Hibelroad

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.

I blame it on the bogie.

I think this is a modern problem, it’s all to easy now for someone to lay down the law and say this is how a word should be pronounced. Traditionally English has been a living language and words and pronunciation have evolved, there are many examples of regional variations. I have never been much good at languages and don’t understand why the composer Bach is called Bark, which is why I have always thought that the model manufacturer was called Barkman.

Patek Philippe make a mechanical watch which adjusts to every calendar change up to the year 2100 (because that’s not a leap year). It just goes to show that if you pay a bit extra your life can be made so much easier.

There would be no fire risk as the fuel was pulverised in the PF mills just before entering the burners. However few stations were base load, most running maybe twice a day. As a result HP steam would not always be available and coal movement is more likely during shutdown time when there would be spare labour available. Coal used in power stations was the worst quality available, mostly damp dusty stuff which was more shale than coal. As a result I would think that fuel for shunters would have to be bought in specially despite their being 1000s of tons of “coal” on site.

Try one of the main airbrush suppliers ( an internet search will throw up a few) you definitely need a dedicated unit otherwise there is a fire risk.

But the strained relationship between Hornby and retailers, the copyright infringement, the decisions to copy the same models as others and beat them to market, these are all matters of fact not opinion.

North Wales police once used a stationary horse box to house a speed camera, so beware !

Dangerous, seriously? I wonder what happens.

My simple rule of thumb is that there is only one way to determine if you are modelling correctly, are you having fun? If so carry on, if not rethink what you are doing. I am a member of the scalefour society but also dabble in other gauges and scales as the mood takes me. There are a few modelling police around but you can cheerfully ignore them as you couple your new model of Lion to some BR mark threes. .

Interesting fact of the day, for several centuries there was a gold coin in circulation valued at 80 old pence which was called a Noble. Apparently it was the cost of a professional fee, a doctor or lawyer may have charged in Nobles. Now back to the jokes.

I saw a you tube video of an American woodworker who was trying to explain why he had gone metric ( to American woodworkers metric is the work of the devil). He asked Alexa what is 460mm minus 187mm and of course got an answer. He also asked what is 1 foot 2 and 7 sixteenths of an inch minus 9 and 17 sixty fours of an inch and it blew Alexas brain, total gobbledygook answer, sounded a bit like Dianne Abbot talking about police pay ( hope that’s not too political) 😁

I seem to remember that there was a Co-op store in South Wales a couple of years ago which had new aisle signage made up in English and Scottish Gaelic.

I worked the nuclear industry for a while and believe that the too cheap to meter headline referred to fusion power, it was thought at the time that as fission had been mastered fusion was not far behind. Regarding decommissioning it was also assumed that technology would advance rapidly and it would be easy to pull a reactor apart in the future. The lesson to be learnt here is to never assume and to proceed with caution on any major project using the technology you know will work. Much has been learned about nuclear since then and new reactors are designed with ease of decommissioning in mind. Getting back to HS2 you would think that after 200 years we should also know how to build a railway but somehow it all seems to have gone wrong.