dullsteamer

Saucy minx! Cheers, Mark.

Once the tram motor had all it's fitting replaced, it was the trolleybuses turn for some attention. We carefully towed it out of the display hall with the Matador so it could have a thorough wash and tidy-up. So now everything is ready for the big day tomorrow. I'm so looking forward to it! Some photos from today: Cheers, Mark.

1A arrived at Loftus this afternoon just after 3.00pm, and was soon unloaded. The trailer it travelled on belongs to a museum member, and is equipped with rails on the deck to accommodate railway and tramway vehicles. Once 1A was off the truck it was shunted into the display hall in a complex move, using ballast motor 99U, O car 1111 and C car 29. It was placed nearest the entry to the display hall on 8 road, so it willl be the first thing visitors see when they walk in. The plan for Saturday is to refit some parts that were removed for transport such as roof fittings and the plough lifeguards and trip gates, and then clean her up. More photos tomorrow. Cheers, Mark. (L to R) The steam team: Bill, Ralph, Craig, Dave, Bryce, Andrew, Martin and Scott. (Photo courtesy of Bryce Pender)

On Sunday 30th July the Sydney Tramway Museum will be hosting a special event to commemorate 80 years since the closure of the Kogarah steam tramway and it's replacement with trolleybuses. On display we'll have the only surviving Kogarah trolleybus, and a very special guest exhibit, Sydney steam tram motor No.1A. https://www.sydneytramwaymuseum.com.au 1A belongs to the Powehouse Museum, and they've generously loaned it to us for six months. After that it will return to storage at Castle Hill. So if you get the chance, come on down to Loftus on Sunday and see something truly unique. All the best, Mark.

I would have preferred FLIRTyMcFLIRTface. Cheers, Mark.

The composite hoppers were made by LifeLike in their P2K range. They're nice, aren't they? Cheers, Mark.

Impressive! If I was ever tempted to model a standard gauge European railway, I reckon it would be the FS. Cheers Mark.

I haven't. This is what my wife got me for Christmas last year: Right engine, right railway, right colour! Cheers, Mark.

In HO, you have two choices. Lima made a rather basic 4-car set as part of their range of JNR models back in the late 60s/early 70s. The body shell mouldings weren't too bad, but the mechanism wasn't anything special. You can still find them for a reasonable price online, branded as Lima or Playart. The other option is the recent Series O models made by Japanese manufacturer Zoukei Mura. http://www.zoukeimura.co.jp/products/srs01_0shinkansen.html These models are very accurate, very well detailed, and feature a 21 pin DCC receptacle. Their performance is superb. When first released, the RRP for the basic four-car set was ¥45000. All the best, Mark.

That just looks so good! All the best, Mark.

Thanks Kevin, a copy is on its way to me, looking forward to reading it! Cheers, Mark.

This photo was posted on Shorpy this morning: http://www.shorpy.com/node/22112 Nice! Cheers, Mark.

It's a nice idea, but I doubt that JNR electric locos would fit the NZ loading gauge. Cheers, Mark.

Good advice which I'll take on board, thanks Pete. All the best, Mark.

Thanks David. I only saw these cars once, when we hauled them down to Lavender Bay on a charter one night. I wondered what became of them. All the best, Mark.

Your water tank caught my eye because I'll need to build something similar for a project I'm slowly working on. So thanks for the description of what went into yours. That's a nice looking model too, but perhaps a bit big for my purposes. But I saw a few other goodies on their website that could be useful, so thanks for the suggestion. All the best to you both, Mark.

The atmospheric pressure at any altitude would make no difference to the boiling point of the water in a boiler. As you noted yourself, it's a pressure vessel, it's not open to atmosphere or at atmospheric pressure. That 181oC at 150psi is a constant regardless of the outside air pressure. Cheers, Mark.

Phil, As far as the locos are concerned, I disagree. Of the eighteen locos there, two were built by Alco-Rogers. The rest were from Kitson, Beyer Peacock, Borsig and Henschel. http://www.derbysulzers.com/uyuni.html It's been years since I visited Uyuni, and I no longer have my notes, but my recollection of the passenger rolling stock is that most was from UK or European builders. The freight cars were a real mixed bag from builders everywhere. All the best, Mark.

That little slice of France looks rather nice. The water tower in particular interests me, is it scratchbuilt or from a kit? Cheers, Mark.

David, are they the former GSPE cars from Queensland? Cheers, Mark.

Pete, I've had similar experiences fitting detail parts to my Japanese HO models. I use plastic tweezers, which I find very effective. I also have two methods for preventing parts from flying away and getting lost. One is to put the model in a clear plastic sandwich bag big enough to accomodate the model and my fat little hands. The other is to use a thing my darling wife made me out of white linen. It's like a cross between a bib and an apron. One end ties around my neck, and the other, wider end attaches to the edge of my workbench with Velcro. Looks daft, but it stops me losing tiny parts on the floor. The plank looks great, by the way! Cheers, Mark.

I've got some Tillig turnouts on hand for a future project. What's the best way to repair them if they do become damaged? Cheers, Mark.

Speaking of helmets... https://www.tofugu.com/interviews/japanese-superhero-rapitldier/ Cheers, Mark.

It sure is, but then any of Tati's films are worth watching. There's a short sequence with a narrow gauge train in 'Jour de Fete' that's good, too. Mark.

You should - it's very good. Not only for the railway interest, but there's a lot of authentic German AFVs and other vehicles if you're interested in them. A trainload of them get destroyed in the last scene! Cheers, Mark.