Jump to content
 

Leaderboard

Popular Content

Showing content with the highest reputation on 11/08/21 in all areas

  1. The gunpowder vans make an unusual sight trundling along the line. Transfers have now arrived so I will be able to finish the furthest one and complete the weathering.
    23 points
  2. Another day trip to Switzerland. We start with a photo at Andermatt on the Furka Oberalp Bahn (as it then was) before moving on to the Ratische Bahn (RhB) at Filisur to see another metre gauge loco. The remaining photos are in what may be less familiar locations to those of you who have visited Switzerland. We move to north east Switzerland, first to Appenzell to look at another metre gauge line, the Appenzeller Bahnen followed by a quick look at Speicher on the Trogener Bahn which runs from St Gallen to Trogen. Lastly there are three photos on the other RHB in Switzerland, the Rorhshach Heiden Bergbahn which is a rack assisted standard gauge line, now part of the Appenzeller Bahnen group. Andermatt FO HGe4/4 36 eastbound 28th July 92 C17107 Filisur Ge4/4ii 601 Filisur to Davos 29th July 92 C17126 Appenzell Sitter viaduct BDeh4/4 St Gallen to Appenzell 31st July 92 C17234 Speicher TB BDe4/8 21 St Gallen to Trogen 2nd Aug 92 C17292 Heiden ABDeh2/4 2nd Aug 92 C17307 Heiden 2nd Aug 92 C17309 Heiden RHB Dzeh2/4 21 2nd Aug 92 C17300 David
    20 points
  3. So now to the stock of the 9.47, in its Friday incarnation. Just MK1 at the front, but gets much more interesting futher along.
    19 points
  4. Being involved in getting one of the smaller shows going for the beginning of September (South Notts on 4th and 5th at Cotgrave) there are a lot of things we have had to balance. Firstly- we can't know what the infection rate will be and whether Boris will have one of his newly-empowered "Circuit-breaker" lockdowns in place. Yes he has said he hopes not to use them but... At the start of September the rate is likely to be at its lowest, but by November who knows? Our insurers won't cover a lockdown cancellation and I suspect it is no different for Warley. Secondly- we have no idea how many will brave an event given the papers (such as the report in the mail earlier in this thread) are veering wildly from telling us to get out and ignore the consequences and scouring hospitals for scare stories amongst the small number of vaccinated people the virus is still managing to kill. Thirdly we have had to reduce the size of the show to make wider gangways and a workable one-way system in two areas that have been dead ends in previous years. Smaller show leads to lower entry price leads to less income per punter. Fourthly we have had to cut costs down to a minimum in case hardly anyone turns up - eight of the twelve layouts are club or club member layouts that attract no expenses and the other four are local and small- ie reasonable in space requirements and the amount of expenses we will have to pay out (though they were chosen for quality first). We can ASK for masks but once the punter is through the door we can not enforce masks. We can also ask for proof of double-jabbed status but can't enforce it- and how do we know that proof is genuine? Our venue (a club) has been informed that they can try to refuse entry but there is no backup in case of non-compliance. Yes the police will step in - once someone has been assaulted. We have also had to invest (not before time) in a contactless payment system for the door and perspex screens for the cash desk. Getting the contactless system to work has been a bit of a nightmare, and training people to use it is ongoing. One consequence of the two points above is that we haven't enough people left over for a club sales stand so that has been jettisoned. Again less income. Add in that we have to find space (outside if the weather holds) for seating for refreshments to keep the caterers happy, find someone to go round handrails and push plates etc with sanitiser and wipes at regular intervals it is a much bigger job this year to organise a much smaller show, and pull in guest stewards/operators from neighbouring clubs. As a newly-retired show manager I can say the problems don't double as the size of the show doubles- the increase is nearer a factor of four. Warley is at least 20 times the size of South Notts Show. I'm not surprised it has been cancelled this year. In the position of the Warley organisers I would have done the same. We were lucky in 2020. Cancelling that show with 2 weeks to go only cost us about £600. Some of that has since been recouped by sticking items from the club sales pile onto eBay. Les
    18 points
  5. Needs some fettling but the basic idea works the ‘hump’ at the base of the operating rod is roughly the height of the ballast, hopefully will stop me getting ballast/glue on it
    16 points
  6. Jim’s canopy has now gone together. The etches assembled very easily (Jim had already done the hard work on the beams). The structure was quite rigid, but desperately fragile at this stage. The ends were made from Evergreen planked styrene and black styrene pads for the roof eaves added, which also serve as gutters. Getting a bit more protected now, with the ends in place. The glazing was guillotined to the exact tight fit between the ends and scribed for the glazing bars. The whole assembly has now become quite strong. Roof slates were also attached, using Slaters sheet; heavily sanded, of course. This view will be difficult to get on the layout, but shows the finesse of Jim’s etches. The canopy valance was from a Scalelink etch: the last time I used this was on Luton Hoo station 40 years ago! Just a rough snap showing the positioning of the canopy across the main shed end. It will need fettling in to the main structure with suitable flashing and the I beam legs making to support it. I will try this new building out on the whole board tomorrow. To say I am pleased with it is an understatement; thank you Jim. Tim
    16 points
  7. With John @checkrail posting it was good timing as it was his inspirational photo on SC that made me take this shot of Star class 4012 Knight of the thistle . A straight tank small prairie 4547 sits in the sunshine awaiting being attached to the branch B set.
