Hibelroad

Great Moor street (April 2015). Compact, doable and operational potential.

It’s a shame that this collection is being broken up, it was my sole reason for visiting the castle. However it was a rather strange set up and it is in the nature of collecting for items to move on to other collections. Knowing some of the strange decisions of the National Trust in recent years perhaps we should be grateful that these items are not to meet a more grisly fate or be locked away out of public sight.

I have built and also failed to build a few white metal kits in the past, it’s rather a clunky material but does have its uses, DJH certainly produce some very fine castings in 7 mm kits which are made from an alloy similar to white metal. Etched brass is still the mainstay for kit building and I don’t see it being bettered any time soon. It’s true that it’s a bit compromised when laminated for motion parts or brake blocks, this is just the kit designer trying to produce a complete kit and such parts can be replaced with castings or home machined parts if desired. I have little experience of 3D printed parts but from what I have read they are far from a complete solution, the fact is that good models are constructed from several materials and each have their part to play when used correctly.

That’s very interesting but I think I might have to drag myself into the 21st century and get an instagram account in order to view it all properly. I often think that as railway modellers we are very insular and live in a tight knit circle and as a result we miss out on the work and inspiration of other crafters.

According to Iain Rice (Railway Modelling the realistic way) Germany in the 1890s disdained metric, possibly because it was too French. So I would think that they later rounded up to 7mm once they changed to metric. However a track gauge of an inch and a quarter works out as 31.75 mm so it’s not clear if the current 32mm was part of the same rounding exercise. This is mostly my guesses, I don’t have much in the way of contemporaneous material to support them.

4 mm to the foot, there is a good compromise for the metric v imperial debate.

Las Vegas (not to be confused with Staly Vegas). It’s an event sort of place, staff dress as Barbara Windsor style nurses and customers wear surgical gowns. OK for a one off bit of fun but having been poked and prodded on a coronary unit I wouldn’t recommend it as a lifestyle.

My driving instructor (1972) told me that I should only use indicators if there is someone (vehicle or pedestrian) around who would need to know what I was about to do. He advised that I did that on my test as it would show that I was aware of all other road users. I did and passed. These days the roads are so busy that you inevitably have to use them all the time.

If the sea is level how do you account for tides? Some bits are sometimes higher than others!

Is the current car a DeLorean? His wife was 23 years old 50 years ago but is now only 69. This is the sort of detail I worry about. Possibly he has remarried? I bet I’ve ruined it now.

It’s railway modelling Jim but not as we know it.

Great to see that Chris Pendlenton is up to his snowy antics again, its been too long. This is the time of year when I dig out MRJ 195, the classic Christmas issue.

I consider myself reasonably proficient at soldering after about 50 years practice but only “discovered” brass wool a few years ago, I found it to the best tip cleaner by far and thoroughly recommend it.

I’m puzzled, this started as a request for advice on the most suitable N gauge track but seems to have morphed into a 00 vs N discussion. What advice is the op actually seeking?

It all depends on what you want from a layout, 0 gauge has a great feeling of presence but eats up space so if your space is small then the scope for operating will be very limited and the best you can hope for is something like an Inglenook layout . However if you enjoy making scenery, buildings or building stock then a working diorama may suit your needs. There are some ingenious layout ideas out there, have a look at Arun Quay to get some idea of what might be possible.

I have a small cordless impact screwdriver, I actually got it free with another cordless tool and had no use for it until I needed to extract some old rusty screws. It gives you a fighting chance of getting them out where a non impact driver would just chew up the heads. So they have there uses, another weapon in the armoury.

I think the problem is that the two terms, cobbles and setts are often mixed up. Cobbles are natural rounded stones (probably beach stones) maybe 50mm to 100mm across. Setts are quarried stone which has been cut into square blocks. It is common for people to refer to cobbled streets when they really mean streets laid with setts. Setts were in widespread use in railway yards, they provide a fairly smooth surface while cobbles are a very bumpy surface. In both cases the stones would be bedded in coarse sand, setts being a regular size would be far easier to place. In the UK there are still many old areas laid with setts and modern concrete versions are now available for decorative purposes. I think Wills make sheets of cobbles and setts but setts are far more common in real life, an internet search should provide examples of both types of surface .

Cobbles would be a very rough surface, difficult to walk on and a nightmare for wheeled barrows so I would think smooth setts would be used in every case.

I’m old enough to remember when this thread was about a TV programme and yes I thought it was well presented by Pete Waterman.

It's very true that you don't know what's around the corner so should make the most of every day. I was doing fine until my mid sixties then went into a rapid decline, fortunately some top NHS specialists and Macmillan nurses got me back firing on most cylinders but it is a wake up call and makes you realise you are not immortal. now I will be switching the computer off and getting some work done!

Twenty to thirty years ago modelling magazines were full of letters predicting doom and gloom. They noted that older modellers were dying off and didn’t think there were any new younger modellers coming through. Obviously time has shown that this view was over pessimistic, the nature of modelling has changed, more RTR and less DIY but that is inevitable and a natural process. I find this series of programmes is very refreshing, presenting modelling in a positive light and actually showing real activity in progress. They are bound to spark interest with some viewers who just need that little push to get them started on what for many is a life long interest.

Help! I think I’ve lost my sense of humour because I haven’t even been able to raise a titter ( no smirking at the back ) for several pages.

That’s a mess, whoever did that needs to study some photos of real rolling stock.

I’m not up to date yet but I really enjoyed the Jools Holland programme. I couldn’t understand his layout at first as it seems to be a mish mash of scenes but once explained all became clear and it goes to prove that there is no right or wrong way to go about railway modelling.

A bit of dialogue from an early episode of the TV series Minder. Prison has changed a lot you know, now you can do degrees with the open university, Harry did one in psychology, he’s still at the thieving but now he understands why he does it.