john dew

Hi Andy Good to hear from you. Hope you are well. Thanks for answering my question so fully about the brake /water scoop columns. It now makes perfect sense. Regarding stay alives. You only need to solder one wire to the ground pad on the chip ( the existing blue wire provides the +ve) but I found the expensive way that even with quite a large pad on a Zimo that it was too much for me. Fortunately Youchoos ( super helpful.....no connection) from whom I buy both the Zimo decoders and stay alive components charge only a nominal fee for soldering the additional wire to the ground solder pad. Soldering the two wires to the lifelink and supercap is straightforward. I have done 5 now without a hitch. The difference is amazing....poor runners like the 14xx and the Dean can now perform complex operations eg loco exchanges/shunting. Reliable runners like the panniers now require zero supervision. The only downside is I am building up a surplus of replaced Lenz decoders! Best Wishes John

One will be heading west shortly. I guess it falls in the could have category! Certainly not must have like a mogul ( or two? ). I have no evidence they ever ran on an Express Parcel Service between Birkenhead and Birmingham....but its not entirely unfeasible. I vacillated between it and the passenger car but I already have a vintage Lima version....tarted up with new wheels, pick ups and a very expensive Lenz chip and stay alive. I will post some shots when it arrives.....but that will be a few weeks away

Thanks Neal glad you like it. The Hotel is going to a bit of a challenge. Not sure how familiar you are with the kit. Its another low relief model and is perfect for that role.......very tall and imposing with lots of classic John Wiffen detail. It will, I am afraid, be rather difficult to expand it to full relief without one seeing the join....to paraphrase Eric Morecambe. Lots of patience and lots of blades required! In other news I see Hattons expect the Dapol Express Parcels Rail Car tomorrow! Best wishes John

Thanks for all the ticks guys. I am so pleased that you liked the Dean photos. You have no idea how delighted I am to have a (reasonably) realistic model that now performs impeccably. I have a long list of potential video subjects.....the Dean is clawing its way to the top! Back to the Post Office.......Scalescene kit bash to fill an awkward shape next to the station. I left you before Christmas with just the front propped up in situ You may recall this was derived from the Bank Building in the low relief High Street kit The building will back on to the railway and the side will face on to a narrow street. The bank facade would be too elaborate for these walls so, instead, I used the top half of the Broughs shop as a template Coursed Ashlar provides a reasonable, although not exact. match, for the base. The sides were made of two sheets of medium card laminated together. Some inner sheets were cut a thickness short on each side to create a glueing rebate The sides were further strengthened with horizontal strips of thick card, of which some will serve as floor bearers The first side was glued into position on the base card and acted as the reference point for joining the front and then the second, short , side. With three sides squared up the first floor was inserted and secured As you can see the last wall, the one facing the railway, is longer than the Scalescene print out. To avoid emphasing the Ashlar mis-match I laminated the scalescene section on top of a Ashlar clad wall of the correct length. Appearance apart this 4 ply addition adds strength to the model The corners are covered with quoins from the accessory sheets. Lots of cutting out but they hide a multitude of sins! The kit is topped with a low relief tiled roof. Given the shape of my full relief model I decided this wasnt practicable and opted for a flat roof. The roof will overhang the walls supported by tiered ledges. Partly aesthetics but also to conceal assorted measurement errors! . The roof is clad with Scalescenes pebbledash. That may seem rather odd but I have used it as a roof cover before and it seems to work. The exposed edges are covered with strips from the accessory sheet to match with the ledges and in effect make a third tier. The roof was topped with walls of dressed stone plus a solitary chimney stack and plant house Almost done.......here is the rear view After a five year wait the GPO staff (next to the running in board) finally have somewhere to deliver the mail. I am not certain about the GPO's policy about advertising in 1948......but the approach to Granby Junction must be prime site. I am going to make some large bill boards for the lower level. Posters coming from Sankey. The whole building needs weathering of course but overall I think its quite effective. Here is the front........if you compare it with the first shot you will see its slightly different. Another John (St Enodoc) suggested extending the facade ledges/trim on to the two wings ......great idea....................thank you John! With more asphalt laid, perhaps you can see the final shape of the scene? The grey card by the bus is the base card for the hotel. Once this is built there will only be relatively narrow glimpses of the side street and Post Office loading bay. The vehicles are just plonked in position and I borrowed the Telephone Box from outside the pub at the other end of the station. This was built 25 years ago before I realised how few of the concrete version were actually built........I guess there must have been some in Crosby just after the war because I painted it like that without even thinking. I will order two more kits and paint them all over red I didnt actually plan this but there are really only two full on view points of the Post Office.....front and back ........fortunately the weird triangular shape is only apparent from a helicopter view. During the last couple of weeks I have taken a break from cutting card and have been working on locos and running trains..... lots of maintenance to still to do .....never ends. Hopefully I will start the hotel in a week or so. Regards from Vancouver.....where we are expecting snow. John

HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM VANCOUVER Thanks for the good wishes and greetings guys! I do hope that everyone had a great Christmas and that your stocking was over flowing with goodies..........due to an unfortunate duplication of wish lists mine was overflowing with paint brushes ......you can expect to see a lot more 4 mm figures inhabiting Granby in 2020 With my Christmas Greeting featuring the much improved Hattons14xx, it seemed a good idea to continue the theme for New Year with another "silk purse from a sows ear" story. This time its the turn of the Oxford Dean Goods....... The Dean Goods was an eagerly awaited new release, which like the 14xx received a rather mixed reception. Despite some well reported design defects, to a non purist, like me, the overall appearance is quite acceptable.There are in fact many rather nice details, the backhead.for example, is superb. Running perfomance, on the other hand was generally poor. Stuttering rather than smooth with limited haulage capacity and a marked reluctance to ascend the gentlest of slopes. The motor failed completely on one of my Deans. Regular readers may recall the saga of the loco shuttling back and forth across the Atlantic. Fortunately the problem was eventually resolved and the loco was able to regularly run basic schedules with a limited load.provided there were no gradients on the route. Over the holidays I decided to address the haulage issue and at the same time change the decoder and add stay alive I managed to increase the weight by about 40%........and mostly in the right places! Plumbers lead was cut to size and fitted in the Smoke Box, in front of the Motor, under the fly wheel and on the sides of the fire box. Off cuts were cut really small and jammed into the dome which was then sealed off with more lead cut and curved to shape. The Dean will now cope with 8-10 wagons on modest gradients.....while not that impressive.....sufficient for my purposes The Lenz standard decoder I originally installed had been quite acceptable for basic schedules but to ensure 100% reliability I replaced it with another Zimo MX317 plus Lifelink plus 6700 u/f Supercap. Performance is now awesome........ the loco crawls at a scale 2mph over some very ropey track (examples above) without any hesitation A brief glimpse of the backhead. Dai Thomas clearly enjoyed his Christmas Dinner. In front of Dai the rather chunky water scoop handle that you can see is a replacement . The rather flimsy handle fitted by Oxford didnt survive the tender body being put back. I fiddled with a replacement handle for far too long and finally removed both columns and replaced them with a pair pillaged from an ancient non running Hornby loco. I realised as I was typing this that I had no idea which side was the Brake column and which controlled the Water scoop. Someone must know the answer? The usual added detail for Granby locos: Head lamp code for Branch Gooods Modelu crew and spare lamps, Engraved plates, Fire Irons and real coal (B.C. not S. Wales though) Heavily weathered to depict many years of hard graft In other news my replacement laptop arrived and the file transfer, to my surprise and relief, was accomplished without fret. Next week I hope to conclude the account of the Scalescene Post Office Kitbash I do hope 2020 brings you and yours Health and Happiness John

