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ROSAMUND STREET (LOW LEVEL) SIDINGS


br2975
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Last day of my summer job tomorrow, so it'll be up to City Hall to draw my last weeks pay, my week in hand and hopefully some 'bonus' - but I suspect that will be the usual 'three duck eggs' !

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So, my penultimate day saw little pigeon guano shovelled, as I spent most of the morning and part of the afternoon across the road watching the elusive 3256 on todays 9E76.

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The trip turned up this morning right on time, with a few vans, and a handful of 'pools' in tow.

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The pools were left on the branch road while the three vans were run into No.3 road (picture No.1).

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Smart work saw the loaded 'pools' drawn into the headshunt and propelled back down No.3 road and out of sight (picture No.2).

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Having such an enjoyable morning, and being paid, my mind must have wandered until a voice called out "you'll have a long wait son !"

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The guard was calling me from his van "they've parked up and gone to the Black & White for breakfast"

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Seeing my disappointment he carried on "we'll be back after dinner, we'll give you a ride if you want ?"

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"Is the pope catholic ? "I called back, hoping I hadn't offended him !

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The afternoon trip arrived about thirty minutes early, and 3256 slowed to a stand right next to where I sat on the wall.

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"Fancy a ride ?" asked the driver.

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He didn't have to ask twice.

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Nearly an hour of almost aimless to-ing and fro-ing, saw me learn how to drive a shunter, ride on the 'gig' and "latch on" some empty 'pools'.

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But most of this afternoons fun will have to wait for another day, I don't want to get anyone into trouble.

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And tomorrow is pay day.

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Brian R

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IIRC that's in Grangetown!

Correct David,

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Penarth Road corner of Clive Street.

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I was told it was opened ( many years ago, late 60s ?) by two council tradesmen who won the pools, and set their wives up in business.

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I bet there is a younger member of RMweb thinking "what's the pools ?"

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Brian R

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Last day of my summer job, back to school on Monday.

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So having to be in Room 108 at the City Hall this afternoon to get paid up, the council were never likely to get much out of me this morning.

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A glorious morning found me sprawled on the roof of Rosamund St. Council School soaking up the rays from the 'currant bun'.

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A throbbing and squealing heralded the approach of the morning trip, and from my grandstand position I took several shots with the trusty Kodak Instamatic.

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Not 3256 as expected, but 3595 in blue, shunters chariot in tow, and a brake van !

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A frenetic half hour of aimless wagon shuffling produced several interesting sights; including the Weltrol and steam engine parts I saw earlier in the week, and which obviously never made Roath mileage sidings and the National Museum of Wales, also an old GWR 'Mogo' van looking decidedly spruce even though its' days are numbered.

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'A' Level English, Geography and Economics will see to it that I don't get down to this end of town much in the future.

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We'll see.

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Brian R

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By the way, got my pay, week in hand and NO bonus !

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To paraphrase two well known quotes:-

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"Nostalgia is a thing of the past"

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"The past is another country, they do things differently there"

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How true.

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My garden shed is the "man cave time forgot"; it may be 2015 in the rest of the UK, but here it's still the turn of the 70s.

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I still have my spotting notes, working timetables, sectional appendices and other publications.

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Even the music, generally vinyl, is from the early 70s.

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So, with model railways I find enjoyment in operation; and one  port of call would is the relevant Working Timetable (WTT).

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Attached are some extracts from the "Western Regon - Section 12 - Cardiff District Branch Lines" WTT for 5th. May 1969 to 3rd. May 1970.

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Shown below are the references to trip and shunting locomotives.

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For the trip workings, it then pays to delve into the timetable proper in order to follow the progress of a trip working through its diagrammed route.

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For example E68 started at Radyr, travelled to Pontypridd Goods (shunt) then to Treforest Estate (shunt) then back to Maesmawr (wait) then back to Radyr. In later years the trip also took in Treforest coal yard, which, due to track rationalisation, necessitated running  'up the valley' to Pontypridd, then back down  to Treforest (shunt) return to Pontypridd Goods (shunt) then to Treforest Estate etc etc.

 

On the page that refers to 'shunting engines'  generally those diagrams with an 'E' e.g. E80 or E68 would be worked by a diesel shunter, in this case the later Cl.08.

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Those 'shunting engines' prefixed 'C' e'g' C77 (Wernddu) or C83 (Rhymney) are trip workings operated by a main line loco (most likely a Cl.37) which shunts at that location as part of  its daily diagram. I suspect this was for accountancy purposes, but stand to be corrected.

