Ed said

It is old Peter, Graham Farish introduced this coach in 1984.


Ed
 

From “Post #290,081”, 15th April 2024, 11:39 am

Looks like that coach will have to have some graffiti platered over it!

Ed said

Bob K said

Ed said

It's 3mm foamboard Peter.

Lightweight, but fairly robust and very easy to shape with a craft knife.



Ed

From “Post #289,856”, 6th March 2024, 8:54 am

Hi Ed,

Just watch out when you paint it as it tends to warp as the paint dries.  When I use it, I paint both sides.

Bob

From “Post #289,858”, 6th March 2024, 9:48 am

You were right about it warping Bob Bob K , it was really was bent until I painted the other side.


 

From “Post #290,275”, 2nd June 2024, 10:20 am

Good news that it worked for you!

Bob

For some reason, the pitures I posted disappeared 

I'll try again……………..



 




Ed

As we haven't had many sunny days here so far this summer, thought I'd have a cheery blue sky backscene.







Ed

I've done very little throughout the summer, partly due to an ongoing bladder problem which has resulted in a lot of hospital appointments, however reading Rick's comments about his scissors crossing reminded me I did replace a crossing in the storage area after a right hand point failure, earlier this month.

Although I had a spare right hand point in stock, I decided to treat this point failure as an opportunity rather than a problem, so have replaced it with what Kato call a double crossover track.






Ed
 

Now that's an intersting track plan to keep you entertained Ed.

Sorry you were kept away from the railway in the summer and hope you can spend more time with your railway.

Best,

Bill

Thanks Bill.

Although I've not done any real modelling, I've run a couple of locos round for about 10 minutes a couple of days this  week, as I'm led to believe it helps to keep the rails clean.

Ed

One must always keep the rails clean Ed, so keep doing what you know is good for you.

I've finally begun fitting DG auto couplers, at lease to some of the branch stock.

It's all good fun,

Best,

Bill

Well done Bill 👍

Mine will be N gauge Dapol easi fit magnetic where needed.



Ed

I see a lot of what appear to be insulated joiners despite the points and crossover being insulfrog. 

Am I right or are the phone-size images telling fake news?

All the points are live frog Rick, there are no insulated rail joiners.

Must say I hadn't noticed the two plastic frogs in the scissors crossover until you just mentioned it, but it's hasn't caused any running problems, although I am mainly running modern image Bo-Bo and Co-Co diesel locos.

One of the things I really like about the Kato track is the frog switching and power routing on the points, which can be changed by moving screws on the underside of the point. They can be dead frog or live frog and the diverging route can be live or insulated, so you don't really need any IRJs.


Ed

Kato track.  All is explained.  Of course it looks different; it is a different product!

Since the difference in scale has been mentioned in a couple of topics I thought I'd post a comparison picture.



 Back row

Graham Farish English Electric Type 3 (BR Class 37) 1:148 scale, Atlas EMD 35 Southern Pacific 1:160 scale
 
and in front

Graham Farish Brush Type 4  (BR CLass 47) 1:148 scale
 

I've never seen a full size EMD locomotive Ed but it does look bigger than its UK outline sisters.  My guess is, in real life,  it's not as big as the Class 37 which was, I think, a sizeable locomotive, as indeed, was the Class 47.

On the other hand, the difference isn't huge ……………………

 

I've never seen any 12" to the foot EMD locos either Peter, but who knows one day 🤞


Ed

I finally got around to installing decoders in my GF Class 108 DMU this week, and as I had JMRI up and running I thought I'd have yet another look at the settings on my GF Class 08 Liverpool Street Pilot.

Lost count of how many times I'd checked the contacts and cleaned the wheels trying to get it to do more than stutter a few millimeters, all to no avail.

I had even considered this week sending it off to Bachmann for a check over and service, although it's not cheap.

I thought it had run reasonably well under DC,  but it was a long time ago and I was beginning to think I must have imagined it.

I reset the Bachmann 36-567A decoder to factory defaults (again), changed the address but still it didn't want to play.

I had the 'Basic Speed Control' all set to 0 and for some reason I clicked on the motor tab which I wouldn't normally look at.

Surprisingly, for some reason,  both 'Acceleration Rate' and 'Deceleration Rate' were set to 30.

I changed them them both to 0 and eureka!






.

I never would have even thought of looking at these setting if I wasn't using JMRI, I wouldn't even know what the CVs are.

As I reset the decoder I can only assume this is a really daft default setting.

Wobbly clip taken on my newish phone.




Ed

You'll be very happy with that Ed - looks to be running very smoothly.

What effect does zeroing the acceleration and deceleration rate actually have - other than making the loco run smoothly ?  Does it cancel the rates completely - in other words, does it mean it responds exactly to the throttle settings in which case, you have to "drive" the loco via the throttle rather than allowing the decoder to do so ?  No idea what my rates are set at (I ought to check) but if I move my throttle from stop to Max, the train gradually picks up speed rather than taking off like a rabbit with wheel spin.  Deceleration does the same otherwise dropping my throttle from Max to Stop would stand the train on its head …………………………..

Whatever, the shunter is most impressive.

I find it a bit confusing Peter as the 'Basic Speed Control' tab has Start Voltage, Midpoint Voltage and Maximum Voltage settings, which are the setting I used to change depending on locomotive type (i'e' Shunter/Mainline loco) as per the Digitax decoder instructions.

I assumed they would be roughly the same for any make of decoder, but I've never altered the setting in the 'Motor' tab, don't understand how they differ from the 'Basic Speed Control' tab.


Ed

Hi Ed,

Foster Yeoman had an EMD SW1001 switcher in its Merehead yard, Somerset, in 1980. Hanson Aggregates bought one in 2000. BR Class 59s were owned by Foster Yeoman and built by EMD. Class 66 was also built by EMD. I used to work a couple of days a week in London, Ontario. The airport was next to the EMD fabrication plant, and I watched these being built. Class 59 was based on an EMD SD40-2. One was dropped from its crane onto the quayside when being imported.

I remember seeing the SW1001 switching in the yard from the road - day out at the East Somerset Railway when visiting my wife's family in Frome.

So yes, there have been some full-size EMD diesels in the UK, the majority with their body suitably modified to suit the gauge and with 2 cabs, not the EMD single cab used in the US. The Foster Yeoman and Hanson aggregates SW1001 switchers were genuine US EMD diesel with no body modifications.

Cheers,

Nigel

BCDR said

Hi Ed,

Foster Yeoman had an EMD SW1001 switcher in its Merehead yard, Somerset, in 1980. Hanson Aggregates bought one in 2000. BR Class 59s were owned by Foster Yeoman and built by EMD. Class 66 was also built by EMD. I used to work a couple of days a week in London, Ontario. The airport was next to the EMD fabrication plant, and I watched these being built. Class 59 was based on an EMD SD40-2. One was dropped from its crane onto the quayside when being imported.

I remember seeing the SW1001 switching in the yard from the road - day out at the East Somerset Railway when visiting my wife's family in Frome.

So yes, there have been some full-size EMD diesels in the UK, the majority with their body suitably modified to suit the gauge and with 2 cabs, not the EMD single cab used in the US. The Foster Yeoman and Hanson aggregates SW1001 switchers were genuine US EMD diesel with no body modifications.

Cheers,

Nigel

From “Post #291,211”, 26th January 2025, 5:53 pm

Thanks Nigel 👍


Ed