The McMullen Coal Company Light Railway

[Owd Bob]

A bloke from the WHHR shop runs the Llanfair show now, sadly i don't know his name, but he seems an ok bloke whenever i've chatted to him. Here's the new Show details for the old Elsecar do!

  

Edited September 4, 2018 by Owd Bob

[77philg]

 Hi Bob       Im going to Bradford on the Saturday  ,So if your going that day ill see you there .Just been given all clear so hopefully things should get back to normal now.(12 weeks) .  Phil

[ossygobbin]

OB, i was there saturday and seemed busy enough. did you go in all the rooms ?. who was the missing stand you was going to buy from.

funny enough i bought something that i didnt expect to see at this show, more likely at telford where i nearly went. (a 7mm  Dapol gwr autocoach fully lined and very hard to get)

did you see the quarry layout ? i saw it at peterborough and its something i would like to do indoors but havnt the room.

we went for a ride onn the train after the show, first time on the W&L for me. anyway roll on bradford.

[Owd Bob]

Not sure yet Phil' what day i can go to Bradford, i do hope it's the same day though, i'm going along with Ian'c off this very forum, i've threatened to drive all the way myself but Ian won't have it!     T'is really great to know you are now ok phil'  .. Ozzy! i went in all the rooms and saw everything, the quarry layout was great with real slate pieces and a lot bigger than my effort, i won't name the stall coz there's no point, and it would'nt be fair or worth saying who it was  ....i just hope he's at Bradford! 

Edited September 4, 2018 by Owd Bob

[Owd Bob]

My old faithful loco' has now had its make-over bits added and damaged bits fixed, i've plenty of filling and rubbing down to do today before i can prime it. White metal smoke box door was given to me by NM years ago and the water filler cap given to me by Ian.c. i always eventually use anything i've been given on something or somewhere on the line. Thanks.

 

[Owd Bob]

Just sprayed it all over with a rattle can of etch primer from the local car spares shop in my outside but almost inside ram-shackle lean-to, so at least swmbo do'snt choke and complain, then it's gone straight into the baking oven (airing cupboard) overnight. I only masked the windows and the cab interior off. Back to Black this time tomorrow!

 

[44690]

You're going to run out of projects. Lol. Looking good mate.

[Owd Bob]

T'was a late or a very early posting Ian?...did you wet the bed last neet?  One last primer pic' before i spray it up Satin Black sometime today!

[Mike Storey]

Brilliant Bob! You lucky so-and-so. I am still knee-deep in concrete foundations......

 

One day, I will be working on stuff like you!

[44690]

You're going to run out of projects. Lol. Looking good mate.

 

Just a late night sorting out the accounts for a small business. I was engrossed in setting up everything on a new accounts package and lost track about the time. (sorry about the pun)

 

Ian

[Owd Bob]

Burning the candle at both ends Ian! It's the start of a downward spiral mate! Satin Blacks all been done and the Red buffs now re-painted. Name & number plates put back on and a new pair of works plates are on order from Narrow Planet.  I will leave it shiny until i can master the weatherin' with an air brush....it might be a long wait!

[44690]

I know. It's not a regular occurance. 

 

Bess is looking good. 

 

Ian

[Mike Storey]

Bess is beautiful an' all, but why not just stab her with the dry brush weathering, until the Gods of the Airbrush reveal themselves unto you? (They have not appeared in my presence for a while....).

[77philg]

 hi Bob  give it a coat of acrylic  matt varnish ,that should dull it down ,weather later or leave it as ex works rebuild which would have looked all shiney and new. phil

[Owd Bob]

Thanks lads! It's not as shiny as it looks in the pics' and i've yet to use the matt dull finish of some barby paint on the cab roof and smokebox/chimney area, which i'll not do for a few more days so the body paint hardens up a bit more.

[Owd Bob]

Glad i was'nt imagining it O.R. I thought the Elsecar show last year was a lot quieter compared to previous ones, so i hope the new Bradford show is ok and will be a success, maybe the recent rise and interest in Garden Railways is on the wane now as the older pioneer generation shuffle off this mortal coil.  the smaller new build houses with smaller gardens, and with more & more ignorant & envious bad neighbours from hell won't help matters in the future, i mainly think it started and has been a middle class and lower middle class hobby for years, now even they are seemingly feeling the pinch. Most preserved railways have and seem to have been run on Pensioner power for the last few decades and that wealth of knowledge and experiance is now rapidly dwindling and although there are some great young 'uns coming in...it's not enough to replace the master craftsmen we once had, most just don't want to get their hands dirty.   

