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Joseph_Pestell

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Posts posted by Joseph_Pestell

  1. In our French village, the11 November ceremony took place late afternoon. I think that the timing is based round the aperitif at the Mairie afterwards.

     

    Attendance was always good. This is mainly because of a large number of veterans of the war in Algeria (ended 1962) who have a very well- organised  association (FNACA). But they must be declining in numbers now.

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  2. On 23/09/2022 at 20:18, New Haven Neil said:

    Ian is able to inject character into his layouts, seeming at will - not all of us are so able!

     

    The circular layout really did something for me, and I only recall seeing one more elsewhere, a SR 3rd rail electric job.  Oh, Robin Hood's Bay too I suppose, but that was/is huge!

     

    I have only just come across this interesting thread.

     

    MidEssex MRC had a lovely circular layout (Blackwell Brewery). I can't quite date it - failing memory - but it may have predated Glen Douglas.

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  3. 16 hours ago, Asterix2012 said:

    Tandem 3 way points were not uncommon, I believe the symmetrical ones were very unusual.

     

    Of course practice would vary between companies particularly pre grouping.

     

    Symmetrical 3-way points limited to slow-speed locations (eg goods yards) as both wheels on an axle will tend to drop into the crossing - causing rough running.

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  4. 15 hours ago, corneliuslundie said:

    I have yet to see a wind turbine modelled on a layout. There's a first for someone.

    But probably in a high ceilinged room.

    On the other hand Peter Denny modelled a gas works. And they need mineral wagons.

    Though not actually on HS2 of course, but using the capacity freed up? Perhaps not.

    Howzat! Back on topic.

    Jonathan

     

    Maybe here in the UK (although I doubt it). Faller do (or did) a kit and I have certainly seen some of those on layouts.

    • Informative/Useful 2
  5. 20 hours ago, brushman47544 said:

    Looking at the state of it, perhaps it was 7259's dernier train rather than a driver's. Can't see any reason to turn it as a driver would only have worked one part of one journey, traincrew rostering in France being what it is...

    The ritual around a driver's retirement is a dearly held tradition on SNCF. Huge effort is made to change rosters around so that the driver's day will conclude at  the right time and place for a suitable celebration with colleagues. Most depots seem to have a semi-official restaurant. Look those out if you can - usually very good and cheap.

     

    Y class locotracteurs have indeed been known as Yoyo for many decades. The Y8400 at Narbonne used to go up and down at great speed. Hit the buffers more than once at speed, enough to move the buffers.

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  6. 42 minutes ago, SM42 said:

     

    I miss the days when you had to dig up the pitch to make a little stand for the ball. 

     

    There was more skill involved in those days. 

     

    A potter and a rugby player.

     

     

    And who can forget the days when it was so muddy you couldn't tell who was on  which team and the kit had to be thrown away after. 

     

    No chance of getting it clean

     

     

    Andy

     

    And only fifteen players per team. 

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  7. 12 hours ago, Andy Hayter said:

    The talk of catering brings me to warn of what happens in France - or at least at the few exhibitions I have visited.  (Exhibitions are infrequent and even many big shows are only held once every 2 or 3 years.) 

     

    Around lunchtime it seems to be common for everything to stop.  The exhibition is still open but all - or at least most - of the exhibitors go off together for lunch.  

     

    Very true.

     

    I would not leave my stand with the hall totally unattended. But my father went for lunch with the other exhibitors. He had to rest for the afternoon after being given rather too much wine. But his French was, unusually, quite fluent.

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  8. Mountainous can be done in a small space with a tilted baseboard. Barrow MRC did it years ago with a SBB layout in HO,

    But your Art Deco theme would match well with the CFD du Calvados, one of the few 60cm lines in France.

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  9. 21 hours ago, andrewshimmin said:

     

    Yes I wondered about this. I suppose I could allow for a certain amount of expansion.

    I was thinking of laying the track with isolating rail joiners across the board joints, and then remove them and leave just the gaps.

    I doubt there will be huge expansion as the runs of track are not very long.

     

    The alternative is having to have lots of electrical connections across the boards, which I was trying to avoid.

     

    No, you don't need electrical connections between the boards on a layout of this size. You put in a dropper for each part of the same section and take that back to the switch on the control panel.

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  10. I suspect that much of this conversation is redundant. The Tory press and other media have been briefed about the possible abandonment of HS2 so that Rishi Sunak can make some news next week at the Tory conference next week with a "good news" announcement. Total coincidence, of course, that the conference takes place at Manchester Central station.

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  11. 12 hours ago, andrewshimmin said:

    I am trying to work out what my sections should be. I want maximum operational control, so I prefer to have lots of sections rather than rely on points to switch power on and off to different lines. At the moment my thoughts are looking something like this:

    image.png.eaa6afe648c553a2ad22d2fa1636feff.png

     

    It ends up with lots of short section, mainly because of my baseboard joints - I prefer to wire up either side of the joint at a separate section. It will be annoying for wiring up, of course. But that's a one off job. Whereas every time I operate it, if I stick in long sections, I will curse myself that I didn't split them up, so I could attach another loco to the back of a train to haul it away while leaving the loco that brought it, for example.

    This is already 20 sections - and I could add three more if I get more pedantic with the middle sidings...

    image.png.f3858b0a62d32fd7125c0bdaa326abc7.png

     

    The plan is still to do with with toggle switches on the baseboard local to the track sections for this layout. I will solder the power wires direct to the track - it's what I've always done. I will also probably have a common return although I've not done that recently, so I might decide to stick with separate returns.

    I will play and ponder a bit more before getting the soldering iron out, but I think this will be pretty much the plan.

