Gibbo675

Hi Florence, Just passing on what I learned from two years working at Cumbria Clocks for a bloke who is a member of the Worshipful Company of Clockmakers. Gibbo.

Hi Douglas, Do not oil clock mechanisms, it attracts dirt which induces wear and it will also induce viscous drag which will retard the mechanism. A good clean will free up a clock rather than lubrication with out al the associated problems. Gibbo.

Hi Martyn, Or in the case of my nearly started stash, things I haven't done !!! Gibbo.

Hi Clive, A little known fact is that acronym, Modal Inter-Logistical Freight was dropped in favour of the term Condor, Container-Door to Door. Have you somehow got yourself confused with the term Condor with Cougar ? Another little known fact is that Tartan Arrow were once used to ship The Bay City Rollers to London: Anyway what have container boxes got to do with wearing long boots and short skirts ? Gibbo..

All before the days of bad diet and too much television !!!

Hi Mike, Would that be an allusion to candour ? Gibbo.

Hi Martyn, Good luck with whatever your chosen route there. I always have a good look on Railcar.co.uk, and even then I get confused and make mistakes, I put the wrong number of lamps on my Gloucester 100 for that very reason. The Metropolitan Cammell 101's have a similar carry on with reversed guards doors as I had a job sorting out numbers for a DC kits power twin with the added trouble of what kind of rain strip it might have. Both of the above are part of my nearly started collection ! Gbbo.

Hi Michael, I'd tend to agree although it was painted to match a picture I saw in Modern Railways many years back. Alas I don't have the copy that it was in but it must have been around 1981 give or take. Gibbo.

My Dear Michael, You just calm yourself !!! If the authorities and those that are both compliant and subservient to those authorities suspect that you are capable of thinking for yourself then you sir are a danger to public safety ! We all know what happened to Иван Денисович now don't we ? С 854 I have lived in two solid wall sandstone houses, both built before damp proof courses were used in building, and after getting rid of all the cement pointing and gypsum plaster they both became warm and dry. Miraculously the "rising damp" just went away, as if by magic ! Гиббо

Hi There You could use a girth tape as a template with holes drilled at the required set, wrap around the smokebox and then mark through. Gibbo.

Hi Dave, I could have liquidated my stash and paid off my mortgage at those prices except that I don't have a mortgage so I built them all up and painted them blue instead ! Gibbo.

Hi Martyn, If you ever run short of projects I could send you a list of stuff to choose from if you want to help out, how much clutter do you want on your bench !!! Gibbo.

Hi James, Other than brass or copper wire and the usual bits of Plastruct rod I can't think of anything, it is likely the kind of thing that I will be using. One of the main reasons for not much work on the toy trains is that as well as being busy last month I have been rebuilding the bathroom, the weather is improving and also the worse thing ever, work has started picking up. That work nonsense has really cramped my style. Strangely unlike both you and Martyn I quite like a working on a big old batch of items all at once. Building, painting and transfers, when I'm in the mood I just get it all lined up and work through it all. The biggest trouble I have is that I have is that for every job started I have another ten that I might think about and stopping myself from doing more is quite a challenge. The nearly started box is, as usual, quite full with all sorts of stuff the Cemflos being just one job. The Cemflos were thought about and then started before I got onto building nearly fifty L&MR wagons and coaches and half a layout to put them on. Other nearly started stuff includes a pile of class 86's, DMU's, cranes, loads of diesels, far too many coaches and shed loads of wagons., and that is just the early 1970's BR Blue stuff. As for actually being quiet at the moment, my gaps in production are no longer than some folks rate of posting so it may be a frame of reference observation that you have made ! Gibbo.

Hi James, I looked at my Cemflos a couple of days ago, although only by opening the cupboard looking in and then shutting it again, before going off to do something other than toy trains. I think I over did it building all that 1830's stuff last month! I'll give it a week or two see if I pull my finger out. Gibbo.

Hi Lather, The flat wagons were not the FGA-FFA type but may have been the vacuum braked bogie wagons previously used for the Condor service that was discontinued after the introduction of Freightliner trains. The below photograph suggests a wagon of around fifty feet in length as it has a 30' and a 20' box mounted upon it. The larger diameter wheels and the wagon's higher sole bar level may be the reason for the special shouldered boxes also. Here is a link to the tye of bogie wagon used by the Condor service and it looks very similar to the wagons in the above photograph. http://www.srpsmuseum.org.uk/10134.htm Gibbo.

Hi Phil, Pity the poor sods with such attitude !!! Gibbo.

Hi Monty, Surely that is the railway version of dazzle camouflage. Gibbo.

Hi Jon, I'm pleased to see that I'm not the only one that stores my Revel Contacta at a jaunty angle, at least yo put the cap back on ! As for the rest of your bench, same but different at my house. Gibbo.

Hi Mike, I can imagine the hours of fun that you would have in a caravan: Gibbo.

Hi Mike, Blowing cocks on the LMS was due to narrow valve rings breaking up, on the other hand, the glands were held tight by "C" clips and rarely failed. Gibbo.

Watch out for Fred West and his chainsaw !?!?!

Hi Mike, I'm surprised that a man of your caliber doesn't know how to clear a sticking draincock. For those that don't know, shut the regulator and then wind it into back gear while opening the taps, that way the obstruction is likely to be sucked out and into the cylinder. The gear is quickly put back into forward, the cocks shut and the regulator opened, thus with luck blowing the obstruction out of the chimney. If this does not work first time, repeat the process. I know what you will say, it is a cylinder gland that is leaking as one of the garter springs has snapped causing the blow, except that I know what leaking gland sounds like. Gibbo.

Hi Paul In my defence I discovered the whispering Maria quite by chance while searching for a Russian language course, however there is always Mike Harding to sing us a song: Gibbo.

Hi Rich, The tractive effort would remain the same however the adhesion factor would alter with less mass carried by the wheels. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adhesion_railway#:~:text=The "factor of adhesion"%2C,rail friction coefficient of 0.25. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tractive_force Gibbo.

Hi Cheesysmut, Lets see what you make of this bizarre carry on !!! Хотя она в хорошей форме ! Gibbo.