gr.king

Here's where practical application / experience trumps sceptical theory. For 20+ years I have used 25 watt irons wired through two different models of standard household lighting-dimmer switch ( both dimmers from B & Q, bought years apart) both for 73C solder for white metal and for 145C solder on etched parts, cleaning the bit when switching solders of course. I haven't had to use a light bulb or other ballast resistor in order to get the power reduction by the dimmer switch to work. I established the typical best settings on the dimmer dial by trial and error. I do not dispute that the temperature recovery time of the iron is longer after soldering a joint than it perhaps would be with a posh proprietary temperature-controlled outfit, and the ability to continue to supply heat at the pre-set temperature into a larger joint isn't present of course, but that hasn't stopped me from getting results. I don't seem to have electrocuted myself or others, blown any fuses, or burned the house down either, in fact I'm sure I haven't done any of those things. That's not because I have a nanny-state prescribed piece of paper to say that I was electrically competent on the particular day of an official test, it's because I listened when mains electricity was covered in 1970s secondary school physics lessons up to A-Level, I have since continued to watch and listen to those who demonstrate things like correct plug-wiring, and I still apply care and common sense.

I think York, Spalding and the NEC (at least) have previously had the "benefit" of a layout that was fairly certain not to be in working order when it was taken to those events.

You are right Jol. Three cheers for all the "tame" and not completely "green" family members, friends, and other sole traders who, as casual but sometimes essential helpers, can certainly ease, rather than increase, the burden of the owner of a very small business.

I'm not diabetic but I detest thoroughly sugary cakes. In some commercial offerings, even the so called sponge is almost entirely air and sugar, no substance at all to it. A certain well advertised "Mr" makes particularly unhealthy and revolting "insubstantial" cakes in my opinion. Bring on the cheese and walnut loaf...

As a (thankfully) past part-owner of a real-world business, I'm afraid that even if I were a hard pressed one-man-band the one thing I would now never again do is to employ anybody to help me. By the time you have trained an employee to be a conscientious real asset to the business, the law gives them all sorts of rights and you have almost no rights at all, just a load of costs and duties. As short-term engagement of untrained or not-fully-trained workers may not reliably help the business, remaining solo and of limited size seems to me the only option.

While it is not based on an area or a period that is of major interest to me, I would have had a look at the seemingly well known Crewlisle, which I've never seen in the flesh, just to satisfy curiosity - had it been there. Is anybody "in the know" and at liberty to tell us why it was not there?

And is the stuff non-toxic or of low toxicity?

Further on blackening: In my ideal world there would be a single cheap agent and a single, simple, non-hazardous, cold process that puts a genuinely black, hard, durable, low-sheen, fully electroconductive coating, capable of surviving abrasive cleaning, on brass, nickel silver, copper, phosphor bronze, steel, Mazak, white metal and similar alloys. As far as I know, no such thing exists. Paint seems easier, even if wheel treads then have to remain bright. Now does anybody have a cold chemical dip that will apply lined green livery to wheels?

My first two visits to the NEC show as a member of the paying public did give me the impression that it was impossibly large and crowded for a day visit to give full satisfaction, but after several more years, all recent ones as a provider of a demonstration, I think I've got the measure of the place, and despite not being back in full health after a heavy cold I managed to enjoy this year's show. I didn't think it was as crowded as it has been in some previous years, but it did depend upon where you chose to be and at what time. Maybe if it gets very crowded where you happen to be, the best thing is to temporarily move to another part of the show. Keep your plan flexible? Like several other demonstrators, I've learned to dismiss the idea of taking a vehicle into the hall when I have no real need. Much easier to go straight into the nearest public car park on arrival Friday PM and take equipment into the hall using a folding barrow. Same thing in reverse for breakdown on the Sunday. It has become obvious from previous experiences of Saturday tea-time traffic chaos, that if an on-site hotel is allocated then the best (and quickest) stress-free thing on the Saturday is (if you can) to walk to and from the show, even if it is a mile and quarter each way. On the Sunday, I was delighted to find (for once) that the NEC management had shown some consideration for those trying to leave, and had opened the additional North exit from East 1 car park, allowing departure in a direction away from the most congested part of the site. Would they please do that more often? My only grumbles about traffic relate to the M42. Approaching from the North on the Friday, sign after sign was warning of a 20 minute delay between J7A and J6, so I diverted onto the A446, which wasn't too bad save for the pinch-point where it temporarily narrows to single carriageway. BUT, on arrival at the show others who had just come down the M42 told me that there was no delay! Also, heading South for dining on the Friday evening, we simply could not understand why the users of the M42 behave in a way that gets themselves into such a jam when only a moderate amount of traffic needed to filter in from the main junction for Solihull. Drive too fast, too close, and with no anticipation, in busy conditions, and as soon as somebody has to change speed or course, everything grinds to a halt...

As I see it, order of construction is dependent on what type of loco is being built, by what method, and from what components/materials. There is no universally correct or best way. I like the idea of wheel blackening, only applicable to black liveried locos for LNER purposes of course, but the practicalities have always deterred me. I already have primer and black spray/brush paints. For blackening, I would need chemicals suitable for several different metals, as I use a variety of makes of wheel, so there's cost to consider. The only blackening agent (one of the Carrs range) I ever tried produced a dead-matt black coating that very easily rubbed off, not a hard satin-black patina, so I presume there's a need for additional "fixing" agents for durability in some cases. I also gather that gun-blue may contain something highly toxic, requiring careful storage, use and hand protection / cleaning. It all sounds like a lot of extra bother.

