Archive for August, 2017

July Progress

Posted on August 1, 2017. Filed under: Monthly progress |

Passengers for Bonar Bridge would have been surprised to see this Cravens twin unit with “Welwyn Garden City” on the destination blind.

The Craven Area Group of the Scalefour Society had their first operating session with Kyle of Sutherland towards the end of the month, and brought some of their own stock along. I’ve committed to producing a printed operating sequence for next time.

There was lots of activity this month leading up to the operating session: making more cassettes, de-bugging the layout, checking and fettling locos and stock, and improving the scenery. I made new pick-ups for 54458, 54495 and 57587, using tips from Karl Crowther’s MRJ article on the making of a GWR 517 class (I think this was mentioned in the Scalefour Society Forum by Paul Willis), such as drilling holes in the PCB pad to hold the motor leads while soldering. One key to success was getting the right pick-up pressure on the wheels.

During the operating session, my shunter’s pole was not much use. It was based on an article by W.A.M. Barter in MRJ No 21 from 1988, but I obviously didn’t make a good job of it. A few clues from members of the Craven Group led me to a much improved version, which now works. That’s just as well: the exhibition sequence for the layout demands regular coupling and uncoupling of stock, particular locos. To that end, I’ve fitted over-scale screw couplings on the rear, or tenders, of locos rather than the easy couplers I was contemplating.

I also had an article in Issue 137 July 2017 of The True Line, the journal of the Caledonian Railway Society. “A Tale of Two Caleys” described the building of the Dunalastair IV and Pickersgill 4-4-0s, showing how the lessons learned with 54458 were applied to 54495.

When this post comes out I shall be detailing coaches at the Missenden Summer School. Slainte! (pronounced “slansh” with a long “a”)