Philou

^ What's with the partially lifted crossover? Asking for a friend ;) Looks nearly new.

Eh? All my Legrand (Mosaic) are all the same. I do take the point regarding cable colour though. All mine are brown/blue/green-yellow with the exception of the two-way lighting circuits where there's purple for the double interconnecting wires. In the UK I think they use black and grey (never had to do a UK two-way). Oh, and some red for the unswitched live circuit bringing power to the two-way. You USED to be able to do a ring circuit in France, but it was rather frowned upon - couldn't really understand why as there was a saving in cable size and it spread the power through the circuit - oh well, their country, their rules. Cheers, Philip

At least the modern electrics are very similar to UK domestic wiring (brown, blue and green/yellow) AND some socket manufacturers colour the inlets at the back so that everything SHOULD be the same. If I remember correctly, the phase is on the right hand side - same as the UK. Don't get me started on the safety guards inside the sockets, as unlike the UK earth pin being longer than the other two and also chamfered to depress the shutter inside, EU pins are round and there being no earth pin on the plug (the earth pin is part of the socket, if you didn't know) and a round-ended round pin isn't. the. easiest. to. PUSH. AGAINST. THE (straining now). SHUTTER! I have been known to take a persuader to the shutter (hammer and screwdriver) to force it or break it, and I'm not the only one - apparently. I get on fine with the plumbing as I tend to use 12mm only though I did find it very irritating at first.UK 10mm will join quite happily to French 10mm. Did you know that the majority of French iron or brass fittings are BSP threads? Usually 3/8, 1/2 or 3/4" threads to which UK plumbing will fit - there is a lot of metric coming on the market now though :( . Back to this retaining wall ....... progress was slooooowwwww, but I've done all the corbelling and plinths and just started doing the very end bridge support and pilaster. Should be done and dusted tomorrow. (No photo today). I have another bridge question and it follows on looking a plate girder bridge with channels on the underside. Do the sleepers sit inside the channels? If they don't, then there's 9" missing somewhere when counting bricks (3 courses). I thought the construction was that the channels gave support to a decking plate above upon which there would have been a thin layer (or perhaps not any) ballast with the sleepers on top. I don't think it's that at all now. I would have rathered post some photos to illustrate the point- the one picture is no problem as it's a Google Streetview but the other is one I - um - er - borrowed off t'intertubes and I shouldn't want it to cause a problem to @AY Mod - it's oldish but as with all these things, may be subject to copyright. Thinking caps on as I didn't find what I wanted going via @lezz01 's route of a couple of days ago. Cheers, Philip

Hello chaps and chapesses, You know what I said about good intentions a couple of posts ago? Thwarted yet again as I was roped in to do the municipal Christmas decorations. M. le Maire and his helper were both inside a bucket of a 4w drive telescopic armed JCB-type (no straps! Eek!!) agricultural vehicle with the various ornaments clipping them to the lamp/electricity poles and plugging them in. I decided I'd be better off on the ground in my hi-vis jacket warning any on-coming vehicles. It was done and dusted in about 30mins but I had to suffer them plugging a double socket (non-waterproof) into one of the plugs on the column and then plugging one of the decorations into that plus an extension lead that was wired with a plug with exposed pins on the end (deliberately to plug into a wall socket to power up elsewhere). They also found themselves with an extension that was the wrong way about - socket at one end and nowt the other whereas it should have been a plug one end and nowt the other - could I look at it. I took the battered cover off the distribution box to fond two rows of 6 choc blocks - one for phase and the other neutral that had been daisy chained using green and yellow wiring. There was no earth either. The distribution box had more holes in it than a piece of Swiss cheese! I was not a happy bunny. I rewired it for the 'proper' extension lead and I did say to M. le Maire that it's all going to have to taken apart and rewired correctly and we shall use Wago connectors instead of choc blocks - he didn't say anything and it's not as if it's going cost the commune very much either £30 tops. Better that than someone getting a rude awakening when it rains or holding the live pin extension when it's powered up! Rant especially as I've got a CCS card which is worthless over here - elf'n'safety, eh? Today I only managed the capstones to the buttresses and a bit of the plinths. Tomorrow I'm on my own so I expect to be able to crack on! More tomorrow, Philip

