john dew

Hi Mikkel Thanks Mikkel thats very kind of you and much appreciated. Until Robin (ANTB) tempted me to buy the Warwell I knew very little about tanks and even less about their transport. Many years ago I did serve in the British Army but it was in the Infantry.......the only thing I learned then about tanks was they had the luxury of a built in electric kettle......can you imagine the envy if you are stuck in a slit trench eating cold beans! MIB on the other hand is a genuine expert and has been very helpful and I have spent rather a lot of time on Google. Best wishes John

Hi Connor I am afraid I cant remember how I ordered them .Best to send Steve at Railtec an email .......I have found him to be super helpful. I think he supplied them to a few people when the coaches were first released Best wishes John

Thank you Tinker that is really very generous of you and much appreciated. Your advice and interest in the project were very helpful but I must confess added just that touch of pressure as I wondered about your eventual reaction. With that reply I really can enjoy my pre-dinner glass of wine! Cheers John

Good Morning Robin Thank you for posting all those photos from Warley.......lots to look forward to in 2020 I have now got my Cromwells securely tethered to the Warflats. It was a long frustrating process which I have described on my Granby thread. Here are a few pictures The shank on the Roxey eyes are too short. I binned them and fixed the chain to a piece of 1mm brass rod inserted into the hole I had drilled. It needs to be trimmed and then painted out The securing chains are made from loco screw links attached to chain by a home made ring I am afraid the tank weathering is not to the same standard as "Trains" and "Boldly" but hopefully it will suffice trundling around Granby at 15 mph (once I have adjusted the jacks of course) Now I just have to fix the Millicast Comet to the Warwell Regards from Vancouver John

Sometimes this hobby can be very character building.......although some would argue that at my age its a bit late! During the last two weeks I have had to draw on all my reserves of perseverance and patience, not very high at the best of times. I started working on the Bachmann Warflat wagon with its rather toy like Cromwell tank.......here it is straight out of the box Task list [1] The Warflat is unrealistically pristine......lots of weathering [2] The Cromwell needs to be set up for transport and painted. (the air recognition star has to go) [3] Secure the Cromwell to the Warflat. This post describes the challenges of completing item [3] There are nicely molded securing rings on both the Warflat and Cromwell but they are purely cosmetic. Working securing points had to be added I drilled into the cosmetic rings on the tanks and inserted hooks with a dab of super glue Using the same technique, Roxey eyes were inserted into the Warflat On the prototype, chains were permanently secured to the Warflat, attached to a turnbuckle which was shackled to the tank and then tightened. The tank was secured to the Warwell by cross braced chains...fore and aft (not sure if they used nautical terms but old habits die hard) From the outset I discarded the Roxey turnbuckles and opted to use the screw link couplings that are supplied with locos......I never use them if I have Kadees at the front, so I have built up quite a stock. The hook is a bit overscale but it helps with fat fingers attaching the chain to it. 4 chains per tank.....3 tanks......so I needed to make 12 of them 1 (?) mm brass rod curved to shape (sort of) using Mrs D's jewelry pliers. The chain is slipped on the long end of the rod leaving 3/4" from the end to represent the tensioned tail. The surplus rod is then snipped off.........guess how long it took for me to work that out as opposed to making the rings then trying to attach the chain! The shackle is slipped over the tank hook and the chain tensioned and secured to the wagon eye with a piece of 1 mm brass rod Sounds great in theory.....reality was somewhat different. Applying equal tension to four separate chains so the tank stays central and square was very challenging. The shackle would slip off the tank hook or the ring would lip off the screw link hook. The most frustrating thing was the wagon eyes......it took forever to thread and glue a piece of rod through the chain and then through the eye. I used to do one chain per tank and let the superglue dry overnight. The next day I would try and fit the opposing chain on the other end......the tension applied to the new chain would then rip out the eye on the opposing chain........grrr After a few days of frustration it was clear the shank on the eye was too short.....out they all came. I drilled the existing hole deeper ...about 1/4" . Inserted a piece of rod, tip dipped in super glue. When dry I cut the rod leaving about 3/8" exposed. This left a fixing point that was accessible and rigid. It was then relatively easy to pull the chain taut and slip the appropriate link over the rod.....dab of glue.......and next day snip the rod almost flush cut any surplus chain (Intially the chain must be over length. You need the leverage and its impossible to predict the exact position These photos should give a better indication of the process........ The Roxey hooks had a deeper shank and withstood the tensioning pressure......with one exception. With the tank already secured on three points (naturally it was the last one to come out) I found it impossible to re insert the hook so I bent one up from rod......its bigger and you can see it now but I doubt if it will be visible when its painted and weathered. A couple of close ups Chains have to be painted and weathered and I have to do a similar job on the Warwell and then the train is ready to go on the circuit. A tiresome and frustrating job but ultimately worth the effort. These are the most expensive good wagons I have ever bought and I did want them to look the part Hmm....after all the pulling and tugging I now see the jacks need adjusting ! Regards from Vancouver John

