine so it only took it two hours to print them all once I got the design how I wanted it and they provided a useful learning job for getting to grips with it.

The first batch of twelve coaches were then placed in the cradles whilst on top of their stock box that was labelled with the customers name. The potential for getting them mixed up is high!

All the wheels were removed and the coaches moved to a safe place. An extra 10(ish) coaches worth of wheels were added to the pot from customers who had their coaches and just sent the wheels.

The wheels were then dismantled. Easy doing one, they pull & twist apart. Doing close on a hundred and its not long before the fingers had had enough. It took several goes giving the fingers a rest in between to get them all stripped.

Several set-ups with two lathes and two mini pedestal drills were engineered to make it a production line.

Firstly, on lathe was set up with a 1.5mm collet to hold the wheel by the axle and a Scale7 profile tool set up, aligned and locked in the carriage. the spacer between the wheel and the collect moves the wheel out a fixed distance so that tool has clearance behind the flange. This lathe has a DRO so you can keep a check on cutting depths.

I’m going to say “accurate, repeatable & consistent” now as that is the whole purpose of these set ups. Doing around 250 wheelset in total is a different kettle of fish to doing your four coaches on your own bench in your own time. The profile tool reduces the flange and takes out some of the root radius so that it now complies with the standard.

Next machine set up was my little lathe. It is fitted with a collet chuck that has a depth stop. This means the axle muffs can be inserted against the stop so as to be in a known position.

A parting blade in a locked carriage then shortens the muff by a known amount. Lastly a centre drill in the tailstock clears the swarf off the end and adds a little taper to guide the axle in when its all pressed back together. “accurate, repeatable & consistent” again.

Next set up was one of the mini pillar drills as a press with three turned parts to control the action.

The lowest piece of brass is bored to hold the wheel by the tread and flange with a clearance whole for the stub axle.

There is then a piece in the chuck as the anvil. Its turned with a step in it so that its not relying on the chucks grip for the pressing forces as the chuck is pressing against a shoulder.

The red coloured bit of brass (coloured red to reduce the chances of me losing it) is the clever bit. For 14mm gauge the wheel needs to move along the axle by a specific amount so that whilst the back to back is 12.5mm the axle is still 24mm over the pin points which by design then means there is a insulating gap in the middle. The red spacer is the same thickness as the stub axle needs to still have to the back of the wheel so you press the axle until the anvil gets to the spacer. More “accurate, repeatable & consistent”

The final set up uses my other mini pillar drill as a press to put the wheelsets back together again.

The top and bottom anvils aren’t quite a simple as they look. The are made up of two concentric tubes soldered to each other in such a way that the inner one with a 1mm bore bears on the end of the axle, but not on the pin point, whilst the other presses on the wheel centre at the same time. Having gone to all this trouble to get the wheel in the right place on the axle we don’t want to risk changing that as the wheelset it pressed back together.

This job might transfer to the mini lathe once all the muffs are shortened just to ensure that the two anvils are on a common centreline. These pictures were taken during the proving runs before the main production run.

With the wheelsets done they can go back in the coaches.

Next job is plodding through the queue of coaches to be done and then there are 30+ loco’s to do.

This is a bit of a one shot production line. It may get repeated but it doesn’t really make economic sense to do it for a single coach so if there does need to be a second batch it will probably have to wait until there are several sets to do.

 

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The Creamery

This is another story about laser cutting but I have dressed it up as a modelling post with a recycling slant to make it about the birth of a new layout.

Henmore Dale as at York Model Railway Show 2013

We, the Trent Valley Group of the 7mm Narrow Gauge Association , used to exhibit a large 0-16.mm layout of the Henmore Dale Light Railway. It was last exhibited at York Exhibition, Easter 2013. It was a large layout that needed many hands and a large van to go anywhere and it couldn’t be set up in anyone’s home.

At the end of that exhibition some of the layout was damaged and created a rethink. That rethink had several false starts and then stopped with the untimely demise of one of our group, Tim Allsopp, in 2018. Nothing happened for ages but the group has now re-invented itself with a new layout in build.

The Creamery

Quite a bit of the old layout headed for the skip but some bits were saved. The subject of this article is  The Creamery.

It was the last bit without a home and was heading for sale or the skip when last January TVG member Phil, now a resident of Porthmadog, stepped in to save it.

