gordon s

Looking at Yeadons, 60011 had tender 5326 from 12/37 to 9/60 and then 5328 from 10/60 through to withdrawal in 5/64. 5326 was definitely a corridor tender. I suspect 5328 was from the same programme of works, but can’t be 100% certain without pics.

Changing to 3D view seems to show a very long shadow, so the sun was quite low and it is lower than the surrounding rocks. I wonder if that is a dirt road or a dried up river bed.....

Came home yesterday to find a guy in the hedge that runs between our drive and the public footpath. Somewhat surprised I realised he was opening an Amazon box and trying to lose the cardboard. I walked over to see what he was up to, to be told he had picked up his parcel from the Post Office and was struggling to carry it on his scooter so decided to take it out of the box. Sounds daft now, but at the time it was feasible and as a 70 year old I didn't want to risk getting into something that could result in injury, so watched him pick up the rubbish and leave. Having done some searches last night, I now see this is a common occurrence with Amazon deliveries just being picked up off the doorstep when no one is home. It also seems there is no risk to the buyer as Amazon simply replace the item. I'm guessing the supplier also gets reimbursed, so it appears an acceptable overhead risk to Amazon. I haven't had to contact the Police before, but going on the recorded message from Thames Valley Police, they aren't interested, so the risks to criminals are minimal. Funny old world we live in.......

Strange how coincidences crop up, Nov 25th is the same date that George Best died......

https://news.sky.com/story/maradona-dead-argentina-legend-and-one-of-worlds-greatest-footballers-dies-aged-60-12142127 One of the great’s despite the World Cup. Interesting that they suspect a blood clot, particularly when they are talking about heading the ball.

If it's the same as normal Mk1 stock, you need to remove the bogies and spring controlled coupling links and from memory there are two screws (one each end) under the bogies. Carefully lift the wire pipes out of the roof ends and swing them out away from the body. You should then be able to unclip the sides/roof from the floor section to access any loose windows. This has all been from memory, so hopefully correct.....

I tried that, but without the radio for company, everything seemed harder in terms of being upbeat and having the motivation to crack on. It's easy to see how your mo jo can come and go. Of course a few days 'cold turkey' and you adapt to these things, but it just surprised me just how cut off we felt from society/access to information. We've just upgraded to the latest BT Home Hub, but the fault was probably miles away as it cut off a whole swathe of Berkshire.

Our Broadband dropped out early Sunday morning and it turned out to be a significant problem in our local area. Never really gave it a second thought for a few minutes, but as the hours went on, I became aware of just how much dependency we have on the Internet. Status updates from BT were vague and we never knew what the cause of the problem was, but the whole system was down for 36 hours and has only just returned. I even felt a little stressed not knowing when it would be back as it seemed everything I wanted to do needed internet access in one way or another. Apart from food and clothes we order everything on line. Our entertainment in terms of film/TV/radio all require the internet to have 100% access to access downloads and radio via a Sonos system. Of course the ease of access means our conventional TV/radio's have long since gone and it struck me just how much time we spend on the web simply looking up information and learning how to do things. Online banking and finance all require digital access. Of course those much younger than I would laugh as everything can be accessed via their mobile phones, but I rarely use mine. It’s a very early iPhone and the Vodafone signal at home is non existent, so that didn't help at all. Never thought I would say this, but life without the internet seemed almost Victorian and was not a place I would like to go.... Let alone, no RMweb.......

Sorry to hear about your last couple of days, Jonathan. Having the world fall out of your bottom is not a lot of fun. Having suffered with Ulcerative Colitus for 60 years, it’s an unfortunate part of life we have to endure. If it’s any consolation, not having the treatment is not a viable alternative if you want to enjoy your layout. I really hope you’ll feel better in a few days.....

4SF?....... Wow, you had better brace yourself in case the “that will never work brigade” come knocking...... In all seriousness, I was guessing EM and had no idea you had joined the ‘narrow gauge’ society. Perhaps we need a special code or handshake like the Masons....

Just spent an enjoyable hour catching up nearly two months of progress and pics. I just love the spaciousness of Derwent Spa, Jonathan. You really have undertaken some outstanding work and I'm quite happy about the cleanliness overall. Sometimes it's great to see something that is not filthy and run down. I keep looking at the track and trying to work out what gauge it is. Even been back to the beginning to see if it was mentioned.... It looks superb, whatever it is....

Cut off the plug and fitted an approved fused one. The incoming mains cable is 16 strands of 0.06mm copper and the output cable 24 strands of 0.09mm copper. Decided to play around carefully and it seems to work. Max 12v but with 60W it could provide 5A which is more than enough. I still wouldn't let kids play around with it or leave it plugged in unattended, but purely for test it was OK.

Cut off the plug and stripped the wire just for the hell of it.... The input cable is marked Soundtec Electronics AVV 70°C 250v/300v. The cable is twin core and appears to have 16 strands (possibly more) of 0.06mm copper. The low voltage side is again copper with probably 24 strands of 0.09mm copper. Off to check out the rating specs.

It does run better on 16vAC, but I wondered if that was just because of 16v versus 12v. I still have the power pack I bought from China with an illegal mains plug. They have given me a refund and don't want it back, so I may well cut off the plug and fit a 5A fused plug. It is rated at 60W so 5A at 12v and I don't mind treading very carefully for testing, but would not pass it on to be golfing pal. I'll be interested to see what the cable is like once I've cut the plug off.....

Hardly Oscar stuff, but running on 12vDC ....and again on 16vAC. The video's run for around 40 secs and the controller cuts out around after around a minute's running. I guess it must be an electronic protection device as it works again after a couple of minutes with no load.

Managed to press the wheels in to 1.875" and all is well...... I have the circuit of track laid out on the lounge floor which takes me back a bit and happy to say the loco runs really well for something 85 years old. The only problem is that it runs for half a dozen circuits and the Gaugemaster D I have says sod this, I've had enough and packs up. Looking at the spec, it is only a 1A controller and I suspect is not man enough for the job. Right now I only have the loco pulling it's tender, so with two coaches bolted on as well, it will take some power to get it started. Looking at the Marklin 6647, they are rated at 32vA which will be 2A at 16v or 2.66A at 12v. I'm about to order a second hand one from eBay and with postage etc, it will be around £40 landed in the UK. Couple of questions. Will 2A be sufficient to run the loco plus coaches and if not, is there any alternative for similar cost around £40 on the second hand market?

The whole issue of sleeving on the earth pin is the reverse. You could have earth contacts in the socket that are near the front face such that when the earth pin is inserted it goes past the contacts and then you have them mating with the sleeved area and not the metal part.

Well, all done and happy to say, it runs well on the bench, so many thanks for all your support and advice. I have run into one problem though..... Excited by my efforts this morning, I laid out the track on the floor and off the loco went down the straights with no problem, but there is an issue negotiating the tight curves. With nothing to go on, I set the back to back at 1.95" to match the pony truck, but suspect the larger wheels and fixed wheelbase mean the drivers are binding on the curves. Is anyone able to give me a back to back measurement for this standard gauge loco? I would have thought that 1.95" would have plenty of clearance on 2.125" track gauge, but it appears not. Means taking all the loco apart again to reset the wheels, but it has to be done.....

I normally check the feedback, but for some reason missed this time. There are two issue re the pins. The earth pin is sleeved which is a no straight away and when I was involved in connectors many years ago, I seem to recall there were a set of dimensions that controlled the distance of the pins from the edge and a minimum distance between the back of the plug and the front face of the socket plate. This was specifically to stop small children being able to touch live pins when inserting a plug. Either way, it's all academic now. They have refunded my money immediately and I've sent the product back. We each make our own choices in this world and the safety of my family and my home are paramount.

Stumbled across this a few minutes ago..... Wonderful memories.

Thanks IG, I was thinking that may the case as in I suspected it was cosmetic rather than mechanical. I have the two geared wheels fitted and the rotation of the wheels with a coupling rod fitted show no sign of binding. There is one small click which I can see it is caused by wear within the spur gear chain where a hole in chassis has a little slop versus the shaft of the small gear that drives the wheel set. I started using my bench drill to insert the axles, but it really needed a lot of pressure to push the axle in and I was concerned about breaking something. In the end I started with the drill and pushed them home in the bench vice. That was fine. The issue this morning is how the add the other two wheels and yet maintain the rod spacing. Knowing now it doesn’t matter if it’s 85-90 degrees simplifies the task with just the rod spacing to worry about. My biggest fear is messing up as once the wheels are on, they are really on and it would be nigh impossible to get one off again. The axle splines mean there is no leeway to get the wheel partly on and then gently rotate it as they engage as soon as you start to press them on. Need to tread carefully......

Depends how many pieces you have left over...... You can accumulate more than a few when you’ve made several false starts over the years. Getting rid of the scrap boards is easy.....it’s all the other remnants that are just left on the garage floor....

Thanks for posting that. Had a chuckle re Graham Varley Motorcyles as he built all the kit stock on my own layout. We lived in Newmarket and my kids went to school in Soham so Turners artic’s were an everyday sight. Please pass my regards to Graham.

Trouble is I lost the instructions, so have no idea which piece goes with which piece....... Been to the tip again this week, with loads and loads of plywood off cuts. I can actually get into my garage/workshop now without tripping over bits of wood. Another appointment tomorrow when all the shed off cuts will go and another next Tuesday to get rid of another ton of stuff. I have to admit, my wife has been ‘giving constructive advice’ ( some may call it nagging, but not me....) for months now about clearing up and it really has made a difference. Absolute pleasure working in the garage this afternoon and the extra light upstairs has made ET a lot easier to see. Even the booking system at the tip works. Roll up at the prescribed time, no queueing and everything just happens without fuss or tension. I hope they stick with the system even after lockdown.....

I did consider that Richard, but if they are prepared to cut corners to this degree, then God only knows what's going on inside. Needless to say I will return it once they give me a return address. If nothing is forthcoming then I'll claim a refund on eBay. The last thing I need is a fire risk at home or worse still, risk of a shock to anyone.