Aston On Clun. A forgotten Great Western outpost.

[John Besley]

56 minutes ago, MrWolf said:

 

Tregarric Yard has a five page feature in the June 1979 issue of Model Railways (MAP Hobby Magazine) 

The scenery is just what we came to expect plus there's some beautifully made tank engines and stock.

 

Just found the link on Magazine Exchange... remember the front cover now and being very taken by the box tank loco...

 

Had a hunt on Fle' bay can't see anything... I wonder if Wild Swan might reprint his books now and include some layouts that only appeared in Model Railways...

 

Wishful thinking from Paignton

 

 

Edited November 24, 2023 by John Besley

[Metropolitan H]

33 minutes ago, NHY 581 said:

The Rice shelf ( including a few other notables ) 

 

 

Rob

 

I almost thought you had snuck into my toy room and photographed my similar collection - then realised yours is much more tidy and organised than mine - and I don't have two copies of Creating Cameo Layouts - just the one.

 

Regards

Chris H

[John Besley]

Did I dream it or is there a Wild Swan contact / RMweb member on here?...

[NHY 581]

16 minutes ago, John Besley said:

Did I dream it or is there a Wild Swan contact / RMweb member on here?...

 

Simon Castens is on here as Not Jeremy. Have a look in the Other Magazine section as he normally introduces the next issue of MRJ.....Or you could contact the Titfield Thunderbolt bookshop in Bath which he owes and runs, as well as Wild Swan of course. 

 

I know there are some plans afoot to do something around Iain Rice and his work but no idea what exactly. I'm sure something will emerge in due course. 

 

Rob

[NHY 581]

1 hour ago, Metropolitan H said:

I almost thought you had snuck into my toy room and photographed my similar collection - then realised yours is much more tidy and organised than mine - and I don't have two copies of Creating Cameo Layouts - just the one.

 

Regards

Chris H

 

1 hour ago, Tortuga said:

‘Creating Cameo Layouts’ by Iain Rice: so good, you bought two.

 

Not sure on the Haynes Manual one though - do the photos miss out a vital step or the instructions assume you possess a third hand?

 

Hi Nick, Chris, 

 

Yep, two copies of what I see as 'The Bible' for small layout builders. I stumbled across a second copy at a silly price and bought it for when I wear out the very well thumbed first copy...

 

Rob

 

[lezz01]

3 hours ago, NHY 581 said:

The Rice shelf ( including a few other notables ) 

 

 

Rob

 

I too thought that shelf looked familiar, anyway this is my "Rice" shelf.

Sorry about the cat bed but hey it has to go somewhere right.

Regards Lez. 

[Nick C]

11 hours ago, NHY 581 said:

 

 

Hi Nick, Chris, 

 

Yep, two copies of what I see as 'The Bible' for small layout builders. I stumbled across a second copy at a silly price and bought it for when I wear out the very well thumbed first copy...

 

Rob

 

I'm jealous! I've not managed to get hold of a copy at all, let alone at a sensible price. However chatting to one of the guys on Hepton Wharf at Uckfield, they seem to think it's likely there will be a reprint.

[1466]

11 hours ago, lezz01 said:

I too thought that shelf looked familiar, anyway this is my "Rice" shelf.

Sorry about the cat bed but hey it has to go somewhere right.

Regards Lez. 

My inspiration corner . Whenever I think I thought of a new railway modelling idea , I find the Rev. Peter Denny thought of it 50 years ago !

[MrWolf]

To quote one of those f.(airly) annoying corporate phrases "We are all reading from the same page".

 

 

 

[adrianmc]

Regarding the Haynes Manual - Iain wanted photographs of layouts of differing design/presentation etc to illustrate ideas and concepts in the book. He therefore raided,  with permission of  course, the Uckfield Exhibition retrospectives at http://www.uckfieldmrc.co.uk/exhibition.html

 

He kindly sent me a signed copy of the finished product as a thank you. It's now a cherished possession.

 

Edited November 25, 2023 by adrianmc

[NHY 581]

17 minutes ago, adrianmc said:

Regarding the Haynes Manual - Iain wanted photographs of layouts of differing design/presentation etc to illustrate ideas and concepts in the book. He therefore raided,  with permission of  course, the Uckfield Exhibition retrospectives at http://www.uckfieldmrc.co.uk/exhibition.html

 

He kindly sent me a signed copy of the finished product as a thank you. It's now a cherished possession.

 

 

 

I did see your name in lights on a number of the images, Adrian. Lovely book and a good addition to the library at Chateau Sheep. 

 

Rob. 

 

[Tortuga]

I’ll just clarify regarding the Haynes manual: my comments were not directed specifically at the Haynes Manual by Iain Rice, but at Haynes Manuals in general.

 

My own Haynes Manual for the VW Type 2 describes, but fails to illustrate, several steps in various procedures and I’ve found myself needing to turn the page at a point where both my hands are occupied and letting go isn’t an option on more than one occasion!

 

This link might give an idea of what I was getting at:

http://messybeast.com/dragonqueen/real-haynes.htm

[lezz01]

I had one for a motorbike that if you followed it to the letter the front forks would have been upside down in the frames I think it was the one for the Honda CX500 although it could have been the CB750KZ.

Regards Lez.

