tomparryharry

Hello Folks. Some months back, I espied a a 3D printed model for a Bulldog on Ebay, plus other parts. The problem is, I can't find the listings now.

Any ideas?

Cheers, Ian. 

On 27/02/2024 at 13:31, Miss Prism said:

Yes, the vacuum pump sound is too 'clicky'.

 

Sometimes, the pump lubrication needs a top-up. The 'click' is the non-return valve closing down on its seat. 

I'll be following this thread with interest. I would have thought that a Dean Goods model might be the ideal starting point, having the right size wheels, and the brake rigging. 

I'm off to have a look at the OPC books, Dean Goods to 39xx. Wheels, spacing, etc. 

I can relate to that. Mrs Smith has got a lot going on with different things; all external. In my case, she gets respite from me, which suits me fine. The solitude at times is absolute bliss. The shed continues, with glazing and lighting, but I'm master of my fortunes, so an hour here, and an hour there, keeps the interest going, and planning the next 'hour'. 

I think we all know that the weather plays a huge factor in our lives. The last 6 days have been pretty good, hence the mood.

Stick with it, Folks!  

Vote #2 from here. Like most Western locomotives, the pump is driven from a crosshead take-off/connection. 

A drunk goes to hospital.

"Doctor, Doctor, I've broken my arm!

"Goodness, so you have! How did that happen?

"Liver function test....

"WHAT!!!

"I passed my liver function test, so I went to the pub to celebrate. 8 pints of cider, and well, you can guess the rest.....

Dump bomber? No..... Other ideas spring to mind, but I'd be banned from here quicker than sh!t off an....

4 hours ago, The Johnster said:

I have a Toshiba 32” tv with two HDMI sockets as well as other connection options, which has become a bit of a pita over time as first one, then the second, HDMIs ceased to function.  Both are needed, as there is a Virgin TIVO box and a Mac Mini computer feeding the tv.  These are now feeding the tv  by a single VGA/HDMI adaptor, not a satisfactory setup and a guaranteed eventual failure as these plugs don’t like excessive handling.  I’ve had a series of SDMI splitter boxes, none of which lasted very long or were reliable. 
 

Coming home from the shops on Tuesday, saw that someone had chucked a similar tv out on to the pavement, so checked it for HDMI sockets, box ticked, two of them present & correct…  As I had the 4-wheeler heavy duty shopping trolley with, no problem to load the tv on top of it for cartage home, only around the corner anyway.  Thinking was that, if this tv works, it can replace the existing problem child, and if it doesn’t there is little to lose by taking the backs off and replacing the HDMI sockets on the original tv, at least so long as I don’t have to go poking around where there might be loaded capacitors that can chuck me across the room…

 

The pavement model is also a Toshiba 32incher, similar to the problem child but in a white casing as opposed to black and with a built-in DVD player (remember them; ah, the good old days…), so it should work with my existing remote.  The chucker out had cut the mains cable, so the first task was to replace that, not difficult as it turned out since removing the little panel accessing the innards of this allowed me to tug about 6” out, plenty for a connection and a vindication of my habit of cutting the cables off electrical stuff I’m getting rid of and keeping them because they’ll come in handy one day, yay hoarding!

 

Replaced the fuse with the correct 5-amp, plugged it in, and… it lives!  Indicator led lit and normal blank screen.  Later today I’ll start connecting things to it to see what it’ll do, but things are looking pretty hopeful now just.  Watch this space for the next exciting episode of Pavement Toshiba!!!

Some white goods, being fitted with a fused plug means very early retirement for certain items. So it was with Mrs Smiths pressure washer, which was slated to go. "What's wrong with that?  It's only a few months old! Ah, sez her, "it won't work, cheap rubbish, I'll get another". Check fuse? yes, it's working. Hello, what's this? It turned that the spring fuse clips are too wide, meaning no contact through the live feed. 2 minutes with the plug, and hey presto! Live feed returned! I do wish my jobs were that simple. 

Sometimes, with a site with restricted access, the project will be deliberately over ordered. After all, you can't really cart a 6 metre length of steel pipe around a city centre. We had 3 contractors in our plant room, one each for gas, fire, & solar/hot water. We, doing the solar part, was the last phase of the project. However, the earlier contractors just left whatever excess, and went to their next contract. My old boss was a bit new at this game, and couldn't believe how much was left. Suffice to say, the next job comprised about 50-60% of excess from the previous job. 

