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| 00 Gauge - Ottersford Junction, GWR 1920's - Members Personal Layouts. - Model Railway Layouts. - Your Model Railway Club | ||||||||||
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Kaiser Member 
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Well, this is my 4th attempt at starting my layout thread. So if Robert’s gremlins are having the day off, it works & you are all bored to death, then blame Brian (HenryParrot) for his kind help and encouragement. I can’t believe it’s nearly 12 months since I joined the Forum, so here goes. Looking through other threads, it would appear my modelling life has followed a lot of other members, with short periods of modelling interspersed with long interruptions from the other demands of life. In our 38 years of married life, we have never been in a house longer than 5 years, so no sooner had conversion of walk in wardrobe or spare bedroom begun than another move was on the cards & all plans had to be scrapped. How we ended up in S.A. is another story – suffice to say that I decided to call it a day at 50 & because of my wife’s severe Rheumatoid Arthritis we wanted to live somewhere warm. One of the reasons why I picked our current house was – four garages! One normal double + one extra large double with doors both ends. These let us store all our furniture & belongings while we worked on the house. After a few years settling in, I decided it was time to put a lifetime’s worth of study, planning & collecting into practice & get cracking with my railway. I bought a shed & that cleared out all the gardening tools & boxes of stuff yet to be unpacked that I haven’t got the heart to throw away. Then I extended the smaller garage to match the larger, tiled the floor, put in a ceiling & extra lights & electrics. Even leaving a walkway for access to the other garage, this has given me an area approx. 5M x 5M.  This is the room just after being finished. The door on the right goes to my bathroom & the kitchen (so no need for the rest of the house really!) & the door on the left goes through to the other playroom (cars & motorbikes). I decided to leave the garage door (just fitted some windows) so this can be opened for extra light. It’s South facing so never gets too hot.  The door on the right is the railway room. I didn’t come to S.A. to spend hours in a garage, & I wanted to keep the room as clear of clutter as possible. There was an area at the back of the 2nd garage, North facing & sheltered & not being used. So I put up a car port, tiled it & this has made a great place to work. I bought 2 stainless steel tables from a café that was closing down, & these have made ideal workbenches. Even now in the middle of Winter it’s warm enough between 10 am & 4 pm to sit & work.   This is my view from the workbench. My small branch terminus to fiddle yard layout survived the container journey quite well, but when it was offloaded I stupidly put it on the floor in the corner of the garage while more pressing matters were dealt with. The removal guys thought this would be a good place to lay paintings down, so that put paid to most of the tall structures. Later, we found that the gardener thought it made a nice seat (don’t ask, this is Africa) & that finished off signals, trees & telegraph poles. Then our St Bernard pup thought she’d have a go at landscaping & took a nice chunk out of the embankment. I did think of scrapping it, but the track was OK & converting it to DCC has taught me a lot. My proposed plan incorporates a branch so it has survived, although most structures will be replaced.  One corner of the layout that survived undamaged - down by the loco shed (scheduled for repaint)  This is the plan that I intend to use. It was designed for 'N' but I can just squeeze it in the space I've got. I like it because it gives plenty of operating interest - a factory, a wood yard, the small branch to the dock & the branch to my existing terminus, which I think will call 'Easewood'. I've studied plans for a lifetime & haven't found one I like more - you'll see it's from 1979!  Baseboard building is now underway. The main station, goods yard & loco shed will be on flat baseboards, but from the dock end of the platforms will be open plan because of the multiple levels - track down to road, down to quayside & down again to sea level. I was originally going to do a double 'roundy roundy' with another through station representing the LSWR junction, but progress to date being so slow I thought it was getting too ambitious. I've now decided on a single 'roundy roundy' with hidden sidings at the opposite end to the junction, but I'll extend the branch to incorporate a small through station on the way to Easewood. This will be over the main-line hidden sidings.   A couple of pics of Easewood:   The gangers have just finished the new point work at the station throat. The off duty loco man is telling them that up North they paint their locos Red! The gangers (one of whom is obviously an alien - must re-do those eyes) think he must have had too much nutty slack in his tea - who ever heard of Red locos? The loco area is to be all rebuilt with an ash pit, coal stage etc & the track re-ballasted with ash. Well, I've just checked &, apart from 2 frights when I clicked 'insert photo from gallery' & it just took me straight to the home page, everything appears in order. So no excuses, got to keep the momentum up now. Hope no one has slit their wrists yet - Brian - you asked for it! ____________________ All stressed out, got addled brains? Ride your bike or play with trains! |
