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SRman

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Everything posted by SRman

  1. The brake van is the Cambrian Kits SECR 'dance hall' van. I also built one as the ballast brake, as Cambrian include the parts to do both - there are more details about building them in my workbench blog. I'll be very interested in the plough brake van. Good luck with the build.
  2. Next Saturday, the 15th August, I am hosting a British Railway Modellers of Australia (BRMA) meeting, so besides frantically cleaning up all the clutter around the house (or at least, that which will be in the "public" areas!), I am also trying to clear up the layout clutter and 'foolproof' the electrics. To fix the latter, I am replacing the old double switches that allowed either inner or outer circuit to be switched between DC and DCC. this had a small risk attached in that if someone not in the know switched one circuit and used one of the crossovers, there was the potential for the two systems to meet, with possibly disastrous consequences for the DCC command station. I needed a four pole switch, so shopped around on eBay and ended up with an eight position four pole rotary switch (actually, two of them, to allow for the upper circuits to be done the same way). Now, eight positions is way overkill, three or four positions would have been better, but these were the most suitable ones I could find, and they were very reasonably priced. I only want two 'live' positions and one isolated one. After figuring out the wiring to allow the two track circuits to be powered separately by two DC controllers (actually an H & M Duette), but the whole layout to be powered at once by the NCE DCC system, I made a start this morning. It has involved a bit of rewiring but it is progressing. I have completed the DC wiring up, and am taking a short break, but when I go back to it, I will complete the DCC wiring to the switch. While rewiring, I have also moved the two circuit breakers from their temporary positions to the main control panel. This was the old temporary switch panel. And this is the new arrangement, as yet unlabelled. I have put a mark where the DC live position is. Doing it this way means that no one, not even I, can short it out or cause other problems. The whole LT part of the layout can only be DCC or DC at any one time.
  3. 1 suggestion: perhaps you should have a doZe and sleep on it for a bit!
  4. A bit of both. JA have an extra jumper cable on the front ends, and slightly different grille and window arrangements on the sides. Traction motors and gearing are different. Some of the underbody gear is different and there are differences in the bogies as well. The JBs were built entirely by English Electric. JAs were delivered in green, with some variations (grey or no grey band, yellow or no yellow panels), with the first three having oval buffers (I'm not sure when they lost these ... possibly when shopped into BR blue). The first JBs were delivered in matt BR blue (or English Electric's version of same!) with grey roofs and lower bands and no BR arrows, with later deliveries omitting the grey band, and later still delivered in BR blue all over with full yellow ends. That's a quick summary and not intended as a detailed description of every difference between the types.
  5. It does look good, although it also shows the slight dimpling of the cab roofs. If they are going to issue it as E6003 it should have oval buffers. As others have pointed out, these are pre-production models so hopefully these things will be corrected for the final production. While they are not insurmountable for an average modeller to fix, we shouldn't have to do these things for the price point they are selling at. The bodies don't really look to be much of an improvement over the Lima/Hornby 73s (although I'm sure the separate grills and things are a bit better), but the bogie and underframe detail looks vastly superior compared to the older model. I am waiting to see what the final models are like before I buy one. In the meantime, I have several Lima and Hornby ones, all with the newer Hornby chassis running on my layout. From viewing distance, they do the job perfectly well.
  6. SRman

    Hanging out

    That really is looking great, Neil. Catenary on models always has to be a compromise between practicality and appearance. It does add a whole new dimension to your layout, and there are some lovely, fascinating and archaic-looking electric locomotives in Europe.
  7. I gave the blue 08 a second coat of paint, then later touched in the white cab handrails and under-runnng board pipes. I gave it a quick test run on the layout and it completed one circuit before coming to an abrupt halt with one coupling rod detached. To see if I could recover the missing crankpin, I sent another 08, green D3963 around with a neomagnet (intended as a Hornby Dublo ringfield replacement magnet) attached with some Blu-tack. It came back with two track pins and a few bits of magnetic detritus attached! In the absence of the correct crankpin, I quickly ascertained that the thread for the pin is 12BA, so used a short 12BA countersunk head screw to secure the coupling rod. I put a small smear of glue on the thread beforehand to ensure it wouldn't unscrew accidentally. The screw head is a little on the large side but once it is painted it won't be all that obvious. Incidentally, D3963 is also a candidate for possible renumbering. I haven't checked where the original was based at this stage.