Hi Tinker I am sorry if I put you off chipping your Moguls.....I didnt intend to. However if you are relatively new to DCC its helpful to be aware that adding a decoder to a split chassis loco requires more time and care than normal hard wiring. Its ages since I did my mogul (since retired). As far as I can remember, and with the caveat above, it was relatively straight forward although I think Space was a bit tight. I finished up putting the decoder in the tender......but I did that with a lot of locos....lots of space and I added tender pick ups. My Dapol/Hornby prairies are also long retired. They were very easy to chip but again space was an issue although I was using Lenz Standards.......if I were doing it now I would use the £20 mini Zimos which I have found to be brilliant. Hope you have got over the flu Best wishes John

One has to be optimistic at my age

or Moguls?

Hi Robin I would think so. I opted for the buffer beams partly because I was worried the fixing point would look clunky with the chain under tension. With the chain not in use that issue will not arise, in fact the chain will conceal the attachment. I think it will actually look better like that. Hopefully Tinker will confirm this! Best wishes John

They look great Robin........I admire your patience in chaining two vehicles.....it must have been very fiddly getting the chains equally tensioned Cheers John

HAPPY CHRISTMAS FROM VANCOUVER I had intended to post a series of photos of the completed Post Office. Unfortunately when I opened my rather ancient laptop , which contains all the photos, I got the red screen of death. At least that sorted out my Xmas present.....my new all singing /dancing machine bought at Boxing Day prices will arrive on the 24th. I guess I will be spending a fair part of the holiday transferring files and trying to remember access codes. Meantime I borrowed a cushion and took this shot with the ipad. Appropriately it has something of a biblical theme...albeit the old testament....the return of the prodigal A Hattons/DJM 14xx performing , without hesitation, quite a complicated loco exchange with the branch BSet. Ever since I fitted a Zimo decoder and stay alive tantalums the loco has been transformed.....undoubtedly my success story of 2019 I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the followers of this thread who patiently read and tick or comment on my weekly ramblings. When I went to the first post to edit the title I realised I had omitted to celebrate the 10th anniversary of this thread.....hard to believe its been that long. The support and fellowship that I receive from RMWeb in general.....and you guys in particular adds enormously to my enjoyment of the hobby......thank you so much. I wish you and your families a very happy Christmas and good health and prosperity in 2020. If you are a GWR fan like me then it needs to be a prosperous new year with all the promised new releases! Best wishes John

Hi Neal The Ruby, like many, comes with built in speed curves ......hopefully they are described somewhere in the manual....if you want to use them you will need to change Cv 29 again.....set at 39 they are disabled Personally, I prefer the rather crude manipulation of Cvs 2,5 and 6 that I described earlier.....although I should add that I use RR&Co Train Controller so I can see the speed curve my manipulations have produced when the loco is profiled.....thats how I know the scale speeds I referred to. Cheers John

Good Morning Neal No sun rising over the Rockies here.......its dull grey and wet! So glad you got that sorted. Not sure how familiar you are with the speed Cvs so forgive me if I am attempting to teach Grandma etc. Cv 3 controls acceleration and Cv 4 deceleration/ braking. If you increase the value of 3 you will slow the rate of acceleration Cv 5 is max speed......On Granby there are no opportunities to run realistically at more than scale 40 mph. I set Cv 5 for my panniers at 90 which gives a max speed of 28 mph Having established an appropriate max speed I adjust the value of Cv 6, mid point speed. Using the pannier example setting Cv 6 at 45 (50% of Cv 5) will create a straight line speed curve with the mid point speed at 14 mph I prefer a concave curve where more speed notches are concentrated at the lower end......this provides smoother acceleration at lower speeds......typically I would set a a Pannier Cv 6 at 60 (66% of Cv 5) giving a mid point speed of about 11 mph There are far more sophisticated methods but this works for me. I should add the numbers I have used apply to Lenz decoders , which are in most of my locos, but the principles/ratios will apply to all good decoders albeit with perhaps different values Cheers John

