faulcon1

You may not like it Andy Y but for me it would be better than having to fork out more money on a Bristol Pullman if Bachmann decides to do one at a later date. Besides it's not prototypical in one respect. To be a true and accurate modelling gauge it should be 3.5mm-1ft not 4mm-1ft. But many people maybe you included are more than prepared to overlook that.

I recently bought a Bachmann 64xx No.6419 in BR late crest weathered. I bought it via the online shop at the "H" lot in Liverpool. I tested it in DC mode like I test all new acquisitions, I use an old Gauge Master rolling road/12v railway controller but I don't use the rolling road part of it which is on the top. I use a separate piece of track with DCC Concepts rollers. I use the Gauge Master because it comes with a amp meter. Well the 64xx was registering 0.8 amps and the control knob needed to be at 65 just to get the loco wheels to move. The loco had a horrible grinding sound and a definite smell of burning. So I quickly stopped it. I took the loco apart and the visible gear train seemed bone dry. So I lubricated it with Labelle 107 model grease. I then reassembled the loco and placed it back onto the rollers. It made a huge difference. No longer smelling of burning the loco's wheels started turning very easily and the amp meter read less than 0.05. When I test locos on the rollers I run the loco for one hour in each direction. I ran the 64xx in forward and reverse for one hour each way. I'm always wary of buying locos from the "H" lot in Liverpool as they don't test locos before shipping. It really is a case of Russian roulette, yet I've had other locos from them like a recently purchased Bachmann 4F that run sweetly right out of the box.

My brother today told me a joke. In the days of the old Soviet Union when one wanted to buy a car one had to pay the total cost up front then the car was built for you. So this man has saved very hard and he goes into a car dealership to buy his car. The salesman says, "OK that's all good come back to collect it in ten years time". The man says to the salesman, "morning or afternoon". The salesman says, "well it doesn't really matter to me just come back in ten years time, unless it's important as to why you want to know whether the car will be right to pick up in the morning or afternoon". The man says, "well it's important to me because I have the plumber coming in the morning".

I heard this joke from an Englishman. In Ireland Paddy and an his wife have been married for a long time. But their sex life was suffering so Paddy went to is doctor. The Doctor thought long and hard on the problem that Paddy was having and suggested that his wife maybe getting a little to hot and that she needed cooling down whilst they had sex. The Doctor thought an electric fan gently blowing a cool breeze over the wife may solve the problem. So Paddy went home and tried it but it was no good the wife just dozed off not long after they'd started. The Doctor then suggested that Paddy got someone to wave a towel over them and maybe that would be better than the electric fan. Paddy got a young man from his village to do the waving of the towel. But it was still no good and Paddy was now giving up hope of ever finding a cure for his marital sex life. The Doctor pondered quite a bit and then had a radical idea. He suggested getting the young man to have sex with Paddy's wife whilst Paddy waved the towel. Then Paddy could see if the problem was Paddy himself or his wife. Well the result was startling. Paddy's wife had one multiple ###### after the other leaving her and the young man completely and utterly exhausted. Paddy bent over the young man and said to him, "Now that me son is how one waves the flaming towel!!!!.

I'm sensing doom and gloom over what I gather is peoples reaction to the brexit vote. Naturally the media are all doom and gloom as there's no new like bad news. Bad news sells and good news doesn't. Well on the other side of the world Australia to be precise not all is rosy here either. We have a housing market which spiraling out of control. Most young people haven't a hope in hell of ever affording their own home. In the 1980's one could by a four bedroom house on a quarter acre block of land for 50k easy. Today that same home goes for 1.5 million and yet wages haven't risen to keep pace. We're told that our employment sector has many more people working. Yes but they aren't full time they're casuals who can be put off work at a moments notice. In London you have good public transport in the city and outer areas compared to Sydney where owning a car is not a luxury but a necessity. Travel outside Australia and you will need a passport where ever you want to go except Tasmania. Go to New Zealand and you need a passport. Our government doesn't pay millions to a political union but still manages to waste millions. People in the UK seem to be worried that they might not have freedom of travel to Europe. So what, you'll need a passport instead. What is wrong with that?. The EU isn't saying that every UK person will never ever again be allowed in the EU zone after 2019. I've been to the UK twice and I'm about to go again in a few months and everyone I've spoken to in London has been very pro EU and nearly everyone outside the London area has been very anti EU. The anti lot weren't worried about immigration at all but were fed up with EU regulations being imposed on them with having no right to oppose any of the regulations. I like to spend my vacation time in the English and Welsh countryside. I've seen London on my first visit and the nearest I got to London on my last visit was Heathrow and that was close enough. Big cities don't do anything for me where people don't say "hello" as they're too busy in the own little smart phone/ipod world. I love English villages where you can talk to REAL people not pretentious self indulgent people. I get the feeling that some people think that Brexit will mean a "Nuclear Winter" for the UK and it will be uninhabitable for the next one thousand years. It maybe, just maybe a bit bumpy but it will sort itself out in the end. The politicians won't want the country to be in the doldrums for eternity as their political futures will be brief.

