Scalefour Forum

Bryan, I always mask these surfaces before spraying, on the basis that the paint is likely to generate more friction to impair free movement of the bearing carrier. There's also a potential problem that build-up of paint could reduce the distance between the bearing cups and therefore result in tigh...

Jon, One further very practical consideration here. You should also think about the width of the rail foot. I have previously used American Code 55 rail for flat bottom track in p87 and found that the rail foot was too wide to allow adjacent rails to sit alongside each other at the correct check rai...

David, I've used PB wire with steel tyres for the last 25 years with no problems. One slight difference in my case is to bend a small V into the end of the wire so that contact with the tread is only at the point of the V. This reduces friction with no loss of efficiency. Lovely models though. I'm a...

John,

A bold but very understandable decision in the circumstances. I hope that you will retain Pelton Level, at the very least as a test track. I find it's very important to keep the impetus going by having somewhere to run things!

Best wishes and keep us posted on progress.

Geraint

Hello, Catching up with this thread - I thought it might be helpful for you to see a similar beast that I have constructed in p87, so in terms of mass and shape it's not too dissimilar from what you are trying to achieve. The prototype is one of the railcars produced by the Triangel company in Odens...

Tim, I think the best I can do is to refer you to two pages of Iain Rice's book "An Approach to Model Railway Layout Design - Finescale in Small Spaces" , (pdf attached), which explains the principles. You will see that Iain is advocating three different approaches - (1) to build a jigsaw ...

I may be a bit late in joining this debate - apologies for that - but I've been prompted by a visit to our local CHEAG meeting yesterday evening, when I took one of my laser cut baseboards for the new p87 project along. It seemed to generate some interest, so I thought I might relate all to a wider ...

Were there to be p87 demos considered for future Scalefour events, I'd be happy to coordinate something and bring along a small piece of the new layout as a work in progress exhibit. Happy to consider Andy's offer, but I'll be polite and wait for an invitation first!

Geraint

Following up Andy's point, I'm not sure that there has ever been a formal expression of support for the few of us mavericks who occupy what Mr Harrap refers to as 'the naughty corner'. I recall some debate about a p87 SIG in the mid-90s, when I was just starting my experiments in the scale, and we f...

Steve,

Heading the same way with Obbekaer. Look forward to meeting up with the SLAG team and to a very convivial weekend. Safe journey and see you there!

Geraint

Dave, Apologies, I've only just caught up with this. When I built the track on my p87 layout 'Obbekaer', I used riveted sleepers and etched chairplates. The sleepers were made from two thicknesses of ply, with rivet holes punched in the top layer. The rivets were hollow tube brass types with a count...

Having checked with the powers that be that it's OK to advertise exhibition appearances with strange continental layouts on this Forum, I'm pleased to advise that my little piece of Denmark in p87 (Obbekaer) will be at the Wycrail show in High Wycombe on Saturday. Please drop by to say hello if you'...

If you're modelling the Peak District, you also need to factor in the use of private owner wagons for the carriage of stone from the quarries. Can I suggest that a quick trawl through Bill Hudson's book on the Midland line through the Peak, plus the excellent Foxline series, will help you to identif...

John,

Sincere condolences from us all, I'm sure. Good to see that the mojo is returning.

On the basis of the photos, this 'plank' is a real credit to you. Best wishes for your public appearance - where is it by the way? Any other appearances in the pipeline?

Regards,

Geraint Hughes

Can anyone out there help with a contact for exhibition insurance? I have an invite to take 'Obbekaer' to a show in France in October. After months of dithering on the part of the organisers I now have confirmation of the invitation, but a query about insurance has revealed that the layout will not ...

Bryan,

Looks like a very useful website. Thanks for the tip.

Geraint

Chris, You're making great progress here. Looking forward to seeing the finished article at Scaleforum. On the question of lighting, the usual advice is that your layout lighting should replicate the light conditions under which you have created the scenic colour palette - otherwise your hard work i...

Not quite an exhibition in the formal sense of the word, but our friendly group of local 'Friday Nighters', in many ways the survivors of the erstwhile Cambridge Area Group, will be holding one of their occasional Modelling Days in the St Mary's Church Hall, Church Lane, Sawston, Cambridgeshire CB22...

Hi John, I built one of these many years ago for Middlepeak. Unfortunately it succumbed to a slight accident a few years ago which necessitates a rebuild of the chassis.I've also got a second kit to do. I would discount the chassis from the original kit, as it was designed around an X04 motor! I the...

I find it interesting that there are no turn-on scotches in this view. Would they be further back, out of shot? Guy, Yes, most likely, as the catch points are only just in view and they would have been a secondary safety measure, after the scotches. There's a lot more about the working of various t...

As Jim says, quite an impressive piece of trackwork that looks overly complicated but in fact is quite logical. It looks complicated because this is an incline with a single rope and winding drum at the head. Rather than a continuous rope there are two 'tails' coming off the top and bottom of the wi...

Allan, The attached photo may help, taken in one of the quarries at Wirksworth in Derbyshire, right in the middle of limestone territory. Limestone could be extracted in many forms, including large blocks for building purposes or smaller 'stones' like this for a variety of uses. Interestingly, large...

You may recall a small Viking invasion at last year's Scaleforum, as two members of the Ribe Model Railway Club from Denmark came along to help out with my Obbekaer layout as part of the P87 display. There were very impressed with what they saw at Aylesbury, and thoroughly enjoyed the weekend, so mu...

Thanks Nigel, that was my thinking as well.

Geraint

Nigel, Am I right in saying that the motor used in this case is from a video camera? I have a few of these and am currently designing a mechanism using them to operate turnout indicators on my p87 layout 'Obbekaer'. Mine seem to work best on around 3 volts, so will need a separate control board to a...