RMweb Gold The Johnster Posted June 16, 2022 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 16, 2022 You sort of have to learn to think like a thief. Neighbour of mine recently acquired a new 48" 3D capable HDTV; how do I know? because he threw the box out for the binmen. Were it me, I'd have cut the box and folded it so that the picture of the tv and description of it's desirable features were facing inwards. Any person of less than honest intent, and we have our share of those in this part of Cardiff, will be aware that there are good pickings here. If they break in and steal the new tv while the guy's on holiday (and he's talked about going on hollys up the pub), they will keep an eye on the front garden for the box of the insurance replacement, and then steal that as well! TVs are a two-man with a van job, professional thieves, but these pay for info from the local chaves eyeballing your house. A determined person can find out a lot about you online, by evidence and inference, and, if they are local or can obtain local information from the 'street', by direct observation as well. Honest people do not think in this way, and have to learn in order to protect themselves against those who do; bad guys, from local chavs housebreaking to fund their drug habits to the organised criminals that employ them, are highly skilled in the exploitation of opportunities that the rest of us are not even aware of, because we simply don't think in that way. The trick is to be as careful as you can with your information. Don't tell people up the pub about your holidays, or that you are going to a concert or sports event, because even if you trust your mates you don't know who else is eavesdropping or who their missis talks to on the bus stop. Don't tell anyone when you buy new stuff. Hide the outside of the packaging, and look up and down the street when it's delivered or when you unload it from the car, make eye contact with anyone hanging around so that they will be afraid you can id them. It's nobody else's business anyway. You can't live in a bubble, but you can at least be aware, streetsmart, to the best extent that you can, which will reduce, not eliminate but reduce, the chance of your becoming a victim. Same principle applies to online, but it is harder to keep control of things here and a greater deal of trust is needed. Data is a commercial property and has a value, so those you deal with online can benefit from selling it on, and so can the owners of the systems they use. You have no control and usually no awareness of the motivations of the entities they sell the data to. Of course, tinfoil hats are a bit of an extreme reaction, but, again, you must at least be aware, onlinesmart, to to the best extent that you can, which will reduce, not eliminate but reduce, the chance of your becoming a victim. These scum can't be stopped, but they can, and should, be slowed down and inconvenienced as much as possible. 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackthorn Posted June 16, 2022 Share Posted June 16, 2022 (edited) I've a good collection. Coming to the sudden truth none of us live forever, I'm going to have sell them on. There are a few pieces that I won't part with Edited June 16, 2022 by Blackthorn typo 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulG Posted June 16, 2022 Share Posted June 16, 2022 Number of locos: never given it any thought. Possible more than some people, but definitely less than a large number of people, given the various comments on forums where this question is asked! I've always had an interest in railways of East Anglia and in particular the period 1948-1959, hence my Colchester 4mm/OO layout, and tried to limit my buying accordingly. As for how many locos you collect, I guess, whatever "floats your boat" and how deep your pockets are! Paul 4 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Storey Posted June 16, 2022 Share Posted June 16, 2022 As I model the Southern, South Eastern, in mid-BR days, I don't have many locos. Neither did they. EMU's on the other hand ........ 4 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium newbryford Posted June 16, 2022 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 16, 2022 27 minutes ago, Balgrayhill said: and take a dump in my kettle So you have steam engines then? 