I've heard that shouted "The end of the world is nigh, vengeance is mine, and a little bit of what you fancy does you good".

Yes when he had the accident he said that he had a large piece of wood protruding from his forehead and that he looked like a unicorn. He said the surgeons filled the hole in his forehead with two of sand and one of cement. In his last days poor Gorden suffered from dementia and he no longer knew who he was or what he'd done for a living. He was in a nursing home as he required 24 hr care. Very very sad indeed.

P4? P4 what or whom.

The doctor says to Mr Brown, Mr Brown I told you yesterday that you were suffering from testicular cancer but I'm afraid I had the wrong set of results. I have no idea how to apologise for this balls up. The next day the doctor says to Mr Brown, Mr Brown we have finally got the right results and you are suffering from erectile dysfunction. No Mr Brown it's not another cock up, quite the opposite actually. Viagra you can't get it over the counter. If you can get it over the counter then you don't need Viagra. The duke of Edinburgh is now so old that he no longer breaks wind. He now breaks dust.

A new model of Skoda has been released. It has sixteen valves. Five in the tyres and the other eleven are in the radio.

Luke use the force!, I've run out of lubricant.

Arrgh! my friend the duke. My daughter has just been itching to meet you. Chlamydia!!! Men about to go into battle. "Don't worry men you will soon be home with you families. In a jar, on the mantle piece. Dr Who. "we seem to have materialised in the 19th century. Oh no it's Glasgow 2017. On watching Queer Eye For The Straight Guy I thought it would be good to have some gay friends so that they could give me some fashion tips. But actually they just sh##g me.

Sam Kelly who played the Nazis Capt Geering said that "Hans" often couldn't be bothered saying Heil Hitler well he couldn't be bothered saying all of it so he just said "Tler". He'd been told by people that he was saying, Clop, Clip and sundry other things and that it had cost him a fortune in postage stamps (pre email days) to tell these people exactly what he had said. In an interview with Guy Siner he said that people (very dumb ones) were surprised that he lived in England and also L.A. They thought that he lived somewhere is the Swiss Alps. Others on seeing him in a supermarket they would say "oi it's you isn't it, um, Lt Gruber". If people said to him "hello Guy or hello Mr Siner" his reply was often "I love you for knowing who I am". Gut Siner also said that Richard Marner who played Colonel Von Stromm never learnt his lines. Sue Hodge who played Me Me La Bonk said that the show was a hit with the Queen Mother. Once during a reception at Clarence House an official dinner was halted, a TV was brought in and everyone had to sit through the 30 minute episode of Allo'Allo! After the episode had finished the official dinner resumed. Arthur Bostrom who pleeyed the Brotish urgent Crabtree said that in the episode when Madam Edith drives Lt Gruber's little tank over the public urinal that he Arthur was really quite frightened by that scene. The tank was stopped just before it hit the urinal and a dummy Crabtree was substituted. Arthur said that the tank ran over it's head and that he had a look at his contract to see if he was coming back for the next season. He then emerged to utter the immortal line, "there's obviously no piss for the wicked". Crabtree's very bad French was based on Ted Heath who spoke French but with an English accent. Gorden Kaye also mentioned about the British and the French not understanding each other even though the audience could easily understand both. He said, "if it works then we're ok. If it doesn't then we're in trouble". Oddly enough All'Allo! wasn't universally accepted with people writing to the BBC and saying "is this the depths to which the BCC has now sunk". Another woman said that she rescued three flyers from a downed and burning Lancaster and these men were anything but funny. Another woman said that she had brothers who were RAF pilots in the Battle of Britain and also had relatives that had been at the evacuation of Dunkirk. They'd all watched Allo'Allo! and thought it was highly hilarious. In the episode where Michelle is trying to fly the two idiot airman out in an antique aeroplane fitted with a lawnmower engine and there are a number of steam traction engines to provide a diversion. The owners of those traction engines weren't paid for the day. All they asked for was enough coal and water to last the whole day. Had it worked, Michelle's plan that is, then it wouldn't have worked for long. The plane may have come out of the museum at high speed although no doubt a violent jolting action into motion may have disintegrated the old plane. But had it worked and the plane had flown then it wouldn't have flown for long. The reason being that Renee and Edith had no means to cut the braces which had been tied to the old car. So the plane would have flown albeit very briefly before being pulled back to earth. Luckily for the airmen Maria and Yvette were unable to release the chocks. Towards the end of his life Jack Haig who played the original Leclerc was very ill but he was determined to finish the series that they were doing so that his family wouldn't suffer financially. Richard Gibson who played Herr flick said that Flick thought of himself as very intelligent when actually he was very stupid. His outfit was inspired by the character Todt in Raiders Of The Lost Ark as played by Ronald Lacy (who played "Harris" with Ronny Barker in Porridge) Richard had the idea of all sorts of fake bits but in the end was only allowed to limp with one leg. He was allowed to choose the leg however. Richard also said that he watched Allo'Allo! at home but if his kids were in the room then they'd walk out and do something else. I suppose you only really want to see your dad in ladies underwear once. With Allo'Allo! all nationalities got it with both barrels. The Germans were incompetent. The British were stupid and the French were randy.

