A Final Curtain Call for Westown-Heathfield

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GWR OO Gauge - 1930's rural Somerset - Winter 1937

A Heathfield Video:

With lots happening on various construction and detailing activities, operations have been limited for some time but tracks have been cleaned up for the upcoming influx of Family for a big birthday celebration thru to Sunday. The first visitors arrive tomorrow and this is part of the testing I've done as the youngsters are keenly looking to see some action!

 Shown here, my Collett Goods 2251 now has the Loksound Processor transplanted in from my Dean Goods. Various changes were needed to make all this work and I'll post on those later

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Colin



   

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That both looks and sounds really good Colin, but you seem to have a runaway train, hopefully some crew will make an appearance on the footplate soon!

Very well done,

Bill




At 6'4'', Bill is a tall chap, then again, when horizontal he is rather long and people often used to trip over him! . . . and so a nickname was born :)
 
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Thanks Bill,

funny you should say that. Young C and S were here the other day working with me on the farm buildings, lots of detailing going on including wanting some inside bits (still under consideration). Then they turned their attention to the locos we were running and pointed out exactly what you just did, "wouldn't it be nice if……"

I hope they never learn what a rivet is!



:It's a no no

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Colin W wrote:
Thanks Bill,

funny you should say that. Young C and S were here the other day working with me on the farm buildings, lots of detailing going on including wanting some inside bits (still under consideration). Then they turned their attention to the locos we were running and pointed out exactly what you just did, "wouldn't it be nice if……"

I hope they never learn what a rivet is!



:It's a no no





Nice video Colin…..you have a great viewpoint there. I do like Collett Goods and yours looked and sounded great but Bill and your grandchildren are on the money……..open cabs do tend to show up the absence of crew I am afraid

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Hi Colin. Excellent video, I would like to get some scenery work done on Inglenook Junction, and do a sound video, but, every time I get close to doing something I end up going to Hospital in an ambulance. I don’t know if it is the excitement of the job or what.   Best wishes Kevin 

Staying on the thread Kevin.
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Class 48xx
  

Continuing the Roll Call thru the locos on Westown - Heathfield, could any self-respecting GWR rural setting be without one of these iconic small tank engines? Never mind that in my setting there is no evidence of their use on the Quantocks line. I think Class 45xx/ 4575 and Collett Goods 2251 were better suited there. Hence Rule 1 is applied so I can justify running Autotrains to Heathfield.
 
  On the issue of finding a decent OO Scale model, the 0-4-2 tank engine is arguably the worst served by its models both in terms of both appearance and operations. The wheel configuration poses issues both regarding traction and power pickups and the consensus is if you want a really good runner, throw out the RTR chassis and kit build a replacement!
 
  With limited choices and after trying both an old Airfix and latest Hornby incarnations, I settled on buying a 2008 Hornby (R2778) no. 4869. On a rolling road and normal track it ran very sweetly from day one despite the dreaded Traction Tyres. Over my insulated frogs it was a different story. So the loco was put aside awaiting a solution which duly arrived once I started fitting Stay Alives to my Sound Locos.

  The Install
  The 1970s Airfix 48xx set the scene for all future Hornby releases, massive metal lump up front to maximise traction weight over the drivers, motor extending back into and visible in the cab.  Even with the later smaller motor this leaves virtually no room forward for the electronics. This photo




shows the DCC Concepts Zen Nano chip carefully positioned over the motor, there is barely 1mm spare space between it and the firebox top. The standard SA control circuit of diode and resistor are tucked into the cab and 2 * 2200uF 16V Capacitors fit in the bunker, just! This leaves a tiny amount of room for a future crew.

  Performance
  Prior to fitting my home built Stay Alive circuit, the loco ran with the current jumping erratically between 30 and 130mA and stopping dead over longer insulated frogs.
  With the SA in place, current draw is a nice steady 0.04-0.05A at normal operating speed and on the rolling road there’s around 1/3 of a driver wheel turn after cutting power. This equates to 20+mm of run-on which explains why even the longest dead frog is no match for my 4869 now.


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Hi Colin,

You can get a small speaker in there as well. I ditched the RF suppressor bits, not required with DCC.