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steamport Southport Posted June 16, 2022 Share Posted June 16, 2022 9 hours ago, Ouroborus said: "your details" You mean like the local model railway club you go to, the same username you use across multiple forums, the picture of you an exhibition that gives your real name, the 192.com searches for a couple of quid that give your address I used none of these to track someone down I found where an old flame lives because she posted a picture of the INSIDE of her house on twitter. However, you could see through the window to the houses across the road. I knew the city she worked in, she'd written about planting trees on her (unnamed) street. A browse on google earth showed streets in that city with trees in, it showed the style of houses. I matched the house style to the image from the inside of her house, guessed a couple of streets and then it was just a matter of matching what i saw on Streetview to her photo. All in, it took about 10 minutes on google earth/Streetview. I could confirm on 192.com, but i was (a) too tight, (b) not interested anyway - it was purely an exercise. She'd also written about her kids and gave a clue to their ages and that she is a freelance writer. So i could make a guess that Mon - Fri, 9-30 to 3:00, she would either likely be out or home alone. Still think that that tin foil hat caption is funny? It wasn't me who posted a tin foil hat..... Might be worth getting help with the paranoia. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steamport Southport Posted June 16, 2022 Share Posted June 16, 2022 On 15/06/2022 at 16:08, Steamport Southport said: Getting back to the OP, only bought six locos this week.... Loads of bargains about at the moment. Jason Add four more to that and a Bachmann crane. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Vecchio Posted June 16, 2022 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 16, 2022 Here we go. 65 locos, all are chipped. 10 are British, 4 are Italian, one Swiss, one Slovakian, Rest Austrian. 6 are shunters. 5 are narrow gauge (Hoe). 10 are Steam locos, 19 are Diesels, Rest electric locos. I lost about 10 locos over the years, mainly because of Mazak rot. The majority has been purchased used. Last one arrived today. Average is 4 to 5 per year. Now you can make yourself a picture about my buying habits.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TT-Pete Posted June 17, 2022 Share Posted June 17, 2022 9 hours ago, Ouroborus said: i didn't find Nish Kumar all that funny. "i didn't find Nish Kumar funny at all." - there, fixed it for you :^) 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allegheny1600 Posted June 17, 2022 Share Posted June 17, 2022 9 hours ago, Steamport Southport said: It wasn't me who posted a tin foil hat..... Might be worth getting help with the paranoia. A little bit of paranoia might actually be helpful in this day and age. Paranoia? Me, why? Who’s been saying that I’m paranoid?! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Dagworth Posted June 17, 2022 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 17, 2022 10 hours ago, Ouroborus said: Nah. That was for fun. The stalkerish in me came out when a complete stranger called me a c*** on Facebook for daring to say i didn't find Nish Kumar all that funny. Thanks to his post about a missing cat, some reviews he'd done, a couple of google searches later and of course good old streetview/maps, i sent him a discrete private message including a picture of his house, him with his eldest and a picture of the school his kids went to with the invitation that we should meet and he could see whether he still thought i was a c***. I didn't threaten him, i just wanted to see if he fancied a chat. Of course, I didn't get a reply and was blocked by him. And i never had much intention of going up to Salford, although it did cross my mind.... Take home message - don't call people a c*** from behind a computer screen. But hopefully it equally reinforced the point that we leave needlessly leave such massive data trails, all it takes is someone determined enough to find out. And it has been done. https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2013/mar/12/english-boxer-curtis-woodhouse-twitter-troll Back pre-internet, i lived with a bunch of hockey players. One evening, an hour after they had gone on their hockey agm, a man turned up at our door to 'fix a pipe'.... ... with a screwdriver!?! Turns out the taxi driver that took them to the agm had chatted about where they were going, was it a big night, etc. They just forgot to say they'd left me at home. Six months later we weren't so lucky when thieves waited and watched across the road as we packed cars to go home for Christmas. They counted us out, knew the house was empty and cleaned us out within an hour of us leaving. They did a load of houses on the same student street. But its easy to have a slip and reveal something that you later come to regret. And listing how many models ive got would be one such thing. You will endlessly torture yourself about whether it was from information you provided them with. Why take the risk You are Piermaster and I claim my five pounds…. Andi 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Steven B Posted June 17, 2022 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 17, 2022 14 hours ago, Ouroborus said: Thanks to his post about a missing cat, some reviews he'd done, a couple of google searches later and of course good old streetview/maps, i sent him a discrete private message including a picture of his house, him with his eldest and a picture of the school his kids went to with the invitation that we should meet and he could see whether he still thought i was a c***. I didn't threaten him, i just wanted to see if he fancied a chat. So not only have you stalked an old girl-friend, you've stalked and threatened someone else for calling you a name? I'm surprised the police haven't asked you if you fancied a chat. Steven B 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