Here are some jokes from a BBC show which has been uploaded to YouTube know doubt illegally. The train now arriving on platforms four five and six has just exploded on platform seven. Son. Santa will be unable to give you a toy train set for Christmas. But he will be able to give you a toy replacement bus service set instead. The London Olympics. The Athletics. In lane one we have the UK. In lane two we have the USA. Lane three is closed for resurfacing. Ladies and gentlemen we shall soon be arriving at Glasgow Airport. I remind you all of the need to put your watches back by 25 years. The Australians have beaten the English at the cricket again. Hitting things and running away. It's the criminal mentality.

"All right we are listening very carefully so get on with it". Allo'Allo! is loved the world over and now so many of the cast have gone. We've lost over half of Ze Germans! with Hillary Minster, Richard Marner, Sam Kelly and John Louis Mansi having all died. Rose Hill, Jack Haig, Carmen Silviera Roger Kitter and now Gorden Kaye have gone too. The vocal recording that Gorden and Vicki did, Gorden said it wasn't actually released it escaped. He also hated being seen stripped as he was in the episode where Gruber is in his little tank and he asks Renee the way to the museum of ancient vehicles and Renee is stripped to the waist. Gorden said that he hated the site of his body when naked and that he never looked in the mirror when getting out of the bath for he would fall back in again. Jeremy Lloyd said that he wasn't the ideal sex symbol. He was balding, with a wonky eye, had a big bum and was over weight. But he had that certain something that some men have that made woman weak at the knees on siting him. In 1987 some German TV executives went to the BBC with a view of buying Allo'Allo! to show on German TV. They were put into a booth and an episode was shown to them, probably the pilot episode. They came out with tears rolling down their faces and complaining of sore stomach muscles from laughing so much but said that due to the Nazis albeit very stupid ones that Germans audiences would not be seeing it. Oddly enough both Gorden Kaye and Arthur Bostrom spoke fluent French even if Crabtree did not.

Another station on the line to Mudgee is the now closed Clandulla. Clandulla is just a village really with all the shops closed and boarded up. There is a coal mine nearby which is the reason for the existence of the village. The railway station closed years ago and it to is now boarded up. It's similar in style to Leu Station further up the line but certainly not in the same condition. The front of the station seen from the station loop. The other end with someones car waiting for a train (me). The mainline to the right and the loop with a catch point protecting the mainline. The rear of the now closed station building.

The photo of the 86 class locos stored at Lithgow shows what appears to be new pantographs. But they're not. They are cleaned pantos as they had to be cleaned by me and two others for fatigue crack testings. The red paint is a hangover from the old SRA candy livery days. More modern pantos were the blue single arm type which were also cleaned for crack testing. Note how the roofs of the 86's are clean too. We used to clean the roofs on the 85 class electrics and the 48 and 80 class blue painted diesels. The method used was Oxalic Acid (which comes from rhubarb leaves which explains why you can eat rhubarb storks but no the leaves) and a powerful alkaline detergent called "Spartacus". We would spray the roof of an 86 or 85 with the Oxalic Acid via a 10 liter garden pump pack and once thoroughly wet we'd use the alkaline detergent to remove the dirt. Both products were used neat. With the blue diesels we'd do it the other way round using the alkaline first and then the acid last. We also used to wash the Manildra Group bogie flour hoppers the wagon code was MGFH or Manildra Group Flour Hopper. But with those we would use ultra high pressure water blasters to remove the old flour and surface dirt and then soak the stainless steel body and top in acid. The blue painted ends and under frame would be soaked in the alkaline and any flour would turn black and using the ultra high pressure water it would easily remove it. When the wagon was clean then we had to remove the graffiti which if it was acrylic was easy and if oil based it would take copious quantities of graffiti remover to shift the so called art work. Then we'd have to wash the body sides again for removing the graffiti showed the dirt and brake dust stains underneath where the graffiti had been. All this now longer takes place and the MGFH's are filthy and the loco depot at Lithgow is no more and it's a wagon repair place only. Myself and the two others who did this job are now no longer on the railways