Hello chums and chumesses, Today I was on the parapet. Eventually I glued the modules to the plywood backing piece and covered the gaps the joins I mean, with the buttresses. Unfortunately I lost a lot of time trying to work out how to scan and print at a bigger scale in one step as the .pdf file from which I was copying wouldn't allow me to select a part and print to a bigger size. Anyway, I got there and made up some parapets and their wrappers and stuck those to the wall. I have also made a start on the end abutment and pilaster - but I need to go in the barn just make sure of the proportions and position of the pilaster. After that, it should be the corbels and plinths and the capstones to the buttresses - all paper and glue tomorrow! I have a picture and the wall is self-supporting - which has surprised me somewhat: ^ And there it is - self-standing with the parapets in place and the corbels to be placed at the interface of the sandstone and brick work and the plinth to be placed at the junction of the angled recesses and the vertical face. The plinth should (note 'should') be at the height of the platform of Dymented station. (I have no idea why it's self standing - it should be falling over onto its back!) I shall to a bit of weathering afterwards - mainly dirt in the recesses and a bit of green to give an impression of dampness here and there. A waft of matt acrylic varnish to protect it a bit and it'll be good to go. Cheers everyone and enjoy the weekend, whatever you're doing. Philip

Hello chaps and chapesses, There wasn't anything done yesterday but today was full of good intentions and we all know where that leads ....... I managed to get some more 2.5mm stiff card - brown rather than white - yesterday and I did get the modules done though there's a lot of fiddly bits to do yet. They are to be assembled and presently I've cut the buttresses and I'm making some wrappers for them. I need to tackle the very ends, the one with the pilaster and at the other end will be a corner buttress to do a section of return wall that will take us towards Pontrilas. Tomorrow should see more or less the end of it. I do have a picture and I'm quite happy with it though I should have liked a greater contrast between the various bricks/stoneworks: ^ The white card and joins will disappear under the buttresses and corbelling that has yet to be applied. I have the end buttress and pilaster to create and assemble at the end nearest the camera. The retaining wall is pegged temporarily to its piece of 5mm ply backing and the whole assembly will eventually be glued together. More tomorrow, Toodle pip, Philip

I really must to get to Specsavers as with all the 'odd' 'possible' 'maybes' and 'neverwazzas' liveries churned out by KR, I read that last one as 'furry' for the Great Bear, that would be really epic!!!!

Pilasters aside, I did do the 'eyebrows' to the arches yesterday evening so the modules were ready for their parapets with sandstone paper this morning. I had all 5 done with the parapets (that act as stiffeners to the card) and decided to do the bottom stiffener and edges - curses - out of 2.5mm card! What I thought was card was 3mm foamboard which is absolutely no use for stiffening. Mrs Philou and I were going to Big Town tomorrow anyway and they have a craft shop and an office suppliers there, so I should be able to get more card. Having plenty to do in the railway room and despite the cold weather, I ventured up there and griddling my loins (again!) I cut out the trackbed between the recently erected abutments and now have a gap for the bridge. I also have an idea where the pilasters are to go so a little, but useful, job done. I'm not sure how to go about the decking supports for the bridge - I did mention yesterday that I would do channelling underneath but I'm not so sure now as I can't see how I'm going to form all the channels so that they are identical whereas girders are just three pieces of thin card to form the 'I' beams (repeated a few times). The channelling needs to be formed into a flat-bottomed 'V' shape ............. hmmm decisions decisions. I could cheat and use corrugated cardboard, but I've none of a large enough size in stock :( . Shopping tomorrow may not leave much modelling time so perhaps no update either. Cheers, Philip

