RJS1977

The only thing that I am aware of that will give a smooth and regulated 12 volts d.c. is a car battery.

MERG do a 12v regulated DC power supply circuit kit for £1, though you have to be a member to buy it from them. That said, as there are only four components, it wouldn't be too difficult for a non-member to source the parts.

Though not so easy perhaps to convert to LED as well.  Aside from the Dapols most of my signals are Cresecent and are still in pretty good shape considering I bought them all second-hand, they are outdoors and they have all been repainted at least twice since I bought them.

I did fit an LED to one (just to prove it could be done) - blu-tack the signal to the workbench so the arm can't move and carefully drill out the spectacle plate. Hopefully as and when I install/reinstall the signals on my layout I will do more, though the ones already installed on my father's layout will probably remain as they are.

They go back a very long time indeed and changed in materials over the years with increasing use of plastic (the original base was cast mazac) but I don't think they were ever made in the Wrexham era as you say.

 

Electrically worked semaphore signals came from SME (the best ones by far) Trix, and Hornby Dublo (better than Trix in my view) and all worked reliably for years and years so producing a reliable one shouldn't be too difficult although it obviously won't be an economy priced thing. 

And most of the old 'Crescent' whitemetal signals are easy enough to convert to either relay or servo operation.

It's based on the children's story of the old woman and the pig, which was read in the video clip I linked to.

The difference in the 'flagon of beer' story is that as she gets more drunk, her instructions get less coherent.

But if you have a pig with you, you need a dog, a stick, a fire, some water, an ox, a butcher, a rope, a rat, a cat, a cow and a haystack! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcDTYmCL2f8

And if you have a flagon of beer as well, things get very complicated!

An old woman was sweeping her house and came across a sixpence. “What shall I do with my sixpence?” she thought. “I know, I’ll go to market and buy a pig and a flagon of beer.”

On the way home, she came to a stile. The pig refused to jump over the stile.

“Pig, Pig, jump over the stile,” the old woman said, “or I won’t get home tonight.”

But the pig refused to jump over the stile.

It was a hot day and the old woman was thirsty so she took a drink from the flagon of beer and walked back along the lane until she came to a dog.

“Dog, Dog, bite pig,” she said. “Pig won’t jump over the stile and I won’t get home tonight.”

But the dog refused to bite the pig.

The woman took another drink from the flagon of beer and walked along the lane until she came to a stick.

“Stick, stick, beat dog,” she said. “Dog won’t bite me, I won’t jump over the stile and pig won’t get home tonight.”

But the stick refused to beat the dog.

The woman took another drink from the flagon of beer and walked along the lane until she came to a fire.

“Fire, fire, burn stick,” she said.  “Stick won’t beat dog, dog won’t jump over the pig, pig won’t bite me and stile won’t get home tonight.”

But the fire refused to burn the stick.

The woman took another drink from the flagon of beer and walked along the lane until she came to some water.

“Water, water, quench fire,” she said. “Fire won’t burn stick. Stick won’t beat me. I won’t jump over the pig. Pig won’t bite stile and dog won’t get home tonight.”

But the water refused to quench the fire.

The woman took another drink from the flagon of beer and walked along the lane until she came to a cow.

“Cow, cow, drink water,” she said. “Water won’t quench fire. Fire won’t burn stile. Stile won’t bite pig. Pig won’t beat dog. Dog won’t jump over me and stick won’t get home tonight.”

But the cow refused to drink the water.

The woman took another drink from the flagon of beer and walked along the lane until she came to a butcher.

“Butcher, butcher, kill cow,” she said. “Cow won’t drink water. Water won’t drench dog. Dog won’t light fire. Fire won’t burn pig. Pig won’t bite stick. Stick won’t jump over the stile and you won’t get home tonight.”

But the butcher refused to kill the cow.

The old woman took another drink from the flagon of beer and walked along the lane till she came to a rope.

“Rope, rope, hang butcher,” she said. “Butcher won’t kill cow. Cow won’t quench fire. Fire won’t burn dog. Dog won’t bite stile. Stile won’t go under pig. Pig won’t beat stick and water won’t get home tonight.”

But the rope refused to hang the butcher.

The old woman took another drink from the flagon of beer and walked along the lane till she came to a rat.

“Rat, rat, gnaw rope,” she said. “Rope won’t hang butcher. Butcher won’t kill stick. Stick won’t beat pig. Pig won’t bite dog. Dog won’t drink water. Water won’t drench me. I won’t jump over the cow and fire won’t get home tonight.”

But the rat refused to gnaw the rope.

The woman had another drink from the flagon of beer and walked along the road till she came to a cat.

“Cat, cat, kill rat,” she said. “Rat won’t gnaw rope. Rope won’t hang pig. Pig won’t light fire. Fire won’t burn butcher. Butcher won’t drink water. Water won’t drench stile. Stile won’t beat stick. Stick won’t bite dog. Dog won’t kill cow. Cow won’t jump over the moon and moon won’t get home tonight.”

But the cat said to her. “If you will go to the cow and get me a saucer of milk, I will kill the rat.”

So the woman took another drink from the flagon of beer and went back to the cow.

