Scalefour Forum

Tonycardall wrote:... I have noticed a massive gap in the instructions. ...

Rather worried about his - let me look into it.

I apologise that this learning process is taking me so long. It must be very tedious for readers to see how slow going it all is and how many basic errors I am making. Not at all - it can be a very iterative process for those - including me - who do this as a once in a while hobby, rather than an e...

Howard has gotten the better of my conscience and I have attempted to incorporate the conditional locking. Ha gotcha! Looks like you are making some good progress here - well done. Sorry I have not had time to look fully through it, but fortunatley, Keith is on the case. Just to say that you have g...

Well done Tony and I am looking forward to having a look through it when I have a mo! Not sure if you might have slightly misunderstood the purpose of the conditional lock - what is going on is that the Starting Signal locks all the points in Rear of it Either Way and also locks out any conflicting ...

Hello Tony, You seem to be following a good path here - a bit of thinking about the job goes a long way! You will find that there is a degree of tolerance in lining up the frames and locking trays, but the closer you get to perfect at each stage the better. The main thing to check when you have the ...

John Palmer wrote:... gradient post on the Werneth Incline marked 1 in 27

You are quite right John - well spotted!

... any coal for Chadderton was taken back through Rochdale and round the Oldham loop to Chadderton yard. Are you sure about that Tony? Oldham (Werneth) was at the top of the 1:37 and Chadderton was at the bottom - not sure I would fancy working loaded coal trains down there: too great a risk that ...

Many thanks for that Tony - I have uploaded a revised version which includes the revision of the fret layout.

I am sure you will spot further issues - please feel free to let me know.

EDIT: I think I have sorted the references to 1.4mm wire but again please let me know what you think.

Best Wishes,

Coal Concentration Depots were introduced in the late 1950s, but most dated from the early 1960s. ... True, but Chadderton opened on 12 August 1914 - albeit less fancily titled a "Coal and Mineral yard" at that time! Equally, if history has been flexible enough to permit a goods yard at S...

Hello Ralph, Just to support what Dave said - it is looking superb, and I agree it makes the scene. Well worth your hard work! Re coal supplies - a mill of this size would have burnt about 60 tons per week when on full load and (depending on the type of yarn) processed between 20 and 40 tons of cott...

In fact, what you didn’t see was the awful mess I made of fitting them. Well, it is where you end up that matters - even if the route takes you the long way round sometimes! If it is any consolation, I had one go wrong on me not long ago (after doing dozens of them) the reason came down to the tab ...

I may even venture into metal vehicle/loco kits once this project is over. Well, improving skills and building confidence is what this is all about - so very well done! I did mean to comment about the process of joining frame units. I see from your photo that a number of the frame sides do not line...

Howard, yes please, suppliers of suitable piercing saw blades would be useful. Though, if I understand correctly, I don’t actually need to cut any more tube as the alignment jig is made and I should be able to use that for each of the drive mechanisms. ... Tony Tony, Here is a supplier of piercing ...

John, Where does the 'nibs and bridles' terminology come from? Is it GWR practice? They did love having their own naming conventions. I, and the IRSE, have always known these as 'locks and bars'. Regards Hello Keith, Ignore the "John" - its Howard here! I picked it up as one picks up habi...

Hello Tony, That looks like a thoroughly good start and I can see that you have got a good grasp of how it all works - well done! It is true, unfortunately, that it does make your head hurt trying to think it all through! I have had a QUICK look at your Powerpoint - but let me say I have not had a c...

Well, it looks pretty good to me Tony!! You will get better at cutting the ports with a bit of practice, but - as I think you have found, the design is fairly tolerant of some innacuracy. Good job or we would all be struggling! The split of the etch into two sheets is just to save on postage charges...

I’ll see what I can do. Many thanks Steve. I had seen the RMWeb thread but - to be frank - I was less than overwhelmed by what I saw both in terms of the surface finish and also the striations (for example on the brake lever). I was probably expecting far too much, but then this thing is a long way...

Steve Carter wrote:I have two production ones Howard

Hi Steve,

Many thanks for that - any chance of some nice juicy close ups please?

Very interested to see how this technology has come along!

Best Wishes,

John Lewis wrote:I have purchased one of these models ofan ex-SECR van. It has been produced by 3D printing. I think it is rather good.

Can I just check - have you (or anyone else) physically seen it yet please?

EDIT:- ie the production version rather than the pre-production ones

Best Wishes,

... to give you a bit more of a clue - the locking here is a Distant Signal which can be cleared if any of three Homes is Off. In this case 35 is Released by (36 OR 37 OR 38) Cond L 1.jpg I am glad that you recognise it is not a quick job - a bit a planning up front makes it a lot easier in the long...

That is looking first-rate Tony - believe me, if you can get that far and make it work, then you will make it all the way. You will find (even when you have done a few) that the odd one or two tappets can turn out "stiff" - ie you feel a resistance for the first and last part of the lever ...

Here is an illustration of a "butt". Below, three diagrams showing the same three levers worth of locking. In the Left most example, you can see that 2 releases both 1 and 3 via the "loose" nibs. In the middle example, you can see that two short lengths of bridle have been attach...

Howard, ... I must admit that I really struggled with the cam spacer jig. Resourcing 1.4mm brass rod proved impossible so I bought 1.4 od brass tube. ... Hello Tony, Don't worry - it gets easier with a bit of experience! And you have enough spare levers to play with! I did discover a while back (vi...

My first attempt at constructing a locking table. It's very basic but hopefully gives an indication of where I'm going. I'm up to lever 11 so far. Tony Slide1.JPG Hello Tony, Good start and glad you have found a way of doing the drawing that suits you! I am away from home at the moment so can't res...

... just to make the point about not waiting till the design is finished, here is a photo of the Leeds Wellington frame I built. Look closely and you can see that all the tappets are blank and all the channels are empty!



Hope it encourages!