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Of course, the WTT may tell only part of the story, more could be gleaned from the Sectional Appendix, which would govern  operating procedures at certain locations, and of which more anon.

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If anyone has anything to add, or correct, please feel free to post.

 

Brian R

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3268 - a photo taken during the summer of 1971..One day I'll get a decent picture from the Instamatic !.Brian R

 

One can almost hear the slight flap of the Lee Cooper flares in the gentle breeze.....

 

Rob

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One can almost hear the slight flap of the Lee Cooper flares in the gentle breeze.....

Probably because Levi's were beyond me.

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Still got my first Wrangler jacket, bought in 1971 when we went decimal - all of £3.25p from Polikoff's "up the valleys".

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Brian R

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At times, we railway modellers can be insular as far as our hobby is concerned.
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Many of us have sailed along paying no heed to what modellers following other disciplines are doing - especially military modellers who always appear to have led the field, employing cutting edge techniques.
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Today, whilst assisting in the 'Friday night big shop' I found myself in the magazine aisle.
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I picked up a magazine, which fell open at an aero-modelling article.
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A tad disappointed, t'was only when I put it down did I realise it was a railway magazine.
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As I put it back on the shelf, another magazine caught my eye, and browsing through its semi-gloss (as opposed to semi-matte) pages my attention was grabbed by a model of 'ten thousand rivets flying in close formation' (I'm sure someone will know what that refers to).
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All smiles at the checkout, as this evenings entertainment is taken care of, as I catch up on what the modellers of other disciplines are up to these days.........  and the princely sum of £4.30p paid by the domestic budget and not the modelling slush fund !!
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Brian R

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Agree Brian. Good to look at the military and aero modelling world from time to time.

 

Rob.

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There has been a noticeable lull in activity at Rosamund Street of late.

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Partly due to the planning of the successor to Rosamund St.

 

However, panic ensued when I realised that some chap called Nevard was visiting, armed with his photographic equipment.

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Luckily the weather held and Chris was able to shoot the layout (alright, overgrown diorama) outside on the deck...... the only time this year the patio table has been used was to support a model railway whilst it was photographed (a consequence of global warming ????).

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My daughter and grandsons rarely find the time for me to visit Swapmeets and 'Toy Fairs'- but I did manage a recent event at Cogan Leisure Centre and apart from several budget priced Parkside kits came away with am ancient Trix Twin BR Pig Iron wagon with sides fatter than a Dreadnought's flanks and an indescribable underframe............... which sat in a drawer for a couple of months, until last evening when, inspired by a break in my diet induced by a solitary bottle of BrAIns SA the Trix Twin body was temporarily perched upon a Hornby underframe stolen from my stash of Tipplers.

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Many of you will realise where this is leading........

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So, baulks need to be built - those in the Pig Iron conversions were adjustable, whereas those in the converted Tipplers were fixed.

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The moulded lettering will need removing or disguising.

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Also a few obvious adjustments below the waist.

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Brian R

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I still have a small supply of brass sheet in varying thicknesses - left over from my 7mm days.

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I have always liked working in brass, but my skills have lapsed.

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Having amassed thirty plus Barwell built sixteen ton mineral wagons for 'son of' Rosamund Street I am only too aware of the one glaring omission from an other wise excellent model - the missing representation of the doors, and top flaps, inside the wagons.

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So, armed with someone else's idea,a 0.010" brass sheet offcut, piercing saw table, several blades and files - I came up with the two simple jigs ahown below.

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The rectangle sits in the end of the wagon, and allows the top seam of the end door to be scribed.

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The other jig can be placed inside the wagon and allows the seams of the side door(s) to be scribed, and if necessary, the top flaps - the jig needs to be flipped around half way through the process.

 

Now I need something decent to effectively scribe the lines using the jig(s) - a nail in a collet just doesn't do itand a scrawker is a bit too big to fit; so, ideas anyone ?

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Brian R

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Finally for today, I wish to bring your attention to the following, an excellent product by return post - highly recommended:-

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http://www.railtec-models.com/showitem.php?id=1854

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Soon to be attached to, and finish the (expanding)rake of Coil J's:-

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Brian R

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PS

The (insulation tape) banding on the coils will need replacing - being too wide.

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PPS

Altho' the home made steel coils are smaller in diameter than the maximum size of those carried in such wagons - does anyone else think they appear a little to large ????

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Many of you will realise where this is leading........

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So, baulks need to be built - those in the Pig Iron conversions were adjustable, whereas those in the converted Tipplers were fixed.

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The moulded lettering will need removing or disguising.