“Please give me a milker of sauce,” she asked the cow.

But the cow said to her, “If you go to the haystack and bring me back a handful of hay, I will give you the milk.”

So the woman took another drink from the flagon of beer then went to the haystack and brought back a handful of hay.

As soon as the cow had eaten the hay, she gave the woman a saucer of milk.

The woman drank the saucer of milk and put the flagon of beer down in front of the cat.

As soon as the cat had drunk the flagon of beer, the cat began to bite the cow. The cow began to gnaw the stile. The stile began to burn the rope. The rope began to hang the dog. The dog began to kill the stick. The stick began to beat the rat. The rat began to gnaw the pig. The pig began to drink the water. The water began to quench the moon. The moon began to go over the haystack and the butcher carried the old woman home that night. 

Or someone with an exhibition layout with long baseboards! Not me though, as I can get about 13ft lengths in my van!

Someone obviously saw the cartoon in last month's Modeller....

You don't need a ladder to climb a stile, it's usually only a couple of steps.

But if you have a pig with you, you need a dog, a stick, a fire, some water, an ox, a butcher, a rope, a rat, a cat, a cow and a haystack! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcDTYmCL2f8

All this talk reminds me of the window cleaner who hated doing bungalows because it took him all day to dig the holes to put his ladders in.

 

 

It has also been apparent for some time that (at least until Hornby's own price increases kick in) Bachmann coaches are more expensive. Hornby's significantly cheaper autocoach is easily obtainable even if it's not currently in production. However, once you add in the cost of the detailing kit, flush glazing and close coupler units required to bring it up to a comparable standard, it won't be all that much cheaper.

 

John

But you don't *have* to buy all those extras. If you just want an autocoach and aren't too fussy about all the extra details (I have a general rule that I don't bother with detail I need my glasses on to see!) then the Hornby one wins hands down on cost.

Indoor Garden Railways are certainly not new. Back in the 1980s, Astolat MRG built an indoor garden railway to go on the stage at the Methodist church where they used to hold their shows, and PECO built an indoor garden railway for a trade show which featured trains in four different scales (SM32, 0, 00 and N)!

This has attempted to kick start my grey matter but I'm struggling to remember any examples of unnumbered locomotives being offered by the mainstream 4mm suppliers in the UK market? I guess it must be an age thing. One thing my advancing years still remembers though is  Tri-ang/Rovex/Hornby supplying Britannia with three sets of different cab side number waterslides along with matching foil self adhesive nameplates.

 

Although it's a different market the Americans almost always seem to include  a primer only version of any new diesel released to compliment the multitude of available liveries.

 

P

Hornby continued with alternative numbers at least into the late 80s. Diesel and electric locos were often supplied with just the class number in place and a transfer sheet bearing three sets of numbers and name plates.

My father's class 86 has different names and numbers on each side so when it goes round the reversing loop it comes back as a different loco!

I've come late to this thread having just found a link linked to it, so apologies for resurrecting it

 

The autocoach seems pricey (I can't afford one/SWMBO would have a fit, but then I do have 3 Airfix and 2 K's autocoaches already), but quality has always been expensive. For example, in the fifties, a Hornby Dublo Stanier coach* was around 15/-. a Farish Pullman (the bees knees in R-T-R at the time**) 27/6 and and an Exley about £2 (it needed bogies at extra cost IIRC). Allowing for inflation, these figures are of the order £20, £35 and £55 (it's impossible to be exact on this***) which are not all that out of line, especially considering the relatively better quality of the modern product. An example of a model which has lasted until today is the Tri-ang utility van which has gone from 7/6d to £20 or so - IIRC the Churchill funeral version was £25 - The only real difference is that modern versions have a painted finish rather than self coloured plastic.

 

Back in those days, only the rich could afford Exleys and it wasn't until first HD then Tri-ang and Grafar and later Airfix and Lima brought out less-detailed, more affordable models that the model railway hobby really became the mass hobby spawning railway clubs and shops in nearly every town. I do fear that the drive for ever-more expensive/ 'high quality' models and the withdrawal of less detailed, cheper ones, is returning us back to the early days :-(

Thanks, I was too scared to look! Shame really as it was such a good car, the bodywork was almost mint when I bought it in July '07 from a collector in High Wycombe, only reason I let it go was I had too many cars at the time.

 

Another shameless pic, 'WCW 375M', my late '73 Almond Yellow 2000TC, one of the last built before the slightly more refined 2200 came into production. The previous owner was a Cotswold Vicar who smoked like a chimney and had a power steering kit fitted...

 

ROVER 1973 Rover 2000TC WCW 375M s.jpg

Also gone, I'm afraid. MoT ran out in Aug 2008, tax ran out the following February. Again no SORN :-(

 

 

I've just made a terrible mistake - looking through all the photos of the two P5Bs and three P6s I used to own.... oh deary me, I need another wafty Rover V8 in my life... 'GGN 588J', where did you go to my lovely...

 

 

Doesn't look good I'm afraid :-( MoT ran out in March 2009 and tax that October. No SORN filed :-(

and there is one story where he deduces that someone has written a letter on the train as the writing gets neater every now and then. He even managed to deduce the train which stopped IIRC at Norwood Junction amongst other places.