His initial plan was to incorporate it in a layout he was building around four sides of his modelling room, basically four straight scenes connected by new corner boards. Having offered it up it was going to cause a problem in that it forced the adjacent corner board to have a ridiculously tight curve which would have compromised the whole layout.

The main line to the right. Ends by the signal

Several evenings musing whilst sampling Phil’s rum collection (Phil provides my lodgings when I go to drive trains) came up with a wizard wheeze. Phil already has two roughly 8ft x 2ft layouts he takes to shows, one standard gauge and one narrow gauge. Our rum fuelled plan turned The Creamery into a third by the addition of a fiddle yard to one end and terminating the through line in a weed encrusted buffer stop. That way the main line becomes a shunting line whilst, in the future, the weed covered main line could be restored to run to another fiddle yard if 8ft got boring.

The new fiddle yard is added to the foreground of this picture. The rum consultations revealed that Phil was thinking a bit 2D for the fiddle yard, probably informed by his woodworking skills. I thought we could do better in 3D.

I set to with CAD and came up with this. All to be laser cut plywood with the main boards out of 6mm and the bridge and backscene laminated layers of 3mm.

The road bridge provides the scenic break through the backscene to a cassette based fiddle yard. The railway has to cross the river first. The below datum river and the above datum roadway and bridge force the scenery to be 3D. I admit I have a dislike for flat boards.

Phil with basic artistic skills added some scenic suggestions thus. With that settled I had to crack on with the CAD and then get it laser cut and built up. The CAD generated the image above but from that 3D image it had to be converted to 2D flat files laid out for laser cutting.

 

I use Grainge and Hodder for my laser cutting and, with guidance, now send them files that are ready for the laser to minimise the additional work they have to do. As well as this project I did CAD for three others to be cut at the same time, a total of six sheets in all. We did hit one snag in that two projects had parts in that were too big for the courier. Turns out Allen of G&H and I were to be in Porthmadog a week apart so the long bits were dropped at Phil’s and the parts the courier would take were shipped to York.

What turns up is a lot of cardboard and masking tape surround ones laser cut plywood. The tape is particularly evil as its the same colour as the wood. When you think you have peeled it all off there is always another bit somewhere.

I’d heartily recommend Grainge and Hodder if you want laser cut baseboards. (except the tape guy). They have a standard range of boards but will do custom works to your design.

Well with the wood here and a delivery deadline enforced by a trip to Wales for another reason it was time to crack on.

The basic box of the board went together very quickly and once the glued had fully dried the braces at each end of the river section were cut away leaving just the  railway bridge. That might come out when the scenic rail bridge is built.

That was the easy bit. Now it was on to the first bendy bit, the road bridge. The only straight and parallel part of this is the rail over road bridge itself. The formers are 6mm ply and these were glued up with the inner layers of 3mm ply that will eventually laminated to the curved shape of the road way

Next the outer 3mm layers were glued to the inners just on the parallel section by the bridge with cling film inserted to stop glue going beyond the flat bit. When that had set the bridge was curved to shape in a dry using the tabs on the bridge and the slots in the board to pull it to shape and the deck tried in place. With curves in every direction is soon became obvious a few mods were needed. The outers were drilled clearance for some self tapping screws whilst the inners got pilot holes. This was to pull the layers together when the glue was applied. The inner faces of the inners got a number of blocks glued on to screw the deck to and to pull it in to shape. After a couple of dry runs the flat of the baseboard got a coat of Vaseline to stop glue bonding to it and all the surfaces to be bonded were given a generous coating of PVA wood glue chosen for its longer open time. It then became a race against time to get it all slotted into place, screws inserted, deck bent and pulled into shape and then lots of clamps added. It was then, or course, essential to pose a train under the bridge.

Forming the curved bridge was, at times, like wrestling a snake as it tried to spring back to shape but this was just a warm up for the curved backscene. This was to be curved and rigid enough to stand up on its own.

Unusual thinking ahead had included parts for a former in the laser cutting which was then assembled on my bench. It was actually screwed to the bench which proved to be a bit of a problem later.

