Scalefour Forum

I have a 'construction datasheet', as it is described, for a Kemilway TC1 unit. It's for a Fowler 3,500 gallon LMS standard tender. I assume I may still have the etch, etc, that went with it somewhere but it must be buried deep in the 'squirreled away for a rainy day' department. If it will help, I ...

I would have thought it would pay Golden Age Models to check the availability of relevant drawings at the NRM. The Museum's C&W drawing list for Doncaster includes dwg 831N for a 10' WB compound bolster bogie, which looks as though it may well be for the Silver Jubilee set replacements, even tho...

Hello, Howard; bit of a hiatus, I’m sorry to say, as I have had to give my hands a break to recover somewhat from repetitive strain injury, and have also been devoting some time to a Nu-Cast GNR tender for the first of my K2’s. I believe I now have a workable locking scheme for my proposed layout, w...

jasp wrote:Some of you may not have come across this series of pics:
http://www.hypedup.co.uk/pictures/towtruck.html
Frivolous, yes, amusing though.
Jim

The last two pictures in the sequence are bogus, I think - fun what you can do with an image editor. But as you say, it is an amusing sequence.

Here’s an extract from a drawing showing details of the construction of the LNWR new engine shed at Nuneaton. The drawing is undated but must be fairly elderly, judging by the use of bridge rails (or whatever they were called by the LNWR). The detail is of an inspection pit rather than an ash pit bu...

Yet to receive my hard copy of Edition 181, but the online version's cover confused me at first as it seems to be a year old. How I wish I could turn the clock back that readily! If the hotel price is right then a two-day visit looks to be within my means, but why do nearly all the Sunday trains fro...

Carried out a little further research... As it happens, failure of the brake connecting link between Q6 engine and tender was identified as the primary cause of the accident at South Pelaw Junction that took place on 25 April 1942. The Inspector’s report, accessible at http://www.railwaysarchive.co....

Fascinating - thanks! Ex Somerset & Dorset 2-8-0 53808 showed quite severe cutting into the rear area of the main frames by the trailing driving wheelset when she went into restoration, indicating significant lateral movement at this end. No doubt the S&D engine's leading truck helped to ste...

I'll betray my complete ignorance of North Eastern Railway engines by asking whether Dave Bradwell's drawing is correct in showing a brake pull rod linkage between engine and tender - and if the drawing is correct, how on earth did they avoid wear in the linkage caused by horizontal displacement of ...

Can you tell me what the "thing" is on the tender side? Allan F According to Anthony Lambert's Highland Railway Album it's the alarm gong connected to the communication cord. About an eighth of the way through this book there's a really good shot of the apparatus upon the tender attached ...

Tim, I'm very pleased with the frame's progress: nice positive action as the lever pins snap into their detents. You're quite right about the Farrant drawing, and I think the absence of any representation of the knuckle in elevation is a drafting error. If the plan view is accurate, part of it ought...

With my lever frame simmering nicely on back burner, I’m now hoping to turn my hand to making an actual model, and have dug out the bits and pieces I’d previously gathered for a Gresley K2. After poring over my collection of photographs of such engines, I was surprised to find that none showed clear...

Keith, very many thanks - email winging its way to you. FIRSE does indeed mean something to me; can't do better than get a professional to point out the error of your ways!

Here is something on which I would appreciate the erudition of fellow subscribers to this forum. The lever frame I have been constructing has almost reached the point at which I can start to install the locking. The plan is for this to be accomplished by direct lever locking in a two-channel box, wi...

Another possibility for your stonework is Peco N scale stone sheets: http://www.peco-uk.com/product.asp?strParents=3309,3310&CAT_ID=3311&P_ID=16878 . I've seen these used to good effect in 4mm scale representations of buildings built from Mendip limestone (e.g. Bath Extension station buildin...

I have two sets of Bill Bedford W-irons type BWF003/4 (RCH NPCS) and one of type BWF004/4 (NER o/s bearing). I've measured the distance between centre lines of the folding grooves situated between the irons themselves and the centre spreader. Whilst there's some margin for error in the assessment of...

Judging by the number and pitch of the torpedo ventilators on the clerestory vehicle, my best guess is that it may be one of six gangwayed composites built to Midland Railway Diagram 593 in 1909. Numbers were: 3406/20/21/53/75/83. Information derived from Lacy and Dow’s Midland Railway Carriages Vol...

Philip’s last post set me wondering about the accuracy of my own equipment, so I did some testing of it with a dial indicator. First discovery was that I have an indicated runout of 0005" on the spindle nose, so all chucks fitted to it will be susceptible this error, whatever its actual magnitu...

Another possible chuck is available from Hardpoint Industries via Amazon USA, accessible via this URL: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006KOGD2Y?ie=UTF8&seller=A2WFPY6XLCB2DR&sn=Hardpoint%20Industries Alternatively, why not consider reproducing the watchmaker’s collet sleeve that Maier ori...

Took the plunge and went for the Arc Euro Trade collets. Their server auto-emailed acknowledgment of order at 13.27 on Friday 9th November - Items dropped through my letterbox about 10.00 today. No complaints about speed of service! In the end I settled for an initial purchase of 2mm, 1/8" and ...

Thanks, chaps, for the interesting and helpful comments so far. The comments about clamping range are particularly interesting and confirm my thoughts that what I need is a mix of English and metric collets. My brief initial trawl of the internet for relevant guidance included a suggestion that at t...

I have just placed an order for an ER16 collet chuck for use with my ancient Unimat, and should be grateful for any views people have about the choice of collets to be used with this. I was surprised to find just how wide a price variation there is for ER16 collets – prices range from about £4.00 to...

That's a very interesting shot of Longbridge, as you can make out in the background one of the two big Bagnall 0-6-0ST's Austin acquired from the Steel Company of Wales, with boiler lifted out of the frames, and what looks like cab sidesheets from the same class of engine (with Austin crest) in the ...

Biggest difficulty I see is combining CSBs with Split frames....extra insulation issues arise 8-{ Anyone got experience of that combination for any gauge? Paul, I don’t understand where these insulation issues arise. Each CSB will be attached to one frame on each side, and as such will form part of...

Here’s a vicious enlargement of the smokebox on my own Maygib Bulldog, showing that it is possible to get reasonable results by bashing the flared chimney base over a former. The picture shows such a former, though I think not the one used for this particular locomotive. Note the spigot let into the...