    14 points
  8. SO, what have I been up to today. Well I started by building the Fiddle Yard Support Frame............................T W I C E. Basically I built it from some smooth round edge timer I had in the loft, and then decided that that would be better used on top of the Fiddle Yard to protect Stock from falling on the floor, and reduce the chance of me getting splinters. So I re made the Frame, and then Built the Fiddle Yard, There is still one more cross member to go in the centre yet, and the Locating Dowels to fit to the end. So for those that like pics, here are some from today.
    14 points
  9. Hello everyone Congratulations to Sonic on this announcement. The class has been High Polling in the 00 Wishlist Polls since 2013. We wish them every success with the project! Brian (on behalf of the 00 Poll Team)
    14 points
  10. I have never pre-ordered anything so quickly in my life. Even made me end my run of lurking!
    14 points
  11. I have unleashed the genie out of the bottle ! Not content with the painted bathroom because the boss wants everything given a second coat of paint before WE start the kitchen ! I am not sure where she gets the idea about me wanting a pristine ideal home from some magazine because when I we met I lived in a terraced house without curtains and newspaper at the windows with old furniture from the local tip. I didn't have a television but I had 2 motorbikes and 3 pedal bikes with enough railway books to fill a library. But she lived in a new build 3 bedroom detached house that we now live in. Quess who lost when it came to where we were going to live once we got married . We must have done something right because we are still here and laugh about most things. Anyway I have managed to fit nearly half of the rivets before paint stopped play. I have nearly run out of rivets so there is another order on the way from Historex. I haven't counted how many holes there is in this tank but I won't be making another anytime soon.
    14 points
  12. As an aside, we now have a second Pug. I managed to acquire a new body for my original pug. Swapping the chassis this evening was an adventure but sorted. And it runs very well indeed. 51235 despite appearances was another Eastern Region loco............There's a pattern emerging here.
    14 points
  13. @polybear I found him - in the garage messing with the O Gauge. Fur everywhere.
    13 points
  14. Life has kind of got in the way of modelling over the last few weeks, but today I found time and inclination to make a bit more progress with the Steam Railmotor... Todays task was to fit the motor unit into the underframe, and although no modelling had taken place in the last 2-3 weeks I had at least formed a plan on what I was going to do! The first thing I noticed was that the bogie spacing on the underframe wasn't quite right - the bogie spacing seemed to be 52'0" (104mm) whereas the diagram I had in Russell's GWR coach book showed 50'11" (as near as damn it 102mm). Unfortunately, I had already fitted the bolster for the coach bogie at the other end of the coach, so I had to make the adjustment at the motor end. Therefore a new 1mm hole was drilled 2mm inboard of the one already there. During my deliberations, I had decided that the best way to fit the motor bogie was to provide a pivot in the top of the gear block, although this meant that some form of fixing would be required up in the roof space. My idea was to provide a cantilevered pivot point above the motor bogie, and shape it so that the supports for said structure would be hidden behind the side panels between the engine compartment window. The first step was to tack solder a length of 1mm rod up through the newly drilled bogie pivot point so that I could ensure that the cantilevered support would be in the right place. I also made a start on the cutout as once the cantilevered support was in place it would be awkward to cut around it. (I do plan ahead sometimes!! ) Next a piece of 0.010" nickel silver was fretted and filed to shape, having first established its dimensions so that it was a) tall enough, b) wide enough and most importantly c) the upright supports would be hidden by the side panels. Once it was bent to shape, a 1mm hole was drilled centrally for the pivot point. Additionally, although not strictly necessary I also shaped it a bit to look a little prettier The support was then slipped over the vertical rod, and a check made that its legs fell between the marks I had made on the underframe that delineated the area on the coach side where the panels were. Happy, I soldered the cantilevered support in place and unsoldered and removed the sighting rod. It was then a simple task to introduce the piercing saw into the holes around the new support and remove an area of floor to accommodate the motor bogie. With the floor removed, the motor bogie could be temporarily bolted to its cantilevered support so I could check the clearances. For the time being, I've had to pack it up a bit because the crank pins were catching on the solebars under test. Finally, the body was dropped on! Satisfied that everything fit, it was taken to Modbury and given a bit of a test ... Thank you for looking, Ian
    13 points
  15. 13 points
  16. I'll get the ball rolling 1 .wrong gauge , 2 its 2 hours out of my time period 3 linings wrong and badge poorly defined 4 too expensive 5 why have they made this when I need something else 6 why produce this when I can scratch build it in a few years anyway . 7 etc 8 blah blah 9 Vertappen never drove it