  8. I have just given the model a second coat of BR blue and it is coming up OK. A bit of digging for Southern allocated 08s has revealed a few that didn't have the high level connections or a box in front of the fuel tank on the left side of the bonnet. One candidate had no box at the front on the right hand side, so I tried removing the one on the model (they are separate mouldings) but it would mean I would have to remodel the doors and fill the gap. D3272 looks close to the model's specifications and was based at Eastbourne for a while. It would appear to have the framed droplights on the cab sides (not too difficult to model if necessary) and rather oddly, appears to have had red buffer beams when in BR blue around 1969 or so. If anyone has any better candidate numbers for me, I would appreciate a quick line to let me know. I'll post a question in the main forums as well.
  9. Hi Olivegreen. The 71s were not equipped for multiple operation with EMUs. The jumper you are looking at may have been the electric train heating jumper. However, when some of the 71s were converted to class 74 electro-diesels, they also gained the jumpers for working with EMUs (and TCs), thus they could work in push-pull mode under the control of a remote cab. Edit: It looks like Rick and I were both typing out the same answers at the same time!!
  10. Thanks for that. I'll have to give that a go.
  11. I decided to resurrect my Hornby Stanier Black 5, which had been playing up last time I ran it. I tested it on DC analogue after removing the Hornby decoder and it ran perfectly for several hours on the rolling road. I added a Hattons decoder and that ran perfectly. Next, I decided to continue with the weathering process I started before it played up. Doing the dirty bits is not difficult; the problem I have is with matt varnishes not drying matt. I have used several different brands, all shaken and stirred thoroughly, but the results are very unreliable. At present, it is still not right but looks reasonable (only reasonable, not especially good!). Here it is on the late 1950s/early 1960s parcels train at Newton Broadway.
  12. Humbrol Clear Fix should work just fine. I like the Micro product because it is easy to get over here in Australia and it is water-based so easy to thin or clean off if necessary.
  13. Plastic soft drink bottles: these can be cut with scissors and have the compound curves required for many windscreens. I glue mine in with Micro Krystal Klear, which hides any gaps and blends in invisibly with the plastic material. The idea originates (for me, anyway) with Bernard Taylor of TPM, and works a treat.
  14. I recently scored a Hornby DCC sound class 08 off eBay, from a reputable dealer acmodels2 in Eastleigh, for £75 including postage to Australia. This was described as running well with working sound but in poor condition with "lots of detail missing" and unboxed. This was still a bargain as the sound decoder alone was worth in the region of £100. When the model arrived, it was missing all of the footsteps, one handrail for the footsteps with the others being loose, and the cab roof ventilator hatch. The condition was actually much better than I had anticipated, notwithstanding the accurate and detailed photos posted on the listing and, after straightening the coupling rods slightly, a quick test run on the rolling road showed that it behaved impeccably well for both running standards and the not very good Hornby sounds (easy to get reblown!). All in all, I'm very happy with the purchase. I have ordered some PHD Designs 08/09 footsteps, although I could have tried to knock some up from plasticard. The roof vent has already been covered with a piece of 20 thou plasticard cut to match my Hornby D3963 (which was reblown a while back with legomanbiffo's sound project), and the missing handrail will be replaced with a piece of wire and fine handrail knob in due course. I have ordered a Zimo sound decoder (21 pin) with Paul Chetter's sounds on for the 08 as I have rather fancied his version of the 08 sounds with the lovely exhaust rasp. I also want a BR blue 08/09 but all of mine are so far have been either green or in post-privatisation liveries, so here was an excuse to do a repaint as well. The yellow wasp stripe ends were already applied and this one had yellow buffer beams so I don't have to do anything to the ends of the loco at all. The ESU sound decoder from the 08 will be reblown and fitted into something else - I have a few suitable candidates. Here are a couple of pics of the 08 after a first coat of BR blue. It requires a second coat before numbering in pre-TOPS style, followed by a good dose of weathering. I will, of course, repaint the handrails after the next coat of blue. I have yet to decide which number this locomotive is to become.
