David Holman

Swilybegs/Fintonagh, though 7mm scale has always used 4mm finescale clearances, ie 1mm flangeways through the points. My b2b are 19.2mm (ish), which chimes well with what John is saying. The rail is code 82 FB. Have found that anything more than 0.2mm variation in b2b can cause problems. Can only echo what he says about Gibson wheels: quality can be mixed. My main issue though has been around drivers coming loose on the axles. Once on, the fewer times you have to remove them during construction the better! Needless to say, a loose driver destroys both b2b and quartering. Give me Slaters wheels any day. Square, shouldered axle ends that automatically sort b2b and quartering, plus a strong brass centre too. MUCH simpler.

Is it a coreless motor? I can't use these with my Gaugemaster feedback controller, so have to stick with open frame ones. 're the G2, on my 7mm scale one (Alphagraphix) the coupled wheels are solid, but the front carrying wheels have a springing arrangement, using NS wire. Pick ups on the tender wheels help running, though it needed plenty of weight in the boiler to manage even three six wheel coaches.

No lomacs (yet), but the idea of the layout is both to use some of my older models as well as providing an excuse for building a few new ones. Not sure about Sirapite, but the Heljan 48DS, especially in Express Dairy livery is very tempting, even though it would break the habit of a lifetime by buying something rtr!

Back in the day, when Mr O'Leary was doing his £1 flights from the larger island to GB airport, Cultra could be an ultimate day out. There really is something for everybody. Fabulous place.

Great fun. Thanks Patrick. Christmas cards anyone?

I agree with Father Ted. Black rarely looks right on any model, especially the smaller scales. It is too dense. Steam locomotives never stayed pristine for long and in portraying a working model, need to be toned down to reflect this.

After two shows with my Irish stuff, fancied a change to the new layout. As ever, despite many ideas for the scenic side, things aren't quite working out as I'd thought. Am currently happy with the left side of the layout. The hole in the sky will be hidden by the station house (based on Snape), with interest in the corner provided by the platform end, a grounded van and the loco shed, complete with water tank and coal stage. Have managed to paint the back scene a suitable light, plain sky colour and at the moment the middle section is going to include a stand of fenland like wind break trees. These, from forest in a box (aka sea foam) will sit a top a low cutting The eventual intention is this section may become a small diary, but Wild Swan's Milk on the Rails is currently out of print. The right hand side was going to be based on Snape Maltings, but having drawn a couple of sections out on mounting board am thinking they look too big and rather dominate the scene, making it look unbalanced overall. Thoughts now turning to Garret's engineering works at Leiston, where their private line left the station via a narrow lane, squeezing between various buildings none of them particularly tall.

It does indeed make sense, Angus. My idea on shortening the iron wire dropper was to reduce its counter balance effect. Altering its angle and or making it J shaped, as per the instructions, is another idea, while your one of moving the main etch in board certainly makes sense. At the moment though, swapping the 15v magnet transformer to a 12v one is showing promise, so will continue tinkering!

Brian Harrap - a real track guru. Made some triple gauge pointwork back in the day. I think it featured in Model Railway Constructor magazine, so that was quite a while ago.

The Chatham Club 00 layout use this method and seems successful. When I used single rare earth magnets on Fintonagh, I had to replace all the steel axles on my wagons and coaches with 2mm brass wire as, the magnets found the steel ones highly attractive...

Lovely stuff, as usual - though initially thought Mount Pleasant track was third rail electric until I zoomed in and saw the sleepers. A modelling opportunity for someone, msybe?

Splendid.

Given the high cost of new rtr locos, it may be worth looking back at earlier incarnations, where the second hand market will have a decent supply of doners and/or chassis. Current models are both stunning and expensive: they also tend to have very bespoke chassis, not suitable for anything else. Back in the day it was much easier to adapt a chassis to run under something else and old Hornby, Dapol, Lima, etc models could be the starting point.