Its strange that the loco will not move at all. Its equally strange that the gaugemaster guy queried the use of 39 when its a direct grab from the digitrax ready reckoner! I wonder if the Ruby is just a re badge. A question........have you been able to run the loco with a four digit address....albeit in the wrong direction? If the answer is yes......then what was the Cv 29 value. If you now reprogramme by adding 1 to that value all should be well. Its 11.10 pm here.......I will be back in the morning Good luck John

Hi Neal Have you tried entering 39 as the value for Cv 29? This should give you 4 digit addressing and reverse direction of travel I arrived at this by using the digitrax cv 29 calculator on the digitrax tech support website. I am guessing this is what is meant by the on line reference in the Ruby decoder manual....which is not exactly comprehensive. Regards John

Hi Neal Use the Gaugemaster kit in a larger loco......rail car perhaps? I have recently fitted a Zimo MX617 + Youchoos Lifelink + 6800 Supercap to a 57xx Its brilliant......I am doing two more 57xx this week.....I will try and take some photos. Its not plug and play but very straight forward. To maximise the space I removed the 8 pin socket that comes with the loco and hardwired the decoder wires to pick up wires and motor. Youchoos are super helpful (usual disclaimer).........they stripped redundant function wires from the decoder and soldered a wire to -ve ground solder pad.....a job I didnt fancy......for a very nominal charge. Cheers John

I am flattered you are asking me Robin. Tinker will have the definitive answer but he has flu........I would think they would be chained individually ie separately Best wishes John

What a pain. I hope you beat the recovery period and get well soon. Bolting the door I know but.....flu shots? Theyseem to have worked for us the last few years...touch wood Best wishes John

I am struggling to come up with a suitable name for the square....”Station Square” sounds so banal.....on the other hand Sauvigon Square is a bit too exotic for North Wales in 1948 Not sure if you were joking about making the buildings higher.......you havent seen the hotel yet ....straight from the kit it is enormous......265 mm high. I am trying to work out how to eliminate a floor in addition to converting it from low relief Hope your 12” to the foot building is going well. Kitchen construction can be a right pain Best Wishes John

Thanks Tinker Glad you enjoyed the background description. One never knows how interested readers will be in shots of cardboard with holes cut out! I hope you approve of the finished version. Best wishes John

I cant set the top windows back now without compromising the side and back structures that I am cutting out Extending the “frieze” (pediment ?) is a great idea.....thank you....I should have thought of that! I will print out another sheet and give it a whirl Best wishes John

Thanks John. The top row of windows are not actually extra.....they are part of John Wiffen’s design....see the Scalescenes photo. I guess I will just have to convince you! I admit to being equally doubtful. They are so close to the top they were a pain to cut out.....I am going to construct a flat roof rather than the curved gables shown in the kit picture......if they continue to look odd I may cover them over with a decorative support ledge. Cheers John