  15. Incidentally, Rick mentioned Neighbours. The filming locations are mostly within a few kilometres of my house. Pinoak Court represents Ramsey Street, and Forest Hill Chase (my local shopping centre) and the Nunawading Aquatic Centre have featured prominently at different times. Ironically, I don't normally watch Neighbours myself, but have seen quite a few episodes of it when staying at my mother's house in Leeds (West Yorkshire).
  16. A sunset looking down my street in suburban Melbourne (overhead wires and all!)> ... And also just down the road from me. On the road between Ballarat and Hamilton, in country Victoria to the west of Melbourne. Believe it or not, in the middle of nowhere, there was a set of traffic lights (up ahead) for some road works. The blue lake in Mount Gambier. The lonely coastal highway between Mount Gambier and Adelaide in South Australia. Port Adelaide railway museum (just a sample shot - I did take a lot more). Victor Harbor, to the south of Adelaide. Back in Victoria, Daylesford, to the north west of Melbourne. The approaches to the Werribee Gorge, on the way back t Melbourne from Daylesford. ... and the view towards Melbourne from the road near Werribee Gorge. You can just make out the buildings of Melbourne's city centre through the haze, slightly right of centre. A view from the Kerisdale Mountain Railway, near Trawool, to the north of Melbourne. Unusual rocky outcrops near Trawool. And lastly, for now at least, this wouldn't be complete without a couple of photos from the Great Ocean Road.
  17. Hi Bill. My stint at the school would have been in 1960/61. I may well have met your sister but not known it!! My grandparents' house was in Queensway.
  18. Another new addition to the parcels stock is this Hornby Magazine (Dapol) six-wheel Stove R van in BR crimson. I am aware of the well documented faults with this model but it still makes an unusual addition to the variety of stock I have available to run. On receipt, I immediately immobilised the rotating end wheelsets with a couple of lumps of Blu-tack, oiled all of the axles, then placed it in service and it runs with no problems at all. It fits into the 1950s to early 1960s era in this colour scheme. Later on, I will weather it and the CCT from Invicta Models. I may consider modifying the wheels to 14mm and doing a few other jobs at some time in the future. Such modifications are fairly well documented in the modelling press and online.
  19. The third rail makes a huge difference to the appearance of the track. Looking really good there, David.
  20. I probably wouldn't go quite as far as to say it is not a Minories derivative, but David's point about the reverse curves being avoided is a valid one, That was one of the main features that attracted me to the plan in the first place, together with the ability to run trains in and out of the terminus without too many conflicts. The one reverse curve I introduced with the loco release crossover was not an issue because only light engines were to use it, not whole trains. My subsequent layout designs have always tried to keep reverse curves to a minimum, using the Freezer principles from Minories, although there have also always had to be compromises (i.e. I haven't entirely succeeded in eliminating them!).
  21. I added the loco release to my variation on Minories with my old layout. It gave me the option to do the release and run round, or to put a new loco on the front and drive the old one out afterwards, whichever took my fancy. Even though the crossover is there, one doesn't have to use it, it's just one more option that adds to the operational interest and flexibility.
  22. Can anyone tell me where the real departmental no. 88 was based, please? (With apologies if this has already been answered in the previous pages of this thread). Edit: Sorry, I didn't see the last post from The Ghost! Same question ... great minds think alike, etc.
  23. Rails and Hattons both say they are in stock, although Rails don't seem to have updated the actual online shop items yet, as they say "Pre-order from ... "
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