hayfield

A truly sorry state of affairs which everyone is a looser

Thanks Martin, the note is on the Home page.  Good to know things are working.  I'm in no particular hurry and have stock to be getting on with.

 

John

Not had a chance to speak with Phil recently, and it seems he has his hands full so distractions may interrupt resolving them. Just a case of bearing with him a bit as he gets a grip on what,s happening. Knowing Phil he will iron out these teething problems

Thanks very much, had a look on their website and it looks like theirs. Someones bound to want to have a go and several options re the chassis available

I bought a lot off eBay which was a loco and some parts, in said lot is an etched LMS 4F with a resin firebox, boiler and smoke box, the etched chassis has inside motion within the frames. The tender looks to be etched brass, the cab may be nickle silver

Please can anyone tell me the maker of the kit please, the previous owner has written Midland Fowler, but my knowledge of things LMS is very limited.

The previous owner tried to refurbish the loco, but several parts have come un-soldered and they managed to break one of the frames, I bought it for the motor, gearbox and wheels, so intend to sell the kit as a restoration project and wish to give an accurate description

Thanks

No exactly, people with  PP account are given a choice of making payments from their PP account, a linked bank account or a linked card account. Without a PP account, PP acts as a normal card gateway but you are given the option of signing up for a PP account.

On the two or three times I have had an issue with an eBay purchase paid by Paypal the problems were all resolved within days, this was when eBay owned Paypal though

Unfortunately, I have to agree with you, which is a pity as the ranges covered are very useful to the majority of us modellers. A really sorry state of affairs.

Are the remaining moulds any good? if so and the business folds might be an opportunity for someone

Giz

Our roof has a 12 degree pitch, we had a single story extension built 3 meters out and needed this shallow pitch to keep the top of the roof below the windows. The building inspector explained the importance of smooth tiles to stop such ingress when its blowing a gale and raining at the same time. Our roof faces south and the prevailing weather is from the south west. Good to know the building regs are there for a reason and work

As I said, wrong tiles and may be not overlapping each other enough. I could be wrong but I think a local builder said these tiles will work on shallower roofs than ours 

Going slightly Off Topic.

 

Whilst it isn't true in all cases the bold part can cause you untold problems in any build where corners can be cut. I do think that with many things we have an unrealistic expectation of costs and how they can be reduced to near zero.

As an example I don't do many jobs for Joe public nowadays as I have enough to do with the new builds or conversions, but last week I was asked if I would help out a friend taking down a wall so he could get the dustiest/worst part down in one day. While there the homeowner asked if I was interested in quoting for some other work, I declined but they asked if I could give them a guide price so they could use it for comparison. After a bit of discussion it soon became clear that the amount they wanted to pay was less than the cost of materials required, this was explained to them but they were still of the opinion that they could get it for much less than I had suggested. I said 'good luck' and left it to them.

You can obviously get shafted the other way and pay way over the odds, around here that applies to driveways, tree trimming & upvc fascia etc.

I couldn't agree with chris p bacon more.

Far too many of us think we can get things done cheaper without realising factors such as minimum working wage, the rising cost of materials and equipment required plus the fact that many of these professionals are expected to carry out the work in cold wet conditions.

I would always recommend using professionals, as a good one will advise you which bits you could do yourself to save labour costs. Don't forget though that these people need an income but have lives of their own too. When urgent problems arise however, they can often be counted on to turn up out of hours and a short notice.

The less work we are willing to pass their way.... the less of them will be available to take on our small jobs compared with the security offered by large scale projects.

Yours Aye,

Giz

You are quite right about paying the correct money for the job, on the other hand if you can employ the tradesman directly this can be beneficial.  But that does not mean using the cheapest person as this can end up being the costliest route

Good morning LBRJ,

first of all apologies if my previous comment came across rather negative but whilst i must admit that on the whole many tradesmen as you rightly say are genuine, unfortunately as in my case, i was hoodwinked by a Del Boy Trotter type character.

My extension roof was built by a registered roofer, recommended by a local firm. Unfortunately when the roof began to leak, we found that he had taken the money and ceased trading shortly after. To cut a long story short the roof pitch was incorrect and with driving rain from the South west it gets under the tiles and through the ceiling........... all trains currently cancelled due to water on the line.

Despite numerous attempts to correct, we are now looking at a complete rebuild of roof as a worse case scenario hence why i suggested using recommendations from members and associates to ensure things go well. in this case the wish to get it completed and on time for minimal cost clouded my judgement.

If your mates are anything like mine they might happily help out at minimal cost providing you supply the beer and barbie(burgers not the doll)to make it a social event rather than just a job.

As an added bonus they can help later on with the functional testing of the layout (again more beer and pizzas .

Wishing you luck with the conversion and look forward to seeing the results when finished.

Yours Aye,

Giz

Giz

May not be the roof pitch but the wrong tiles, our errant builder who quoted for smooth tiles then started to put cheaper ones on the  roof. And or they do not overlap sufficiently. Happily for us it got sorted out and the roof is dry

I think that might only apply if you paid him directly and not via PayPal or Worldpay. They are deemed to be who you paid by credit card companies usually, which means such transactions don't usually have the normal credit card protection you'd expect.

