Gibbo675

H Rodent, That is precisely what plants do, surely you have heard of photosynthesis ? The bad news is that it requires huge amounts of power. The good news is that it is solar power, its free and it works best when its not raining. Gibbo.

Hi Johnster, You somehow missed out, WELSH !!! Gibbo.

Hi Folks, I see now why there was such consternation about full face helmets just a few postings back, just how would one manage to smoke ones pipe while wearing a full face helmet !!! Gibbo.

Hi Johnster, I see that you have putting the Seven Liberal Arts to good effect there. Gibbo.

Hi Mike, You are quite well observed with the above and you are indeed correct about stable supplies generally and also for railway traction. My main point about greenwash is that the only truth I've ever seen in a newspaper was fish and chips ! Gibbo.

Hi Martyn, I might pull my finger out and deal with some of my nearly started examples. Gibbo.

Biggest IQ test since McDonalds* burgers. *No pun intended

Hi Denys, It really is refreshing to read a post that has been written by someone that has read a physics book rather than the greenwash that is printed in newspapers and broadcast by the television stations. Gibbo.

Hi Bill, I would suggest that the differential of the volume of flame in a locomotive firebox to provide traction to a train as compared with your soldering torch may well provide the problem of scaling such a contraption. Gibbo.

Only if you account for smelting of the steel and all of the alloying elements that go into the manufacturing of the massive spring, and also take into account all of the cow farts from the amount of beef you will have eat to be able to turn the key that will wind up the spring.

Hi Suzie, It would seem to me that to separate out the nitrogen form the combustion atmosphere will take even more energy than to to just acquire the hydrogen in the first place. Where does the energy for that process come from, where does the energy to acquire the hydrogen come also as this never seems to be quoted in the efficiency or environmental calculations? Gibbo.

But Dave, what if they are of different variants ?!?!?

Hi Kieth, I would say if it only a three car set it is no less of a trouble than unfitted goods, also that there is a brake van at the head and likely one at the other end. Gibbo.

Hi Martyn, Is the reason you are resin casting the details because you have more than one locomotive of any particular type to produce ? I can see the pint if there are few to do rather than just one, although I suppose you have got the master for another day. Gibbo.

Hi Paul, A super body of work and credit to all of you that contributed. Unfortunately as I was in my early to mid teens at the time, and 17 when MRC ceased, the more detailed aspects of model railways were lost upon me at the time. Is there any way the work could be republished as a volume or as a website ? Gibbo.

Hi Folks, I used to get Model Railway Constructor every month and thought it was great, my friend David took the Railway Modeller and so we had the best of both worlds. We did however have our own names for magazines that being the, Model Railway Destructor and the Railway Meddler, it amused our teenage selves ! The datafile series has been mentioned and I have to say I found articles such as that very informative although I perhaps should have taken more notice at the time. It is fair to say back in the 1980's I was much more interested in locomotives than wagons, probably a function of age. Gibbo.

Hi Dave, The RAL equivalent for Rail Grey is 7038. I have got a RAL chart and I may post some colours when I have a comparison session. Gibbo.

Hi Folks, Here is one from 1977, the very year that Hornby released their venerable class 25, Gibbo.

Hi Monty, Would that be a full brake-fest for break-fast ? Gibbo.

Hi Martyn, Its all looking good and the scribe mark for the triangular panel does make the difference. I have found the shade of RAL 5020 to be so close to BR Blue that you will only be able to tell because you were the one that painted the locomotive. You will have to finish with a matt of semi matt varnish though or it will be rather shiny and also with any amount of weathering the shade difference will be even less noticeable. Gibbo.

Hi Jim, The reason for the differing pattern is so that the tube holes do not get too close to the radii that form the flanges of the fire box, and also should the beads need to be set back down to the tube plate, should a tube require re-expanding due to maintenance, then the position of the tube end to the rivet heads in the lap allow for room to manipulate the tube end and also tool down the bead. Here is a picture of me from about 25 years ago, I now look subtly different now to what I did then ! Gibbo.

Hi Jim, You do realise that the tubes are swaged up at the smokebox end and down at the firebox end so the appearance of the tube plates is that there is more room around the tubes at the firebox end, however the swagings are only a couple of inches long at both ends. You will note that the flue holes are considerably smaller at the firebox end as the flue tubes are fitted with what are known as "bottle ends" that were either formed up as manipulated ends, brazed or welded onto the plain flue tubes. Gibbo.

Hi Johnster, From your writings I see that of the seven liberal arts you are reasonably well professed in the subjective disciplines of the Trivium. I'm sure that with concentration the objective disciplines of the Quadrium shouldn't be too much of a problem to a man of your calibre, geometry being at hand currently. Gibbo.

Hi Johnster, Thank God you don't build pressure vessels !!! Gibbo.

Hi Rodent, Have a read of these: https://www.bfi.org/about-fuller/big-ideas/synergetics http://www.rwgrayprojects.com/synergetics/toc/toc.html Gibbo.