Thats a great photo Robin......it shows the turnbuckle so well and its position in relation to the chains. I think the chain is attached to the tank the way MIB described I think it also shows that loco screwlinks will work fine as turnbuckles

Thanks Tinker. I think they are turnbuckles....the name escaped me when I posted so I used the sailing term "bottle screws" (used to tension the standing rigging) which on reflection wasnt very helpful So for greater certainty if they are to be used to secure a load they should be positioned upwards like this? There is a hook at the top which faces the wrong way but I could fix the chain to it I assumed they were cosmetic and set them up like this I then spent yesterday evening drilling inside the foremost and rearmost cosmetic molded ring. Fortunately so far I have only inserted one Roxey ring ....the brass bit. I guess I should use the supplied (upward mounted) turnbuckles? Its easy enough to weather the drill marks. Which brings me to the Warwell. Robin reminded me they came with an accessory pack (which I have "mislaid") which included similar turnbuckles You can see the fixing slot for them next to the jacks The screw driver points to one of two cosmetic molded securing rings I was planning to drill and insert securing rings and turnbuckles (Roxey or screw link) and then cross chain up to the tank.....would this be totally unrealistic? Robin my apologies for cluttering your thread.....which so rarely drifts off topic......with arcane militaria and 4 mediocre photos......I can move it over to Granby if you wish? Best wishes John

Hi Robin I have finally got round to weathering and adding the bits to the Warwells A couple of questions: The four items on the far left appear to be a hook and chain (or possibly a bottle screw) . There is a slot next to each jack for them. I am assuming they hang downwards as a cosmetic accessory for the adjacent jack? Or are they supposed to be inserted upwards and used as a retaining point for the cross chains? I was going to use the foremost and aftmost side rings for my chains. I seem to recall that for our period the vacuum pipes are redundant? Many thanks for any help you can give me Regards John

Well it wasnt quite on time but I got two done this week. The second Hattons 14xx I have described on my thread.....Zimo decoder + lifelink + 3 tantalums........easy to do and unbelievably smooth and reliable performance For the same price 20GBP you can get a lifelink and a full fat supercap....more capacity but much greater volume.......and the good news it does fit perfectly inside a pannier....I took out a lenz standard and hardwired another zimo (definitely my decoder of choice now) plus the lifelink and supercap....all fitted in without any fret. The pannier was an ok runnner before but now of course rolls over any dirty or dead track without hesitation....I did the no power test and it ran on about 4”........and the Zimo has provided an even smoother speed curve. Best wishes John

Thank you so much Martin.......all sorted! I have a nasty feeling I may have asked you this before...if so my apologies....wont happen again Best wishes John

All done thanks to Martin Wynne

I am struggling to post a link to a Youtube video. The link gets inserted ok and works but I want to show the opening picture with start arrow rather than the link The annoying thing is that I posted another video a few weeks ago without any problems Any help would be appreciated John

The Youtube link works but I have forgotten how to set it up to show the picture rather than the link.......hopefully someone can point out my error

