drmditch

I'm afraid I have repeated this post (extracted from my railway thread) several times now. Since the layout goes round the exterior of the room, the crossing of the room door forms a major part of the structural engineering. First the door itself was replaced with a sliding door, which was actually a mini-saga in itself. Then there was the planning and construction of the two level 'swing out' section, the geometry of which is quite complex. Here is a link to the full thread. Section swung closed. And open And here is the two level structure in place I will try to take pictures of both levels working, but this should give you an idea. Planning the geometry needs care. The carpentry is complex, and needs attention, (there aren't any right angles in the whole structure.) Hinges are strong SS. It is 'self-closing', so it i always left supported. After what must be five years, it continues to work well. I can run three trains continuously (if I want to!) This technique has several advantages:- - Nothing to drop on someone's head - Rounded corners to avoid damage to hips etc. I note that we seem to have lost some pictures again, but if you are interested I can try to 're-populate' them.

Very impressive. A shame that all the splendid locomotives are so filthy. It can't have given a very good impression to passengers. I grew up on the other side of the country (GER mainline) and I can just remember some steam locomotives. I was taken in my pushchair to see what must have been one of the first Britannias on the GE services, and I can remember it being green and shiny.

Re: Coaching Stock in sidings. (As in "the C12 has been down to Nene sidings to collect the stock for the 5.25 slow to KX") Would not steam-heated coaches put away in sidings for any length of time need to be heated before inclusion in a train? Or were there special provisions for heating stock? (perhaps withdrawn locomotives of the sort one sees pictures of at sheds.) Or perhaps PN is set at the time of year when heating was not required?

Hardly 'battleships' ! (but I see that others have already picked up on this.) This is one of the Shlactshiff of the Hochseeflotte in enraged mode! (From a painting by Claus Bergen, (April 18, 1885–October 4, 1964) - Lot-9630-12, PD-US, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=60525659) (There is a book regarding Mimi and Toutou some where on my shelves. I saw know it fairly recently. As you say a 'frankly odd' commander.)

There are only three pages - aren't there?

Is this confusing wagon turntables (which I think were usually covered) and locomotive tables? I haven't seen any pictures of or references to NER locomotive tables being covered.

Interesting. I case of future opportunity, what are the wheel sizes and wheelbase dimensions? (This is not an urgent question, but if you happen to have your ruler/callipers out any time.)

I am sure that training under sail is very valuable for all the reasons you mention, especially for younger people. It works in smaller craft as well. Having been a (former) dinghy sailing instructor I can bear witness to the effect of being on the sea and under sail. This link may be useful:- https://sailtraininginternational.org/vessel/james-cook/ I have had little contact with the RN, (despite having worked in the defence procurement sector (ASWE) for the first ten years of my career). However one story may be amusing. The Type42 (can't remember which one, but it was at the time the South Atlantic guardship) visited our club, and the crew were invited to sail with us. I had a bright lad, who was a Sonar operator, and he learned quickly and was pleased when we got in front and stayed there. He did 'spill the beans' that there were two RN sailing instructors in one of the other boats and they were expecting to show us what they could do. What they did was to stay behind quite nicely, largely because they hadn't worked out what the tide was doing and didn't follow the wind shifts. A good friend (now unfortunately deceased) had a Radar technician with him, and he (taking more risks than I did) showed the lad how to be a submariner! I am surprised and sad that the RN does not make more use of sail-training. The ships and weapons may have changed, but the sea and the winds have not. As you say, ships don't work unless everyone knows how to work together. One of the most 'educational' experiences of my life was in the Heligoland Bight, in a lovely 42"er, when the skipper thought we had a 'weather window' to get home and the system coming down the North Sea disagreed with him! I have not been on the water for a while now; arthritis, cancer etc etc. A hope for 2024 is to sail again, although probably not in a dinghy!

I like the 'floats' as well (if that is the correct term).

The ship seems to have quite an elegant underwater hull shape, but would not the amount of 'cut-away' fore and aft promote sagging? (or is there a large amount of distortion from the glass box?)

You seem to have had a more constructive Christmas than I have. Well done! If you will excuse a possibly naïve observation, should not the chimney height take it above the ventilation slats in the roof?

Greetings on this Christmas morning. Hope you find some joy to celebrate.

The use of 'guys' leads onto other aspects of language and gender politics, which are probably best avoided on this thread! It is the 'hi' I would object to, not the 'guys'!!!

As people have commented above, English in common use seems to become more and more degraded every day. There was a time when use of the word 'mostest' would immediately be recognised as a joke. Not, I think, any more. While I appreciate that language does change over time, I find it sad that we are loosing definition and subtlety, especially with comparatives and superlatives. As to steam locomotives, I think that where only one of a design was produced, as with the U1 (in LNER classification anyway) or the Midland 'Big Bertha', then the word 'unique' does apply. Where a class was constructed, as with the A4s, then in a time when much work was done by individual craftsmen, they were all likely to be slightly different. (If I understand correctly the final shape of the streamlining was not defined in the Drawing Office until Silver Link had been built.) I presume that this was what is now referred to as 'artisan' tradition. Would the time-served Blacksmiths and Fitters who did the work have recognised that word? This, of course, leads into the whole discussion of 'interchangeable parts', which is a different subject. For reference note the different numbers stamped onto 60007's motion parts. I find that my use of language (which has probably deteriorated of late) depends on my early education and 'what sounds right'. I might have to look up the actual grammar later! I had a problem several years ago in a job interview when the interviewer used the word 'forecasted'. I could not but flinch, and then had to explain why! Since the lady wouldn't have recognised a participle if it came and bit her, I did not get the job. I would not have wanted it anyway! I note that the Met Office now uses both 'forecast' and 'forecasted', and I am too lazy to work out why.

Another Dia.89! Until your post mine was the only one I'd seen. As with a number of my 'earlier period' models it could do with some re-work, but at the moment it is stuck in a bay platform in consequence of an undiagnosed track wiring problem. More work to be scheduled!