[Mike Storey]

Glad i was'nt imagining it O.R. I thought the Elsecar show last year was a lot quieter compared to previous ones, so i hope the new Bradford show is ok and will be a success, maybe the recent rise and interest in Garden Railways is on the wane now as the older pioneer generation shuffle off this mortal coil.  the smaller new build houses with smaller gardens, and with more & more ignorant & envious bad neighbours from hell won't help matters in the future, i mainly think it started and has been a middle class and lower middle class hobby for years, now even they are seemingly feeling the pinch. Most preserved railways have and seem to have been run on Pensioner power for the last few decades and that wealth of knowledge and experiance is now rapidly dwindling and although there are some great young 'uns coming in...it's not enough to replace the master craftsmen we once had, most just don't want to get their hands dirty.   

 

You may be right Bob, especially about the dwindling number of craftsmen/women capable of maintaining our preserved railways. But I have seen signs of hope at, for example, the KWVR and the NYMR, where apprenticeships have proven to be very popular and the retention rate quite high. I believe others are doing the same. So, here's hoping.

 

On garden railways, there was indeed a small dip in membership of the 16mmNG Association over the past couple of years, but the numbers seem to be heading back up again. Too early to tell I guess. But it seems that sales of Roundhouse locos are as strong as ever - I had to wait a further batch before I could get hold of my last one - and new entrants to the kit market for 32mm, 45mm and now 7/8ths, seem to grow every year. As you well know, it does not have to be an expensive hobby, but you are right in that smaller gardens (or lack of any garden) for many, these days, will not help.

[Owd Bob]

Trouble is only some preserved railways are getting the new young uns and the funding in they need whilst others are really struggling to carry on, i think we'll see a few preserved lines and more museums shutting down parts of their lines and become static museums, just what the answer is i could'nt say other than some new enforced government heritage saving work scheme, we can't all afford to send our kids to Uni' so there must be something inbetween to bridge the gap educational wise? IMO We will need all our old skills back if and when and if this Brexit thing happens. I wonder though just how many Roundhouse locos just sit on a shelf in a display cabinet collecting dust and bought purely as a nice future financial asset and will never ever get fired in their whole lives!  I have heard of many collectors who just buy every single model Roundhouse make and are then just squirreled away in their un-opened boxes never to be seen again  I wonder if Roundhouse could build full scale stuff in the future...we just might need their valuable skills! 

[Mike Storey]

Interestingly, from what I have recently read, the locos at most danger in the preservation scene are diesels, not steam. These are far more complex to maintain and repair, and those with the relevant skills are much rarer than steam engineers (given the excellence of SteamTown and Alan Keefe Ltd etc), let alone the spares needed, which can rarely be manufactured without specialist knowledge and equipment. As a member of the Corris, we had a replica Tattoo class loco built, and are now having a replica Falcon made. The skills needed to build these are alive and well, as they were for Standard gauge Tornado, and others now emerging.

 

On Roundhouse locos being bought and kept on display, this is not how we view our own love of the hobby, but such purchases must tend to keep Roundhouse more viable and keep prices down to some extent, so that we do benefit, I would suggest.

 

But it is ironic that, given the greater availability of affordable lathes, simpler CAD systems and an increasing number of "build-your-own" project plans and advice in the various mags, fewer people seem to be getting involved. I am just as guilty of that, feeling that the development of such skills at my age, would detract from the time I need to build a garden layout and get it working, whilst I am still physically able to do the heavy lifting. It needs younger people to start acquiring the skills and experience, in greater numbers than before.

 

Given the shortages of such, and rising rewards available to those with such skills, maybe it will happen?

