doilum

Start with a wagon.

To those in area 8, Barnsley is in the south!

It might have been the setting up day that wasn’t available. Wouldn’t argue with Jackie but my source is very close to the events team! A pity as I have either helped or exhibited at every summer show since the Halifax days.

For the record, the Barnsley venue wasn’t available for the required date this year. The rest is Guild politics. A pity as the venue was more than adequate and would have grown once people got to see that the town has moved on since the strike......

None of the Q6 had water scoops so I suppose this was a a standard NE layout?

Excellent. Just what I needed.

Thanks. Is that “ yes” to the double pull rod system ? I cannot get my I pad to talk to 52f models!!

My incomplete kit came from the bay of E without instructions. So far that hasn’t been an issue. Now I find I have twice as many tender brake pull rods as I need. Did the Q6 have a double pull rod system on the inside and outside of each wheel like the Bulleid Pacific’s or did the kit designer intend that they should be “ doubled up” to represent a thicker pull rod. I do not know the origin of the kit and careful study of my Yeadons register has not provided a definitive answer. I may be able to call a favour and get little brother to have a crawl around the shed floor at Grosmont but that will be next weekend at the earliest. All help gratefully received.

To be honest I haven’t had to do this as I was able to create a self contained modelling workshop at the far end of the garage, but in winter we hang curtains across a set of less than perfect french doors in the dining room. As a child I recall that most of my older relatives had these heavy drapes. Perhaps something to do with living in a mining area where few doorways were true or square. The ones in our dining room use a telescopic pole that doesn’t require fixing, but an ordinary curtain pole would do just as well. Charity shops might produce pole and curtain at minimal cost.

Is that the smoothest running steam locomotive I have ever seen?

A tip from the days before upvc doors and central heating: a heavy curtain will take care of any droughts around the door frame

“ photo shop”? Like “big Mack “. Opening scene of Pulp Fiction.

HAt the risk of stirring up a marmite topic, those of us who have tried 10 ba crankpins probably wouldn’t go back to using the standard Slaters 12ba . This requires an investment in a set of 10 ba taps and a pinvice capable of holding the Slaters crankpins bush. The taps do not need to be the best quality, mine were around £10 from the bay of E. Of course quality will always pay for itself in the long term. In short, the wheels are re tapped for the larger size and the bush is threaded to become the “nut”. A slim 10 ba washer may be required between the wheel and coupling rod and the bush will be filed to the correct length. The overall final appearance is much improved and valuable clearance gained on locomotives with outside cylinders.

If headroom isn’t an issue consider a full chipboard floor. Use the green type designed for kitchens and bathrooms and lay it on pressure treated battens. This makes it not only warmer but also future proofs it against any ingress of water after heavy rain. It also should take care of draughty up and over doors.

Don’t forget the shrink wrap!

Thinner wire if you can find some!😎

A quick Wikipedia search shows that Black Park colliery was originally horse worked.

I may have told the story before. My grandfather started work for Briggs Whitwood colliery aged 14 in 1913. He was initially assigned to the man responsible for ticketing the wagons. He recalled a whole train being returned by a London merchant because, having emptied the first wagon, they swept it out and found a small sackful of dust and slack. The market then was for large lump coal and small coal was often left underground.

I guess the screens had been originally built for pony power.

Drop cab Peckett. Why?

The sugar beet harvest was a very seasonal event. Time was of the essence in getting the beet to the factory .

Might be worth checking the wheelbases. Premier are spot on. Was the original kit?

For the benefit of younger readers, we must remember inflation. Around this time my late father’s teachers salary after fifteen years at the chalkface, worked out at £15 a week. The cost today? Somewhere north of £40K? Downton Engineering were one of the leading competition preparation firms. This owner had deep pockets.

Love the J72. I built one from the original Pearcy kit back in the year when Ringo brought us Thomas the tank engine. I spent a good part of that Christmas on child minding duties so the kit was built entirely on the dining room table. The VHS tapes of Thomas lasted about twenty minutes so each part of the construction was planned accordingly with food and potty opportunities in between. I am not sure what today’s childcare “ experts” would make of a a live 60 watt iron and a bottle of Carr’s red label at the dining table but there were no accidents either to children or model and work was complete in the week. The eldest turns forty this year.

Worth checking that the 12 ba crankpins are absolutely straight and square in the wheel. A tiny misalignment on one wheel will spoil the slow running. ( I belong to the 10 ba conversion camp)