Ooh, what a good man you are - I would never had thought of an anatomy of a bridge - pilaster it is. I did also find a cross-section of a steel deck in an exploded view which is exactly what I was looking for especially as the drawing is of a skew bridge. Mine is on a skew but at a more extreme angle and I shall have a longitudinal mid-span plate girder that will also be above the ballast. This sort of thing but in rivetted plate: ^ It's from the free encyclopaedia of the steel construction industry but it didn't say if it was under a Commons Licence. If there's a problem, I'll remove it. I might try to recreate channelling on the underside rather than girders - we'll see. Today's workload was rather light but the 5 modules are completely brick papered with the exception of the brick arch above the recess. I might do them tonight and it'll be done. The stiffeners to do tomorrow (all the same size) and a bit of sandstone parapet. The buttresses can then be made and papered and I need to do a pilaster ( ;) ) at each end. There will be a bit of detailing to do regarding the plinth and corbel in sandstone. Once done they can be fixed to the 5mm ply base, and that'll be one retaining wall done. I'll then look at the opposite retaining wall to see how the pilaster can be modelled. Do you know, I think I've developed an itch to then do the plate girder bridge and go back to the scenery afterwards - especially as 4 big tubes of UHU were delivered today! Most definitely more tomorrow. Cheers, Philip

I would suggest that the loft be dry and not subject to great variations in temperature. Make sure that it is well covered to protect it from dust. Mice and spiders are not your friends either! Do make sure that it is flat as any sagging due to parts being unsupported will be very difficult to iron out when you want to use it next time. (Flat doesn't necessarily mean flat on the floor but if it is resting at an angle, try any support it regularly from behind - dependent on its length of course.) Cheers, Philip

Mass production commenced this afternoon and I have the other 5 modules papered and with their reveals (the wings to which I referred yesterday) and top arches in place. 2 are further advanced with the building paper glued to the reveals and the underside of the arch papered as well. If all goes well tomorrow they should be completely decorated and perhaps the strengtheners added too. What did set me back a bit, and I'm having to rethink the engineering, was when I went to glue the wing wall to the second abutment, I was stood above it and could see it all from the top, as, before, I was looking side on only and I could see that the wing wall would have served no useful purpose if I glued it there and then. I don't know the name (if there is a special name) of the little walls that are built alongside the railway line at the end of a bridge structure (seem to be about 2' x 3' x 4'). I don't know if it serves to protect the end of the bridge or what, but most steel plate bridges have them. Anyway, looking top-down, I could see that there wouldn't be anywhere for this little structure to go as it would be floating in mid air - unlike these two on the A465 (I'm going to be modelling this particular bridge later): https://maps.app.goo.gl/3Rc5qQ2AqU4JSYJT7 I'm going to amend the bridge abutment already in place by making a return to lie inline with the mainline extending it from the branchline and then form this little wall on top. My wing wall may become redundant - we'll see. There's more to this engineering stuff than you realise, and having seen it, I couldn't ignore it! Here's a picture of the back of the second module under construction showing the reveals (you may know them under another name): Toddle pip and more tomorrow, Philip

Thwarts'n'all ....... no pressie bought whilst in Dijon. Mrs Philou decided that it would be better if she and I went alone to do Xmas shopping. If any of you DO manage to escape HMS Britannia for a holiday on the continent and you're around this area, Dijon is worth a visit (don't go ANYWHERE near Paris this summer - there seems to be an athletics event or some such taking place) plenty of olde worlde buildings and lots of places to eat, both inexpensive and not cheap. Additionally, just to the south within a few miles, is some of the best wineries in France - definitely not cheap :) . I didn't post up yesterday as not a lot happened due to damp and cold - though I managed to set up and glue the second bridge abutment. Tomorrow, I'll glue the last wing wall. So what did I do today? I got the retaining wall to the main line as it passes alongside Dymented station started. I didn't realise just how awkward it is working in card if you've no instructions and you've to make your own as you go along. I did start off with various bits of card as below: ^ There are six modules. They were one complete length before but it was just too awkward too handle and so I cut them up into more user-friendly lengths. On the left is a module that has the recesses still attached with the paper 'mask' to put into place. It proved just too much of a faff to insert the wings into the slots alongside the recesses and off they came to make more traditional 'windows'. I ended up with this after ONE afternoon's worth of work: I'm going to go faster tomorrow as I shan't cut the openings before glueing as despite measuring, the cut openings in the paper and those already cut in the card didn't line up as intended. I shall glue the paper to the card first, and then when dry, cut the paper from behind through the openings to be able to fold back. What you can't see in the photo are the side wings to the opening over which the paper was folded to give the depth and likewise the header arches. The side wings (all those white bits at the top of the photo ^) were cut 5mm wide from 2.5mm thick card glued edge on. The header was cut from scored 1mm card to enable a curve to be formed to follow the arch. Thicker card just creased and folded. The header was papered first and the wings then folded back. The angled recess was simply papered in contrasting brick and threaded through from behind and a touch of glue is holding it in place. The header arch was papered using the same coloured brick. I wanted something more sombre but the blue would have been just too much, I think. Since the photo was taken, the white exposed card has been covered in the sandstone paper used on the bridge abutments just to tie it together and a sandstone corbel between the brickwork and the sandstone is to be added. There will be a similar plinth to be added at the bottom that will sit at the platform height of Dymented (about 20mm or so). These will be added when I do the buttresses that will cover the joins between the panels. Behind, two layered strips of 2.5mm card have been added to make up the thickness and as stiffening top and bottom. As I think I know what I'm supposed to be doing, I can now mass produce the other 5 modules. =:0 More tomorrow, Philip

