peach james

Those are nice photos Jeff, even if we are talking out of the moon (sorry, too easy not to...). James

I'm not sure how available they are in the UK, but Robertson screws are hard to beat. Real ones, not the cheep cheesy ones... James

why am I reminded, again, of https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBrjdQIH8uw this kind of thing when Jeff is posting photos of the moon, and not saying it's made of cheese... James

That sounds about right- usually, the design follows the build for me too. Here I actually did plan it before building it, for the barn and the house addition. I did both sets of drawings/plans, planning applications, and fairly well all the work on the barn on my own, and the electrical and interior finishing in the house. James

If you have any mates around with a reasonably strong back, there is a much easier way to build the walls- lying down on the bedding sand or concrete, then flip them up. With 2 reasonably strong people, you can raise up 16' of 8' high wall easy enough, and that way, you can just nail the studs to the header and footer using a framing nail gun. (just be careful with the nail gun...if it'll drive through a 2x4, it will drive through you too...). When I built our barn, I think I did it all that way, I made the side walls (24' long) in 2 pieces. The end walls are also in 2 pieces, mostly because they sit on different heights of concrete. (they are "only" 12' long) The whole building will be shaky until you get the last piece of wall in- if needs be, tie across it all with a spare 2x4 to hold it all together. They make turnbuckles for doing this sort of construction, Lee Valley tools carry them over here. (not too much use in the UK though...) It'll be the same sort of thing for getting your roof trusses up- if you can borrow a friend, they shouldn't be too bad of a lift up. The last set of trusses I did, went up OK because they were landing on a 20' by 8' working platform, then going crossways from that. They span a gap between the containers, so I had the roof of the container to work from. James

Pig balls and gravy. Stock answer for that one. Or, for any of the older crowd around here... liver and onions. (probably made by the school 'marm, and totally inedible by normal mortals...) Dinner last night around here was Lamb kerbabs, veggie kerbabs, and best of all, bacon kerbabs , cooked on the propane bbq. We're into summer here, as there is a fire ban in effect, and it doesn't look like we will get any rain for at least a week. (and even then, it is doubtful). Thursday night, while we were sitting around at the fire hall waiting to do our practice, Sooke (the local town) department had another call out, it just touched a building wall and didn't get into the building...very lucky. James

I received an Email from Rapido, the Rest of the World will be billed over the next 24-72 hrs for their Pendolino. James (still no use for an N gauge train...but, it's better than a hole in my head, which might be the alternative !)

Is the white sighting board in the right spot? It doesn't appear to be far enough to the left to me- from either the signalmans, or the drivers' prospective. I know it might be in the "right spot" by counting bricks, but something doesn't quite look right about it. (the idea though, is fabulous...I'm just not sure about execution) James

Today's fun- I pulled out 5611 KH, or my "big" traction engine, and fired it up for the first time in 2 years. Then, after a quick chat with one of my mates, he came over for a drive. He had a similar engine (Plastow 3R 7NHP Fowler), in SRL guise, which was slightly lacking in power. He was all smiles after driving Little Johnny back up from the park- I said set off in middle cog, and no issues, and sure enough, up the hill in middle cog with NO arguments. (It's a steam engine, so of course there were minor problems...like a disappearing water level in the gauge glass, but that was disproved by priming the engine...) So, we had fun playing traction engines today. I still have to put Little Johnny away, and get stuff ready for tomorrow. James

Somewhere around here, I have photos of mum, grandmum & uncle (?) swimming at Windscale. They lived close enough that in 1957, the farm across the road was dumping milk... James

https://flic.kr/p/uhmSdR and https://flic.kr/p/tZVd8T Don't blame Jason for my trackwork...it's just more SRVI track, that's all ! James

It should be correctable, by lifting the track and re-ballasting it There is a baseboard join right at the middle, and I know that there are problems with baseboards not being as straight as I would like. So, I need to work on that bit of track...eventually ! for now, it can't be too bad, as the 10 coach trains will run through without uncoupling, and there is a LOT of tension on the kadee's for the longer trains. So, I will mark it as "to be done", and when I get time, it will loose the big dipper ride part. (It's not a Himalaya, as it doesn't go round a corner at that point...) James

https://flic.kr/p/uhmSdR and https://flic.kr/p/tZVd8T Yes, my trackwork could use a bit of work on it...