    13 points
  17. Alsager, NSR, 22 July 1984.
    13 points
  18. A look at Persimmon moving away from the camera. We will look at what is behind the tender tomorrow.
    13 points
  19. Not much chance of that today Dave, its miserable out. However, just for you.... Note the glimpse of the legendary, but seldom photographed Manx kipper express van.....
    12 points
  20. Here are some pics showing progress with my LNWR 19" Goods, but first a pic of my magnifier/ lamp. Trying to keep the lamp in the desired position proved increasingly difficult and eventually the thread on the screw nearest the magnifier sheared, so I used string(!) to keep it in place. This worked for a while until one of the arms sheared completely as I straightened or bent the two arms during set-up. As I can't work without some help from a magnifier, and haven't been able to for many years, I had to rig something up so the Heath Robinson set up shown is what I now use. It looks rubbish but at least I can see what I am doing. The pics below show the initial stages in fixing the handrail along the ejector pipes. I've had to do this before on several other LNWR locos, but for some reason this time I really struggled to get the shape just right. The third attempt seemed finally to fit correctly round the front of the smokebox and along the sides of the ejector pipes. One of the difficulties is keeping the bent-up wire (10 thou spring steel, annealed) in place at one point while offering it up on the other side of the boiler, but bits of blu-tac helped. This shows the right-hand side with the wire soldered in place. The left side with the wire just about tack soldered near the front of the ejector pipe. The front of the handrail (just about visible) following the circumference of the smokebox. Once the wire had been tacked in place i could squeeze it here and there to improve the fit. Strictly speaking the ejector and handrail should be held in place with a series of knobs along the length of the boiler, but life is too short for me to do that, and on prototype pics those knobs are hardly visible. Nigel Hunt
    12 points
  21. On the subject of local wildlife, yesterday evening we went bat watching. Our guide handed out written questions to selected members of the group me included, to be read out at the given moment for us to discuss an aspect of batty life and batty facts. I had question 9, and having read it out loud in Polish, for that was the language in which it was writ, a 3 year old girl applauded. That and the bats were the highlights of yesterday. Andy
    12 points
  22. Bit of a change from the previous pictures, bridge OXD10AA is now in place, unfortunately I didn't get the chance to go up on to the old bridge to get a better picture showing the install progress
    12 points
  23. Indeed. They should be asked to postpone for a week to get everyone's juices going first!
    12 points
  24. I think I actually preferred the “ it’s too expensive for me “ part of the thread, than the Willy waving “ my loco is more popular than yours “ bit !
    12 points
  25. Over the last few days I've had intermittent problems with the forum being very slow to load (sometimes failing) and navigating using the internal links similarly problematical. Both have about a 50% success rate which means that getting to a particular topic is only about 25% successful. The same problem manifests itself on both the pc (windows 8) and my laptop (windows 10) both using firefox.
    11 points
  26. We see our little bundle of cuteness on Sundays, as we join with No #1 daughter for a walk around the local NT property. I usually get to feed him with milk, so for the time being the interaction is most pleasant. They are booked here for the Xmas meal, so at around 8 months old he should be a bundle of fun.
    11 points
  27. We went to the 'HooZoo' and their 'Hoorasic World' Dinosaur park. The Grandchildren loved it, I was less impressed remembering when it was good old 'Hoo Farm' and cost a lot less! The mention of 'Hoo Farm' always brought on the rain, so perhaps the change in the title was in a vain attempt to get better weather. Having been there, as I mentioned to Dave in a PM after we got back, a cup of tea was not going to be sufficient and a glass of whisky would definitely be more soothing and beneficial. I got tea, so still need some considerable and soothing. The place is crying out for a 7.25" gauge railway!
