The Johnster

I am of the view that a normal train on a traditional (i.e. not rationalised, hence 'irrational') railway looks best if the platform is a couple of coach lengths longer than the train. The position of the train in the platform is governed by the platform staff telling the driver where to stop, and as this will be for the convenience of railway and postal staff unloading from the van(s), something that needs to be done quickly if the train is subject to the Royal Mail contract which has swingeing penalties for delays, to the extent that the person to blame will be chased up... Short passenger trains will usually pull up beneath the canopy in the middle or towards one end of the platform. Common operating mistake at exhibitions, BLT layouts; train arrives and stops short for the loco to be uncoupled and draw forward for running around. No, unless the buildings are placed to facilitate it, you are making your passenger walk to the exit gate in the rain and having to unload parcels out in the open as well. Stop close to the buffers, wait for the passengers to clear the premises and the parcels/mail work to be done, then set back before uncoupling the loco. Run around, couple on the other end, and wait a minute while the guard performs the brake continuity test (I will probably walk away from your layout if you simply continue to push the stock back towards the buffers or stay in that postion), then set back to the buffers. Passenger can now board conveniently and loading parcels/mails be done in proximity to the office and messroom.

Can't see the advantage for any manufacturer in making aluminium wheels; not an easy material to machine and not particularly suitable for the purpose, but what do I know. Can't say I've ever encountered them in over 60 years of modelling. We have different standards of what constitutes fair and honest trading, but perhaps this is one of the reasons I don't sell stuff on the Bay, which I find too much of a bother and a stress-generator. But, sorry, I do not approve of 'if it's tatty a quick blast of Poundland rattlecan black and its 'weathered'; 'needs attn.', 'spares or repair' feels less dishonest, and you'll still sell the stuff; I buy it sometimes.

Stafford Road Works, 3D producer trading through Shapeways, variety of GW bogies from Dean 6' up to but not including Pressed Steel with Hornby, Lima, and Bachmann mounting pins and NEM pockets, very free-running with Bachmann or Hornby wheelsets. Could be better finish, but since these components get covered in weathering on my layout this is not a problem, not cheap but simplicity to install and good runners.

I think I'll try this as filler on my current all-third Triang clerestory Glyncorrwg miner's coach project, as there is a fair bit of filling to do. The model is basically a cut'n'shut with a new cab at one end, so the join, the cab join, the roof joins, and the clip holes in the ends. I need to provide new bogie pivot mounts for this coach to ensure that the replacement Staffod Road 3D print Dean 8'6" bogies enable the coach to ride at the correct height (Triang vehicles need modifying anyway because of the incorrect ride height), and a moulding of superglue/cement mix might be suitable for this job as well. Good post, DCB; I would never in a million years have thought of this on my own!

eBay clearly don't give a tinker's left b*ll*ck about any of this, and if called to account will doubtless refer you to caveat emptor and the difficulty of policing their own site, cop-out weasels that they are. The basic principle is that profit is the driver of their activity and so long as that is not affected they will not turn business away on the basis that it is a bit dodgy. Look at the number of classic items such as HD which are claimed by their sellers, who are presumably modellers like us, to be in mint condition when they are very obviously restored, perhaps overhauled, cleaned up, and in 'mint' repro boxes; like I said, humans are by nature thieving 'stards, not to mention mendacious chisellers. and unless the level of dishonesty on the Bay affects profits adversely nothing will ever be done about it. The complaints procedure is ineffective and never intended to be more than window-dressing. I hereby challenge eBay to prove me wrong by removing all their clearly dodgy stuff over the next week; I think we know how that's gonna play out, don't we children?

Check:- .Track laid to acceptable level of smoothness between sections, and level cross-section, pay particular attentuon to cross-level on curved gradients, no radius less than specification. .All wheels to acceptable back-to-back (14.5 mm is the usual figure). .All wheelsets revolving freely in their axle bearings. General standard is rolling on gradient of 1 in 100 or less. .All bogies square & true (removw bogie, place on mirror or similar reflective surface, check that all flanges sit on the surface and the bogie cannot be rocked, even fractionally). .All boiges pivot freely laterally and vertically within the clearance allowed without fouling on anything. .All bogies clear solebars & trussing/underframe detail at all states of pivot. .All couplings at standard height, and level (Dapol have form in this regard, though have recently changed their couplings to avoid droop). .All coupling bars at standard height and do not override neighbouring bar. .All couplings pivot freely. .All buffers clear on curves and changes of gradient in tension and compression. .All vehicles the same weight as far as is possible. 12.5g per axle is a good general to aim for. Pencil graphite can be used to lubricate plastic-on-plastic bearing surfaces such as bogie pivots.