[77philg]

 Hi Bob  if  I can put my two pence in . There are no metalwork or woodwork classes in secondary schools anymore which is how I got my interest Then tech collage making screwdrivers on a lathe as part of my electrical course .A lot of kids are interested in games or phones etc. I was a member of Bolton model rail club now defunct, we tried a lot of ways to get young and old into the club but some parents seemed to think we could babysit their children on modelling nights [cheaply]. Club rule was children under 16 had to be accompanied. Some members didn't want kids in the club at all. So its like shooting yourselves in the foot .How can you pass these skills on? There are still a few model engineers out there self taught beavering away in their sheds . Over the last ten years quite a few I know have passed away, which is really sad ,that little bit of advice or drawing on a scrap of paper to help on completing a project now gone. I still think for the hobby to progress The young need to be encouraged to take an interest , hopefully in enough numbers to carry on . Talking to my local model rail shop ,he said the bulk of his sales were to 50 -65 year olds and he gave the hobby about 15 years. He did say that he will probably retire in the next ten years presumably to sell on   phil

[Donw]

Well things don't seem so bad at our local club. True I am the only one going in for live steam in the garden but when I get the house finihed and can get on ith the garden railway I can start trying to inspire others. It is surprising how having a radio control stuffed into your hand can give you the bug. That's what Tom Copper did to me many years ago.

The club may be lucky in having a preserved line nearby. There are quite a lot of seniors but a active group of younger members  some with kids some a bit younger plus a few juniors. Our chairman was a junior about 10 years ago and part of the active group. We run a large show each october which has a good reputation. 

 

Don

[Owd Bob]

On the whole it looks to me like the skills and the interest in doing them has also already been lost on the recent generations! Phil' i even learned needlework and cooking at my old secondary mod' School, at the time i thought it was a Girls thing to do but by God it's come in handy over the years!   The hands on learning at Schools and getting them well and truly oily & dirty days are over, maybe the likes of Steamtown and Alan Keefe etc will also sadly feel the pinch in the future and may well have to cut back at the rate that things seem to be going sooner than later! The work is there to be done, parts of this Country are in now in 'Third World' shanty town conditions it's like being back in the 1970's in some areas, but this time with more 'pot' and pot holes! With no cash or funding that is so badly needed available anywhere for anyone anymore i can't see things improving. Whether you are skilled with the hand tools or machines etc and or the computer i can still proudly say by just going off what can be seen by the members stuff and what they can do on this forum, shows that there are still a great number of highly skilled and talented folks in this Country, we can and should still be the best craftsmen in the World. I know nowt about politics but i see and know real life stuff, and i can see that we are at the point of no return in this Country.....in fact i think it's too late! This whole Country is completely Bankrupt and nobody running it will admit it! Time to declare it so and start again from scratch! ... Rant over!...i promise i'll be back to Garden Railways next time i post!    

[Owd Bob]

Another bug bare of mine O.R. lets call every collage a 'University' and make it look like (con' everybody) that we are all very clever and our education system is doing very well.....i mean the 'University of Bolton' or a possible 'University of Wigan' just do'snt have a certain ring to it that Oxford and Cambridge has!    Problem is the poor Kids who now attend these will be brain washed to believe that it has. 

Edited September 13, 2018 by Owd Bob

[Edwardian]

Another bug bare of mine O.R. lets call every collage a 'University' and make it look like (con' everybody) that we are all very clever and our education system is doing very well.....i mean the 'University of Bolton' or a possible 'University of Wigan' just do'snt have a certain ring to it that Oxford and Cambridge has!    Problem is the poor Kids who now attend these will be brain washed to believe that has. 

 

Friendly/Supportive

Edited September 13, 2018 by Edwardian

[APOLLO]

UK bankrupt ? - no way - it's just the distribution of wealth is skewed to the (less than) 1% (and the debt to the other 99%).

 

Anyway I agree skills are being lost, but the computer (IT) revolution is mostly responsible. My son finished a masters degree in mechanical engineering at Liverpool Uni last year, (he got a first and a good graduate trainee job virtually the week he graduated). I did ONC mechanical engineering many years ago, slide rules and steam tables !!. Not so now, I was completely lost with most of the engineering my son was taught - relevant to today's world but unrecognisable to mine !!

 

He had a couple of weeks "workshop training" at St Helens college in the second year of his degree course, and came home with a couple of niceley made objects - I remember asking how he made them - oh, I just programmed the CNC machine and stuck a piece of metal in it !!!  Same with some 3D printing - it's all about computer skills now I'm afraid.

 

Brit15