Newbie N Gauge questions - with apologies/please be kind!

[crewearpley40]

Agree with Martin on the cricket


Maybe a small stream or house with a garden pond.


https://osbornsmodels.com/osbfn065-n-gauge-cricket-match-painted-51559-p.asp
Cricket figures

https://www.trainshop.co.uk/scenery-n-/13997-cricket-sight-board-and-portable-score-board-n-scale-1148th.html

[ntpntpntp]

@bwj  so the platform you wish to extend is/was a plastic kit?  Any branding on the underside? 

Graham Farish and Minitrix used to offer platform pieces in plastic.  Several European manufacturers also offer platforms as plastic kits but they tend to be a different style and lower than UK N.

More recently there have been platform segments in moulded resin.

Post a photo and someone may recognise your platform's origins and where you might find more?

[Newportnobby]

If you're modelling just for fun and not trying to be prototypically correct, I suggest you just run imaginary (or real) trains round your track plan to see if they do what you want them to do. This helps you locate points where they are meaningful rather than just for the heck of it. With tunnels, make sure they're long enough to hide your longest train (no nose and tails poking out here, doncha know). As for the corners, just use them to create scenic hills, perhaps with a ruined castle sat on top.
If you're running purely DCC it doesn't matter if you drive a train into a dead end siding as you can run a loco onto the other end and haul the train out. Not so easy with DC but it can be done.
Just have fun!

[bwj]

Thanks all for the quick and constructive suggestions; I love this forum 



The 35mm width platform I bought in an eBay job lot with many of the other buildings. There are no manufacturer markings or even initials on them. They appear to be complete items rather than a kit. I can always adapt to a standard available size, but shame to waste stuff and it fits very well with my layout!




Very rough layout of the cricket pitch illustrated and I thought it was roughly to scale at 6cm legnth of the square.

I was very wrong - a full size cricket square is 20.12m legnth, which at 1:160 scale is 12.6cm long or 13.6cm at 1:148 scale! I guess I could squeeze that down to 10cm and still make it seem realistic.

For info there is a useful scale calculator here: https://scale-calculator.com/

[port perran]

As for the corners.

Are you having a back board/side boards?

If so, the rear corners can be absorbed into a backscene eg, as @Newportnobby says, with hills rising up from track level.

The front corners could be eg a town park with stone walls, fencing or hedges separating the park from the tracks.

A warehouse, with its leading edge at the front of the base board would work ok in the other corner.

Just a few ideas.....the world is your oyster.

Have fun.

Cheers
Martin

[ntpntpntp]

@bwj    ok so definitely not Graham Farish platforms as the examples I have are branded underneath and the white lines are wider than yours.      I think yours are probably Hornby Minitrix - look at the photos in this old ebay listing (though sadly they don't show the underside)

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/286751458388

[bwj]

Thanks ntpntpntp

After a bit of hunting I found that Gaugemaster Kestrel have these 35mm wide platforms. Perhaps not exactly the same as what I already have but I will paint the whole platform legnth anyway

https://www.gaugemasterretail.com/kestrel-gmkd16-straight-platforms.html

[bwj]

After my Farish Class 350 toppled from an elevated line I've lost the part illustrated in the photo - the clip that holds the coupling to the bogie.

Anyone able to help with the part no/if they're supplied seperately or in kits with the coupling. Nothing immediately obvious on the Bachmann Spares website!

 

[njee20]

You may do better to start new threads with wholly unrelated requests, rather than keeping a running register of queries.

It's an NEM pocket, I don't think Farish do them separately. Dapol do in packets of 10 (IIRC), but you may need to glue in the replacement, it depends how it was retained on the 350.

[ntpntpntp]

as @njee20 says, better to start a new thread for a new question.

Anyway, this *might* fit if you remove the "whiskers".   How is the pocket fixed to the bogie - you may need to glue in the replacement

https://ingaugeltd.com/shop/generic-n-rapido-coupling-pocket-pair/

[bwj]

Thanks both

I thought it useful to continue a thread with the continuing problems that crop up for newbies but will bear in mind in future.

The NEM pockets are the part name I was looking for. The Farish variety have two dimples on the lower side that clip into the bogies. I'll add a photo when I can

[njee20]

But with all due respect this isn't a newbie problem per se, and a newbie isn't going to scroll through pages of various questions just to see if you've had the same problem. A thread entitled "Farish 350 coupling pocket" would be much more helpful for future reference

Is it actually that bogie you've lost the pocket from? Because that's the end coach, and you only need the pocket there if you want to run the units in multiple. The motor bogie is a totally different design, I think that may have a moulded coupling mount. The other coaches are all kinematic mounts IIRC. I don't think you'll find the specific design of pocket Farish use; although I'm sure they use it on a few models. Best bet, if 1) you're certain it's lost and 2) you definitely need it is probably ntp's solution, and to just glue it in place.

[bwj]

Thanks @njee20 - all noted for future posts

The part pictured is the bogie for a non motorised coach. I've ordered a pair for another coach that wasn't running freely ... should be able to borrow the necessary clip from the old bogies then.

[njee20]

I realise - hence saying it's one of the outer coach bogies. They have that very long shank coupling. So as I said you don't need the coupling unless you want to run a pair of 350s.

You've ordered a spare pair of 350 bogies? I think the only ones with pockets like those are the two outermost ones on the unit. There are no couplings at all on the other bogies. If they're bogies for a different unit they likely won't have the exact same part.

That's also a bit of a 'sledgehammer to crack a walnut' outcome, poor running can likely be sorted by checking the wheels are adequately seated, or even tweaking the frames slightly.

[bwj]

Thanks again @njee20

The 350 by Farish is a 4 car set which has two dummy driving cars which have no coupling at the front, a motorised coach, and regular coach that needs the clip to hold the coupler in place - by a Christmas miracle I've found the clip on the garage floor, so just to re-install it now!

Again advice appreciated but I've done every check possible on the coach that doesn't run freely. A repair job on it had been botched in my view and the miniscule holes in which the axles sit had been ground out/enlarged, so replacement the only option in the end!