RMweb Gold Oldddudders Posted April 15, 2021 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 15, 2021 Just read that 4.7m people are awaiting an op in England, and I hope you stay front of the queue, Nick! 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Siberian Snooper Posted April 15, 2021 RMweb Premium Share Posted April 15, 2021 Glad to hear from you and that Horrabridge is alive and well, even if it is on the back burner. Looking forward to any Dartmoor based trainsets. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
drduncan Posted April 15, 2021 Share Posted April 15, 2021 Glad you’re back online! Duncan 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Mikkel Posted April 15, 2021 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 15, 2021 8 hours ago, Brinkly said: Between January and 8th March, school was mad - mixture of spinning the usual in-house plates, then chuck in 4-hours of proper learning for the children at home and any 'spare' time I had evaporated! Still, hopefully that is now over and done with. It made the difference to a lot of our children, so it was worth it. Can't think of a more worthy way to spend your time. On behalf of the future, thanks Nick! And good luck with the op and recovery, I hear a wagon kit is good against gallbladder trouble 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Popular Post Brinkly Posted April 15, 2021 Author RMweb Gold Popular Post Share Posted April 15, 2021 Thank you for all your comments, gents. Very much appreciated. I did some modelling today; first proper modelling for a while. A few years ago, I was able to purchase some Bachmann ex GWR Toad bodies for £1 each. I bought four and then managed to source some Airfix underframes for a similar price. Before Christmas, I got two of the vans to a semi-complete state and then found another part-converted P4 model in a box. Lord knows how long it has been languishing away in there, but I thought it needed finishing off. I know both models (Bachmann and Airfix) have compromises, but I've detailed them up to represent an A19, A20 and A21 respectively using Atkins (et al) book - GWR Goods Wagons - and for layout stock I think they should be alright. I've fitted replacement buffers, lamp brackets and veranda detailing and will re-number and weather each one once it is a little warmer outside. One of the vans will have Launceston R.U. added to provide a little nod to the line. I don't think Launceston ever had an offically allocated van, but there always seemed to be one or two kicking about the yard. Tavistock South did; although, this was a later BR built model and will be modelled at a later date. The transfer was a custom job by Steve Bell of Railtec Transfers. I only placed the order on Tuesday and it arrived this morning; first-class service. Rather nice transfer The lamp bracket needs a tiny bit of 'tweaking'. I drill a very small hole, then open it out slightly with a knife blade. The bracket is a Finney example. Folded, soldered up and then 'sweated' into place. Rather dusty Tavistock Junction R.U. A19 van, with detailed veranda - each plank was painted using enamels. It needs weathering inside next and possibly a ModelU guard... Slightly different interior of a what will become an A21 - vacuum cylinder between the sandboxes. Trio awaiting final detailing and any little tweaks - all with replacement buffers and planking in the roof on the end example. Not sure if I will do the other two. I know they aren't perfect, but I've tried to give them all a little character and once weathered, should look alright bringing up the rear of a goods train. Thanks for reading. Best wishes, Nick. 24 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Captain Kernow Posted April 15, 2021 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 15, 2021 Very nice, NIck, but how did you manage to get the paint brush to the individual planks on the veranda floor? 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Brinkly Posted April 15, 2021 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted April 15, 2021 16 minutes ago, Captain Kernow said: Very nice, NIck, but how did you manage to get the paint brush to the individual planks on the veranda floor? Thanks, Tim. The Bachmann bodies had loose floors, so mine (literally) dropped out. I then used a decent Windsor Newton Series 7 Kolinsky Sable Brush to paint each plank individually. I've completed a couple of open wagons using Humbrol enamels and Martin Welsh's technique - which I will share soon - using the same technique. All the best, Nick. 3 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wiggoforgold Posted April 16, 2021 Share Posted April 16, 2021 (edited) Nice to see you back Nick. I understand from my wife, who had gallstones, that the pain of passing one is akin to childbirth, so the upside of your experience is an additional insight into the female psyche. Your post on the Toads comes at an apposite moment, as I have just been given a Bachmann one. Where did you get the "RU4" transfers? The branch offers a few modelling possibilities. Shaugh Bridge and Clearbrook would be fun scenically, but don't offer much in the way orf operation. Tavistock South or Marsh Mills might be done using the "bitsa" stations approach, with the front of the train shed at Tavistock South ant the overbridge at Marsh Mills being scenic breaks. Alex Edited April 16, 2021 by wiggoforgold Spellchecker wanted to change "Shaugh" to "Shanghai". It clearly hasn't been there. 