Caley Jim

Or clearfelling! Re the capacity of chaldrons, Mike Williams in his book on CR wagons points out that most mineral wagons couldn't actually contain the weight of coal for which they were rated, but could hold that weight of other, denser minerals such as iron ore. Jim

I can't comment on the south of England, but I've had a quick look through some of my Stenlake books of old photographs of towns and villages in central Scotland in the late c19th and early c20th and dormer windows are not uncommon. Some have very elaborate barge boards. Jim

And for those who call a train a locomotive! (and vice versa) Jim

Just make sure the bottom of the back of your greatcoat doesn't touch a live rail!! Jim

Perhaps I should go and check that these Reivers aren't hiding anything in the Devil's Beeftub! Jim

It is with some reluctance that I mention this as I don't want to cause any offence, but I'm struggling to see how one can justify an ex-LNWR line in Scotland. Much of the original investment in the CR was from the same source as that for what became the LNWR (i.e. the Liverpool/Manchester corridor) and the two companies worked closely together, each having substantial shares in the other and directors on one another's boards. The LNWR would therefore have left anywhere North of Carlisle to the CR. It is, however, your railway so you are perfectly entitled to suspend history! Jim

And signalling equipment! Jim

There is a reduction gearing between the drive shaft and the rack wheel shaft, which means that when running it looks and sounds as if it should be going much faster than it actually is. The outside cranks on the rack wheel shaft then drive the coupled wheels via the coupling rods. The last section of the line from Eben am Achensee to the pier at Seespitz is more or less level, so the rack stops at Eben. Jim

I read that first one as 'Sussex Ground Cats'! Couldn't think why anyone would want to grind cats! Jim

Every Christmas we used to stay with my uncle who was a GP in Northfield, Birmingham. He claimed that half his patients worked for Austin at Longbridge and the other half for Cadbury at Bournville. Every Christmas his patients would give him bags of reject chocolates (mis-shapes, white bloom on them, etc.). Between my 5 cousins and myself, they didn't keep for very long. Sadly he never received any 'reject' cars! Jim

That's coming on very nicely, Linny! Jim

A point to remember is that the RCH specifications were bringing together what was 'best practice' at that time and making it a requirement for future wagons to follow them. Therefore there would be vehicles about pre-whatever date the specification was, which exhibited these features to a greater or lesser extent. Albeit perhaps only a few years beforehand. Jim

Thanks, Angus. The screw holding the motor is purely to stop any chance of it rotating as it's a pretty tight fit, though it could be moved fore and aft by about ½mm. Any adjustment of the worm/wormwheel meshing could be done with packing under the rear part of the mount, but this didn't prove necessary. One of the benefits of drawing up everything carefully in CAD first. Jim

Sorry, folks. I had a glitch while typing the post and did a copy and paste into a new post and forgot to re-inset the photos, so only the links to them on my computer appeared. Fixed now. Jim

This is turning into a very eggciting project! Jim (windae picked)

Progress has been slow over the past week due to other things getting in the way and also encountering a few issues along the way, mainly down to the tight clearances in places meaning that several small pieces of tissue paper and 10thou styrene have had to be glued in place to prevent shorting along with a bit of judicious filing here and there. The motor mount has been cut from 9mm tubing and the etched fittings added along with mounting the worm on the motor. From top to bottom, the frames (with a temporary front axle in place to stop the front beams from dropping down and getting bent accidentally), the motor mount and the motor with leads attached. The mount is fixed to the frames by the 12BA screw which threads into the hole immediately behind the worm wheel. This rear etched part also incorporates the sides of the firebox, as can be seen in the photo below. The lug which can just be seen projecting from the front end hooks under the front spacer. The motor is a tight fit in the mount and is secured at the front by a very short 14BA screw, being held down at the back by the ring of remaining tube. Two little lugs which you can see on the inside of the firebox area in the top photo keep the wires clear of the worm. The decoder and stay-alives (4 x 220µf) will be in the bunker with the connection to them going under the cab floor. The reversing lever had to be fitted to the motor mount as it is slightly inside the widest part of the boiler, so if it was attached to the body, the latter wouldn't fit over the mount. The injector pipe work and clack valves will also be fitted to the mount, but not until after painting as they are polished copper and brass. The motor has been run from a 9v battery and all is well as far as that is concerned. Jim

I wouldn't say that an 812 in the border country is totally implausible as they and Jumbo's got into most parts of Scotland in BR days, though perhaps not so much in NB territory. Jim

Hi Annie. I've posted this in several other places (including having it put on the GNRS forum), but with no success, so you're the only one who's responded! My own feeling is that it is probably not that early because it is fabricated rather than cast iron. My son tells me it's now in the scrap metal skip! Jim

I recently used Pritt to attach a paper template to a piece of ribbing to cut sections out of the latter. (More on that elsewhere later) It was easier than the cyano I had used before and worked just as well. Jim

The old Minitrix wheel cleaner can be rather good at that too! Jim

Yes, Pleased to hear of that. As you say it's better than being unemployed. Jim

And I'm sure Anthony would welcome an article for the magazine which would disseminate it to the wider association membership. Jim

Need any help with that freezer load of meat?

Looks like she'll get up a good turn of speed too! Jim

Ah canna mak heid nor tail o' ony o' them either! Jim