Mol_PMB

For the more traditional type of wagon sheet I use the paper-backed foil wrappers from Tunnock's Caramel Wafers.

The ultimate sort of Dremel-like tool is an air-powered one, much safer because if it jams in the job it just stops, rather than trying to rip your wrist off and/or destroy the work. I don’t have one in my home workshop but I have used them elsewhere.

A Dremel is a most useful tool, especially with a full set of collets. Though I tend to do most of my fine drilling work with a collection of pin vices.

I make my own sanding sticks with abrasive paper, strips of wood and double-sided tape. They can be made to any width, thickness and grit grade and I find them more controllable than files especially for the final finishing to a perfectly straight edge. But then perhaps I’m being a cheapskate without proper Swiss files!

Lots of interesting ideas here - thank you all! i have a friend with a good lathe, I only have a basic mill myself, and I don’t have a dividing head for easily doing square ends myself (I appreciate there are work-arounds but they are more tricky to achieve a consistent size and tolerance). So solutions involving machining are possible, but obviously more work than buying standard parts.

see this page for details https://www.steamtrainsireland.com/whats-on/25/premier-branch-line

I’ve decided to use Kadees but I am mostly fitting sprung buffers. I’m hoping this will allow me to have visually closer buffer spacing as they can compress slightly on sharper curves. I have yet to see how well this works in practice!

It would seem logical!

I've only seen Dublin times and even those are noted as subject to change. I've booked to travel on it, and haven't yet had any confirmed timings.

Thanks Rob!

Just looking at options for the J26 wheels, as illustrated very nicely here by Ernie: The optimum dimensions would be: Diameter: 4'6" = 18mm (or slightly less as a worn wheel) # of spokes: 16 Crank position: placed between spokes Crank throw: 11" = 3.66mm Wheel profile: EM The available options that are somewhere close seem to be: Alan Gibson 4851N 4' 3" 17.0mm. 14 spoke LNER J94 Class Bevel PB 13" 4.30mm (small but almost within wear allowance, -2 spokes, crank throw too big) Sharman SW-L144 4' 3" 14 Spoke Driving Wheel J94 placed between 13" (small but almost within wear allowance, -2 spokes, crank throw too big) Alan Gibson 4854W 4’ 6" 18.0mm 14 spoke LSWR Plain PB 9½" 3.17mm (right diameter, -2 spokes, crank throw a bit small) 3mm scale WR1816TT 18mm dia 16 spoke Driving Wheel Set RP25 profile code88 (this looks promising though there isn't as much info on cranks etc) Scale Link SW1816DX 18.45mm/16-spoke (this looks promising though there isn't as much info on cranks etc) Alan Gibson 4855E 4' 7" 18.5mm 14 spoke LNER J25/J26/J27 Class Plain IL 11" 3.66mm (fractionally too big, -2 spokes, crank in line) Sharman SW-S182 4' 7" 15 Spoke Driving Wheel LMS Inline 12" (fractionally too big, -1 spoke, crank in line, crank throw a bit big) Ultrascale 4'7" LMS 15 Spoke 11"c/t c.o.s. FOWLER (fractionally too big, -1 spoke, crank in line) Alan Gibson 4855 4' 7½" 18.5mm. 15 spoke Midland/LMS Plain IL 12" 4.00mm (fractionally too big, -1 spoke, crank in line, crank throw a bit big) Ultrascale 4'71/2" GWR 16 Spoke 10"c/t c.b.s. (fractionally too big, crank throw a bit small) Sharman SW-S194 4' 8" 16 Spoke Driving Wheel placed between 13" (too big, crank throw a bit big) Note: Scale Link SW1816D 18mm/16-spoke driving wheels do not appear to be in stock. Scale Link and 3mm scale wheels are designed to fit on Romford-style square ended axles. @commerlad, @Andy Cundick - Am I right in assuming from your comments that Romford-style square-ended axles for 21mm gauge are not available? If so, that rules out those options.

Ah, with that form of construction it will be more difficult to cut in half without damage. I'd still say that a gully or drain down the middle would be entirely prototypical if you were worried about a join there. Most platforms are designed with a very slight slope away from the tracks (to prevent trolleys etc rolling off the edge) and so on an island platform the rainwater naturally flows to the middle and a drain is needed there.

John, so sorry to hear of your troubles, and very glad that you have come through it OK with the support of your family. I hope you get a chance to take it easy for a while and can continue life at a slightly more relaxed pace in future. Best wishes, Paul

Many thanks for all the info and advice - this is a great help! Hopefully useful to others too.

Very interesting- many thanks!

is it just a piece of wood or have you clad and surfaced it? If it were here I’d run it through the table saw to remove 3mm from the middle and then try and hide the joint with a row of drain covers (prototypical for many island platforms) and some strategically placed lampposts, flowerbeds, benches etc.

Agreed. Turned steel buffer heads are another item that has become extremely scarce recently, as have many varieties of sprung buffers. I've had to resort to buying RTR spares from Hornby or SLW for some of my projects - the SLW buffers are expensive but spot on for my E class.

