bbishop

It only ran a few times. However it was the last train, collecting the remaining wagons from the yard and departing as a mixed train.

At the Tonbridge exhibition yesterday, we were operating a train on Blindheim comprising a Köf and one Donnerbüchse. Bill

Blindheim packed and ready to go.

About 15 years ago my O Gauge British exhibition layout was running out of invites. So the question was "what to do next?" At the time Lenz were developing their Spur Null products and I had visited the Dampfbahn Fränkische Schweiz preserved railway. I decided to build an O gauge model of a Franconian branch line terminus. Historically there has been very little scratch or kit building on the continent, so I was committed to RTR stock. This meant that the infrastructure and trackplan had to be correct. I had to revise my very rusty German in order to do the research. Höchstädt was born which spent a few years on the exhibition circuit. Audience reaction was varied - a few were very interested, the majority spent a few minutes in front of the layout, again a minority were downright hostile. About 2018 I began the "last great project", a junction in Upper Franconia. Unfortunately the pandemic struck, I can't manhandle 4' x 2'8" boards on my own and so I built the last stage of the project, a 12' x 1' Endstation blocking one of the fiddle yards. So Blindheim was born. There is no possibility of an accurate trackplan in that footprint but all the buildings (some scratchbuilt) are valid for Upper Franconia and the stock is correct for location and era. Conclusions. Foreign layouts are committed to RTR models, but that doesn't mean that infrastructure and stock cannot be correct. Bill

Ye gods! The Bing screen saver is an aggressive looking Hippo!!

Brian, my reading of LNER Wagons Vol 4A is that they either had separate brakes each side or that they had the Morton arrangement with brakes on one side and levers on both sides. The clutch is on the brake side so the action is reversed and you are pushing the brake on. Bill

Mine is bog standard Czech, including the various plates. I asked the corner garage how they go about maintaining it; "treat it like a VW!"

They are executing pancakes? Sadists!

By the by, don't look at the Early Riser thread if you are squeamish. They are discussing the most effective way of killing off each other.

I have a Yeti. No clever switches, paddles, etc. But I feel like Ronnie Corbett in the Corbett, Barker & Cleese sketch.

....... but that is where the owner was born! He just happens to live in The Netherlands.

If you come to the Tonbridge show this Saturday, you can see Obbekaer in P87 by Geraint Hughes - simply some of the best modelling on the circuit. You can also see Blindheim by yours truly - constrained by circumstances but an attempt to represent a Franconian backwater in Spur Null. Bill

So did I, instead I was finding illustrations for an article (written by Norman Pattenden) on rates for agricultural traffic.

The LSWR service from Wimbledon to Ludgate Hill still exists.

The main problem is that I'm tone deaf!

I use aluminium ears on the cassettes. These are on the "Shoe" cassette and the loco cassettes, but not on the stock cassettes. The ears are attached with bolt and nut, the latter extending a quarter of an inch and electrical connexion is achieved with crocodile clips.

I spent one term, trying to learn the bassoon. Advised to give up.

The coaches are a sort of green and yellow colour, would you describe them as "Canary" coloured, Andy? And we did you a bit of a favour today! Bill

Oh sh1t

Woke up to sunshine, so put a wash on. Cycle finished but there is now mizzle in SE London. What to do this afternoon? I can't watch the Rugby because Wales always lose when I watch. So I need to find some distraction, perhaps build some cassettes for the fiddle yard?

Not a problem on the Southern, we sensibly started with a "1".

I have three "pull along" suitcases - small, large, enormous. The size is determined by what I may bring back, because Spur Null isn't small and can be very well packed! Preferred travel clothing is shirts with a top pocket (the safest place to keep key documentation), cargo shorts or trousers (the knee pockets are useful) and a gilet. The latter is actually normal wear, one side pocket for handy and glasses case and the other for an emergency medical kit (gloves, masks, Clinell wipes and pulseox). Cold and wet in my corner of London, the weather that I really hate, so I'm indoors today. I may catalogue my N gauge stock for sale. I'm downsizing to a tram layout that I shall name Pastor Bonhoeffer Park. Dave F knows about this as he gave me some catenary posts that will be used when the trams traverse the park. Bis bald Bill

For a Southern enthusiast, a Mickey Mouse was an Ivatt 2MT tank. The Bulleid Q1 class were Charlies; unless you were on the footplate, when an adjective would be included, given their lack of brake power.

... what I still drink!

There us a lengthy thread in German Railways that you may wish to wade through.