The Night Mail

[Dave Hunt]

G'morning each. Off to Chesterfield today to lend a hand to elder son. He's diplegic on his right side and usually has regular physiotherapy to keep his back in order as his gait puts a strain on it but since March he hasn't been able to have any. As a result his back muscles are going into spasm and he's a bit restricted in what he can do so since he has the children this weekend we're going over there. Whether this is covered in government guidelines I'm not sure but we're going to try our best to do social distancing. This will be the first time in four months that my car will have done more than a couple of miles in one go so yesterday I filled it up and checked all the pressures, levels etc. Isn't fuel a bit cheaper now?

 

On the modelling front I've found that since I started doing the scenery on the layout with all the water being sloshed about with diluted PVA, water paint, plaster etc. the top of the steel track is going rusty so I've bought a dehumidifier for the workshop. Mind you, it does mean that the rail heads on the ends of the sidings by the buffer stops etc. will look authentically rusty (although Sod's law will probably mean they're the only bits that won't be affected). 

 

Have a a good weekend everyone.

 

Dave

[Happy Hippo]

1 hour ago, Dave Hunt said:

 

 

On the modelling front I've found that since I started doing the scenery on the layout with all the water being sloshed about with diluted PVA, water paint, plaster etc. the top of the steel track is going rusty so I've bought a dehumidifier for the workshop. Mind you, it does mean that the rail heads on the ends of the sidings by the buffer stops etc. will look authentically rusty (although Sod's law will probably mean they're the only bits that won't be affected). 

Of course, what you really want is the side of the rails to go rusty.

 

I don't know what they have done to steel these days, but my old garage layout (back in the 60's) was laid with Triang Series 4 track, and that had no problem with going rusty all over.  Of course, back in the day , one did not appreciate the authenticity.  I think the rail started out at around Code 125, and by the time I got rid of it, it was down to Code 100 due to the vigorous cleaning regime.

[Erichill16]

Regarding the price of petrol/diesel, the price has come down, petrol got to about £1.00 litre but it’s started to go up again. On the news a couple of weeks ago barrels of crude oil were being ‘sold’ for a negative amount. Apparently there’s not enough storage available.

Robert

[Erichill16]

The good people of Holmfield and Wentborough will have to wait a little longer for their railway to be completed as transfers for a mainline loco have arrived in the post today.

Robert

[jamie92208]

49 minutes ago, Erichill16 said:

Regarding the price of petrol/diesel, the price has come down, petrol got to about £1.00 litre but it’s started to go up again. On the news a couple of weeks ago barrels of crude oil were being ‘sold’ for a negative amount. Apparently there’s not enough storage available.

Robert

Over here it did get down to €1.11 but yesterdsy I paid €1.20 per litre at Leclerc's. That's about £1.08 at current exchange rates so sounds similar to the UK.  Thst's for Gazole (diesel).

 

Jamie

[Happy Hippo]

I filled  both the  X3  and the Ibiza up before lockdown.  The X3 which we've been using for the click and collect runs to supermarkets still has over half a tank of diesel. whilst the Ibiza is recording 3/4 of a tank of petrol.

 

The fuel savings have not yet been transferred into the General Factotum's slush fund which is the primary source of tools, railway and shooting equipment.

 

Meanwhile back at the Hippodrome, the family have departed south, the slight drizzle has stopped and the sun has put in a welcome appearance.

 

A rest beckons!

 

 

[Erichill16]

I took the opertunity to fill the motor home up. It was down to just below 1/4 and filled it to the top. Not sure when I’ll get to us it but think I’ve saved best part of £10. If we go on holiday this year I think it will be that. 

Robert

[Happy Hippo]

 I suppose it is time to move onto the 7 mm saga so that Bill has something to read between shouts.

 

Before I start, I will apologise now for any repetition from my earlier writings:  Were I to go back and keep checking, we would be looking for a finish date somewhere towards the end of the week and not by mid afternoon: you have been warned.

