SRman

You know, you really should wash your hands before handling your models, Rick.

1. Because we have no choice but to vote or receive a fine; 2. Because we have to vote, we have to go with the choices in front of us; 3. Those choices are the morons we are referring to!

If you haven't got it yourself, Doug, I can lend you my copy.

XXXX. Opinions seem to be divided on "The Last Continent", with some saying it was cliched, while others loved it. I am in the latter camp, regardless of the cliches, or perhaps even because of them. Rincewind even managed to invent Vegemite by accident. He also managed to avoid getting killed by drop bears.

Nah, not typical at all. It should be deeper, and there should be a lot more of them, arranged so drivers can't avoid destroying their suspension, no matter how far they swerve around.

Ha ha, yes! I went to Britain in the 1980s with a school mate. At one stage he was talking to his cousin who kept chickens and other things in his back garden, as well as being a game keeper for the large estate nearby. Said mate was rabbiting on about 'chooks' and his cousin was looking increasingly baffled, until I translated - "Chickens!", I said.

Also, there are many of us who are in other less well supported countries. I am one of the luckier ones in Australia who can get reasonable speeds, but there are many areas here that are like the village described by wombat (appropriately enough!!).

John, you could wire up a DPDT switch to allow the layout to be switched between DC and DCC, thus only having to chip the locomotives or units you require the extra control - the sound ones will be DCC anyway. I did something like this on my old layout when dabbling with DCC before deciding to take the plunge. That was wired for cab control, so I simply replaced one of the DC 'cabs' with the first DCC system (a Lenz Compact bought very cheaply), switching all track sections to the DCC system when I wanted to run those first few locos I had chipped. On my current layout, I have a slightly more complex switch* to change only the Underground (i.e. low level) tracks to DC or DCC, so I can run a few of my ancient Triang or Wrenn locos, which will probably never qualify for conversion to DCC. In your case, the DPDT switch sounds (from your description) as if it would meet the requirements of your layout. That way you could have full control of the sound locos, while still maintaining your ability to run all the other items when you wish to. On DC, the sound locos would not have to be removed from the tracks, but on DCC you would have to remove or isolate any non-DCC items. Just a thought, anyway. * more complex because I needed to switch the double track to separate DC controls, one for each track, while being able to switch the whole lot to the DCC bus. I also allowed an isolating position on the rotary switch where nothing on the low level is live.

It is doable. I did one many years ago, but I can't recall exactly what the process was. It is relatively easy to modify and test-fit the kit bits before gluing them in place. I also have a Merchant Navy I built using a Wrenn WC chassis with the Walschaerts valve gear removed. The body was made from two Airfix (ex-Kitmaster) kits cut through the firebox and rejoined to make the longer MN firebox. I widened the body a little by packing the base with spacers, but I did nothing about the narrow cab configuration. In either case, file the insides of the leading, trailing and upper edges of the smoke deflectors down to present much thinner edges to the eye.

I had forgotten about this. Two of mine were early ones with those sliding windows, but I cut and filed them to sit flush with the openings like the later models.

I agree with 34C above. However, if you must do the sound installations, the modern Hornby Black 5 should be quite easy to fit, whereas the Pannier tank will probably provide more of a challenge, mainly due to lack of space.

Bryan of Howes used the French loco for his sound file, with British horns and other sounds. There's no guarantee that it is exactly like Kestrel, but in the absence of the real thing, or even decent recordings of the real thing, it is as close as we can hope to get.

Awwwww! Spoilsport!

No. I didn't like the Kernow sounds: they seemed to be the internal engine/generator sounds but with no external exhaust or turbo sounds (my opinion of what it sounded like). I know from a contemporary Queensland Railways English Electric class (1200 class from 1953) that the EE Co sounds at that time were still very similar to later locomotives, at least until the more efficient silencers were attached in much more modern installations (classes 56 and 58). I also thought that the class 40 turbo whistle would be a little different to those fitted to the Bulleid and, indeed, the Ivatt locomotives, but I was prepared to accept that compromise. I was also prepared to compromise on the engine throttle behaviour; that is, the control system, as that could vary somewhat. Compare the engine wind-up and spool-down of a class 37 and a class 31, both of which have the same 12 cylinder EE Co engines, but different control systems. The class 31s exhibit much more even spooling up and down than the class 37s. QR's 1200 class seemed to have even more crude throttle controls than the 37s, with a distinct rush of revs, followed by a slight overspeed and reduction of power, followed by another rush, and so on. I had imagined (without proof) that maybe the Bulleids and Ivatts were like that, but the film above seems to indicate that the class 40 style of throttle spooling up and down is fairly close in behaviour.

An interesting film clip there. If those are original sounds, and not dubbed ones, then it vindicates my choice of class 40 engine sounds with SR whistles and compressor sounds, done by legomanbiffo at my request.

Clack valves. I damaged one on my (ex-) Katie, but since it is all but hidden behind the ladder, I haven't stressed too much about it. Markits do some clack valve kits of parts that may help you, or you could fashion some new ones out of Milliput, depending on how fussy you are about the detail.

Materials? I'll get some off Agnes!!! I still have to sketch some plan ideas. I'll bring along the points I have available and some lengths of track so we can have a bit of a fiddle to see what looks right. Still not exactly clear on what we need for the fiddle yard, though; we may have to clarify that when we all meet.

Peter, I thought it was to be at Doug's place this time.

Another question: does it behave the same way with the sound turned off?

Andy Y, could we have a new icon under each post so I can poke my tongue out at DougN on his post, please?" Doug:

Hi John. Thanks for the compliments. If the photo is the one I think you are referring to, it was partly in response to a query - the 25 has a Bachmann chassis under a Hornby body.

I have done yet another video for the Network South East period of time, while experimenting with phone camera settings (stabilisation turned off to eliminate the jerky motion, 1080p at 60 fps for this set). One of the Heljan CargoWaggons was playing up with a coupling losing its return spring and causing derailments (now fixed - this involves dismantling the wagon and the coupling mechanism and inserting a length of thin wire or, in my case, some plastic rod), but after several attempts, I got the Speedlink freight to run reliably with both the class 56 and the class 37. I don't have any suitable Underground trains to run for this time period, although some are under construction (4-car trains of A60 and C69 stocks). Of course, if you think my videos are getting boring or repetitive, please skip on by.

Steam on ESU may require a load on it. I had a Hornby T9 with an ESU that went faulty in reverse, with no drive to the motor. Forwards was fine, but in reverse the loco didn't move and the chuffs just ran away at high speed; so, in a sense, the chuffing worked with no load but not controllably or convincingly. Diesel sounds don't seem to cause any problems though, as there are several projects that involve a powered and a dummy car at opposite ends of a train; HSTs have been mentioned but there's also the IEP unit, and Voyagers and Sprinters can be treated this way too, and to a lesser extent, even push-pull items like class 90 + DVT or class 33 + 4TC, although those last two don't involve engine sounds in the trailers.

If you want a sort of spoofed rerun of Albie's escapades, Russel Coight (Glenn Robbins) is making a come-back on TV. As an aside, there is a teacher at the school I work in who is a dead ringer for Glenn Robbins. Also harking back to those exciting 1980s, remember Harry Butler? He'd find a hole and shove his arm down it and haul up all sorts of nasties without batting an eyelid ... and without getting bitten, stung, clawed or otherwise injured

I have a Comet Tavern pair, but gave up on my attempts to do the brickwork and beams, so the pair are in BR(S) green. That model of Andrew's is absolutely stunning.