Phil Bullock

Will you still love me tomorrow? …. The Shirelles

Wild world … Cat Stevens

Horrible stuff! Didn’t have it in my lab…. Just benzene toluene xylene ether chloroform isopropanol and phenol. All bad enough…. And there were some things for which a ground glass stopper was verboten…. Picric acid for example. We also made fulminates of silver on a regular basis and had gun cotton too … given a very senior member of staff smoked and chucked his butts down the plug holes am surprised the place was still standing.

One of these nights … The Eagles

The pervading smell of pyridine along the elevated section of the M5 between Rowley Regis and West Brom in the 1970s …. Used to inhale it every week when heading up to North Brum Poly on the motorbike, 75-77.

Part of the Union …. Strawbs

View Advert Hex frog juicers The Rolls Royce way to power frogs in DCC and keep wiring to a minimum. Also good for DCC return loops. 7 available. See other adverts for points motors and decoders Advertiser Phil Bullock Date 20/11/22 Price £40 Category Other scales  

View Advert SMD 82 decoders 7 available. Will drive stall motor (tortoise or cobalt) or solenoid (Peco etc). Each SMD 82 drives 8 motors with individual addresses each of which is individually configurable to motor type. Will consider bundle deals eg £150 for 8 points , tortoises and decoder Advertiser Phil Bullock Date 20/11/22 Price £40 Category Other scales  

View Advert Tortoise point motors 29 tortoise point motors plus some remote mounting kits. Evidence of use but all working. Will consider bundles eg £150 for 8 points, tortoises and decoder. See other adverts. Advertiser Phil Bullock Date 20/11/22 Price £8 Category Other scales  

View Advert Code 75 electrofrog Peco points A total of 60 plus originally available. Down to the last remaining g few… SLE187 curved left - 3 SLE193 short crossing - 1 SLE194 long crossing - 2 SLE195 medium right - 2 SLE196 medium left - 1 SLE198 large Y - 2 £12 each. Please contact with requirements. See also other adverts for Tortoise motors, accessory decoders and frog juicers… will consider bundle prices eg £150 for 8 points plus tortoises plus SMD 82 decoder Advertiser Phil Bullock Date 20/11/22 Price £12 Category OO / 4mm scale  

Hoping things have moved on from that!!!!

No mate I am colour blind….. 😀

Tin soldier …. Small faces

50149 in triple grey?

What on Earth is an elderly gentleman with an enlarged prostate going to do when everything grinds to a halt one day and he is stuck on the train for hours?

Cheers Paul have debranded my Regent 35 tonners based on those photos

6A02 presumably not an Albion working ?

And probably prototypical!

Looking great Neil …. Will be a very distinctive train when you have finished. As for grouping it usually means something else on here…. 😉

You are not alone my friend…. The owner is just as culpable 😉

Better have kippers Mike…. They will keep reminding you all day!

More progress with scenery and electrics …. On the scenery front now need to build the Abbotswood road bridge to ensure the embankment slope and height of topography are correct in that location. On the electrics front finished OWW wiring on board 9 yesterday …. And also added protection to the exits from the two up B&G short sidings on the same board - that’s them top right, ideal for storing short trains to send scooting around whilst loops are sorted out… light loco, DPU, route learner, inspection saloon etc This protection is key to preventing short circuits if operators inadvertently try to exit a siding without selecting the correct route . With frogs powered off the cobalt Digitals this would precipitate an immediate short circuit halting all other traffic. On the old layout with frog juicers you could get away with it electrically although derailment usually followed. For protection I have installed these… A DCC controlled switch controlling the power to the track section in advance of the point. Each is actually two switches with separate DCC accessory addresses. As installed in the sidings these just switch track power on or off - integrating them in to routes means operators won’t be able to move a train off without setting the appropriate route. Next step is to look at using them on the loops. That’s a different ball game as the dead sections have to stop trains as well as controlling their starting …. And locos fitted with stay alives risk proceeding through a dead section. Time to explore asymmetrical braking sections I think….. Of course DCC (Don’t Confuse Clive) wiring is simple 😀 ! Aim is to ensure we put on a good show when we are out and minimise the risk of operator errors within my limited knowledge of electronics. Hopefully if this all works as planned operators will be able to forget a train once it is clear of the fiddle yard entry points as it will halt automatically…. And will be able to switch attention to the next train to keep something moving to keep the punters happy.

Not only chronological issues affecting popularity of diesel classes…. A paucity of photos of diesels in the 60s suggests that many enthusiasts only photographed steam and hung up their cameras when steam finished. Diesel classes that became extinct before the mid to late 70s are subject to this …. Along with the additional burden that many were hated as they displaced much loved steam locos. It was really the demise of the Westerns that made folks wake up to what was being … and had already been …. lost. On top of this across all eras is the distortion of selective photography…. Crack passenger trains always attracted much more exposure than humble freights. The distorted view of locomotive history provided by historical photographs is probably a large factor in the popularity of locomotive subjects for historical modellers …. Suspect this has now changed however with most class 1 services provided by units which are not so popular….

Goshawk is that Mike?

Geeat to see as not a lot around this year. Hope next year is better….