Ian Smeeton

At the Derby Supermeet, I picked up an Ultima Van B Southern Bogie Van kit.

I don't suppose that anyone has a set of instructions that they could scan for me?

Regards

Ian

At least your pheasants aren't camouflaged.

Like this one.

Can you see her now?

Regards

Ian

26 minutes ago, Steven B said:

 

The National Railway Museum have copies - worth a visit as it'll be more accessible than the British Library.

They might also have some works drawings.

 

Steven B

You could also put in a request to your own library.

They may be able to access a copy.

Regards

Ian

Looks like Wemyss Bay to me.

Did you browse the bookshop.

Regards

Ian

8 hours ago, The Johnster said:

Well, I don't like it and can't use it, it just feels wrong.  I am not in the game of decreeing what other people do, though, and accept that this has become accepted usage over the last 30 years or so, and nobody's going to listen to me.  I have never had any problem making myself understood using he or she for individual people, and will continue to do so.

If nobody listens to you, how do you make yourself understood?

Regards

Ian

56s are fairly rare round my neck of the woods, so two at once was just too good to miss.

Wymondham Crossing, 9/5/24

I really must invest in a better camera.

Regards

Ian

7 hours ago, Railpassion said:

Mansell not Maunsell, in Southern land.

 

On the LMS,  I've heard Stan yer and Stain ee er for Sir John Stanier.

 

 

Wasn't it Sir William, or was there another one?

Regards

Ian

Pondering the Smart (!) Meter readout, and the info from my solar App.

According to the app. I have imported 1kWh today.

According to the Smart Meter, I have used 3.39kWh

I wonder which is the more accurate, and how to check.

Regards

Ian

12 hours ago, St Enodoc said:

Orange 303s? Glasgow!

Caley Blue, surely?

Regards

Ian

Over the tram network AFAIK

https://maps.nls.uk/view/82891749

See here

Regards

Ian

A visit to Glasgow with a Quid Pro Quo for taking the wicked stepmother to the garden centre meant a visit to Fairfields at Govan.

The Shipyard is still in use by BAE Systems building ships for the Navy, but the offices have been turned into a rather good Museum, well worth a visit.

All that remains (on public view, there is probably more in the yard.

And what it used to be like (stolen from facebook)

Regards

Ian

1st PDF won't open for me but the others will.

Perhaps a note to the planners might elicit a response and check.

Regards

Ian

I did suggest to a Primary School teacher that all youngsters should be taught Darts, Dominoes and Cribbage as an aid to learning mental arithmetic and times tables.

She didn't take me seriously.

Pity

Regards

Ian

Definitely Saxby

Regards

Ian

Sounds as if it should work.

Previous layouts have used PVA and granite ballast, and very (too) solid when complete.

The current one has been at the track laid, partially wired but unballasted for the last 5 years.

Note to self- Pull your finger out!

Regards

Ian

As soon as you have ballasted, the whole assembly will be rock solid!

Regards

Ian

58 minutes ago, The Johnster said:

I absolutely agree, and the trouble we are storing up for the not-to-distant future is probably now unavoidable as the rot has set in too deep.  There are ways out of the mess, but they need a lot of effort put into them, and we don't like making effort, and the co-operation of the minority who are benefitting from the current setup at our direct expense and for whom we are footing the bills, which is unlikely to materialise.  I don't care, turned 72 on Wednesday and won't be here when it hits the fan, and the world has had at least six decades of my warnings and ignored me, so it knows what it can do...

 

Way out of the mess 1; the establishment of a world currency backed by the World Bank and the UN, along with globalised minimum wages and work conditions, probably requiring monitoring by global trade unions.  This should remove the searing inequality between nations, and eliminate the need to define a third world.  It probably can't be done with the current international monetery setup, controlled as it is by the capitalist profit motive and agenda. 