You might have heard about the late Malcolm Rowe; facilitator extraordinaire.... Also mentioned in Mojo & State of mind...

The phone call.. "Smithy,  do you think you can hire a 7.5 ton flatbed?

"yes, no problem. Why do you need me to hire a truck? 

"I've just had a 'donation' of 22,000 bricks from a building site in Llantrisant that's being cleared..

I thought I was very good at this sort of malarkey: In fact, I was just a pup... 

I don't particularly go skip diving, but I've had my moments. My biggest 'haul' was in Havenstreet, IoW...

"Ere, Smithy, can you get some broken pallets for loco firewood?

"No problem, how many?

"Oh, about 20, a Transits worth'

Next day, Transport Manager. " I've got a lorry-load in the yard, which is full, about 400".

"I can't take that many!

He gripped my arm..

"It's either that, or eff-all!

Apparently, they lasted a year, and one or two railway members recovered quite a bit for garden fences, etc.

I forgot to say, the 'deal' included seconded driver, trailer & unit 

4 hours ago, 34theletterbetweenB&D said:

One of the great assets of Bachmann product is that all their models I have had to look at are supplied with tampo print which cleanly detaches with a little application of white spirit or similar solvent using a cotton bud. So their product is effectively supplied 'numberless'.

 

This may be the case with some other brands' products, and I would welcome any information from those who are enthusiasts for modification. Thus far Dapol, Heljan, Hornby, Oxford etc are all in the 'scrape it off' camp, and I haven't needed to have a go at Accurascale's because the range of numbers means no duplicates - yet! 

 

Too late now to deal with your other complaint. When the Blue Riband wagons were newly introduced and retailing at around £4, that was the golden moment to 'fill your boots'.

Thank you kind sir; I didn't realise that was possible! 

6 hours ago, The Johnster said:

Less trouble for my nominal 1948-58 timeframe, where BR P-prefix numbers can be used.  John Isherwood does sheets of P-numbers, and a mix’n’match approach using half-numbers in different combinations easily provides individual numbers for 50 wagons and more.  There are 35 mineral wagons in service at Cwmdimbath, all individually numbered with no duplication.  I would not swear to them all being correctly numbered, but I can only do my best.  
 

I understand and sympathise with your reluctance to mutilate RTR 7-plankers at nearly £30 a pop from blue box, but costs can be reduced with Oxford Rail and Parkside kits, though the latter only cater for BR liveries.  I managed to buy some of my fleet on the Bay of e a couple of years ago when Bachmanns coild be had for less than a tenner, especially unboxed!

 Some of this, of course, depends entirely upon which operating period you choose. I could emulate your chosen period, but I'd like a bit more 'Rule 1' in the time periods. Not enough properly pre-grouping for me on a purely personal basis. Going back in time, and we are looking at a more defined geographical area, which is pretty much where I came in. 

Well, young Johnster, you've mentioned block workings. We're into 'double trouble' here. If we are doing block working of say, 50 wagons for North's Navigation, then that's entirely possible. It's the same for Powell Duffryn, Cambrian Combine, etc. Now, do you have 50 different numbers for your rake? Remember these wagons are a credit to the manufacturer, who will charge a pretty penny for these little lovelies. I'm always worried about mutilating the models. 

A bit of an observation here, and sad to say, a (little bit of) a grumble. 

It's these coal wagons, you see. 

Manufacturers produce these coal wagons, and very nice as well. They will produce these as being used in Wales, lumping these all into the same pot. The problem is, there are numerous local indigenous areas & localities, each with their own collieries, and wagons. The locomotive might be Western, but the wagons? O dear...  A wagon might be loaded at colliery A, and tripped down to yard B, then a trainload to dock C. The return would normally be a reverse process, with wagons being 'cut out' as the empties made their way  to the 'Empty to' return destination. Coal mined from different seams, were often sent to different destinations.

Nationalisation put paid to this process, but before then, 'cutting out' was a everyday & routine occurrence. 

And this brings me to my grimble... A very nice wagon might be a Welsh-labelled wagon, but, which area? A wagon from Ystradgynlais looks totally out of place with a rake of wagons from Llanbradach or, a wagon from Cilely being lumped in with a Bargoed rake. Would the customer know the difference? Well, I bl**dy know.... Wagons were mostly sent to the shortest off load point, unless specifically ordered.

Dai the Shunt said:- "You can't be taking wagons all over the system, see? It costs money, see? It's all right for those fancy bu66ers having the best coal in their posh 'ouses, but it's yeere,.  We've got a ship to load, 'N I'm not getting the stuff sent from some far away place. Twp; Du; Twp..."

Splitting hairs? Well, yes, in a sense. The prodigious output in the valleys was short, but highly diverse. My final peeve (final? Who are you kidding?) is that these wagon fleets were immense. having one wagon with number xxx is a bit silly when a fleet were, in some cases, a 5-figure affair. 

This is why you will hear me banging on about 'numberless' wagons. Some of those wagons are true works of art. It behoves the owner to alter the running number to obtain a realistic outcome, But when you've shelled out some £20+ per wagon with tampo attached, it take the edge off when you nearly mutilate the model to try 'getting it right'.    

I'd better sign off now. There are a collection of 'experts' banging on my front door, with white coats & rubber mallets....

TBH, I think young Sam doesn't quite understand the haulage capacity of steam locomotives in the real world. If there was heavy snow on the Penygraig branch, the 14xx would be taken off, and substituted for a 6-wheel loco, such as a pannier.  On other times, the loco would be rostered to the job regardless. 

There are well-known photographs of the 48xx racing between Gloucester & Standish, up against Scots & Jubilees. A large Metro would be ideal, having a slight edge over the 48xx in terms of weight, range & haulage. 

18 hours ago, Coldgunner said:

 

10 hours ago, Coldgunner said:

Bloody work - a colleague has promised a user that 'I' will call them back at a certain time and then finished for the day. Boils my piss that. Didn't have the gall to tell me, just a note on a job then buggered off.

 

... I did see the note before said arranged time, but not calling at that time cos I got other stuff to do.

Aha! Friday night follies! Been there, done that: T-shirt, etc, etc. My old boss used to try finishing  mid-afternoon, to get home Friday in time for tea. However he lived considerably closer to home, whereas  I was travelling back from Southend-on-Sea. In short (or long) 250-ish miles back home, and, paying for the Severn Bridge on the way.. Happy? Oh, yessss; happy alright.... 

i don't really have these problems. If someone wants to lean on the layout project, then they need to get past the dog, the steps up to the alcove, through the front door, find the light switch...

Then, there's the wife....

The idea of asking for this or that is nothing new. I know, I've done this myself. 

I guess drawing up a poll vote for individual items is the way forward. That's how we ended up with the Hornby Toad in the first place. Credit to Hornby here...

Or, Mr. Mcdermott & his happy band of compilers are the ones to see. And, more importantly, the manufacturers & project funders get to see that information as well. Petition the Poll Team, but make a good, solid case for your requests.

Remember. Why do you want it? Will it generate its own profit? Does it fit into the current ranges? I'd dearly love to have Railcar 18 on my roster, but there's only one of them....

As a whole, we've never, ever had such a plethora of high-grade models as now. Enjoy it: I do.

I thought it's a rough-shunt indicator. The idea is to keep the ball motionless whilst the wagon is moving. if the wagon gets treated roughly, the the internal metal ball overcomes the resistance, and hits the trigger at either end. 

The principles of the operation is-are closely based upon inertia seatbelts in cars. 

Aha! I can see it now! 

To the mark the occasion, perhaps Hornby might release some limited edition Flying Scotsman jogging bottoms, with Beatles motifs on the posterior of said owner/wearer*

* Prospective purchasers are advised to buy the double tender version, for the larger 'fit'....

Just an observation, if I may. Put yourself in the shoes of the people who walk around; shunting, coupling, calling on/off. Do they float around on a magic carpet, or do they leave footprints, such a 'desire lines?

Regardless of my post, it looks bl**dy good from here.

That is exquisite. Full credit for that little Hunslet. You've captured it beautifully.

I bought my 42xx kits donkey years ago, at (that time) highly advantageous prices. The largest problem I could see was wagons 60-70. if your radius is too small, you have a very real risk of cutting the chord. BertieDog of this parish said his 72xx was good for 100 wagons on test so it's a excellent benchmark.