spikey

To be precise, Ratio Kit 525 Coal/Builders Merchant Kit, which I'm considering using - except for I don't understand how it's supposed to work.

I knew two coal merchant's sidings well in my train-spotting days, both of which had corrugated iron structures over the track, but they were basically just Dutch barns under which the business with the lorry was done.  So with this one, what's the little platform for, and what are the doors for on the side away from the track?  What's the sequence from wagon shunted into place to bagged coal on merchant's lorry?

... Why are you so against acrylics? ...

I'm not, actually.  It's just that I used to use enamels (because that's what model paints were), and I recently had a go on Wilko's cheapo acrylics in tubes with which I was singularly unimpressed.

So OK then, out with the bus pass and off to the nearest artists' suppliers on Monday to splash out on a couple of tubes of halfway-decent acrylics and see how I get on.  Is it just a case of mixing a splodge of paint and a drop or two of water until it's thin enough to paint with?

Thanks for the colour suggestions, chaps.  I did say it was enamels I'm after, but that's really because that's what I used to use first time round 30 years ago (when you could rely on Humbrol).  Point taken about the small quantities though, so I guess I need to ask whether acylics are any good for painting track?  I've only ever used acylics on plastic, and then only Tamiya acrylics ...

I think it is about a lot more than the Internet ...

Agreed.  More often than not that's the excuse rather the reason, in much the same way as a local greengrocer blamed the arrival of a second supermarket in town for putting him out of business when the real reason most folk stopped buying from him was the simple fact was that he was a misery who stocked what he wanted to sell as opposed to what people wanted to buy.

My 00 layout is now at the stage where the next thing is track painting prior to ballasting, so it's paint-buying time.  I'm on a very tight budget here, but I'm only concerned with track and lineside stuff like retaining walls.  I have no need of "authentic" colours, so it occurs to me that one way to reduce the expense would be to buy the minimum number of colours and mix them as required. 

But what make and colours to go for apart from black, white and a brown?  Suggestions please, gents, bearing in mind that this is for brushing and I'm happier with enamels rather than acrylics but I don't trust Humbrol.  I need to buy online, and half a dozen or so in one hit to make the most of the delivery charge.

Well, am I glad I Googled "The Hobby Box" to check opening times before reluctantly venturing over there tomorrow for some paint!  Can't say I'm surprised they packed up: I went in there twice after Mark and Annie left, couldn't warm to the new owners at all, and came home telling the lady wife that I gave them two years tops ...

Shame really, 'cos I'd been a customer ever since the "Knocking shop" days in Framfield Road.

Brains of older people are slow because they know lots of stuff.

People do not decline mentally with age, it just takes them longer to recall facts because they have so much information in their brains.

Scientists believe all this knowledge also makes them hard of hearing as it puts pressure on their inner ear.

Older people often go to another room to get something and when they get there, they stand there wondering what they came for.

This is NOT a memory problem.  It's just nature's way of making older people do more exercise.

Kiwi, you've got me sorted.  Thanks for that link!

I've just stated using Thunderbird for my emails and I like it lots.  However, there's one little niggle ...

In the left-hand column, my three email accounts are listed in the order in which I added them to Thunderbird i.e. first at the top, third at the bottom.  Is it possible to change that order, and if so, how is it doen?

Having just left the funeral industry there are SO many songs that I just cannot listen to any more!

I had exactly the same problem when I packed up photographing weddings after having done 400+ of them ... 

I never did find out why the first Mrs Spikey booked the wedding ceremony for 11am on September 3rd, but it was certainly an omen ...

There's a drawing of a Lavatory Luggage Composite (Type 10A) on the GER Society website at https://www.gersociety.org.uk/index.php/rolling-stock/carriages/types-9-13 which illustrates the sort of thing I was referring to above (you have to scroll down a little bit, but not far).

 

Jim

Gosh, what a wonderful way of keeping the riff-raff separated from their betters!

The LMS certainly had full first non gangwayed coaches ...

With corridors?