doilum Posted June 17, 2022 Share Posted June 17, 2022 Maybe time to throw this discussion in a different direction. How many locomotives have you played with today/ this week / month. Gazing at glass case models scores half points. Frydale allows an inglenook puzzle with six analogue locos. A great way of waiting for paint to dry or listening to Pop master each morning. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris M Posted June 17, 2022 Share Posted June 17, 2022 The number of locos one owns is not discussed in polite circles. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Saunders Posted June 17, 2022 Share Posted June 17, 2022 2 hours ago, Chris M said: The number of locos one owns is not discussed in polite circles. You don’t ask women about handbags and/or shoes! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GordonC Posted June 17, 2022 Share Posted June 17, 2022 9 minutes ago, Mark Saunders said: You don’t ask women about handbags and/or shoes! would you believe the answer you got if you did? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pH Posted June 17, 2022 Share Posted June 17, 2022 23 minutes ago, Mark Saunders said: You don’t ask women about handbags and/or shoes! 14 minutes ago, GordonC said: would you believe the answer you got if you did? By analogy? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TT-Pete Posted June 17, 2022 Share Posted June 17, 2022 4 hours ago, doilum said: Gazing at glass case models scores half points. Or in my case; "How many locos did you ogle in an on-line auction with your mouse hovvering over the "Bid" button this week?" (A true gentleman never reveals how many he actually bought. Oh, go on then, four.) 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TT-Pete Posted June 17, 2022 Share Posted June 17, 2022 10 minutes ago, Balgrayhill said: I think you need professional help, quickly I disagree, @Ouroborus seems to be managing OSINT very nicely without any assistance... 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Johnster Posted June 17, 2022 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 17, 2022 I don't play with my locomotives, playing is what you do with them on a train set, and I don't operate them either, operating is what you do with them on a model railway. Cwmdimbath is not a train set or a model railway, it is a real railway serving a real mining village in South Wales, with locos and stock being those allocated to Tondu, an actual place that exists. Only small and in the 1950s... The locos are used in service. The location exists, a side valley north from the Ogwr Fach river to the east of Blackmill on the Tondu-Hendreforgan-Gilfach Goch branch. In reality it never had a village, or a colliery, though there is a path that follows the formation of a tramroad that once seved a forge; the pub on my layout is named 'The Forge' as it is built on what would have been the site of the ruins marked on the OS maps. It is worth a visit if you are in the area, especially in autumn when it is one of the very few places in the South Wales uplands that shows the sylvan loveliness that existed in all the valleys in this area before the industrial revolution. The colliery, village, station, and branch line exist in my alternative reality, of course, only small, and in the 1950s... The real branch would very likely have been closed to passenger traffic in 1958 at the same time as the Nantymoel branch in the next valley over (Ogwr Fawr), with the colliery probably staying open until the 70s. The coal is down there sho 'nuff, but the valley was undermined, literally, by collieries from the Ogwr Fawr, and Gilfach Goch and those in Clydach Vale off the Rhondda Fawr in Tonypandy. The Lechyd valley, Cwmdimbath's real location, was very narrow and steep, which probably accounted for it never having been industrialised beyond the aformentioned water-powered forge. The number of locos is determined primarily by the requirements of the Working Timetable, with allowances for the need to withdraw each from service every 10 working days for boiler washouts and for other reasons such as works visits. Having enough locos operate the WTT (2x 4575, 4x 57xx/8750 pannier, 2x 56xx, 1x 2721, 1x 45xx, 1x 5101, 1x 94xx, 1x 42xx, 14 in total) any further locos are 'because Johnster wants one' and are to varying extent Rule 1 indulgences. These include a BR standard 3MT tank, from Barry, and ongoing projects to kitbash Collett 1938 31xx 3100, which photographic evidence shows did work on at least one occasion to Abergwynfi, despite it's normal association with the Porthcawl branch, and a kit rebuild and workup of a 44xx, again associated with Porthcawl and gone from the area by the end of 1953. My period is nominally 1948-58. There are also 3 colliery engines, a W4, Hunslet Austerity, and currently dismantled Triang Docafority. 