Scalefour Forum

It keeps getting even better Ralph - excellent job! Just to mention that on the Arthur Roberts site, there are two photos of the Engine at the Rutland Mill, Shaw, and that was an identical design to that at the Warwick.

Best Wishes,

I am by no means certain here Steve, but I seem to recall that the "40" refers to 40% phosphoric acid, People might foam at the mouth at such a high percentage, but phosphoric acid is a very weak acid (it is a food stuff after all). Its low level of water explains its low corrosive effect ...

Just to mention that, 400 crimps later, Howard has finally finished the Electric Locks just incase any readers thought it would never end (I certainly did!)



Testing this Thursday evening then ...

Best Wishes,

I take your point haha Howard but have to say the joggles on the layout this is intended for do not give any trouble in the trailing direction. I was actually talking about the real thing - LUL has a prohibition on joggled switches which are trailed though it uses them for "A" switches us...

Not done one myself, but faced with the design challenge, I would be tempted to look at driving all three tender axles via spur gears using an adapted diesel loco mechanism - there are planty of them out there. The biggest challenge would be hiding it from view within a pretty sparse tender underfra...

Provocative, moi? Many thanks for clarifying the "Green Book" situation for 1960 Jim. It is a bit of an irony that we all castigate the WR for marching out of step, yet in truth it was the Southern that was most different in signalling matters - mainy because they were a very different ra...

Excellent work Ralph - very well done. Looking foward to seeing how the engine bits come out.

Best Wishes,

Just to mention that joggles can be a nuisance. Although they can help keep facing movements on the rails, they are equally likely to cause trailing movements to derail - Especially if they are a tiny bit overscale (which they always are!). So if your points are facing only then fine but If they are...

Just to go back for a moment to the question of when the RCH Regulations began to apply, I was brought up on the Green Book dated 1st October 1960 (you can tell I have it in front of me as I write, and it is full of stuck-in amendments). Can I just ask what the publication number is of your edition...

I could never understand the reasoning/cussedness of the Western signalmen who objected to the introduction, with this Green Book, of Call Attention before giving TOS. Not like you to be provocative Jim! Well, that one is easy to answer - it is quite the most stupidly pointless requirement imaginab...

... another meander, and a moan about "model railwayisms" ... Recent exhibition: layout is a representation of a small through station on a main line; there are "sort-of" signals. Observation; small 0-6-0 trundles through on a short goods train. Tail and side lights correctly in ...

Any thoughts on what the collars are being used for in the video? Jim Very hard to say of course, and "last days" cannot ever be "everyday" situtations! But I would not like anyone to think that the use of collars was in any way an unusual occurance - very far from it. Any situa...

Actually, what interests me about this in a modelling sense, is whether Jim was interested in depicting any operating situations in model form, possibly some which might involve the signalman in Bretall Lane signal box using a lever collar. Well, we can always send the boys round to make sure he do...

Well, I was speaking about the fact that British Railways established a standard, one company set of Rules and Regulations, which were distributed to all those staff who had need of them. I fully agree in terms of the Rules, (which the RCH standardised decades before nationalisation) but as far as ...

The design of the lever frame, block instruments and reminder appliances may differ, but their application in accordance with the Rules & Regulations would not have differed by the British Railways era. Well, that is a sweeping statement if ever there was one and, off hand, I can't think of mor...

It’s a free bus but it’s cash only? :D :D :D Of course - like when I used to have to tax my ploughing engine at the Post Office. It is exempt from Vehicle Excise duty, but I still had to go along to pay my £0.00 - for which they gave me a receipt. These days you can do it on line - you are warned t...

Jeremy Suter wrote:The Flair Jig is another home made tool.

Hmm - rather brilliant. One of those things which is blindingly obvious once you have seen it - but I have never seen mention of one before!

Many thanks for the tip Jeremy!

Best Wishes,

... nor how innapropriate the layout was for the traffic, nor how poor the provision of signals and other fixed equipment was So far as Quintinshill is concerned, the year was 1915, and traffic was much heavier than it had been, not least because of the Jellicoe specials, and finance, materials and...

I was sure we were in agreement! Of course, it is hard to know where the buck should stop in these things - I know that on the Southern, in very busy areas with either "Closed Block" or Sykes L&B, there was a very common slack method which, basically, avoided sending any bell signals a...

A bit of a deviation from the original topic, but since the Jim, the OP, has raised the question about collars I guess he won't mind a bit of thread drift. Well, in for a penny ... I can't disagree with anything you say there John - but notice that I was talking about the USE of callars - not their...

The Hawes Junction accident of 1910 showed what could happen; the MR at the time didn't use collars, and there were no track circuits. Spot on - and the Caledonian failed to learn the lesson from that episode and were still not using collars in 1915 - even though they regularly shunted trains onto ...

Three Midland examples from john's site to show the signals not "at the ends" of the frame. https://signalbox.org/diagrams/bakewellc1960.jpg https://signalbox.org/diagrams/bromsgrovesouthjcn1934.jpg https://signalbox.org/diagrams/bedfordjcn1975.jpg The Midland is a good example of a compan...

What sort of box are we talking about Jim? Something large? Or small? A junction? A terminus? Speaking in the broadest terms, there are two basic ways of doing the job. One is to have all the running signals in centre of the frame under the block instruments, with points and ground signals spread &q...

Just to mention that in the photo I posted of the two PEs above, the engine which we can half-see already loaded is a "Special EE" class" - two sizes bigger than a BB1 and although we can't see much in the photo, it is clear that the flywheel has been removed. This is by no means the ...

although the edition of 'GWR Goods Wagons' I have refers to some being strengthened at some time after 1922 "to carry 20T steam rollers and traction engines" which, frankly, I don't understand My guess is that it is to do with the weight being concentrated on four wheels rather than being...