Ultimately, every transaction depends on a level of trust between the person selling the product and the person buying the product, so when I buy a Dapol Diagram N auto-trailer from Rails of Sheffield, I trust them to sell me a genuine Dapol Diagram N auto-trailer when it arrives and have agreed to pay their asking price (and have in fact already paid). Nothing to stop Rails running off with my cash or knowingly supplying me with a duff model, but my previous experience of them along with their general good name and reputation suggests that they will not behave in this way. But that goes all the way back down the line past the assembly plant through Dapol to each individual workshop/factory, and Rails deal with hundreds of companies who in turn deal with hundreds more; if trust is lost the whole system breaks down. Money, and more importantly credit, is another trust issue, because of course money doesn’t actually exist, it’s a con trick that everyone tacitly accepts snd agrees to because everybody else does as well. Your banknote states that the issuing bank ‘will pay the bearer on demand the sum of’, but if you demand your pound of cashflesh from the bank, they’ll give you a replacement promissory note the same as the one you just handed in. If everybody does it at once, the bank collapses and the money ‘disappears’, because it never existed in the first place. Even its existence in the form of notes and coins depends on trust in the coin/note’s face value; it’s all smoke & mirrors! It is impossible to police against all counterfeiting and ghost production, and the principle of ‘caveat emptor’ allows for and partially encourages it; companies budget for a level of loss to dishonest practices because human beings are fundamentally a bunch of thieving ‘stards. But they are an economic cancer which will eventually kill the host if not checked, which is ultimately the responsibility of the emptor to caveat to the correct level, which is a balance between believing and disbelieving what the vendor says. If you an item at a 33% discount from a source you do not know, you only have yourself to blame. The world is a societal construct, and if you get yourself ripped off through your own greed and refusal to accept the price I have to pay from a proven reputable source you are potentially damaging the construct and deserve the resultant loss.

Yes, but some of these have been on crack for years, and they don’t look younger…

Grannies around the mean inner-city streets usually are carrying out drug deals…🤫

West coast-Oz is flat (if you believe it is, which is simples if you discount any evidence to the contrary, which our hero must do as a committed flat-earther), and therefore so is Oz-Dubai. Dubai-home is also flat; no problem….

Models made on ghost shifts are presumably made on the same toolings and to the same CAD information as the legit ones, but I would imagine without any QC. Chinese assembly plants source components from multiple subcontractors on a ‘just in time’ production model, so ghost shift production either uses legit items from the subcontractors and orders more to replace them, or there is an entire ghost subcontracting operation, which I doubt. If there is, it is only QC that prevents ghost components being incorporated into the assembly of legit models. Now, that’s worrying, as it makes it difficult to be certain of the provenance of all components of legit models, meaning that there is less difference in quality between legit and ghost models, and if the packaging is counterfeited effectively, the water becomes muddier. So Dapol’s advice is sensible; not buying models direct online from China is the consumers’ only guaranteed protection against the practice. A ghost Chinese-direct item would have to be very cheap to tempt me to take the risk, but if the ghost operators can effectively disguise the provenance of models, using British host websites for example, it might be fairly easy to fall into the trap. Caveat Emptor, beware of mendacious chisellers…

This would be because coal is usually loaded wet at the collieries and, being somewhat sulphurous in composition, drips mild sulphuric acid over the wagon interior, especially in the corners which are important structurally. Protective paint finishes did not last long when heavy, sharp-cornered, lumps of geology were being dropped from about a dozen feet above on to the wagon floor…

I’ve cut the compartment dividers, and the next task is to glue the wooden benches (stripped of upholstery so that the compartments could be hosed clean) to them and the interior of the non-cab end The benches are real wood, Wetherspoons’ coffee stirrers.

Scwrfa!

