Garden Railway Forum

Tackled the windows yesterday afternoon, got them to stick eventually although I wouldn't like to put too much pressure on them. I use clear silicone bathroom caulk to hold glazing in place. Takes a while to set, but it sticks to anything. It's a mongrel to clean up, but if you are careful and keep...

Keith S:66552 wrote:Thanks, Graeme. That is very clever. I'll have a snoop around the hardware store and see if there is anything like that here.

Not an original idea. Saw it in one of Peter Jones books i think.

Also try a plumbing supply shop, if you have any nearby........

Graeme

Hi Graeme, You mentioned in one of your other threads that you used "a plumbing part" to make your brake shoes. I am going to need brake shoes soon and I was wondering if you could elaborate on what kind of thing you made them out of? Luckily I haven't emptied the workshop rubbish bag lat...

So, yes, advice needed! Any thoughts on the type of ply to use? I here people here talk of 'marine ply'. I'm in Canada, so I'm sure the nomenclature is different, but the guys at the timber store will no doubt be able to 'translate'! What Zac said.... ;) Don't use balsa wood. It's too soft and you ...

Here are some pics of my brazil project, as promised, hoping to get it ready for the spring; but as always, things always end up taking longer! What do you think so far? Looking good. ;) I take it you are building it to the Keith Bucklitch article available on the net? Time is immaterial for a hobb...

Any chance you could do a write up of how you made the bracing for the roof? I'm struggling with my I.P. ones and need to make them removable! Probably easier to see on this roof from an IP railcar kit. The guards van roof is the same construction, just the framing was done with polystyrene instead...

robc_wa:65843 wrote:Dare I ask how many hours went into it?

No real idea, as I've never kept track of the hours taken to build a model, it just depresses me......

The work was spread over 6 weeks or so, but I can't imagine I'd build one in less than a week of solid work, so 30+ hours at a guess.

Graeme

I didn't even know such things existed! Will investigate... The Hornby smoke generators mentioned aren't very good, as the casing is plastic and they have been known to melt the plastic loco body. Do a Google search for Seuthe (a much better unit) and you'll find UK suppliers and drawings for sizes...

The first product of the TVT rollingstock building program is a small 4 wheel brake van. The model is built on my standard wagon underframe and also has working brakes, but to a different pattern to other underframes. The bodywork was built from polystyrene sheet, which works well in this applicatio...

With two locos now in traffic, the TVT is noticeably light on for rolling stock and the workshop is building a batch of 4 wheel wagons. I've decided the TVT rolling stock will be equipped with wooden underframes and I've standardised on Accucraft W&L W-irons and couplers, but I make the wheels m...

The fun and games start here. Can anyone tell me what clearance I should have 'twixt stock rail and check rails for point work please? I was thinking of around 4 mm,would this be enough? What wheel standards are you going to use? SM32 usually uses O gauge standards, so O gauge coarse standards woul...

I was hoping someone could give me some information about guard's vans. I have never seen one in real life, so I don't know much about them. Much the same as a caboose to all intents and purposes. Just somewhere for the guard to ride, do his paperwork and hang his coat and hat........ I would be pl...

What do people use please for model making set squares I use engineers squares, bought locally from engineering tool suppliers. Model engineering suppliers like Chronos also have them. I have a 6" and a 4" in the workshop and a 3" and 2" on the modelling desk for small scale wor...

I wasn't sure what was the minimum radius curve they would negotiate. Assuming that they can run on the track that comes in Bachmann sets, the minimum radius will be 2', same as LGB R1 curves. They are 19" long though, so they'll look a bit silly on that sharp a curve and will need a lot of si...

Yes, 12v two-rail. You need to bend the pickups away from the wheels if you go to battery power. I have never run one as a single car, but there is room for 8 x AA batteries underneath each car by using two of these: I wonder if that would be enough? Alternatively, perhaps 10 x AAA batteries might ...

That's what I'm worried about. The wagon will have to be very heavy and maybe will have to be right behind the locomotive rather than at the rear of the train. Well, I'll give it a try when I get around to building the wagon. It's 32C in the workshop and too hot to work, so I gave this some ponderi...

Just as important as the actual weight is that everything is weighted consistently. Sharp curves and a mixture of light and heavy rollingstock is not a happy mixture in any scale. Even the prototype had problems mixing loaded and empty wagons. The NMRA RP 20.1 on weighting rolling stock is simpler t...

.............. and of course, Steamlines never claimed it was a scale model The adverts of the time described them as 'Fowler style' which is a reasonable description. Anyone that knows locos recognises it as being a Fowler. The models are simple and solidly engineered, with little to go wrong, so ...

A cheap source of weights is a tyre shop. When they fit new tyres and rebalance the wheels they usually throw the old ones in a bucket. If you ask nicely, they will usually give you a few. They are lead, so if they are a little too thick, just hammer them a bit to reduce the thickness. Regards, Graeme

Last year I picked up this 45mm gauge 'diesel' in distinctly used condition, going cheap at a local swapmeet. ./myff/1230659/Fowler-1.jpg This turned out to be a Merlin Motor Mule built in the '80s, originally sold by Tom Cooper under his Steamlines name, which had somehow made it's way to Australia...