 

Trading standards in his local area might be interested, but it depends how much evidence there is and getting enough complaints for them to do much as they likely have very little staff these days.

One thing that may shake up both trading standards and Worldpay is if all those affected joined together and contacted both groups  with their complaints against this person. An RMWeb Group in what I think is called a Class Action

 

Lots of good and helpful comments there – much appreciated.

As for bankruptcy petitions, freezing orders or taking a charge over property – first, the amount owed is really not worth it and second, these would probably involve the expense of a Solicitors – which again is simply not worth it.

I am annoyed I have thrown good money after bad but take the positive view that I have exposed Dunn for the unsavoury character he clearly is. Anybody dealing with Dunn through the Cooper Craft web site can now be in no doubt he is a person lacking in any conscience or moral compass. He will take your money and give you nothing in return.

Getting the bailiffs to approach him at a show may well be the best option – subject to knowing he will attend (the web site has not been updated for years, so it’s a question of trawling through show web sites to see which he is attending) and then giving the Court enough notice so they can take action. In the end, I’ll probably find that bailiffs do not work on Saturday!

What I propose to do in the short term is contact his web site provider, acquaint them with the situation and suggest this is not the sort of business they should be hosting. You will know if I am successful if the web site disappears.

 

How did you pay for the items ? There is a thing you can use on both debit and credit cards (under £100) called charge back. It will be worth while contacting the company which you used to paid for the item, I would expect the likes of Visa and Mastercard to be a bit concerned about possible future issues

Another avenue is trading standards may be interested, especially about abusing the distance trading rules

Did you pay him as a sole trader or a limited company 

And according to the Sheriffs are coming program, the sheriffs cannot enter a domestic property by force, either by going through an open door or being invited.

Can make forcible entry only on business premises.

No idea if he is going to shows now, if so inform the bailiffs of where and when 

Saw a lot on eBay, 4F I think, seemed of etched brass (been stripper of paint) construction but had been dismantled and the chassis had been damaged. Anyway there were a set of (20 mm) Romfords, a Mashima motor and a Highlevel gearbox. The owner said he tried to refurbish the loco. Well at £30 inc postage thought the parts were well worth it and could sell the loco. Then remembered I have a compensated EM gauge chassis with a Mashima motor and gears

Then as just a passing thought there was a K's Terrier, sadly an older version with the better motor and wheels as I want to EM one but feel the chassis is far more valuable to some one else with a more modern chassis with knackered wheels and motor. Still only £24 inc postage and I do have a spare Nucast chassis, I do have some Romfords in the wheel box and K's mk 1 & 2 motors in the spares box, the loco is too badly built and painted as is but I find its better to build around the chassis.

As for paint stripping, find either paint stripper or caustic soda work well, but the American restorers seem to freeze metal which shrinks and sheds the paint, anybody tried this or is it just harder metal that shrinks enough

This happened to a friend of mine, so he somehow took a charge over the property. This meant the owner could do nothing (sell, re-mortgage etc)unless with the agreement of my friend, got his money back eventually.

A very informative thread and very timely for me as I am about to use an existing garage/workshop for my model railway which is currently stored in bits in said garage.

Having done this at my last house, do not scrimp on the insulation. My garage was attached to the house and had the boiler in it, had I been staying I would have fitted a radiator in the room running off the central heating, so much cheaper to run than electric heaters. Having said this it is also a great selling point for a usable outside space. One other aspect is security, again do not scrimp

Thinking aloud, if a problem occurs just keep the door in place (perhaps sealing it up) and build an internal wall. Providing you do not make it habitable I cannot see its a problem. Many people torn their garages/outbuildings into workshops. The only issue being changing the door to a wall.   

After reading Peter's post I ought to clarify mine. (late night posting)

 

A single skin (brick) wall doesn't need polythene on the inside as a DPC, any stud wall would need a breathable membrane though such as Tyvek. Working from outside in it would be 

 

Brick, air gap, Tyvek, Board (Sterling) stud work filled with insulation, Vapour barrier, battens for air gap, plasterboard.

 

I have a pool room which is built in this way and apart from extra insulation over the stud work there is no issue with condensation.

Chris if the garage is an older one and has no damp course, what is the procedure ? 

This could be due to my posts not being completely clear - I've been talking about two layouts; one a small N gauge one based on Arley in the present day, the other a larger N gauge one based on Bewdley, largely in the present day.  I saw the former on display at Arley at this year's autumn gala, and the latter at a show a couple of years ago.  Both were built as double-track ovals, although with the Arley one the scene was limited enough that the loop points would have been offscene in both directions.  With the Bewdley one, the north end was reasonably accurate (albeit with trains heading off down the Tenbury siding) but the south end featured a double track tunnel mouth as the scene exit.

