Two Short Planks

[whynot]

For those who like slow freight trains
Marilyn going twice as fast as she needed,
but then a video twice as long for the same
action would be boring !!

http://youtu.be/jfR6mghNjew

Geoff T.

How nice! The speed looks right to me.

[Kindling]

but if the driver took that train through the crossover any slower he'd be getting an earful from the signalman.

That's it. Get it away at maximum permitted speed! Looks spot on to me.

[THE CHIEF]

Given the pleasure you've got out of the little shunter I think its high time you have some etched marilyn plates made.

[Dad-1]

Hi THE CHIEF,

Do you know I think she deserves name plates. I just checked and she was bought on 17th August 2008
Where would I get some straight nameplates made ? No nice curved splashers on Marilyn !!

I think on her 6th birthday I should have a special naming session !!!

One of my oldest locomotives. Done the most hours work and improved every year.
It's true to say she is my favourite out of over 50 locomotives. What price Jubilees,
7Fs, 8Fs, 9Fs let alone 33s, 37s, 47s.

Geoff T.

[Dad-1]

Since the 18th Jauarary at the Bridport MRC exhibition I've been wanting to experimant with the guitar wire uncoupling
device used on the club layout.
This amounts to a length of guitar string set at an angle about 9 sleepers apart, one end firmly glued in place, the other
end fed into a fine tube. I have yet to decide on the 'right' angle, but somewhere in the range of 35 to 40 degrees. Every
coupling pair need small bars soldered to the bottom of the coupling hangar. As wagons pass over the coupling bars run up
the curved wire lifting the loose (compressed) coupling, then a very small shift back the other way releases what had been
the tensioned coupling allowing that to lift the hook clear. You can then move off having uncoupled hands free !!
Because one end of the wire is loose & in a small bore tube when a locomotive passes over the compressed wire will slide
down the tube. It is easy to draw re-coupled wagons over the ramp as the tensioned coupling hook will resist being lifted.

The video will probably show better than I have explained.

http://youtu.be/eD0Vk6G422s

More development needed, but I'm happy with my first two modified couplings and the two ramps.

Geoff T.

[Rammy]

Interesting video Geoff. I've never seen that uncoupling method before.
Looking forward to seeing how you get on with it.

Dave

[Bufferstop]

Geoff if you have to fit "tails" to the coupling's droppers, the Brian Kirby mod is as easy if not easier. You attach a short length of steel/iron wire to the bottom of the dropper, and pop 3mm dia neodymium magnets into the ballast about 3 sleepers apart. The same forces are involved but created magnetically not by springy wire. BK used Bambi staples for his tails bent to a letter L with the long end pointing towards the wheels level with the bottom of the dropper. I used florists iron wire for mine, I have several packets of it that I squirrelled away some years ago.
John W
aka Bufferstop

[THE CHIEF]

TMC are good fo name plates and not too harsh with the price.

[Dad-1]

Hi John,

That sounds as interesting a way of getting regular location uncoupling as my guitar strings.
I'm having some difficulties setting up and the next ramp will use the 8 thou wire to see if
that's better.
One advantage is the almost zero cost to me as I have loads of plasticard, fine plastic tube
and guitar strings are 75 pence each. It does need very careful setting to work reliably, in
particular with unloaded lowfit wagons, that can be (just) lifted off the track as they are
pulled over in fully coupled mode.

I have no idea other than searching ebay (that I normally keep away from) from where I
may get 3 mm magnets ?? I would need around 30 at least as I expect to have upto 15
uncoupling locations. On an expense basis what I'm doing is cheaper, but thinking about
it, the magnet system may be easier to set up and therefore more reliable.

Geoff T.

[Bufferstop]

That's the easy bit Geoff http://www.first4magnets.com I used 3mmx6mm. I scraped away the ballast drilled a 3mm hole in the surface of the underlay, put a blob of superglue in the hole. The clever bit is the short piece of 2mm brass tube with a straightened paper clip down the middle. Use the paperclip to pick up the magnet, press it into the hole then withdraw the paperclip from the brass tube. keep everything steel or iron away from the magnets until they are set, or they will come flying out. just pack the ballast around the magnet and paint its surface mucky brown. I've discovered that it pays to turn the end of the staple/wire up at a slight angle to avoid it catching on boarded crossings etc if they are close to a magnet.

[Dad-1]

A couple of questions John,

Do you ballast over them ?
Just how strong a pull do they exert onto a length of staple ?

I ask regarding strength as I see they do a 2 mm x 4 mm version that while being a little more
expensive is probably small enough to sink into my 12 mm baseboarding on TSP and over ballast.
Trying to estimate if that would still be strong enough as the gap up to a coupling will be in the
region of 7 - 8 mm.

I'm certainly in the 'experimenting' mood, but don't really want to take off too much ballast.

Geoff T.

[Bufferstop]

The 2mm ones weren't available when I got mine but I'm sure they will be strong enough. Brian Kirby used the magnets from kitchen door cabinets, these little ones are in a different league. (Watch your fingers). If you haven't found his original write up its here. Dapol hooks are magnetic, it makes positioning them a bit more critical, but the large Hornby ones just don't like going over the magnets. It wasn't a problem for me as I'd already modified all of my stock to the Bachmann narrow, couplers. On the couple of Hornby locos which had the plastic loop moulded into the chassis I just removed the hooks. I haven't fitted the mod to my coaches apart from the two end bogies in the rake. Helps avoid split trains.

[Dad-1]

HI John,

It's split trains I'm having trouble with on the wire ramps.
Every coupling seems to sit a a fractionally different height, and I mean a fraction that one would not
normally expect to need adjustment.
In adition the side lift is a problem as the hook locating slot seems to vary and some hooks when lifted
from the side rock over in the slot and the effect is to twist lift the lever without lifting the hook enough.
So many variables that while it works well in use in a small number of wagons matched to each other
as a general fleet system it's becoming difficult to get good predictable reliability.

Looking at the magnet way I think it reduces the variables as well as being individually adjustable by
increasing or reducing the ride height of the magnet pickup over the magnets. In addition being on the
centre line it shouldn't cause the twisting I'm getting.

Also found out tonight by experimenting that my slow steam running 9F problems on TSP could well be
shorting on the 'V' rails in my insulated frog points. Once run under a certain speed I get shorts that cut
the DCC system. Bachmann are usually O.K, I knew the Hornby Black 5 shorted as the very old wide tender
wheels ran over the frogs. Built for diesels works with diesels - but it's GOING to run with steam !!

Geoff T.

[Dad-1]

Hi John,

Just ordered a pack of 25, 3 x 3 mm, playing safe with the larger size.
They have twice the pull of the 2 mm and let's face it 3 mm is not large.
I do enjoy trying ideas out ..... and for under £6 posted.

Geoff T.

[Bufferstop]

Hi Geoff, if you get too much pull just drill the hole a little deeper. I needed an extra magnet at one point. I only had an odd 3x9 magnet so I drilled the hole right through and pushed it down until I couldn't detect any drag as the axle went over. Thats how you know you have too much pull, the steel axles stick to the field as you pull the wagon across. I haven't checked the Bachmann axles, but I've seen it stated that in the US they use stainless steel to stop them sticking on the larger KD magnets. The wires for the tails I crimp around the dropper and put a single blob of CA on. When I did the big fitting job I fastened a 1mm rod horizontally in the vice, bent up a stock of wire crimped half a dozen or so, hung them by their hooks on the bar and went along them all with the glue, and left them to set whilst I did the next set of wires.
Have fun
John W