Schooner

Barbados in the Back Room: Sorry, not a good post, just a quick stash of a WIP plan for the as-built Barbados Railway while I have the chance. That said, all comments welcome as ever :) Oh, and for @The Johnster, Kernow in the Spare Room:

Interesting...in short, no idea! A quick cod-translation from generic Scandi suggests something like Lively, (ah, there we go - Google says 'Eager' for Danish, 'Lively' for Norwegian) so not unreasonable for a vessel name. The shape of the hull is Northern European (Dutch-ish), the rig pre-c.1800, but hard to tell much. The sail plan shown suggests manoevering in harbour, or managing a bit of a blow...but might not be meant to mean anything much, and I think the main topgallant sail is meant to be shown set and full but has broken off. Don't recall having seen anything quite like it. Might been made for cabin decoration, likewise for a ship-owner's office, or even housename perhaps?

But what did you use on the couplings and buffers? Looks unreasonably realistic!

Yum! The map's worth a look: https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=18.7&lat=50.36862&lon=-4.15026&layers=117746211&b=1 as is running a short way up the line to the Engine Shed. A very handy, modelable, format. Minehead and stock starting to look glorious :) Nice TT too!

Next in the series? Goody gumdrops :) Not among traditional voter bases, no. With apologies for being particularly blunt, with a little luck they'll all die before they've irrevocably f*cked the country (world?) chasing their promised dreams. None of our insitutions have much developed from their Victorian origins. Barely standing through the Information Age, they will not survive the coming of AI in the next year or two. None are fit for purpose. I suspect the party which acknowledges this and presents a coherent plan for reform would do well. Obviously only a personal answer, but... Don't give up. Find out. Engage. Challenge. Mean it. Don't wail on a problem until you can champion a solution. Help as best you can, and support others who help too. Get comfy, and strap in. Nolite te bastardes carborundorum. Maybe just me, but each of the above helps balance the swings between apoplexy, apathy and 'what a bunch of a-holes'y! Then there's this unprecedented situation (I know, not another!) which will likely lead to further Interesting Times: https://www.ft.com/content/29fd9b5c-2f35-41bf-9d4c-994db4e12998 Kettle's on, anyone for a brew?

3d printed chassis perhaps? Again, I've no personal experience but they do seem to be becoming more common.

https://www.sparkshotcustomcreations.com/ ...but anyone interested I'd suggest getting in touch to make sure there's a suitable chassis and that it's been at least test-built with the recommended motor, gears and wheels. Not me personally, but heard first hand from a couple who had to work quite hard (and spend a lot more time and money than lead to believe) to turn these into decent models. This is, hopefully, no longer the case cos they're gorgeous locos :)

A very rough'n'ready go at something similar in planning software: Ruling radius: 610mm nominal through PECO short turnout into gantry crane siding + loop curve Minimum headshunt: 305mm Just for my own entertainment and interest, but might as well share! Steel warehouse 150mm high; containers (20fters) stacked 3-high at 96mm; ship is 1000mm long; tanks 160mm high/ By using the operational/scenic elements to frame the modelled scene the aim was to make the most of both visual impressions (aiming to look like a small prototype at scale) and train-playing, as you squeeze the greatest possible journey length into your available space. HTH EDIT: Being limited to 20fters is a bit rubbish - 40fters accommodated below, including under the gantry crane between the tracks:

Always :)

The same is also very true of nearly every 3D print designer/seller. The kit costs are low, and so they may be happy to exchange in return for good-quality marketing photos. Quick (comparatively), easy to do as you navigate upcoming changes, and an effective way build up your own online business presence.

I seriously considered it...but other pics edge me away. Hardly conclusive though!

If in doubt... ...cheat :) There are, I've rather belatedly realised, many 3'6" spread throughout the world. One will have decent drawings for an 1870s vintage 2-4-0! Till I find it, this is not unhelpful for planning purposes.

In short, I don't know but a typo wouldn't surprise me. I've seen another TT, I'll compare and see if they're the same or not. It could be operational also: with a 23ish miles of running line but with only 3ish miles of siding, I'm assuming much of the line's sugar working will have taken place with the train stopped on the running line at its convenience. Fiji should give a handy touchstone for this method and traffic. I also have yet to find any useful evidence of loco or C&W facilities. I assume these were at Bridgetown, between the goods shed and the river, but supposition only. They must've been reasonably substantial though. There is also the perpetual caveat that most detailed information is post-1920 and focuses on the line's final failure, whereas I'm most interested in the 'as built' pre-1890 state of affairs. I suspect you're right! Lots of the detailed written info is directly contradicted by the few available photographs, the most tantalising imagery is unsupported by primary sources, plenty seems, at first glance, to be unrecorded. Bliss :)

