Scalefour Forum

Rod, David will be there on the Friday evening lending a hand with the setup. I’ll bring him over.

Philip

David is staying with us before and after the weekend, so I’ll suggest we find something red when he arrives! I don’t envy him the flight, though, all in one hit...

Philip

I reckon Andrew’s thoughts about getting out at the ‘right’ time are quite sensible. I seem to hear too many times these days about people who have retired but don’t end up with as much time left to them as they would have hoped. Lugging loads of gear around the country every other weekend can't hel...

I use a variety of sizes; the lower the number the coarser the pitch. I use between 4/0 and 6/0 for the thinnest sheet, 2/0 for heavier work. I actually have a couple of piercing saw frames by the bench; one with a coarse blade and another with a 5/0 or 6/0, so I can just grab the one appropriate at...

I think what Guy meant was picking up from the running surface of the tyre, as it tends be the part of the tyre that picks up the most muck. Is that as a valid objection Phil? I'm with Ted, If the wheel surface is dirty enough to stop the rubbing contact pickup working it will be quite dirty enough...

I think what Guy meant was picking up from the running surface of the tyre, as it tends be the part of the tyre that picks up the most muck. A wire bearing on the edge of the flange is in many respects self cleaning. I thought what Guy wrote made sense and have always avoided top mounted pickups, or...

I remember seeing a film on the LMS I think, about turnout & crossing construction, and the rails throughout a turnout were clearly inclined. Is this a modern change from inclined to vertical at turnouts?

Philip

The £3.00 per yard price relates to Peco Streamline code 100. Their bullhead flexitrack, comparable to C&L, particularly with regard to the thickness of the sleepers, is £5.00 per yard. The EMGS track, made by Peco, is £5 per yard, the same price as the standard 00, but admittedly only available...

Rodney Cooper has definitely not retired. I was speaking to him only yesterday, and he is still building.

Philip

Jim, a great job on the old Hornby crane. The buffer height thing: I always understood that the reason they did it was to accommodate the front bogie on an engine when it went from dead level to 1:20 up abruptly at a rail joint, as the track would do in their pier system leading up to viaducts or th...

Most times the sun is out at Scaleforum. At least, I usually manage an ice cream! And David, do please make yourself known if we cross paths. I will have a badge, mostly because the organisers provide us helpers with one. I suspect sometimes it’s in case I forget that I am the ‘official’ photographe...

Some years ago I bought a can of Mek-Pak, opened it and decanted a little into a small glass bottle I keep on the bench in a holder. Actually it is an original Slaters bottle from about 1966, but the contents remaining in the can turned brown as the can went rusty inside. Slaters were very kind in r...

I didn’t know that, Keith. I always assumed it was the cigarettes. But then I guess George didn’t know about the fumes either. Strange that such a lovely smell (the old Mek-Pak) had such unfortunate consequences.

Philip

Slightly off topic but on the safety thing: one of my favourite memories of the old Easter MRC shows was watching dear old George Slater demonstrating using his Plastikard and Mek-Pak, happily puffing away on a succession of ciggies at the same time! And it was probably the good stuff in those days,...

I have, in the long distant past, built engines to go around a 24” radius curve in P4. This is far from suggesting it was desirable, but it was only a light railway. The thought of trying to get anything of any size and associated coaching stock around such a bend as a means of space saving strikes ...

I think the Society does promote badges and has done so for a few years now; a little before our events something comes up on the Forum telling you how to apply and where they can be picked up. Short of insisting Society members don’t get in without wearing a name tag there’s not much more you can d...

There are, unfortunately for a manufacturer, differing opinions on frame widths. It depends entirely on the radii you wish to negotiate. For me, 16.5mm is far too tight; once bearings are in (or hornblocks) and depending on the thickness of the boss on the back of your chosen driving wheels, there w...

Seeing all these discussions have led me to think about the two contradictory attitudes I have in these respects! The first is that when building a chassis (whether ‘flexible’ or not) and got it running smoothly, I never want to take it apart again. I think Guy Williams wrote once that if it was pro...

I’m not that familiar with steam engines from the East (as in Anglia) but I always thought that Alan Gibson did a B12 driving wheel. If so there is probably a set with the correct axle size available. If not, then assuming that the chassis has brass bearings they can probably be reamed out to 1/8”. ...

David, interesting reading. I am still convinced that the xylene (in ‘Spray Away’ airbrush cleaner) was what did for my respiratory system all those years ago. And I certainly didn’t recover reasonably quickly, it took years! My doctor reckoned that I had most likely sensitised myself to something i...

For years I used Radiospares Electrical Cleaning Fluid. No longer available, I guess either because it was full of nasty ingredients we didn’t know about then (in the early 1990s) or because people had started drinking the stuff. Not having had a layout since then (hopefully soon about to change) I ...

I was in our local chemist this morning and they confirmed what I suspected, that they cannot supply phosphoric acid or IPA at all now. They suggested online, so thank you, Steve.

Philip

Steve, sorry I’ve no idea where to get it. It was a long while ago. I shall try our local chemist first. I seem to recall the iso alcohol was more of a problem last time.

Philip

I have used a home brew of about 7-12% phosphoric acid and distilled water (with a touch of isopropyl alcohol) almost for ever and it is still my favourite. It’s getting low now so I need to brew some more sometime. Doing it yourself is hugely cheaper than buying little bottles of the stuff.

Philip

Chris,

Have you tried Mike Day and the Southwark Bridge group? It’s a bit modern for them but you never know. I don’t think Mike is on here but I could put you in touch if you would like. Email me if so.

Phil