David Holman

A bit more on the DG couplings. This is just my experience, in 7mm scale at that and there are people far more qualified and experienced than me. Considering that, in 7mm scale, the whole coupling measures about 7mm wide by 12mm long, the 2mm scale ones must be tiny - though these are small enough for me. Also small is the price - an etched fret for 16 costs as little as three quid, though my versions are £6.30, so that's about 50p a pair... The etches are nicely done too, plus you get a coil of 0.5mm phosphor bronze wire for the loops too. As you can see, there are fold lines etched in, with two separate pieces for each coupling, plus the loop. Once the main etch is cut out [craft knife], the main cross piece is folded down [pliers], which means the middle bit now sticks up and then needs bending back about 20 degrees. This forms the coupling 'hook', while the bit just bent down is the buffing plate. Next job is to cut out the other, smaller, etch. This is tiny [and must be minute in 2 or 3mm scale]. It is perhaps the only issue with the DG coupling as can't help thinking a few spares could have been included on the etch to cover the ones that can ping off and get lost. Already been there and got that T-shirt... Anyway, this smaller etch is the 'delayed action' part of the coupling, enabling a vehicle to be uncoupled and pushed into place without reconnecting. It needs about a 45 degree bend and then is fitted into the slot in the main etch, with the two lugs tweaked outwards to hold it in place. After that, the two lugs with the round holes on the main etch are bent down as these are what the wire loop is fixed to. It all takes less time to do than read this. The only other thing to do is make the coupling loop. For another couple of quid, you can buy a brass block which works as a bending jig. You wrap the phosphor bronze wire around this up to 15 times to make 10mm x 7mm rectangles. Once separated, each one needs a short piece of steel wire soldering to it. This acts as the dropper wire, enabling hands free uncoupling using below track electro magnets. Again, slightly fiddly, but you soon get into a routine. These wire loops are then sprung into the lugs of the main etch, after which the whole assembly needs to be chemically blackened with something like gun blue. All that is left is to then fit the coupling, using contact adhesive. Considering the small size of these couplings, not only do they look ideal for 7mm narrow gauge, I think they would make a fine alternative to tension locks in 4mm scale, being both discreet and offering hands free uncoupling.

Me neither, Leslie and my SLNCR work goes back even further!

Interesting - thanks Angus. Just received some more etches from Wizard and they've come with 0.5mm wire, which is what I had in stock. Gradually getting used to what is, for me, the fiddly nature of the DGs, but having seen how well they work in smaller scales, decided I really ought to try. The good thing is that even if the 0.5 proves to thick, it will be easy to substitute something finer. As ever, hats off to everyone in 2 and 3mm scale!

Excellent! Nice to see a mix of modern and traditional techniques as well. Would also like to know more about Silhouette cutting.

If you want steam era, then going for a set of private springs might be the answer. There are several very nice rtr industrial locos available and even without a repaint, it would be a start, especially when used with some of the wagons mentioned above. Early industrial diesels like the Ruston 48 or 88 would fit the bill too. There is a useful rule that suggests the longest train you run should be no more that a third of the length of the scenic space on your layout. 1100mm = no more than 400mm maximum, so a small shunting engine and three or four wagons will be better than a mainline engine and only one or two wagons. Keep an eye on the usual second hand websites for bargains and while you are accumulating stock, play around with designs and have a go at making some buildings to set the scene. It is all part of getting creative.

Sounds like just one engine working - for obvious reasons. The demonic howl when both were on full power could rival a steam loco exhaust. Well nearly... Back in the 70s, my choice of train home at the end of term from college in London was the Aberdeen Mail. Often loaded to 15 bogies or more, sticking well out beyond the end of the platforms at Kings Cross. Still have vivid memories of one run where the train did Grantham to Newark (14 miles, including 1 in 200 through Peasciffe Tunnel) in 12 minutes, start to stop. Was convinced it wasn't going to call at Newark for a while, but the noise, standing at the carriage door with the window open as we flew through the tunnel, was incredible.

Note too that the Bassett Lowke advert states its products were new year gifts for boys. Girls too busy playing with dolls and doing housework presumably....

Seems like a fair bit of time has gone by without me actually making anything and not sure that the latest project counts for this either... Decided I didn't like the tension lock couplings I'd been adapting for Swillybegs, so ordered some DG etches from Wizard Models. They are the 0 gauge/7mm scale version and [unlike the tension lock adaptions] aren't handed, so should simplify shunting sequences. Have made up a few for testing purposes and, so far, so good, though am wondering if I've used the right gauge wire for the loops. The instructions don't say, other than to use phosphor bronze. What I have is 0.5mm - does anybody know if this is ok, please?

Oh frabjous day! Callou! Callay! He chortled in his joy. [Jabberwocky, in case you are wondering] Yes, the wiring is done. Fairly conventional: I have long used tag strips and a wiring diagram, so don't worry too much about coloured wires. That said, have used black for track, orange for points and green for electro magnets. A couple of tricks were to mount the Tortoise point motors on their sides and hot glueing a clothes peg to the underside of the baseboard to hold the computer plug and socket. Made a bit of a horlicks of the mimic diagram for the control panel, but hopefully it can be touched up with a fine brush. With the track laid and wired, have been playing around with sight lines and basic buildings. To this end have been building a loco shed and have mocked up a station building shell, which will be closely based on the one at Snape Maltings. More on these later, though with the Farnham/Aldershot show coming up soon, now need to turn my attention back to Irish matters, in order to make sure Northport Quay is working well.