A few weeks ago I posted about some experiments with stay alives. In a poor performing Bachmann 64xx Pannier I replaced a Lenz decoder with a Zimo decoder and attached a TCS KAT2 keep alive. The results were amazing .....the video showed it continuing to move for about 18" after the power was cut off. I then turned my attention to a DJM/Hattons 14xx 0-4-2T. Notoriously indifferent runners and mine was no exception. Space constraints prevented the use of a full fat capacitor so I added 3 Tantalums (lower volume but significantly lower capacity). You may recall that I found the results a bit ho-hum. There was an overall improvement in running but still some hesitation at low speed and the occasional hand from God to start. I put them both back on the layout with their autocoaches and got on with other things.However, regardless of the project of the day, on most evenings I run both autocoach schedules.......with a glass of wine....quite therapeutic. It slowly dawned on me that I had been a bit hasty with my initial assessment.......... the 14xx was actually running impeccably.......shuttling back and forth (on an admittedly undemanding schedule) .......untouched by human hand. Time to give the same treatment to my other DJM 14xx.....58xx 5801 Not all the 0-4-2s were autofitted. The 58xx sub class were used on branch good and standard branch passenger diagrams. I had hoped to use 5801 on the Cynwyd B Set. Although a better runner than 1407 she still proved unreliable and had been relegated to "pottering"......on the layout but no schedules.....one step away from the display case The set up was identical....decoder in smokebox and redundant speaker wires used to connect to lifelink and tantalum assembly......all stored in bunker And here in a 45 second video is the result....... I havent done a price comparison with other stay alives but 20GBP for 3 tantalums and a lifelink board doesnt seem unreasonable to convert a "potterer" back to a scheduled loco. I dont think its solely the stay alive element.....I am very impressed with the Zimo decoders. Same price as the Lenz Standard (my default decoder) and about a third of the size. I have always found that Lenz decoders provide very smooth transitions between the speed steps but the Zimo is ultra ultra smooth.In the years before I retired I generally drove a Volvo.....for a brief period I had a Lexus.....same difference! Despite a zillion Zimo CVs and a manual longer than a Trollope novel, I stuck to my normal practice.....I dont adjust CVs very much..... set the max speed between 30 and 40 mph (anything more looks daft on Granby) and the mid speed value to give a slightly concave slope. However on the advice of the ever helpful John Gwymer of Youchoos I set CV 56 to 22 (Back EMF) and CV 57 to 125. (14xx has a coreless motor) this eliminated the juddering that used to frequently occur with this model. A happy camper in Vancouver (not literally ....it is sunny but quite cold) John

No luck? I dont think I can accommodate more than 2 warflats + warwell + brake van and loco So fortunately both Tenby (for Castlemartin) and Granby (off scene) have loading ramps

No luck? I dont think I can accommodate more than 2 warflats + warwell + brake van and loco So fortunately both Tenby (for Castlemartin) and Granby (off scene) have loading ramps

You can probably find the manufacturer.....I think Cv 7 gives the mfrs code. I standardized on Lenz decoders some years ago but after my recent experiment with Zimo I may switch. They are very impressive. This week I hope to get a Pannier chipped with a Zimo and Youchoos supercap.....I will let you know how I get on. Regards John

Hi Neal I am a bit confused about your stay alive wiring. Only the decoder should be connected to the motor and pick ups. The capacitor should be connected to the decoder using the blue and grey wires. I was advised to insert a lifelink device between decoder and capacitor to protect the decoder from surges from the stayalive. What decoder are you using? Regards John