5 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wagonman Posted April 16, 2021 Share Posted April 16, 2021 I can vouch for the pain of gallstones – excruciating is the word that comes to mind. Glad you’ve had yours removed too. 1 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianusa Posted April 16, 2021 Share Posted April 16, 2021 Tavistock is a virtual metropolis in comparison with a three road station, goods facilities, even a turntable. Brian. 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Brinkly Posted May 4, 2021 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted May 4, 2021 On 16/04/2021 at 14:31, wiggoforgold said: Nice to see you back Nick. I understand from my wife, who had gallstones, that the pain of passing one is akin to childbirth, so the upside of your experience is an additional insight into the female psyche. Your post on the Toads comes at an apposite moment, as I have just been given a Bachmann one. Where did you get the "RU4" transfers? The branch offers a few modelling possibilities. Shaugh Bridge and Clearbrook would be fun scenically, but don't offer much in the way orf operation. Tavistock South or Marsh Mills might be done using the "bitsa" stations approach, with the front of the train shed at Tavistock South ant the overbridge at Marsh Mills being scenic breaks. Alex Hi Alex, I'm sorry for the delay in replying. The RU4 was a factory finished marking. A few years ago, Bachmann produced a Tavistock Junction RU van (Bachmann 33-301D). They still come up for sale every so often on eBay. I got mine from Antics in Plymouth in 2007(ish) along with a BR pannier and small prairie tank when I came back into modelling again after a good 7-8 year absence. All the best, Nick. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Siberian Snooper Posted May 4, 2021 RMweb Premium Share Posted May 4, 2021 Would a Tavistock Junction brake van be used on the branch, as it's the wrong side of the actual junction? I would have thought that Laira or Plymouth would be more likely. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Brinkly Posted May 4, 2021 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted May 4, 2021 Hello everyone, Thank you for your comments - apologies for not replying sooner. I'm still learning what I can/can't eat currently and have one or two good days, followed by several not so good ones. Anyway, making the most of the better days, I've been slowly plodding through the outstanding project box. The toads are pretty much done now - just patch-painting and weathering to do. I decided to crack on with a couple of partly detailed milk tankers. These were started and put in a box. I had completely forgotten about them until the weekend. I haven't done a step-by-step guided, but I thought I would share my work. These are based on earlier GWR diagrams, which were re-worked by BR during the 1950s. They are loosely based on O38 and O42 tankers and I accept they are not perfect! I have a couple more to do, which will be reworked into GWR, LMS and SR examples. Justin's detailing kits and instructions have been a godsend. The tanker on the left (based on an O38) still needs a few tweaks to the underframe. The one on the right, O42, is almost complete - just the strapping to adjust in places. I will put a more detailed description up on my workbench thread if anyone is interested. I've also been thinking about a small layout, drawing ideas from Mary Tavy and Coryton. Nothing very much yet, but some ideas are starting to come together. Take care everyone. All the best, Nick. 11 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Brinkly Posted May 4, 2021 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted May 4, 2021 6 minutes ago, Siberian Snooper said: Would a Tavistock Junction brake van be used on the branch, as it's the wrong side of the actual junction? I would have thought that Laira or Plymouth would be more likely. I don't know - rule number one for me! All the best, Nick. 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Popular Post Brinkly Posted February 10, 2022 Author RMweb Gold Popular Post Share Posted February 10, 2022 (edited) Hello everyone, I know it has been a while since my last post, but I thought I would share what has been happening in Nick world over the past few months. Last year, having had a huge amount of thinking time, I made the decision to leave teaching (don't believe what you read in the press about teaching being a bed of roses: it really isn't at the moment). This was an incredibly difficult decision, however, good friends Tim @Captain Kernow and the late great Grahame Hitchen @bgman put the whole process into content and were wonderful sounding boards. Back in September, GWR advertised for conductors based at Exeter and I have been one of the lucky seven who applied and were successfully appointed. I'm really hoping to get some balance back in my life again! Teaching really has completely taken over my life and I'm looking forward to finishing for the day and not having 90 pieces of marking to mark. This is my last 'proper' week (next week is residential). I know I will miss working with the children... tomorrow will be spent teaching nice things! But teaching is now about more geared up to performance managing teachers and not making sensible, long-term plans which will improve the outcomes for all children. Anyway, I have completed some modelling over the past few months and have a replacement project (Launceston branch linked) to share soon. Thank you again to everyone who has sent messages over the past couple of months. I do appreciate it. Best wishes, Nick. Edited February 10, 2022 by Brinkly 3 31 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