[Fishplate]

As a youngster I found that Airfix instructions had to be read entirely. After "Insert part X into hole Y" came the seemingly innocuous statement "Do not Glue". Why did it always seem to be on the next line?

 

Naturally it was then unglue time and clean up the bits 😁.  

[MrWolf]

51 minutes ago, Tortuga said:

I’ll just clarify regarding the Haynes manual: my comments were not directed specifically at the Haynes Manual by Iain Rice, but at Haynes Manuals in general.

 

My own Haynes Manual for the VW Type 2 describes, but fails to illustrate, several steps in various procedures and I’ve found myself needing to turn the page at a point where both my hands are occupied and letting go isn’t an option on more than one occasion!

 

This link might give an idea of what I was getting at:

http://messybeast.com/dragonqueen/real-haynes.htm

 

The diagnostics page for the resistance cable ignition system on the Vauxhall Victor "Transcontinental" took you round in a contradictory circle, ensuring the car would never fire,let alone start, depending on how you read it.

My favourite statement (guaranteed to make the heart sink) was "reassembly is a reversal of the dismantling process". 

Except when dealing with the rear suspension on a Triumph Herald. I learnt when I was 17 that there's not a man on earth as strong as that transverse leaf spring!

[MrWolf]

48 minutes ago, lezz01 said:

I had one for a motorbike that if you followed it to the letter the front forks would have been upside down in the frames I think it was the one for the Honda CX500 although it could have been the CB750KZ.

Regards Lez.

 

The one for the BSA A7 & A10 recommended setting up the ignition timing on the drive side piston, but neglected to mention which side of the magneto cam the points should be facing.

So you could put it all back together and kick the starter until you thought you'd pass out, before swapping the plug leads to the "wrong" sides and it fired up instantly, usually with a tremendous bang from all the unburnt fuel which had collected in the open silencers. 😆 

 

I had a CX500 once, which some cheapskate had fitted with some very interesting Chinese tyres. 

 

I think they were made of glass...

[Nick C]

14 minutes ago, MrWolf said:

My favourite statement (guaranteed to make the heart sink) was "reassembly is a reversal of the dismantling process". 

Or when you looked up a particular job and it seemed quite simple, just a few steps - except that one of them was "remove x" which turns out to be a horrifically complex job of three pages, needing several helpers, the making of special tools, and lots of swearing...

[MrWolf]

As vehicles get newer, past about 1990 that situation becomes steadily worse.

The joke with modern bikes is that it's no longer a case of removing the sparkplugs from the bike, but removing the bike from the spark plugs.

[Nick C]

1 hour ago, MrWolf said:

As vehicles get newer, past about 1990 that situation becomes steadily worse.

The joke with modern bikes is that it's no longer a case of removing the sparkplugs from the bike, but removing the bike from the spark plugs.

Yep - I remember an instruction for a Peugeot 205 to "press out the bearing" or words to that effect. It neglected to mention that you'd need a 10 tonne hydraulic press to do so...

[lezz01]

4 hours ago, MrWolf said:

I had a CX500 once, which some cheapskate had fitted with some very interesting Chinese tyres. 

 

I think they were made of glass...

The main problem with the CX500 was that the lowest part of the engine was higher than the axle centre line which made for interesting times if you dropped it. They handled like a wet sponge and the only way to make them anything like a proper bike was to change the rear shocks for Koni dial a rides which stopped them slipping off white lines in the wet and God help you if you got a tank slapper on. I've had 3 of them, they were good for despatch work as they were shaft drive. The cam chain tensioner would go every 40k miles like clockwork to within 20 miles and the water pump seal was a pain in the ass to change. You had to put the seal in the freezer and the rear engine cover in the oven to have any hope of getting the new seal to fit. But all in all they were bulletproof, if you stayed alive long enough to sort out the handling issues caused by both the crap shocks and the centrifugal effect of the engine. The very first thing you had to do with them was put decent tyres on them and change the shocks and if you were still alive by the time you got home you were onto a winner.     

Regards Lez.

[MrWolf]

Yes to all of that, how many did you see for sale as "needs water pump, new parts included" by people who realised that once you'd split the bike in two to get at the pump, chances were that it had been neglected long enough for the sealing face on the camshaft to be pitted.

Before anything like that happened I got rid and bought a Guzzi T3 someone had fitted with LeMans parts. I sold those and fitted an old school Lyta tank and seat. This was quite some time before the current fad for unlikely Caff Racers.

The Guzzi, being Italian, had it's own quirks. The switchgear got replaced with old BMW items for obvious reasons!

 

 

Edited November 25, 2023 by MrWolf
Unreliable internet rage

[chuffinghell]

A bit late to the party

 

 

I don’t read them, I just look at the pictures!

 

Edited November 26, 2023 by chuffinghell

[MrWolf]

Some of the best parties I've been to didn't start until midnight!

[Schooner]

6 hours ago, Nick C said:

Or when you looked up a particular job and it seemed quite simple, just a few steps...

 

"First, catch your rabbit..."

 

Edited November 26, 2023 by Schooner
Just come across one even better from 'The Spirit of Farmers’ Museum' (1801) which has: ‘How to dress a dolphin, first catch a dolphin.’

[MrWolf]

2 minutes ago, Schooner said:

 

"First, catch your rabbit..."

 

Pro tip: Pouring petrol down the burrows does not guarantee that you will be eating roast rabbit...