BR60103

I always assumed that the wrong answers came from previous years' non-multiple choice exams. I also think that there should be one obviously wrong answer.

The gas station attendant at our Costco said the best time was 7:00 pm, but I forget if he said weeknight or Friday/Saturday.

Isn't enginering applied everything? The degree over here is Bachelor of Applied Science.

Today was Dayle's birthday. As she didn't fancy going to a restaurant, we went to the next city for a walk in the park to see the swans. They were just sitting on the bank preening themselves. On the drive back we went through bits of sprinkle then for about 2 miles I had to put the wipers on full. The TV weather said that there was no significant rain. We have a case of CoVid in the Village, so all the little get-togethers have been cancelled. They are not saying who it is; while this respects privacy, it makes contact tracing tricky.

There already was a locomotive named Queen Elizabeth (46221) after her mother.

I spent an hour today on hold with the tax department. I wasnt able to log in to their messaging site. Turned out I was using an outdated username. Messages were that I didn't qualify for one tax refund and that I was getting a different one (cheque already cashed). I'm not in trouble. I saw Peter Grimes once. There was enough emotion that I don't intend to see it again.

I'm working on an Airfix Brake van. It's labelled a limited run. The parts are all bright red. Lots of the parts have the marks from the ejector rods -- even bits with the planking. It has the same painting instructions as the brown plastic version so it may remain to run in the bright red.

Unexpected task this afternoon. SWMBO managed to spill a sticky medical drink on the computer desk which then spread to the floor and other surfaces. Also various shelves under the desk. We think most of it has been soaked up and washed off. The floor behing the desk is the cleanest it's been in 5 years.

I still have not used mine for checking mains voltage.

I probaby use my meter more for checking batteries than anything else.

I dug out another old kit -- Airfix Brake Van. The price tag says $ .98. There is a bit on the box that says "Limited Production". I can't find my previous build -- done about 55 years ago -- but I think it was brown. This one is in bright red plastic. I think the directions are the same as they say to paint the underframe, buffer heads and roof but don't mention the rest. Well, I did manage to find a slide of the interior of a similar van with my uncle and his friend in it, so I know the inside is a kind of white colour. I'm going for Humbrol Ivory. The other bits will be Polly S Boxcar Red and some of their blacks. These are getting on a bit now and the company that bought Floquil/PollyS and discontinued them has been bought by another and discontinued. PollyS used to make a line of Dungeons and Dragons paint which included a line of greys. I liked using Gargoyle Grey on rooves. Day nearly over. High near 32. We went out to hear our local group the Elderly Brothers "rehearse" (concerts are verboten) but came home because of the heat. (Have I noted that we are in a community with a minimum age of 55 and a median much higher?)

Didn't you recently acquire a Junior Toppam Hatt?

Blackthorn: I think the Princess Victoria always came with simple motion. The First 10 Years book notes that there were 3 named models in 1959. In 1960 Princess Royal and Elizabeth received improved valve gear and in 1961 see-through wheels, magnadhesion and smoke generator provision. (The book only goes that far.) I don't know when it was numbered 92220.

One use for the Resistance meter is checking rail continuity if something stops running. Put one probe on a rail where it runs and the other on the same side rail a bit away. You should get a reading of almost 0. Move the second probe down the track. At some point you may see the reading jump to very high. This is where there is a break of some sort. You will often get this at points where contacts are dirty or you forgot to add frog wiring. I have an extra set of probes with alligator clips on them. And a long wire with clips. (My watts explanation may have been a bit crude, to get an example.)

You will should have 3 or 4 main settings on your meter: DC Volts, Amps, Ohms, possibly AC Volts. Volts tells you how much push the electricity is getting between one point and another. Tells you if there is power available between the rails or the terminals on the controller. Also use to see if a battery is dead. Amps is the current flowing. I think it is some millions of electrons per second. This is related to the load and the amount of heat generated. It is measured by putting the meter in place of one of the wires. Older OO/HO locomotives could draw 1 amp on a bad day. Old O gauge locos might pull more. It is interesting to watch the meter as you run a train around the layout and see how the draw varies. Some people check a loco by holding the coupler and turning the throttle up to see what it consumes when the wheels spin. Ohms is resistance. 0 ohms is a short or you've soldered the wires together properly (depends). Infinite is an open circuit, again either something isn't connected or you haven't dripped solder across a printed citcuit board. You can test track by measuring resistance from rail to rail. I suggest that you disconnect the throttle or you will measure its resistance. Watts is Volts times Amps. A 100 Watt bulb at 200 Volts consumes 1/2 amp. At 12 Volts it would consume over 8 amps.

If you want to leave the G0G, You could remember that in America the convention is that O Gauge refers to 3-rail trains while 2-rail is called O Scale.

We had a day cleaning carpets. Machine with hot water and a solution. Extra rugs not back in place yet. The promised thunderstorm finally arrived after 7 pm. There may be more over the weekend. Dayle was out again before I was out of bed. Even at that hour she found her walk too hot.

After I married, I started going to my wife's dentist. I forget wht I said, but she sent me down to a specialist to have "upper 8 & 8" removed. I nearly fainted with anticipation just sitting in the dental chair. I don't remember my detachable retina operation or the follow up cataract treatment. I do remember that they let my wife wheel me down to the car with no post-op interview or meds and the eye got infected. I've suggested various places that the older dentist chair -- with all the tools and washbasins and lights hung from it -- would make a wonderful modelling furniture.

I am part of an extremely small group that wants to convert hiking trails to railways. So far we have no financial support.

I was forgetting that the track is already down. Sorry.

Woken about 4 am by SWMBO who was hearing a noise. Finally traced to the water meter which was spinning like mad and clicking. This because the outside watering system was on. This is beyond our control -- part of the common gardening feature but we supply the water. We went looking for a new dishwasher today; the current one is no longer doing a perfect job. The shop didn't have any available (one labelled Sold) and don't provide installation.

They are single pole double throw.

Does anyone want to comment on unassembled kits? The importer I mentioned above had a rather high estimate of the percentage of the kits he sold that were never made. If buying for investment, look for items that will not sell in quantity. One item in demand in the N.A. collectors market is a Lionel set with a pink steam locomotive and cars in pastel shades like "robins egg blue". It was marketed as a "Girls Set" and sank like a stone. IIRC there may have been a "Boys" version with a blue locomotive.

On part of my layout I added microswitches operated by the bar that joins the point. You would have to add the wiring to the frog which would then run back to the points. This still leaves the open point opposite polarity to the adjacent rail. (This assumes electrofrog points.)

One our favourite importers (now long gone) told me that he'd had to disappoint some customers as his allocation wouldn't cover the orders. One of his disappointed customers told him that he hoped "his" model would go to someone that would run it as it would increase the value of the mint models.