    11 points
  28. NORTH EASTERN KITS LNER F8 More details added, most notably the smokebox door. Now I have to fabricate a smokebox door handle and add the last small etches and more handrails, a few more castings and then do all of the 'plumbing' for the Westinghouse pump, vacuum pipes, etc. Now, perhaps, this is unmistakeably an F8. Cheers Mike
    11 points
  29. The mention of Eccles cake always makes me laugh remembering when when we went cycling down south and my brother went into a shop and asked for some Eccles cakes only to be asked what are Eccles cakes ? He replied that they are like Chorley cakes only flatter !
    11 points
  30. Where's envious button when you need it? When I was a nipper and didn't know that there was such a place as Eccles, I honestly thought that the Eccles cake was named after the Spike Milligan character. Dave
    11 points
  31. Hope its not available immediately . I need 4 years to budget for it.
    11 points
  32. Infrequent visitor; a half-tidy Nine viewed from the road bridge.
    11 points
  33. I have just been showing David Geen, with his vast amount of data, the photograph. From his information 5573 is only half way through the shunt. It is not pushing back onto a east bound express as the platform is empty. When clear of the crossover, the shunter/signalman will unclip the points and clip the set on the up line. The points to the up refuge(up loop by this time) which will be set for the loop and also clipped. 5573 will then pull the stock wrong line, into the up refuge/loop. The points will be un-clipped and the road set for an up express. When the up express arrives,the shunter/signalman will indicate to the express crew when the last coach is clear of the up refuge points. Then points from the up refuge will be cleared and the trap points clipped. The shunter/signalman will wave the Kingsbridge portion onto the back of the express. As the driver does not have a clear view, the fireman will stand on the down main relaying instructions from the shunter/signalman to the driver to enable the Kingsbridge portion to buffer up to the back of the express. Once coupled, the tail lamp will be moved to the coach coupled to 5573, which will now be uncoupled. If time, the corridor connections will be connected but often the connecting doors were locked out to save time and connected at Newton Abbott where there was usually a more generous stop time.. Once cleared by the guard, the express will depart with the Kingsbridge section attached (note some of this portion will still be on the up refuge/loop when departing). When the section is cleared 5573 will be allowed back into the platform. The up refuge trap points will then be un-clipped and the shunter/signalman will return to the box. If the down main is clear 5573 will be allowed to shunt back into the Kingsbridge platform. I hope this all makes sense. David demonstrated all this on his Brent layout. Mike Wiltshire
    10 points
  34. A Little Diversion..... Yesterday we had a "Crew Jolly" to Chester to visit the Catherdral and "Making Tracks", Pete Waterman's massive 00 model of the West Coast Mainline. Not quite all of it. After a brief shopping trip to the Chester Model Centre - a very well stocked emporium - it was time for lunch. Carluccio's was excellent. Short walk got us to the Cathedral which was comfortably busy. Pete's never short of words. He has quite strong views of the future of traditional exhibitions which is a subject we'll allmany of us will have to address. (Sad to hear that Warley has been cancelled again, along with Guildex and the Manchester show.) The layout ran very well whilst we were there, with Pete and his team augmented by Cathedral volunteers. The fiddle yard is only eight roads, but it holds a large number of trains. The view along the front fails to give a good impression of the size. Well worth a visit if you get the chance. That was a great day out................. Steve.
    10 points
  35. Get there early. You only get the Telf brigade at that time. After lunch, and the residents of Wolverhampton, Doodloy and the rest of the Black Country turn up. You could always leave Jill and the kids at HZ and call around for an urgent operational meeting. In fact if Jill dropped you off and picked you up afterwards, I could share my bottle of Penderyn with you. 'We had burgers for lunch Grandad, what did you have?' 'Lalalalalalalalalahic'
    10 points
  36. Here is one on the Master Cutler: 69828_Cutler_Amersham_7-4-49a by Robert Carroll, on Flickr
    10 points
  37. As I'm on the PC I've just noticed your signature. Interestingly whilst working out what depth I needed to drop the signal to achieve the required height the answer in millimeters was actually 42
    10 points
  38. Just to keep up to date regarding the kit sales. There are a few more to sort out and check. Which means I'll need to attend to those. I'll be busy over the next few days doing other things - writing/subbing/proof-reading/photographing products - which means I'll not be showing any more from the collection until next week. They'll include DJH A2s, some J15s, L1s, a 76XXX, two 78XXXs, several WDs, a J19, two K3s and a few others. It's pointless expressing an interest in any of these until they've all been checked and I can put a price on them. Then, it'll be first come, first served (which seems to be working so far, and thanks to everyone for understanding this). To conclude: I was rather disingenuous by implying that over £2,000.000 had been sent to CRUK as a percentage of kit sales. The figure also includes monies raised from donated models and also general donations from visitors (at last, again!) viewing Little Bytham. My thanks to all for their generosity.