I did wonder ........... :))

Ahem - nine points of the law ............. apparently ;) .

I was browsing via Google last week and item dated 1 November 2023 (that I cannot now find) that implied that a new length of OLE had been energised - I think it was Pontypridd to Treherbert. It gave no details of what stock was going under the wires though. If I can find the article I'll repost. Cheers, Philip

It took forever today to do anything meaningful - real life kept getting in the way! Nonetheless, I managed to paper the other abutment and put the corbels in place - the one is glued in place and waiting to dry. In the end I couldn't use screws as I was working at an awkward angle and the screws were damaging the trackbed base. I shan't be doing any tomorrow unfortunately as I'm going to Dijon with Mrs Philou and I'm hoping I'll have a Xmas gift sorted for her, BUT we're with her sister and BiL and time won't be entirely ours - I might be thwarted! Here are the two abutments ready to go into the barn plus their respective wing walls: ^ This time I used a straight edge with the pizza cutter and it was fine. A cocktail stick was used for the vertical joints - but they don't show up well in the photos. The one in the photo immediately above is the one that is now fixed in position, the top one I'll do on Friday and once they're both fixed, I can then attach the wing walls - there are only wing walls on the branchline approach as on the side of the mainline facing Dymented there are vertical walls and not much else. More on Friday, Cheers, Philip

Took me all afternoon to cut and stick four pieces of card and about eight bits of coloured paper - eesh! I know Rome wasn't built in a day but ............. I have though one retaining wall with embossed paper. What I did was glue a thin sheet of card over the ply and when dried, glued the stone paper onto that. Using a pizza cutter wheel - no, not a Lima one, a real one - I pressed it along the mortar courses whilst the PrittTM (other glue sticks available) was still damp. I only did the horizontal ones and only as far as they would be seen on the edges of the piers (nothing small enough for the verticals - but hey, I'm getting there! And voila ...................... (I need to control the alignment of the pizza wheel more carefully - this edge is mostly unseen - fortunately :) and now knowing it works I'll use a straight edge - silly boy). I have a sandstone corbel that I want to add just below the engineering bricks plus the concrete pads for the steel bearings. The pads I will put in place once the bridge is constructed. If I can get the other side completed tomorrow, I'll be in that barn quicker than a rat in a drain pipe! Very pleased and definitely more tomorrow, Philip

If you use anything on the tyres of the wheels, don't forget that it will act as an electrical insulator. You need to ask @The Johnster (other RMWeb commentards are available) as he extolls its virtues often here on RMWeb. For what it's worth, I would avoid any form of tyres as they tend to spread crud and the like over the rails. Can you perhaps get the loco body off and add some weight? Pieces of lead (insulated from electrical gubbins) are good as is 'lead' shot used for fishing lines - but you need some special glue for the shot, and I can't remember what it is (but it's not PVA IIRC). Cheers, Philip