The traction tire is the major issue, along with the trailing bogie pickups. They are usually not in contact with the inner rim, or intermittently so, the locomotive for much of the time is an 0-2-0. Which is why it stutters going through dead frogs. Several fixes are out there that do not involve a new chassis. Romford wheels and axles (same diameter axle, never tried that one), one wheel from a 14xx non-runner donor (which is cheaper than a new chassis, ditto), adjusting  the spring on the trailing bogie and adding some weight (which I have done on my Hornby and K's 14xx), and attaching the bogie wheel pickups to the bogie frame so that up and down motion doesn't affect contact (did that). Going old-school and putting the wipers on the tread also works. Use P/B strip or wire.

These models can suffer from too much side slop, adjusting the gauge and adding some bushes keeps the wheels where they are supposed to be. 

I took the easy way out with the wheels and got rid of the groove on the lathe.

Nigel

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Thanks Nigel,

some very helpful ideas in all the above. I'd thought about OEM wheel sets, any reason to favour Romford over Alan Gibson, the latter being recommended by High Level Kits? This leads me to a novice's question, will the crank screws on Hornby wheels be same thread as those on 3rd party wheels, i.e. is there one crank screw gauge standard used for all OO locos?

The lathe idea is an interesting one but doesn't removing the rim leave the wheel marginally under sized? A friend was showing his mini lathe to me just the other day!

 Compared to the other 48xx models I examined, the rear axle seems to work well, but again following others' work I've been picking up materials to install old fashioned wipers.
 
Will follow up your other suggestions as well, you never know sound might just make an appearance one day. With better running, there is just room to get smaller capacitors forward of the cab freeing space in the bunker for a speaker.

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Hi Colin,
Romford or equivalent (there are ABS versions from Scalelink, a lot cheaper) need no quarteriing. Crank holes are different.  As Is the spacing. AGW wheels are almost finescale, which Peco points are not. And the crank spacing is more prototypical. 

Turning the tread? Do all four wheels! You only need to remove the ridge.

If you want to keep the chassis, grit you teeth and order some Ultrascale wheels. And wait.

Easiest way is to get a non-runner chassis and use the wheels. That way you keep everything Hornby.  Usually some on eBay. Alternative is a K's chassis and wheels, as long as they are not K's wheels. Avoid non-insulated old Romford wheels.

Nigel







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Frog Lane Farm –

Back in Post #51 I introduced Farmer John Hardwick and his 100 acre Frog Lane Farm, much of which lies beyond the nearby GWR mainline. It’s about time to fill in some more of the back story about this line and of how the farm came to be divided in the name of progress. So, with some licence, to a little history.

It’s well known that the landed wealthy of the early 1800s got their way when first Canals and then Railways threatened their cosy rural existence; expensive tunnels were built with grand facades, routes diverted, even special stations erected.

  Not so lucky were less influential landowners and James Hardwick’s quiet Quantock farm found itself smack in the middle of plans for a (mythical) overflow mainline route from Taunton to the West. No underpass to connect his now disconnected property, just the nuisance of having to herd his cows across the tracks for milking. Luckily the rail traffic on the line back in the late 1800s was modest but by the bustling mid-1930s, a diverse range of overflow rail traffic was a delight to the local children and a curse to everyone else, crossing gatekeeper, loco crews and above all Farmer John.

  This is how it came to pass that Farmer John became a rebel. All pleas for a rail underpass ignored he took to protest, herding his cows slowly across the tracks, leading with his large slow wagon from which bits of hay might just happen to fall onto the crossing, catching the eyes of the cows and slowing progress. Such an event was captured in detail in this photo by our keen observer young C yesterday. Young J and elder sister A are behind the fence admiring the close up views of King James I and mainline express which has stopped waiting for the cows and then local road traffic to clear.




 

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Finishing the Cow Shed

Earlier I'd completed the outer frame of my Cow shed when the youngsters requested some inside details. Well that was a challenge I couldn't refuse and the project took a while longer to complete. It was an attractive job because those barns had beautiful roofing structures that seemed too good to ignore. My solution, a two part removable roof with detailed interior on both levels. Young C & S were delighted with the end result and I can see this item making an appearance in a bigger Farm diorama some day








The inset in photo 2 shows the view down to the cattle in their stalls when the roof is fully removed. Now completed, I've got a big backlog of "proper" railway stuff I really must get on with.