On to this former the inner layer of 3mm ply was pulled clamped and pinned into place. A liberal coat of glue was applied and the outer layer bullied into place. I think it was Norm on the New Yankee Workshop TV series that said, ” you can’t have too many clamps”. He’s not wrong. I even rounded up some of my smaller clamps from the model room and pressed a box of bulldog clips into service.

When the layers had set the top and bottom ribs were glued and clamped into place. It was at this point the problem with the jig was spotted. Having screwed it to the bench I had now covered the screws holding it down with the ply sheets. Brute force won here. The first layer had been pinned to the former with veneer pins which have a small head to with a bit of force the pins either pulled through the ply or pulled out of the former, Something must have gone right as it didn’t spring back to flat once released.

This, like the bridge, locate onto the baseboard with tabs and slots but at this stage I also added thickening blocks and added screws to hold them in place.

The final glued parts were done on the day of delivery to Wales so the little bit of backscene that needed some additional gluing kept the clamps on up to the moment it was loaded into the car.

Delivery to Wales was just the end of the first chapter.

The existing board being part of a larger layout was comprehensively wired up so that it could be run from the main layout controller of switched to a local control to shunt the yard and includes things such as power operated gates. It was wired up by Tim and doubtless he did detailed wiring diagrams but we haven’t found them yet. Luckily all the wires had ID labels on them and we were able to trace where they all went and what they all did with the exception of three wires.

Turns out these were a provision for sidings on and adjacent board we don’t have.

The result of our deliberations is that we have worked out where to connect 12vDC from a controller and 16vAC for accessories needing a four core lead making up two connect the control box for the other NG layout to this one, A bridge rectifier added to the underside of the board will convert the 16V AC to DC for the gate,

Making up that lead and its plugs and sockets is my homework. Phil has continued to work on the boards with all the wood having had a coat of primer.

This is done to prevent any damp there might be affecting the wood.

The resin casting parts bin has been scoured to find bits for the scenery and a facia for the road bridge has been selected.

One part of the spec was that with the track on a slight ballast shoulder so it can meet the fiddle yard cassettes a standard gauge milk tanker on a narrow gauge transporter wagon had to fit under the bridge. BIG SIGH OF RELIEF!

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More Zapping

Those that follow this blog will know two things:

  • I recently designed and had laser cut parts for my own baseboard on the Brimstone RR which led to a follow up job to design, get cut and build the baseboards for the new Henmore Dale Railway.
  • When I go to Wales I stay with Phil Traxson of Port Wynnstay fame and that I drive trains on the Festiniog Railway.

Both of these things have led to more designing and laser cutting.

First up was my mate and FR Ops Manager, Tickle, wanting some modular boards that would fit in a Ikea Billy Book case shelf so he could display his models when the weather was too horrible for the garden railway (he hasn’t built yet).

The idea was that two of them would be stand alone units whilst the other two would have open ends and be capable of being joined when not in the bookcase.

What turned up was this kit of laser cut parts and a lot of masking tape that is the same colour as the plywood.

From a design point of view the tricky bit was making them strong and rigid whilst not impinging on to the visible space too much,

The finished things looked like this in my workshop. They have since been delivered and I hope to get a picture of them in situ on my next visit to Wales.

I’ve impressed myself with these small modules and am wondering if the diorama I was thinking about in an earlier post might grow a bit to fit in one if I ever get round to it.

The second project for Phil is the resurrection of part of the old Henmore Dale Layout. Phil has some of the old boards for reuse in a home setting and recently took delivery of  the creamery board.

A few evenings tidying up a rum surplus concluded that this board wouldn’t fit in the layout being built around his modelling room and thus a new layout was born. The idea now is that the creamery will form a stand alone exhibitable layout and thus it needs a fiddle yard.

The original construction was the old 2 by 1 and chipboard. Left to his own devices the same construction would have been used for the fiddle yard. This would have limited the scenic options and I thought we could do better.

About a third of the board needs to be scenic and it has to manage the exit stage left frim the scene into a cassette type fiddle yard.

What I have come up with is a laser cut plywood board featuring some height transitions to below datum for a stream and above datum with the roadway bridge over the railway.

Most of the board is made of 6mm ply, doubled up in places. The bridge and the backscene are made of two layers of 3mm ply laminated together for both strength and to set them in their curved profiles. This is a bit of an experiment so I hope it works.