 

Having decided to go down the 7 mm scale route, it was obvious that I was going to have to be quite selective as to my loco fleet.  Fortunately, many years before, one of the first model railway magazines I bought was a copy of Model Railway News.  In it was an article by Martin Waters entitled 'A balanced locomotive stud'.  My memory is a bit hazy about the article now, I believe it was based around the LMS/L&Y area, but it had sufficient impact to stop me going out and buying one of everything.  a more selective approach was adopted.

 

Fast forward into the second decade of the 21st Century and the Dapol 08 previously mentioned was joined by two Minerva pannier tanks, one a 57xx and the other an 8750 variant.  Somewhere along the line, an Ixion Fowler diesel shunter joined the fleet, as it was to work as an industrial shunter on a couple of private sidings that had been proposed for the first line, which was supposedly based on the Ferry Road complex in Cardiff.  This line did indeed have a private owner loco at the far end, and I remember seeing both panniers and then 08 (or EE 350 hp as they were then) shunters working the line past my grandparent's house in Grangetown.

 

The change to a location further east, and the change to Splott West, enabled the same locos to be used realistically, but also opened up the possibility of other small locos.  As it stands, the fleet acquired a second hand Dapol 8750 pannier, followed by  Dapol 64 and 74xx panniers in quick succession. The 64xx could easily be used for local passenger workings, but the 74xx was a bit more problematic.  It was bought because it was a silly price. and having wanted to get certain locos that were now unavailable, I didn't want to take the chance.  Although I wanted a balanced loco stud, because of the location that Splott West occupies, off a fictitious branch within the Cardiff docks complex, locos came from not just one shed.  So the intention was for them to represent locos from the various sheds in South Wales, that had legitimate cause to arrive in the area.

 

Without wanting to do a lot of research, I cheated: It was research of a kind, but was a bit of an easy way out.  I consulted Vol 1 & 2 of Rickard's Record which were picture albums, but with a lot of useful information about which sheds were allocated what target number, ( a Welsh Valleys system) and where that target went to and from.  So my auto train with 6438 as the engine can arrive as an extension of the Abercynon JB target which was the famous 'St Fagans Flier', an autotrain that travelled a rather circuitous route around the area, sometimes with 6438 at the helm.

 

Likewise 4667 hails out of Barry and 7775 is a Canton loco.  The 74xx could become 7414 from Aberdare, whilst the last pannier is currently 3617, which is the odd one out being a Shrewbury engine. However, since she is supposed to guest on a Shropshire based layout in the future, no plans have yet been made to renumber her.  The 08 will eventually be renumbered as either a Cardiff (East Dock)  or a Radyr based loco.

 

The arrival of 1401 as a collectors club loco was another, can't not buy it at the price decision.  Eventually she will end up as 1471 from Llantrisant, or 1410 from Radyr.  Other numbers might be used!!

 

However, the fleet also includes a Sulzer type 2 (25/1) which was bought on a bit of a whim, and a Hymek.  The Hymek arrived on much the same basis as the 74xx, but there is more on that later. Needless to say, at present she will represent one of the Hymeks used in the 60s to  evaluate their use in the valleys.  As we know they were not as successful as the EE type 3, but I couldn't get what would be classified as a 37/0 (gsyp).  They very quickly sold out, hence my Hymek and 74xx purchases.

 

To get a really representative fleet I need a Class 14 'Teddy Bear', and a class 121 DMU,(replacing the auto tank and coach) both of which are to be available this year.  I also need a couple of 56/66xx locos and a 34/84/94xx, one of which I saw behind my (other) grandparents house at Whitchurch (Glam) one morning, shunting the yard.

 

As you can see they've all been purchased off the shelf, and I make no excuses for doing so.  Hand building live steamers for the garden is one thing, but I want to get things moving on the 7 mm front as quickly as possible.

