Go Goo Go!

Locomotives do not run so well on dirty track and/or when their wheels are dirty. This is fairly obvious, you might say, and indeed it is but it is something that we singularly failed to realize until quite recently when some of our locos began to stutter and splutter around the layout. 

It was at this point we discovered one of the major failings of DCC operation in that it really does need to have spotlessly clean wheels and track to work well, otherwise locos will suddenly stall or stop for no apparent reason.

Of course, running trains regularly does help to keep the track clean but, with so much work being done on our layout at the moment which, in itself, only adds to all the crud, there never seems to be much time to run trains.    

One particular loco (our Heljan Class 33) was especially bad so we took it to Mikron Models in Taunton for a quick examination only to be told by them that the wheels were filthy - and there was me thinking they were fairly clean. Well, we had hardly run the loco since buying it second-hand recently and so I assumed the wheels ought to be quite clean! Anyway, the lad in the shop kindly cleaned the wheels for us and, hey presto, a much better performance from 33025! We thus decided that all of the locos ought to have their wheels cleaned and, also, that we should set to and give every inch of track a thorough cleaning. This was a fairly daunting task since we do have quite a few inches of said track!

Our cleaning operation was a three stage process:

To begin with we used one of the Hornby track rubbers to clear away any  glue left behind after all the ballasting. 

Then we followed up with some Goo Gone, applied with a lint-free cloth. An alternative could have been white spirit which we have also used in the past.

Next, we gave the rails a fine coating of Wahl's Clipper Oil, again applied via a lint-free cloth. This oil is a highly refined instrument oil and in fact it could be used to clean the track as well, if you want. We used it here merely as an anti-oxidizing agent to help prevent the track getting dirty again. 

Please note that you should avoid using any form of lubricating oil as this will make the locos slip and is very difficult to remove once applied. The clipper oil is not actually conductive but it does coat the rails with a fine, long lasting film which prevents oxidization and promotes good contact between the loco wheels and the track.

Finally we ran the vacuum cleaner around the track in order to suck up any dust and debris lying on or near the rails.

Then we test-ran a couple of locos and they did run very well indeed so we can definitely recommend this procedure as an effective way to clean track. 

Now this is done we are hoping that an occasional application of the clipper oil should suffice in keeping the track clean and the locos running smoothly.

In a future posting I will show you how we cleaned our loco wheels, again using some of the clipper oil. Yes, this is great stuff and no railway modeller should be without a bottle!

Scales and Gauges

I had intended to make my next entry an explanation of track cleaning but, instead, I have decided to examine scales and gauges and leave track cleaning until next time. 

Of course, most serious railway modellers will be aware of the various sizes available but, to the beginner, all of these letters and numbers can be a tad confusing at first. So I thought I would try and explain what they all mean and just what the difference is between Scale and Gauge. 

Oddly enough, the standards for model railway scales and gauges were established many years ago, using a combination of both metric and imperial measurements, and these still survive to this day. 

Scale: This is the ratio of the size of the model compared to its full size counterpart. Therefore, a 1:76 scale model is one seventy-sixth the size of the real thing. This equates to 4mm to 1ft or, in other words, every 4mm of the model is equal to 1 foot of the prototype - and here can be seen the curious mix of imperial and metric units I alluded to earlier. 

Gauge: This is the measurement of the distance between the rails and the standard gauge of full size track, which has been adopted almost worldwide now, is 4' 8½" Anything less than this is called narrow gauge while anything greater than this is known as broad gauge. As far as model railways is concerned the gauge of the track is generally given in millimetres and that which is most widely available is 16.5 mm. 

These definitions of scale and gauge are fairly precise, however, over the years the terms 'O gauge' and 'HO gauge' have become accepted as meaning both the scale of the models as well as the gauge of the track. Thus, in the UK, we refer to 'OO gauge' and 'N gauge' while, in Europe and North America, it is known as 'HO scale' or 'N scale.'

Now, whether you say 'N scale' or 'N gauge' it is really the letter or letters (O, OO, HO, N) that describe the size of the models. Therefore 'OO gauge' refers to models that are built to 1:76 scale (4mm = 1ft) while 'O gauge' refers to models built to 1:43 scale (7mm = 1ft).  

