PatB

Of course, in 1980, few modellers were quite as fussy as now about variations within a class. A 47 was a 47, which might be green or blue, but that was about as nuanced as it got for most.

Is it just my imagination, or are the eBay asking prices for Triang TT stuff slightly less insane than they were when I last looked, maybe 3 years ago? Obviously there's still a premium on mint, boxed rarities, but the everyday pieces seem almost reasonable.

I tend to agree with DCB. As USB wall warts are now essentially free, and will happily power pretty much anything other than traction current and solenoid point motors, with far less waste heat to worry about, I cant think of many good reasons to use anything else for accessory power on a new build.

Bit late to this topic. I do hope I'm not going to be too severely flamed for cheating, but, of late, I've become old and creaky enough to appreciate the joys of the ebike. Here's my first effort at a home conversion, on an old, steel framed Trek MTB with a legal 250W Bafang motor.

This was my daily commuter (30 km round trip on unsealed tracks) for a year, until its deficiencies annoyed me too much to continue with it. As is fairly obvious from the seat adjustment the frame is really too small for me, so it was never a truly comfortable fit. Also, the cheapo Ebay aftermarket wheels weren't up to a strong, heavy rider standing on the pedals, along with the extra push of the motor, so the rear wheel kept pinging spokes.

As a result of this, and a change in commuting needs, disillusionment set in and it spent a couple of years standing, while I worked out what to do with it. Then serendipity took a hand, and I found an old Giant Option X hybrid on the verge, waiting for the latest bulk rubbish collection. Big steel frame, 700C wheels, OK cantilever brakes, cruddy levers and gear components (but that's OK as I have better ones).

So, I've been doing a bit of selective assembly with parts from the Trek, the Giant, and assorted bits I've accumulated over the past decade or so. I was able to build a cross-4 laced rear wheel from a double-wall rims and reasonable hub from my last hybrid, using the slightly longer spokes from the kerbside bike. Front wheel and not-terrible derailleur from the same previous hybrid. Saddle and butterfly bars from the Trek.

It's currently at a stage where it would ride as a pushbike. I just need to finalise the wiring and mount the battery to finish the ebike conversion. Then it'll be time for some shakedown rides to find out if my wheelbuilding has been good enough. Just in time for some cooler, but still dry weather. Perfect.

On 24/04/2024 at 18:22, Rugd1022 said:

Photo by the late and much missed John Vaughan : 31 412 trundles along the down ECS line towards Old Oak on 3rd May 1980...

 

 

 

With bonus kitbashed Airfix girder bridges.

I'm contemplating building a small 1:35 scale narrow gauge layout, incorporating various bits and pieces I already own.

Track would be a mix of Peco and Hornby set track, with a couple of Streamline points and the odd bit of flexi. To disguise the 00ness of the track, I'd be using very deep ballast, covering everything but the railheads.

Obviously, whilst easy enough to do on plain track, it's going to be tricky on pointwork to get a good appearance and leave the vital bits of the points free to operate. I wondered if anyone who's done this successfully has any tips on how best to go about it.

If it makes a difference, ballast will be sand/grit dug from the garden (Western Australia has very little actual soil, but is made primarily of sand/grit) and passed through some laboratory sieves I happen to have handy to get a sensible size. Probably 0.3mm-0.8mm (representing roughly 1/2" to 1"), with a bit of dust mixed in, to try and represent a fairly coarse ash/cinder ballast.

Point operation will be wire in tube. IIRC the Streamline points are live frog. If so, they'll have external frog polarity switching rather than relying on Peco's internal mechanism.

13 hours ago, Michael Hodgson said:

There's a lot to be said for sending busloads of kids for an automated wash.

I am reminded of another Perth incident, when a kids' water playground (basically, lawn sprinklers with ideas above their station) was opened as part of a fancy waterside development in the city centre. Because it was the usual Perth half-arsed, cheapo bodge job, badly designed and constructed, and signed off in a hurry to meet the Minister's packed ribbon cutting schedule, it had numerous problems. Chief amongst these was that, after a week or two, the water was found to be harbouring assorted nasty microbes that thrive in a hot climate in damp conditions. Rather than admit they'd botched the whole thing, there were serious proposals from the powers that be that children entering the play area should be forced through a bleach shower so they wouldn't contaminated the water.