Was the expense a result of high prices, or of giving in to temptation on account of the wide range of items on sale?

I spy my tartan blanket, desk lamp and stylish yellow coat in that image, as well as a lady I know.

I'm now more or less organised for the resin demo at the NEC this weekend, and if the lingering effects of the cold I started with three weeks ago don't hinder me too much I may be able to make a half-decent job of the demonstration, and of answering questions. I have a display of items made wholly or partly from resin castings at the ready, so at least there will be something for visitors to see if my powers begin to ebb! Those "in the know" regarding my 2019 performance may be pleased to know that I have not forgotten the infamous Georgian-style butler tray...

Even if I'm no great fan of former Rootes/Chrysler UK products, I wondered why they almost completely avoided even looking at the "Turbot". Was it put there simply so that they could pay it the insult of being ignored?

I'm really not missing much then!

Have any exhibitors tried to sign-in to the Exhibitor Information section of the Warley show website to check for any updates? I've just tried three times, without success, using the userID and password exactly as provided in my final exhibitor's letter...

Needs a good crop of dandelions too, if I'm interpreting the original image correctly.

That first image from York put me in mind of a Heiron painting.

That HB transfer should be well matured by now.

What are you sat on then? Sorry, just had to type that. "On what are you sitting" wouldn't have been at all funny.

The deficiency in suppliers for model makers at shows was gradually developing even before the pandemic, but I think it has been particularly noticeable at a couple of recent shows that have definitely been more suited to model makers in past years. It's hardly surprising really. Many proprietors of the specialist kits and materials businesses are in their later years and may not enjoy (or at least tolerate) travel to shows for working weekends in the way they once did. The younger generation, thanks to the ridiculous burden of regulations and liabilities imposed on even the smallest businesses, are extremely reluctant to start or take on a small business as they quite rightly consider that they have better things to do with their time and money than to give it all to regulatory compliance and maintenance of staff "rights" and benefits. Some of the specialist traders have already stated that they won't do shows any more - they can make do with on-line sales or mail order. And so many so-called modellers now build hardly anything but the simplest items for themselves, instead using on-line pestering to get the major manufacturers and retailers to introduce more and more ready-made limited-run items, so what is the future for model makers' specialist suppliers? Will the massively increased cost of new RTR models save the art of model making by making the production of all-RTR clone layouts unaffordable, forcing more modellers to look to their own model making abilities to supply a layout's needs? I'm afraid I doubt it.

On the one hand I'm impressed by the "foolproof" result of the control systems (so long as no fool damages the circuitry) and on the other hand I find such electronic complexities deeply worrying. Expensive too I imagine.

I went yesterday and thought that there were several well-made layouts there, although nothing as far as I noticed to appeal to my highly parochial tastes, i.e. nothing depicting the LNER actually in the LNER period - slightly odd given Spalding's location and railway history, but perhaps no suitable layouts were on offer for the organisers. Unfortunately there were also in my opinion some very poor, very predictable theme, very toy-like layouts. Loads of representation of "some time in the 50s/60s", lots of crude OO code 100 girder-rail track in evidence, many examples of "dead straight track parallel to the front edge of the layout and then sharply around the corner at each end", and the inevitable examples of layouts absolutely crammed with non-railway scenic features, none of these hand made, just brightly coloured "geometrically regular" items straight out the box, with an excess of dazzlingly bright street lights etc thrown in for good measure. Almost enough to give a susceptible viewer a migraine... Nonetheless, I did enjoy the show, the largest and busiest I've yet visited this side of the pandemic restrictions, and as I wasn't in tip-top health I didn't mind the fact that after two hours I'd seen enough and done my very limited amount of shopping, allowing me to head home for a rest.

A visit to Spalding exhibition yesterday resulted in me acquiring the rejected wheels and various other oddments from Tony's K's J3 kit, even though I wasn't carrying the supposedly necessary white stick that would make me wish to buy and use them... One of the highlights of the time I spent in proximity to the demo desk was Tony's polite explanation to Alan Rose (of 3D printed Barnum coach fame) of the benefits of a Romford screwdriver for secure wheel fitting, and of the virtues of correctly adjusted electrical pick-ups. Railway modelling needs humour.

Other than routinely supporting my most local shows, I usually dismiss all thoughts of standing the cost of attending anything more distant unless it offers either (or both): 1. A selection of quality traders for actual model builders, to suit my current needs, not just RTR box sellers and used tat stalls. 2. Layouts listed in a way that gives all of the details that I regard as key facts - scale, period (expressed accurately too, none of this "epoch/era" vague nonsense), supposed location, and railway company/region. If those are not listed, and I'm not in the mood to spend time searching the web for extra info on the listed layouts, then how on earth am I expected to know whether there's anything of interest to me? Obviously, I'll only go if there IS enough to suit my tastes. Why some show organisers think that a scant list of just the layout names will suffice, I really don't understand.