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pnwood DON'T SHOUT my hearing is fine 
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Very nice, wish I had that sort of space. I know what you mean about short periods of modelling interspersed with long interruptions from other demands of life..... so what bike(s) do you have in the other playroom
____________________ Nick AKA Woody ------- Much Murkle GWR a layout in the making Much Murkle website |
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Wayne Williams Member 
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Now that is a super room for a layout, and a great start you have already. Repairing that missing chunk should be no problem, from the looks of what you have accomplished already. Enjoyed reading all of this, so keep the postings coming. Wayne ____________________ My Layout "The South Shore Line": http://yourmodelrailway.net/view_topic.php?id=509&forum_id=21 |
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Kaiser Member
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Hi Nick. These are my current bikes. I've had the Firestorm since 1998 & brought it over from the UK - still has 'get out of jail fee' UK plates! When I'm stopped I say I'm touring! I've never kept a bike so long but I really like it. Misses out at top end (240kph max) but a great all rounder. I took it to the Nurburgring 3 times before coming here. I bought the Blackbird here.  One of the reasons I left the UK was all the nonsensical hysteria about speeding & the proliferation of cameras. It is changing here but it will be a while before it gets as bad as the UK. Every Sunday morning here is like Mad Sunday on the IOM - game on! ____________________ All stressed out, got addled brains? Ride your bike or play with trains! |
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georgejacksongenius Kettle Watcher 
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Nice pictures Kaiser.Looking forward to lots more too as the layout develops. Cheers,John.B.  |
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MaxSouthOz Admin 
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It was worth the wait, Kaiser. Thank you.
____________________ Max Port Elderley |
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Marty Enjoying the Journey 
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Great start Mal, well done for perservering, well worth the effort. Apart from what must be a very steep gradient on the branch down to the docks I DO like that layout plan and look forward to seeing it develop. ... and while we're taking about our other toys... here's mine. DL650 Vstrom... 'cause I like to go to out of the way place at sane speeds...  ____________________ Marty N Gauge, GWR West Wales Newcastle Emlyn Layout. Newcastle Emlyn Station is "Under construction" |
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Kaiser Member
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Hey guys - maybe we should start a bike thread?  Like your Beemer Nick, but I never managed to get on with shaft drive. That 1100S is one of the best looking BM have made - love the pipes under the tail. Marty - rode a VStrom around Kyalami a few years back. Great bike & very popular here as there are lots of off-road trails.Marty - there is about 9 feet on the dock branch to take the tracks low enough to pass under the main line. Do you think that will be enough? I'll start the drop immediately after the switch to the docks, & I'm thinking of extending off the side of the baseboard there so as not to waste those first 5 feet. All gradients worry me, but the Easewood branch will have about 4 meters to climb to clear the hidden sidings - I think that will be OK. Thanks for everyone's comments & encouragement! Mal ____________________ All stressed out, got addled brains? Ride your bike or play with trains! |
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ElDavo Former Member
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I like that plan. Lots of trackwork yet it's nicely spacious. I wouldn't have thought a fairly steep incline to the docks would be too much of a problem if you are only shuffling a handful of wagons up and down. Cheers Dave |
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Ianbo Legacy Member 
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If your new layout matches the standard of your old one the building of it should be a treat to follow
____________________ Bozzy(never known to pass a pub) |
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Robert Legacy Member 
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The Norton picture takes me back to the days of my AJS 600 twin and the Triumph Bonneville, great machines, smooth as silk and could be ridden very quietly. I say quietly because I used to pride myself on being able to move through the country side swiftly but quietly.
____________________ Barchester |
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pnwood DON'T SHOUT my hearing is fine
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Robert wrote:I used to pride myself on being able to move through the country side swiftly but quietly. Poacher eh!!!  
____________________ Nick AKA Woody ------- Much Murkle GWR a layout in the making Much Murkle website |
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ddolfelin Straight man to the stars. 
