Dave Hunt

After celebrating the end of the construction phase of the great kitchen cockup rebuild last night we were brought down to earth this morning by discovering two leaks so I had to grovel about under and behind units to find out where they were coming from. One is in a joint where the dishwasher drain joins the main waste pipe and despite trying to tighten it I was unable to fix it. After further examination I now think that there should be some sort of gasket/washer in the joint so it's been reported to the plumber. The other is from the main stop valve and although it's only a slight weep that too has been reported. I knew we never should have started.... There was, however, one small victory. The materials supplied for the job were more than required despite a detailed plan being drawn up list so I rang the suppliers and they have agreed to take some of it back along with refunding several Deltics. I haven't let on to the management yet about the refund so it may just find its way into the modelling token account. Dave

According to my old Mum, if you poke it it will never get better. Dave

Don't you usually launch boats in water? Dave

One of the things that I hate to see on exhibition layouts is trains that go from stationary to 60mph in a loco length and stop with the deceleration usually associated with hitting a wall. Dave

In my opinion that is an excellent and thought provoking post. All the arguments about what constitutes railway modelling and what scale, gauge and standards should be used really annoy me. Railway modelling is a hobby, not a competition, and as far as I am concerned the only real criterion for inclusion in the hobby is does it bring someone enjoyment? The fact that I like to scratchbuild in S7 doesn't mean I can't appreciate models of any other type, be they scratchbuilt, kitbuilt, RTR, modified RTR in plastic, metal, cardboard or stale bread. Some of the layouts I admire are in 00, EM, P4, 0F, S7 and a host of other scales, gauges or standards and I don't care what their provenance is. And while I have been involved with operating exhibition layouts my main enjoyment is in making things but I can quite understand someone whose interest is in operation, or even just running trains round and round (which is something I too enjoy occasionally with friends' layouts, particularly when accompanied by a glass of something tasty and a fine cigar). Yes, I do sometimes try to encourage 'hands on' modelling and explain to people who show an interest why I think that finescale modelling is for me but the zealots who insist that only those who scratchbuild in P4 or have layouts with electric locomotives taking power from working OLE or whatever get right up my nose. Rant? It didn't start out as such but I guess it developed that way. Dave

The body, i.e., platform, boiler, cab etc. of my first ever scratchbuilt model (a 00 Johnson 0-4-4T) wasn't made from old bean tins but from an old Christmas chocolates tin whilst most of the chassis came from some brass cupboard door hinges. Over the years I've collected lots of brass, nickel silver and steel sheet, strip, bar etc. and silver steel for axles from allsorts of sources and to this day most of my 7mm locos are made from what you could call scrap, including tinplate from old tin cans etc. for boilers. I've got a large drawer full of metal sheet, strip and bar and several ice cream tubs full of smaller scraps but a lot of modern tins are plastic coated inside so now I'm rich 🤣I've invested in a sheet of tinplate and hang the expense. Scrooge, me?? Dave

Unless you have lots of roads leading of a turntable or its location makes it difficult to see, I don't see the need for automatic indexing. My turntable has four roads leading off it and is powered by a Gaugemaster DC controller via a switch that changes it from track power to turntable motor power and through a reduction drive so as it nears the desired orientation I just slow it down and align it by eye. Dave

Many years ago we were with a group of friends at the Eden Camp WW2 museum in Yorkshire looking round one of the huts when one of our number dropped an SBD of horrendous strength and virulence. It was so bad that within seconds the hut had emptied and there were people outside gratefully gulping in lungfuls of fresh air. Eventually the culprit was identified and forever afterwards within the group a particularly bad SBD was always referred to as an 'Eden Camp'. Dave

When our dog Sam was a puppy he was on a course of tablets to be administered four times a day and after several false starts I hit on the idea of hiding them in cheese. The cheese I chose was camembert, which worked well and I was quite pleased with myself until he started farting like a carthorse and almost driving us out of the house, the pong was so bad. Dave

The latest bulletin from Hunt Towers - stair carpet laid and paid for, new kitchen table and chairs ordered, wallet whimpering and lying down in a darkened room. Dave

Looks more like a heavy freight engine to me. Dave

It's still green and got a funny number. Dave

If you keep the distance from the outside rails to the platform faces the same and don't move the platform edges, it means that going from standard gauge to broad gauge would result in the adjacent rails of the two tracks being only about fifteen inches apart so trains in opposite directions would collide. That is why mixed gauge had to be the same overall dimensions as broad gauge, i.e, the distance between platform faces had to be something like 4ft 6in further apart than standard gauge. Dave

When I worked in San Diego I used to go to baseball games and not only enjoyed the experience but also managed to pick up some of the terminology and the nuances of the game, which can be quite a tactical exercise. As far as test cricket taking too long is concerned, wasn't that the reason for the invention of limited overs and one day international matches? I suppose that for dyed in the wool cricket afficionados such matches aren't the 'real thing' but I do think that matches that drag on for days only to end in a draw because of weather or one team that has no real chance of winning simply stone-walling until they run out of time are not something to be relished. Dave

The great pain in the ar kitchen rebuild today saw the plumber do his stuff and on Wednesday the quartz worktops are due to be fitted. So, tomorrow is a day without Hunt Towers being invaded by workmen various you suppose? Wrong! Just in case I should get complacent and my wallet have a day off we are getting a new staircarpet laid so bang go another few Deltics. 😥 Dave

Not to mention moving platform faces back, widening underbridges and possibly embankments and cuttings, and opening out overbridges and even some tunnels. All in all hugely expensive and in some urban settings next to impossible without the co-operation of local authorities, big businesses etc. Hence the gauge war could really only realistically be decided one way. Dave

Just off to Chesterfield to see two of our grandchildren perform in a play. Up to the minute intelligence shows that the theater is very hot, sticky and uncomfortable. Deep joy. Two water bottles Dave

I think that the term 'very reasonable' applies there Flavio. Dave

I wonder if Howard Hughes' Spruce Goose is still airworthy in LA? Dave

I hired a Dacia in Spain that had the keyless entry but you had to be within a few feet of it before the doors unlocked. Mine and Jill's cars have keys that unlock the doors at the press of a button and have to be inserted into the steering column before the engine will start and I must say that I prefer that methodology. Mind you, being a numpty I once left the key in the steering column when I put my car in the garage and left it there for three days. Since it is a stop/start car the flat battery had to be replaced at the price of going on for a Deltic 😢 Dave

What are the fares like? Dave

The Gotha bomber idea does have a certain appeal but it’s maximum load would prohibit HH plus passengers so to make a profit it would have to be limited to me and the passengers. And in order to ensure the maximum numbers per trip it would pay to prioritise on slim, scantily clad young ladies. Hmmmmm........ Dave

I wasn't that bad at driving the things! Almost right. The second part was "If you hear 'eject, eject, eject' the second and third ones are echoes." Dave

First of all congrats to the Bazzes. Sorry it's a bit belated but I've only just become aware of it. Keep smilin' Baz, I've found that the first 53 are the worst. Not a lot of smiling here today, though, as we've been told that Jill's sister has been diagnosed with ovarian cancer with secondaries but it hasn't been decided yet what treatment she will be given. Whatever it is, we just hope that it will be effective. Dave

I know that it isn't in the same league but whenever we took civilians for rides in our aircraft they had to sign disclaimers and while I can't recall exactly what they said, I know that they weren't very lengthy documents, just a couple of paragraphs. Dave