Caley Jim

Disappointed that it's not the 'Vital Spark'! 😒 Jim

Well done both of you!, however, I must take issue with the last paragraph on this notice. There was another Roman Wall further north, built 20 years later, but abandoned after only 8 years, the Antonine wall, between the Clyde and the Forth. It was an earth rampart, but with the usual forts etc. Quite substantial parts of it can still be seen and there are artifacts from it in the Huntarian Museum at my Alma Mater, Glasgow University, and also in a museum in, IIRC, Bearsden. Jim

Several years ago a fellow 2MMSA member asked me to do an etched kit for him for South Wales coal wagons. He provided me with several photographs and drawings, all differing in details, with none of the drawings matching any of the photos! In the end we went for a 'generic' one which he could modify as he wanted. Jim

The Crown and Mitre is where the Caledonian Railway Association hold their AGMs. There's a very nice, retro, coffee shop in Bank St (Off English St opposite M&S) John Watt & Son (no relation). Worth visiting just to see the array of teas and coffees on sale, And they do nice snack lunches. Jim

Nice work, Ian. I use a similar method for guttering, but use a rose-head (ball-shaped) dental bur on its side to scrawk the channel. Jim

I'd say the motive power is an 0-2-0!😆 Jim

Naw! This is midge . "If ye should kill yin Another ten million Are bound to turn up for the wake!'" Jim

For the avoidance of doubt :- As you can see, sometimes when you replace them they have to be operated a few timers before the work again properly. There are another three on the layout, one of which you can see in the background. Jim

Of course it does! 😁 Why wouldn't they? I've a few etches here if you want one. Jim

You'll be needing a Stevens drop-flap ground signal then? Jim

Oooo! Pretty picture! Is it a 'Paint by Numbers'? 😁 Jim

Dentists in England have been working for many years under an NHS contract which even a Parliamentary committee have said is not fit for purpose, with the result that it has become increasingly unviable from a business point of view. Those who have gone private have, in the main, done so to keep themselves in business while providing the standard of service and treatment which patients deserve, not to line their own pockets. I have said for many years that successive governments would like to see dentistry out of the NHS and are creating a situation where they can blame the big, bad, greedy dentists for it happening. (end of rant) Jim (retired GDP)

Hi Ian, I would guess that TC = track circuit, possibly operated by a treadle which would be depressed by the flanges. Likewise the dotted line A-B and C-D could also indicated detection treadles, though I may be wrong. The little pairs of O+s indicate detonator placers. That on the line to Clifton Maybank Jn. has 'worked by small lever' beside it, possibly indicating that there was a short lever in the frame for it. 26 is for the placer on the line from CMJ and both would be painted in black and white chevrons, pointing up the way for whichever is the up line and down for the down line. FPL levers were normally towards he front of the frame, i.e. 'pulled', so that the points were always locked in the 'normal' position. They had to be returned in the frame to release the lock, the points changed and then the lock pulled to lock them in their new position. The road over the turnout, in either direction, could only be cleared when the turnout was locked. HTH Jim

The water tank for Mearns Shed is now completed. The strange white circles around the inlet and overflow pipes are light reflections off the surface of the varnish 'water'. The shed windows have also been painted and glazed. The astragals on the one with the two 'Xs' on have a wee bit of distortion, so it can go on the back wall where it won't be seen so readily. On to the roof-lights next. Jim

Work on Kirkallanmuir has somewhat stalled over recent months as I've been working on other things (2 locos and a set of 65ft carriages, among others). At present I'm working on a water tank for the F&C groups new layout 'Mearns Shed'. (see the blog). It is based on the one at Forfar which sat on a stone base with 4 windows in the front. The base is constructed from 40thou styrene with a 20 thou cornice round the top. The tank, windows and door were on my latest sheet of etches which arrived last week and so allowed me to get started on this. The base with the windows and door. The windows for the shed itself were also on the etch and have been soldered up so that they can all be painted together. The tank, also on the etch, has been put together, glued to a 40thou base, which has been shaped to form the bottom of the tank, and fitted with a piece of styrene which will become the water surface. The stonework is a download from Smart Models, the colour manipulated in Microsoft Picture manager and then a screen snip imported into AutoCAD where the quoins and window surrounds were added, in the same way as I did for the warehouse on Kirkallanmuir. Windows and door ready for painting (the slips of paper are to prevent the paint clogging the space for the glazing to be slipped in) and the tank sitting on the base. The paper overlay is just lightly tacked on with Pritt, so the window reveals are not folded in. Jim

Thank you sir. The train would, of course, be built to WNR gauge and loading gauge. I would propose further that we dispense with the Gym and associated facilities which would leave the space available for a full size model of the entire WNR. Jim

Fellow parishioners. In order to raise the spirits of our esteemed Chairman and Promoter and President of the WNR, who is at present in a somewhat morose mental state, I propose that we furnish him with his own train, one befitting his high office. It has come to my attention that the Chairman of a council to the East of the Urals has already commissioned such a conveyance. I further propose, therefore, that we instruct the Clerk to the Council to communicate with this gentleman, who I understand goes by the name V Putin, to respectfully request a copy of the drawings of his in order that we might emulate it. I will, of course, require a seconder for this motion. Jim

I've always used 6.5mm spacers which means my 0.25mm frames are 7mm outside width. I found that a piece of 20thou styrene, cut away to fit round the boss on the back of the wheel with one either side between wheel and frame, gave the correct back to back. If you use wider spacers, just do the maths and use the appropriate thickness of styrene (or whatever). I also make all my 6-coupled locos with separate front and rear rods, half-lapped on the centre crankpin. I found this gave freer running. It also means that I can set up both ends as 0-4-0s when quartering. You can do the same with one-piece rods by turning them upside down and fitting them with the rear crank pin hole on the centre crank pin and the centre one on the rear wheel. Once you have both ends running smoothly as 0-4-0s you then fit the rods correctly. Jim

I've never used a jig for quartering and I make fine adjustment with a watchmaker's screwdriver between the spokes. Jim

Couldn't agree more with @VRBroadgauge. In my case that was in 1969! Jim

Pay attention at the back there! It's North Somerset Light livery! Jim😁

Didn't know the shops in Liverpool got their coal dropped in directly from the L&M! 😁 Jim

Whatever colour you paint it, if someone comes along and tells you categorically that you are wrong, then your response is 'prove it!' and the only acceptable evidence as proof is a flake of the original paint! Jim

I cannot comment on the colour under discussion, but bear in mind that we all perceive colour differently. The physiology of the colour receptors in the retina and how the brain interprets the signals from them via the optic nerve all play a part, irrespective of the lighting conditions. Jim

Your two sidings off the run-round are crying 'local industry' to me. Coal merchants could be on the end of the long, curving siding. Jim