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"One of the reasons I left the UK was all the nonsensical hysteria about speeding" I wish the bikers wouldn't put their heads in my lane when they are doing their speeding on blind bends. We have a harvest of organ donations every bank holiday in Wales. ____________________ http://dddioramas.webs.com/ 11 + 2 = 12 + 1 |
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Kaiser Member
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There's a difference between speeding, i.e. transgressing an arbitrary & in many cases inappropriate speed limit, & dangerous driving, i.e driving like an idiot. The trouble is that it's now PC to class the former with the latter, i.e. bollocks. Don't get me on my soap box! Mal ____________________ All stressed out, got addled brains? Ride your bike or play with trains! |
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Kaiser Member
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Well, while you guys have been jolling it up at the Cornwall show (& a great success it seems to have been - well done!) some of us poor isolated Southern Hemisphere colonials have been battling with the last days of Winter. Here's Sandra braving the cold two days before Spring & hoping for warmer days ahead: On the railway front, I've run out of baseboard wood until more funds are forthcoming, so have been doing some wagon & building er ... building. I got some Bachmann cattle wagons to save kit building - here's one next to a more dimensionally correct Coopercraft that I made some years ago:  I've re-wheeled & re-lettered the Bachmann, & although the inaccuracies don't bother me that much, to be honest unless you're going to run the Bachmann as is 'out of the box' by the time you've bought the transfers & the wheels & messed about you might as well make the kit. The Mogul in the background is just about to run around the afternoon through coaches from Ottersford. The bare space in the foreground is the site for the cattle dock. I've had a delivery of track & have started laying out for Ottersford - it's made me realise what a mammoth task lies ahead with ballasting, wiring etc before anything can actually run. However, constant reference to the Forum helps me realise I'm not the only one with ambitious projects in hand. Unfortunately, Cindy, my beautiful St Bernard (see previous pics) has just been diagnosed with Lymph cancer at 5 years old, so I've not been in much of a mood for serious concentration.  Question - I notice when opening my new delivery of points (I know a GW man shouldn't call them that) that there is a dangly wire:  I'm running DCC - is this something I should be concerned about. It must be a new thing as my last delivery didn't have them. ____________________ All stressed out, got addled brains? Ride your bike or play with trains! |
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henryparrot Former Member
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Sorry the here about Cindy Mal not easy when a family pet becomes seriously ill like that. Re the points never seen a dangly wire must be a new thing not sure what thats for is there nothing on the instructions saying what it is. Brian |
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georgejacksongenius Kettle Watcher
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Ditto from me as regards Cindy.We lost Pip this time last year,and Holly fell very ill just before Christmas.They're just like members of the family in my eyes! Cheers,John.B. |
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Stubby47 Welsh exile 
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I think the dangly wire is connected to the live frog, to allow switching of polarity when the point changes. A quick test with a multimeter will confirm. Stu ____________________ Stubby47's Model Buildings - http://www.styubby47.co.uk All photos I post are ©Stu Hilton, but are free for use by anyone. The Chacewater to Newquay Railway: Shepherds Halt, Shepherds Station, The Treamble Branch |
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Sol Former Member
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Yes, that wire is for frog switching. http://brian-lambert.co.uk/Electrical-2.htm down the page to Live frog (Electrofrog) points Even this site has some info http://www.peco-uk.com/imageselector/Files/Instruction%20sheets/Code75ConTurnoutInst.pdf it refers to concrete points but the principle is the same. |
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Janner Former Member
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Sorry to hear about Cindy. |
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Kaiser Member
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Thanks for all the kind comments guys. The vet called Friday with the results of the biopsy & has put Cindy on Chemotherapy - he won't of course commit himself as to how long she might have. Unbelievably, we lost our 2 year old GSD to exactly the same thing last year - talk about lightening striking twice! Anyway, Cindy has had an OK weekend - she's got her appetite back (she hadn't eaten for three days which is why we went to the vet in the first place) & you would have to know her to realise there was anything wrong. However, little Max last year was gone in four weeks after diagnosis so we're keeping fingers crossed. Sol - thanks for the links. Great - I've now got to cut wires & mess about on the 40+ points for this layout. Yippee! I have had that blade shorting problem since I converted Easewood to DCC so it's probably better to be safe & do the modification. Brian - you know we only read the instructions when all else fails!!  