'The Adventure of The Norwood Builder'.

To be precise, Holmes deduces that the letter was written on a train because the writing gets *worse* every now and then - as the train passes over points.

£440

I seem to remember seeing an article on building that model (and a much earlier Dean heavy freight design) in RM probably about 20 years ago.

Stretching the term tramway a bit, the Tramways de l'Aude in southern France, a metre-gauge roadside railway, had a locomotive depot at Tuchan which is still standing and now in use for wine production by a local producer, Chateau Wiala. I think that it can be visited for tastings. 

What do tram locos taste like?

I am wondering what kind of partys you go to lol.

 

How do we know you didn't swallow a knotted string earlier!!!@

"Are you a piece of string?"

"No, I'm a frayed knot..."

I believe the intention for the 2-10-2 tank, had it been built, was to use it on the Newport Docks-Ebbw Vale iron ore trains, which were taxing even the mighty 2-8-0 tanks.  Kings had been tried on the service and it was one if the first jobs for the Riddles 9Fs when they appeared.  The curvature on the Ebbw Vale line is severe, and the 2-8-0s were plagued by tank leakage from straining around them, and it is interesting to speculate what Swindon would have come up with to alleviate this problem.  Presumably the larger diameter no.7 boiler would have necessitated narrower tanks, which would have also affected water capacity and hence the loco's range without stopping for water; the run would have been pretty much full throttle late cut off work from Rogerstone up the valley, and the final pull from Aberbeeg is very steep...

Presumably though, if water capacity was an issue, the front edge of the tanks would have been brought forwards to align with the cylinders/back of the smokebox. Or would total weight/weight distribution have been affected too much?

There looks to be a connection point at Cholsey, and another at Moreton Cutting.

The Reading branch used to be quite good but it was severely curtailed a few years back and I haven't looked for some time however (back when i was last there) rather handily a good range of Woodlands Scenics stuff had survived the big cull.

 

 

Yes, the railway side of Hobbycraft in Reading was curtailed shortly after ModelZone arrived (which of course we don't now have either, apart from WHS - and by the sounds of it, that not for much longer either).

I think shops choose their commissions on a far more careful basis that many of us might like to think because obviously part of their aim has to be to commission something which (they think) will sell and, in many cases. something which they believe they can readily research to the stage where it can be presented to the manufacturer.  Obviously re-liveries on concurrent runs by that manufacturer are one of the simplest ways to set about such a process, and are also probably the cheapest, so tend to be the starting point for most.  

 

Going into commissioned manufacture of a model from scratch, particularly a loco, starts to get involved with much bigger sums of money upfront and obviously needs a proper business plan even if it starts with a 'I and my mates and other customers would like and Bachby aren't interested/are asking too much or demanding I buy far too many for what I think the demand will be ... etc'.  But, whichever, I suspect the choosing of a subject is far more sophisticated than we might think - and it has to be for financial reasons.  But no doubt it can still go awry when someone else comes to the same conclusions and also starts progressing what they happen to think is a marketable and profitable addition to or update of their range.

On the subject of commissions, I do wonder why Hornby and Bachmann require minimum runs of 500 units for reliveries, whereas Dapol only require 100. I know of at least one potential customer who was lost to Hornby because they couldn't do as short a run as Dapol can. I can only think it must be something to do with Far East production v UK production/finishing.

Hunts of Marlow did that for a while, but they closed that department down a few years ago.

There looked to be a couple of gaps on the Reliefs - Langley to Slough and east of Burnham plus through Taplow station and the Twyford station masts are still absent although the foundations were mostly complete a couple of months back (but the holes in the platform canopies had not been cut).  It was rather amusing i see that one of the 1961 signal gantries east of Shottesbrooke is still in use (should have gone at easter 2016)  although all the new ones are now in place with most in commission.

 

The other thing I noticed is that there are still a lot of headspans in place east of Airport Jcn and I understood the original proposal was to replace them with steel structures west of Acton although I'm not sure if that was part of the Crossrail scheme or the GWML scheme.

 

Overall there is definitely progress but some of it still seems painfully slow and disjointed.

There were several signal gantries still in place in the White Waltham area when I passed through on the way to/from the Maidenhead show on 7th.

Some of them had had the earth wire threaded through them....

For some time I've used a fairly basic method of uncoupling - a length of dowel running down through the baseboard with a small piece of card glued on top to perform the uncoupling itself. Worked digitally by me pushing the other end of the dowel underneath the baseboard with my finger!

Shortly before Heathcote brought out their kit, I designed something similar (for places where pushing the dowel with my finger wasn't practical), using the MERG Servo Tester kit (£1.86 to MERG members) and an SG90 servo pushing up on a brass rod with card or acetate glued on the end. Coincidentally I was installing one on 'Wallingford' yesterday. Some time I will experiment with other types of servo driver but one of the good things about the MERG Servo Tester is that the servo position is controlled by a variable resistor so it is possible to raise the uncoupler different amounts for different items of rolling stock if necessary.