Amazing how wide the track looks in that third photo. Makes me think I should be using Code 75, or even 55, instead of 100... What a railway!

Great to see two iconic Easy Coast Mainline racehorses looking in fine fettle. Give me green diesels rather than blue anyday!

That signal is certainly different! A one off? Somebody out there will know.

Modern Image (ish) too as BR class 01 diesel shutters worked the breakwater for many years. There were quite a few pier railways with idiosyncratic motive power. The Weston, Clevedon and Portishead Railway used Muir Hill tractors - one literally a road model with uneven sized rail wheels, the other looking more like a motorised garden shed. Then there was the Spurn Head Railway, which used sail powered trolleys and old motor cars with rail wheels. Great modelling possibilities methinks!

Slightly surprised to see Mike Edge recommending larger wheels. On the prototype, tyres were allowed to wear down at least and inch or two before replacement and with flanges on models being somewhat oversized (P4 etc, excepted), had always thought accepted practice was to go down an inch or two to avoid them fouling footpaths or splashers.

Thanks, Andrew did his usual fine job with the photos and likewise whoever put them and the article into print. Their payment is now £210, so that nicely covered the three points I bought from Marcway recently!

Excellent, especially as I do have a copy!

Lovely and subt!e.

Do any photos exist? Might make an interesting wagon for Swillybegs!

Based the wagons (?) on WL&W coaches. Made one side and end from plastic sheet and strip, using this to create masters for resin castings. Significantly quicker than scratchbuilding four sides/ends and a method well worth considering if learning CAD/3D printing is not your thing. The six wheel chassis is Alphagraphix, while the turf load is chopped up matchsticks and needless to say, only a few mm deep.

What about pioneering enthusiasts and Modellers? Cyril Fry, Norman Johnson, Des Coakham for example.

Yep, looks great!

Some fine recycling going on here for the baseboards.

Been making lists, to try and minimise the pain of wiring. So, holes drilled for sockets, switches, point motors and the like, along with fitting the wings of the 'proscenium arch, each end. Very Iain Rice. The inlaid control panel with have three point switches, three push to make switches for the uncoupling magnets, plus an isolating switch for the loco shed. Am using Tortoise point motors, but as these are about 10cm deep, I make simple brackets from plywood, so they can be mounted on their sides. Above, you can see where I've drilled holes next to each point blade. A piece of stiff wire is soldered to each blade and then to a piece of copperclad below the baseboard, which then acts as an invisible tie bar. Below, you can see the brackets I've made for the Tortoises, with the hidden tie bar alongside in the second picture. The bracket includes a pivot arm, with the torsion rod from the tortoise going through one end and [eventually] a piece of stiff wire the other, going to the tie bar. Clever idea that I was given by Gorden Gravett.

Often said that coaches are every bit as demanding as locos. So much detailing work and roofs (simple arc types apart) always a pain. While Worsley have saved a lot of effort with the sides, so much more clearly required, so very well done. The late David Jenkinson had the answer to complex roof shapes in his book Carriage Modelling Made Easy - he had them machined from hardwood in bulk. Fine if you are making dozens, less so for just one or two!

The new layout [no name as yet] has now been moved to the lower level in my workshop, so it can sit on the longitudinal beams that I use for my exhibition layouts. This has let me get on with track laying. Couple of surprises here - didn't realise how expensive Peco bullhead track now is [over £11 a yard] and that Marcway points are 2mm shallower, due to their thinner sleepers. Sharp in take of breath with the former, mounting board to level up the latter. Took a while to get the alignments right, but while things are not quite as I'd originally sketched out, I'm happy with the way it has worked out. As you can see, I'm using cork tiles as underlay for the 'main line' track , but the private lines are laid direct to the plywood baseboard surface. Am hoping this will give a small, but noticeable change in levels. The left hand end has caused me much thought and experimentation, to try and find ways of masking the hole in the sky. Current thinking is that the main building will be based on the station house at Snape, while the Tortoise point motor box will be a on crossing keeper's hut. On the other side of the track will be the station [more of a halt really] platform, which a grounded van body will sit. Behind this, where the Wantage tank is waiting, will be a timber loco shed, based on either Wantage or Mid Suffolk types. In front of the platform ramp will be road access to the yard, while between this siding and the mainline, I may put a second short wooden platform, so that should I decide the private line leads to an airfield or a mental asylum, passengers could transfer. The right hand end will initially be shielded by trees, but will eventually be either Snape like maltings, a dairy, or whatever else takes my fancy. Beyond that, is the main fiddle yard, constructed this morning. Main line trains will be on cassettes - have used these many times in the past. At just 27" long, they will hold a tank engine, two wagons, plus a brake [or just a single wagon if it is a tender loco]. Each cassette is simply a piece of 9mm ply with two lengths of aluminium angle as the track. Simple, but effective. At the moment, the plan is to have further cassettes racked on the back board of the fiddle yard. The off scene private railway track is just a length of Peco. On line orders are gradually arriving to enable the wiring: point motors, electro magnets for uncoupling [Alex Jacksons], plus switches, sockets, wire etc. Never my favourite occupation, but needs must!