I'm on Facecrack, under my own name. I've had an account since 2006 or so, fairly early adopter. One of my friends worked on one of the competitive programs, so I have a bit of an idea as to how crap it is, and how much fishing it does. (lots). If I wouldn't say it in public, I won't post it on facecrack. No photos of food on there- I eat it too fast ! (but I might get a video of the LRC up tonight, with 5 coaches on. I'm not quite sure how the LRC made it across the atlantic, but apparently, it runs fine on Long Marton. (I'll post it there & in the Rapido thread). James

Even the older batteries last fairly well- the battery on my Nikon will last fairly well a 3-4 month trip, with ~500+ exposures. I've forgotten the charger before, thinking that it was going to be disaster, and not had any too big problems. (except when I forget to charge the battery before going to Hawaii, and then I was kind of mad...I took about 50 photos on the trip home, and that was that.) The Yashica is worse, in that the batteries don't seem to last all that long for only operating the light meter. (mechanical shutter release). Oh, and they are SR44's, which are not easy to find when you need new batteries. The good news is, that after exposing a reasonable amount of film, one has some good guesses as to what the light meter would say anyway- since I tend towards either F22 or F4- either as high or as low as the F stops I have. (and note, no words about taking photos of iron trapped horses...) James

I'd have to agree. The need for new 7P power was questionable, but not in 51-53, when the designs were set. There were logical reasons WHY steam still made economical sense up until well past 1954, mostly outlined in "The Red Devil", and in a few other primary source documents. So, to describe them as "blunders" seems a bit heavy handed to me. Certainly, while my experience is limited to my 3 1/2" gauge version, understanding that Riddles most certainly had his fingers in that design too...(the LBSC Britannia), and it is an incredibly free steaming, easy running engine. On indifferent track, with stupid loads (like 1000+ lb, the scale of about the same # of tons), he will make the north side of 8 MPH (scale of 128 mph) and not tax the driver to the limit to do so. It does have a tendency to be a bit pulse like, and I would believe that the full sized engines would suffer the same condition, but it doesn't have 3 or 4 cylinders, or anything else between the frames. (well, a feed pump, but that's a model thing...) So, I would put it down to the individual engineman not liking that class as much as another. As an engineman, I can certainly understand the ease of disliking new vs liking old. Unless the new was a LOT better than the old, then the old is quite often to be preferred because you KNOW how it is going to act. James

Indeed, as someone who has lived in a "metric" country that still sells most things by imperial units, it takes some getting used to the difference of unit used. I'd assume there are "metric" equals of a AU and Parsec, but haven't got the foggiest what they are- other than "big", which doesn't exactly cover it. One good explanation that I can think of is the movie "Powers of Ten" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fKBhvDjuy0 ) which does a decent job of explaining, using base10 as the alteration factor. It used to be a lot of fun to run backwards at 2x speed ! James

For modeling the "system", and scenic above the rails, I tend to think that the fixed home layout in a basement or purpose built space here is probably far above what happens in general in the UK. You only have to look at a layout like Lostock Juction ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEqF7nAlfFo ) which is UK outline, but built over here to see what I mean. 3 of the 12 (or so) of us in our club here have basement empires which would give most UK modelers fits for how much space we have. (I have 36x12, Allan has about 24x14 and David has quite a bit (not sure, but probably well over 300 sq ft) So, from that prospective, we end up with "bigger" layouts, which allows more scenic depth, but that means that track quite often falls off the radar as to things which people want to spend a lot of time modeling. The likes of Tony Wright's trackwork (I know, he horse traded to get the track done) would be exceptional rather than anything like normal. Handbuilt track is unusual here...the advent of FastTracks jigs has changed that to some extent, but it is still uncommon. It helps that HO scale track is 16.5mm gauge, not 18.2 or 18.83... James (edited to add extra l to allan, now spelled correctly !)

Bill, I've got a @##$@ healthy respect for Morecambe Bay, and I've only ever really visited Morecambe for 3 days. (I'd suspect more than that, but I don't remember 76-79, as I was 3 at the end of it...). Grandmum's schoolmate lived there, so we visited in 1996, and again in 2006 when we scattered grandmum's ashes. Still, a healthy respect of what the sea can do- if the sea goes out a long way, it's going to come back in _fast_, because there isn't any depth to obstruct it. I've been the dumb a@@ who needed rescuing too- mind, that goes with the personality. (14' aqua cat in the straits here- launched at Flea Beach, hull recovered at Gordons, I had both Sooke 37 (Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue) and a USCG helo come for me) The big reason why I would class myself as an instructor, not a teacher, is that my course material doesn't change all that much from class to class. The students change, and the exact material covered in each course changes (there are about 10 different courses I instruct), but it's not new material every day for us. I have a harder time adapting courses for our fire department than at work, as the material there is hugely variable depending on what the chief feels is important this week. (well, 3 month schedule). James