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Also a few obvious adjustments below the waist.

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Brian R

 

This sort of thing you mean Brian?

 

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Note that the cradles for the Coil Cs were quite sophisticated (relative to the plain old baulks fitted to the Coil Js) - note the protective metal strips:

 

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The intermediate transverse baulks were movable and held in place by pins - which I represented with bits of 0.9mm wire with a loop of fuse wire soldered on the top. I'd remove the moulded lettering with something like a jeweller's screwdriver; I'm not sure that it would be easy to disguise. I would agree that the Railtec transfers are the ones to go for - though I must declare an interest since I commissioned them in the first place! None of these are actually for Coil Js though, but they are easy to cut about if required.

 

Adam

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That's it Adam.

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Yes, the timberwork inside the Coil 'C' was more involved than the Coil 'C'.

(And yours is more invloved, and better detailed than mine are)

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I cheated and made mine on removable floors - after finding my " prototype " conversion was a pig to paint.

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My conversions of RTB 16 tonners has ground to a temporary halt.

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I've approached Rail Tec with a view to having the relevant transfers produced for the RTB wagons.

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As for the next project (see bottom pic) - a modified Bachmann sand tippler body will marry the modified underframe from a Parkside PC63 Iron Ore Tippler to give the unique.............

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Brian R

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Could you post some pictures of how you did the inlaid track on the yard please?

Great looking layout.

Pete

Right then.......

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The layout was intended to be a test bed for several techniques I wanted to try out; I accepted that some may work, others may not.

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I only intended to have the rear sidings inset in the yard surface, and soldered up the tracwork from salvaged Peco Code 75 FB rail and PCB sleepers.

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This was laid upon an underlay of 5mm 'foam board' to judge its sound deadening qualities - and it works quite well.

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The intention was for the remaining trackwork, again Peco Code 75 would be overgrown, and weed strewn.

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I used an etched brass jig (hmmmm wonder where I bought that ????) to adjust the sleeper spacing of the Peco flexible track - and found it improved the appearance considerably; considering the visible limitations of the Peco FB flexi-track.

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I decided to use Wills granite setts, accepting that they are overscale.

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In order for the effect to approach some sort of 'reality' (tongue in cheek mode - on) I decided to lay the sheets in bays, with the one row of edging or kerb stones on the one edge; and with those edges running parallel as each sheet abutted the next.

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I had made the PCB trackwork with a continuous checkrail - and cutting the setts to size and fitting them between the running rails and check rails was relatively easy.

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Between the sidings I used mount board packing to support the Wills granite sett sheets.

This is apparent in the one photo below, taken from the sector plate and looking under the overbridge scenic break.

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Once the rear PCB sidings were done, I got cocky, and thought, "I'll carry on" and decided to lay more setts, throughout the scenic section of the layout.

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The straigh sections of the Peco track didn't present a problem - I cut a long thin strip of 0.010" styrene just narrowere than a proprietary back to back measurement, and then used square section styrene (can't recall if it was 0.060 or 0.080" square) to form check rails.

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This gap between the check rails was, in turn, filled in with lengths of granite sett sheets.

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My problems started when I got to the curved trackwork as the setts ran in straight lines and had to be trimmed and fettled to fit - with the rails curving one way, and the joints in the setts carrying straight on.

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Viewed from above, it looks odd.

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However, the layout is operated at almost 5'0" so this problem is not too apparent - unless you are a time served paver, bricklayer or mason.

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The real problem came with the points - and as the layout uses two Peco three-way turnouts it became a pig of a job, and as I mentioned previously, when viewed from above, it looks odd.............. but luckily the punters don't get a helicopter view of the layout, or the taller ones are too resereved to point out this shortcoming.

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Would I do it again ?

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Yes

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Would I do it the same way ?

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No !

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How would I do it next time ?

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I would consider setting experimenting, by straight trackwork in a surface of 7mm scale brickwork.

 

But a concrete surface would most probably be the solution - where the curved trackwork would not look at odds with the regimented lines of the setts.

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If I used PCB soldered construction for the pointwork, and almost continuous check rails, that would be easir than "f@rt @rsing around" with Peco pointwork.,

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I've got a file of different methods of setting trackwork into a road surface, two of which stand out (i) the "Union Freight, Part 2: Laying Track [in pavement] & Building the Control Panel", Model Railroader, Oct 2000 is excellent, if you can get hold of a copy, and (ii) Andy York's quayside layout.

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So, there you have it - warts an' all.

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Feel free to comment, or ask any questions.

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Brian R

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