Michael - we came over from Southport in the North West - the seaside town without any sea! Anyway, should be getting some funds in next week that will enable me to buy the rest of the wood needed to complete the baseboards. I can't really start laying the track proper for Ottersford as you will see from the plan that at the right-hand end of the station it gets quite complicated with multi-levels, the main line crossing an estuary & the dock branch - & all on a curve - so I need to get the 'vee' bridge built before I can get the alignments! Didn't want to start with anything simple! Been building a PC Models coach kit today that I've had for years - deary me, everything takes so long! Most of the day spent on my hands & knees trying to find some 4mm x 1mm wafer thin transfers that a small gust of wind had caught before I had time to fix them - one of the perils of an outdoor workbench. I'll post some pics if it ever gets finished! Cheers for now. Mal ____________________ All stressed out, got addled brains? Ride your bike or play with trains! |
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Ianbo Legacy Member
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Sorry to hear about Cindy Mal. I hope you've got your "dangly wire" sorted ____________________ Bozzy(never known to pass a pub) |
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Kaiser Member
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Well, I’m still waiting for a couple of deals to come off so I can buy the rest of the baseboards, so in the meantime I’ve been doing a bit more work on Easewood, that has now acquired a goods shed (Wills Craftsman). My first attempt at weathering a building.   I've also done a bit of work on the platform but I'm waiting for a water crane & some lamps to complete. Old Jim the porter is very pleased with the blooms on his peonies this year!  Thought I'd get away with just painting the tank on that Prairie - the camera is cruel! As it seems to be 'tree season' on the Forum, I thought I'd have a go. First up, two made from a Woodland Scenics kit I've had for donkey's years.  Station Road, Easwood on a quiet afternoon. Station stables at the end of the road.  Looking across the station from the footpath to the loco shed. I'm now making one from twisted wire & glue gun, but I started it before I read Marty's post about dipping in gunge! I've just ordered 70 trees from China on EBay for the princely sum of £15! I don't know how good they will be but they sure will save some time! I'll post when I've received them. I've also invested in a static flock applicator - as Chris Nevard said, it's only the same price as that next loco you don't really need. I got one from the States for $80 - again, I'll post when I've given it a try. Just waiting for some flock! Cheers for now. Mal ____________________ All stressed out, got addled brains? Ride your bike or play with trains! |
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Janner Former Member
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What super photos Mal, that good shed is excellent nad the tree is super as well  |
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pnwood DON'T SHOUT my hearing is fine
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Yes I'm liking this too Mal, what a super layout. Great photos, I love the shot of Station Road. I'm not sure about that lime-washing on the cattle wagon though as I believe I read somewhere that the practice ceased (was banned) in the early 1920's. Note to myself - must take some photos of Much Murkle with some stock on. ____________________ Nick AKA Woody ------- Much Murkle GWR a layout in the making Much Murkle website |
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Kaiser Member
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Hi Nick - I'm modelling pre-grouping so early 20's we are in (allegedly)! ____________________ All stressed out, got addled brains? Ride your bike or play with trains! |
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pnwood DON'T SHOUT my hearing is fine
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Kaiser wrote:Hi Nick - I'm modelling pre-grouping so early 20's we are in (allegedly)! That's ok then Mal  Is that an old Prototype Models (at least that's who I think it was) stable block facing down Station Road ? ____________________ Nick AKA Woody ------- Much Murkle GWR a layout in the making Much Murkle website |
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Chubber Casseroled Badger 
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Lovely work Mal, re the 'dangly wire' see here, hope it helps! http://yourmodelrailway.net/view_topic.php?id=6684&forum_id=11&highlight=putter-on Doug ____________________ 'You may share the labours of the great, but you will not share the spoil...' Aesop's Fables "Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy" - Benjamin Franklin In the land of the slap-dash and implausible, mediocrity is king |
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henryparrot Former Member
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Mal some great work there you are really starting to make that look very impressive. I like the Wills kits myself when someone first buys them and opens the box they get a shock when all you get is the wills sheets and drawings but after you have done a few you get into the routine of doing them. Keep up the good work Mal Brian |
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John Dew Full Member 
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The branch is looking really good Mal......I am enjoying this thread a lot I was sorry to hear about your dogs.....the same thing happened to us a few years ago.....its a devastating experience Michael - we came over from Southport in the North West - the seaside town without any sea! Small world........I originally came from Formby! Regards from Vancouver ____________________ John Granby III Lenz DCC,RR&Co Gold V10 A4 Windows 10 |
