eldavo

At the moment that would be a' la' Brio as I haven't wired things up! It isn't the only thing that isn't working though. Sent my favourite loco back to the manufacturer under warrantly just over a month ago. The fault is clearly with the circuit board in the tender causing a short going forwards as it works fine in reverse. Today I am told I am to get a refund as it's "unrepairable". Not a happy bunny at all. What price outsourcing manufacturing to China and holding no spare parts? Financial suicide me thinks. Grrr, grumble mumble. Cheers Dave

Morning All, Cloudy one in these parts. Lots to do today but so far little achieved. Dom and Robert believe me when you find a child with full on ADHD, Ritalin and similar drugs can make a huge difference. I have 3 kids and they have all been there. Without the stuff they were all over the place but with it they were very bright individuals. Far from suppressing individuality it allows them to find it. Of course when they get to a certain age and believe they can live without it there is a tendency for quite a lot of things to go wrong. Ask me how I know... Cheers Dave

Time for a bit more work on Waton and it involves more whacky trackwork. The layout is due out to its first show with paying punters in a months time so there is quite a bit to do. There's also quite a lot that won't get done! On its first outing to the RMWeb members day I only had the routes from Leicester to Birmingham and Walsall running and the fiddleyard track for the Derby route had not been laid. Initially I thought I would have to re-align the exit tracks from the scenic section and move the double crossing in the fiddleyard to get a useable curve that the HST could negotiate. With a bit of fiddling I've found I can get things working with very little change. I have shortened the Atlas 60 degree diamond crossing lead-in tracks even further and slightly tweaked the exit angle of the tracks from the scenic section and lo and behold I can get a better curve. The minimum radius is still down to 9inches (or slightly less!) but tests seem to show that I can get the Farish HST, 170 and Voyager round safely. The Dapol Voyager probably won't make it round as it is far less tolerant of sharp curves but my Dapol class 66s are quite happy so freight is a possibility as well. Here's a couple of views of the scary curves... In the second shot you can see that I am playing with converging the two tracks into a single line to enter the Derby fiddleyard proper. I am experimenting with some custom pointwork for this and have knocked together a couple of skeletal A5 turnouts back to back. These have only one sprung switchblade so I am hoping that trains will trail the sprung blade successfully and I won't have to fit point motors. These points are rigged with insulated frogs. In fact if you look closely you can see the frog is incomplete and is missing a bit of plasticard to finish it off. This shot also shows how crude these are. There's some fettling to be done but hopefully they will work. As to why I need two sprung points back to back will be revealed in due course (probably). Cheers Dave

Morning Afternoon All, Wasn't here earlier because here wasn't here. Have a good one all. Cheers Dvae

Morning All, Cloudy around these parts. Dog walked, coffee drunk now into the surfing bit. There is a suspicion of a list in the air and I suspect I will be expected to do "stuff" when the staff return from the gym! Have a good one all. Cheers Dave Sinatra "My Way" morphing into Gilbert Vinter's Symphony of Marchs. Weird or what?

That was what he was trying to do by leaping over the coffee table. Cheers Dave (now wrapping up well to go down to the shed)

Morning All, Sun is shining hereabouts. Dd you have reminded me why I don't pay good money to travel to foreign climes! No grand plan for the day, there was one but it's changed I've been told. Might do some tracklaying on the trainset if I can escape to the shed. Off to a Joe Bonamassa concert this evening. Have fun all. Cheers Dave

Morning All, Distinctly autumnal but the sun is shining. Day out today to RAF Tangmere museum and Amberley Museum and Heritage Centre. That's the plan but as it's a chaps day out we may get stuck in a hostelry somewhere and have to rethink! Have a good one all. Cheers Dave Estralita (played by the late James Waton) now switching to Fanfare for the Common Man (EL&P version)

Morning All, Clear skies hereabouts. Somewhat cream crackered after a weekend of playing trains at Uckfield exhibition. Good fun though. Need to get my whassaname in gear and get the layout unloaded from the car then I think it's time for the golf course. Have a good one all. Cheers Dave Imperial March from Star Wars. At least it's not bloomin' Mamma Mia!

Morning All, Sun is shining in these parts though a distinctly autumnal feel temperature wise. SWMBO is not working today so I await the list! At some point today I have to load Cramdin into the car for an early trip to Uckfield tomorrow morning. Bad luck on the arthritis diagnosis Andrew. Not what you want for sure. Have a good one all. Cheers Dave

Honey honey. Argh, can't get rid of this bloomin' Mamma Mia soundtrack!! Cheers Dave

Morning All, Full set of oktas in place but I think a round of golf is in order regardless. Bit of track building to do this afternoon I think. It's a dirty job but someone has to do it! Have a good one all. Cheers Dave Two Little Boys alternating with various snippets of the Mamma Mia soundtrack. Sad or what?