Probably me miss-reading the post as usual. I can totally accept the reasoning behind the enthusiast wanting to run their layout in a prototypical manner, I cannot argue against this on any grounds

However having been involved in a finescale show where the general public attended in as many numbers as the finescale modelling brigade, the show manager (of many years standing) would ask exhibitors to where possible to keep locos running, also one layout which was a fiddle yard to fiddle yard format several years later returned as an oval. When asked about the change replied, easier to operate (especially for 2 day shows), less operators required, and that the paying public seemed to prefer it. In fact a non scenic bend which was clearly visible had as many viewers as the scenic side, as a perfect place to observe (and photo) and admire the stock

I've up c0cked it, so shall give up for today

 

 

I shall now torture some potatoes in preparation for Sunday roast at maximum volume.

 

Jeanie (my little step princess) has returned from her travels around incontinental Europe with a Canadian friend. 

 

We have been introducing said friend (she has a name but I'm too scared to ask anymore after forgetting it constantly for the last 4 days and her indoors getting more frustrated with me each time I ask) to English culture (apparently we have one/some).  Today she is being flailed with a visit to Weston - Super - Mud with all the trimmings (all day drinking of strong lager, pool, keeeeeeebab and a fight), chips, pier and disappointment.  Tonight she will be flambèd with a full on roast dinner (with meat option), you know, yorkshire puddings, stuffing, vegetables and more stuff etc?

 

Weston Oh Dear.jpg

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Apparently it's my bath day too?

 

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Dinner followed by a trip to the local for some scrumpy !!

I can't recall anything but helpful and friendly volunteers at any preserved railway I have been to.

Same here, always been treated exceptionally well by those on duty.

I would generally have assumed that the operators of a model railway at a show would be enthusiasts!

 

It's fair to say that at the real Bewdley there are often periods with nothing moving. On the current timetables there is a 45 minute frequency between paths, with most up trains timetabled for a circa 10 minute wait at Bewdley, so you generally get 30-minute periods with nothing happening. I'm not suggesting operators at a show replicate that, though!

 

I was on the railway yesterday. Totting up how many trains passed through Bewdley: there were 5 sets in operation, three of which did two round trips and two of which did two full line round trips and two to AY and back; that's 28 trains through the station. Then you have three light engines and an ECS DMU at the start and end of the day: that takes you up to 36 in total.

Firstly I thought the layout was not at a show but at the preserved railway, run by the volunteers 

Secondly at most shows (especially local ones) the paying public like to see trains moving, modellers quite often like seeing the same loco pass several times as they wish to absorb the model making, rather than see a glancing glimpse of the train go by. Or ask for the train to stop so a photo can be taken

Other layouts where operators are few often have a train running round a few times, whilst they prepare something else or just have a break

I accept that there are those who like to see everything as it was, or run in a prototypical manor.

The skill of the layout operator is to please all

Speaking as someone interested in operations, I found it a shame that they had turned it into a double track roundy-roundy, because when I saw it (at an exhibition near Weston-Super-Mare a couple of years back) they seemed to be just letting trains circle, rather than operating it in a realistic way. Actually replicating real operations would have been much more interesting.

 

Apart from the southern end, it seemed to have a good deal of fidelity, and certainly captured the feel of the place rather well, although I know what you mean about being neither fish nor fowl. It strikes me that the pre-preservation layout at Bewdley North would be rather tricky to build with off-the-shelf track.

It depends on who the layout is aimed at plus operators available, if the timetable was adhered to how many trains/movements per day, not many I would guess. If you are looking at the casual visitor and or children then trains moving is what they want to see,

They are stuck between a rock and hard place especially if operators are scarce, or not model railway enthusiasts .

Thanks chaps, going have another go at a CC tomorrow and try and build a straight one!  

 

Don't think anything will go through the one I've chucked together without hitting the nose.

 

Anyway...

 

Bridgnorth Cliff Railway.jpg

Tim

I find that the crossings either go together first time or you spend ages adjusting

I made a simple jig from some scrap ply and a piece of straight Ali, which holds the Vee (with 2 pieces of shim soldered under it) against the bar so the first wing rail can be soldered in line with the crossing

Hope these photos may assist, a simple jug from bits which were in the scrap box

Back to my earlier question, what is the safest solvent to use on the Peco 7 mm timbers so not to affect a curl once the solvent has dried. What about Humbrol Liquid Poly ?

Hi John

 

MEK is methyl ethyl ketone, with the formula CH3-CO-CH2-CH3, which is an isomer of Butanone.

 

The formula of MEK hasn’t changed, although whether what was/is sold as MEK contains only MEK or a mixture of other things is less clear.

 

Best

Simon

Sorry, Simon, but MEK is not an isomer of butanone, it IS butanone.

 

Not being a chemist I am not in a position to argue about the finer points, other than pass on others thoughts/observations/knowledge from other threads. Never used what was/is sold as MEK-PAK in the old days for track building, apparently the new version of MEK-PAK is not as good as Butanone for sticking plastic chairs to plywood timbers and sleepers

Perhaps where the difference is not MEK that we were/are using but MEK-PAK ?