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MikeC Former Member
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Nice scenes, Mal. Give Cindy a pat for me. Mike |
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Marty Enjoying the Journey
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Hmmm, I've got a cousing in South Africa, might have to see about a visit in a couple of years time and arrange an operating session on Ottersford Junction at the same time. Coming along very nicely Mal. I too like the shot along station road. Did you weather the roof of the goods shed? it still looks a little too clean for my eyes. The walls and detail are great. ... and well done for joining in the October Tree Project. Did you find the Woodland Scenics tree pack worth while? ____________________ Marty N Gauge, GWR West Wales Newcastle Emlyn Layout. Newcastle Emlyn Station is "Under construction" |
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phill Hello 
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A lovely layout Mal and some great pics of it as well, thanks. Phill |
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Michael Thornberry Former Member
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Hello Mal, Part of my favourite era(1898-1938). The Goods Yard is that "busy doing nothing, but, you can feel the energy going in to it". Love the Station Road and Cottage. I hope "woofter" is responding well to treatment, Kind Regards, Michael Thornberry. |
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Chubber Casseroled Badger
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 Bisto ____________________ 'You may share the labours of the great, but you will not share the spoil...' Aesop's Fables "Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy" - Benjamin Franklin In the land of the slap-dash and implausible, mediocrity is king |
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Kaiser Member
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Thanks for all kind comments guys - & concern for Cindy It's now 6 weeks since diagnosis. She had on Monday her 3rd Chemo. treatment, & just like humans she has good days & bad days. She was fine till Wed then went right off her food & everything else. Today she's full of beans, been for a walk round the park, eaten half a kilo of roast ham & chased the chickens round the garden. She says thanks to Bisto for his concern but she still won't share her bone (Just checked this post & the gremlins have struck again & deleted everything after this so will now redo everything & try again.)  (I think I've found what the problem is. If I upload photos from the 'my photos' section of the forum, & then insert them to a post using 'insert photos from gallery' I don't have a problem. But if I start a post & then use 'upload new photo for insertion'. it jaspers the whole post, but only after you press 'send' - up till then everything looks OK. Anyone else had this??) I'll do another post for everything else. ____________________ All stressed out, got addled brains? Ride your bike or play with trains! |
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Kaiser Member
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OK, 2nd try for this post. Marty - I did weather the roof but this photo was taken just after a heavy fall of rain  ! I'd had the Woodland's kit for some time. I found it very easy, but they are expensive now (especially here) at about £12 for a 3 tree kit. I've just finished my first 'twisted wire & glue gun' tree: Reasonably pleased with it but I think it needs more branches. The gap on the right further up the road is where a low relief Station Master's house & a pub will be - it will be my first attempt at scratch building as I can't find a suitable kit. (& I think that wall needs some buttresses).  The cost was next to nothing except time, & I think if you could work out a production line then it's not worth the cost of the Woodland's. I'm interested to see what my 'Chinese' trees will be like (£15 for 70) as if they are any good for that price it's not worth making them. Marty - if you, or any other member of the forum, wants to come visit SA then you are more than welcome to stay. We don't work & have plenty of room, so if you don't mind dog hairs & slobber (Sandra can get excited) then we can have a good time. (Can also go on some brilliant bike rides). Nick - the stable is a 'Builder Plus' kit I got off Ebay some time - don't know if they are still in production.  I scored the roof tiles & wood detail for a bit of relief (to the building, not me) & the Ivy hides the corner joins! I made the trough out of balsa wood & the water is Sandra's clear nail varnish. The station gates need a re-paint. John - small world indeed. My Mum was born in Freshfield & lived in Formby most of her life. I've had many a long dog walk in the Pinewoods! Don't know when you left but it's full of posh scousers now! I got a note this morning that my parcel of static fibres had arrived. Went up to the Post Office but they had been raided last night & had all their computers stolen so they couldn't process anything! Was looking forward to using my new static gun this weekend. Ah well, lots of other things to do! Cheers for now Mal ____________________ All stressed out, got addled brains? Ride your bike or play with trains! |
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pnwood DON'T SHOUT my hearing is fine
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Kaiser wrote:
Ah yes, Builders Plus, that's the one. Don't think it's available anymore but a nice little building that's just crying out for Doug to do his own interpretation
____________________ Nick AKA Woody ------- Much Murkle GWR a layout in the making Much Murkle website |
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ddolfelin Straight man to the stars.
