well filled baps The Sheep Chronicles : These are the adventures of a Sheep, the Works Forecat and Naughty George,

[MrWolf]

 Once you drive through the forest above Corwen, you could mistake a lot of things for 1955.

Knowing such things and having worked on some little jobs at Dinorwig hydroelectric station, some of us have still done silly things like the Dragon Rally. 

[RodneyS]

2 hours ago, Tim Dubya said:

No, not going to north Whales again, last time I went I proper sprained my ankle at Llandudno...

Just avoid Llandudno then.  Go to the Talyllyn/Corris area.  Much nicer.

Rodney

[MrWolf]

What? Avoid Llandudno? And miss the opportunity to do as others before have done, to ride to the top of the Great Orme tramway and spell out rude words across the mountain using piles of white rocks across the green grass?

 

(A good way to slip and sprain one's ankle by the way....)

[DonB]

Yes, I avoid Llandudno, have a friend who lives there, he was a bad influence in my youth, got me interested in rebuilding cars for racing, not successfully at all !

In the 50s I did walk the track bed of the Corris and found a track spike which resided as a paper weight on my Desk at work for many years.... wonder what happened to it?  Yes it was a grey day, not warm, and it rained on the walk back, followed by a very wet motorbike ride home . Only advantage was there was nothing to spend money on which was just as well 'cos I didn't have any.

[MrWolf]

Last time we went to Llandudno, there was some chump on a brand new Vespa done up like a carnival float riding up and down the seafront, hoping to get noticed.

Couldn't resist yelling "Bell boy!!" at him.

If he'd been kosher and riding a proper vintage Lambretta, I'd probably have bought him a pint.

[MrWolf]

Could be worse, could be Rhyl. Which I think is the Welsh word for hell.

[Stubby47]

37 minutes ago, MrWolf said:

Could be worse, could be Rhyl. Which I think is the Welsh word for hell.

Still is.

 

Being North Walian by birth, I miss the scenery. 

 

But not the traffic jams.

 

Dad worked at Dinorwic for a few months. He was inside during a minor earthquake, not the best situation with several thousand tons of water above you.

[MrWolf]

I can sympathize with your dad, if you were in the breaker tunnels when one of them went, it was louder than a gunshot, ear defenders were next to useless.

 

I do miss the old coast road that went through the tunnel at Penmaenmawr. I bet Arwen Evans' garage is long gone too 

Edited October 29, 2021 by MrWolf

[Nick C]

1 hour ago, MrWolf said:

Could be worse, could be Rhyl. Which I think is the Welsh word for hell.

My wife once live in Rhyl for a year or so. She agrees with that statement.

[Captain Kernow]

8 hours ago, NHY 581 said:

North Wales on a damp Autumnal day ? 

Nice, though.

 

[NHY 581]

1 minute ago, Captain Kernow said:

Nice, though.

 

 

Can be. Depends where one is. 

 

Beddgelert is a particular favourite. Spent a nice afternoon in a pub thereat with a nice roaring fire therein, with Old Tom...............several Old Toms in fact which made for an amusing walk back and a shorter than anticipated evening...........

[Captain Kernow]

Just now, NHY 581 said:

Can be. Depends where one is. 

There's something very appealing about the dank, damp atmosphere of a rain-soaked North Wales forest, tramping about looking for evidence of a disused railway, hoping to find something before the light goes and you retire to the pub.

 

[woodenhead]

19 minutes ago, Captain Kernow said:

There's something very appealing about the dank, damp atmosphere of a rain-soaked North Wales forest, tramping about looking for evidence of a disused railway, hoping to find something before the light goes and you retire to the pub.

 

Given it is getting harder to see old railway lines now as nature and human land forming take over, do you find you spend more time retired to the pub these days?

[keefr2]

Spent many happy hours in wet Welsh forests, usually in the early hours of the morning, waiting to get showered in wet Welsh gravel by a passing sideways rally car. And occasionally jumping into water filled roadside ditches to help push one out when sideways became backwards into the scenery....

 

Happy days....!!!

 

Keith

Edited October 29, 2021 by keefr2
Speelingg

[figworthy]

22 hours ago, NHY 581 said:

 

 

High Bleat has a nice ring to it................

 

Soprano Sheep ?

 

Adrian

[sb67]

I real!y like that Hepton Wharf plan, it's something I always think of my version set in East Anglia/Essex, hope I get round to building it some day. 

i'm sure if you used it you would do it justice.

[NHY 581]

 

On 30/10/2021 at 07:05, sb67 said:

I real!y like that Hepton Wharf plan, it's something I always think of my version set in East Anglia/Essex, hope I get round to building it some day. 

i'm sure if you used it you would do it justice.

 

 

 

The more I look at it, the more it appeals. 

 

It definately lends itself to a curved site. Trackwork to the far right could gently continue around. 

 

As is no doubt readily evident, I generally do things by eye and in the case of this plan, I probably wouldn't settle on the final look of the layout until laying the track onto the board. 

I'm basically incapable of planning and need to see things in situ. It's at that point it comes together. Perhaps I lack imagination but it's how I work. 

