Cottam tram fleet

[Dtsteam]

Having just done some work on my red tram and trailer I thought I'd start an occasional thread to run through the tram fleet. Nothing exciting really, but its a good incentive for me to give 'em an overhaul.

Its fair to say that the first tram and trailer had been on the shelf for a while......

Years ago I had a go at painting up bits of the standard trams to try and bring out the detail.
This one was made out of a trailer and a pile of odd bits, but it never ran particularly well and was shelved

Well finally I decided to have a go at it today. The running problem was finally resolved - the underframe was thirty years old and the motor block more recent, and the mouldings were catching on the pickups.

Having fixed it with a bit of minor surgery, I then wasted another hour pratting about with the DCC until I realised that a track bond had failed :wits: Anyway I printed some vinyl stickers...

...and tarted up the tram & trailer a bit, ready for testing :

 

[trammayo]

The pair look really nice - I'm always interested in trams - look forward to further postings on the subject.

Your printing of vinyl stickers intrigued me - is there any special equipment needed?
I have to resort to printing out on (inkjet) photo paper and applying clear laquer - and moisture eventually bleeds the inks in the long term.

 

[Dtsteam]

I'd tried laminating, varnishing and anything else you can think of, and they all break down too quickly. I tried Greg Hunters method of laser printing in reverse onto clear film, then sealing it with paint, and that worked really well. Trouble is, it was costing me 3 quid a sheet, and I didn't have much control over the printing. In the end I invested £99 in a cheap dell laser, and reasoned that as long as I got 200 sheets out of the startup toner it would be worth it. It turned out that the printer was a big noisy office model, and so far in three years we've had nearly 2000 sheets out of it, but the toner is beginning to go. For stickers I print onto something called "Waterproof paper with marine adhesive" - this is the stuff I've used : http://www.labelplanet.co.uk/proddetail.php?prod=LP1/210MWP
I've also started doing my artwork in Powerpoint2010 and I've been able to get dimensional accurate results - tell it to draw a 13mm square and thats what prints - for the first time.
HEALTH WARNING : do not try this at home without supervision - printing stickers is addictive and you can end up with pages of useless tat.

Though I do have to say I am rather fond of my Selecta machines - though what the other people on the platform at Wigan thought of a bloke taking pictures of the original vending machine I shall never know.

 

[themole]

Nice pictures, David.....keep them coming.. Alyn

 

[trammayo]

Thanks David - I've bookmarked the page. I have two inkjet printersand probably cannot justify a laser one. My brother has offer to print the odd thing for me on his laser so might give it some consideration when the time arrives! Sounds as though you got a bargain with the Dell

I haven't used Powerpoint yet - I use Word and don't "snap to grid" which means I can place things where I want them rather than follow Microsoft's pre-ordained ways!

 

[Railfan]

David, from the last picture, it appears that the Cottam Strassenbahn goes to San Francisco! Is that true? If so, what is the schedule as SF is only 45 miles north of me?

 

[Dtsteam]

Well spotted George ! I had run out of plausible, if fictitious, names so this board is announcing the 12:37 Inter Regio to :
San Francisco - 'cos I had a fridge magnet with a cable car on
Chorizo - in said fridge
Nuneaton - where the chorizo came from

Who says G scalers are mad ?

 

[KeithT]

Well spotted George ! I had run out of plausible, if fictitious, names so this board is announcing the 12:37 Inter Regio to :
San Francisco - 'cos I had a fridge magnet with a cable car on
Chorizo - in said fridge
Nuneaton - where the chorizo came from

Who says G scalers are mad ?

"Versatile" is a word I prefer..............

 

[KeithT]

Having fixed it with a bit of minor surgery, I then wasted another hour pratting about with the DCC until I realised that a track bond had failed :wits:

Nothing to do with lumbering K27s I trust.

 

[tramcar trev]

Very nice titivating there....
Has anyone put a trolley pole on an LGB tram as my layout I have stupidly designed for Trolley pole or battery and these come up on ebay at sensible prices at times...

 

[themole]

I have in the past Trev, but as of now all 4wheel cars are pantograph or bow collectors. I still have four Pearly Thomas streetcars (LGB) fitted with working trolley polls though. Alyn

 

[Dtsteam]

Next up is Tram 57 - again a mash up from a pile of bits. I was given the clerestory complete with brass trolley plank & bow collector, then waited 20 years to get something to hold it up. The lower body moulding came next but it was damaged, so it was skinned over with some 10 thou plastikard. The underframe & dashes came from a '2 into 1' bogie conversion done by a friend of mine. It really only got finished when Warenrich started selling mouldings on Ebay, and I could get the missing bits. Well, it actually got finished about three days before the workers visit to Ruritania last year !

 

[trammayo]

Nice job! That really was a long-term plan that reached fruition

 

[themole]

It comes to those that wait!!! very fine rebuild. Alyn