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Love the 'rockery'. The rest looks good too. The Red Squirrels in Formby are good to see but they've become very imprinted on the visitors' nuts. (I know what I mean). ____________________ http://dddioramas.webs.com/ 11 + 2 = 12 + 1 |
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John Dew Full Member
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Kaiser wrote: Nick - the stable is a 'Builder Plus' kit I got off Ebay some time - don't know if they are still in production. Thats a charming cameo Mal......very nicely modelled. When one considers how prevalent the use of Horses on the Railways was..... right up to Nationalisation, its amazing you dont see more stables on branch layouts (I am embarrassed to say mine is off scene on Granby ) Even when the horses were gone the buildings,which by virtue of their original purpose were quite distinctive, remained. Often converted to garages or stores. But as I said ,rarely modelled and I dont know of any kits currently available......maybe another "really useful building for Ddolfelin? John - small world indeed. My Mum was born in Freshfield & lived in Formby most of her life. I've had many a long dog walk in the Pinewoods! Don't know when you left but it's full of posh scousers now! I have been in Canada for 30 years now so I would guess its before your time. I lived there when I was at school from 1947- 1955. I did my basic Army Training there as well.....and then we lived there after I was married from 1967-1972. We lived on a development not far from the Pinewoods, built on a field I used to herd cows across when I was a boy. The Army Depot had long gone as well and we ex locals used to irritate the posh scousers living in the new houses there by calling it the"Barracks Estate" .................all a long time ago ____________________ John Granby III Lenz DCC,RR&Co Gold V10 A4 Windows 10 |
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Chubber Casseroled Badger
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John Dew wrote: the posh scousers living in the new houses there by calling it the"Barracks Estate" .................all a long time ago Are not the words 'posh' and 'scousers' mutually exclusive? [Dons tin hat and runs away from the scallies...] Stirring Doofer ____________________ 'You may share the labours of the great, but you will not share the spoil...' Aesop's Fables "Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy" - Benjamin Franklin In the land of the slap-dash and implausible, mediocrity is king |
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John Dew Full Member
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In the very old days it was Manchester Men and Liverpool Gentlemen You can have your thread back shortly Mal  ____________________ John Granby III Lenz DCC,RR&Co Gold V10 A4 Windows 10 |
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Kaiser Member
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...and all the old jokes come to mind: "What do you call a scouser in a detached house?" A burglar. "What do you call a scouser in a suit?" The accused. There were some more, but my memory's not as sharp as it used to be. Also, my memory's not as sharp as it used to be. ____________________ All stressed out, got addled brains? Ride your bike or play with trains! |
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pnwood DON'T SHOUT my hearing is fine
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Having seen Aussietrains header picture nomination, I'd love to see an update on the layout Mal.
____________________ Nick AKA Woody ------- Much Murkle GWR a layout in the making Much Murkle website |
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Kaiser Member
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Well, my ghast is absolutely flabbered to find one of my old photos nominated for header pic., but I'm also amazed to see that it's October since I last updated this thread. First, excuses - our beautiful Cindy lost her 3-month battle with the big 'C' just before Christmas (see earlier in the thread). I've loved all my dogs but never been so attached to one as that big slobbery hairball & she left a huge hole & I didn't really feel up to much. Then our little Shepherd Jan (the other one in the photo) was diagnosed with osteoarthritis of the spine that is putting pressure on her windpipe & making it hard for her to swallow or breathe properly. So not much luck on the canine front. Then I got involved in a business deal with a guy who's turned out to be a conman, fraudster & inveterate liar that cost me R100, 000 (about £10, 000) - a tidy sum in the UK but a fortune over here where a policeman's salary is about R8, 000 a month. I think I might recover about 50% but as you can imagine it's not left much time for the railway! So excuses over, what's been happening? Well, all baseboards just about finished & track laying started at Ottersford - first trains have run on the sweeping approach to the station:   No points have been laid yet as I've been following Perry's 'Plank Road' thread with avid interest & decided to go the 'Hex Frog Juicer' road. I've ordered one so will do the approach roads as soon as it arrives. Meanwhile, the power BUS & accessories BUS has been installed & I've been improving my soldering. What have I learnt? The importance of flux! I always used 'multicore' solder & always had problems getting the solder to flow. I bought some flux & can't believe the difference it makes. Probably b. obvious to most of you guys, but my learning curve is ever steeper! Easewood baseboards were cleared & new legs fitted to raise the level, as the branch will now climb & cross the mainline & give me a run of about 6m from Ottersford to Easewood.  