This is with the laser now so we’ll find out if it works in a couple of weeks. For the laser cutting I use …

 

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Beamish Transport Weekend

The weekend of 9th & 10th September was the late season Transport Gala at Beamish Museum. There was also a photo charter on the Friday which meant lighting all the engines up a day earlier. The transport gala encompasses the entire site with traction engines, vintage cars, lorries buses and motorbikes (and probably lots of other stuff) all circulating around the site. I was there to be a driver on the colliery railways so this report is mostly about that.

On the narrow gauge railway we had two visiting engines and two home based engines although for the Friday we only steamed on of the home engines. Photo charters can really try ones patience as, in pursuit of that one off shot, the participants seem to have little regard for their safety and little understanding of the equipment being photographed.

One rather super shot from the Friday was to get the three engines in a line up. From nearest the camera they are Ashanti #9 (from Apedale), Ogwen (Statfold and Apedale) & Glyder, the Beamish resident.

Saturday and Sunday was more normal with the four engines taking it in turns to run trains around the narrow gauge layout which is basically a triangle with sidings at two of the three ends (so far). A lot of the weekend was about this pairing. This being the first time they’ve been in steam together since 1965.

Both were originally built for the Durham County Water Board in the early 30’s for the building of Burnhope Reservoir which is quite close to Beamish. Then they were known a Durham and Grey. In 1936 they were sold to Penrhyn Quarry in North Wales where they got their Welsh names. Used briefly they were stored as they quarry staff preferred their quarry Hunslets (a view I agree with). They were brought back in to use in the 50’s as they became the best locos they had as the Hunslets aged and became worn out with failing boilers.  The pair worked into 1965 when they, and a lot of other engines, were sold at auction as the quarry converted to road transport.

They were both part of a consignment of engines that went to the USA. Although kept safe nothing happened to them and attempts to repatriate them were rebuffed until 2014 when another engine was returned and proved to be something of a cork out of the bottle. Glyder and Ogwen returned in 2015 and were stored at Beamish for three years. Ogwen left for restoration elsewhere and Glyder was returned to steam at Beamish in 2019.

I spent the Friday and much of Saturday as Glyder’s driver but there were enough of us about to take it in turns and to have a bit of a look round. Also, equally important was sharing the shade and keeping hydrated as it was really too hot for messing about with steam engines.

The other engine that came out to play on the Saturday and Sunday was the Beamish built and based Samson. This very quirky loco, built from interpreting just one existent picture is a bit of an acquired skill to operate. Most of us leave well alone.

I think its fair to say that Matt, on the left in this picture, is its master and gets it to do things that others can’t (or don’t want to).

The red van is a brake van that was built at Beamish but as well as a handbrake it has a stove with brewing and cooking adaptations so is often referred to as the buffet car. We didn’t light it up this weekend as it was way too hot for having the fire lit.

The standard gauge line in the colliery was operating with just the Coffee Pot.

The lines other resident, the Lewin, is out of boiler ticket and the visitor we had earlier in the year has gone on its travels.

Coffee Pot was my engine for Sunday with a very pleasant first 3/4 of the day spent with David Moseley as my fireman. David now works at Beamish but had worked out that it was something like 35 years since we first shared a footplate when I took him on and Double Fairlie in Porthmadog. During the day we were treated to two flypasts by the red arrows but I suspect that was more to do with the Great North Run than anything we were doing.

When saying it was great for 3/4 of the day I didn’t mean to imply that part way through the day we fell out, The two and a half days of “its too hot for playing trains” came to an abrupt halt.

A few rumbles of thunder and a drop in temperature was a prelude to a torrential downpour of biblical proportions. Engines with cabs were abandoned for better shelter. Drivers of cabless coffee pots caught at the furthest point from shelter got drowned!

This picture of Glyder forlornly abandoned doesn’t convey the full force of the storm. This link, to a Facebook video just might, it it works. Pelting it down

That pretty much ended the play for the afternoon. Rails across baked hard earth were suddenly under water. Engine disposal areas became lakes. There was a waterfall into the standard gauge pit and the mess room filled inches deep with sludgy water. It also caused the trams problems washing debris into the flangeways.

That pretty much ended the play for the afternoon. Rails across baked hard earth were suddenly under water. Engine disposal areas became lakes. There was a waterfall into the standard gauge pit and the mess room filled inches deep with sludgy water. It also caused the trams problems washing debris into the flangeways.

