Philou

'Salt' ...... codeword ..... shhhh ....... loose tongues cost lives .............

Could well be that I mis-remembered when I posted up (grey matter an' all), I seem to recall (now) that the Dinky model had the driver in a half-cab (or is that a figment too?). I left them at home when I bought my own home 47 years ago, and they could well still be in the attic with a load of bits'n'bobs. I'll ask my brother to have a look. Cheers, Philip

Dinky used to do the OB in maroon and cream and cream and maroon. I have no idea of the scale (at the age of 9 it wasn't important) and I have lost sight of them unfortunately. Cheers, Philip

I found the above discussion regarding salt and export very interesting and I thought I'd look up the ship in question: She is the SS Cambridge and according to Wiki she was German built in 1916 but was given to a UK company after the First World War as reparations. She was eventually sunk off Australia (Bass Straits) in November 1940 by a German mine. She had called at Cardiff, Newport and Swansea before quitting the UK for Australia, via Milford Haven. Simple musing on my part but is the photo posted up one taken before her last voyage? If the photo is wartime, then of course the UK would have been reliant on food coming in from its Dominions of the time - tying up exported salt with returning meat and butter. There was no mention of her cargo - but I wondered if the salt on board may have been saltpetre, a component in the manufacture of munitions? Wartime and all that. (She was a refridgerated ship and I don't know if that would affect any 'dry' cargo.) Cheers, Philip

I was pleased to find the e-mail this evening when I got back after a few days away from the laptop. I just hope the French VAT/La Poste are not going to want an arm or leg off me before it lands in the letterbox! Roll on the Fell! Cheers, Philip

Funny thing about the masks and how it affects people - I'm fine with it and can wear it for hours - if I remember to take it with me/put it on! My partner hates it for more than half an hour or so. I can understand people not liking it but consider this: Over here in France where it's been pretty well obligatory once supplies of masks were freely available, there have been very few reported cases of 'flu and gastro-enteritis compared with other years. My view is that the mask together with more frequent washing of hands has reduced our 'normal' infections. Onto dates for shows: We had our AGM last week (limited in numbers) and it's been decided that we shall have a small show/swap meet in October (w/e of 22/24). A one day affair without invited layouts as such, but a number of modules inter-linked, so plenty of room for the public. One or two select traders will be invited plus those doing the swap/meet. As Hon. Treas., my dilemma is that if we don't charge for entry, we can have the hall for free (belongs to the Town Council). What we can't risk is charging and only have a few people turn up due to the lack of variety of layouts. (I think there is likely to be a pent-up demand and we shall have a meaningful footfall.) To overcome this, I did suggest that the public can come in free but will need to PAY TO GET OUT - which is not as silly as it seems as we shall just ask for donations just as most museums do in the UK. As it will be a public one day affair, there won't be any putting up of traders in hotels nor will there be any 'foreign' layout attendees either. Tables will be paid for, but the traders WILL get a free lunch and evening meal (all prepared by outside caterers). We shall be selling hot and cold drinks and pre-packed snacks - but nothing will be prepared on-site. Social distancing will apply and masks and hand disinfectant will be obligatory (subject to the rules in force at the time, natch.) I'll let you know how we get on - IF there are no further restrictions. Cheers, Philip

I failed to use a resistor on a 3v supply and the magic smoke escaped. I learnt!! I use 1kΩ from now on and it's plenty bright enough even at 3v. Cheers, Philip

Don't forget the bricks are going to be 'darker' under cills and eaves as the rain can't get to them to wash off the dust and grime - particularly if you're doing the steam era due to the additional soot and smoke particulates in the air then (London smog anyone?). Depending where you live, the mortar joints may not have been cement/lime/sand based but lime/coal-dust based as they were in S Wales, very, very dark grey to black in colour. Cheers, Philip