    10 points
  39. Today I will be mostly driving The local wildlife has been warned by the authorities. Andy
    10 points
  40. Gday! Starting my new layout and found this thing I made a few years ago. Bachmann Ben cut down and shrunk as much as I possibly could (It is still too large) and have it still working to turn it into something more like the real Alfred or Judy. Pretty much made a new and shortened cab out of sheet styrene. Could still do a lot more to it but I should probably build the layout first. Cheers! Ben
    10 points
  41. Here is the start of what will probably be the layout I have for the remainder of my days. It's based on ideas from the Miami Downtown Spur and Eastrail concepts plus some scrutinising of Google maps. I haven't yet decided what all the industries will be but I love tank cars so will probably have Sentry Industries and something that requires corn syrup or similar products. Where the loco is disappearing around the corner will be a sector plate with some lines running back towards the aisle, perpendicular to the main run to represent the main where the train would be so that the loco can shuttle back and forth to get the cars. The section in front of the cupboard door slides out to allow access and I will be mounting a backscene and valance on the boards to help produce the right ambiance (and hopefully facilitate night time ops sessions down the line).
    9 points
  42. A steady day today. Many that followed Seven Mills may remember me saying that I often wandered into The POD about 9-30am, sat on my perch, surveyed the scene, went in for coffee at 11, and that was it most days. Well today, I was out there about 9-30 as always, and apart from half an hour taking Her Ladyship to the Doctors, I've been out there all day until 17-45pm. I didn't even stop for Lunch, just grabbed a coffee and biscuit at 11. Really enjoying all the new found energy and enthusiasm.
    9 points
  43. This week sees the start on a David Andrews 'Jubilee' kit. Nothing new, I've built a few in the past and there are photos of them on these pages.
    9 points
  44. We are due for an invasion of small pink terrorists starting on Sunday and lasting for a lifetime five days and I have a nasty feeling that Hoo Zoo is on the agenda at some stage. I don't suppose that I will get either whisky or sympathy either. Dave, shortly to be renamed Grumpy Grampy for the duration of the SPT invasion.
    9 points
  45. For such a young ER'er you have a very devious streak. Shows great promise - welcome to the club....
    9 points
  46. Ask and ye shall receive, yes she's a bit jerky at slow speeds, no problem when going faster, hopefully some running will help that, but she did get a repaint by someone else before I had her (although not a lot of running, so I still don't think she is run in) and they also painted the con rods, so I don't know if that has anything to do with it, I shall have to try removing it. yes she is the Hornby model, obviously the biggest change I have made is the removal of the cab, and the dumb buffers, She has acquired a number since my video the other day, also known as me sticking the DCC address on the side in nice large numbers so I can read it! The livery is Humbrol number 25 blue, with Phoenix Precision LBSCR Marsh Umber around the edges of the panels, and Fox Transfers white-black-white lining. The name is from my K's Lion kit (Lion wearing the name Thunderbolt instead). Next job, add a crew, which will be from Andy Stadden's Victorian Loco Crew range. Gary
    9 points
  47. Damn, missed you today. I too was out and about. First of all at Lincoln Road they now have permanent bollards and gate posts installed. On the old Hurn Road access. And the spoil at Hurn Road is also being removed. A view across what can be seen of the site from Hurn Road footbridge. And the path alongside the field at Hurn Road footbridge links with the EA access road. And a view looking south on the west side of the ECML. Back at Lincoln Road it looks as if the up line has been stressed now, nice fresh welds and a sleeper marked "Pull Point". Finally down to Cock Lane the spillway from a slightly higher viewpoint. Looking south along the dive under lines the AWS ramp on the down line is visible at the bottom of the frame. Looking north the AWS ramp is, again, visible. The ballast on the up line is quite deep and covers the sleepers fully as well as just about anything else within 10' or so of the outer rail, the nice walkway by the telephone cabinet for the signal is buried in ballast. And just past the signal in the dive under ramp on the down line there appears to be an axle counter or similar.
    9 points
×
×
  • Create New...