 

As well as trying to balance the loco fleet, another part of the railway that I try to get right is the signalling and track plans.  As a result I tend to try and take an actual track plan and rename it in a fictitious location close to or in a real place. So Splott West is a mirror image of Dyffryn No 3, which is the tail end of Duffryn yard near Margam and Port Talbot, but  my scheme relocates it to Cardiff with the addition of a single facing point lock (the original was freight only) on the main to loop crossover.  Pantmawr Sidings is the northern end of Common Branch Junction with the addition of an additional siding.

 

One of the big advantages of RMWeb is the depth of knowledge that is available virtually on tap, along with freely given advice.  Here I have to mention Mike, The Stationmaster, whom has a huge knowledge base from his years working for the real railway, and the help he has given me.  As a result,  when my track is laid and my signals are erected on the boards, I know they are correct.  Carrying out that sort of research before even building the baseboards is a big help.

 

From the start I'd decided on DCC for control and the use of some form of automatic coupling system.  I opted for Dinghams, as, despite being handed, do give delayed uncoupling and are very easy to unlatch with a shunters pole if needed.  All the locos that need them, and the brake vans are so fitted.  The rolling stock tends to be run in rakes, so only the rake ends are fitted with Dinghams, which does reduce the chance of an accidental uncouple. 

 

To bring this segment to a close, it might be wise to look at my future plan(s).  

 

Some years back I created a track plan, which was a Bitsa station.  It was located at Tressarett on the Wenfordbridge line and represented a single line station, complete with  passenger facilities as the line has miraculously become much more important.   Called 'Merry Meeting' after the forge that had been owned by the family of an old friend, it was based on Ian Manderson's EM Gauge ' 'Hartburn'.  the diffence being this was a very small junction of a branch of a branch that led to a quarry and creamery at Blisland.

 

Of course when I drew this up, Cornish lines on the north coast were very rare, but by the time I was ready, they were ten a penny, so Merry Meeting moved.

 

It is now either somewhere in the Forest of Dean, or somewhere off the Carmarthen to Aberystwyth line.  If the latter, then a name change is probably likely.  

 

You should notice that with the current loco fleet, a move to either the FoD or to West Wales, simply reuses most of them.  A move west could also incorporate the Heljan 43xx as well as their proposed 2251, plus the Dapol 45xx.  Earlier I mentioned the Hymek, again this is a line that they frequented for a long time after the passenger service had been withdrawn, although towards the end, they too had been replaced by the ubiquitous Class 37.  The 74xx, currently as bought and numbered 7444 was a Carmarthen engine, so slots into the location quite comfortably.

 

I  look at these options because the last thing I want to do is overpopulate the stock boxes.  A number change is a lot cheaper than a new loco!

 

A move east could easily absorb all the panniers, although the larger engines I have my eye upon would fall by the wayside, as would the Hymek, although the Sulzer might make an appearance in a later guise.  I could also reuse a 45xx (if I had one) although the loco I would use, 4564, only made one photographed trip from Gloucester to the Forest.  The trouble with the FoD as a location is that it is now gaining the status formerly afforded to the Cornish china clay branch!!

 

At present I'm still sticking with the possibility of replacing Splott West with a curved model, this time of a location further up into the Valleys, but this is for home consumption only. With a river frontage and terraced houses behind,  it won't be going far as it will be a considerable enterprise, although it will be built as a portable due to the space restrictions I have at home.  If it comes to pass, it will be the last railway I build.  Current thoughts are to name it Aberflyarff (Low Level).  I'm not a great fan of made up names for Welsh layouts, but Aberflyarff would be a homage to the late Grenfell Jones, once the brilliant resident cartoonist of the South Wales Echo, who created Aberflyarff and it's population especially to grace the pages of the Echo.

 

Pantmawr Sidings, the G0G competition layout will eventually be sold off/passed on/scrapped once Guildex 2021 has passed. The reason being is I have another plan, which is a lot smaller and represents what I originally wanted to do when I got into 7mm scale.  

