gordon s Posted December 19, 2020 Author Share Posted December 19, 2020 Thanks Martin. I fully understand where you are coming from and it always surprises me doing searches what does pop up. Sadly as the info is already out there, I can't do much other than take sensible precautions, but I really don't want to be in a world where no one helps or supports others for fear of being found out and scammed. I always try not to include too many personal details, but vague information is of no help to anyone and just adds to the ton of erroneous information out there already. What a sad world we live in......Thankfully there are many more of us that care than those who don't. 1 2 12 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold martin_wynne Posted December 19, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 19, 2020 (edited) It's easy to give away personal information without realising it. For example if I say "it was nice and sunny earlier but it has just now started raining", coupled with the fact that I made this post in the UK at 10:38 on 19/12/2020, my location can be narrowed down quite accurately. Martin. Edited December 19, 2020 by martin_wynne typo 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwordsmith Posted December 19, 2020 Share Posted December 19, 2020 Gordon For all the criticism of Social media - much of which is justified - I do believe it can be a power for good. I'm a member of several groups on Facebook. each of which provides a wealth of support to the members, many of whom feel like a large extended family. Three of these are around my lung disease one is a pet rehoming charity, several are for bikers, and one is for ex servicemen who also ride bikes. IN the last one we know we have prevented several suicides and been the catalyst for helping many get help. Here, we're a band of (mostly) old codgers who share an interest as well as a ton of life experience, and if you can't turn to mates like that, then who can you share it with? As they say int he biker groups - "we've got your back 'Bro" 10 1 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwordsmith Posted December 19, 2020 Share Posted December 19, 2020 54 minutes ago, martin_wynne said: It's easy to give away personal information without realising it. For example if I say "it was nice and sunny earlier but it has just now started raining", coupled with the fact that I made this post in the UK at 10:38 on 19/12/2020, my location can be narrowed down quite accurately. Martin. That cloud be anywhere in the UK - remember what they say - One day - Four Seasons! 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Regularity Posted December 19, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 19, 2020 3 hours ago, gordon s said: Now the fascinating bit. The liver is in 8 sections and they want to leave just 2 & 3. They have a complex calculation to determine the volume your body needs and if 2 & 3 can provide that, surgery can go ahead without delay. If it can’t, then they will seal off the bits they are going to remove and redirect the blood flow into the remaining parts until it grows to the correct size and then they can continue with surgery as planned. Now, that really is interesting. Despite my glib remarks earlier - which you took in good humour - this is all good to hear. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold martin_wynne Posted December 19, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 19, 2020 12 minutes ago, bigwordsmith said: That cloud be anywhere in the UK Yes, but every single one of them is on the radar. A quick check, and -- the precipitation level at my location at 10:35 today was 0.5mm/hour. 5 minutes earlier at 10:30 it was zero. Martin. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Enterprisingwestern Posted December 19, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 19, 2020 3 minutes ago, martin_wynne said: Yes, but every single one of them is on the radar. A quick check, and -- the precipitation level at my location at 10:35 today was 0.5mm/hour. 5 minutes earlier at 10:30 it was zero. Martin. Therefore you must live in Places then, because according to the BBC weather report this morning it said there would be scattered showers in places, 13 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post gordon s Posted December 19, 2020 Author Popular Post Share Posted December 19, 2020 (edited) Right enough of this. A gratuitous loco shot, just to show I'm up and pottering about. I must have a word with the cleaning department as it appears a lot of dust has settled in the last 3 weeks...... I'm very happy with the new lighting as it allows so many more options on all the main parameters of photography in terms of ISO, aperture, exposure and shutter speed. I have much to learn. Edited December 19, 2020 by gordon s 40 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Regularity Posted December 19, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 19, 2020 29 minutes ago, gordon s said: I'm very happy with the new lighting Although it does show the dust... 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Barry O Posted December 19, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted December 19, 2020 51 minutes ago, gordon s said: Right enough of this. A gratuitous loco shot, just to show I'm up and pottering about. I must have a word with the cleaning department as it appears a lot of dust has settled in the last 3 weeks...... I'm very happy with the new lighting as it allows so many more options on all the main parameters of photography in terms of ISO, aperture, exposure and shutter speed. I have much to learn. Some rigorous testing needs to take place immediately. Does the dust affect adhesion? Are the pick ups compromised? Are all the stock ok running on the layout? So much testing to do! Baz 2 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post bigwordsmith Posted December 19, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted December 19, 2020 The perils of buying on eBay Although the price was good, I wonder if I should have been more suspicious of the delivery costs. Now how the blazes am I going to get that in my loft? 6 1 38 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold chris p bacon Posted December 20, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 20, 2020 On 19/12/2020 at 15:15, bigwordsmith said: The perils of buying on eBay Although the price was good, I wonder if I should have been more suspicious of the delivery costs. Now how the blazes am I going to get that in my loft? A friend sent me that joke earlier, I replied that if was delivered by Yodel they'd throw it over the fence.... 