Done in H0 for years with Shays, Climaxes, &c, so shouldn’t be too difficult. In the same vein, rotating drive shafts on 1st-gen dmus and GW railcars would be a welcome addition. We are often told that British modellers gib at the prices that would need to be demanded for such features, but I’m not so sure; we seem to be in a sort of detail/feature arms race for newly tooled models and the recession, coupled with increased prices and inflation, does not seem to have dampened demand for new models in general. There may not be much money around in the economy, but there’s plenty in modelling… There is a somewhat blurred line, simultaneously extremely fine, between ‘worthwhile’ detail/features and gimmicks, and a worthwhile detail/feature becomes a gimmick very quickly if it is not done well. DCC (and the NFC control system that will almost certainly replace it so that locos can have on-board rechargeable power supplies in the future) enables working features such as opening sliding doors on coaches with indicator lights, so there seems little reason not to include features such as those mentioned above and others such as Walchearts valve gear setting; but the decisions will be made by marketing departments, and probably led by H0 companies. New materials, stronger, less brittle, and more easily worked to fine tolerances may make finer operating features easier and cheaper to produce in future; my crystal ball gets a bit misted up sometimes, but you can bet that there will be finer detail and some of it will be operating!

Portable Appliance Test, a certificated test of general safety for domestic mains electrical equipment, including visual inspection, condition of wiring, plug, earth leakage and faults, and residual current faults. Secondhand and charity shops selling used equipment are obliged to use it as a safety certificate, as are private landlords, hoteliers, guest houses, and providers of holiday lets, caravans, or chalets.

Probably less likely in residential areas, but a good point. Never had a problem so far touch wood. In the same way that I describe my innate laziness and apathy as ‘energy conservation’!

I watched 'Finding Nemo' on a coach trip, and only looked at the screen because the bright colours distraced my eyes and for something to do (motorways are boring), not expecting much from the experience beyond 'meh'. It was one of the most enjoyable, engaging, and entertaining movies I have ever seen, absolutely brilliant.

An item I have found to never, ever, be worth the bother of picking up is those electric heaters with the very bright elements. They are always broken at the hinge where the automatic turning bit is, and will inevitably have at least one element that does not work. Don't bother. A good find about two months ago was a bright red microwave, better than the previous skip-raided popty-ping, though this one's actually a popty-beep. If you're skipraiding these things, check that the outer casing is securely fitted and not damaged as they are prone to leakage of microwaves which are not good for you and will apparently fry your brain (not applicable to those who have already fried their brains with 'certain substances' back in the 70s). I am looking for a microwave bed, that will give me 8 hours sleep in 15 minutes... My toaster is the latest in a series of 'found items' as well; works perfectly. Of course, anything electrical must be dried out thoroughly before you attempt to use it, I usually keep it in the understairs cupboard for a week if it's at all likely to be wet inside.

WR somewhere from the signals, and quite early in the HST careers, before the guards’ accommodation was moved into the mk.3 adjoining the power car; late 70s/early 80s. WR practice was to have the first-class accommodation at the Paddington end of the set, so this is probably an up train.

I am an inveterate recycler of other peoples' throwaways, sourced from skips or left outside on the pavement for council collection, sometimes even labelled 'please take'. Most of my crockery has come from this activity, for example; it is of no consequence to me that nothing matches, though it drives The Squeeze up the wall. I 'return the favour' whenever I dispose of anything that might be of use to someone, putting on the front wall with a 'please take' note; this is not a wealthy area and there are plenty folks locally who can use the stuff, and it is usually gone in a few hours. My two best results so far have been a Corby trouser press, about three years ago, perfect working order and from the early 70s if the styling is anything to go by, and, day before yesterday, a Montpellier worktop tumble dryer in what looked like almost new condition, an MTD25P model. My last tumbler, bought secondhand, died of old age some two years ago though still funtions as a repostitory for clothes awaiting washing, and I intend one day to removed the drum to use as a patio firebowl. The Monty works perfectly and max consuimption is 700W, as opposed to the 2KW of the old dead Candy, so it'll be less costly to run, bit quieter as well. Can't imagine why it's previous owner chucked it, but with it was a completely mirrored dressing table with fake gold trim, which I left where it was; I have some taste! The flat has a patio which is handy on good drying days like today, but in poor weather drying has to take place indoors on a clothes horse, as the terms of the tenancy very sensibly forbid drying clothes on the radiators, but in a small room it gets in the way a bit. So Monty will be very useful at such times. He is a bit more technically advanced than the Candy, and has settings for cold air airing of clothes as well as a cool cycle so that they are not too hot when you take them out. Anyone else had good finds of this sort?

Min & 'Enery, Milligan and Sellars respectively, an elderly, deaf, and completely potty couple. 'Pull yourself together, Min, (she's a loose woman, you know...)'.

With fully operating crane equipment in DC, please...

I slogan I remember form the 50s/early 60s, before Rhymney were absorbed by Whitbread, was 'Rhymney; the best 'round 'ere', clearly intended to be vocalised in a Valleys accent. It was a lie, of course, nothing beat Brains'.