[berth44]

number 10 and last.."phew!!" A rather good shot of Heljans 'DP2' and their 'Baby Deltic' nose to nose.

That's all folks, the camera has did a pretty good job I think and as the 'operator/photographer' gets used to his 'toy', I think it can only get better...with time..I'm a slow learner!!......Dave

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[SkyFire]

Gave you 2 karma for getting the photos up. Very well done and look forward to seeing more of them.

[berth44]

Thanks Anthony, I had to be shown how to do it again by one of my daughters,it eventually sunk in, but it took me half the night!!..
Now that I have my new camera (Panasonic TZ30..digital compact HD,3D, GPS, 20X..love it!!)I definately will post more as I progress,it gets the 'picture' accross (ooo the pun!!)without a thousand words!!.......Dave

[bluedot0]

hhmmm familiar......a layout.......I got one of those.....looks like it's developing nicely there young Davey........Phil

[berth44]

Thankee Philee...Davee

[berth44]

I never did any work on my layout as such, but I did get into my train cupboard (top shelf)to see what was in there in the way of loco stock and what went and what didn't.
I'm glad I looked because I've been 'heeing and hawing' over an EBay loco sale,yes,you heard right..but this was a strange case of the 'price is right'....well, sort of....
Anyhoo,the loco in question was a Backmann 2P 2-6-2 Ivatt tank, and guess what?, I found that I had one already,and,as a bonus, it runs like a wee sweetie!,so it's 'by by' EBay sale, no longer interested.......
I also found another B1 loco..Dapol this time..and another Scottish shedded loco (Thornton)to boot,unfortunately it's not a good runner..forward is notchy..goes great in reverse! I tried the usual, bit of lube,clean the brushes, but I think it's needing a serious strip down, that is if I can figure out how to remove the bloody motor!
Another loco that surprised me, but this time I know that I had this one! This was an old Airfix 0-6-0 Fowler tender loco, tender drive, tires on all 6 wheels, but it runs like another wee sweetie,quiet as well,a real gem, goes over the Peco points like they weren't there!
Anyhoo,this is one of these train topics that couldl go on an on, so I'll just say I had more surprises from some very old Hornby locos,unfortunately,some will never see the light of day again as they are just simply passed it ,or I've started a serious modification on it and the patience is no longer there to complete the work ,so methinks I should create a dedicated 'scrap line!!'..........
That was just the first shelf,on the second I should find some more older locos,mostly Lima, I'm thinking that most will be 'scrappers and 'condemned'' This 'ere shelf also contains most of my rolling stock..and whatever, the surprises lay within..I can't wait!!
Talking of surprises, I've now discovered that I have 7 DMU sets,and that's not counting my 8 car 'Kitmaster' Blue Pullman and a further 3 sets of the old Tri-ang 'Craven DMU' Believe it or not I really like DMUs, and I can't wait for the Backmann Blue Pullman and their 'brand new' Craven set to hit the shelf's..........
Lastly,a serious problem with a 'newie' my Heljan Hymec,it runs great,quiet and smoothly like all Heljan but when I coupled it to 8 Backmann Mk1s,all seemed well,got up to to 100 MPH very quickly with no problems,then for no reason at all,same bit of track it comes to a complete stop with the motor whining it's head off and going no place soon, and, if your thinking the solution is easy......there is no gradient!!...I'm sure I'll figure it out, that's what this Hobby is all about.................Dave

[SkyFire]

Sounds like something is slipping in the gearbox area, or a gear has stripped.

[berth44]

Bloody things 'brand new!!'..OK, I've had it for a couple of years but it's never been run (somebody didn't have a layout at the time!!......"cough"..........Dave

[berth44]

Well,I thought about the 'Hymec'.....not too hard as to give me a headache or a hernia!..So, into the garage I did go,uncoupled the loco from it's train,turned on the duce,away it went like a 'bulletootagun',there's not much wrong with the gears here!!.......
As the 8 coaches were still at the same spot where the loco 'failed' the night before, I gave these 8 coaches a 'pull test',it does weigh a fair bit I must admit, I'm now wondering if this 'weight' on the curve is just too much for the Hymec??,but it shouldn't be, it effortlessly pulls away and does all the other 3 curves with relative ease..."hmmmm?"?
Anyhoo,,a quick run round with the train now split into 4 coaches and it does not fail,it's motoring at 100MPH. (yeeha!!) I then slowed it down to a 'crawl' speed on the 'failure' bend, "too easy,no stoppee"...... I then added 3 more coaches, now making it 7 in total and it's fine, it's going round and round........and round...100-150-200..flying!!!!
So,was the 'failure' of the loco due to the fact that the 8 coaches was simply too much 'weight' on what is the tightest curve on my layout?
The 'whining' of the motor indicating gears had 'disengaged' and the subsequent loss of traction simply be put down to merely 'wheel slip' as the loco slithered to a hault?, the answer simply put, the locomotive was totally overwhelmed by the increased 'drag weight' and simply put, just run out of puff???
It's a very 'scientific conclusion' (to me) my friends and as 'wheel sleep' was not evident because I could not see the wheels physically moving ( this loco has very low slung bogie's)