Morning Afternoon All, Rotten luck Gordon. The current rule of thumb is that a prosecution will be made if you are 10% plus 2mph over the speed limit. So you could get nicked at 79mph on the motorway. How do I know this? It was discussed on the bad boys course I attended a few weeks back after being clocked at 35 in a 30 limit. If you are lucky they will offer you the course (£85) and you will avoid the £60 and 3 points. Have a good one all. Cheers Dave

Morning All, Distinctly cooler. Ought really get on and fix a few layout things in preparation for Uckfield show as this weekend will involve lots of RLW (Red Laughing Water) with friends and no railway time. I suppose I could just do the normal thing and panic around about Thursday next week! Have a good one all. Cheers Dave Imperial March from Star Wars

Morning All, The oktas have been leaking again. Looks like a day of work at the model railway club is on the cards. Some pointwork to build and track to lay. Short diversion to the driving range to work on the golf swing later in the afternoon. Busy busy busy. Very glad I don't have to do team building exercises any more. I've seen more than one good team broken by them! Have a good one all. Cheers Dave

Morning All. The oktas are back. Well done on completing the 10k Mike. I'm righthanded but had problems with damaged nerves and repetitive strain injuries in my neck, shoulder, elbow and wrists (aren't computers wonderful!) that meant I had to give up playing cornet/trumpet/Flugelhorn for 6 to 9 months. I got back in to playing when the band I was playing for got deperate for a player for a contest whereupon I was dragged in to play 3rd cornet lefthanded! Confused the heck out of the conductor. Have a good one all. Cheers Dave

Morning All, Sun is a shining hereabouts. Just as well as we are off to a Barbeque for lunch. In October! One particular prank my class played on the whole school was to remove the square bars from the door locks of all the classrooms carefully replacing the handles and leaving the doors open. Of course come registration time just about every classroom door was closed and lo and behold the whole school locked in their classrooms. Took the caretaker quite a while to release everyone. Just as well there wasn't a fire given the classrooms were on the 2nd floor! Have a good one all. Cheers Dave

Morning All, No sign of any oktas hereabouts. Nothing as energetic as running for me! Pack up the layout and load it into the car ready for an early getaway to Beaconsfield show tomorrow is what's on the agenda. SWMBO also said something about a walk this afternoon. It's a tough life. Have a good one all. Cheers Dave

Morning All, Sun's a shinin'. Not sure what the plan is for today though as it is one of the days that SWMBO doesn't work I suspect I may be "encouraged" to do things I would not normally prioritise as important! No earworm today though I do have tinitus to keep me company! Have a good one all. Cheers Dave

Morning All, Didn't get to look at the forums yesterday as I was on a boys day out to South Wales. Checked out the Big Pit museum and quite a few pubs. Descending 90 metres in a pit head cage and wandering around underground in a coal mine is an interesting experience. Nothing like how it would have been for the workers but fascinating all the same. A lot of Wales seemed to be closed! Been stuck with Barbara Streisand "you don't bring me flowers" for several days but moved on at last. Seems to be Scherezade at the moment! Have a good one all. Cheers Dave

Morning All, Oktas seem to be clearing though they have been leaking. Apparently it's Monday. I know that as SWMBO has told me she is off to work! Nice quiet day sorting the layout for a Beaconsfield show next weekend would seem to be in order. You are not the only one with a soundtrack in your head Pete. Unless I am actually listening to something my mind replays music incessantly. Most days it's not a problem but on occasions it can be annoying if I have been listening to something too "catchy" recently. Must be something to do with many years of endless hours of rehearsals. I can still pick out all the different parts of some pieces that I rehearsed seriously 20 odd years ago. Scary thing the old noodle! Have a good one all. Cheers Dave

Morning All, Some threatening oktas in evidence. Ouch Dd! That's an unfortunate encounter to say the least. Bumped into Gordon at Scaleforum (not literally even though the bar was open!) and had a chat with a few other folks. All in all a pleasant day out. Lots to do but where to start? Have a good one all. Cheers Dave

Morning All, Bright but a touch autumnal in these parts. Time for a trip up the road to Leatherhead for Scaleforum I think. Have a good one all. Cheers Dave

I guess I almost qualify as a petrolhead under Gordon's system then. I owned 2 Alfa Romeo Alfasud heaps in the 70s. Never seen so much rust on a car in all my life. The first one had rust on its stainless steel bumpers when it was a fortnight old. The only way I could get rid of it after 2 years was to trade it in for another one! That one got written off (as they do). Great fun to drive but would never start if it was damp and misty. Mine spent more time in the body repair shop than on the road anyway! Cheers Dave

Morning All, Dubious looking oktas in place. Hope it brightens for a bit of golf this afternoon. That's some serious Italian tail pipe Gordon. Bags of fun I have no doubt but will it start when it rains? Have a good one all. Cheers Dave