I'm pretty sure the whole thing was quietly torn up after only a few months, and is never to be spoken of again.

5 hours ago, faulcon1 said:

Here's a tourism song for tourists who wish to visit Australia.

 

 

And, on a related note

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-04-22/bite-victims-warned-stop-bringing-snakes-to-emergency-department/103752506

On 20/04/2024 at 19:31, PhilJ W said:

Just as well that the school terror didn't decide to open the windows. 😁

Because Perth is conveniently situated within walking distance of the surface of the sun most of our buses are sealed, airconditioned boxes, largely to avoid the necessity of hosing out melted passengers at the end of every day in summer.

On 22/04/2024 at 05:06, Colin_McLeod said:

Maybe not visually looking like a model, but here is a prototype track cleaning vehicle. 

 

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/zZ1PFXXcCTKKRf6T/

 

That'll cost a fortune in Peco track rubbers.

On 03/04/2024 at 01:54, F2Andy said:

Has this one been on here yet? Avoided the bus-on-a-bridge cliche by posing a lorry on there.

 

 

Looks suspiciously like Brian Monaghan getting a bit arty  with a RotM c1980.

On 19/04/2024 at 01:12, Hacksworth_Sidings said:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/156166243218?

 

I don’t remember the Deltics wearing red… Certainly an interesting repaint, could defo do with being reverted to BR green though…

 

Currently 22 quid. Doesn't actually seem too bad for a Dublo Deltic. It's not like the original Dublo paintjob was particularly complex to reproduce, so it could be a nice piece for someone not totally obsessed with originality.

I've always thought the Ratio loco kits were a laudable effort to offer a loco kit that was as "easy" to put together as a plastic rolling stock kit, for a relatively affordable price (metal kits being expensive). Unfortunately, in practice they seem to have showed why conventional loco kits were/are how they were/are.

On 09/07/2021 at 16:29, GoingUnderground said:

The product description in that link "Molotow Belton Premium Spray Paints were developed with advice from the world's most famous street artists." makes it sound that they're great for graffiti work with excellent adherence to stone, brick, and concrete, not to mention equipment cabinets, etc.. So that must make them ideal for repainting the Dublo buildings. 

 

Molotow Belton is not a brand that I've ever heard of, but then I'm not familiar with the art world. Daler Rowney and Cumberland Derwent are my limit. 

I've used Molotow, and other "street art" paints on (legitimate) mural projects and been very impressed. They stick like crazy to pretty much anything, with no more preparation than a blast with a pressure washer, and seem to last very well. I recently drove past one of our projects that's now 8 years old, and it's still looking good. The colour choice is excellent, too, and includes shades that don't appear in more "conventional" ranges. Well worth a look. 

3 hours ago, DougN said:

I don't disagree with you Pat but the last 2 that I purchased were $54 AUD which works out at 29 quid which matches the UK pretty close (28quid on hattons) but as you say they only get 10% back on GST and then add the postage on. Like you said they have to "really want them". 

The traders that have them in stock are:

Branchline.com.au (no only ordering but they will post) 

Metrohobbies.com.au- online ordering

Frontlinehobbies.com.au

 

(I am only a customer of these and have no other connection) 

2 hours ago, SRman said:

 

While chatting to Doug yesterday, I looked on Metro Hobbies website, and not only were the existing coaches $AUS54, but the ones with lights are able to be pre-ordered, and cost just $1 more than the ones without lights. 

Interesting. I admit that it's been some time since I bothered to look at Oz retail pricing, as it had always seemed to follow the usual Australian situation, for any goods out of the mainstream, of poor range and swingeing markups. Perhaps the distributors and retailers have caught up with the Internet era and are adjusting to the realisation that their markets are no longer captive, and it's better to have a small cut of something than a larger cut of nothing. 

