MrWolf

I've just seen a herd of cows with no udders... That's a herd of bullocks! No, it's true!

That looks so very precise Dave, as much engineering as modelling. I hadn't thought to use my digital calipers to scribe with. I have some cheap and cheerful 150mm ones on the modelling bench, ( Genuine Snap-Off tools...) I'll give them a go. I'll be leaving the calibrated Mitutoyo ones down in my workshop though! Another tool you may be aware of is the "Odd leg" or "Jenny" caliper. I've used them for sheet metal work for years and they're remarkably accurate, plus on plastic, they will plough out a groove rather nicely. https://www.machine-dro.co.uk/moore-and-wright-125mm-5-jenny-odd-leg-hermaphrodite-calipers-341r

Almost definitely, something similar to this Blake direct acting steam feed pump, but with side mounted valve blocks. There must have been drawings if how it was mounted into the tender body, plus drawings of the pipe runs, with mention of the pump type, at the very least. Somewhere it would have appeared in a bill of materials and in the accounts for the development shop or main works. It may even have been repurposed from a water tower where the loco powered well pump had been upgraded once mains electricity had been installed. Pretty much everything may have come from the junk pile, as from what I can see, the GWR didn't throw much away.

Maybe not, that could be the Little Muddle crate, having taken from 1938 to 1958 to get from the creamery, arrive at Dewchurch and be offloaded onto a BRS lorry ?

Could be worse!

Definitely, I've kept the information I gathered to replicate the pump as close as possible given what few photos there are. I pieced the rest together from similar equipment of the right period, so unless a Swindon drawing surfaces?

I am not looking forward to getting old...

Interesting, plus he seems to share the same interests in cars as me given his eBay moniker. How hard is it to get hold of a Bachmann Earl chassis? Plus as @BWsTrains asks, where to get a print that did pass inspection?

Interesting point on the brass hinges. It's actually good practice not to paint pinned door hinges, partly because it soon chips away in use, but also because repeated applications causes them to gum up, eventually spraining the hinge and preventing the door from closing properly. Often when a house door fails to close properly, it's not the wood which has swollen, but the hinge that is sprained, moving the door across in the frame. Whether or not this was something that concerned the makers of railway carriages, I couldn't say!

Ah, watched it from 02:50 as per. The cars are only dragged backwards enough to get them lined up for a forward tow to the pound. Still not good if they're in park or have the handbrake on though. It's a bit of hard luck for parking illegally, definitely rough justice.

Not a YouTube prank for clicks then? Perhaps Bubba has tired of making meth and alligator bothering and moved into computer programming for driverless taxis? Cuz, 'Murica?

If you're performing a suspended tow you need more room to turn otherwise you cut the corner, a human driver with half a brain would know that, the same as they would know to hange back when following an artic that is turning. That's one of the first rules of survival for motorcyclists. I suspect that not enough potential scenarios have been added to the logic circuits of the taxis. You can't rear suspended tow any vehicle that has its wheels locked over, it will jack knife. If the vehicle had been abandoned in such a way it would be a full hoist onto a flatbed, or as in the case of vehicles that are already badly damaged, un-cerimoniously dragged backwards onto a tilt and slide recovery vehicle.

I do like the way that the robotaxi company put the collisions down to the pickup truck being "improperly towed". They are clearly blowing smoke and hoping that Joe Public doesn't know what a rear suspended tow is. If the pickup had a locked up rear axle or transmission, the only way to move it is by lashing the steering in the straight ahead position and towing it backwards with the rear wheels lifted off the ground.

Wow. That is truly impressive! I had enough on with cramming the pump into a sheet of A4, let alone about half an inch!

Very atmospheric, just needs to be in black and white with a police Wolseley 6-80 lurking by the gate! I know, we watch too many old films in our house...

Not sure, we decided that he'd waste his time and I'd waste mine.

Having said that, there's a long established coffee house / ice cream parlour locally with it's own frontage with tables. We pulled up on my BSA with the intention of letting the Memsahib go and order whilst I found a parking spot. The manager was outside and said "That looks cool, you can park it by the door." Job done!

As do all those folks who abandon their Lamborghini's etc outside Harrods and elsewhere. Nothing has changed, only the style of the cars.

Snap! 20 years earlier in southwest Shropshire, the postman is doubtless telling the porter that he's "Wastin' his time!"

The problem with banks of garages away from the respective owners houses is that they routinely get broken into. Particularly because the police will not attend unless the garage is attached to the house. Thieves know this, so come back again six months later. (Guess how I know?) There's lots of empty council garages around here. Private garages tend to be full of things the owners CBA to take to the tip, or are rented out to one man band builders etc. They certainly should, but also need to deal with related issues. There's a lot of cycle lanes and cycle/ footpaths divided by a central solid white line around here. The cycle lanes are full of pedestrians who avoid the pavement for some reason. The combined cycle / footpaths which are clearly marked are full of wombles either with their headphones on or plain ignorant of some fool ringing his bell who carry on walking four and five abreast. Add to that the out of control drug dealer's dogs, little yappers on stretchy leads and it's a real obstacle course. Of the cyclists, there's the wannabe Bradley Wiggins types, who often ride in groups, three and four abreast and they're not going to spoil their new record by giving way to other cyclists. The deliveroo chumps on electric bikes who seem to have no road sense whatsoever and chavs two up on electric trials bikes doing about forty. At night it's a no go area. The electric bikes aren't just delivering takeaways and rivals lie in wait armed with hammers and machetes to tax them. Indeed, you will be poor but happy, or else comrade! Happy in the knowledge that your sacrifice is saving our tiny bit of the planet whilst the real world polluters carry on regardless and the elite fly along empty highways in armour plated electric Bentleys.

Or delivered in discreet packaging from the likes of NuMan....

I'm sure that I have some photos of those locos pre rebuild with temporary wooden cabs that appear to be made from floorboards. I'll have to go through my books.

I tend to do that with the castoff bits from motorcycle restorations. I recently listed a rear mudguard that I'd replaced with a much better one. Lots of photos and a good description of the rusty, holed and filler bodged but OEM article. Needs a lot of welding and patience! When it sold for £120, I thought it would soon be on it's way back to me. But the buyer was happy it "exactly as described". So you never know.

More what I had in mind! Project Gutenberg

I got the plates for 23, 530 and my Collett goods from 247 Developments, very pleased with them and a quick turnaround.