Giles

Coming on well...! I wonder if that fitting is the steam feed to the reverser cylinders.

Sorry Barnaby - I'll get to that - hours in a day!

I've completed a prototype of the uncoupling system I had envisaged. It's 3D printed with an N20 gearmotor driving, and a small microswitch for indexing. It appears to be completely reliable in function, so this is what I will go with when I have the freedom to commence the next layout. The benefit for me is I can retrofit stock and locos easily.

Well well..... Yes - he went from Cwmtillery to Cwmcarn until he retired!!!!1

My father, Rev Brian Favell was a late ordinand in the '60s after a career as an electrical designer for Rayrolls. He was a life-long enthusiast when he had time - which was very limited. He spent 25 years building as 2 1/2" gauge Austere Ada, which he had to sell on its completion to buy a fire for the house When Vicar a Cwmtillery in South Wales in 1976, we built a short 10 1/4" line beside the vicarage. Only a railcar ever ran on it till some vandals got to it. And lastly, Dad designed the 10 1/4" Bagnall which I much later built, and has now done nearly 20 years at the South Downs Light Railway. He also built in 0 gauge, both electric and live steam when he could, which wasn't often. His responsibilities always came first! He was an amazing chap!

It will be equally to do with standard steel sheet sizes, stocking them and handling them. However, a little down on this page is an x class from the side showing the conventional 3 sheet tank construction https://www.martynbane.co.uk/peckett/locos.htm

I just want to say that I've been buying small radio gear from Micron for ten years now, and Andy Rutter has been brilliant and helpful throughout. No other connection!

A Bova Future I think - we had one at Geoff Amos coaches in Daventry in '87 when I was a fitter driver there, together with two Bova Europas . My motor was a Bedford Caetano......

Bova?

To be clear, it looks like Dave's packing in the Rx 6x series - but continuing the lower voltage receivers. I'm fortunate in so far as I use low voltage motors in my loco as well, so the Rx41s do me very nicely. Maybe the work-around is to consider re-motoring the chassis with a 3 or 5v motor? Assuming you need the higher speeds, That is. Conversion if road vehicles will be unaffected by this.

well - it's all relative!

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Autoloader-AP-4014-Unassembled-Kit-AVD-Models-by-SSM-1-43-8006AVD/154174807002?hash=item23e588dbda:g:7~oAAOSwLlBfoLdC https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Autoloader-AP-4014-SSM-ModelPro-0039MP-1-43/164495708591?hash=item264cb551af:g:UzUAAOSwWZZfpek~

Denton Brook and TEOTL use pin and link couplings, as the rakes are never uncoupled. The next layout I'm not so sure...... The Loop used my own simple choppers on the locos, and bars on the wagons to allow for the tight curves. This allowed coupling up on stage, but no uncoupling. I'm well aware of Kadees etc, but for various reasons in not viable or desirable to refit all my locos that radically. I'm also well aware that I like my track to go up and down a bit in quite a rough and ready fashion! I'm therefore having a look at magnetic couplings, which may have the advantage of simply fitting in the existing pin and link castings (retained by the pin), and would be very forgiving and reliable when it comes to coupling and staying coupled. This is the first trial with magnets I happen to have - which are 2mm diameter, by about 1.5mm thick. they're a bit strong, but the principle is encouraging.

On the subject of forklifts, I've found all the Corgi and and Dinky models to be significantly over-scale - so I ended up going abroad to find one that actually was 1:43 (I have a Stobarts one wasting away abandoned on a shelf somewhere....). This Ukrainian one actually is, and looks fairly ubiquitous. I repainted mine green and rebuilt it to radio control, but they are available either as kits, or ready built.

I paid £18 or so for the bottles which are 125ml, Against the tubes which are 0.5oz or 14.2g - so approximately 8 times as much for 3 times the price..... The labels don't give any information about the shelf life. It's on Amazon with free postage on my computer, so if you shop around.....

Do let know how you get on with the milling Simon....

Real hinge, You posh b******, Simon!

An old 2ft gauge Peckett (well, actually just completed - 7mm scale, 0-14, radio controlled)

Absolutely - that's what I got...... there's much less wastage as well.

The best I have found, and I now use all the time when I use epoxy is Devcon 5 minute. I buy it in the 250mm quantity, which comes in plastic bottles - making it MUCH easier to dispense and much cheaper than the normal tubes. After 24hrs it is very strong, and significantly better than just about all the other proxies I have tried. One can buy it via Amazon.

The Peckett runs extremely nicely, which is a testimony to CNC chassis work. I have also painted and almost (but not quite) finished weathering it. As usual, a rub down and polish followed by more conventional techniques (This time with water soluble oils)

Thanks Gents. I do agree - the Ixo and Altaya models have been an enormous boost to the modelling sphere. My original ET6 has now been chopped down to a flat bed to enable fork lift work Whilst a stock ET6 was converted to a tipper.