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Welcome to October newsletter.
Once again we have been busy busy busy. We currently have a 2-3
month waiting time for orders. Sorry but there are only two of us
in the workshop most of the time and there is only so much you
can do.
With so much work on the books I am having to
simply work through the orders in chronological order. If you
place an order with me I will/should send you a copy of the
order. If you have not received an order with a number then
please get in touch. There is too much going on to simply
remember what needs to be done.
In The Workshop
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New for 2011 Wood Free Coal Wagon Body
For many years now we have seen the
quality of plywood slowly getting worse. Coupled with the
amount of paint work required, we have been looking at an
alternative. The picture on the left is a coal wagon body
contructed from the resin cored sheet which is faced on
inner and outer faces with a high density plastic. The
routering reveals the inner core.
For us the main advantage is no paint.
For the end use the advantages are numerous - uniform
colour, maintenance free, scratch resistan, to name a
few. Surprisingly it weight about 1/3 more than plywood.
We are hoping to have them ready for
shipping in early January.
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Point Motor After
being quoted £143 a motor, there didn't seem to be a
market. With a new supplier we are now able to supply
these units at £60 each.
- 12v operation
- 50mm throw
- 8mm travel per second
- IP66 rated -weather resistant - (still recommend
to be put in a box)
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Caliper Brakes We are
now shipping 7.25" gauge wagons with a simple disk
brake. This brake has created a considerable interest.
The unit will soon be available at £48.50 each.
Simply pull the lever and the brakes are applied.
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7 1/4" Gauge We are firmly committed to producing 7 1/4"
gauge products.
October is going to be taken up
producing a 7 1/4" gauge train set for an exhibition
complex in Northern Ireland. Initially the package is for
a loco and two coaches.
More news on this order will follow as
production proceeds.
The picture on the left shows the size
of the new bogies with 5" gauge Hercules bogies in
front to show a sense of scale. Our new 7.25" gauge
loco will be based on these bogies.
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Part of the Northern Ireland package is to provide a
track system that can be simply laid out and lifted in a
mater of minutes. Our solution is a two part connector
which is permentaly mounted on the track panel ends. Not
only does it hold the panels square it also means the
panels are easily connected with two 8mm bolts.
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Customer Specials Yes Andrena does still work for the company.
With Jasper now in full time school, she has had more
time for painting coaches. This one was to a customers
supplied Dulux colour codes.
Not knowing what the colours were until
we opened the tins, the coach looks to be the old Isle of
Man colour scheme.
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This coach was in response to a request for a
continetal style looking coach. Still based on a standard
coach length it has two balconies which required the
chassis sides to be trimmed. |
Middleton Garden Railway Open Day
A big thanks to all those who came. Once again
at one time we had 7 trains running. The predicted bad weather
never materialised and we had a lovely busy day. Only managed to
clock up 633 trains.
Once again I only took a couple of pictures.
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| Thanks to Simon and Ryan who
were brave enough to take out a 13 coach/wagon train.
They soon learnt that regenerative braking is good enough
to bring off the train. |
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It was also nice to have a visiting steam
train. Once again a Sweet Pea which Michael made look
simple to drive. Unlike some other visiting steamers it
slotted in with out adding any hold ups. You simply
can't beat the smell of a traditional steam train.
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7 1/4" Gauge AGM
Having joined the 7 1/4" Gauge Society and advertised in
their journal, I was invited to set up a trade stand at their
AGM. The venue this year was the Echills Wood Railway. There are
plenty of websites with information about the railway but I would
say WOW. It is simply amazing especially as it is less than 5
years old.
If you haven't visited then do.
Other Work
As a change from designing trains, I designed
and built a replacement verrandah for my parents. The orginal was
made of timber and had already been replaced after the storms of
1987. Not wanting to replace it again we opted for steel
construction. Work not only included sourcing the columns and
glazing bars, but also the design of the wall plate and front
brackets.
And Finally
- 10 years of Ride on Railways - October 3rd 2000 was the
date I registered the web address www.rideonrailways.co.uk
- Next month I will do a 10 years on article.
- All pictures this month were taken on my camera phone. It
is so much better than lugging a camera around. Not as
good quality but I hope they prove good enough for this
site. For a £50 phone I am very impressed. The other
phone was playing up which turned out that it was full of
iron filings.
All the best for now - Paul
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