 

This is why we also need WOOTM 2; the abandonment of capitalism and the competitve business environment, and the need for 'wealth' to be created as a reward for selling your labour or exploiting others by paying for it.  All this does is concentrate the wealth in the hands of fewer and fewer people while impoverishing more and more other people.  The Victorian work ethic and the insistence on everybody paying their way is not sustainable and in any case cannot be maintained in the face of global warming and sea level rise.  Capitalism is dying and Socialism is dead. What is needed is something else, a social and economic system in which wealth can be created, that's easy, we have the technology, and then fairly and equably distributed, which is much harder.  Note that equably not mean equally.  I have absolutely not a clue as to what this system will be, but humans are good at adapting to changed circumstances. it's what gave us the evolutionary edge.

 

But it might start off with equably (again, not the same as equally) shared and enforceable responsibility for, well, everything as a requirement for participation in 'the scheme'.  This would mean the acceptance of the thing that Margaret said didn't exist, society, and that each individual is a member of society and contributes to it as well as benefitting from it.  It will be hard to swallow for many in the present world of get-rich-quick ratrace competition, the very thing that is held to ensure efficiency but which actually only does that for the winners, while creating a wasteland in their wake.  A race between ten people has one winner and nine losers, how is that not wastefull and an inefficient use of resources.  The algorithms for administering it would be fearsome, but that's what AI is for, isn't it (presumably AI will improve a bit before it can be trusted with this task)?

Why don't you ask ChatGP or its equivalent, and find out?

Regards

Ian

I think that I put this one up before,

With the caption

'Put Twa ton back in the wagon, Shuggie, she's overloaded'

Regards

Ian

Likewise, I am in Lincolnshire, and checking the councils own website, only 2 solar companies were recommended, one in Southampton and the other in Mnachester. Both small companies and not prepared to travel to Lincolnshire.

I wish Solar Together, or a similar operation had been available to us.

Regards

Ian

I agree, the industry seems to be full of 'Fly by Nights'

The company I dealt with has gone into administration without registering our installation for the MCS Certificate, which means that I get no payment for exported electricity.

MCS, themselves have been unable to help, the subcontractors who did the work won't speak to me. 

All good fun.

Regards

Ian

Grantham, the streamliner years has tutorials on curving pints (Peco)

If you are using British Finescale, there are examples in that thread.

Regards

Ian

Hornby already do the 'Family Fun project' layout in a box. (as built by our own @Phil Parker)

But with a price tag of approximately £200.00, it's is a non starter for a new entrant to the hobby.

I like the idea of the difficulty grading for kits 1/10 etc, but the hardest part is moving from a single wagon project to a running layout.

We are often given the advice, that the first target should be to get 'something' running as soon as possible (for that 'instant gratification')

When you have to think about a baseboard first, followed by track, controller, before even getting something to move, it is a large investment in time, if not money. Often beyond the wherewithal of the average 10 year old.

Sadly, many of the parents have not had the basic wood/metal/electric knowledge to help the youngster to make the first steps.

I think that the main manufacturers have to step up to the plate and offer sponsorship in some form or another to recognised groups, whether that be |Scouts, Guides, youth clubs etc.

Backup, through the likes of RMWeb, as suggested above, even if the forum only curated some online content and brought it together in an easily accessible form could be doable with the minimum of effort.

The collective mind needs to give this some thought.

With my preservationist hat on, we have been lucky to attract some youngsters to the 12" to the foot hobby, but taking the blinkers off the (elderly) trustees to alter our methods and times to accommodate them is taking some effort.

Regards

Ian

J3031 shows just how close the Crossing Keepers cottage was to the line

The cottages at Wyfordby and the next manned crossing, Wymondham, were both demolished soon after the 'Resident' keepers jobs were abolished.

I think that the resident post was abolished in 1997, but as the last resident keeper retired last year, I can't ask him.

Regards

Ian

When going through the operation of my crossing with trainees, I always ask them about animals on the line, and whether they should be reported to the next box, which controls the section, or the next box AND Control, and why, depending on the animals.

The dog question always throws up a discussion.

Regards

Ian

1 hour ago, Michael Hodgson said:

 

Safety precaution in order to stop the dog from zig-zagging round the barriers ?

 

If a train runs a dog over, is it required to stop, like a motorist?

No,

But check around at your next stop for the remains of the owner who may have been in hot pursuit of the dog.

Regards

Ian