On my Workbench

[45609]

I had coped without a rolling road for years, previously using just a length of flexi-track, but now I would not be without my Bacharus 50 series saddles. What's great about them is the facility to adjust to OO, EM or P4 spacing. Very useful for me as I build in all three gauges. The flexi-track test is not completely defunct however. It is still required for testing compliance of the loco around curves. I must say filing off the wheel flange does seem a bit extreme. I'd prefer to plan and calculate the necessary amount of side play required before erecting the loco frames. Doing the maths keeps me sharp for when the kids ask for help with their homework.

The other thing I've noticed about some rolling roads is the type of bearings used on the rollers. Proper rolling element bearings are the best offering the least rolling resistance. Avoid rolling roads with plain bearings as they give too much friction. As with most pieces of tooling you generally get what you pay for. I gave up buying cheap tools a long time ago.

Cheers....Morgan

[Blink Bonny]

Ay up!

I bought the Hornby Rolling Road a few years ago now after a Black 5 I was running in fell off the margarine tub and fell on to the floor. Cue replacement of the dodgy Ks valve gear with Comet. I never seem to involved with any PROPER trainset but some end-to-end thingies hence my need for something that allowed locos to safely put the miles in while going nowhere. The Wolverhampton Test Plant?

I then purchased a Hobby Holidays chassis jig which comes with RR attachments which is even better. If if don't roll on them, you've made a serious boo-boo somewhere! However, with a cast metal chassis block, I reckoned a test with some jig axles to make sure the rods were right would suffice. And so it has proven.

Since then, I've knocked up pick-ups which, because the wheels are plastic-centred, were needed on both sides. I have thus taken the opportunity to make the chassis electrically "dead." With an XO4? Dead easy. A little bit of stripped wire insulation and job done. Well, it was once I replaced the insulation. I melted it soldering the pick-up wires on to the motor brushes!

Piccies to come tomorrow - off out for Birfday treat tonight.

Tatty-'bye for now y'all!

[Blink Bonny]

Ay up!

No piccies, sadly, and little progress to report.

The lack of progress has been down to the comission build of a GEM G2A 0-8-8 plus work on an engine I'll struggle to part with. An "Aberdare" - that's right, its GWR. Please don't send the men in white coats again! Please.....

As for the lack of piccies, our computer's had a snit and refuses to work. Maybe I shouldn't have let my wallet attack it! However, it will be repaired. One day.

[Blink Bonny]

Ay up!

Updates: The 0-8-0 is now in primer and ready for topcoat. Once finished, I'll put a piccie on here. I didn't bother doing a step by step because of its non-LNER heritage.

The 4F is now a complete non-runner after its chassis casting broke just abaft the driving axle. Many flounces and loud sulks over this one - I'll now need to come up with a plan of action.

On the LNER front, I am working on prototype card interiors for the Thompsons. So far, the BTK and TK interiors seem to be working - need to sort a TO out!

My camera will be returned tomorrow following its confiscation by Mrs BB so hopefully some piccies of the latter will be forthcoming. Watch this space....

[Blink Bonny]

Ay up!

Having discovered that the Southern Pride Interior fittings are incredibly cheap, I don't think I'll be bothering with the origami that was the copied Peco interior.

Roll on Stafford show - get 'em then and keep you posted in the meantime.

[Blink Bonny]

Ay up!

The 4F's chassis has been soldered back together on my Hobby Holidays jig, reassembled and the gears meshed PROPERLY this time. It now runs more smoothly and is a darned sight quieter into the bargain!

My Chringle Prezzie arrived, a little late but appreciated nonetheless!* The Dapol Stanier suburbans - useful for an S&DJR layout like mine! Progress will be reported on with piccies because I have had my camera returned to me after its Christmas confiscation! SO far, I've started painting the interiors.

[Blink Bonny]

Ay up!

Progress so far on the Suburbans:

The chassis has four clips, designed to engage in the glazing which holds the body in place. Except, the slots moulded into the interior fittings are in the wrong place for one set of clips.

The solution:

Simply snap the errent clip off! Result - the seat mouldings now sit correctly. One more problem is the roofs. Dapol supply the pre-drilled for the ventilators to be added as separate fittings. The Composite Lav roof is excellent with the vents in the right places. However, the drilled moulding for the Brake Third Lav is the same one as for the composite. Here is the BT(L) roof marked up for drilling. The X's show where holes need to be filled:

More tomorrer - Tonight's me Family History Night. The (in)famous Terrys of Batley. Possessor of a whole flock of Yorkshire Wallets!