1 11 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post gordon s Posted December 27, 2020 Author Popular Post Share Posted December 27, 2020 Morning campers.... Christmas has been and gone for another year. Very low key affair at home with just the three of us for Christmas Day and Boxing Day. I'm sure my wife will love this as she's younger than me, but at an average age of 75, Christmas was never going to be a party, party, party affair..... Kicked off the holiday with my PET Scan at the Churchill, but don't expect to hear anything of the results until early into the New Year. Still seems so unreal as apart from a little tiredness, no one would ever know what's going on inside. Apart from football and watching Le Mans 66, I did push myself upstairs to set about building five new crossovers. No idea how this happened, but I must have modified my plan after track laying and it wasn't until I built the mimic panel and went searching for pointwork that wasn't there did I realise what had happened. These crossovers are needed to allow access to all platforms from any line and the design would inevitably be compromised without them. Managed to fire up Templot and find the various turnouts, so made a start. The most boring bit is cutting all the sleepers to length, but once done, I really enjoy sitting with a few bits of rail and a hot soldering iron. Of course chaired track would be far more realistic, but I do enjoy the flexibility and strength of PCB track. It's so easy to adjust and to see bright and shiny solder joints where the alloy just flows into the joint is something that has always fascinated me. Possibly something to do with watching the girls on our assembly lines back in the 80's producing telecomm backplanes. I learned a lot from watching their effortless soldering of components. First pic shows the new turnouts will fit. Always a good start..... Four hours work later and the beastie emerges. It's still very satisfying pushing a test chassis across the crossings and not being able to feel the wheels cross from one side to the other. I wish I was a bit more tidy when working, but it's hard to change after all these years. This crossover will allow direct access from the outer loops to the inner platform faces without having to reverse back and forth. Of course the worst is yet to come with ripping up the existing track to shoehorn this into place without doing any damage, but it can be done with care. Just four more to do.... Thanks again for all your PM's and best wishes..... 29 8 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Rowsley17D Posted December 27, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 27, 2020 Lovely work, Gordon. By the way there's still plenty of Christmas yet, 12th night isn't until 5th January and some celebrate Christmas until 2nd February (Candlemas)! 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian_H Posted December 27, 2020 Share Posted December 27, 2020 Hi Gordon, Nice to see you building some more S&C, they look fantastic. I haven't got round to building anything for myself yet, I'm still building the house and if that goes much slower we'll be going backwards but enough of that and back to your trackwork, as I say it looks fantastic, 00 gauge SF 16.2mm at the crossings, did you ever consider EM gauge? I'm not having a dig or anything I just interested to know what stopped you going that route. Of course EM gauge would necessitate the adjustment of wheels on your locos and rolling stock but I can't see that fazing you too much having seen you messing about quartering(*) the wheels of a 9F a few years ago. Nevertheless, ET looks superb and I am eagerly awaiting the signalling plan, I think you’ve mentioned previously that you would have to brush up your knowledge of signalling but I’m sure there are plenty of experts on RMweb that will be only too willing to give advice. (*) I hope that’s the correct term! Keep up the good work and very best wishes for the New Year Ian 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmsforever Posted December 27, 2020 Share Posted December 27, 2020 On 19/12/2020 at 15:15, bigwordsmith said: The perils of buying on eBay Although the price was good, I wonder if I should have been more suspicious of the delivery costs. Now how the blazes am I going to get that in my loft? Caveat empore the description sometimes dosent match the goods. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post gordon s Posted December 27, 2020 Author Popular Post Share Posted December 27, 2020 (edited) You’re right, Jonathan, but with no tree and for the first time ever, no decorations, Christmas was really just two days for us. My wife is the artistic one who always takes pleasure in creating decorations from various things she has amassed over the years, but this year has proved a tough one on so many fronts. In the end we talked about it and decided it was a lot of effort for just a few days, so we gave it a miss. I must be honest, Ian, whilst I was aware of all the various permutations of 4mm track, I had collected a lot of stock before I even started to build a layout and my first efforts with RTR track was using Tillig. Martin encouraged me to try and build my own turnouts and once I could get something reasonable that worked, sold me on 00-SF and the rest is history. Of course having built 70 turnouts for ET, it’s too late to even consider a change. Perhaps if I could rewind 20 years and had only just started buying stock, then it would make sense. I’m also too old now to rip it up, sell or modify all the stock and build another version of ET........ I know EM and P4 will always look better to the purists, but few of my friends and family know about the fractions of a mm that mean so much to those in the know. It really doesn’t matter which hobby you follow, there comes a time when you move from a hobbyist to something more intense. As a petrolhead who has dabbled with karting, hi fi and photography since my teens, played golf since my 30’s and tries to keep a pond full of fish, there just aren’t enough hours in the day for any of these pursuits to move beyond the initial stages without having to give up something else. Not quite a Jack if all trades, but certainly a master of none and I doubt I ever will be. If I can get things running in an acceptable manner, then I’m happy to live with the compromises. Meanwhile I can appreciate those who have a real dedication to their layouts and can turn out masterpieces without breaking sweat......... Edited December 27, 2020 by gordon s 8 1 12 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold ITG Posted December 27, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 27, 2020 Gordon, only just caught up with news of your new ‘challenge’. (We swapped thoughts about Dibond panels a while back). Although 2021 starts with this challenge, let’s hope it just gets better and better. regards Ian 1 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium skipepsi Posted December 27, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted December 27, 2020 Just keep on going Gordon. doing what you do so well! 1 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian_H Posted December 27, 2020 Share Posted December 27, 2020 Hi Gordon, Thankyou for getting back to me; 1 hour ago, gordon s said: Of course having built 70 turnouts for ET, it’s too late to even consider a change. I certainly wasn't suggesting that you rip it up and start again ........ that'd be crazy 1 hour ago, gordon s said: If I can get things running in an acceptable manner, then I’m happy to live with the compromises. I think I'd be over the moon if I could achieve half of what you have achieved with ET, it's looking superb! Good luck with the reset of the build. Ian 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post gordon s Posted December 28, 2020 Author Popular Post Share Posted December 28, 2020 (edited) Made a start on the next crossover. This will allow goods traffic from the back of ET station to leave and cross the incoming/outgoing main lines and exit to the down slow line directly. Without this crossover any train would need to travel around the down fast for half the layout until it reached the other end of ET station. The four main lines here start to open up with the slow lines moving away from the central fast pair. Further down this section there will be a bridge to take the loco lines up and over the main lines to ET shed, so the increased spacing was necessary to accommodate the skew piers. With C10 turnouts and wider track centres, I hadn't quite appreciated just how much space this would would entail and at 1150mm overall, I just managed to get it on my plate glass covered track workbench. Yes, I could have split it into two and built each separately, but try as hard as I may, I've never been able to replicate the curvature exactly so the lines just flowed without some form of deviation in the curve itself. At least building it in one piece, allows you to cut it in half after assembly, knowing it will look fine. My efforts in clean cutting of pcb sheet were not really 100%. Whether it was the wrong blade or feed variation, the results weren't as good as pre cut strips, so I reverted to C & L. I will have another go at it later in the year, to see if I can improve the finished product, so watch this space.... Picked up some useful info on stone sheet material on another thread on RMweb so once this track work is out of the way, I want to start thinking about the scenic elements, to try and disguise the sloping eaves etc and create something that looks a little more realistic. So many things to do..... 2021 will be so much better than 2020. Believe..... Edited December 28, 2020 by gordon s 27 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post gordon s Posted January 4, 2021 Author Popular Post Share Posted January 4, 2021 Took a bit longer than expected as sport on TV kept getting in the way. Two down and three to go..... One C10 crossover which takes up all of 45" in length, but I guess that's the price you have to pay if you set 36" minimum radius and you need the inner curve to meet that dimension. All gone very quiet on the health front but hoping to hear more today or tomorrow when the MDT get together to discuss the results of all the tests. The PET scan threw up areas of concern, but they still don't know if it's cancer or my immune system reacting to the high bilirubin levels in my blood. Last examination was on New Years Eve when they took four biopsies from the lymph glands under my left arm. They're hoping these samples will give them a better idea of what's going on. It's the waiting that gets to you no matter how positive you are. Me, I just want to get on with things and get stuck in as soon as possible. I know, good things come to those who wait...... 1 32 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Ray H Posted January 4, 2021 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 4, 2021 That's some classy pointwork there Gordon as usual. Imagine how big it would be in O gauge. All the best for the New Year and let's hope they can sort your health issues out without too much interference from the (blasted) virus. I've got a round of chemo treatment starting at the end of this week. Fortunately we've had a new cancer centre opened that although connected to the main hospital is a bit out on a limb which should hopefully reduce the risk of the virus getting in. I consider myself fortunate because my last round some five years ago gave me no side-effects although the six treatments were each three weeks apart. This time they're weekly but at least there's only four. Maybe they're rushing them in case the virus pops its head in. 1 11 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Evil Bus Driver Posted January 4, 2021 Share Posted January 4, 2021 (edited) That crossover looks great on the board . I'm just learning Templot at the moment so I can start building something once I get loft clearance from the household authorities. I'll be using Peco and SMP bullhead plain track and hopefully just build the turnouts and short stretches of plain line. on that though as it'll be big. Good luck with the results though the waiting is the worst. And you too Ray. Edited January 4, 2021 by The Evil Bus Driver 2 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hayfield Posted January 4, 2021 Share Posted January 4, 2021 1 hour ago, gordon s said: Took a bit longer than expected as sport on TV kept getting in the way. Two down and three to go..... One C10 crossover which takes up all of 45" in length, but I guess that's the price you have to pay if you set 36" minimum radius and you need the inner curve to meet that dimension. All gone very quiet on the health front but hoping to hear more today or tomorrow when the MDT get together to discuss the results of all the tests. The PET scan threw up areas of concern, but they still don't know if it's cancer or my immune system reacting to the high bilirubin levels in my blood. Last examination was on New Years Eve when they took four biopsies from the lymph glands under my left arm. They're hoping these samples will give them a better idea of what's going on. It's the waiting that gets to you no matter how positive you are. Me, I just want to get on with things and get stuck in as soon as possible. I know, good things come to those who wait...... It looks so graceful and makes good use of curved tracks. All the best for the medical side 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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