Minor Points: Annie's layout projects.

[Edwardian]

2 hours ago, Annie said:

It's a 6 in 1 Pen tool by Isalbi.com.au

 

The two I purchased came from Mighty Ape here in New Zealand.

 

Well done. Looks useful and in a handy shape. These days not even sonic screwdrivers are screwdriver shaped....

 

 

Sonic mouse?

 

 

[Northroader]

Pssttt,!! It’s a vibrator, put it away right now.

[Annie]

5 hours ago, Edwardian said:

Sonic mouse?

True enough.  It looks more like something from my daughter's computer gaming catalogues rather than anything that could be called a 'screwdriver'.

[TangoOscarMike]

On 08/12/2023 at 06:14, Annie said:

 

 

 

This is an heirloom. I don't know which of my ancestors was the original owner, but it may well turn out to be the entirety of my inheritance. I have used it for inspiration, but I haven't actually attempted the techniques.

 

 

 

 

[Annie]

2 hours ago, TangoOscarMike said:

This is an heirloom. I don't know which of my ancestors was the original owner, but it may well turn out to be the entirety of my inheritance. I have used it for inspiration, but I haven't actually attempted the techniques.

Now that is an old one.  I certainly like the fact that I've got a copy again even though it would be extremely unlikely that I'll be building any more engines.

[brynnydd]

I have been following this thread for awhile and I just want to say it has been fascinating to read and I can't wait to see what you work on next.

[Annie]

9 hours ago, brynnydd said:

I have been following this thread for awhile and I just want to say it has been fascinating to read and I can't wait to see what you work on next.

Thanks,  - I'm not sure what I might be doing next, but I hope it's interesting.

[Pacific231G]

On 28/12/2023 at 20:26, TangoOscarMike said:

 

This is an heirloom. I don't know which of my ancestors was the original owner, but it may well turn out to be the entirety of my inheritance. I have used it for inspiration, but I haven't actually attempted the techniques.

 

 

 

 

That looks to be the original 1948 edition. I have a similarly bound (and falling apart in the same way) copy of Miniature Building Construction (fortunately I also have a later print with better binding) though my earliest edition of Miniature Locomotive Construction is the 1956 revision.  The odd thing about that this "revised" edition still has the same diagram of "some British motors for "00" and "H0" even though the range of available motors must have moved on by then. 

Looking at chapter XVI  on Narrow Gauge I've realised that the 10-12mm gauge freelance loco he describes (with photos) is the very one that tends to look a little lost on the Madder Valley Railway with no track to run on (so often hangs around the docks) It was intended for a narrow gauge feeder that John Ahern never actually built. I think he actually built it to 10mm gauge but I'll check next time I'm there and if it's 12mm gauge we can test run it.

[TangoOscarMike]

1 hour ago, Pacific231G said:

That looks to be the original 1948 edition. I have a similarly bound (and falling apart in the same way) copy of Miniature Building Construction (fortunately I also have a later print with better binding) though my earliest edition of Miniature Locomotive Construction is the 1956 revision.  The odd thing about that this "revised" edition still has the same diagram of "some British motors for "00" and "H0" even though the range of available motors must have moved on by then. 

Looking at chapter XVI  on Narrow Gauge I've realised that the 10-12mm gauge freelance loco he describes (with photos) is the very one that tends to look a little lost on the Madder Valley Railway with no track to run on (so often hangs around the docks) It was intended for a narrow gauge feeder that John Ahern never actually built. I think he actually built it to 10mm gauge but I'll check next time I'm there and if it's 12mm gauge we can test run it.

 

1948 is the only date printed in it, so I expect that it is indeed a first edition.

 

That narrow gauge drawing was one of the references I consulted when I embarked on this. I reckon the gauge is most of the way to 12mm.

 

I've just been looking for on Google images, and I can't find it on the Madder Valley Railway (or anywhere else). But I hope it still exists.

 

 

[Pacific231G]

57 minutes ago, TangoOscarMike said:

 

1948 is the only date printed in it, so I expect that it is indeed a first edition.

 

That narrow gauge drawing was one of the references I consulted when I embarked on this. I reckon the gauge is most of the way to 12mm.

 

I've just been looking for on Google images, and I can't find it on the Madder Valley Railway (or anywhere else). But I hope it still exists.

 

 

No need for hope. It does still exist! 

 

 

 

Unlike John Ahern's other working locos based on NG prototypes, it is not adapted (by adjusting the scale etc). to run alongside SG stock on 16.5mm gauge but is genuinely NG to 4mm scale. My notes say that it is 11mm gauge but I've not yet measured it myself.

Without any NG track for it to run on it is a slightly awkward beast for the Madder Valley but we like to display all of Ahern's models so it has tended to be positioned on the dockside- as if having been shipped in. My photos of it were just for reference so not very artistic.I suspect that it has never been run exept perhaps for initial testing as we have no evidence that Ahern ever got any further with his plan for an NG feeder and there is no sign of any other rolling stock.    

 

 

[Annie]

2 hours ago, Pacific231G said:

No need for hope. It does still exist! 

Wonderful to see.  A great little survivor.

[Pacific231G]

17 hours ago, Annie said:

Wonderful to see.  A great little survivor.

One of the photos in the book shows it on a pair of rails but I think they are just that - a couple of unconnected lengths of rail put down just for the photograph.

There is another genuinely ng loco on the Madder Valley

but this is dummy built of wood that was used as a scenic feature on a quarry that was a corner feature on the second version of the layout but that disappeared in the final version. It was accompanied by three skip wagons and all seem to be to 8mm gauge (i.e. 2 ft gauge in 4mm scale)

 

For as long as I've known the Madder Valley,  all four vehicles have been on the brickworks' inclined plane.

This made sense for the wagons but always seemed a bit daft for the loco- and, looking at his photos, it was never placed there by John Ahern. So, like the working NG loco,  we're thinking about where best on the layout to position it. 

Edited January 6 by Pacific231G

[Annie]

11 hours ago, Pacific231G said:

There is another genuinely ng loco on the Madder Valley

but this is dummy built of wood that was used as a scenic feature on a quarry that was a corner feature on the second version of the layout but that disappeared in the final version. It was accompanied by three skip wagons and all seem to be to 8mm gauge (i.e. 2 ft gauge in 4mm scale)

That is an amazing piece of model making from the past.  With all the modern modelling materials we have now readily to hand It's easy to forget that wood was commonly used to make models.

[Annie]

My copy of the 'O' Gauge Guild Gazette has just arrived to remind me what an 'O' Gauge failure I am and have been over the past months.  I must say though that it certainly is a darn fine read with plenty that's of interest.  There was an additional bonus a week or two ago when the GER Society Journal arrived and it was almost entirely taken up with lengthy, detailed  and informative articles about Great Eastern Tram Engines.  That made a very nice change as for a while there the Journal had been drifting further and further away from anything about the Great Eastern Railway and even had some articles about diesels (shudder).

With the price of membership fees ever rising for those of us who live in the far flung colonies it's become a major economic decision to stick with a Uk railway line society for another year so I hope the GER Society continues to keep it's socks pulled up.

 

Edited February 8 by Annie
can't spell for toffee