As far as crests are concerned, I wouldn't worry about accuracy. A general shape and colour is all that is needed, so have a look on Fox Transfers website. The chassis will need thought though. Gibson or Markits will do a 5' driver, but whether there will be the right number of spokes may be a problem, though the curious balance weights should be easy enough with 10thou plasticard over lay. If it is going to be a static model, why not have a go at printing a chassis and bogie, or make them from plastic sheet? A working chassis need not be too difficult - four coupled wheels are a lot easier to do than six. Keep an eye on Tullygrainy's latest build for a 4-4-0, which will point the way.

A splendid scene that would make a fine, working diorama. Dual gauge, inset, track anyone???

As we've come to expect, lovely neat work!

Interesting and thank you both. Looking at the instructions again, they suggest a curved, rather than an angled bend to the dropper might work better. Further experimenting certainly required though, including: Building a test rig so stock can be pushed back and forth on the work bench Try altering the height of the magnet. I use the Dingham ones and on 15v, instead of 12v, as this works better with AJs, so maybe there is an issue there. Vary the length of the dropper as the shorter it is, the greater chance for the loop to fall back down on its own weight Find some way of ensuring the loops don't go beyond the vertical, as once they do, then there is no way they can fall back again. As for loops just at one end, am doing that with some of my trains as it works well with fixed rakes. However, as soon as haunting is involved, it all goes to pot because having a turntable means you soon get a loopless loco with a loopless wagon. Overall, I'd happily use three links and the hand from the sky, but for front operated exhibition layouts that is not practical for the paying public.

The dreaded parallel - though I'm sure you can get some cream for that. For many years now, I've been using the knives with snap off blades. As it is only the tip that goes blunt, every snap gives you a new sharp one.

A very tasty prototype, begging to be modelled. There is a fair bit of similarity with the quayside at Rathmelton, near Letterkenny. Based my warehouse on Northport Quay from here. One of those places that should have had a railway, but didn't.

The things we do for our hobby....

Neat. Have used the reverse of this, where tape becomes the glazing bars, but can see this being more effective long term.

LEDs, Leslie. One strip just inside the helmet and another centrally. Northport Quay has the same.

Not surprised and continually amazed at how things could change, but as JB says, still looks good!

Thankyou kind sir! And you are right about the composition - one of my better efforts, with much down to John Ahern's 'Model Building Construction' which must be over 70 years old now. That said, rules about perspective don't change... Tolworth was a useful learning experience. Not 100% good by any means, but one that helped me with a range of issues which only come up with two days of intense operating in the public glare. Given it is over three years since the layout was last exhibited, it stood up very well. The two scenic boards are only 6" shorter than NPQ's but it is amazing how much extra space that allows in the car, while it has always been an easy layout to transport, set up & so on. The main issues were with stock, much of which hadn't turned a wheel in all that time - apart from practicing at home of course. The former Clogher Valley stuff was generally ok, though looks like Phoenix needs new pick ups. However, the two Swilly locos continued to have teething problems - this time with the front bogies, though after some more fettling on Sunday morning, they worked well for the rest of the day. The other area was with the DG couplings, where a few more adjustments are needed, hence the request in the Information thread on the Forum, but they are certainly worth persevering with.

Had my first experience exhibiting with these at Tolworth over the weekend and nothing like 13 hours continuous operation to shed light on things. Mostly, they work well, but (as my school reports often said) could be better. So interested to hear about the following: The coupling loops can sometimes get in each others' way. Is just having a loop at one end best, or are there ways round this? Found that the loops can stay up after uncoupling, because the iron wire dropper has stayed down after the magnet is switched off. I have not fitted loops to any of my locos, so this caused problems at times. Plus see above. Should I try shortening the dropper wire, make the front the loop heavier, or even mount the coupling so it sticks out less and the loop can't go beyond vertical? Other things I found were: Though nice and discreet, the etches are a bit lightweight, so a thump from a half kilo loco can upset alignment - especially if there is a buffer stop at the other end... Several times, a loop came partially out of the etch. Ideas on preventing that welcome. 2mm and 3mm versions clearly work very well from what I've seen at shows, so it would be good to learn how I might refine my 7mm ones - including how best to set up and test them.