A change of pace last week. I finally started to work on completing the street scene in front of the station. The GPO van and taxi have been parked there literally fo years. A constant reminder that I need to build a General Post Office and Hotel and then devise a credible link with the back of the Warehouse at Richard's Wharf. I keep procrastinating for all manner of reasons........not least because it is the perfect place to park my cup of coffee while I perform gymnastics to duck under the canal and viaduct: Another reason for delay is the awkward shape of the site. The new buildings have to be at right angles to the station to make an open square. At the rear they will back on to a 36" radius curve where the main line exits the station and crosses the viaduct. Carpe diem......nothing like a challenge......I am going to start with the Post Office The plan is to use elements from Scalescenes Low Relief High Street Kit. This clip from their site shows the varied frontages The Barclays Bank facade makes a good start point. However it is only 4 1/4" wide which is too narrow for my purposes. I need to almost double the width of the building by adding 1 1/2" extensions on either side. To further complicate matters the brickwork used on the upper storeys is not available in sheet form. On the plus side, I think the dressed stone, shown below, will produce a more cohesive design For those who have not used them...Scalescenes Scratchbuilders packs are brilliant....for 2.50 you get a PDF file that you print out as required. There is a vast array of finishes to select from. (Incidentally, the colour isnt as harsh as this and actually matches the lower facade quite well). The big asset for this project are the quoins which will be used to finish the many corners rather than the drain pipes used in the design. I dont intend to do a cut by cut account but am happy to answer any questions. If any one else is similarly inspired the process I have followed may be of help When kitbashing I build the exterior walls first and then strengthen them later, which is the reverse of the normal Scalescene sequence. Here are the sub assemblies from the kit to be glued to the extended front base. The central upper storey brickwork has already been clad in dressed stone with lintels and sills added from the builders pack. Only the top and side windows on the base will be seen, they will also be clad in dressed stone. The centre window openings are rough cut so as not show through. I want the finished building to be moveable so I can access the track at the rear. Here is the base layer cut out to fit snugly alongside the station wing. The cut out on the left side allows for street access to a loading bay that will be built into the side wall Frontage complete .....loosely propped in place This took rather longer to complete than I expected.....not too many trains ran last week! I am pretty happy with the result though. I think the dressed stone has not only matched well with that from the kit but also complements the adjacent station building Now I have to get the sides and roof worked out! But first some well earned refreshment from the new beverage parking spot I just have to remember to move the board when the Birkenhead-Paddington Express roars through! Regards from Vancouver John

Thanks for all the ticks guys. I hadnt expected tanks and chains to be so popular! This post concludes the tank project......but I have also, for the first time, taken advantage of my gold status and not re sized the photos .....the difference is pretty amazing. I also took the opportunity to do some experimenting with focus stacking. I ditched Photoshop Elements about a year ago and switched to Affinity. I am still just scratching at the surface. Generally I just crop and fiddle with the auto buttons ......so this was a bit of an adventure.....not perfect but quite promising Back to the tanks.....the first task was to paint and weather the chains securing the Cromwell tanks to the Warflats. Next job was to secure the Comet to the Warwell........not before time.....its been on the to do list since September 2017! This is a resized shot from a previous post Unlike the Cromwells which came with the Bachmann Warflats, I had to buy a suitable load for Hattons Warwell. I finally settled for a Comet kit from Millicast. The kit wasnt super easy to assemble but the resultant model has much better detail than the Cromwell. It is also more appropriate for my era.Comets first saw service just after D Day and were in action during the Korean War eight years later. I used the same securing system described in the previous post except the chains were attached to pieces of rod inserted in the buffer beam rather than the side The shot above shows the front of the tank with the turret reversed for transport and only the casing remaining on the Machine gun. . Now the reverse view ......the kit had a cosmetic barrel/support lock molded on the deck. I built one in the transport position from plastic girder. To stop all the ash and cinder etc entering the gun barrel, not only was the turret reversed but the muzzle was covered in a canvas cap. I tried overlaying some tissue paper but it looked too clumsy. The barrel already had a bulb shaped blast deflector so I built up layers of PVA and painted it dirty sand. There is still a bit of a dent but otherwise it works ok One bit of molded detail I could have done without were the the tools entrenching (pick and shovel to non squaddies) seen on the left hand side. I should have filed them down but it was too much faff and nobody would have noticed anyway ........if I hadnt pointed it out! Two Warflats and one Warwell coupled up ready to go I delayed buying the Warwell and when I finally made up my mind the GWR version had sold out so I had to settle for the LMS version hence the Fowler 4F 0-6-0 I may well have used the 4F anyway. It is one of my most reliable and powerful locos and the three wagons with loads are surprisingly heavy. I have to admit that ascending the slope to Granby Viaduct is quite a challenge for my Collet and Dean Goods The next three shots complete the story: Regards from a damp Vancouver John

In case Tinker doesnt see this.......Based on one of his comments about drivers taking short cuts when releasing them....I am inclined to think that they were Cheers John