@JeffP Similar to the style of wall I'm recreating - flat-topped arches but the inner part recessed at 1:10. The arches will be 28mm wide and about 54mm high (to the top of the arch) with a pillar of 18mm between each arch. Every group of 3 arches will have a buttress 24mm wide and 5mm deep (perhaps a little deeper depending on the aesthetics). There will be 6 groups of 3 arches making a total length of about 950mm. As you might have gathered, I'm not in the barn today - recovering from yesterday's little foray - and I need to decorate the bridge retaining walls before I can continue doing the rock faces as I didn't want to do the rock face and then find I can't place the walls. In any case, I've decided for extra security I shall screw the retaining walls to the edge of the branchline trackbed rather than just glue as I can then fix the top of the retaining wall to the mainline trackbed above so that it is kept vertical whilst drying. I can then tackle the rockface and cut the mainline trackbed after ready for the bridge. Plenty of cutting and glueing today, Toodle pip, Philip

We had 'that' car in 1958 - 1953's Vauhall Velox (the one with the big open mouth at the front) in two colours, light blue body white roof and bench seats front and back. My father driving (natch) and my mother with the youngest of us up front and we the remaining four across the back. Despite the car being from the dark ages, my father did have seat belts. There was only one at the front and one in the back, but it went right across the bench seats - like a giant lap strap. It was registered as HBO 13 and gradually rusted away as did all Vauxhalls of its age - the Lancia of the UK. He then bought the later version (with the blue whale teeth across the front) in dark blue - I reckon bought in about 1960. Registered DEU 377 and that too rusted away! Cheers, Philip

They're very keen on genetic links over here - I'm on a scale 1 (low risk) but Mrs Philou is on scale 3 (high risk) due to her brother passing away with it and her sister having polyps removed. It's also suspected that her mother passed away with it as well (but they didn't talk about those things then). I've no 1st or second generations having had it, but both my maternal grandparents did - hence me having an internal. I know none of this is to do with modelling - but I think it's pretty important - especially as it seems to be on the rise. So do at least the Pooh stick if any of you reading this haven't yet so done. The time previous I had to have one - it was supposed to be only the very lower part - a rectoscopy with a simple douchebag type thing from the chemist's - but they went as far as possible and I didn't have gas and air, nothing!! I can tell you that my eyes were slightly damp. When they asked 'Are you OK?' With my tongue in my cheek (to make it bulge), I replied 'I thing yoof gon' too farh!' 'What!?' said the doctoress using the colonoscope, and saw what I was doing and said 'Oh!' and shoved up another 100mm. (That'll learn yer is what she probably muttered). The only gas I had was what was in my gut and I f@rted all the way home driving. The examination was inconclusive. This time however, it was done under general anaesthetic and with air to inflate the gut. It was so light that I awoke just as they were disconnecting me from the machines in the examination room. The bill of health is not clean as two micropolyps were removed but no cause for alarm. However, they always do a biopsy and I await the result. Hungry? Too right. I know I shouldn't complain as many people don't eat at all well - but you're right. We've decided not eat straight away but we'll have our evening meal earlier than usual today and get back to normal tomorrow. As for the railway, I'm cutting out more retaining wall at the moment and annoyingly despite having measured umpteen times and calculated the widths of recesses and the intervening spaces, I'm 30mm short on what it should have been. I'll just do a fudge and spread the panels a bit. The spaces will be covered by buttresses anyway. The only thing I can't decide is what finish - blue engineering walls and buttresses with old brick in the recesses and sandstone parapet above or blue engineering bricks walls and recesses but with sandstone buttresses and parapets or sandstone all over with old brick in the recesses. I happen to like the old brick look and I could do old brick all over with sandstone detailing but it's not a very good material engineering-wise (in the real world!). More update tomorrow. Cheers, Philip

Bit of the doldrums today - Mrs Philou and I have been on a 'special' diet over the last few days - no fat, no fried foods, no fibre (hence no fruit nor veg), just rice, pasta (permitted with a bit of butter and grated hard cheese), boiled meats (or grilled) but limited and today it's liquids only!!!! No alcohol, no fizz just clear soup, tea or weak coffee (without milk). This afternoon we've had to drink a minimum of 2L of fluids (one litre was with some pretty grim substance mixed in it and drunk within 60mins) and then the rest of the evening is confined to the bog :((. Rinse and repeat tomorrow morning starting at 5am!! You may well ask why. Well, in the view of much colonic cancer about and on Mrs Philou's side especially, we're both having a camera up our ............ yeah, well, you get the picture :)). Roll on lunchtime when we can resume our normal eating habits - yay. I think this is why I've been 'off' these last couple of days - just not in the mood for working on the layout. HOWEVER, to take my mind off the lack of food and the procedure tomorrow, I did hunt for some more bark that I found so put that to one side for Tuesday, and this afternoon, I started cutting out a retaining wall for the back of Dymented - thanks to those that posted photos earlier as they all gave me ideas of what to do. When it's more all less complete I'll post a photo, but not just yet. I doubt if there'll be an update tomorrow so it'll be speak soon, Cheers, Philip gotta rush ............................ =:0

