cromptonnut

Another hour passes and it's just under £16k now!

Apparently Satan's wig has gone missing. There'll be hell toupee.

If the culprits are 15, shouldn't they be doing GCSE's right now too? I was at 15...

Fred 1 successfully installed in the Bell end container. Now it's tested and working, I can figure out how I'm going to do the pickups (hence the temporary arrangement for testing purposes).

Triple pack of FREDS as above are now in the post. Will report back once I've installed it. I guess it'll arrive in a few days, which mean I'll have "something for the weekend" to do.

Thanks - they seem to use 'super fine wires' that can probably be hidden easily enough with minimal effort. Being track powered too is a bonus and I'm quite sure I can use a three pack. There's plenty of room in the container for the electronics if I cut a hole in the floor which will be hidden when in use, although to be honest I shouldn't really need to ever remove it once installed I will use something to hold it in place.

The physical solution isn't a difficult one, as you say the Train Tech one above is one of many, it's the actual fitting when it comes to this particular wagon due to the gap between the container where I could hide the electronics, and the end of the wagon.

Hello, Whilst going crosseyed fitting those little yellow twistlocks to the first 6 of the 10 container flats I need (18 per wagon...) my thoughts are turning to the back end of the train where obviously I'd like to have a flashing rear light as per the prototype. I've come across the Train Tech AL-1 which will do the job however I wondered what other options I might have? I'm running DCC so obviously something permanently powered from the track (possibly via a cheap decoder - there's plenty of room inside the container for stuff) but on a coach or normal wagon you can just mount the light directly, but on these there's a gap between the end of the container and the mount on the end of the wagon. I've chosen the "Bell" container for the back of the train as obviously it's on the end... Has anyone done this particular "detail" and can advise before I make a mess of an £85 pair of wagons?

I've just invented a version of Indian butter, but it comes in a spray can. I'm going to market it as Ghee Whiz.

Well I decided to take the detour today and spent some money. There wasn't anything in the 'specials' that particularly tickled my wallet but I did buy some other things, so it was worth it. On the plus side, a very well stocked shop with loads of stock of all types in all the common gauges plus plenty of scenics, track and other useful stuff despite obviously getting a good hammering in its first week. A wide range of "walletemptium" and lots of interesting things to look at although no obvious ranges I hadn't come across previously. Nice to see the Peco "bullhead" close up and if they are going to expand the range I may well restart construction of my steam era layout in progress to use it. The only two negatives really is that firstly even on a sunday parking nearby was atrocious, and it took me 5 minutes to find a space in a nearby side street. I didn't have time to go to one of the 5-10 minute walk car parks and was close to giving up. Secondly there really needs to be a contact phone number for the shop as so many people will want to check that something is in stock before doing the journey, especially if like me you aren't a "local" and it's a long detour or special journey to get there. I guess that there isn't much that can be done about the former, although I'd have thought that there would have been other empty shops in the town with better parking availability (being Guildford I guess they don't like us common folk parking outside and it's the same everywhere) but hopefully the phone issue will be addressed soon as it seems silly to have to ring Camborne every time and wait for a call back. As it's not sufficiently "close to home" to warrant a special visit, I guess that it'll continue as an occasional passing through particularly for odds and ends of low value, and the rest of my needs will continue to be served mail order from wherever is convenient or as I'm out and about travelling.

Yes I did, I was browsing at work inbetween customers (thank you heavy rain) and didn't have time to read the whole thread in detail, have now watched the video and caught some glimpses of about half the offers. I see comments about parking, let's hope I pick a quiet time to visit then. As for pasties, which I saw mentioned elsewhere, there is a West Cornwall Pasty Co hut on platform 2 of Guildford station - annoyingly on the times I am there I usually have 6 minutes between trains for my connection and just not quite enough time to run over and get one without risking missing my train.

Strange that they don't seem to have a phone number for the Guildford shop, had to ring Camborne to confirm if they were open tomorrow, and the person I spoke to had no idea what the in-store special offers were, as if they are things I need I'd rush there tomorrow on my way to work, if not then I'd go in the week on a day off which is more convenient. Also there's obvious questions for the first time visitor like parking (seems like a single yellow line outside?) Several people have asked similar on facebook to no response. I know they are probably busy with opening week but surely that's the time you should be most aware of people with questions?

Any cheques sent will be shredded shortly when I get the folder of paperwork so no worries there, it's just easier to start afresh (including forms) for another time as things can change.