David C Posted February 10, 2022 Share Posted February 10, 2022 I've been enjoying your thread for a while and sympathise with your decision to leave teaching. I did the same back in 1973 (yes, really!!!) and never regretted it. The job was not a bed of roses even then, but successive governments have made it even tougher. All the public services have been cut (education, NHS, defence, the legal system etc etc), yet Westminster demands more and more from the staff with fewer and fewer resources. The system stinks and ....... - I could rant on and on, but modelling has usually kept me sane. Now that you've escaped, I'd get on with that! Best wishes David C 11 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianusa Posted February 10, 2022 Share Posted February 10, 2022 Good luck on the real railway, Nick. Brian. 3 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackRat Posted February 11, 2022 Share Posted February 11, 2022 Good luck with the new career Nick! Having family in teaching, I know what you have been going through, and what the last few years have been. I retire from the plod today ( again) after 35 years, I just can’t stand the environment now and what it has become. Best wishes and looking forward to the Launceston layout! 9 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Oldddudders Posted February 11, 2022 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 11, 2022 I am sorry to see a really nice bloke come out of teaching, but have little doubt it is the right decision. Sherry was a teacher - she qualified in 1971, initially for secondary, but later re-trained to do primary. She watched as the job changed enormously, and school heads increasingly became business managers, rather than inspirational leaders. Nice, cheap NQTs are much cheaper than old stagers! That said, our last visit to our alma mater in 2016 - 50 years after I left - was indeed inspiring, because the head, a Salvationist, was exactly what we would wish for this grammar-turned-comprehensive. Sherry's daughter, by contrast, is thriving in the calling. Early 40s, a DH for the last 15 years, and certainly in the running for the top job when Phil goes - she almost got it last time until he made himself available - she is much admired by the academy of which her two-form-entry school is now part. So she has attended courses on this and that ready for the next level, but is also now an OFSTED inspector. At the previously-failing school she inspected last week, the head thanked her for her attitude and assistance, and obviously meant it. And Neil is leaving plod. On a day when the meejah is abuzz about Ms Dick and her apparent shortcomings. I am bound to say that her background, as apparently an ace sleuth, solving serious crimes, is hardly the perfect CV for policing a major city, where most of the plod are uniformed. Being Hemlock Soames, Bergercrap and Moose all rolled into one does not, it seems, lead to much wisdom about sensitive issues like the vigil in the wake of Sarah Everard's murder. Boris threw her a lifeline then, and she has repaid the compliment by insisting at the last moment that, after all, plod should see what parties look like in Downing St, thus watering down the impact of Sue Gray. 2 1 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Regularity Posted February 11, 2022 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 11, 2022 On 10/02/2022 at 10:02, Brinkly said: I made the decision to leave teaching That’s shame, but a perfectly sane and rational decision. So, will the new job give you more time to spend on modelling? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Siberian Snooper Posted February 11, 2022 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 11, 2022 3 hours ago, BlackRat said: Good luck with the new career Nick! Having family in teaching, I know what you have been going through, and what the last few years have been. I retire from the plod today ( again) after 35 years, I just can’t stand the environment now and what it has become. Best wishes and looking forward to the Launceston layout! Monsewer, I take it that you won't be applying for the vacancy in Lundun? 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackRat Posted February 11, 2022 Share Posted February 11, 2022 Out of mischief I just might 3 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold teaky Posted February 11, 2022 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 11, 2022 31 minutes ago, BlackRat said: Out of mischief I just might We look forward to the new Met. Police uniforms. 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium figworthy Posted February 11, 2022 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 11, 2022 4 hours ago, teaky said: We look forward to the new Met. Police uniforms. A potentially interesting take on the phrase "plain clothes" Adrian 2 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Oldddudders Posted February 11, 2022 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 11, 2022 4 minutes ago, figworthy said: A potentially interesting take on the phrase "plain clothes" Au contraire! No-one dressed Blackrat-stylie could possibly be a copper! 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now