 

It can also be easily transported and exhibited should I want to do so.

 

I think that wraps it up for now, but if I remember anything of note, I'll get back to it at a later date

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 11, 2020 by Happy Hippo

[polybear]

7 hours ago, Dave Hunt said:

On the modelling front I've found that since I started doing the scenery on the layout with all the water being sloshed about with diluted PVA, water paint, plaster etc. the top of the steel track is going rusty so I've bought a dehumidifier for the workshop. Mind you, it does mean that the rail heads on the ends of the sidings by the buffer stops etc. will look authentically rusty (although Sod's law will probably mean they're the only bits that won't be affected).

 

Ahh...but will it be scale rust?

 

1 hour ago, Erichill16 said:

I took the opertunity to fill the motor home up. It was down to just below 1/4 and filled it to the top. Not sure when I’ll get to us it but think I’ve saved best part of £10. If we go on holiday this year I think it will be that. 

Robert

 

The only catch being that petrol goes stale....

[Happy Hippo]

5 minutes ago, polybear said:

The only catch being that petrol goes stale....

That's very true, it's about three weeks in a vehicle fuel tank, but you can still use it after, it is the performance that suffers.  However, although it is not an issue in the short term, having 55,000 litres in a tank in the garden, and topping off your car tank once a week might not be such a good idea

 

Topping up a half full tank with fresh fuel tends to to restores it's original vigour.

 

It it's stored in a non vented tank then the shelf life is nearer 6 months.

 

The Seat gets a run out to mid Wales next week to collect some rifles, so that will be a good opportunity to get the tank topped up again with fresh fuel.

 

The Obergrumpenfuhrer also has to make a visit to N Wales, in the near future, so our petrol consumption will start getting back towards normal once more.

[Erichill16]

24 minutes ago, polybear said:

 

Ahh...but will it be scale rust?

 

 

The only catch being that petrol goes stale....

I believe it will last 6to 12 months so will get used by then regardless. 

Its the petrol in my Lotus that’s the problem. I haven’t been able to use that for about 4 years.

Robert

[Tony_S]

I wasn't too sure how much petrol was in my car. I didn't look at the gauge and I thought I will just check with the cars app. Bit worrying as the location map initially centred on Chad. I have enough fuel to get to Barnard Castle and half way home. 

Tony

[Oldddudders]

I think I refilled the car about the turn of the month. I get about 500 miles to a tankful. First time since mid-February. Covid has to have some benefits. 

[Northroader]

Should you worry about a particular area becoming “fashionable” as a locale for model layouts? When I first took an interest everything had to be looking like Ashburton, but that’s long gone, now. Somehow I doubt that the outlying bits of Cardiff will ever see a big upsurge, and that’s having spent a lot of time in the “Chinese” bits, Cathays and Canton.

[AndyID]

4 hours ago, jamie92208 said:

Over here it did get down to €1.11 but yesterdsy I paid €1.20 per litre at Leclerc's. That's about £1.08 at current exchange rates so sounds similar to the UK.  Thst's for Gazole (diesel).

 

Jamie

 

At the moment diesel costs less than petrol here. Slightly under $2 - per US gallon.

[Happy Hippo]

28 minutes ago, Northroader said:

Should you worry about a particular area becoming “fashionable” as a locale for model layouts? When I first took an interest everything had to be looking like Ashburton, but that’s long gone, now. Somehow I doubt that the outlying bits of Cardiff will ever see a big upsurge, and that’s having spent a lot of time in the “Chinese” bits, Cathays and Canton.

No you shouldn't.  

 

After all it's only a toy trainset model railway.

 

I just prefer to do something where someone says 'That's unusual' rather than 'Gorblimey not another one of those'.

