Ian Simpson

7 minutes ago, Edwardian said:

 

de jure, surely

I guess they could be both.

But I've never seen Englishness as a purely ethnic thing. As long as you're repressed, sarcastic and constantly moaning about the weather, you are English in  my book.

3 hours ago, Caley Jim said:

... As to the orange one, as our FM has said publicly on the matter it is currently illegal to travel in or out of Scotland except for essential purposes. I doubt he would be granted asylum. 

 

Jim

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-scotland-55553493

Or anyone who lives near Lewes.

Burke and Paine - I guess they were still using surnames that told you something about the person in those days.

Actually, I rather like the loco!

I'm not sure you can have elaborate politeness. It's usually just passive aggression.

I should know, I use it all the time. For example: "No wonder the poor fellow is so socially insecure. I gather his father was a journalist ..."

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(Edit: my apologies to any journalists reading this, obvs. Yes, even the ones in the MSM.)

I think my modelling resolution will just be to do one modelling job or project (however small) every week. 

Happy New Year, everyone!

A good idea, Richard. I had wondered about solar power, and now I think I will make it a (summer) project. I was surprised how little current the Bachmann early locos need to get them moving.

Ian

Many thanks, Richard. I'm glad it's not just me that has to play around with low value resistors!  I felt like the Burser in the Discworld novels, who believes the decimal point is an optional extra, when I found the correct resistance was around ten times larger than I had expected.

Thanks for the hint on diodes - I didn't know they reduced voltage, and I can definitely see several uses for that.

The battery controller is really just a project driven by the KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid) principle, although the portability is a plus as well and I've now packed away the mains controller. The general test for tech on Tinories is "would a Victorian twelve-year-old understand how it works?" If the answer is Yes, then there's a fair chance that I will understand it as well.

You're right about the limited amount of charge in a battery, but I only run my layout for a few minutes at a time and I think rechargeable batteries will be cost-effective. BTW I've been looking at the Rokuhan battery controllers with interest, as it suggests there must still be some demand for a battery option.

11 hours ago, 47137 said:

... It all seems like a monologue sometimes, but the project is growing nicely and I am happy with it.

Sorry about the current lack of input from me. In my defence, this photo shows the trouble I have fitting a simple dropper resistor. It's called, at least in my own mind,  "The Day Ohm's Law Broke Down", and it explains why an Arduino literally leaves me speechless:

Wishing you and all your readers a very Happy Christmas and a Better New Year!

Ian

For me the go-to tools are usually a Stanley knife that takes the place of fiddly scalpels and craft knifes, a pin vice and a 6" steel ruler. But my most useful tool is a cheap rotary tool used by manicurists to shape nails, which cost me £7 new on eBay: it's takes the normal mini-tool accessories but has much slower speeds than the usual modelling mini-tools. 

(And because I hate soldering, I also keep cheap bottles of superglue, chocolate-block connector strips for wiring and pre-soldered fishplates. Okay, they're materials rather than tools, but they mean I don't have to keep a soldering iron.)

It's nothing that a bit of sensitive Australian diplomacy can't sort out.

21 hours ago, BernardTPM said:

I think Locomotion was actually 1:96 scale, being a half-size version of the Bachmann special which was 1:48 scale (US 0 scale).

Their The Atlas Editions (thanks, Simon!) Nord Crampton is around 3.2 mm scale. A shame from a British H0 perspective, as the South Eastern and the LNWR were quite fond of these locos in the 1840s.

I'm no purist, but a Crampton locomotive should definitely be larger than a Norris (on the right of the photo).

What I remember was the odd chemical taste of the orange drink at Fratton in the 1960s. It came in a clear plastic container and I always wondered whether the squash was actually dissolving the plastic, and if so what it must be doing to my stomach. That didn't deter me, though.

4 minutes ago, Nearholmer said:

But, rest assured, I have my fish-paste sandwiches, Tizer, and ‘combine’ with me.

I hate to mention it, but you also seem to be trespassing on the track.