20 locos in total, all bar one of the BR ones allox TDU in the livery I have them in This level is safe for now, at least until someone produces a good quality RTR 1854 or 2721. Not holding my breath. Another 57xx or 8750, TDU's most common type, would not come amiss, but would need to be an unmissable bargain! The mineral workings are in the hands of 56xx or the 42xx, and the 4575s do the post-1953 auto work. 82001 works through from Barry off the Vale of Glamorgan line with a parcels for a mail order company distribution warehouse further down the branch on the stub of the Hendreforgan road (closed in 1935) that has to come up to the terminus to run around it's train to shunt it. These apart, all the jobs can be handled by any of the locos, and the 56xx are not restricted to mineral work. One of the panniers, 6762, is not fitted with vacuum brakes so can only work the pickup, but is not neccessarily used on this job every day, and 8497 is used mostly on passenger work; for some reason 94xx were considered passenger locos at Tondu. Basically 8 loco diagrams, as follows: .'The miners' workmans', loco hauled passenger job, early morning miners ex Tondu works Cwmdimbath-Bridgend througout the day, late miners to Tondu at end of afternoon shift. .Auto 1, works Cwmdimbath-Bridgend at intervals throughout the day. .'The ROF', loco hauled workmans to ROF factory and industrial estate at Tremains on SWML a mile east of Bridgend. The actual train ran from Abergwynfi. .Mineral, empties to colliery and loaded clearance out at intervals throughout the day. .Pickup, services Cwmdimbath goods and factory sidings, also any non-mineral traffic for the colliery (pit props, building materials for pithead baths and canteen under construction as promised by NCB in 1947, general materials). .'The Barry' mail order parcels train, as specified. .Auto 2, from/to Tondu according to public timetable but actually works through to Porthcawl, and is popular with passengers 'in the know' accordingly. .'The Newtown', Class H through from Cardiff Newtown goods, traffic for food processing factory down at Glynogwr, up to terminus for running around move like 'The Barry'. If panniers are used on the 'Miner's', which runs as a normal passenger service throughout the day, the locos are changed at lunch time. Larger engines are considered to have enough bunkerage to run a full day's work, so 8 or 9 locos to run the WTT, plus one NCB at least for colliery shunting. Time is allowed in the WTT for most, but not all, trains to take water if needed at Cwmdimbath. This approach has enabled my locomotive purchasing to be a lot more disciplined than it might otherwise have been, but certainly no more are needed to run the WTT now and any further purchases are very much in Rule 1 territory. Having gone to Barry for the 3MT, I feel any more foreigners would be pushing it a bit, and 3100 & 4404 are at least proper Tondu locomotives. All are numbered correctly, as are the passenger stock and goods brake vans. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ouroborus Posted June 17, 2022 Share Posted June 17, 2022 12 hours ago, Dagworth said: You are Piermaster and I claim my five pounds…. Andi Haha. Close enough. Send me your email or BACS details and I'll send you the money over. 😂 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
KingEdwardII Posted June 17, 2022 Share Posted June 17, 2022 I think that my simple answer to the original question is: "Not enough" Yours, Mike. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamThomas Posted June 18, 2022 Share Posted June 18, 2022 I used to have a few "showcase queens" but not now. Some are on display, some are stored (but very easy to un-store & run). Quite a number are on the rails ready to go, I do have too may to have them all in service at any one time. However, I rotate them, I run them & I unashamedly admit playing trains at times. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamThomas Posted June 18, 2022 Share Posted June 18, 2022 18 hours ago, Mark Saunders said: You don’t ask women about handbags and/or shoes! & unless you know them very, very well, their age. Q - How do you take your wife/girlfriend/partener to take notice of you ? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hroth Posted June 18, 2022 Share Posted June 18, 2022 I've not delved back into the thread, but the initial question doesn't ask about scale/gauge. Has anyone broken their collections down, or have they only commented on the most numerous category. Personally, I haven't performed a recent census on my OO collection, though I will in the next 6 months or so... (don't ask) But as for other scales... Hornby O (clockwork): 2 Other O 12v electric: 3 O-16.5: 2 TT3: 3 N: 4 Phew! Got that off my chest at last!!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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