Longish post.....Despite being diverted by the Rugby I have managed to complete one of the Fall's major projects. I spent a lot of time earlier in the year creating local passenger services to and from the "south" or right hand side of the storage yard. The only way I could squeeze 4 extra trains into an already crowded yard was to run them all into Down storage siding #5.......run a swift loco exchange and store them elsewhere...in fact wherever I could find a spare siding. This rather fuzzy shot shows one of the trains..... the Ruabon B set crossing over from the Up line to enter the Down Storage yard Siding #5 is the one empty space you can see in the middle distance. A second train (from Barmouth) is stored in the siding to the right. A third train is stored at Granby carriage sidings and the fourth I managed to fit in front of the Up Express at the other end of the storage yard. The routine for all four trains is broadly the same. Enter D5....uncouple and pull clear....relief loco couples and the train is ready for the return journey The relieved locos were then turned/stored in one of the two turntable exits. Its a Fleischmann TT that I bought second hand over 20 years ago. To get it to work with DCC and RR&Co involved a Heath Robinson mix of Point Motors, Reeds and Magnets .......some of which were concealed under the Engine Shed: It actually worked fine but this system could, realistically,only handle two exits. Its quite cumbersome trying to manouver 4 relief locos in two exits particularly as one road has to be cleared whenever a Milk/Fruit or Parcels loco needs turning Its a far cry from the main turntable Where this device handles 16 exits without turning a hair (Ignore the DCC Concepts unit alongside....just sharing the shelf) The Fleischman Turncontrol unit is an amazing piece of kit.......its a pleasure to handle and integrates seamlessly with the computor. It slowly dawned on me that it could also operate the antique storage TT ........not the cheapest option but after a limited amount of soul searching: That was the easy part......now to hook it up.........under the duck under to the other side Remove the library.... No problem: And then the problems really started! I had completely forgotten that the lower branch line baseboard was not a 12" shelf.......it was 4' deep........in the dim and distant past this was going to be a coal mine served by the branch! When this plan was superseded by the storage TT I had just inserted a second baseboard 5" above the old one creating an almost inaccessible void. Lots of fun trying to insert droppers through that lot In the end I had to surface mount the droppers and conceal them with ash ballast and a somewhat unlikely shrubbery. The final connection was made by drilling one very large hole through both baseboards (Naturally I managed to find part of a supporting beam as well) I always maintained this would be a warts and all thread....... Finally, after a not entirely stress free fortnight, we have moved from two exits to seven: Including a dedicated road for each of the four local passenger relief locos From the left Barmouth 7802 Bradley Manor Crewe LMS Ivatt 2-6-2T Oswestry 6698 56xx 0-6-2T ........on temporary loan from the coal run until the Hornby large prairies arrive Ruabon 4550 Small Prairie I always like to finish with a black and white shot if projects..........eventually..........turn out ok So the next few days will be spent alternating between concern that England may have emptied the tank and quiet confidence that all will be well. Who could not be impressed by that defiant yet respectful response to the Haka. Regards from Vancouver where it is sunny but frost overnight John

I have found most of Series 2 by searching Youtube. You need to beware of some scams but you can usually tell them by the short length. The genuine article is about an hour long and shows the cast in the title Regards John

As John (St Enodoc) suggests.....happy to answer any questions. If, understandably, you dont want to clutter your thread either ask on Granby or send me a PM. I can give you the links to some videos I have made which give a sense of the projects you can do. Computor control is quite expensive and, by its very nature, not for everyone. For me I find it totally fascinating. It adds a whole new dimension to operating for this solitary modeller! On another note I think your Affinity tweaks have made a big difference....those latest shots look brilliant Best wishes John

Hi Neal I recently added a TCS stayalive to my 64xx.......everything fitted inside the body and it performs brilliantly....there is a video on my thread. You may not need extra pick ups and a permanent hook up. I am just about to change the decoder in a 57xx to a Zemo with Youchoos supercap.....I will let you know how I get on Regards John

The weathering on the Cromwell is brilliant.......it looks a totally different model. One minor point......the machine gun barrel looks as though it has brewers droop......I have now cut mine off. John

Afraid I had exactly the same experience. The Heljan kept losing/forgetting its calibration settings.....I eventually gave up and bought a Fleischmann Regards John

It was in response to this sentence in your post Jack Rowell has a marginally better overall win record as an England coach than Clive Woodward. Only Eddie Jones beats them both. Regards John