figworthy

Not pointing the finger at anyone specifically, but it often bemuses me that someone has taken the time to ensure that the railway aspects of their layout are reasonably accurate (e.g. right loco class, livery for the era and area), but get the non-railway aspects wrong, when even 5 minutes online would have given a big hint as to what is right. One of my personal bug bears is canal scenes where the canal is totally wrong (too narrow, overly tight bends, wrong craft etc). Adrian

Much longer than that, the plans were first floated in the early 90s

Not sure if the neighbours would prefer that as a delivery method to the more usual carriers. Nice picture. Adrian

If you can get one. The last time I wanted one (board and skim all four walls of a room plus the ceiling), I contacted four, all said they'd come and have a look, only one turned up. I'll try most things, but I don't do plastering beyond patching. Adrian

And postman managed to squeeze the envelope through the letter box this morning. Adrian

Given the usual comments (not from me !) about the relationship between the advertised publication date, and the date on which it appears, I think congratulations are in order to all concerned in getting this one out ahead of time. I shall await the postman's missed delivery card with whetted appetite. Adrian

I understand your view on multi-plugs, but a Pi power supply is ~13W, so you are unlikely to overload a 4 way with those. A few years (in a December) back I had a room lined and skimmed. A few days later there was water on the floor at the foot of the outside wall. My initial reaction was that it was a condensation issue, but it turned out to be the moisture emerging from the plaster as it dried. No sign of any problem since. Adrian

Another vote of thanks to Andy for the quick sorting out of this attack.

I think I can beat that one. When I moved into the Manor House, there was a minor leak on the cistern (which only leaked when flushing). Clearly this had been the state of affairs for several years. When the time came to sort out the bathroom, we discovered that not only was there a leak, but (not surprisingly) it had damaged the floor board beneath it. And it seems that at some point, someone had removed the bit of joist under that. The guess was that it had been done when the suite was replaced very many years early (when was avocado the must have colour ?). Adrian

Not as daft as it sounds. Back in the 1970s, the Navy had a fleet of four narrow boats, each of which looked like a miniature warship. One of them was a submarine, and it may well have visited Nottingham. Oddly, there is very little on Google to show them, but someone has written a book about it. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Britannia-Rules-Cut-Royal-Navys/dp/1906205264/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1347565778&sr=8-1 And rummaging through the photo album, I came across this (taken at the Inland Waterways Association National Rally in York 1975) Adrian

Apologies for going off topic. Except that isn't how it is working. The BBC admitted to a parliamentary select committee that they have no way of matching up the licence database with the iPlayer subscriber database. The iPlayer subscription allows you to put in any old rubbish. You also need to sign up to listen to streamed radio programmes, but you don't need a TV licence to listen the radio. Adrian

Brilliant. Does the handle on the lever unplug ? Adrian

It doesn't follow that they are based there, just that they are using a domain that is registered there. How many television companies are really based in Tuvalu (.tv) ? Adrian

The Humber sloop was a gaff rigged vessel, the Humber Keel was square rigged. Basically the same hull, but with a different rig. Humber Keel Humber Sloop Adrian

Thanks, that's really useful. I'll have to work out a shopping list. Adrian

Scale is 4mm (see topic title). I would imagine that the pulleys probably need to be ~4mm (1ft prototype) in diameter. Adrian

A month or so back, someone put up a picture of a hoist used for transferring stone from a narrow gauge wagon to a standard gauge wagon. The picture was somewhere in North or mid Wales, but I haven't been able to find it again. Fairly simple, a couple of beams mounted on two stone piers, with some form of travelling mechanism to move from side to side. The piers, beams and traveller I can do, where I'm stuck is finding the pulley wheels to move the traveller from side to side, and something to do the lifting, probably a set of chain blocks. The intention is that the traveller will move, but I suspect that getting the chain block to work is getting a bit too adventurous. Any suggestions on where to source the parts ? Internet searches so far have drawn a blank. Adrian

I can't remember that name of it, but there is a thread on here somewhere where someone has built something that looks very much like that, I think in 7mm. Adrian

I did later wonder how far up the route it would have got. Would it have been able to get to Winchcombe, or past the derailment site ? Adrian

Would that have been a bit awkward by then ? Adrian

I was just behind you (O levels in 1977), for us O level history was British History 1789-1914, so we touched on the causes of the First World War, but not the war itself. Adrian

Jamie have you looked at moling ? I had a new water main fitted a few years back, and I had a hole dug at each end of the drive, and a pipe was moled through between the two holes. The distance was less, but it could work. Adrian

Thanks for the info. Adrian

I can't find my copy of Narrow Boat at the moment, but with it being published in 1944, I'd be surprised if it covered a trip in 1948. Work started at Slathwaite in April 1976 (I was there). Adrian

Very nice. The barges look good, are they scratch built ? Adrian