[Oldddudders]

37 minutes ago, Northroader said:

Should you worry about a particular area becoming “fashionable” as a locale for model layouts? When I first took an interest everything had to be looking like Ashburton, but that’s long gone, now. Somehow I doubt that the outlying bits of Cardiff will ever see a big upsurge, and that’s having spent a lot of time in the “Chinese” bits, Cathays and Canton.

Not everyone wants to model a place called Splott.

[Happy Hippo]

42 minutes ago, Oldddudders said:

Not everyone wants to model a place called Splott.

The posh now pronounce it S'blow.

 

Although a plumber would invariably delight referring to work in the area as a S'blow job.

Edited July 11, 2020 by Happy Hippo

[Oldddudders]

Actually I think I have a former skoolchum living there. 

[pH]

1 hour ago, AndyID said:

 

At the moment diesel costs less than petrol here. Slightly under $2 - per US gallon.

Not being ‘smart’ - a genuine question. Is diesel not always cheaper than gas? I can’t remember ever seeing diesel more expensive than gas in Canada.

 

(Edit - at the moment, locally gas is about $1.30 a litre and diesel about $1.10)

Edited July 11, 2020 by pH

[Happy Hippo]

7 minutes ago, pH said:

Not being ‘smart’ - a genuine question. Is diesel not always cheaper than gas? I can’t remember ever seeing diesel more expensive than gas in Canada.

It costs about the same to make but it used to be a lot cheaper in the UK as the tax paid on diesel was different (lower).  Of course then the Govt, having weaned many motorists onto diesel cars hiked the tax.

 

Then they told us it was dirty fuel so hiked the tax up again.  They also hiked up the vehicle excise duty depending on how much your engine created in pollutants.

 

At least that is what I think happened, but I can't be sure as I'm so groggy from  the continual pummelling of my posterior from successive administrations and their vehicle excise duty and fuel taxes.

Edited July 11, 2020 by Happy Hippo

[Happy Hippo]

32 minutes ago, Oldddudders said:

Actually I think I have a former skoolchum living there. 

Lynn Bowles the BBC radio presenter was born in Splott.  John Humphries of radio and TV fame was born in Adamstown, which is just the other side of the SWML to Splott

[AndyID]

7 minutes ago, pH said:

Not being ‘smart’ - a genuine question. Is diesel not always cheaper than gas? I can’t remember ever seeing diesel more expensive than gas in Canada.

 

(Edit - at the moment, locally gas is about $1.30 a litre and diesel about $1.10)

 

Diesel used to be cheaper but it became more expensive than gasoline some years ago. Presumably the demand for it has reduced under the present circumstances.

 

We are out in the sticks. We bought two old diesel VW Rabbits for our son and daughter when they were going to school. They could run around for a couple of weeks for not much. I think diesel was under a dollar back then. The other advantage of those cars was they would not go faster than 70 mph

[AndyID]

4 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

That's very true, it's about three weeks in a vehicle fuel tank, but you can still use it after, it is the performance that suffers.  However, although it is not an issue in the short term, having 55,000 litres in a tank in the garden, and topping off your car tank once a week might not be such a good idea

 

Topping up a half full tank with fresh fuel tends to to restores it's original vigour.

 

It it's stored in a non vented tank then the shelf life is nearer 6 months.

 

The Seat gets a run out to mid Wales next week to collect some rifles, so that will be a good opportunity to get the tank topped up again with fresh fuel.

 

The Obergrumpenfuhrer also has to make a visit to N Wales, in the near future, so our petrol consumption will start getting back towards normal once more.

 

I add fuel stabilizer to the petrol in the boat at the end of the season. Seems to do the trick. I've no idea what's in the stuff.

[Happy Hippo]

49 minutes ago, AndyID said:

 

I add fuel stabilizer to the petrol in the boat at the end of the season. Seems to do the trick. I've no idea what's in the stuff.

Neither do I but if forms a protective layer on top of the fuel in the tank that prevents it from evaporating.  Much the same as storing the fuel in a non vented tank.

Edited July 11, 2020 by Happy Hippo