  

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Excellent Colin
The grandchildren are becoming very demanding but I am sure you dont mind:lol:

Best wishes

John

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Class 2251 Collett Goods

  Next loco up on W-H for attention is Bachmann’s Class 2251. This is one of two pure Goods regional locos I have, the other being the Dean Goods 2475 from Oxford Rail which was fitted with ESU Loksound factory sound. Both classes were known in the region, with the Collett more common in the 1930s.

  The Collett had been running under regular DCC until I read reports of the Dean Goods blowing DCC chips due to motor shorts. That caused me to swap chips between the two locos; no way was I going to risk exposing an expensive sound chip to being zapped (knowing my luck!). In other respects, the Dean loco was well set up for sound operation; it has good all wheel pick-ups (but no Stay alive). In all the time I ran it including over my insulated frogs I can’t recall more than a single reset.

  The Bachmann 2251 has just loco wheel pickups – another 0-6-0 in effect! It had been a very good runner with no stalling but adding sound creates a new hurdle, even a momentary disconnect will reset the sound project, something I soon found. By many reports, the ESU chip in question requires a proprietary Stay Alive (at considerable expense) so I needed a different solution.

  The Installation

  Stripping out the existing chip socket etc. forward of the motor leaves enough room for a good-sized speaker and the ESU chip. (In the photo here it appears the quartering was out after I’d wired in the tender connections, this was later fixed)




  To install some additional pickups in the tender, I added a plug / socket connection since in my world no one checks for prototypical accuracy underneath tenders. Then two simple axle wipers were made from materials close to hand. If these prove inadequate, I can easily return and add more effective / additional pickups. One bodgie solder joint has since been remade and one immediate advantage is that wheel cleaning is now easy via power to the tender wheels.





All in all a very satisfactory outcome and initial testing has been most positive.

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Rural Idyll

Back on the Farm with the cow shed almost complete, there was some "collateral damage" inflicted on one of the nearby trees during the changes which meant a major rebuild when the trunk split in two! I've used aged lavender bush skeletons for the frameworks, lovely shapes of good size but the wood is as hard as iron. I'd drilled out the base to insert a supporting rod and this had weakened it.

Lesson learnt, I've now added an artificial base of air drying clay with a mounting pin inserted for the rebuild. It is now reinstated.

In this view, we're reaching the boundary of the rural zone (~1.7m of my allotted 2.4m length). In fact Westown lies just beyond but (I hope) thanks to a "Trompe D'oeil" could be a long way given the peaceful scene.




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That's a really neat job with the loco Colin.

I have yet to attempt such delicte operations but it's on my "to do" list …………………

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Hi Colin,

A 2200 uFv 25v capacitor and a resistor diode pair can be hard wired to a V4 esu decoder. CV 315 needs changing from off to on, CV 113 for the time on. Their stay alive is not cheap, but it keeps everything running for about 2-3 seconds. Cheaper to wire all the tender wheels.

Nigel

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[user=6]Petermac[/user] wrote:
That's a really neat job with the loco Colin.

I have yet to attempt such delicate operations but it's on my "to do" list …………………
Thanks Peter,

Inevitably, I've since found a source for a smaller 2 pin connector as used in powered model aircraft. Also the tiny 4 pin connector plug and sockets used on Hornby tank locos would suit but these are sold as separate parts (X6113 and X9958) which comes to over 25 of our "sunburnt splendorous Australian dollars" incl. postage.

 At least my bigger connector is unobtrusive and robust and I hate unplugging those Hornby ones using their fiddly tool.

Thanks also to Nigel,

I'm not brave enough to delve into wiring onto those fine terminals under the ESU shrink wrap. I had no choice but to do so with one of my ZIMOs and its not for the fainthearted when you have a GBP100 chip under your soldering iron. I'm good with what I've got and gave the loco a long workout last night without a single running problem at slow speeds over my various insulated frogs.


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As Peter said, great job on the loco Colin  :thumbs

Farm looks good but I don't think you'd find Friesian and Jersey cows in the same field.

(Just being a bit nic piky, and Rule 1 applies anyway)


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Thanks Ed,

Cows, well spotted! But easily explained!
 
 Farmer John is furious at the break in the fencing that his workers haven't finished repairing before heading down to the pub for some scrumpy and an early ploughman's. The Herefords have moved across in search of some sun.

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I know how you feel - I have an ESU V4 mounted in a picture frame after an errant soldering iron mini tip got too close and fried the amplifier chip. Just to remind me….

Nigel



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