@nbaker Hi to you too, Just one or two things to be aware regarding your baseboards: Anything over 900mm baseboard width could cause problems in stretching over lines and objects, so avoid putting too much track along the wall/outer edges - otherwise it'll be the 'nudge' and cause things to fall over or be displaced; Curving lines look better than straight lines on-scene (doesn't matter in the fiddle yard area) and if you're using flexible track, you can have your station on a slight curve too. To get it all in, your trackage on the left-hand side may need to tilt at 45° and likewise in the fiddle yard area. I haven't got Anyrail so I can't offer to have a fiddle and my favourite software package has been 'lost' in a harddrive failure so can't replicate there either for the moment, but I'm sure some kind souls will be along soon to assist. Cheers and good luck, Philip

Just thought I'd have a butt-in regarding a comment made by @The Johnster regarding Beeching and rail/railway station closures and their counterparts in Europe. I cannot speak for 'the rest of Europe' and I speak only as I see it here in France. The main railway system outside of the new shiny shiny TGV has been shot to bits and is falling apart due to a lack of investment in the 'classic' lines, all due to the Government insisting (forcing) SNCF to spend money that they didn't have on the TGV network. They're so badly off that last year, IIRC, there was mention made of REDUCING the TGV stations to about 30 to serve the whole of France. Our local TGV station is at least an hour's drive away (Besançon) and very little on-site parking. Our local station on the classic line (Line 4) is Vesoul only 35 mins away with parking - but the train service is limited to 4 up and 4 down to/from Paris. Want go elsewhere? Nah mate, need to go to Paris first and then come back. It's not only in the UK where there have been massive closures, but here too, without the re-opening of lines as in the UK. You want to go cross-country? You're having a larf - up to Paris and back down again. At least in the UK you CAN use X-Country - maybe not everywhere - but you can. Whatever people think of privatisation, I do think that it has been A Good Thing (TM) and they could do with a bit of that over here. (Pity HSTs are rather old and probably non-compliant emission-wise as I could see them on our local line.) Sorry if it's coming over as a bit of a rant, but it just seems such a waste of a vast infrastructure that could be put back to good use. They're so insular (bit of an oxymoron there) over here, that they won't look to the UK for ideas - though they seem to have woken up to the fact that there is a case for bringing back sleeper trains - yay! Right! As you were and back to the Neverwazzas - I think they're all excellent. Cheers, Philip

Seems quite lively, pulls a fair load but still pig-ugly! I have no idea if the sounds are correct, but I shan't be one to complain when it turns up. Any idea of time-scales for the decorated samples? Cheers, Philip

@NHY 581 Is that a photo (just above) of your motor? I suspect it's not you with your back to the camera - or is it? Cheers, Philip

@KNP Nah, checking out the fish to come back later with his rod. Very nice work and I really enjoy your photos. Cheers, Philip

@Pacific231G Yes, that's image that still up, but the link to it was down yesterday. I've only been to le Touquet once and that was by car, though I do know someone that used to fly from Essex to do a round of golf and then fly back! Interesting to know that the situation wasn't unique. Cheers, Philip

@birch1 Wasn't there a S Wales bus company called Crossways? Probably no longer exist - or am I confusing myself with Crossville? Nice looking diorama by the way. Cheers, Philip

I do collect - but only for my future layout - not to put in a display cabinet. I have most of my boxes even for my well-used 55/60yr old stock, simply as it's easier to put them away in bigger plastic crates. Some of the boxes are now rather tatty but the stock inside is dust-free (as it should be). Cheers, Philip

I've had no issues with my Gaugemaster P - perhaps it's got a little more oomph, though I note it's only rated at 1.5A. Cheers, Philip

You can still see the outline of the track alignment via Google ....... I think it was the only case of a railway crossing a live runway (stand to be corrected of course). As a very young lad, I travelled on an RTG from Paris to Dieppe with my French grandmother who was accompanying me back to the UK, Easter 1960 possibly. Nice looking layout and if based on the 'Petite Ceinture', I saw that before the line and viaduct was removed between the Gare d'Auteuil and the Pont de Garigliano. The viaduct that ran down the middle of Boulevard Exelmans was mass concrete and took a while to demolish due to the close proximity of residential flats overlooking it. They rebuilt the Pont at the same time. I really, really hope to get to Cardiff for the 2022 show and see the layout in the flesh! Cheers et bonne chance! Philip PS: As an edit, I remembered there was a picture on Google showing a train crossing the runway. It's still up but I can't link it due to an Error 404 in accessing the full-size picture. The picture is of the Turbotrain crossing in front of a British Caledonian aircraft.

