Scalefour Forum

it wasn't much of a compromise, and the model appears to follow the ordnance plan quite closely. :D The most noticeable thing is the road alignment and how to deal with the cutting at the south end of the tunnel, especially given that on the layout the curve then swings west and not east. But hey h...

Having the platforms pass through the tunnel is an unusual and interesting feature of Balcombe. Was the tunnel formed by 'cut and cover' or was the flank of the hill left in place to provide a route for the road over the railway? It's somewhat reminiscent of the 'Long Arch' at Midford where a minor...

It has come to my attention that the Ouse Valley Viaduct is considered to be a bit of a myth, and that we are a figment of Balcombe's imagination. So to assuage these ideas, here are some pics from the last weekend (only about the 6th time it has ever been put up in entirety, and the last before Sca...

Gulp ... :o Tis indeed on the list https://www.scalefour.org/scaleforum/2019/ The old Latin saying - Digitus Extractus ... Yes, thanks Keith and Tim ... :roll: My 'gulp' was not to suggest we were surprised to be on the list (as if), just the extra responsibility that someone was coming 10,000 mile...

"two layouts that I have long wanted to see, namely the Ouse viaduct and Burntisland, particularly the latter as I have heard so much about it ... . I have also followed the threads on Alpha Mill and Glenmutchkin with a great deal of interest and am looking forward to seeing them as well. In f...

I had a brief discussion with Andrew about this on the phone recently and I have nothing but sympathy for his situation and I wish him all the very best for the future in terms of developing the business in an 'on line' context and getting parts of his house and his life back. At least he's still g...

Rod, Ian has been looking at 4 LAV frets in detail and I would need to find out from him exactly what his thoughts are with the frets. As he is returning to the UK in time for Scaleforum we would very much like to sit down and talk! I perceive Ian may have already chatted to your layout members - i...

Wot they said - amazing, Robin

From our Balcombe colleague who is building the LAV: "The 4LAV etches have dimples on the reverse to indicate door bang positions but did not have holes for the door hinges. John (Farmer) pin punched the door bangs on the sides he did. I drill them out and use .33 wire to represent them. John t...

Thank you for the reminder in respect of the Worsley Works etches. As you advise, these don't feature dimples for door hinges etc; one of the things Ian has added to our etch designs (it makes construction so much easier). I believe these may be connected to the Balcombe Viaduct layout crew and the...

Isn't it at least worth a try, perhaps starting at Scalefour North next year? If that happens I might actually go. This is getting a bit surreal. Are you saying that your decision to go or not go is based on people wearing name badges? I know, you could volunteer to man the badges desk! ;) At profe...

To go with these (and you can get the Railway Roundabout annual highlights in DVD) there are also Peter Handford's sound recordings on the Lickey, although I'm not sure of their availability as a CD at the moment. Apart from the sounds of the trains (and the shouts of the spotters on the incline) hi...

What I will do is buy some Heptane, try it in CMX alone or with IPA in the proportions used by the WD40 product and do some trials in my CMX tanker: 1. Clean GWR Up with IPA alone 2. Clean Gwr Down with Heptane + IPA mix 3. Clean S&DJR with mix as 2 and then a light rub of graphite on gauge cor...

I don't know Paul, sorry, but alongside this what do people use? Acetone, lighter fluid?

We have one for 'Balcombe'. Rod successfully converted it using (IIRC) Brassmasters CCUs. I'll ask him for some pictures when he's available. I did a cut-and-shut and carve-up on a Brassmasters bogie and using 10.5mm (IIRC) Kean Maygib wheels. To be honest there wasn't much left of the bogie frames...

I tried my best with a Masokits sprung bogie for a 12-wheel Pullman. On 8 wheels it was fine, but with 12 I just couldn't get the centre axle to stay on the track. My pragmatic solution - cut-and-spread a Brassmasters twin-torsion bogie and use flangeless dummy wheels in the middle. Nobody can see, ...

In another place a member was asking about storing all those loose bits of wire etc and was making good use of a Johnny Walker box. Hi John Not getting at you specifically, many do it, but assuming you mean RMWeb (other forums are available) why can't we say 'On RMWeb' or even provide the link in c...

Rod - the cameras we use in the Roundhouse are standard CCTV pinholes like this one: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B06XXPD7X4/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 I use them on Cadhay also (thanks to Lindsay & the team's research of their operation for the Roundhouse) and ...

Can you tell me something about the camera set-up in the roundhouse please? Make/model of camera especially. Thanks.

I just did this conversion this afternoon, took about an hour and taking my time. The bogie cover plate is conventional Heljan, start to prise it off from one end with a small screwdriver and gently pull it away from the clips. I did it from the inboard end but still managed to break one of the cros...

Ivo Peters' tripod?

Has anyone converted a Heljan Metropolitan electric to P4 and is it a reasonable proposition for a first attempt at a RTR conversion? I haven't done mine yet, but there's plenty of room and it looks as straightforward as other Heljan locos. Unclip the bogie cover plate (it looks like it's the entir...

Hi Bill

All it says on my can is 'contains alcohols, petroleum distillates and liquefied petroleum propellant'; and that it contains a chemical known by the state of California to be carcinogenic and cause birth/reproductive harm. But you probably know that much already.

That is very sad news. Colin's work on Newhaven and in particular his scratchbuilt plasticard 4SUB were inspirational. Many condolences to you and your family.

It's a beautiful kit, usable for many places, not just the Midland (presumably a contractor's 'standard' product, although they all seem to be slightly different). I have bashed three of them into the long-span footbridge for Balcombe - OK I only needed two of them for the extra straight span sectio...