More Barbados bits. I think the following allow for the Bridgetown trackplan to be pieced together: if one accepts that loco/C&W facilities are likely to be a fudge anyway. The last two are post-regauging; the final one showing stock in Barbados Light Railway livery* The scheme will be for a room roughly 16'x11'. At 1:64 on 16.5mm track, a two level layout could (if my sketches are remotely accurate) follow the real thing - covering Bridgetown to Carrington (inc factory branch) and the sugar industry as Stage 1, then pushing up a decent chunk of that glorious Atlantic seaboard run, plus a couple little operational extras like the St Andrews brick factory, from Consett Cutting up to Belleplaine as Stage 2. Two terminii, two through stations, one full industry and a nod to one more. Not the most expansive Little Empire, but plenty to keep me busy! My sum total of all knowledge regarding the Belleplaine terminus is presented below: https://www.alamy.com/stock-image-trolley-of-the-barbados-railway-161652159.html It'll be quite a snug fit, but the real thing threw itself round 150' radius curves** sooo... :) Related to this might be a mistake I previously made: Definitely 4W, not bogie. Though given their extreme position at the end of the vehicles I can see how the brain-fart arose. To close, for now, a little on trams: http://www.tramz.com/bb/00.html (No vertical boiler locos in evidence) *Barbados Railway Company 1873 (incorporated) - 1898 Bridgetown and St Andrew Railway Ltd 1898-1905 Barbados Light Railway Company 1905-1916 Barbados Government Railway 1916-1937 Might be useful to use loco liveries to winnow down options **Don't worry, the engineers weren't mad. They either exceeded 3% grade, or dropped below 250' radius curvature, never both. Well...hardly ever...

'50s / "as built": '80s / "as preserved":

As per ?

🤐 Re the trackplan: the quasi-loop arrangement still looks clunky. It might be the best possible, but a couple of suggestions to try if you haven't already Replace the RH turnout into the warehouse spur with a double slip Replace that RH turnout with a RH curved turnout into a LH medium to give your crossover and headshunt roads. Either could eliminate the dodgey-looking RH after the 24° crossing on the crane siding, and can balance the longer formation with greater, yet smoother, curvature. This allows you to extend the tracks into the top RH corner to maintain spur length and make the most of your practical space. The greater separation between them and the front track would then allow the fuel tanks to be rotated 90° to make the most of your visible space and help prevent the scene looking cramped.

At which point we're close to the recurring question: is CJF's Minories an unbeatable commuter-terminus formation? If more space is available does one simply add more platform length, or indeed more platforms, to suit? Or is there another Reference Plan we should be looking towards? Asking for a friend... 😇

Then break them down further :) It really is that simp- My answer to the question in your other thread is '25% total length for a cassette/fiddle stick at either end with something exchange/shunty in the middle'...but honestly I don't think a new project will provide any solutions, and risks compounding problems. Chip away at it when things are sub-optimal, and you'll be in a much stronger position when time and mojo return...in 25 years...!

Oh, I know - tongue firmly lodged in cheek :) I had a fair spell of time with links to Hereford (Cathedral) and there is a lot to commend that part or the world. The point still stands that a house budget becomes much stretchier if one can look further afield. There are always pros and cons to balance, but my recent experience has been that it's worth investigating. Anything "East..." however can take a running jump 😇

Nothing too strong ever broke! Just been doing some long overdue catching up...lawks. There are so very many upsides though (West Midlands aside. There's no accounting for taste*), that you can just have fun at this point! The record of CR-as-was is here, and in your hands and knowledge and skillset; those hours of enjoyment (/frustration) are not lost, and it will continue to be a source of information and inspiration for a great many people. Once you've got yourself settled back in Blighty, the next CR will progress at lightening speed compared to the last. Till then, buildings, rolling stock, and a circuit of set-track on the table when noone's looking :) Most importantly, remember to keep looking after you through the changes. Per ardua etc etc etc. *Joking sort-of aside, if location isn't a particular priority then it's definitely worth seeing what your budget will get you in other parts of the country. There might be something dreamy out there...!

Not sure my Mandarin is good enough

Cheers all, and yes, it's been surreally simple. Handy, as it was only brought to market the day before I flew out to work, and so I've been conducting the entire process through the phone...lol. And I think I've worked out how to fit Barbados in the back room!

Bought...ummmm...5 Bachmann buildings for Ingleford (Ebay finds, from when the layoit was a 100hr start-to-finish winter project, and before I got carried away). The second most expensive outlay, after locos, by some margin. Unlike the locos, they were a total, utter, waste of money. Not one is usable, being hopelessly out of scale even for my diminutive little chunk of Gloucestershire*. They should be sold with both warning and 1:87 stickers prominent on the box. Sounds like you got off lightly! Have you experience of the Petite Properties range? *'Up North'