Mid-Cornwall Lines - 1950s Western Region in 00

[St Enodoc]

If you were to buy a number of shelf brackets of the same design and part number, wouldn't you expect them to be identical with the legs at right angles to one another? So would I but not, apparently, Bunnings.

 

I erected two brackets on the wall behind Paddington today and placed a shelf loosely on them to see how it looked. Well, it looked awful. The "horizontal" leg of the left-hand bracket was pointing upwards while its mate on the right-hand bracket was pointing downwards, with the result that the shelf was only supported at two points. If I had tried to fix the shelf to the brackets, it would have ended up with about 10 mm of twist over an 1800 mm length.

 

The brackets will, therefore, be going back for a refund.

 

I think another trip to IKEA is called for, to get a supply of their plastic moulded brackets. I've used these before for other tasks and they are indeed identical - which, being out of the same mould, is only to be expected - and the legs are truly at 90 degrees to each other. The legs are shorter than those on the Bunnings brackets but given the relatively light loads that they will have to carry I don't think this will be a problem. IKEA is a fair way away though, so I probably won't manage a visit for a couple of weeks. Consequently, the shelves are, as it were, shelved.

[acg5324]

The brackets are probably an excellent fit for the twisty excuses for timber that DIY stores seem to sell.

[Chamby]

It was on the news here in the UK that Bunnings sold off its UK chain for just £1 this summer. It was described st the time as “the most disastrous retail acquisition in the UK ever”. They completely misunderstood the UK market and found out the hard way that they couldn’t just plonk their Ozzie product mix over here.

 

Ikea should do home deliveries... at least they do in the UK!

[St Enodoc]

It was on the news here in the UK that Bunnings sold off its UK chain for just £1 this summer. It was described st the time as “the most disastrous retail acquisition in the UK ever”. They completely misunderstood the UK market and found out the hard way that they couldn’t just plonk their Ozzie product mix over here.

 

Ikea should do home deliveries... at least they do in the UK!

Yes, you're right Phil. The Homebase venture was something of a disaster.

 

IKEA will deliver but not before 17/12/18 - I checked earlier!

[Mulgabill]

So Upside down John, is now pointing always John!

 

If you bought them cheap enough you would be able to bend them to match.....

              ........  But not neccessarily at 90 Deg.

 

 

Best of luck

 

 

[St Enodoc]

So Upside down John, is now pointing always John!

 

If you bought them cheap enough you would be able to bend them to match.....

              ........  But not neccessarily at 90 Deg.

 

 

Best of luck

Life's too short for that Tony! It's just a nuisance having to make two round trips that I hadn't planned, that's all.

[DougN]

St Enodoc, this is the problem of bunnings, as they have no real competition they force rubbish on us! My only suggestion is to take them back on a Sunday morning, (the uni students who work there will all be hung over) return the items, then go and when you check the stock... carefully check that the next 2 match....I totally agree that this should not be necessary but as consumers we have to double check what every one else sells us! You may also need to go for the more expensive versions... if there are any.

[kandc_au]

 You may also need to go for the more expensive versions... if there are any.

Bunnings are the more expensive version....aren't they?

Lets face it the reality is that you need to know your prices BEFORE you go in there!

 

Khris

[St Enodoc]

St Enodoc, this is the problem of bunnings, as they have no real competition they force rubbish on us! My only suggestion is to take them back on a Sunday morning, (the uni students who work there will all be hung over) return the items, then go and when you check the stock... carefully check that the next 2 match....I totally agree that this should not be necessary but as consumers we have to double check what every one else sells us! You may also need to go for the more expensive versions... if there are any.

Doug, these were the more expensive versions - and I bought the entire stock last weekend. They're all going back for a refund. They are not fit for purpose.

[DougN]

Oh absolutely, the curious thing about Bunnings is they do have different ranges at different stores, just to be extra annoying. You may if the brackets were the last on the shelf struck the end of a line.. so the replacements may be a different style and brand. the new ones will probably be more expensive!

[St Enodoc]

Oh absolutely, the curious thing about Bunnings is they do have different ranges at different stores, just to be extra annoying. You may if the brackets were the last on the shelf struck the end of a line.. so the replacements may be a different style and brand. the new ones will probably be more expensive!