     

    It's a basic tenet of layout wiring that section breaks should never be at a baseboard joint. Any movement of rails (usually heat expansion) will lead to short circuits.

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  12. 14 hours ago, Northmoor said:

    Gatwick's terminals provide great entertainment out of season, watching people who didn't seem to realise that the temperature in Ibiza and England are very different in November.

     

    Newcastle United replica shirts seem to work well in all climates.

     

    Many years ago, I travelled on a delayed Palma to Gatwick in mid-December. Still above 18C when we left, -3C when we landed at 01.00.

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  13. One of my cousins is younger than his niece (eldest daughter of his eldest brother). They were in the same class at primary school.

     

    She, in turn had her first child quite young, so John was a great-uncle before he was 20. I am not sure at what age he became a great-great uncle but it was some years ago and he is still only 50 now.

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  14. Cleaner. I have my doubts. A good few years ago, I was on the footplate of 141R1126 when the fireman decided that the boiler tubes needed cleaning out. This is done by chucking a shovel full of sand into the firebox. The effect is quite spectacular as a thick black "smoke" ejected through the chimney. Certainly not appreciated by any householders nearby with washing on the line.

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  15. 8 hours ago, lmsforever said:

    Just been reading about discussions on the future of HS2  between the PM and the Chancellor ,it looks like its only going to go to Birmingham and Euston will not happen this means of course that further cuts will enforced on the project.One MP for the northern part of the route has demanded it be stopped imediately and no further work progressed,also one MP has called the whole project as being built to an outdated technology , he's an expert  ?   It looks as though many people in the halls of power have decided that we are not going to have a modern rail network and also the road network is not to be expanded as well. What a mess our country is , now in a heath service that is in steep decline ,manufacturing also declining ,and the UK in general decline I have not seen this situation   since the years following the second world war . A change of government will only increase the power of unions and the idle  god help us all.

     

    6 hours ago, phil-b259 said:


    Not sure why you think that would be the case - Labour ditched the Union loving Corbin several years ago and Kier Starmer has been trying to do a Tony Blair on the party (with less charisma) ever since. In short there is zero chance of an incoming Labour Government ‘increasing the power of the unions’ as you put it.

    I think that we may be in danger of breaching RMWeb rujes.

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  16. 22 hours ago, ruggedpeak said:

    Pretty much everything in your post was wrong or inaccurate. When in a hole best stop digging.........

     

    I do know about this issue, I've been dealing with this issue since I moved into local government 4 years ago, which is why my employer was able to confirm this week all its schools are safe in respect of RAAC, and other similar materials such as Intergrid (yes, there's more than just RAAC to worry about).

     

    Tony, I am glad that things are going well within your local authority area. I really am.

     

    But that does not invalidate my original comment, which was not "wrong or inaccurate". Like you, I have worked in and with local government and I have seen so many instances of perverse decisions.

  17. 11 hours ago, Compound2632 said:

     

    I'm sure I've told this story before but a few months after we moved to Reading, Berks, we received a postcard from one of my wife's former Polish colleagues that had spent over a month in the post and had a US Postal Service rubber stamp "Not Reading, PA". The sender had forgotten to write "Anglia" or "Wielka Brytania".

     

    Another of my wife's colleagues from Poland, an American, visited us. At first she pronounced our town's name Reading, as in reading a book, but being a skilled linguist it didn't take her more than a few minutes to start saying "Redding".

    When living in the 5th arrondissement in Paris, I had two flatmates from the USA. Much of their was diverted via Paris, Texas.

    My mum, who was a very studious child, consumed reading biscuits (Huntley & Palmer's) with her books.

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  18. Thinking a bit further, there is perhaps a solution to this without complete rebuilding of structures.

     

    A modern equivalent of RAAC exists. But instead of having air bubbles, it has beads of expanded polystyrene, so water would not soak into it. Not easy stuff to use (static electricity?) and you have to be very aware about any loads put onto it. But it would impose minimal extra weight on other structural elements as compared to RAAC.

     

    I recall a local case, when I lived in France, where a vineyard owner asked the local builder to put in a floor using the stuff, supported initially by the existing timber floor. Some months later, the whole thing collapsed and the two, previously good friends who had been at school together, have not spoken since. They blame each other. I suspect that they are both to blame for not getting in a structural engineer to offer advice. 

  19. 23 minutes ago, Bucoops said:

    Great idea - Oxford St is a shadow of its former self right now so no doubt a non-retail attraction will help - and I bet the rent is quite low for central London!

     

    This is indeed good news.

     

    A lot of reporting recently about Oxford St having become shabby recently. The south side of the street has been like that for about 50 years.

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  20. 11 minutes ago, RobinofLoxley said:

    You would be wasting your time trying to build and operate that track plan. For a first attempt the layout should be boring and flat. Look for help from folk in layout and track design section. With an 8x4 board you are limited but you need something that allows those HST's to run.

     Flat does not need to be boring. But I do endorse Robin's advice to avoid gradients.  They will too steep in such a small space and not work well.

    Cyril (CJ) Freezer drew up a very satisfactory layout for 8' x 4', basically three simple oval tracks with pointwork to allow trains to change between them. The station platforms are down one of the long sides and the pointwork down the other.

    Agree with others that DC is much better to start with. If you later want DCC, you can just turn all the switches to ON.

  21. 53 minutes ago, phil-b259 said:

     

    Indeed they have - but equally there are still examples of Roman concrete dating from before the birth of Christ still standing to this day.

     

     

     

    The amphitheatre in Pula, Croatia is good example of Roman concrete. Well worth a visit.

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