What about Dubbo who repainted 3144T in light green with red splashes and lining and 3028T in blue with yellow lining.

Well 5910 caused a few purists to moan and groan when it came out in gloss black with white walled tyres on the loco and tender. Just reading the THNSW news section of the website and 3801's original boiler is now at Ainsworth's in Goulburn. They are going to do all the work in repairing it and I suppose if successful they may get other locos boilers. It has been decided to suspend work on 3830 as the damage to the locos firebox is much more extensive than first thought. There line up for steam is 3642 which is operational. 3265 to be repaired to become operational. 2705 to receive an overhaul to be operational for the loop line. 3526 to continue with it's overhaul to become operational once again. Of course a change in direction of the operational steam locos can happen at anytime especially if the funds start to run short. It's extremely hard to find out info on the restoration of 3801 as she now seems to be covered by the "Operation Sovereign Boilers". The three articles of public servants faith. 1. It's more expensive to do things cheaply. 2. It takes longer to do things quickly. 3. It's more democratic to do things in secret.

What we call Caledonian Blue was the colour that the engines of the Caledonian Railway appeared in. However the dark blue was expensive. It was mixed with white paint as white came free so a much lighter shade resulted. It was almost sky blue. A little like 42207 which was painted dark blue but it was said that the wrong thinners was used and the loco faded to a very light blue much to the delight of enthusiasts. Thirlmere has another steam loco that once appeared in blue but this time for royal train working, 3616 but in her original round top firebox form. The other 36's painted blue were 3602, 3615 and 3617. Six P class was also painted Royal Blue and line in yellow and black. Still if 3616 was ever to be made operational again she could be painted in blue. After all 3642 was never painted green in her belpaire fire box service days but has been green for most of her preserved career. Why not have a colourful preserved fleet. I'm not suggesting that 3820 should be painted in candy. I've read that when 4201 was painted green and yellow it was not suppose to happen. Overtime had been approved to paint a 45 class but 4201 got painted instead in green and yellow including being fully lined out. A union official was threaten with dismissal. Then it was suggested that he pay the full cost of a repaint into Indian Red. Further discussions resulted in the loco being left in green and yellow but it was sent south of Moss Vale as it was seen as an embarrassment. After more discussions it was decided to allow the unit to work in general traffic and gauge the public reaction which was very positive. It was put on display at Sydney Terminal as part of the 125 celebrations and no doubt the powers that created all the fuss and bother coupled with their threats, then took all the credit. The other green diesel loco was 4836.

Actually 3526 did carry Caledonian blue in her original form. There was a trio of 35's specially painted blue with a silver star on the smoke box door they were, 3506, 3526 and 3535 for working the Caves Express from Sydney to Mt Victoria in 1933. The train was made up of a 6 car CUB tourist set painted blue and cream. 3526 was rebuilt into it's current form in July 1940. A Stanier 8F was painted in LMS crimson when first restored. No. 8624. She has now been repainted black. The Midland Railway Centre at Butterley once painted a 3F Jinty in BR express passenger maroon. But later it was repainted black. The Severn Valley Railway painted their Jinty in light blue as their "Thomas" engine. A great pity that 1803 is only painted in blue. It would be nice if it was operational. For many children "Thomas" always steams everywhere. He isn't towed in a train unless he's been a naughty engine and has gotten himself into trouble.