@LNER4479 Graham, this is indeed very good, thank you. I might have just about worked out the cuts but to re-insert some of the bits to stop it springing, that I would have never thought to do. Indeed I have a single slip and a plain crossing that could do with curving but along one axis only. Because of the way the webbing is fabricated, I don't think it's possible to do one without affecting the other. They're both on a 24m curve and I think I'll live if they're left as made! I did find your combo a couple of days ago (page 93) but I knew about the shortening of the rails to create the 45mm track centres. What I did learn was how to tackle the sleepers to remove the Peco oddity - I didn't when I did mine and just hid the join under some extra ballasting. Drat! Just let the cat out of the bag! ^ You can see the fudge on the bottom right hand crossover - my excuse is that this was done 8 years ago and I was still wet behind the ears. Another not much done day today unfortunately but I must be barking mad! ;) I did manage to start sorting through the bark for suitable bits and once found, I trimmed some up. I didn't take a photo as it's a bit in a raw state, but I'm happier about it than I was yesterday. If I can do the trimming properly I shall probably start assembling the 'styrene in its permanent position. More tomorrow, Cheers, Philip

Well chums and chumesses, Today nothing was done - I think the wind and rain put the dampers on things and put me right off from going into the barn today, but Mrs Philou did say I could put a heater up there, so I did but I only stayed there an hour carving more 'styrene. I suspect my mojo took a hit as I really wanted to be laying some of the branchline track but there are so many things to be done first and in the right order before I can do any of that - ho hum. I was given a whole load of bark today so I spent a little time sorting through and I've found some nice gnarled bits which can be recycled as my rocky outcrop. I'm not all together happy with my printed scenic paper as it's lacking depth. I had a look a some embossed plasticard but the sheet sizes seem very small and I need quite a lot. I wonder if anyone could recommend a burnishing tool - I think that's the name - that I could use to indent the paper if I were to it paste onto some thin card. Alternatively, Faller years ago used to do a range of embossed card and one of them was stone - I know as I used it to cover a balsa wood shell for an engine shed - long gone now (the shed that is). I just need to find a supplier (Google shows Jura Modelisme as the top supplier - won't be them as their whole stock went up in smoke a couple of weeks ago!) Hopefully, back up to speed tomorrow with a meaningful update, Cheers, Philip

@lezz01 Ooooh ......... that looks very efficient and possibly deadly in my hands :). I shan't have to worry too much about postage as I'm almost next door to Germany (I know, little relevance), but thanks for the info. Did the smell of burning 'styrene reach the shores of Albion? I did try the hot knife and the hot wand. I was not in control for the first few minutes as I hadn't anticipated how hot the wire becomes and makes a rapid first cut and then it cools down as you go - so slowly does it as you approach the 'styrene and then off you go. I did find the wand wasn't really hot enough for the cuts I should have liked to have done, so I shall use that for marking the start and ends of cuts and use the knife between the two. I also managed to get some bark - slightly disappointed as it wasn't as gnarled as the lot I had before. I shall keep looking around. What else. I tidied up the two bridge abutments and added some glue blocks upon which to rest the formation as the abutments will not be supporting the formation but the bridge itself. The weather looks awful again for tomorrow so I may stay indoors and start dressing the abutments with stone paper and do copings as well. The bits and bobs I'll do in card - provided I still have UHU in stock - plenty of Pritt though. I'll do some browsing and get ideas for bridges - just straight forward iron plate. I could just recycle the one at Ledbury over Bromyard Road and adapt its length to suit. I was a clean boy today too. All the 'styrene beads and green underlay dust were vacuumed up :) ............. only to be replaced by 'styrene off-cuts :( . There you have it, a little more progress today and therefore less to do later - yay. Cheers and more tomorrow, Philip