We do all this though so we can recreate scenes like this

I didn’t get to take many photos during the weekend, and any I did take are yet to come off my phone which took exception to the downpour. As a result I’d like to add a quick thank you to those that have let me use theirs here. Thank you Matt Ditch, Richard Jones, Chris Hoskin and anyone I’ve missed.

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All the Gear and No Idea

Sometime a go I designed the `Micro Drive’ creating a drive with a coreless motor and 54:1 gearing. It was aimed at providing a replacement drive for the Agenoria Quarry Hunslet kits I own and sell. It was necessary for two reasons. The first was that the Mashima motors that the kit was designed for are no longer available. The second that coupled with the 30:1 gears the high revving small Mashima wasn’t ideal for a quarry shunting locomotive as it was too fast a combination.

 

As soon as this was available one of my regular customers started musing on whether the `Micro Drive’ would fit in a Skylark kit he was slowly building (his building speed sometimes makes continental drift look nippy). The short answer was no! The distance from the firebox, where the motor lives, to the driving axle is a lot longer in this loco. The result was the `Skylark Drive’ this uses the same basis as the `Micro Drive’ but adds and idler gear to increase the length of the drive.

 

Fast forward a few months. Also in the Agenoria range are kits SL2 Jubilee 1897 and SL7 Lilla. These are considerably larger engines that the quarry Hunslet. Lilla hasn’t been available for awhile due to issues with the whitemetal castings in the kit being unobtainable (a saga in itself) but after quite a of work remastering patterns and upgrading the castings to brass it’s been relaunched.

But with what shall I motor it I don’t hear you ask. Well I asked myself and thought that surely one of the existing drives would fit. Silly me, of course it didn’t. Micro Drive was too short, Skylark too long. The new Lilla drive was born and it seemed sensible to try an make it fit Jubilee as well.

The design process started with  a load of measuring which then morphed into an outbreak of chassis building. Plan A was to superglue a Jubilee and Lilla chassis together using the spacers for a 16.5mm gauge model and then to break it with a little heat and build them both with solder to 14mm gauge. That went a bit wrong when I found I already had a part built 14mm gauge Lilla and I ended up building 14mm & 16.5mm chassis for both kits. Part of Plan was to do the gearbox design just by measuring but then as I don’t have a complete mode of either for myself I kept going.

The new design needs a smaller idler gear in it to reduce the length of the gear train but its also been worked on to get the motor to sit as low as possible.

This picture is the first test. Several additional changes have been made since

 

 

 

 

The prototype has allowed a test fit in a Jubilee 1897 body showing that it fits. there is also scope to open out the cab front to match the arc of the firebox which would allow a larger flywheel to be fitted if so desired.

 

 

 

 

A trial in a Lilla has also revealed that it fits. In this instance whilst there is room to the side for a larger flywheel there isn’t behind the motor between it and the backhead.

 

 

 

 

The CAD design did reveal a problem though. I usually use 2mm shafts for the gears that are bought with a 2.1 bore so they spin freely but with a 14tooth idler the 27 tooth reduction gear just impinges on the shaft for the idler. In this image your looking down the hole that would have the idler shaft in it.

For the testing I have been using a stub axle to carry the gear and a stop to hold it in place. For the production units I will change to a 1mm shaft with gears with that size hole in the middle. The gears are on order but will take about three weeks to arrive.

When they get here and final tests with them are done the gear drive along with dimensioned drawings will be added to the NGtrains website

 

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Translate this scene into a US setting

Ok, odd title but bear with me. This starts with a what will seem like a holiday report because, in a way it is. I am just back from two weeks driving on the Festiniog Railway. One new service for this year is the quarryman train which starts in Blaenau and the loco and stock live in the railways Glan-y-Pwll depot. Putting the coaches away involves the loco going very close to the end of the line beyond which a bridge is missing.

Having seen it from the footplate I decided on an outing on my day off to see it from the other side and timed my visit to be when one of my colleagues was putting the train away.

This line used to be the Dinas branch of the old FR with a station just beyond the bridge and freight lines that continued to inclines to the quarries.

This image shows the carriage shed when it was new with the line to it curving in at the top right where it leaves the FR main line and following the Afon Barlwydd past the shed and up to the missing bridge. Once past the shed the line splits in two to make a run round loop and two sidings kick back into the shed.