Yes I too have heard that work on the 35 has ground to a halt. I've heard that the work on the loco is about 85% complete. When it comes to painting locos in correct colours it's only the "rivet counter enthusiasts" that quibble about the shade. The average Jo Blow of the public doesn't care what shade of colour it is as long as it looks nice and clean. With 3801 I was only suggesting omitting the yellow/buff lining on the cylinders. Although I'm aware of all the changes that have been made to the loco, the average person in the street couldn't care less. In any case they can always give it a different number from time to time like 02,03,04 and 05. They do that in the UK quite a bit these days and as a country we like to follow other countries so I can't see what the problem would be. It's only if we have to innovate that there's a problem. Yes we would all know that whatever number the loco carries that it will always be 3801. Perhaps they could do the same with 3830 if she ever runs again. They could have done it to 3526 when she carried the unlined black livery, changing her number to 3501. Yes I know that 3501 finished her service days with a commonwealth turret tender. But she was the last 35 in service and the average bloke in the street wouldn't be able to tell the difference. More often than not it's their bums that are on the seats as the enthusiasts prefer to film from the line side. By the way when 3806 to 3830 entered service in green livery with red and buff lining they're cylinders were painted unlined black. When painted black as they all eventually were with the exception of 3813 the cylinders had red lining. I often wonder if the omitting of the lining on the cylinders when the locos were first painted green was done as an economy measure. Like the omitting of one of the yellow lining strips on coaches which was said to be an economy measure. I doubt it saved one cent. 13 has always been looked upon as an unlucky number. In the end 3813 was unlucky for she can hardly be described in her present state as being preserved. She's a sort of Clayton's 38 class. The 3813 you have when you haven't got 3813.

Could anyone tell me who is responsible for the maintenance of track on the Picton-Thirlmere Loop Line and is the line owned by the state government or has it been passed to a third party. Many have disliked the painting of the 35 class in blue but come on it's got to be better than satin/matt unlined black. As for the the shade of green on the 36, I like it. I didn't know that some people were outraged at the shade of green on 3830. The loco was painted an olive shade at one stage but the green livery it carries now looks good to me. No doubt in future a green smoke box could be arranged or full black lined livery. As for 3801 I'm not a great fan of it's green livery and loved it in gloss lined black when 3801 Ltd repainted it. To me at least it looked gorgeous in that livery. No doubt though it will be repainted in green but I'd like to see it in it's original shade if possible with green unlined cylinders as they were when first painted into green in the mid to late 1940's. I do like the shade of blue on 4001 in fact that's about the only diesel I like never having seen them in their service days. Having worked for the railway for over 15 years I don't look upon the other diesels as "heritage" units. As for THNSW eventually getting an 80 class. I gather they must love fixing broken diesels as 80's weren't the best of diesels even when new. An 81 class repainted into original livery would be nice when their time comes to be scrapped. The 86 class 8646 would look fantastic if repainted into it's original candy livery complete with white self adhesive numbers on the sides and ends. When they were repainted into Freightcorp blue, me and two others had to prepare them for painting at LMC or Lithgow Maintenance Centre. On the vertical louver grills on the side is a channel that collected water to prevent it being sucked into the loco. That channel had to be cleaned out with a needle gun. Over the years they'd been in service that channel had filled with dirt, brake dust and with water it had set as hard as concrete. Those locos were washed with Oxalic Acid. The acid comes from rhubarb leaves which is why you can eat the storks but not the leaves. The acid just dissolved all the brake dust and muck that ran off the locos in wet weather. What a pity no 85 class electric locos were not allocated to THNSW. We used to wash the roofs on those after they were painted and the railways had to apply anti-slip strips as the electricians found the cleaned roofs to slippery to walk on.

Perhaps this would constitute a large layout. There are many "cab rides" on YouTube but on this one there is a map of the railway or railroad is the Americans call it. Not only do we see the railroad from the cameras perspective but the map is included too with a rather large dot which moves along the map as we progress along the railroad. Only the long dark tunnels are edited out. https://youtu.be/7MEKVsxOXCw Also for me what constitutes a large layout is any layout that can't be sold in one piece to a person to fit into a spare room. Most large layouts but not all end up in the skip when their owner gets too old to operate them or dies. Because they're so big they often can't be pulled apart because they were never designed to be moved or separated into sections when they were built.

I've had a look at the Timber Tracks website and yes the structures are pricey. I live in Australia so for us we just double the price. But then again we all seem to have got used to things being made in Asia at cheap prices. However if the structures build into a solid structure that's not flimsy and won't warp over time then yes the prices listed will show that the investment has been worth it. There is an old saying after all. Quality is remembered long after price is forgotten. On the Timber Tracks website home page. The owner intends to retire at the end of 2018 as he'll be 77 by that time and he seems to have no interest in selling his business onto someone else. He seems to be quite happy to allow Timber Tracks to just fade away into history which would be a great shame. I'd love to be able to buy one of his kits but being in Australia there maybe problems with the kits being made from actual wood. I used to work in a place where kit wooden furniture from Sweden was put through a high temperature autoclave to kill any organisms may or may not be within the wood. The authorities here take a very hard line on anything made from natural materials overseas which is why Sea Moss trees cannot be bought and imported into Australia.