 

Hopefully, I  can restart Project X shortly....

 

Rob. 

Edited April 4, 2022 by NHY 581

[Nick C]

1 hour ago, NHY 581 said:

 

 

 

The more I look at it, the more it appeals. 

 

It definately lends itself to a curved site. Trackwork to the far right could gently continue around. 

 

As is no doubt readily evident, I generally do things by eye and in the case of this plan, I probably wouldn't settle on the final look of the layout until laying the track onto the board. 

I'm basically incapable of planning and need to see things in situ. It's at that point it comes together. Perhaps I lack imagination but it's how I work. 

 

Hopefully, I  can restart Project X shortly....

 

Rob. 

Are there any dimensions listed for that plan? (I can't find anywhere with the book in stock...)

 

I've got a 5' by 18" baseboard kicking around that's just crying out for a cameo layout...

[westerner]

I think the scenic section was about 4ft 6ins. (taking the measurements of the full layout at a height of 54inches) and of course was built as a P4 layout.

[chuffinghell]

19 hours ago, Captain Kernow said:

There's something very appealing about the dank, damp atmosphere of a rain-soaked North Wales forest

 

If it wasn’t damp and rain-soaked I don’t think Wales would be quite as beautiful a place

 

Although too much rain does sometimes spoil the view

 

 

 

 

 

[Tim Dubya]

2 hours ago, Nick C said:

Are there any dimensions listed for that plan? (I can't find anywhere with the book in stock...)

 

I've got a 5' by 18" baseboard kicking around that's just crying out for a cameo layout...

 

I've had a look in the book and to quote Ricey, "3ft 6in sans fiddle yard".

 

I also found a Scottish £5 I'd been using as a bookmark.

 

@Not Jeremy is a reprint on the cards Simon?

 

Edited October 30, 2021 by Tim Dubya
Godiva

[sb67]

 

Hepton wharf is not unlike another small but inspirational layout. Llanastr, another layout that I'd like to move to Essex. 

 

 

 

Edited October 30, 2021 by sb67

[NHY 581]

On 30/10/2021 at 12:37, sb67 said:

 

Hepton wharf is not unlike another small but inspirational layout. Llanastr, another layout that I'd like to move to Essex. 

 

 

 

 

 

I have just the station building for such a project..........

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Whilst inspiration could come from one of Chris Nevards layouts. 

 

Here's a few of his photos. 4ft x 1ft apparently. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 4, 2022 by NHY 581

[NHY 581]

In other news, I managed an hour or two yesterday tinkerinq with the 04 in a bid to further improve the running. 

 

 

As mentioned earlier, this particular model is of the split chassis variety. I had already dismantled and cleaned it upon receiving the little chap, improving the running as a result. 

Closer inspection revealed that, as afflicts many of these, the plastic axles had split which I felt couldn't be a good thing. Peters Spares do a replacement pack of two axles plus the final drive gear incorporating the middle axle for a not unreasonable £5.99. Even better, I found that Lendons in Cardiff stock them by arrangement with Peters spares and a short trip secured a set for the same amout, less postage.  

 

 

 

I tackled them one at a time. Each wheel has a short stubb axle which forms the pick up for the split chassis arrangement with a pin to push into the end of the axle. Round peg, round hole so to speak and perhaps not really ideal but I was glad that it appeared to be quite a good interference fit. Recommendation was that they be superglued in place. Each axle was put together roughly by eye then tweaked to quarter. Slow running in between to check.

 

I didn't superglue them as per, simply because I wasn't at all confident to make sure they were quartered before the glue went off !

 

I wasn't wrong. I would not have made it !

 

The little chap now runs a whole lot better forwards though has a slight uneveness in reverse, something which I think I can live with. Crucially, one can shunt with it though I probably wouldn't be 100% happy to use at an exhibition but never say never. 

 

 

 

 

One last thing I do want to improve on is the rotation of  the jack shaft cranks which are still a tad waggly, despite a thin brass washer behind. I suspect they really need some sort of bushing to keep them in line. I question if this is not an alternative to the washer behind as I do wonder if this is putting the cranks in occasional contact with the back of the cab steps. Is this contributing to the slight uneveness in reverse?

It's close anyway and the uneven rotation may not help. Or has the additional washer given a slight angle to the run of the coupling rods causing a slightly tight spot at a certain point in the rotation ?

I'm therefore complating using a top hat bearing and filing the end off to produce a  brass insert. May not solve it but a good exercise. 

 

Of course, I could source another, later non-split chassis from a Bachmann 03 or even contemplate a High Gear chassis  but for the use it's getting, the current approach is an awful lot cheaper and I'm not seeing the need at present. This might change if I were to detail the body. I notice Shawplan have a kit in their glazing range and I would like to do something with the bonnet handrails.....but then I do have a layout to progress first

 

 

Rob. 

 

Edited April 4, 2022 by NHY 581

[mullie]

I had one of these many years ago and yes the jackshaft nut did catch on the back of the steps. Easily solved,  I think I did it by glueing some thin clear plasticard to the back of the steps. 

 

Martyn