Also curving round to the left of the FR tracks is the standard gauge Conwy Valley line.

This picture was taken not long after the shed was built and after a lot of waste tip clearance that resulted in the flat areas either side of the tracks. Its all a bit more verdant now.

To lurch into a very brief history tour  this is the view looking down the valley from the quarries before the tip clearance happened but after the original narrow gauge tracks had been lifted.

The tip on the left has all gone and the one of the right reduced, The bridge in the current picture is in the far  distance here about where the tip on the right slopes down and the flat are in the right foreground was the site of Dinas station.

Its all a lot greener now.

Right, back to the bridge

The missing bridge was double track and supported by two parapets and a central pier. All are made out of slate waste blocks.

I haven’t found a view of the old bridge that shows how the deck was made yet  but there is this one further up the valley that is of presumably similar construction that shows it to be a girder bridge.

Once again there is very little of that scene left now.

Then there is this earlier view that shows the old Dinas station with the bridge in the foreground that shows it to have similar railings and therefore one supposes girder beams.

OK, now the modelling bit

Whilst I was there i took a load of detail photos of the parapets and piers as well as a load of arty ones of flowing water with different shutter speeds.

The modeller in me was triggered and I quite fancy having a go at modelling this as a diorama as I haven’t done flowing water before.

It also dawned on me that the diorama would be a good practice for a similar scene on my On3 narrow gauge American Brymston Railroad. This is where the translation and the opportunity to help come in.

So in this Welsh view we have a girder bridge in slate waste slab piers with the river running through it. Forming the background is the two arch stone built bridge that carries the standard gauge line. In the diorama this bridge will be the backscene so will be more of a culvert that a bridge. I guess what you can say with this is that the structures are made out of readily available local material.

Translation

Now we have teleported to the Midwest of the USA to the Brymston Railroad which is a 3ft gauge general hauler that shifts coal and logging produce.

The foreground bridge is a wooden trestle

The water flowing into it is going to come under the flat area in the background which is made up ground.

Now what is the culvert mouth going to look like?

My first thoughts were for a couple of wrinkly tin pipes or perhaps one big one. I’d not sure that they’d provide enough flow.

Idea B was for a rectangular culvert with wooden sides and a wooden lintel so the water could cascade out of it into the stream bed but would they have used wood to create what would be a pretty long culvert.

Suggestions Please

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Earl of Merioneth – Introduction

So word has leaked out I’m doing another Double Fairlie kit. Specifically, Earl of Merioneth (EofM), aka The Square and, more than that, the first version will be the f’ugly original 1979 version.

WHY? Well, because I can and because no one else has.

There is more to it than that though. Just for now sticking to the prototype, it and I have quite a bit of previous.

When I left school I did an apprenticeship with British Rail Engineering Ltd which resulted in me, at the age of 17, in 1977 doing work experience at Boston Lodge and chain drilling four lots of holes in the then incomplete EofM and then rotary filing them round so pipes could be fitted for the drain cock operating rods to pass through. During that same visit I blagged the footplate ride that started my steam loco career.

Just a few years later I was regularly firing FR loco’s but hadn’t been on Double Engines. Back then they weren’t in everyday use. I arrived for one two week visit and was terrified to see the roster as EofM, EMD & Me two trips a day for the entire two weeks. EMD, Evan Davies, its regular driver had a bit of a reputation for being a fiery and difficult to get on with character and as a not yet very good fireman the prospect of two weeks of it was not something I was looking forward to. At this point I’d never been on a Double Fairlie.

Luckily, Merddin Emrys came to the partial rescue. EofM was broken as it often was back then (valve gear made out of steel they were given for free?) and I had a day with someone I already knew on Merddin before going in the deep end with Evan.

It probably was a bit kill or cure but I survived and must have made the right impression as from then on for the next few years if I was at the railway I was firing for Evan. It was more than that though. Working with Evan I became a much better fireman and also learnt how to do things like lift the loco and remove a bogie (because it broke itself so often in the early days), how to mend other bits of it. I had my first goes at driving a Fairlie with Evan albeit just moving it around the yard or going home across the cob. It was so much Evan’s engine that not many others drove it and more than once I was sent to fire for a driver going on it the first time to show them its quirks of which it had plenty when new.  When I qualified as a driver it was Evan that assessed me and passed me out.