I am just a humble instructor, not a teacher really- even if I've been at it for nearly 4 years this spell, and 2 years before this. I find it a LOT of work to try and get people to see the info that they need to grasp, and what is and what is not important, and how to divide the two piles- the # of tubes in the boiler is relatively unimportant (1664 generating bank tubes), but what they DO is important- and if you understand that there are 1664 of them, then it makes more sense why they are laid out the way they are. The scariest thing I do is reminding my students that the next time they apply what we teach, there is no OFF on the ocean, and no 2nd chance to get it right... James

Some of the LD Porta modified ones had them...for smoke control reasons. It is kind of funny that a 49 ton, 0-6-0, had a stoker fitted, when the largest express locos in the UK which _should_ have had stokers fitted didn't. The other option of putting on a 2nd fireman would have also worked, but would have cost (ukp) to implement, and as mentioned, the engines were barely, but able to complete the regular work they were scheduled for. Because of freight timings, they were less needed on freight workings- the demand for HP in the UK on freight workings is much lower than North America or South Africa. http://www.martynbane.co.uk/modernsteam/ldp/austerity/portaausterity.htm James

Used as a multiplier, it does have some validity. By experience, a Free Gas Area of 14-15 % (14.8 is what I used the last time I set out a boiler design), is usually about best. A higher FGA than that results in an inefficient, but free steaming boiler. (and my traction engine is proof- the smoke box gets to 900F or hotter- enough to slag aluminum). There are practical limits to this- trying to get enough tubes into a small boiler to get a 14% free gas area can be problematic, because of wanting the tube diameter from all obstructions (edge of tube- edge of barrel, or adjacent tube). What using FGA*grate area will do is give a decent approximation of boiler HP. It's not going to be exact, but for the purposes of overall power output, it will be good enough. Could the C2's been downgraded deliberately ? Most likely, for the reasons outlined above, that they were clapped, and there was no intent to fix them at that point, so they were deliberately de-rated to prevent some clown slapping one on the front of an express and expecting them to keep time. At the upper limits (above 900, in the formula), the grate limit is not the issue, but the fireman is. So far as I have seen, the unofficial number used in the UK was 2500 lb/hr of coal for the fireman, which results in power outputs of less than 2000 BHP being reliably possible. If you stick a 2nd fireman on, then the DBHP available from a Duchess goes up quite a bit. I understand most of the really high power output #'s recorded, were done with 3 on the footplate taking turns- passed fireman, driver and loco inspector. The amusing part is that the Austerities were the only class in the UK to have stokers...for a "small" freight engine ! James Powell

Jason, congrats. I'm sitting in the bathroom with Allen my five year old in the tub getting the bathroom dirty ( and him clean). They are the best investment that you will ever make...fairly well a guarantee they will grow . The asylum... Sounds about right. My story about village idiots... My sister bought me a "village idiot" shirt for my birthday. I was wearing it on the way to step mum's funeral (flying to Toronto, not the service, I wore N1A's for the service...) and the joker on the plane say's take any seat, so I point left towards the cockpit...and ask which one do you want me to take? Then I sit down about mid plane, with six of us on a 737, and pull out my book for the flight...which happens to be JJG Koopman's thesis, "the fire burns much brighter", probably the last PhD to be written on classic steam locos. The steward and I had a good laugh over it. Thanks west jet for making a a unpleasant trip as good as it could be. Now off to clean a five year old, James (edits for ipad in bathroom...)

In the original version of Ebay (pre 2000), they would have probably turfed Rails for that kind of treatment. I am completely not sure what Ebay of now would do with a complaint like that... James

rob posted a photo in the "original" Lounge, of Britannia 70030 (William Wordsworth), but since my reply has nothing to do with trains... No, that loco's very topical to the Lake District. Grandmum & Dad, and my mum lived in Wordsworth House ( Cockermouth ) for a period of time (mid 50's), they were the last live in residents. I think granddad didn't like it because there was no room for a model railway... When they moved to Deescales, there was a shed out back with radios & trains in it. 99.9% was given away (between 74-79), and I have a very small quantity that remains. It's a lovely print too, I think.