Anomalies do occur, as I will highlight in future posts when I examine the different scales in more depth. However, these are minor inaccuracies which are not so important in the greater scheme of things. 

The diagram below illustrates the the relative sizes of the more popular scales / gauges used by modellers today and I will look at each one, individually, in future blog entries.

Going Uphill.

After a week or two of ballasting and extensive track cleaning, more of which in my next posting, we finally returned to doing some landscaping last week. With the help of my nephew and his girlfriend, we started to create a hill leading up to the road bridge. This will become a small, wooded area or parkland which should, hopefully, act as a nice backdrop to the town. The trees that are there at the moment are just to give some idea of how it might look.

Between the road and the brewery can be seen the town's fire station which is set a little higher than the brewery.

Because of the ballasting work that has taken place and the subsequent need to clean all of the track there have been no trains running on the layout for a few weeks. However, now that the track is clean, I am hoping we can put an end to this dearth of train operations and, also, produce another video or two as well. 

This Locomotive is ACE!

I recently acquired this O Gauge, A3 Pacific Locomotive and, I must say, she is a real beauty. It looks as if she has never been taken out of the box, much less done any actual running! 

Her number is 60103 and she is named 'Flying Scotsman' and, I think, she dates from around 2005.

The manufacturer, ACE Trains of London have, I believe, only been in business since the mid 1990s but already have a well-deserved reputation for producing beautiful, precision-made O gauge locos and rolling stock.

For more information please visit their website at: www.acetrains.co.uk.

What's Brewing!

At long last here is an update to the work recently carried out on the layout. Actually, not much was done for a couple of weeks but this weekend we, more or less, finished 'planting' vegetation on the Tipper spur and have now ballasted this line. There is still some work to be done on the rock face at the back but this section is now almost complete. I hope to produce a video of it in operation in the next two or three weeks.

Meanwhile, work has started on the brewery and this is taking shape quite nicely - as can be seen from the photographs. The brewery buildings are, as you can probably tell, the excellent Oakhill Brewery by Bachmann but we will most likely be renaming it to suit our layout. We thought it a good idea for the brewery to have its own siding since, naturally enough, all the beer produced here will be sent by rail!! However, we have yet to decide on which loco will operate this but, I dare say, it will be either a Class 08 or a Class 14. 

The buildings have not been stuck down yet as there is more work to be done to the base but this will be its final position.

Corrie Scottie in Maroon

 

With work on the layout still in abeyance (we hope to do a bit tomorrow) I thought I would post this photograph of the Hornby Coronation Scot Train Pack. 

It is shown beside the three (plus one) additional coaches that Hornby produced at the time - but only as individual items and not in a pack as they tend to do now.

The Train Pack (R2199M) consists of: 

LMS 4-6-2 Locomotive Coronation Class "Coronation"

Two LMS Coronation Scot Composite Coaches (3934 and 3935)

One LMS Coronation Scot Brake Coach (5447)

The extra coaches are:

Two LMS Coronation Scot Composite Coaches (3936 and 3937)

Two LMS Coronation Scot Brake Coaches (5448)

This train pack (one of 1500 produced) is a representation of how The Coronation Scot might have appeared at the 1939 New York World's Fair if the LMS had used specially liveried standard coach stock.

Apparently, later this year, Hornby are going to issue another Coronation Scot Limited Edition Train Pack together with a Limited Edition Print of Barry J Freeman's "Days of Red and Gold". That has got to be one to look out for!

In The Morning Comes Electra!

 

With no updates to report on the progress of the layout this week, I thought I would feature a recent acquisition to the collection in the shape of Tri-ang's Class 77 (EM2) "Electra" Nº 27000 in BR Green. 

She was produced in this livery between 1960 and 1965 and was also available in BR Blue as well as BR Electric Blue for a short time.

When I bought her the BR logos were partially missing, as was one of the Electra names, so I purchased some BR logos and metal Electra nameplates from Fox Transfers and replaced them at the weekend.

The only other problem is that one of the pantographs refuses to  stay down therefore I have ordered a replacement so that I can fix this. 

I have been unable to test the pantographs to see if they work but, powered from the track, the loco runs extremely well although she is unlikely ever to see action on our layout.