****"The Railway Board have therefor admonished the driver for the failure of the locomotive by theoretically proving that the incident was be due to the lack of power of said locomotive"......case closed!!.......Dave

[bluedot0]

Intriguing is all I can say.......I would have though the Hymec would have done the job with ease.......there wasn't anything caught on the track that would have applied the brakes in such a way.......Phil

[berth44]

"Line Clear" Phil...I was quite baffled by it all as well,this model must weigh the same as the 'real thing' and you would think it could handle many more............Dave

[bluedot0]

Give it a whirl with all 8 again and see if the problem is replicated.....Phil

[berth44]

Good thinking Phil,shall do.........Dave

[SkyFire]

Also make sure that there is no grease or oil on any of the track as that will cause problems as well.

[berth44]

I can't figure on the above ,tried everything, but read on!!
Right, well, this week end saw me raid my cupboard bottom shelf and see what's to go,what's not to go,more of the latter unfortunately. I tried to 'fix' a couple of Backmann locos with the split chassis, gave up,those that I looked at require a total new chassis, the 'other B1' I mentioned in an earlier post requires new Tyre's on both rear wheels, I'd be just as well gettin' a new chassis for that as well!!
Well, that was a most disappointing result for that train cupboard, I didn't bother to look at the wagons and coaches,that's for another time,so it's 'running in time' for a few of my 'newer' locos,mainly the Brit and Clan and these two were having big 'point problems with the only curved point I have on my 'main up' line, mind you, 3 old Pecos in a row is asking a bit much of these 'new locos!!'
Anyhoo,this 'curved' point led to a passing loop, I though it was a good idea at the start,so, I removed it, that led me to remove the crossing that led to the down main and the loco shed,this configuration of the 3 points in a row was causing all sorts of bangs and thumps.
So,I've still got a right hand point in place that's the 'exit' from the 'up' loop,,plus it's the entry to what will eventually be the ballast sidings....unfortunately, this was quite bad as well with a 'hefty thud' at the plastic froggy ('V' thingy) as the locos passed over it.
I decided to remove it with a view to seeing if I can 'fix' it or better it, and the only option I could see is to remove the small plastic 'V', and if this idea works, I can then improve on the rest of the main line 'thumpers' by doing the same.
The problem lies with this small plastic bit as it wears with constant use, and the 'cleaning rubber' doesn't help either as it gradually wears away the 'pointy end' of the said plastic component part.
The effect that this has on the newer thinner profile wheels is that it makes them (the wheels) 'dip' into this 'hole' even worse than what's 'normal' for these old points.
So a quick fix is needed, but it's important to remember that this wee plastic part is very important, it maintains the 'isolated' nature of this point, metal would not be recommended, but, on the other hand, if one is careful, removing this small bit of plastic to leave a wee bit of plastic in place right on the 'V' of the rails, this will maintain the electrical 'barrier' that is necessary to isolate the new metal rail.
A bit of 'scrap' rail.... I've got plenty of that!!... this will do the job, unfortunately,as I only have 'code 100' ,after it's 'glued to the point' it becomes evident that it has to be filed down a fare wack to be on the same level as the rest of the rails.
I tried a wee 'experiment' at this point, (excuse the pun)just to ensure the rail was stuck securely I placed my soldering (switched on!) iron carefully on top of it (the rail) and let it 'melt' in, it worked, the rail staying put as I filed away at it, but I nearly destroyed a plastic 'check rail' in the process!! (careful I said!!)
Verdict?, back in place the point works fine,'alas' the 'bump' is still slightly evident, this is because I cannot reduce the 'gap' owing to the 'geometry' of the old Peco point, it does improve in my mind for the 'long term', and 'yes', I will continue to do the 'worst' of the rest as required.....
As I had just removed a crossing, I had to replace it somewhere else, while I was thinking and working out as to where exactly it's going to be,I lifted the track 'down the window end.... (Hymec failure end!) and increased the radius of the curve to be a smoother transition from the point that was left and at the same time this altered the much tighter radius going onto my 'Clyde Bridge', so it's all better down at that end.
Lastly, I made up my mind that I should place the 'crossover' up at the station end in a way that I can bring my train in from the 'up', crossing onto the 'down' and then terminate in the 'down' side of the station, remove the loco from it's train and drive it via the 'down' loop through to either the 'steam' or 'diesel' loco shed via the nifty inclusion of the 'curved lefty' that was removed from the 'up'.....Photo's will later follow.......Dave