Scalefour Forum

D+S produced a kit for a steam crane many years ago, but it has become very rare and expensive. I have learned recently that there is the prospect of a new kit. Alistair Wright of 5522 Models is evaluating if there is any serious support for an new etched kit for the crane in the form it was used on...

Steve,
Pity about the heat, but you are far better indoors, especially with such a super project as you have taken on. I found the photos fascinating, and it is good when a modeller's vision can live on in this way. Thanks for such a comprehensive report.

Best wishes to everyone in CRAG.

Jim

I don't think anyone has mentioned masking tape yet, or clothespegs (wooden). Both have uses in holding things down or together, especially when soldering. You can cut the clothes pegs to a specific shape, as Flymo did with his (or someone's . . . ) hairgrips. Then there are the indispensable cockta...

All sounds good.

But how should those of us who weren't there pronounce CHEAG?

All best wishes,
Jim

Welcome, Simon. I am immediately caught by your description "The choice of location was very important for me; I like railways in lonely and wild places, especially ones situated in flat landscapes with unobstructed views. I also like the sea very much. This part of Kent fulfils these criteria ...

On this business of perspex boxes, I make a lot of use of Ferrero Rocher boxes, and they are are also handy for transporting models, wrapped in foam, to shows. Of course, as my wife says, I model to Ferrero Rocher scale . . . .

Jim

Sorry, this isn't going to help your specific query, but folk might be interested to know that there is a bogie LNER Pigeon Van at the Scottish Railway Preservation Society site at Bo'ness, and it is in use by the carriage restoration volunteers.
Jim

As someone who was not at the show, but whose thoughts were with those toiling in the public eye, can I, on behalf of the Scalefour Society, thank the whole team, not forgetting photographer and commentator Mark, for providing the watching world with first class entertainment. Not only was it entert...

The Society's Chairman's wee brain is beginning to hurt. At lunchtime he read the latest MRJ, which states Martin's layout is EM (and a very nice article it is too). He then managed to get a measurement wrong on a scratchbuilt engine he was working on this evening, so that the the cab footplate is w...

Clever clogs here has kept his examples of what Allan has pictured in the original plastic bag, with the label. It reads "Variflex Axle Jigs for Hornblock Alignment V001". I reckon they space frames to 14.6mm. Exactoscale did something similar called Loco Mainframe Assembly Gauge P4 Standa...

Jack, Have a look at Scalefour News 141 February 2005 "Goods Sheds North and South", where there is a picture of what Mike Gilgannon did, showing the crane. (Previous issues are accessible on the website, if you don't have that one to hand). Beyond that, you'll want sack barrows and all ma...

Well, I reckon there is some wobble, Tony, and I seem not to be alone. I realise I need to be more precise and to compare Sharman and Gibson wheels in this respect. With luck, during this holiday period I shall be using the GW Press, and will report on my Wobble Factor. The wobbleness will have noth...

Bob, You might like to consider including the International Railway Index, which lists over 225,000 articles on a CD available from Gerald Wildish, "Trees", 2 Worsley Road, Ansdell, Lytham St Annes, Lancs FY8 4DD. True, it is only an index, but it is searchable by company, rolling stock et...

Ian,
Great to see that you did it. Do make sure you let us see where it all leads to in due course and how you get there.

Jim

Just wishing you well for the Show. Unfortunately I shall be on the other side of the country at a rival show.

Jim

I've come into this correspondence a bit late; but I always found one bit of the jargon useful when thinking through such things. And that is "Sequential locking". This enforces the pulling off of levers in a logical sequence, and prevents, for example, the Distant being pulled off before ...

Not necessarily the best way to do it (but it was an afterthought, and it was me) is seen in my article on bodging a J88 in the current Scalefour News. The photo is fairly clear. I filed away part of the frame to give a recess for the p.b. wipers, and slipped some sheathing from electrical wire over...

John, I painted the outside only, black satin, leaving the uppermost parts of the slots unpainted, where they would get worn. As to the levers, the handles were always left bright metal, and signalmen used cloths in their hands when pulling the levers to avoid contaminating them. The levers themselv...

I don't know how I missed my esteemed colleague William Barter's contribution to this in the summer, but his reference to the interlaced loop and runback catch points leads me to quote a further example. This was where the branch from down in the valley reached the main Oban line at Killin Junction,...

Tim,
It's a good notion, and I have tried to do it with my scratchbuilt frames.

However, now you have the wheels going round upside down, what magic formula or procedure do you use actually to remove the dirt from the wheels? P4Talk has had dire warnings recently about using WD40.

Jim

A really useful contribution. Thanks, Jim