Regularity

5 minutes ago, Dave Holt said:

When laid, it was grey with cinder coloured ballast in the yard. Unfortunately, as can be seen, it's faded to a pale brown/fawn colour, which means that at some time it will all have to be painted to restore the original intent.

You could try staining it with a mix of alcohol and Indian ink.

Here’s one taken by me at Warley in 2003, using a crappy 2Mp camera:

And here’s one taken in Feb 2020 by one Andy York of this parish:

Hope that helps.

Hi Mikkel,

The trees are holding up just fine: after more than 30 years, they might look better - any fading has subdued the tones if anything.

Simon

1 hour ago, Mikkel said:

Only a very special mind would make that connection

You would not be the first person to direct such a comment towards me…

Why is it called “Vastern” Road?

“Big rear-end Road”?

1 hour ago, drduncan said:

We really need the groan button…

I agreed via an icon, but I had had that thought myself, and read your post thinking, ah, “You, too”…

On 28/07/2021 at 06:15, Mikkel said:

Ah, Paris!

Yes, we’ll always have Paris…

7 hours ago, kitpw said:

"double diamond" works wonders (now where have I heard that before?)

Burton-on-Trent, I guess, but shome yearsh ago, shurely?

What about uncle macassars? Didn’t everyone grow up with an uncle Macassar, who hid behind the sofa, waiting to jump out?

7 hours ago, wenlock said:

I'm relieved that we've established I've built a Composite, or it would be a case of  "I still haven't found what I'm looking for!" 

Crack on with it, to get it finished by if not Christmas, the New Year’s Day.

Oh Boy, this could go on!

U-this, U-that.
Das Boot, anyone?

(I will not follow with jokes about U2.)

R2?

What would be a D2, to run next to it?

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A row of bogies ready

Is the collective noun not “a string of bogies”?

33 minutes ago, Compound2632 said:

 

"meat" pies.

Ah, food on the hoof...

14 hours ago, Mikkel said:

Also, cubic feet do my head in.

Why so? It’s just about the length of your foot, or possibly show, in x, y and z. Fairly easy to visualise that.

28.31l, though... ...now, that is a challenge!

1 hour ago, Welchester said:

It is still used in bell founding.

Aha! 

What's brown and sounds like a bell?

Dung!

I believe that many of the railways had quite a traffic in horse manure heading out from major conurbations, especially the GER with its agricultural hinterland.

"Hot beds" tend to create a lot of smell. I remember the rose beds outside the administration offices at Leicester University being treated to this early one year, as the top ranks wanted early roses to bloom outside their windows in the summer. I shall never know whether the manure was particularly fresh by accident or if one of the high-ups had upset the gardeners...

(By the way, I think the roses grow so quickly as much to get away from the stench as anything else...)

I have heard the phrase used in business circles, most memorably when a Senior Vice President (ex-Sandhurst and ex-Guards) yelled down the phone at an errant manager, "You're talking horse sh1t!" but he we are, literally not figuratively doing the very thing. I have waited 27 years for this!

My father tells me that when a horse and cart went down the street, kids would be sent out with a bucket and shovel to collect the dung, for use of the allotment.

2 hours ago, phil_sutters said:

 

I am always amazed how clean and tidy model cattle docks look. I am sure that there were employees whose jobs included cleaning out the cow pats and other droppings, but I would doubt that every trace was shovelled away and the paving and fence posts hosed down and returned to the pristine as-built appearance seen in many layouts.

They were disinfected (with lime wash originally) and presumably a stiff broom. Whilst not pristine, I imagine that they were fairly clean for both hygienic and olfactory reasons.

Do please remember that sieving and pouncing chinchilla dust is not done whilst wear the tights (whether that be you wearing them or anyone else).

Could you mix up Das with the chinchilla dust/powder?

16 minutes ago, ChrisN said:

Mind yu the GWR condemned most Cambrian stock.  It was all fairly well worn.

The late John Coulter modelled a pair of Cambrian single bolsters with unusual floor planking, with gaps. He assumed it was built like this to allow rainwater to drain away, but it turned out later on that the photo used was taken in early grouping days, and was taken by the GWR to show the amount of shrinkage of poorly seasoned wood - for the Cambrian in the Edwardian era, the planks should have been closed up!

Pouncing is also a technique used, I believe, by tailors.

You can buy "pouncing wheels", which are essentially toothed wheels (gears!) on a bearing at the end of a stick, for running long patterns, creating holes for chalking material.

4 hours ago, Mikkel said:

"1853... ...The matter was not cleared up, along with other outstanding fish traffic queries, until early 1857." 

A somewhat odorous delay.

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heated fish traffic debates 

Hopefully a heated debate about fish traffic, rather than a debate about the traffic of heated fish?