I seem to recall that TTS is wholly DCC and won't make sound on DC , though the loco will run on DC. TTS is much simplified and hence cheaper. Cheers, Philip

Hi @confused, Generally all DCC sound locos will make ..... er ..... sound under DC - but the number of sounds are very limited. There are locos where the CV (don't know which one) has been tweaked to not allow running under DC - you then need access to a DCC system to alter the CV. I have a Bachy 66 with sound that was running on the club's DC layout - unfortunately every time it ran into a signal protection section, it would shut down and then have to restart from scratch. I suppose it was slightly more authentic than just moving off immediately having been given the right-of-way. What you can't do under DC, is to have more than one DCC loco running on the same track unless covered by sections (as mentioned above). Cheers, Philip

As I mentioned earlier in the thread, mine arrived and I was going to give it a run, which I did belatedly. Here are my thoughts: Nothing was adrift in the packing and having been forewarned, the loco was extracted with care from its cradle and no damaged steps. I have but a yard of track upon which to run it (don't laugh) - so no long running-in at the moment. It's a DCC sound one but due to a major mishap (no sniggering at the back), I have no DCC so it's plain vanilla DC via a very old Gaugemaster P controller (with brake simulation). All set up ready to go and - nothing. A quick wipe of the track with a rubber and - nothing. However, on closer observation, there was firebox glow (yellow and red) so power coming through and I waited at least - ooooh I dunno - a half a second and the sound of shoveling took place with the sound of the firebox door opening and closing. Steam sound comes into play plus the GWR 'fart' and it set off slowly. I have no idea if the 'chuff' is correct or not and I'm not that bothered. I'm sure there'll be a CV to tweak (though inaccessable to me at the mo') if it's not correct. There isn't room to do a run at max speed but at a very slow speed, there is a slight tight spot at top-dead-centre (when viewed from the right-hand side loco in forward direction) but straight from the box it seems that with a little bit of running it, it will be a nice little runner. Overall, reasonably impressed especially by the weight! A nice addition to go with the Dapol Mogul. Cheers, Philip

@Alex TM Oooh ...... I don't know the scale. Next time on the 'phone to him (probably on the weekend), I'll ask and post up the reply. I'm glad the parcel was found! I'll also pass on the kind comments. (Just had a look at the photos again and in the corner of one of the boxes in tiny, tiny writing, I can see 1/35th.) I always thought Peter was pretty good at doing military figures and I think diversifying into MM is just a natural step for him. Cheers, Philip

Would @The Johnster be able to help regarding the loco - just a thought? Cheers, Philip

Agree with what has been mentioned above, though older standards of platform heights show 2' 9" (11mm) above rail height. Mention has been made regarding pencil-at-midpoint and pencil-at-corner regarding clearances for over-hang. Don't forget to use your longest bogie stock that has the greatest distance between bogie centres and the longest overhang beyond the bogies - Class 800 coaching stock springs to mind. Do also check clearances with steam locos at cylinder height - the GWR were generous in this respect and some of their locos could not run everywhere in the UK because of the overall pistons widths. Regarding centres, 44-45mm along straights looks better and allows for clearance - even Cl 800 stock entering onto the main over 3ft radius points (haven't tried with 2ft) cleared other stock on the straight. To cover the widening on curves - you will need to have centres of 50-51mm. IIRC, if you should want to maintain 44-45mm centres, the radius needs to be increased to 11ft! You will need to do some surgery on RTR points to achieve the 44-45mm centres - no such problems of course if you build your own. Here was my approach to surgery on some Peco medium points (any slight sleeper mismatch can be disguised with ballast: and one showing 45mm centres: Cheers, Philip

The price is hefty - but it does look good.