Yes, one of the annoying things I've found is that my nearest branch stocks 9 mm marine ply but has no saw while the next nearest has a saw but doesn't stock 9 mm marine ply - so to get 9 mm marine ply cut to size means going to a third, more distant, branch. First world problem I know, but still odd.

 

Regarding the brackets, Bunnings are now out of the reckoning. IKEA it will be.

[Martin S-C]

In my provincial ignorance I was quite unaware that Bunnings had bought Homebase in the UK. To be truthful I do not visit Homebase that often but the one branch I used to use, I hadn't noticed an iota of change - perhaps it was a shop Bunnings were not targetting to change into a different style.

My nearest local DIY place is B&Q and they seem to sell most things in tolerable quality at tolerable prices.

I haven't yet explored their ability to saw timber to specification.

[St Enodoc]

Here is the problem with the Bunnings brackets:

 

The vertical legs should all align and (ideally) should all stand at 90 degrees to the workbench. I think you can see why I was so bl00dy annoyed yesterday.

 

Anyway, so as not to waste valuable railway time (as the Whitbread advert almost used to say) I fixed the cork on to the three boards that will make up the Paddington stock shelf.

 

I stuck the cork stuck down with double-sided carpet tape, which avoids both mess and waiting for glue to dry. I will, however, fix the fences with Kwik-Grip impact adhesive as I don't think that the tape would be strong enough.

 

I already had a couple of IKEA brackets on hand so I fixed one to the wall to see how it looked.

 

By using the same hole as I'd made for the top screw on the Bunnings bracket I was able to cover the middle hole but the bottom hole will need filling. Although the horizontal leg is shorter than that on the Bunnings bracket, it still extends well over half the width of the shelf, so I don't foresee any problems in that respect.

 

The shelf itself will be at almost exactly the same height as with the Bunnings bracket, so I'll probably have to raise the Paddington totem by an inch or so to stop it being obscured by stock on the shelf.

Edited July 19, 2023 by St Enodoc
images restored

[St Enodoc]

I bought the replacement brackets from IKEA today. I was going to take the useless ones back to Bunnings but the onset of a severe thunderstorm made me decide to postpone that until another day.

[BWsTrains]

Here is the problem with the Bunnings brackets:

Your luck buying brackets is on a par with my RTR loco purchases in 2018,  sorry, that's zero consolation I know. However FWIW I've always bought Zenith Brackets from Bunnings

 

https://www.bunnings.com.au/zenith-200-x-150mm-white-london-bracket_p2767975

 

never had a single problem with alignment issues using these. Was there a problem with using that style?

 

Colin

[St Enodoc]

Your luck buying brackets is on a par with my RTR loco purchases in 2018,  sorry, that's zero consolation I know. However FWIW I've always bought Zenith Brackets from Bunnings

 

https://www.bunnings.com.au/zenith-200-x-150mm-white-london-bracket_p2767975

 

never had a single problem with alignment issues using these. Was there a problem with using that style?

 

Colin

Yes, Colin, I looked at those and actually bought one to try. I decided that the holes near the angle were offset just too far from the centreline for me to be confident that the respective screws would engage reliably with the wall studs. The useless brackets (Carinya Stronghold https://www.bunnings.com.au/carinya-250-x-300mm-white-strong-hold-bracket_p3961614) and the IKEA ones (Ekby Stödis https://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/30167461/#/80142067) have only a single row of screws on the centreline.

Edited December 15, 2018 by St Enodoc

[Barry O]

Thunderstorms? Pah!-1°C and snow forecast here today!

I bought some 9mm marine ply for the new layout. It has started to de-laminate already! Scandinavian ply ain't what it used to be!
Baz

 

chuck the spell checker got in the way again!

Edited December 15, 2018 by Barry O

[St Enodoc]

Thunderstorms? Pah!-1°C and snow forecast here today!

 

I bought some 9mm marine ply for the new layout. It has started to eliminate already! Scandinavian ply ain't what it used to be!

Baz

34 deg before the storm, high 20s now.

 

Bad news about the ply. I reckon you need a professional opinion from Ken N.

 

Edit: the third storm of the afternoon/evening has just kicked off.

Edited December 15, 2018 by St Enodoc

[Oldddudders]

It has started to eliminate already! Scandinavian ply ain't what it used to be!

Baz

Might that be delaminate? Engrish spoken.