Fag Packet Fairlie

Over the years I drove it a lot. Whilst my favourite to drive has always been Merddin I’d rather have The Square over Soupy (David Lloyd George). I hope that one day it comes back to life.

I’ll get on to the model in the next episode but for now I’ll just point out that this isn’t the first model of the Earl I have made.

The fag packet fairlie was made in Minffordd hostel and presented on a 30mph sign we `acquired’. Drink may have been involved. We were terrified of what Evan would think and got caught red handed by him trying to sneak it into Boston Lodge. He loved it and it spent many years on display in the den (mess room) at the works.

I’ll get on to the model in the next episode

 

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Chelfham Buildings in 7mm Scale

Chelfham Buildings in 7mm Scale

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Dapol, under the Kitmaster brand, have released the first three Lynton & Barnstaple Railway building kits to complement to imminent Lionheart L&B Loco’s and Coaches.

The first three buildings, The Small Station, Signal Cabin and Toilet Block are all based on those at Chelfham. The kits are shown below along with pictures of the prototype below. The prices shown are good for June 2023.

This article is in the process of being updated. Scroll down for detail of the kits, links to buying them, links to instructions and then a detailed look at the Station Building Kit

List Price is £150 Our Price £127.50

List Price is £25 Our Price £21.25

List Price is £40 Our Price £34

If you are interested in buying or finding more out about these kits follow this link

If you are interested in buying or finding more out about the L&B rolling stock follow this link


Instructions

The links below will take you to PDF’s of the instructions within this blog. Before building a kit I’d recommend following the link in the kits to the Dapol location for them to make sure you have the latest version

Station Building 7B-003-002_Instructions_Part_1

7B-003-002_Instructions_Part_2

Signal Cabin 7B-003-003_Instructions
Gents Toilet 7B-003-004_Instructions

Chelfham Station Today

Just as I was preparing this piece a selection of photos of Chelfham today in glorious sunshine appeared on Facebook. Simon Ellery and Rich Philpot have very graciously allowed me to share them here so you have a reference to work from.

 

Chelfham Station Building Kit

Sorry the pictures on the right aren’t the greatest but the should expand if clicked on. If I do get round to building one of these (resisting – too much to do) I will write it up with clearer images.

 

The kits consists of many layers of laser cut parts that laminate up to produce each side and end with as many as six layers in places. This gives the model a lot of depth.

The sheets are all textured (stone) and pre-coloured where appropriate. The laminations go together such that the outside is stone whilst the inside and the partitions are wooden panelling.

The inner room divide is modelled.

As with most buildings they evolve during their life. A major change with this building was the porch being rebuilt. Both versions are catered for in the kit.

The roof is modelled realistically with trusses, panelling and the basic roof layer to which tiles are then added.  Whilst I haven’t tried this I think you could probably build the roof as a lift off structure to allow detailing of the interior.

Also in the kit are some 3D printed details. These compromise the gutters, down pipes and the essential post box that gets set in to the side of the porch.

This building is not a simple box and the kit doesn’t try to make it one using multiple layers to give parts depth, colour and texture. Its very detailed but leaves the modeller lots of scope to add detail. You only have to look at the photo of the station to see how you could go to town with a model.

The instruction recommend a watered down PVA to allow some adjustment time rather than using instant glues. I’d be tempted to use VeloSet modelling PVA as a compromise as its designed for doing building in that it allows adjustment time but then gets a `grab’ relatively quickly allowing you to move on to the next joint.

When it comes to modelling I can be a butterfly no matter how much I try to constrain myself to concentrate on finishing some current projects. Right now I am visualising a diorama of Chelfham station just as a result of this kit.

When I first mentioned it on one of the forums there was a cry of “Ow Much!!!” for just a box. This isn’t just a box. A lot of thought and detail has gone into producing this kit and comparing it to what you get in other building kits I sell I’d say it represents good value and gets you a finished model on your layout with only the addition of glue. MUST RESIST, MUST RESIST

Over the next few days I hope to add similar exposes for the toilet block and signal cabin. As these three kits are 7B-003-002/3/4 and Chelfham is described as the small station kit 001 should be the large station.

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