27 minutes ago, DougN said:

Just a heads up to all of those that have missed the coaches in the UK. Australia has received a large shipment. So if you are looking for specific liveries it is worth checking out Australian retailers. I have picked up over the last 2 weeks a train of NBR carriages. 

Although given typical Australian model railway pricing, and the cost of shipping back to the UK, someone is going to have to really want them. 

22 minutes ago, PenrithBeacon said:

While I can understand the point about efficiency, I think the point here is about carbon footprint and the environmental effect of extracting Lithium. The carbon footprint of EV is 18% less than ICE but the expansion of surface transportation will soon remove that advantage. There is a need for something better.

Indeed, I have long suspected that there may be insufficient harvestable energy, and other necessary resources, to sustainably provide widespread powered personal transport at anything above the level of an ebike. 

On 08/07/2021 at 19:48, adb968008 said:

Thats a super complicated looking loo…

 

They must be expecting some industrial sized business.

 

In Thailand they had the solution back in 2003… just open the door, lock yourself in,   do your business in an oil drum, then put some sand on top of it for the next person.

 

End of line, roll out the drum.

It's not a completely daft idea, and, given a degree of user discipline (so not in public service, then) isn't as uncivilised as you might think. Google "composting toilet" or "dessicating toilet". Such systems are becoming increasingly popular on boats, where discharge of waste is becoming similarly unacceptable, and where a traditional marine toilet dumping overboard also carries a significant risk of sinking your vessel if it goes wrong or is misused. 

13 hours ago, 30801 said:

 

I assume their figures were for a typical average. It's 80kg of hydrogen per 24hr however many kWh that takes to produce.

 

I was reading some article about hydrogen combustion (!) engines which described hydrogen as 'abundant' like it's just laying around for you to hoover up and put in your tank.

 

Well, in a way it is, at least anywhere with plentiful water. The basic chemistry of electrolysis is neither complex nor new. The tricks are obtaining the energy to split the water molecules, and then compression and storage of useful quantities without (a) blowing yourself up or (b) wasting most of it by leakage.

16 hours ago, kevinlms said:

The AA man one looks expensive and he'll get a kick up the backside for that. Ought to have guessed what might happen. A call to the control centre would of had them keep the barrier up.

 

I know a women who had her car severely damaged (half the electronics blown up), when she had the RACV out to jump start her car. He managed to connect the helper battery incorrectly. Of course he denied it, by trying to make out that was why the car didn't start before he got there.

The evidence showed otherwise and after a while the RACV coughed for repairs.

I gave up on the RAC here when I realised that their patrol guys knew less about my vehicles than I did and, yes, were likely to actively endanger expensive electronics. The towing service was handy a couple of times, but as my vehicles have become newer and more reliable, the necessity has dropped off. If I were to chuck the annual subs into a pot, I'd easily accumulate enough to cover a (massively overpriced) private tow on the rare occasions it might be needed.

On 06/07/2021 at 08:33, DavidB-AU said:

 

Dave Callan does a nutter routine. The short version: there's always one nutter on the bus/train. If you can't work out who it is, it's you.

 

As the designated shopper in the B household, I used to notice that every supermarket contained, at any one time, at least one old guy who shuffled around grumbling and swearing to himself. Then, for some time, I didn't seem to see such folk anything like  as often. It puzzled me until, a year or so ago, I realised why.

Perfect for one of those CJ Freezer main line tailchasers with a 3 coach platform capacity and turntable(s) for Pacifics. 

Probably knackered. Replacements are now so cheap that, if you (mentally) charge your time at any kind of reasonable rate it's probably not even worth taking it for repair, let alone opening it up for a look yourself. 

The thing with cordless drill-drivers is that, big ones particularly, produce so much glorious torque, that it's dead easy to overload them on a regular basis without them complaining. At least until something finally haemorrhages and all the magic smoke comes out. 

On 07/07/2021 at 01:47, montyburns56 said:

Woooo, it's a ghost train!

 

BR Class 12 15231 - Tilcon Quarry, Rylstone 1980 by Martyn Hilbert

 

 

 

Did it die of silicosis?