Dear all As you’ll know, it recently became apparent that the ‘goalposts had moved’ somewhat with regard to our proposed modular meet at the museum, following a refurbishment, and that we had been offered an alternative but considerably smaller space at the museum. Having asked for opinions of those who had indicated attendance, and with a few comments here and some discussions in private message, it has become apparent that although there is still enthusiasm an outside chance that we could make things work in the new room, there are indeed more problems than positives in regard to the short notice change and there simply isn’t enough time for me to do all that might be needed to search out an alternative venue for the May date. The general feeling seems to be “not sure the room will work for us” therefore regrettably it seems that we will have to pull the plug on the 19th May meeting. Apologies to those who have made travel and accommodation arrangements in advance, and I do sincerely hope that this won’t have put you off participating in any future modular meets. It is hoped that there will be further opportunities – and do remember that anyone can organise a meet, anywhere in the UK – this isn’t just something that I can do, or is restricted to the SECAG area. Apologies again, but sadly it’s beyond my control. ‘Nut

"Usable space". As I mentioned, if we remove the stuff on the left then that loses some of the length of the room as it will have to go to the end (plus we'll have to move it, and put it all back afterwards). The cabinets on the right cannot be moved. Also, I always plan with a bit of flexibility in case things don't quite fit together, you need space for manoeuvrability of modules into position, plus you might need a bit of a walkway either side of a module. At the last meet I erred on the side of caution and would continue to do so on this occasion, I treat module positioning in the same way as track laying - if having something so close to a board edge that an inch or so in tracklaying makes a big difference, it's too crowded. When we had our 50ft x 50ft space we were fine. In this room, it changes things significantly.

Good to see this project still progressing, still inspiring for the project I haven't got round to starting yet but will be very similar... just time getting in the way.

I've dropped him an email asking where in the kit the bits should be, as you say I'd have expected the spacers to have been supplied with the bogies as I bought everything in one go from him, after specifically asking exactly what I needed to order.

Hi all Today I've been to look at the venue and what they were able to offer. The initial space offered last year is definitely a no-hoper; the space that we were originally offered in the main hall now has a vehicle in the way that's part of the display and not easily moved, and the whole main hall now has an hourly ten minute multimedia presentation where the lights are dimmed, and there is lots of lights, sound, video and suchlike meaning it would be very intrusive on our operations. What has been offered now is a 'side room' which looks like it's used for school parties and suchlike, picture below Obviously the tables and chairs would be cleared out of the way but that leaves us about a 40ft long x 10ft wide space, which doesn't leave itself to much more than 'a long run' which would be filled with just a fiddle yard and one or two modules, never mind junctions and suchlike. Given the minimum radius of "Dave" standards, we'd barely get a 180 degree curve in at the end to run along the other side of the space, assuming someone has built one. Plus points Room is no longer 'public viewed' so a little less stressful and no need to worry about light fingers. Still has easy access to outside without taking everything through the museum. no change in cost. same location. Negative points Smaller space means much more limiting on configuration available - reducing the number of modules and potentially attendees. Lack of time until the date means building additional curved modules is unlikely to be practical, assuming that someone has the time to make them. Lockers (RH side of hall) cannot be moved. If we were to move the chairs and 'stuff' on the left of the picture to the end of the room (behind where I took the photo) it reduces the length of space available. I'll be honest here and say that my gut feeling is "forget it" but clearly it's not just my decision. Retreat, regroup and possibly look at another date in the future at possibly a different location. I don't have the time to find an alternative venue before the May date. Over to you... but I do need to let the museum know fairly soon whether we are cancelling or not.

Depends what I need. I'll support local shop(s) wherever I can but do frequently check the Hattons site and if they have something in second hand that's long been out of production then I'll buy from there. Sometimes it's just convenience, due to my awkward shift pattern I can't get to a local shop sometimes for nearly 3 weeks in a convenient time that they are open and I'm available, In that case, a Hattons order is quicker.

As the bogies were supplied with the kit, shouldn't the spacers (which sound like the bit I'm missing) be in the kit as well? Don't suppose you have a picture of it as I may have it but don't realise what it is.

You are right, I've just dug a Bachmann Mk 1 out of my stock box and they do have the same arrangement, although the Bachmann name isn't stamped on the bogies anywhere. The bolt supplied with the kit certainly fits in the "tail" smaller part of the fish shape however I can't see how it might secure it. I think you're right that some squares of plasticard as spacers and suchlike will suffice, however it seems a bit of a "bodge" job and given the quality of the rest of the kit I wouldn't have expected to need to do that.

The bogies are the ones that came with the kit when I bought it about a year ago (I've finally got round to making a start) so I would assume that all the bits I require should be in the box. Being a DEMU you wouldn't have the pickups as the HAP should have however I would have assumed that there might have been some sort of commonality when it comes to attaching unpowered bogies to the underframe. I've never attempted a kit this complex before as painting always lets me down but having the pre-printed sides made it much more palatable; good luck with your kit and hope to see pictures of it at some point.

Am I right in understanding that if you buy the printed issue then you have the printed issue on your shelf for life, but with the new 'gold membership' that gives you access to the back catalogue as well as the ones you 'buy' each month you are a member, once you cancel your ongoing subscription you lose access to everything you have 'paid for' during that time rather than simply stopping access to new issues after you stop paying?

I wasn't aware that the original post (showing 23 hours ago) was hidden until today, so it isn't an April Fool joke, although it would have all the hallmarks of being one, rather like the Facebook Gold service that does the rounds from time to time.

fair enough, I missed it appearing. I'm not sure that the benefits are worth it for me, and as long as things don't disappear from "free" membership and go over to a paid membership I will remain as I am. I say free, however we do already pay by the advertising revenue generated by our use of the forum.