tomparryharry

In the UK, cylinder drains would normally be open when stationary. As others have said, steam condensate needs to be expelled when starting away. Once you've got 3-4 full revolutions, you can normally close the valves, and let the loco cylinders warm up. Some American locomotive practices keep the cylinder cocks open all of the time. It's a bit wasteful, IMHO.

My first Sunday lunch with the in-laws. MiL cooked a really nice lamb roast, followed by a huge trifle. After serving, some 3/4 remained. "Ian'll have it," sez the future Mrs Smith. "He can't possibly eat all that! said the ensemble... I still don't know if they were impressed, or shocked...... I do remember it was very nice.

Well, it did happen to a degree. One occasion was 'overner' whilst on rest day nights. The fitters bought in a broken bracket for a hydraulic ram. Being the only welder on the site, I proceeded to weld it up. After all, it was Quid Pro Quo. Who wouldn't? One free period entailed running a foundry melt shop. I didn't want to, but there is was. Mucho kudos, 12 hours @ double time, and a rather big pat on the back. It wasn't being Super Good, just happening to be in the right place, at the right time. Other works staff completely outdid me. One weekend saw some traction engine wheels in our shotblast room. Just over 6'6", and about 18" wide. Came up lovely, as well.....

"What came first, the chicken, or the egg? "The potato! "What? "The potato! You can't have egg without chips! What are you, some kind of pervert? A genuine conversation between two work colleagues, at 3am on a nightshift....

Trifle??? I like trifle, and any trifle here, never goes out of date....

I went to work, and for my time there. I gave 100% attention to any job I had. For that, I bought my house, which was the principal prize. My bosses all knew of my involvement with steam preservation, and most of them fully supported it. I had a complete use of our machine shop, and any work outside hours was ok. Some of my colleagues just signed in, work, and signed out; which was the sum total of their work experience. Many expressed astonishment of seeing me working 'out of hours' on some project or other, but one senior manager said; "If he's in work, he's on call". I didn't get away with murder, but I had a lot of fun 'stretching the envelope', and boy, did it get stretched.... It just depends on who you are and how your personality is wired. Me? Twisted? I couldn't possibly comment. Finally, how to p!ss off a boss. Smile at them. Anytime you see them, just smile. The recipient of the smile is normally caught up in their own little world, with all their problems, perceived or otherwise. To see someone smiling is out of character for them, whereas, they cannot. It works. Believe me, it works.....

St. Edmund, surely?

I can't argue against that; very true. However, tenancies & leases need to be taken into account when going down this road. But! The prospect of sub-divided shops do indeed work. A notable example is Lord & Butler, who started out with a smaller shop in the Pump House, Cardiff. Some years later, to migrate just down the road to larger premises. Power to their elbow, I say. 30 miles away, In Blaenavon, is the model railway shop for the Pontypool & Blaenavon. It started out as a tourist information centre, funded in part by a small local grant, with model railways as a sideline. Over the years, the model railway aspect continues to grow. Once again, Kudos. Being a society member at Blaenavon gets you a discount as well, so it's a bit of a win-win. Added to that, you can see your prospective purchase in the flesh before you buy. Shameless plug over....

It's nice to see Victory (AB2201/45) on the list. Very happy memories with he loco at Caerphilly. Will I buy one? Oh, yes...

It's taken long enough for me, but I think my particular problem is euphoria, or rather, lack of it. I should have finished he shed project some 2 years ago, but I'm still struggling. I think I can balance euphoria,; finish one job or project, and move onto the next. The problem now, is seeing projects stretching out into the distance of time. The weather, is much, much better, and it does lighten the mood, but that confounded list continues to creep! AARGH!!!!!

Vote no. 2 for North West Frontier. For humour, it's got to be the 'Airplane! scene "Roger, Roger." No trains as such, but the implied connections are funny. Also, vote no. 2 for The Wrong Trousers'.

Certainly!

Errm, not sure. I'm sure that more knowledgeable people can answer that correctly.

5322 went from Woodhams by rail to Caerphilly, and 41312 was the last locomotive to move by rail ex. Barry. 5322 went to Didcot ex. Caerphilly

Hi Folks, it still comes down to contract & QC management. It doesn't matter one jot about which contractor does which bit. The contract exists between (in this case) Hornby & the Honourable Chinese Toy Company.

To paraphrase a well-known comedy sketch.... "WHAT? THREE Flying SCOTSMANS? "Well, I thought the other two would balance the middle one..."

7-plankers with a 66? Yessss. Go on, think about it.... People tend to misplace the human element sometimes. People on a platform, but the train is on the other side.... Niche time! Welsh coal wagons, but in the wrong valley to which they apply. A bit picky, perhaps, but it's just me, I guess. Wrong signals in the wrong places, and facing the wrong way, to boot. Though, to be honest & fair these so-called 'howlers' do all of us a favour. They allow us to think 'I wouldn't do that' and hopefully avoid the pitfalls. I can easily think of exhibition layouts where bridges are built upside down (yes, I mean that). But! We should always use the term 'Observation' and never, ever openly criticise. I'm off to see if a Triang Polly is really faster than a Ho Bullet Train, with a working WC....

Thinking on this subject, it could well be that it's all our own fault. Well, not exactly.... back in the past, when 'Gramps were a lad', there was only 2 manufacturers of RTR, and that was Hornby, and Triang. Triang-Hornby came along later. It was either that, or Airfix kits. Then we had Minic Motorways, or Lone-Star o0o-lectric. The model railway shop kept a minimum stock of these 'staples' , and to us, it was fantastic. It kept people like me enthralled with the latest releases, and like it or not, Triang was the 'only game in town' if you wanted RTR. When Mainline came along, it was a case of shuffling the 'new' retail stock in with the existing, by now, Hornby stock. That's double of the product lines, and double of the shelf space. The underlying problem was that this 'pending sales' stock had to be paid for by the retailer. Still, we're all doing OK., aren't we? Peco was in there, somewhere, along with Graham Farish, et al. Oh, and the crown jewels, such as K's & Wills kits. They're all on the shelves, somewhere.. Then came Bachmann, who blew a lot of competition out of the water. To be fair to Bachmann, some of it is very good indeed, but! More shelf space; more invoices; you get the idea... Airfix had their own competition, from companies like Revell,; Tamiya, etc. More space? Well, something has got to give. Salesmen could be quite aggressive, you know; minimum stock orders & such. Dead stock is a mill stone around the neck of any retailer, and if you're not paying rent, rates, business insurance, electricity, in the first instance, then you're not opening the front door. Our continuing desire for better quality models creates problems for retailers: After all, who would buy a Triang pannier, when a Bachmann is on display just a metre away? Our continuing research is also heavily influencing our modelling choices. A classic example would be the Heljan 'night owl'. Ordinarily, I'd like to buy one, but the nearest they travelled to my locale is nearly 40 miles away, and Kings also. Our expectations have outstripped the capacity to satisfy our newer, personal, niche market. If I ran a hypothetical 'Night Owl', what do I run behind it? Eighty-odd Bachmann 16-tonners, which 'sort of' look ok, as long as you're up a mountain, raining, and it's 'twenty past dark'. I'd suggest that the newer producers have it slightly easier than the earlier, established producers. The production runs are smaller for instance. You almost certainly pay more, but you get almost exactly what you want. A win-win, I'd say. If it's a model railway shop, I'd suggest the retailer buys just one of everything; possibly two. The first is for the customer to see it, as a pristine, boxed example. The second is an unboxed example, running on a demonstration layout so the potential client can see the goods. With the supply chain now in vogue, the retailer can order the item at point of sale, and it's on your doorstep in a couple of days. Reduced overheads for the shop owner; less stock being held; reduced just about everything. The store can use the increased floor space to provide chairs, restricted so spouses can get a cup of tea and a bun. If 'er indoors' likes the experience, it can only help.

You could well be correct, Phil. Is it post-Covid?

Re-invigorating any retail outlet is going to be a tough challenge. The business environment has moved on. I can think of only a couple of model shops in south Wales who cater largely for model railways. Online sales have taken over, and, it's not a bad thing. I'd much rather see a healthy modelling environment, than a list of strung-out retailers who can't make ends meet. Media-savvy is a way forward, with channels like Youtube & others openly displaying the latest products. Our local centre is on its @rse, with retail jumping ship like scenes reminiscent of the last moments of the Titanic. Nowadays, it's mostly charity shops, kebabs & McDonalds. "I'd like a large Donor, please, and hold the fishplates & ballast".

I could be wrong, but I 'think' it's related to the ATC bell. The small vacuum cylinder gives the driver enough time to acknowledge the signal, before the cylinder is emptied, and the main vacuum brakes come into play. Need to check that, however.

Local folklore has it that lots of transport subcontractors were doing just that at Llanwern Steelworks, when it was being built.

This did indeed happen at Carrefour, Caerphilly. At the time, the place was so big, that staff would turn up by the carload, clock in, and then go home!

One episode, many, many years ago... We had a new works manager; friendly sort of chap, and would walk around the place at different times. Observing; sometimes a question. We observed him on our shop floor at the 02:00 overnight dinner break. "Do you want a cuppa?" Turns out we were the only people who had the gumption to actually speak to him. About 6 weeks later, our new boss told us that all of the foremen, charge-hands & supervisors were running the factory on Friday; The senior staff being treated on a 'team building exercise' Come the day, the staff were bussed out. The destination was a hotel about 10-odd miles away. There, the staff were relieved of mobile phones, etc. Each manager was given a hotel room, which consisted of a desk, chair, pencils & pens, and an foolscap writing pad. On the top was a brown envelope, with the instructions, which read,:- Who are you? what is your job? Where are you within the company? Please describe your working day. Please write this down, sign it, date it, and place within the envelope. I'm not sure anyone actually left, but the subsequent interviews were apparently, interesting.....

I would say it's blessed difficult to perceive the aural differences between different types & batches of locomotives. Adding to that, rain, wind direction, load, driving style all play a part towards the overall picture. "That's a green class 37, with small yellow panels". "How can you tell?" "Can't you hear it?"