cromptonnut

It's relatively simple to get a Bachmann 4 CEP in mint condition off ebay for under £100, and Hattons still have a raft of 2 HALs in blue available for £62 a pop. So it seems to me that once the first line of demand has been met, there may not be a lot underneath to keep the price up. Exceptionally, the Kernow "Thumper" unit has kept its price, particularly in the second hand market, so presumably they simply haven't made very many?

 

If you can point me in the direction of blue/grey CEPs for under £100 I'd be very grateful.

Professionally weathered?  Looks a bit heavy to me, like it's been on fire.  

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LIMA-205281-CLASS-50-DEFIANCE-50149-PROF-WEATHERED-LIGHTS-BOXED-OO645/112961124045?epid=8018552120&hash=item1a4d01f6cd:g:ieoAAOSwSY9a4NFK

Farmer Dave went to see his mate Farmer Joe.

As Farmer Dave approached Farmer Joe's house, he heard music coming from a barn so he went over to investigate.

Opening the door, he was shocked to see Farmer Joe wearing nothing but the skimpiest of thongs, covered in baby oil, gyrating and pole dancing in front of his new Massey Ferguson whilst music blared from its stereo.

Farmer Joe saw Dave standing by the door, and immediately ran over.  "I can explain," he said, "me and the wife have been having some trouble in, erm, you know, the bedroom, so I went to the doctor and he said I should do something sexy to a tractor".

Another "sky blue" here, however it's in my shed which is the layout space.  Means I don't need to fuss about with backscenes which is good as I'm building to the modular standards which prefers boards to be visible from both sides and useable either way round.

Well I must admit I'm a little shocked.

I searched for a model on Ebay, and the only example that came up was from a trader who regularly features in these discussions.  The price seemed reasonable, so I took a punt and "bought it now".

It arrived within 3 days and was perfect.

Just before I go further down this route, does anyone think it's better not in the picture frame? (for seeing detail etc.)

I quite like it although the frame is perhaps a little (necessarily) small.  We often use "view blockers" such as trees or buildings to make things look bigger so why shouldn't a frame work just as well?

Unfortunately you're too far away for me, but good luck from "down south" with getting something together and I look forward to seeing the results of your enthusiasm.

We have a team of revenue protection at our station this morning.

Getting some very entertaining responses out of people travelling without tickets or blatant fraud.  You can tell a lot by how they respond to getting caught as to whether it's a genuine mistake or not.

Especially amusing are those that buy off peak rather than peak, when the difference is literally pennies.

In my opinion its best to allow the customer to let off steam. Once they have finished (and have run out of steam) you can then deal with the issue, quite often you end up solving the problem and have a satisfied customer too boot, both sides winning

That's my usual tactic.  Let them have their rant, wait for them to draw breath and then I say that I agree, the service is crap or whatever and they don't know how to respond.  I then take advantage of those few seconds of bewilderment to find out where they are going to, then I can provide a solution to their problem even if it is only giving them a delay repay form.  Most of the time I can't "fix" the problem (cancelled train) and I can't just put on a taxi for them (not a decision I can make - that's platform's job) but most eventually realise that the root cause of the problem is much higher up the food chain than me, and go away happy with the solution I have provided.

That'll also need a WiFi router, unless you had that planned and just haven't mentioned it. Or does the Lenz base unit do that?

Apologies, yes it's all set up ready from last time still in its bag   I will test it before the date though.  I repurposed an old BT router and changed its mode to work connected to the laptop.

You have to be connected to the network that the laptop connected to the layout is, you can't go via wifi generally (at least not in a way that I've found).  Plus it's an aircraft hanger with a metal frame so we aren't likely to get much of a signal anyway.

Why did the surrealist cross the road?

Fishcake.

Finally received confirmation from the venue for the date so it's all systems go.

I will of course be in touch with them several times beforehand but here's how things are looking at present.

1) We should have access from about 8am and need to be clear by 5pm or thereabouts.

2) Chairs and some tables will be available for us in our 'spot' however they won't really be suitable for doing any modelling work on - but fine for resting a drink and putting layout boxes on.

3) I will bring my Lenz base unit and 2 controllers, plus a laptop running JMRI enabling WiThrottle / Engine Driver connections - as well as some patch panels and long cables.  If you have any Lenz compatible controllers please bring them along, or pre-install the app and we can get you connected on the day.

4) There is a possibility of a short guided tour of the museum, I'll be gauging interest nearer the time as to whether that will work for us.

5) I will publish a 'floor plan' in March 2019 for attendees to check that everything that should be coming is, and that I haven't made any glaring mistakes.  If any of the modules you have intended to bring don't make it for whatever reason please let me know asap so I can adjust plans.

6) Final information will be sent out to all attendees at the end of April.

Do keep us updated with your progress, either on a separate thread in the modular forum (as I've just updated one of my module threads) or on here.

