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tomparryharry

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About tomparryharry

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  • Location
    Newport, South Wales
  • Interests
    Anything to do with railways. Music of all sorts. Trying to make people laugh, especially on RMweb....

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  1. Well Folks, a fortnight onwards, and much improved. The work regarding the shed has re-started, and I should complete it sometime this summer. Common Branch Junction awaits....
  2. Gender shouldn't be entirely relevant in this day & age. Anne Diamond is well known for her model-making, and I guess it's only a lack of publicity that more ladies aren't involved. As for driving, gender is most certainly not an issue. I've met highly competent & skilled lady drivers. On the other side of the coin, I've worked with men who can't drive if their very life depended on it. And that's regardless of scale. 'Right person, right place, right time, right job, right result.
  3. Depending on what you are doing, those little N20/30 motors are pretty good. I've converted the gearbox to accept Romford/Markits axles. They are a bit 'tight' for 00, but with EM or P4, I'd guess they are a better size fit. Lots of posts on the forum about these. With the proper gears of choice, they are indeed quite powerful.
  4. Not my scale, but that A4 pacific in TT does look good.
  5. The dreaded Mojo has given me a kicking for the last couple of years, but thanks in large part to the RMWeb community, I'm still here. Well; I think I'm still here.... The problem is this... I keep seeing nice things on here. and naturally, I want to emulate those nice things. However, the model railway scene is somewhere down the 'to-do' list, behind turning lead into Gold, anti-gravity mats, etc, etc, etc... Anyhow, thanks for being hereabouts. Cheers, Ian.
  6. A quick addendum to these posts. Internal condition of the water spaces varied enormously area by area. Whereas locomotive boilers were washed out on a regular basis, tanks were very rarely washed out. Water from the Thames Basin is fairly hard, but the water coming off the Brecon Beacons is very soft, almost acidic* Locomotives working in south Wales were prone to shorter working lives, especially if they stayed for a long working life. Boilers were less of a problem, due to the inspection regime, but a leaky tank only showed up on a drivers' fault card. When TVR 28 was first steamed, you could hear the chalk coating 'pinging off' as the boiler warmed up. This softer hot water got underneath the chalk coating, and effectively cleaned it all off. Later on, the side tanks did start to rot through, especially at the riveted joints below the normal tank water line. 56xx locomotives spent almost all of their working lives in soft water areas, at least for the majority of the class. * The people at Pontypool & Blaenavon regularly check the PH level, and make additive on a daily steaming basis.
  7. In his book about Caerphilly Works, Eric Mountford mentioned that a 'Tank Shop' was proposed for the works. It never happened, as closure overtook the proposal. However, side tank locomotives, such as the 56-66xx had renewals to the lower portions, on an 'as needed' basis. In addition, the 42-52-72xx, as well as the Prairies, came under this repair requirement. Seam welding is the better repair, although somewhat unattractive. If you don't have the time or money, then welding is quick & efficient. In terms of era it will limit the scope for modellers. I wouldn't think that the Western would allow a non-standard repair prior to the 1950's. You wouldn't see a 1960-repaired loco on a 1930 era layout!
  8. An idle browse though 'Bay reveals that some 'Brand New' DJM 18" Austerities are on sale. Are these re-discovered models from some long-defunct retail source? Perhaps my ambition of re-creating Haulwen No2 (Mountain Ash) is still alive after all...
  9. It depended on the seam, Mike. Certain seams produced for different uses. Certain coal 'bloomed' whereas some needed a flat grate. Welsh coal would sometimes need a expansion gap beneath the brick arch, to ensure secondary air could get into the combustion process. If you over fired , the coal would black out until the air could get through. Putting a pricker in without the blower would produce a blowback of severe proportions.
  10. It's those pesky Colonials again; coming here, and altering our words. You can't adjust the cant, or can you? Where's the center rail on the Central Line? can I catch a train to Cockfosters with my co-workers? I did a Marathon once, but nowadays it's Snickers.... I'm awaiting the word middel in Websters.
  11. 'Tis difficult for Bachmann to make steam locomotive models. If you accept the premise that 60% of steam modellers are Great Western, then that's 60% of the market is closed off to Bachmann. If they release a new model with a rivet so much as 5 thou" out, then there will be a rebellion of great magnitude. In fairness, what's left for them? Other manufacturers have interacted with the prospective market, and actually listened. Sure, it's not absolute perfect, but the open dialogue betwixt manufacturers & buyers has paid dividends. Would Bachmann re-enter the market for Western-derived models? It would have to exceptional; truly exceptional. The 56xx is a very good model, as are the small prairies. The pannier model is about to be usurped by the team at Accurascale, who have listened to its prospective clients. Bachmann couldn't or wouldn't release a brand new Western model, to invite negative comment. Dapol went 'off-air' for a while, until the dialogue became a two-way channel. Could you imagine if Bachmann produced an obscure-ish class of GWR models? Oh dear; oh dear... As Mr. York has said,, it's early in the Year. Yet......
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