Wonderful photo, and marvelous models!

I think Tom Walker's main point (he's the once-struggling actor who plays Jonathan Pie) is that the Left needs to make an effort to understand and engage with opposing points of views. He's not arguing that socialists should accept these ideas, but should at least be able to explain clearly why they are wrong rather than simply resorting to abuse or no-platforming them.

If that sounds a bit po-faced, there's a CNN interview with him here:

Sorry that none of us seem to be able to help. I wonder if the British 1:87 Scale Society forum could help? It's an Io group (British1-87ScaleSociety@groups.io) which contains most of the long-term H0 modellers who will remember the kit. I'm not sure if you need to join the Society to take part, but membership is free (see www.british-ho.com).

I think the best political obituary for him (I can't remember who said it, but they were probably a Conservative MP) is that you need different skills for campaigning and for governing.

Which seems to link Dom and Don quite nicely, IMO.

I'd second Mike's post. I'm not a great modeler myself, but I hope my blog gives some reassurance and encouragement by showing that most of us are just struggling to make things work. I hope people may be able to learn from my mistakes and failures as well as things that have gone okay (and a number of readers have been kind enough to give me suggestions when I'm stuck).

On 16/10/2020 at 17:50, Edwardian said:

Here is Air Chief Marshall Foo Foo (the dog, not the bloke in lilac) ......

 

Presumably promoted because of his experience of dogfights.

1 hour ago, Edwardian said:

The village would doubtless have made do with rooms at the Dodo for most gatherings. In recent years we have seen Reading Rooms & Lending Library, under the care of Miss Annabelle Finch.

A village hall or a church hall, often things instituted in the late Nineteenth and early Twentieth centuries, would probably have been rendered redundant by the construction of the Drill Hall in c.1865.  That would have been used for produce shows, theatrical entertainments and so forth in between training. No doubt that would include any public meetings convened by the Parish Council.

What we really need is a Parish Pump where we can keep in touch.

Preferably in post-cholera times.

Just a gentle reminder to our parish representatives.

The http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/63050

1 hour ago, burgundy said:

I have never entirely understood how Stroudley was able to operate under very different terms of reference.     

Perhaps because Craven had already got the LBSCR through the worst of its loco crisis, and the directors had finally learned their lesson?

Good point, some other manufacturers should copy the approach. I dread unpacking and packing some of my models.

Best of luck with the move, hope it goes smoothly.

On 12/08/2020 at 21:05, Andy Reichert said:

 

Yes. Proto:87, quickly dug out from from my spares box but only 10.5 mm dia , so a scale 3 ft dia.

Hi Andy, please can I ask if you have any plans to sell wheelsets on proto87.com again?

The print of Simon's LSWR 330 class saddle tank arrived this morning. It does sit a bit high on the original Hornby Terrier chassis at the moment ...

... but that's because the underside of the boiler and the inside of the running plate will need to  be cut away to make room for the motor:

So I agree with Simon and Richard that the new Terrier chassis looks more promising.

For purists the wheelbase of the Terrier is a bit long and the splashers don't quite match up. But I don't think it will be very noticeable, because the splashers were so small and unobtrusive on a Class 330.

@Killian keane's Small Loco Works LBSCR E1 also arrived in the parcel. As this was specifically designed for the Terrier chassis, it will only need a bit of light work (a tiny bit of trimming and packing) to make it sit properly:

The parcel also included @Javier L's LBSCR horse box and his 15' bolster truck, which will make an ideal freelance carriage wagon. The horse box buffers and slats are included; they have been printed on the inside of the box. I must add that I've been really impressed by the quality of his mid-range material option. 

Incidentally his horse box will take the discontinued Bachmann John Bull tender drive (that's the black box on the right of the photo), so it can push an unpowered loco.

Finally, an out-of-focus photo to show how I am opening out Simon's 16 ton steel coal wagon print. I found one needs to apply quite a bit of pressure to the outside of the axle boxes when opening them out, hence the G clamp: