gordon s

Many years ago, I would have happily stripped my Cooper S down to the last nut and bolt, but those days have gone. Of course it may well be just a pipe come loose, but I put in 5 litres yesterday and it was gone within minutes. I'm assuming the bottle is split as I had filled it to the brim just before the cold weather and it took some time to fill yesterday from the garage water hose, so may just have been going straight through without me realising. I'll wait till it stops raining and venture under the bonnet with a torch... Bloomin' cars. So much for German engineering... Edit: It had stopped, so looked under the bonnet. No chance... There is a filler nozzle and about an inch of visible pipe which disappears never to be seen again. No bottle to be seen anywhere as there is so much gubbins in there. Definitely a garage job, even if it is just a loose/fractured pipe...

You may be right, DD. Just phoned the garage half expecting it to be an engine out job, but relieved? to hear they just take out the wheel arch. Still sounds like 3-4 hours labour plus materials, so ??400-??500 could be on the horizon.... Never had that happen in all the years I've been driving....

Morning one and all.... Friday and on my own as Mrs S goes off to her Mums for the day....Trying hard not to appear too happy. A bit more layout work with any luck.... The deep freeze didn't do my car any good. Filled up the washer bottle yesterday and it was empty seconds later. That will teach me to add something to the water. Could be back to the old days with a squeezy bottle and having to open the window to squirt the screen...

Morning all.... Ventured out last night to the smoke and my first live football match in about 15 years. Left home at 4.30 and got back at 11.30, having taken a car, train and underground to The Emirates to watch Arsenal v Bolton. Yes, the atmosphere was great, the stadium superb, but realise this morning I will continue to be an armchair fan.... Turn up two minutes before the match starts, lovely and warm without having to wear umpteen layers of clothes. Then of course there is a comfy seat, cold beer and food, waitress service if your lucky and far less bad language. Match over and off to bed at 10.00, just minutes later, with only two people and a dog on the stairs.... I know, ain't got no soul.......

I hear the Brady bunch have taken over West Ham....Bobby Moore will be turning in his grave....

Same from me Mike.....

I have been asked on a couple of occasions about the alignment of the traverser, so here's a little more detail. Alignment of the traverser is quite simple, but does work. I am reviewing the actual alignment of the bed itself as for a traverser to work correctly it must be perfectly parallel and square in all planes. This may not be such an issue with smaller devices but this one is 9'6" long and has a bed 2'6" wide. My original design only had one in road and I found it virtually impossible to move a bed 1'3" back and forth from a central road and still retain alignment. The longtitudinal alignment was reasonable but float in the runners and inaccuracies in construction meant it was hard to maintain vertical alignment. Changing to two inroads reduced the movement in each direction and improved the situation. A little packing under some of the rails and an increase/reduction in height of the under rail screws before soldering the rail ends, solved most of the issues. Each end of the bed has a machined hardwood L section. To drill the alignment holes, the track was laid and each line aligned in turn. Once clamped firmly in position, a 6mm hole was drilled through the hardwood rails from the top plate. To lock the table in position, all you do is slide the bed across to the required track and then just drop in a 6mm stainless pin to lock it. I will make one eventually, but a screwdriver is being used at present.... The 500mm drop from the terminus to the traverser bed is where the spiral comes into play. With a gradient of 1:100 minimum, I had to have a spiral of 50m in length, hence twice around the room to climb 500mm... Today was also a landmark for me. I've been rewiring and upgrading the bus connections on the spiral so have incorporated a DCC Specialities Circuit Breaker and solid state reversing module. This work is now almost complete and so I'm moving onto the next stage of construction. The only main board that has reached an advanced stage of construction is the one over the stairs, so this has been built and moved into place. Of course I now have a spiral and a main board sitting seven feet apart and have to join them together. Even though I had designed the whole plan in Templot, this was akin to building a bridge from both sides of the river and hoping they meet in the middle. Every so often thoughts of "what if it doesn't join" have been entering my head and I have broke into a cold sweat just anticipating the issues. Last night was spent printing out the various templates and sticking them together as normal. I had to fabricate some simple supports to hold the paper flat over the 7' gap and it was with some relief that I saw both ends come together. Phew! Thank you Lord!

It may only be a paper plot but it's also the template for making the skeletal baseboard. It much more difficult trying to fabricate something in situ as it were, so once you know the paper fits, construction is very much simplified. Joining the tracks is the easy bit... In essence all I'm doing is following a drawing so it should fit, but there is always a doubt in your mind. "What if" has crossed my mind more than once... Edit: DD. The spiral is the length of track right up against the back wall. It finishes where the paper starts. The board over the stairs is to the left/front of the pic and the gap is about 7' between the two. The sheet mdf is simply a prop to hold the paper in place as there is nothing to support it. All this shows is that both ends of the paper plot join both ends of the two boards together. Having proven it works, I can now stick the paper plot to a sheet or several pieces of ply and cut the shape. Simples....

Templot 1 Bodgers 0.....Ye of little faith. Including me...

More bus wiring and hopefully the first link between the scenic bit over the stairs and the hidden spiral. It's a bit like building a bridge from both sides and hoping the two ends will meet in the middle....

I miss those.....Three day meetings, conferences, travel and half decent restaurants...... That's strange, my nose just got longer... Oh well, back to the layout...

Yes DD, there did seem to be quite a few things automated....No wonder we get branded as odd balls..

Simple Minds and Early Risers were made for each other....

Ermine or mink?...

I heard the neighbour going off to work. It's been quiet for the last couple of days, so must be Monday....

Morning all.....Just heard about the cricket, so no surprise there.... Sadly young pup had to be returned to his home as the elder of our two did not take kindly to the new addition. We could see after 24 hours it was not going to work, so before any real damage was done, he went back to his brothers and sisters. He was a happy little soul, so it was unfair to him. Just pleased that Mrs S was quick to recognise the issues..... Sorry to add to the depressing news, but it's Monday as well.....

Morning all.....Glad to say it's dry underfoot. MOTD on as I fell asleep last night. Just 1-0 to Chelsea this time....so far.

Cheeky b*gger. Don't worry Mr H, your day will come... Where's BoD? Hope he's OK and not slit his wrists with all the other Sunderland fans..... It's a long way back home when you've got hammered.. Guess who's sitting on my lap and giving me a nice warm feeling...

A Chinese Crested Powderpuff.....I know... You'll probably recognise the hairless ones. The Powderpuff variety has a fluffy coat and looks like a mini Afghan Hound.

New arrival settled in quite quickly despite the welcome? barks and snarls from current residents. So far, so good. Floor mop has become a permanent fixture in the kitchen.... It must run in the family.

.....and no more wandering into the kitchen barefoot in the morning. Not an experience I would like to repeat....

'Tis my missus. She's been barking for years. Mostly at me, I hasten to add...

Sorry to say , it's not Sam.... A 12 week old pup is going to join the other two Chinese Crested. No doubt a pic will follow...

Morning all....Wet and wetter. Monday evening Channel 5 at 21.00. Paul Merton is going to visit Miniatur Wonderland in Hamburg. Said to be the biggest model railway in the world... We have a new addition to the family arriving today....

Glad to see they found a shilling for the meter... Seems a lot quicker than before. Felt quite tropical when I took the bags out, so the snow could be gone in a while.