Scalefour Forum

A final note; Does anyone have any suggestions as to how they would fit a fall plate 'twixt engine and tender? A method I have used successfully is shown on the attached sketch. A U-shaped length of wire is soldered to the underside of the fall plate, and the arms bent downwards at an angle of roug...

I checked the tender again, since John Palmer's questions got me thinking... 1. They did acquire the blue livery, although most were black by the mid 1920's, with one exception: #73 that stayed lined blue until 1931 or so, with LMS hand lettering applied. 2. The tenders used by the S&D 3F's wer...

Particularly looking forward to seeing Mark's S&D Bulldog. 72 to 76 were originally delivered to the Dorset in red livery; don't know whether any acquired the blue livery later. A bit of adaptation to the tender front is going to be needed, as the Gibson kit as supplied doesn't include the right...

Keith and Russ, that’s much appreciated. I had missed the advice in the Exactoscale instructions about gauge widening, but now note that they only advise this for radii of less than 1500mm – about 5.7 chains – at which point they recommend GW of +0.2 or +0.3mm and use of check chairs with the wider ...

Thank you, Russ, that is quite reassuring. I had not appreciated that CG was an unrecognised concept on the prototype. I note that Exactoscale also offer check chairs with .8mm flangeway, as well as those with .68mm. Can someone please explain the intended purpose of these? I can't find any explanat...

A quick test in Templot indicates that in 4mm scale an REA B6 has a centreline radius of 1153mm on the diverging road (main road is straight). This is equivalent to 4.36 chains and thus well into gauge widening country for track other than pointwork. For turnouts in which both roads have the same fl...

If Exactoscale check chairs are unsuitable for mounting the check rails of crossings, how do you go about this when using functional chairs for track construction? Is there no alternative to ply and rivet construction, if only to mount the check rails?

From what I have observed, the North British adopted a four bolt chair as standard. The NB casting was somewhat more bulbous than those I have seen of other pre-group companies, and really does appear to have been secured to the timbers with dome-headed bolts rather than screws. I've yet to see a 4m...

It’s entirely possible that my memory of the collection net arrangement is completely wrong, and that the posts supporting it were fixed. However, I am reasonably confident I used to see the postman doing something to rig the net to receive pouches. Possibly nothing more was required than to raise a...

I can help out a bit more with the TPO lineside equipment. Here is a picture of the entire apparatus I took in the late 60’s/early 70’s, I guess, and looking towards the Walrow overbridge. The apparatus was immediately adjacent to an occupation crossing visible on Google Earth. TPO_apparatus.jpg The...

Many years ago I think I saw Paul’s model of the baulk road crossing itself, but this is the first time I’ve seen pictures of the full layout’s magnificence – many thanks for the photos. Fifty years ago this station was my point of departure on many excursions with my grandfather, mainly to Western ...

David, I can't help you much with Caledonian practice, but have developed in Templot some drawings of turnouts with interlaced timbers that reflect North British practice, as revealed by a turnout at Rannoch measured in the 1980's. Unfortunately I have only been working with 1:7 and 1:10 crossing an...

The article's author actually acknowledges that by reversing the workpiece in a chuck in order to turn both ends he will be generating surfaces around two different axes. Never mind, the incriminating step in the surface that results can then be concealed by relieving it away! This is a job that I w...

He's changed his glasses..... Still in use for speleological purposes, I think. The hair may still be there, Paul, but it's a LOT more grey! I see Keith Hawkins seated to my left, and 'Bulldog' 43216 on the table, which had a good day out on New Mere at Railwells this year. Sure that owl in pic. 6 ...