EDIT: The interiors are painted with Humbrol No 113, 3rd class seats Precision Red Primer and the State Apartments Railmatch Rail Blue. Floors, Humbrol No 33.

[manna]

G'Day Gents

Suburbans!! I thought I was looking at Thompson's coaches, no wonder they didn't look right, reminder to self, read captions and get new glasses.

manna

[Blink Bonny]

No worries, Manna!

[Blink Bonny]

Ay up!

As promised, a piccie of the G2A, now with her happy owner!

A nice little runner, if a little noisy. That'll be the 5-pole XO4 type motor and Romford gears then!

[Blink Bonny]

Ay up!

Hardly on my workbench really but I had to share these with y'all!

Pictures taken on Wolverhampton's Old Mills layout.

Oh, and news re the G2A. The customer has decided not to run it but to put it in a glass case and, presumably, throw sugar at it!

Now to make a start on the Bulldog...

EDIT - another piccie added.

[Blink Bonny]

Ay up!

After driving everybody mad by asking stupid questions, I've finally started on these vehicles. They're Triang ones so over-scale length for a change. However, the sides look like what they're supposed to be so they'll do me. A bit of Internet searching has yielded a set of bogies for £2 and a sprue containing corridor connections, underframe trussing, battery boxes and 20 ventilators for the princely sum of £1.50, all from Coopercraft. http://www.cooper-craft.co.uk/00carriages.html#spares if you're interested. I reckon that I'll have this one done for under a tenner, a bargain in anyone's language. Maybe that'll calm the Yorkshire Wallet down.....

There you are. Bog standard. Grotty plastic wheels, BR1 bogies, Mk1 end detail, ersatz Mk1 underframe, ersatz Mk1 ventilator arrangement, "simulated teak" finish plastic (looks like a handful of aluminium filings to me - trade secret indeed!) , deeply recessed windows and Mk1 body profile. I shall be correcting all but the last mentioned. The over-long underframe I shall also live with. Life's too short.....

The vehicle dismantled. Join me tomorrow for another exciting episode.....

[60800]

over-scale length

Certainly new to me!

I look forward to seeing how you get on with it BB. As for me, I'm sticking with the Bachmann maroon tommie coaches

[mossie]

Hi Blink Bonny

I had the same idea as you, but went for a corridor third. Bought the plans from Isinglass and put the coach in the cupboard for a future project.

Did find these bogies on Ebay, http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/330638466033? ... 1423.l2649 which look right, have not bought any yet.

Watching with interest.

Regards

Mossie

[Blink Bonny]

Ay up, Blackout!

Yup, they were over-scale length. The real vehicles were (feel free to correct me if I'm wrong here!) 61 feet 6 inches long and the Triang ones were on Mk1 underframes, 63 feet in length.

The coaches were first produced in 1970 and were in production until 1977 when they were replaced by the ersatz Gresleys (underscale length this time at 60 feet or thereabouts instead of 61 feet 6 inches). The Mk1s were ground-breaking vehicles when introduced in 1962. They were made with separate sides and roof that clipped onto an underframe unit that incorporated the ends. Previously, the whole body had been moulded as one unit with a separate underframe unit, like coaches are today! The side mouldings were as thin as the technology of the day allowed, which led to Triang putting screws in to hold the coach together. They needn't have worried. Even my old CK which is now on its 3rd strip and repaint has yet to warp!

The only thing that didn't work was the flush glazing. This proved to be beyond the technology of the time and was far from clear! It finally appeared about 1990, using what I suspect are the original moulds from 1962.

The Caledonian coaches were the first "ersatz" vehicles to be produced using the Mk1 underframe in 1963. These happen to be scale models but it was felt that sales would not justify tooling up an interior unit. Flush glazing had been well and truly dropped by this time. The Thompsons were the last coaches to be produced in this way as the "Famous Company" coaches of 1977 reverted to the older method of production. Hornby retain their Mk1s in production and have recently revived the Caledonian coaches in two train packs. The Thompsons, I reckon, are consigned to the collectors' bin on history.

Incidentally, the Mk1 BG is also over scale length - the real vehicles are on 57 feet underframes!