Phil Bullock

18 minutes ago, Michael Hodgson said:

I would not remove isolating switches from an existing DC layout being connverted to DCC, but that's not to say you need to install isolating switches on a new DCC layout.  A district cutout is just as good a way of isolating the affected section when you have a short. 

 

A derailed loco, a screwdriver or beer can standing across the running ralls may be easy enough to find, but smaller things like a track pin bridging an isolation break in the rails is a lot harder to find on a large layout.

or a metal watch strap …. But with 18v 7amps you soon know about that one! 

8 minutes ago, Welchester said:

 

Shouldn't that be 'The Sparagras'?

4.10 Evesham to Crewe express freight wasn’t it? 

8 minutes ago, No Decorum said:

If your eyesight is wonky, then so is mine. It has rather put me off the WCRC coaches too. Let’s hope Mr. Bullock is right and Mr. Proudman has gone to Specsavers.

According to SWMBO there’s a very low probability of that!!! 😀

Meanwhile at the GWSR …. 
 

St George’s day asparagus express

3 minutes ago, Clive Mortimore said:

I am sure it must be my eyesight but the new bogie designs appear to suffer the same as the old ones. Have a butchers at the brake and wheel interface.

Can see what you mean Mr M! Would be a shame if that was perpetuated in newly designed bogies…. Wonder if these EPs are sat on old ones? 

It’s already been mentioned but it’s worth emphasis …. Having accessories on a seperate bus with its own circuit breaker will mean you can continue to change points if you get a track power short . 
 

Avoids the issue of not being able to change the point you have just tried to run through against the set route thereby creating the short 

Excellent news! Thanks Bachmann, good to see the interest in the Mk1 coaches is still there…. 

@Downendian and I are planning a raid on Sunday! 
 

is Millionaires Shortbread required? 

We also operate on a wandering basis …. So have gone for eyebolts with cord through them. 

Mind you that gang of criminals should be enough to deter any potential learners or tinkerers. That 4 doll bracket causes angst though… and red cord next time i think! 

1 hour ago, Michael Hodgson said:

 

Of course the English could pronounce it.  They even made a film there

 

 

 

Must be tiffin time! Well it is SWAG on Sunday… 

3 minutes ago, Captain Kernow said:

What is wrong with the (fairly) recent Hornby version of this vehicle, please?

 

There must be something wrong with it, given that Rapido have decided to do one themselves...

 

Hornby ones are very good for recreations of The Flying Kipper… prone to derailments! 

16 hours ago, stovepipe said:

Good choice, I’ll have some of the ice blue ones. Hornby’s version with the white buffer stocks must be someone’s idea of humour.

 

Actually the last block fish trains ran on the ECML in1976/7, not 1968. Single wagons were often seen on Far North and West Highland passenger services for a while afterwards too, which makes for some nice variation.

 

Yes remember seeing one through FP in 1969 behind one of the Haymarket EE4s…. 
 

In parcels service they were common vehicles on the Aberystwyth-York mails… 

York Mail at Aberystwyth

31111 was withdrawn in 1983 and languished at Swindon for 3 years before scrapping so depends on your definition of mid 80s. 
 

As it is it’s a Hornby lash up …. 31111 retained her raised body side trim until the end which the Hornby blue model lacks … it was only ever paint on the green versions! Most lost that trim when refurbished so that may work to your advantage…. But you can reinstate it with micro strip if repainting

Typing Class 31 skinhead in to a Flickr search will come up with a few… 

3 minutes ago, GMKAT7 said:

Good morning folks,

 

If I start playing 'Take me to the river' (Talking Heads version) will that help?

 

Cheers, Nigel.

You mean you don’t want this version? 
 

Take me to the river

Too much floundering and carping on this thread! 😃 Any way what scale are we talking? 

Sandpipers on the River Usk yesterday….,

On 06/04/2024 at 20:44, Gilbert said:

Cheltenham today..

Was doing a great job on the shunt turn… 

8 hours ago, hartleymartin said:

One question I would like to ask about the BR Mk1 stock is what was a typical consist for a branch line train? I imagine 3 carriages, one of them a composite one of them a brake carriage (probably in the middle) and another 2nd class of some sort?

Yes that would do … SK BSK CK

1 hour ago, Downendian said:

Just returned from a 10 day trip to Scotland and the Lake District.

Just the most magnificent bird I’ve ever seen, a white tailed sea eagle. At the limits of my telephoto lens (so slightly blurred) the eagle was being mobbed by a pair of buzzards, one visible in the first image. Tiny in comparison. my daughter took some video where the eagle turned upside down flashing its talons at one of the buzzards- amazing!

The North of the Isle of Skye. 
one spotted the day before, although it may have been a golden eagle as the zoomed in shots don’t show the hallmark white tail as this one does.

Neil

 Brilliant! Sounds like you had a great trip …

Here’s our latest visitor…. 

6 hours ago, Sidecar Racer said:

 Ooopsy .

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-68728348

Definitely not in the right plaice…. 

33 minutes ago, phil_sutters said:

A solitary Peacock so far this year.  Too many cold breezes perhaps.

As beautiful as ever… 

42 minutes ago, James Makin said:

 

Just to show you can't please everyone, I actively remove cab lighting from all of my locos once they go 'through the works' - taking the circuit board right out to prevent anyone running them with the cab interior light on - just as the amount of times I've been operating the Club layout at shows and you come back from lunch break to find your mates have lit up the fleet like a Christmas tree! 😄

Yes we do the same but it is a mixed blessing as lights can be a useful indicator to rookie drivers that they have selected the right loco! 

Working out on drive on layout has its advantages …. Buzzed yesterday by a male brimstone and a tortoiseshell in addition to the more literal bumble bees.

Overwintering peacock had left the garden shed too, hopefully to produce a new year’s generation. 

New visitors for our garden this morning…, siskins ! Very happy with that.

Re bird apps I use Chirp-o-matic but if it comes up with exotica I treat it with a big pinch of salt. It was persistently trying to tell we there was a golden oriole in woods at Talybont  on Usk last April.