[Stubby47]

Perhaps it's an undercover ply...

 

The name's Ply, Marine Ply, 009, licensed to eliminate.

Edited December 15, 2018 by Stubby47

[BWsTrains]

Yes, Colin, I looked at those and actually bought one to try. I decided that the holes near the angle were offset just too far from the centreline for me to be confident that the respective screws would engage reliably with the wall studs. The useless brackets (Carinya Stronghold https://www.bunnings.com.au/carinya-250-x-300mm-white-strong-hold-bracket_p3961614) and the IKEA ones (Ekby Stödis https://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/30167461/#/80142067) have only a single row of screws on the centreline.

Ha! understood. You need a stud finder.

 

Then even with one, our house is old enough to have been built with very solid KD (Kiln Dried for the uninitiated) hardwood studs = Eucalyptus one step down from solid granite. Even if you do find the stud after 50 years, smoke will come out of a drilled hole the wood is that broddy hard (skuse my chinese).

 

When we first moved in I was (even more) mindful of costs, so I built my own custom hinges out of radiata pine, just screw and glue. 41 years on they're still in place, as good as new, supporting a very great weight of books. No Bunnings in those days and DIY really meant just that, TBH it'd work just as well today.

 

Colin.

[St Enodoc]

Qantas have apologised for the lack of text messages regarding the delay - good.

 

They didn't mention the lack of information on the website or the lack of apologies from the crew - not so good.

In the interest of fairness, I should report that I received another email from Qantas last week, apologising in respect of the website and the crew.

 

On Friday were were delayed again slightly - only one hour this time - but both the flight crew and cabin crew kept us informed throughout the flight and also apologised after we landed for the delay and inconvenience.

 

Progress!

[BWsTrains]

In the interest of fairness, I should report that I received another email from Qantas last week, apologising in respect of the website and the crew.

 

On Friday were were delayed again slightly - only one hour this time - but both the flight crew and cabin crew kept us informed throughout the flight and also apologised after we landed for the delay and inconvenience.

 

Progress!

Thursday, we finished our trip to Sydney that I'd mentioned earlier. Likewise we suffered a minor delay, 25min.

Q's Baby Bro Jetstar kept us fully up to date throughout, with bonus that I'd secured VG prices for our flights just before all the discounting dried up.

 

Another plus, for me at least, of using T4 at Melbourne is the availability of a Brunetti Cafe, where you can get fine coffee and food Italian style. Pickup and drop off is also more civilised via the nearby T4 car-park with its separate road access, thereby totally avoiding the disaster that is the main passenger and vehicle access area at Tulla.

 

Colin   

[St Enodoc]

Today I made good progress with the Paddington stock shelf, while listening to the morning session of the third day of the Perth Test on ABC Grandstand.

 

First I erected 12 IKEA brackets.

 

In the end I lowered the shelf by about 30 mm as, with the shorter legs on the IKEA brackets, I didn't need as much height to clear trains on loop 1. The new height is 340 mm to the bottom of the shelf or 359 mm to the top surface. There's still plenty of room for the soldering iron.

 

The shelf is not quite symmetrical about the centre line of the room, for three reasons. First, the brackets need to be approximately evenly-spaced along each length of shelving but must align with the wall studs. Secondly, the curve at the ends of the baseboard starts nearer to the wall at the Down end and finally I wanted to make room for the computer at the Up or left-hand end. Eventually, the modified mouse, decoder and relay for advancing the train describer using macros will also sit on the shelf next to the computer.

 

Here is a trial fit of the three lengths of shelving. They are just resting on the brackets in this view.

 

After taking this shot I took the shelf back down and started fitting the 3 mm ply front and end fences to the two outer lengths of shelving. The end fence is 40 mm high so that it projects 21 mm above the top of the shelf, while the front shelf is only 30 mm high so that it projects just 11 mm above the top. This means that the solebars on goods wagons will be visible, which will be important when I introduce the wagon routing system later.

 

The next job is to fix the shelving to the brackets, add a plate underneath each of the two joints to align them and finish off the front fences. Then I can move some stock up and clear the baseboards ready for laying the remaining Peco track at Penzance.

Edited July 19, 2023 by St Enodoc
images restored

[Stubby47]

That's going to be quite a steep incline to get to those tracks....