dullsteamer

First loco I've ever seen that was cast in concrete. Cheers, Mark.

I'm sorry to hear that. You're welcome to the bloody things! Cheers, Mark.

You've had a busy day by the sounds of it. I saw the CPHs this morning before I started work - just had to look about of my kitchen window for that. And I passed the 620 and the Pig earlier this arvo on my first trip into town. The train radio/ATP trial V-set was out on the Illawarra too, it passed me at Carlton as I was passing the Pig. If I'd been in the right spot it would have made a great photo! All the best, Mark.

They never were. During 3830s rebuild the then Head of Conservation at the Powerhouse only ever made the long trip from Ultimo to Eveleigh once to see what we were doing. And it was a quick visit too, accompanied by dark muttering a about how much it was costing, and how we were "compromising the integrity of the artefact". The only person in the PHM hierarchy who really supported the steam locos, or indeed any of the steam activities, was Andrew Grant. Once he finished up there was no one else in a senior role interested. The loss of key conservation personnel didn't help, either. Cheers, Mark.

I'd ignore anyone who complained about the colour. That's what I used to do when people had a whinge about '30s colour during its rebuild. It amazed me that after all the good work we did on that engine, all people wanted to comment on was the shade of green we used, or the fact that the smokebox was black. Plebs! Speaking of the Pig, were you out with it earlier this arvo? The bloody thing blocked me twice on the way into town, once at Sydenham and again at Erko. Cheers, Mark.

The 38s have a one-piece cast engine bed or frame which is as near to indestructible as makes no difference. The parts that wear, like the valve chest and cylinder liners, the pedestal liners, wedges, compo beam bushes and firebox slides can all be replaced, and have been, regularly. The claim that we only did "patch jobs" is not true. When I was at Eveleigh '01 was stopped every Christmas for its boiler inspection and heavy overhaul. Amongst other things we put in a new front end, new tubes and superheater elements, new bullrings, new pony truck wheel sets, new coupled wheel tyres, new grates, carriers and rockers, new tender wheelsets, new tender slope sheet doubler plate, and so on. Every other major component was removed and overhauled. Hardly a "patch job". And in between doing all that we managed to rebuild 3830, look after 3112, and do as best we could with Bob - SMR18. There's an interesting story behind the replacement of the tender wheels, but wary of starting a flame war I'll leave that alone. Cheers, Mark.

If you were planning something untoward, why would you need to take a photo in the first place? A souvenir? Just more BS security theatre. Mark.

Agreed. I can't understand why people get so worked up about the paint. It's mainly there to keep the things from rusting. Cheers, Mark.

That's one of the 24 class that was sold to the Electricity Commission of NSW and ran at Bunnerong power station. Cheers, Mark.

I don't have any fond memories of either class. The 46s were rough riding and until the original bar-stool cab seats were replaced, very uncomfortable to work. The 41s were equally forgettable. Cramped, noisy, draughty and very prone to fires. I remember seeing one catch fire at Delec one evening. The young fireman was running around tryIng to find an extinguisher, but his mate just stood there and said, "Son, let the bastard burn." Cheers, Mark.

Interesting - you've used the Piko WBS 70 kit to represent Chinese tenements. I'm using the same kit slightly modified to represent Japanese tenements. Cheers, Mark.

I'm slowly building a Showa 40s-era JNR exhibition layout. In the meantime I'm building, detailing, painting and weathering locos and stock, and having running sessions on my club's layout. https://www.flickr.com/photos/94424961@N00/14472601455/ Cheers, Mark.

You're not wrong. But I can live with compromise - 1/80th scale models of 3'6" gauge prototypes running on 16.5mm gauge track! All the best, Mark.

Rob, it may not be finescale, but it's recognisably a D car - I like it. My only other comment would be that by the time the green and cream livery was introduced, all the remaining Ds were service stock rather than passenger cars, but that's neither here nor there. Here's a photo of my mate Ben driving our D class scrubber car 134s:

G'day Andy, 4014 isn't a Mallet, it's a simple articulated engine. High pressure steam is delivered from the regulator to all 4 cylinders, used once and exhausted to atmosphere. Mallets are compound engines. As for regulators, neither Mallets or simple articulateds have more than one. Big Boys have a multiple-valve regulator typical of modern US practice, located in the smokebox. All the best, Mark.

Absolutely, which is why I wouldn't do it. Too much likelihood of having two brakestands cut in. I only made that comment to explain the normal procedure for setting up the brakes on multiple locos in a consist. Perhaps I didn't explain myself properly! All the best, Mark.

Normally yes, because that's the loco which will have its brake stand cut-in. If you were going to use another loco in the consist to keep the brake pipe charged then you would have to cut in its brake stand instead. All the best, Mark.

Much as I hate to point the finger at a fellow engineman, I suspect that's exactly what's happened here. And I speak from experience. In my younger, less responsible days I've taken shortcuts. Rather than properly secure my train I simply left it standing on the independent brake only, because my relief wasn't far way - or so I thought. I was lucky on that occasion, and got away with it. I suspect that the bloke at Lac Megantic did something similar. All the best, Mark.

You're not wrong about that. I encounter that attitude a lot at exhibitions here in Australia, often from blokes whom you would think would know better. OTOH, the club I belong to is very diverse in it's membership and modelling interests, which is a big part of it's appeal to someone like me. Me too. I've been re-reading Tourret's book on the Hedjaz Railway after seeing some articles in recent issues of CRJ, it's a fascinating line.

A very appropriate choice of ad. I've been scanning photos of German tramcars from some of the colour books in my collection, and the most common seem to be either for beer or coffee. Two beverages I'm rather fond of... Looking at the photos in your "First Tram" thread, I was quite taken with your little tram depot. What did you use to build that?

The Liliput model is of a WW2-era Kriegesstrassenbahnwagen, or KSW. The model was introduced 1971, and as you suspect, the performance was nothing to write home about. And as the models aged, the bodies had a tendency to warp and distort. At least, all the examples I have seen are warped. If you're after a model of this style of tram, get the Kato. They also produce other versions/liveries, and a trailer car as well.

I trust Brian won't mind me jumping in here, the model tram is made by Kato. The prototype is a Hannover "Aufbauwagen", built by Uerdingen in 1950 on a pre-war truck. The car was donated to the Hiroshima Electric Railway - "Hiroden" - in 1989, and forms part of their heritage/museum fleet. http://www.vehicle.city.hiroshima.jp/VEHICLE_HP/Contents/01_home/0104_English/02_hiroden/romen.asp

I'll take a wild guess and say it's two Rc bodies, on a Japanese mech?

Mark E. Smith fan, uhuh? Cheers, Mark.