Thanks Rob! My concern about oversize wheels is whether they'll fit. The flanges are already bigger than scale, and if that's on top of a bigger wheel diameter then they will be scraping the inside of the splashers. I'd like to have some sort of suspension or compensation which increases the need for some clearance there. Hence why my 'engineering' preference is to go to a smaller size if the 4'6" is unavailable - in reality there would be a couple of inches of wear/reprofiling allowance in the tyres anyway. But perhaps I'm worrying too much about this - you may well be right that the Jinty wheels would be fine. I can always make slightly bigger splashers if needed and I don't think they would change the character of the loco. To be fair, on the J26 clearance is only an issue on the leading wheelset as the others are hidden inside the tanks/cab with plenty of clearance available. And as you say, when the wheels are turning you can't see them. I have also asked SSM Des whether he has any suitable wheels in stock or thoughts for alternatives. I think in general the wheel situation will become more of a problem for kit and scratchbuilders as the firms close down and stocks sell out. But perhaps the market is moving inexorably towards RTR? Cheers, Mol

I think the 4'6" 16-spoke wheels for the J26 are going to be a problem. Sharman make a 15-spoke version but there's only one wheelset left in stock, which isn't much good on its own. Going down a size there are too few spokes. Gibson only do 14 or fewer spokes on the 4'6" wheels, and nothing suitable going down a size. Maybe I should stick to diesels! Or not worry too much about the wheels - you can hardly see them anyway! But I do have a soft spot for this little tankie and it could run with my silver E class and the forthcoming G class. JPS_MGWR_560_Fenit_05_June_1961 | [Photographer: John Philli… | Flickr

Whitemetal soldering is a different art. For me, extreme cleanliness and red flux. Iron set to 200C (!) with 70C solder and be VERY quick - the solder will flow like water and fill the joint. But this takes some bravery…

Many thanks both, that’s really helpful! Assuming suitable wheels are available, do you have any views on the comparable quality of Gibson and Sharman? It looks like Sharman have something fairly close to what would be needed for the J26 (which is my preference for a prototype).

There's also 60+ years between those two pictures, so the effect of fading, polishing, perhaps a re-varnish.

There seems to be a shortage developing in the supply of wheelsets for kitbuilding and scratchbuilding in 4mm scale. My background is mostly in 7mm scale modelling where Slaters is the preferred supplier, but now I'm working in 4mm I'm finding that while there are many more firms referenced, few of these seem to actually be in production. Others have changed hands and the range may be under a different name, or no longer available. Of course there are also different wheel profile standards for OO, EM and P4 and from what I've read the manufacturers don't seem entirely consistent. And then there's a need for extra-long axles for 21mm gauge. I am confused! From what I understand, Ultrascale are still in business but with lead times often more than a year. Markits have ceased trading owing to the death of the owner. Alan Gibson (the firm) continues to trade, now run by someone else, but are having production difficulties with some items. General traders such as Wizard Models who used to stock many of these wheels and other detail parts are showing out of stock on a majority of items. Some other ranges seem to have vanished into thin air. 10 years ago it seems that one could choose based on factors like quality, appearance, ease of quartering, wheel tread profile etc. Now it seems you're lucky to get any suitable wheels at all! I'm mulling this over now because if I'm going to have to order the wheels a year in advance then I need to think ahead. Have I got this right? Am I missing something obvious? If I wanted to build a steam loco where should I get the wheels? Down to specifics, I'm considering an SSM kit for either the J26 or J15, with a preference for the J26 number 560. I'm working in 21mm gauge, EM wheel profile standards. I note that the wheels recommended for the J26 are from 'Scale Link' who seem to be retiring and I can't find any driving wheels on their website. If they are still available there's no indication of what profile options exist. The wheels recommended for the J15 are from Alan Gibson and may still be available directly (though out of stock at Wizard). I also note that they are slightly larger than the prototype's wheels which may cause issues with clearances - I would have thought a slightly smaller diameter would be preferable if the exact dimension wasn't available. Alan Gibson also uses the same profile for OO and EM so I'm concerned these will be too big over the flanges. Can anyone point me in the right direction? This will help me decide whether to tackle a steam loco. Cheers, Mol

'Britomart' on the Ffestiniog Railway is still mostly painted in real GN blue. There have been a few repairs that have had to be touched up with a substitute paint but the livery is mostly still the 1960s paint (from when it was first preserved), which was liberated from Dundalk.

Thanks David! There are pros and cons of doing it this way, and as ever it comes down to a money/time/abilities balance. Getting the etches done isn't cheap, but once you have them it's enormously quicker than scratchbuilding from sheet metal (which I have done in the past, and a piercing saw is still one of the tools closest to hand!). I find that I have a fair bit of spare time when I can sit in front of a computer, sometimes more so than actual 'modelling' time. Also, on the screen I can zoom right in and design the model while viewing it many times larger than real life. So doing the time-consuming bit on the computer lets me make the most of my modelling time, and also means that I can do things more accurately with gradually deteriorating close-up vision. I learnt CAD back in the 1990s when it was only 2D, and therefore all my design work tends to be in 2D format - etches, laser-cuts etc. I've got pretty good at visualising how the shapes come together, have learnt the good and bad points of different materials and thicknesses, and have rule-of-thumb allowances for etch cusps, hold sizes etc to make sure it's a good fit. On the other hand, I've never mastered 3D CAD, and hence the world of 3D printing isn't for me. I admire those who produce excellent 3D printed designs, like John. Equally I admire the 'old-school' scratchbuilders like yourself who achieve such beautiful results hewn from raw metal. One other benefit of the CAD-based approach is if you want more than one of anything! But then if your preference is for something unique, that may not be a benefit. Railway modelling can make use of such a broad spread of skills, we can't all be good at everything and a good approach is to focus our efforts on the things we get most satisfaction from.