MarkC

Given the issues pointed out by others, to me you'll be as well just building the kit as supplied, tbh. That's what I'll be doing with mine. Regarding frames, I had a Nucast K1, an eBay rescue, to build. Its original whitemetal lump chassis casting was missing, so I built a chassis using a set of DA's K4 frames. That worked well. Mark

A percentage of cargo was always expected to be lost because it ripened too early - up to 5%, if memory serves. Having done a couple of trips on banana boats in the mid 80s, both as "Genny 3rd" and "Frosty", I still remember watching a lot of bananas being dumped for that reason. The aim was to arrive at the discharge port with the cargo still 'green & firm' - and was quite hard work for the Engineers. Lots of hard running of the generators to keep the refrigeration plant going. For the first 3 days, all you seemed to do was pump the hold bilges out, as the bananas released a lot of water. You blew cool air into the holds at 11.1 Deg.C until the outlet air was at 12.2 Deg.C, then adjusted the inlet to 13.3 Deg.C for the rest of the voyage. Numbers I'll never forget... Mark

I'm sure that I've read accounts by various folk that say that 61379 was, to quote one description, "a bit of a dog", not well regarded by footplate crews or maintenance staff. As for changing loco IDs - there are, of course, several examples of this being done officially - Royal Scot, Coronation, Windsor Castle to name but three... Mark

Crazy Little Thing called Love - Queen

It's a great arrangement, isn't it? OK, there's some faffing about getting the spring tension right, but after that, happy days! Mark

Hi Mike That's exactly how the bogie on my recently (finally bar painting...) completed A6 from Arthur K's kit is arranged. Obviously there's no outside cylinders to worry about on an A6, but the lack of side throw on curves, when compared to the Little Engines A6 with a more 'traditional' (ie a swinging arm, with pivot just in front of the leading driving wheels) arrangement is quite marked. Mark

Wise words indeed 😎 Mark

Caveat Emptor...

It is, yes. However, unlike Romfords, you can't guarantee the security of the wheels on the axles if you have to subsequently remove the wheels & refit them. That would be the time to break out the Loctite... I tend to use a set of Romfords to check that all is square with the chassis, then remove them & fit the AG wheels. I do have a GW Models press, but have done without in the past, setting up 2 sets of wheels by eye & checking that all was OK by trying the wheels with the coupling rods on, before fitting the 3rd set if it was a 6-coupled loco. Obviously if it was an 8-coupled loco then I'd have the 3 sets proved OK before fitting the 4th... Mark

And with good reason, I think 😎

Is This Love? - Bob Marley & The Wailers

Golden Age? Kirk built A4? Really? https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/276181431898?hash=item404db2365a:g:2SUAAOSwBMZlXIZT&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAAwEWnsY2hLfEIQ4yyzkL9VAYPXIB6mIuBFEbw4Igg9belliBWY7IDM6BpjDPhQwXpzBRgHhGKoWBGmXpe61ZsghezPfdOEk24cCsEvT1QAn4OXplvpGR%2Bajsri75rHp4eSqLLDkaqni%2FJmJ5oZksKc3b0Hp7qgmFRhcd6fVNPWNSIIsgvp8gqJItcPcJ6y5HCqbXgST3dGi1lO%2FhZr5h8af5THYF8xkQurL3OR5rQ%2BoJxyUYVWUKxZSwwScMMehACIg%3D%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR46Qqt7-Yg

Run for Home - Lindesfarne

I can vouch for that mechanism - I use one to power a Fox, Walker 0-6-0T, which has a Hardy's Hobbies body. Lovely bit of kit 👍 Mark

Sadly back then it was all faxed, plus one did still expect some honourable behaviour from others... Mark (Becoming ever more cynical as time passes...)

Ooh, interesting. Thank you very much. Cheers Mark

That's rather splendid! Does anyone know if these were these vehicles built for a particular service, or could they be seen across the NER network? Mark

I feel your pain. About 25 years ago, my ship's incinerator control panel died, and the maker advised that the unit was obsolete. They offered a different item; this was received on board with no specific instructions for installation. I worked out a suitable scheme, which took a couple of days to do properly, wired it up & tested it. All OK. I sent a copy of my drawing, with details of necessary modifications to the machine & its cabling, to my Superintendent for filing in the Office documentation. 2 months later, a circular from the makers was received, advising that the control panel on incinerator Type xxx was now obsolete, but a suitable replacement was available from them, and here was a copy of the modifications you would need to do... yes, my drawing & notes, verbatim... I called the Superintendent. Oh, he says, I just forwarded your stuff to the makers to see if they had any comments to make. Sorry... I was NOT impressed... Mark

Man management - frankly, you either have it or you don't. It's even more important, I suggest, to possess these skills when working with volunteers than in the conventional, paid, workplace. When you're not being paid, then some oik basically saying "It's my way or the gangway" is a pretty good way of saying "sod it" and walking away, particularly when said oik isn't leading by example. It becomes even more critical when you have a mixture of paid staff and volunteers. Mark

Ain't no Sunshine - Bill Withers

Nothing Compares 2 U - Sinead O'Connor

Soul Man - Sam & Dave (Also Blues Brothers!)

Your work continues to inspire, John. Your sentiment that I've quoted rings very true with me as well; my own collecting of locomotives & stock which ran on the Scarborough & Whitby line has turned up some fascinating oddities. Not sure that my wallet would agree, but that's another matter! Mark

More than This - Roxy Music

Ah, but this bloke was an IT expert - he told everybody that, so it must have been true. Oh, wait...