Cheers chaps.  I guess it must have been "non-corridor" then.  Come to think of it though, wouldn't all coaches with a corridor also have gangways?  If so, why would there be a distinction between "non-corridor" and "non-gangwayed", if indeed there was?

All I know for sure is that my old granny hated the old carriages without corridors, on the grounds that her bladder gave her an absolute maximum safe journey time of 45 minutes ...

I used to know all this stuff, but alas my trainspotting days are 60 years behind me now, so I must ask you guys ...

What is the term used to describe carriages of the type without a corridor i.e. in which each compartment has an external door on each side of it?

Was surprised to find today that I'd been logged out of the forum, despite always having "remember me" checked..  When I went to log in again, Firefox came up with a warning: "This connection is not secure.  Logins entered here could be compromised."

Not seen that before so wondering what that's about, and why has it decided to do this now?

This is the current version of Firefox on a W10 laptop, btw.

Thank you, kind sir!

Blimey, they don't make that obvious.  I wonder why...

Searched but couldn't find an up-to-date answer to the question of how I might un-link PayPal from my Ebay account.  Anybody know how 'tis done nowadays please? 

Finally found it!  If anybody else hates the new all-singing-all-dancing version, the path back to relative happiness is ...

https://help.yahoo.com/kb/SLN15936.html

A couple of days ago, my Yahoo email kindly invited me to update to the latest version and I foolishly went along with it.  I hate the new one and very much wish to revert to what I had.

Alas, all I can find on t'internets about reverting says I can do it via settings, but what they refer to and what this new version actually has are two different things. 

The version I now have is the one which incorporates all sorts of crap awesome stuff like free storage, themes and such, and the search box at the top of the page now says in it (in faint text) "Find messages, photos, documents or people".

Anybody got any ideas please?

This is great, chaps.  Much food for thought.

My problem is actually compounded by the fact that the back of the baseboard is hinged in order that I can raise the whole lot up and prop it there rather than crawl about under it for repairs and maintenance.  Then there's a 20mm square batten along the wall which supports the back of sheets of Depron with which I cover the layout when not in use.  Consequently, my backscene will only be 110mm high (trackbed to bottom of batten), and anything tall towards the back of the baseboard has to be removable.

A retaining wall will do nicely for the backscene, but I couldn't think how to arrange access to the station building.  Then ...

I have varied it by having parts rising straight from the rear edge of the platform mixed with parts rising from the bottom where it joins the baseboard.  A spear fence and some undergrowth, especially where there is a hollow because the mountain rises from the foot and not the edge of the platform, and I am happy with it.

Thank you sir. That and a footpath parallel to the platform back sounds good to me.  I need to mock this up and check it would work ...

Playing Devils Advocate, do you actually need a Station?

 

Mark Saunders

Oh yes.  Without a station, there is no justification for the halt on the narrow gauge.  And the narrow gauge is for my wife to play with while I play with the 00.

So there has to be a station ... 

This has made me realise that I haven't spent enough money on comics and enough time looking at other folks' layouts to have much idea of different approaches to common problems ...

Cheers chaps.  David, the basic idea of that top one will work if I can arrange matters so that pedestrial access to the station looks plausible having regard to what else needs to go on the board.

Having said that, though, I could very easily live with the shadow shown in Rivercider's pictures, and access to the station building is then imagined rather than modelled, making that one less thing to consider!

I'm beginning to think this is actually going to boil down to whether I want to be viewing from platform or rail side when a train's in the station ...

BTW, it's an awful long time since I built one, but is that station building the old Airfix kit?

Do the opposite. Site everything as far away from the backscene and as close to the front edge of the board as you can.

Ah, but as I said, the through line needs to be as close to the back of the baseboard as possible.  It needs to align with tracks on the adjacent boards, plus I need space between the loop and the front of the board for my sidings (both standard and narrow gauge).

If I can just arrive at something by way of a station building/backscene interface which doesn't look ridiculous from a viewpoint almost directly opposite and 12-18" above it, I'll be happy ...