Bob Symes presents a stage by stage how to video on building a model layout from off the shelf materials including track, buildings and rolling stock. Built in N Gauge scale by Dave Lowry. #modelrailways #modelrailways #trains #bobsymes
Dave Lowry is still alive and kicking and was once commissioned to build the EWS bogie coal hoppers in O gauge for EWS to show what they'd look like. He had a friend make the wagons in brass in kit form for Dave to assemble and paint. At the time Dave worked for Emap Active which produced among others Model Rail Magazine. Dave's preferred scale these days is O gauge modern image. If he can't get the diesel he wants then he makes the locos from brass kits sourcing the most powerful motor he can get.
Love these old videos. Wish I could have met bob and Robert symes. But that would have never happened because I was born in 1995 and they died well before that as far as I know.
THE NEM PROBLEM !!! One word of warning ! The layout seen in the above programme, was built by Dave Lowry, just prior to the NEM Conference held in Germany. Which introduced new refined standards in track, wheel treads, flanges & profiles; coupling pockets & some other items. For ALL European manufacturers in OO/HO scales, who attended the conference !!! Out went code 100 track (100/1000ths of an inch high rail) & in came Code 75 track (75/1000ths of an inch high rail). This also required wheel tread width to be reduced & more importantly wheel flange depth to be reduced. Along with a new Radius profile (RP25) for the curve between wheel tread & flange ! What this all means, is that if you mix old code 100 track with modern Code 75 rolling stock, or vica versa, you WILL experience more derailments, particularly through point work !!!! NOTE: The USA uses a different set of measurements based on code 83 (83/1000ths of an inch high rail) & it's therefore not advised to mix U.S track or rolling stock with European/British products, as some minor problems will occur. Further it has to be said that because Hornby failed to attend the Conference (but British PECO did), Hornby have still not fully woken up to what NEM means technically. So Hornby's track is still code 100, but as their locomotives are made by PIKO (ex East German model manufacturer) in their new Canton PRC factory. Hornby's locos have modern refined code 75 wheelsets ! Just to add insult to injury, Hornby locomotive wheels although code 75, have their back to back measurements set for code 100 measurements, so the wheels are fractionally too close together on each axle ! Hornby carriages & wagons come from a different plant, and match all Code 75 standards, so no problems there. The solution is to use Peco code 75 track, not Hornby code 100 track. And obtain a Code 75 "Back to Back Gauge". Normally a brass block, which is then gently forced between the wheels to simply widen the gap to match the code 75 track & rolling stock. If everything is code 75, you will experience far fewer spurious derailments. Happy modelling