Really it's to try and ensure that the May event is not another one off, and maybe making clear that this is the intention might help make up the mind of anyone who's wavering about building something compatible...

… because someone may think "there's no way this will be ready by May" and give up … however with another 5 months or so, it may just be the push they need to get on with it.

Of course, once a module is "built" and at least useable - ie right height, track in right places and electrically function on at least the through lines - then further scenic work can be done afterwards.  I find the push to actually start the board is the hard bit, once I've actually got the frame built and the track in place, everything else seems to become much easier.

Alternatively, use May as a 'test bed' in preparation for the October meet

 

 

Yes I can see why the supermarket staff dreaded him, because he'd always moan about the price of his purchases.

I know rail enthusiasts that'll think nothing of spending hundreds of pounds on something that they "must have" but complain when baked beans have gone up by a penny.

A little update on the module.

I've built the bridge, using some plastruct angles, sheet and Wills "Vari Girder" sections, and given it a coat of paint.

I measured it as needing 15 panels each side to get from one side of the bridge to the other.  Although I originally scaled the bridge size roughly from Google Maps, and used a guess based on road vehicles for where the lanes should be, I was a little surprised to go back to the real bridge image and count that it was in fact 15 panels wide.  So I'm fairly accurate in that respect.

I also took another street view image showing the underside of the bridge which I worked on approximately for the cross members.  I couldn't measure them or the spacing so I went for what looked right, and once the first one had been done at the correct angle, I simply used three 5p coins to ensure the next was parallel, and continued across.  Really there should be more, but I had a limited amount of angle left and given that most people either won't think to look, or won't know, it's good enough for me.

Using the first road vehicle I could find, I tried to take a 'road level' view of a similar angle and I don't think it has come out too bad so far, do you?

Next I need to work on the concrete panels, which I've downloaded and printed out from Model Railway Scenery, then I can attach the bridge sides permanently to the spacers and begin work on the scenic side of things.

That is an incredibly fine line to walk. There are many times when standing behind the counter you have to bite your lip, and curse silently to yourself.

Definitely, but there's a definite art in being able to tell someone to go to hell in a way that they look forward to the journey.

I once had someone ranting and raving about a delay, whilst I found them an alternative that with one more change got them to their destination around 5 minutes later than their original plan.  As they left I wished them a good day, only for them to turn round and yell DONT TELL ME WHAT KIND OF DAY TO HAVE … there's no answer to that is there?

I know all about abusive customers.

I work for Southern.

Postie delivered my H4-B4-005 today, in there was a small bag with what looked like a dummy hook coupling and a brake hose - but no instructions for where they should be put (if, in fact, at all whilst using bog standard tension locks).  Any suggestions?

I hadn't actually realised that it was part of the "Cakebox Challenge", the lack of size hadn't even registered with me.  

Will have a read of the presentation thread drekly.

Love the picture frame idea, very tempting myself for a similar idea but I hate stealing other people's ideas especially when they've done it better than I'd manage

Been Googling suitable buildings.

 

Quite a lot available now for modelling a tramway in Northern France or Belgium.

Many of the Japanese offerings available are quite suitable for modern UK urban settings as well, I've bought a few from Plazajapan and some from Ebay from Outland models.  It's easy enough to make some UK signage yourself and brand them up for high street staples.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-Outland-Models-Railway-City-Department-Business-Building-Apartment-N-Scale/292456507828?hash=item4417c429b4:m:m7TaYyrw90TtPgvD52e_a7g

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/10252-kato-n-gauge-tram-system/page-2

Modular trams ?

Oh dear... a distinct possibility although I'm working on my OO modular at the moment too much to have space to put up boards to think about the tram project.

But you never know...

I've got a plan to build a curved 2 track module as well, which will feature a Brighton style substation and 3rd rail, but that is contingent on this idea actually taking off enough that I'd get to use it, and not before I have Grand Lake looking more like what it's supposed to. Not sure what I'd do with the other 45*. Maybe just some fields.

Simple boards are just as useful as complex ones in the overall plan, as you'd be surprised what a difference an extra couple of boards (and 6-8ft of track) between junctions or stations can make.

I've made some 45 degree boards, 48" x 16", mark the top edge 5.5" in from each end then carefully cut from that point down to the bottom corner so you end up with a trapezoid shape

Frame around it, and you have as near as dammit 22.5 degrees and 18" end faces from which you can work out the centreline and track parallels, and still just get the 36" minimum radius between the ends (I used a Tracksetta).

Although not strictly exactly 22.5 degrees x 2, and you wouldn't want to make a complete circuit out of 8 of them without some issues, it's as near as dammit as makes no difference for our purposes.  The only way to get more accuracy would be to get them laser cut.

The slippery slope begins That N class and coaches should go nicely with my Lyme Regis branch train.  

Was that a set you bought? It looks vaguely familiar.

"Modular meet 3 - October 2019 - Berks/Hants - keeping the momentum going" would probably circumvent all but the most pedantic.