Everything seems to take so long! Most of this week has been working on my old Mainline Dean Goods. I say old because I bought it new goodness knows when & it's been in the box since. It's one of those horrible tender drives, but I've fitted a TCS chip & done some detailing & it doesn't look too bad, but is very noisy:  As a break from track & baseboards, I've been trying some scratch building. The Station Master's house has appeared in Station Road:  I think in this case Sol's 3' rule should be adjusted to 30' & Pendon has nothing to worry about! What have I learnt? First, you can't change your knife blade too often - look at the raggedy edge round the windows! 2nd - if you're not 100% happy with something, rather scrap it then & start again rather than think it won't notice. Sandra says I'm a sad muppet & the damn railway won't be finished in another 50 years - fact is, I know it's not right & really that's all that matters. I'm building another cottage next door that's a bit of an improvement. If anyone's interested, the drainpipe is fuse wire with brackets a la Allan Downes (rolled strips of paper). The brass door knob is a pin head. First attempt at back scen painting also! Need to improve quickly as we have 18 meters of back scene to go! Easewood engine shed has had a re-paint & acquired a coaling stage - still to be bedded in & detailed:   So that's about it for now. Not much to show for 5 months! What is the main thing I have learnt? Don't do anything before looking in the Forum index!! If i'd done that, I'd have made holes in the baseboard trusses to take wires, I wouldn't have raggedy edges on my windows, I'd have appreciated the importance of flux much sooner & so on. Must say at this point that this Forum has been an absolute brick for me, as inspiration as well as support. There is always someone willing to help & give advice, & as Billy No Mates here in S.A. it's good to be able to communicate with people with a common interest in our great & diverse hobby. So my thanks to you all Mal ____________________ All stressed out, got addled brains? Ride your bike or play with trains! |
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pnwood DON'T SHOUT my hearing is fine
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Mal Great to have an update, and I'm sorry to hear of trauma you've gone through with your beloved dogs and being taken for a ride by the con artist. Maybe it doesn't seem much to you but as you seem to work on your layout at about the same speed as I do on mine then I think it's good progress Nice interpretation of the Wills coal stage kit
____________________ Nick AKA Woody ------- Much Murkle GWR a layout in the making Much Murkle website |
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georgejacksongenius Kettle Watcher
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Welcome back Mal, You've certainly had a rough ride of it lately mate.nice to see you back in modelling harness again.The layouts' coming on a treat. Cheers,John.B. |
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owen69 Former Member
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A real shame about your pets and the low life who took your cash, but good to have you back here again know what you mean about the index,one hell of a reference source  |
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John Flann Legacy Member 
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Yes, we had a black Labrador bitch, Jess, who became just another member of the family and would not be left out of anything, and when she went with old age (and over easting) it was a great loss to us all. So I know how you feel. And as to Ottersford it's coming on well, and appreciate the update. ____________________ John Flann. Providence River Branch, and GWR Hintock Branch |
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Kaiser Member
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Well, as usual I've just put up about 6 pics & some text - kept pressing 'preview' to make sure everything OK, then after last insertion & text, pressed 'preview' & everything gone - just [img">] showing & nothing else. A real bummer & a waste of half an hour! So I'll try again - who needs sleep anyway! I've had a bit of a splurge last few days. As Easewood had been cleared to fit the new legs & is now stabilised, I took the opportunity to replace & realign some sections of track & improve some connections (Easewood was originally DC but I converted to DCC so needed some extra feeds & breaks). Now everything is running reasonably smoothly. Easewood has now acquired some seating, lamps & a much needed water crane:    The coal stage has been bedded in - now just needs some buckets & spades!  I bought some 'Chinese' trees on EBay - £15 for 50 inc postage from tiddly land. They are a bit gaudy but with a bit of teasing with tweasers they don't look too bad a save a lot of time:   Old Jim the Porter is very proud of his Begonias - he's just a bit busy with churns at the moment for gardening:  I also bought a 'static stick' off EBay. Had a problem with the mains adaptor - went pop as soon as I used it, but the guy gave great service & sourced a better one - cost him $25 just to ship the replacement adaptor! Haven't had a chance to use it yet - I'm waiting for some 'static grass'. The guys name is Scooter - would recommend as he really cares about his customers.  That's all for now folks. Pip Pip. Mal ____________________ All stressed out, got addled brains? Ride your bike or play with trains! |
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Sol Former Member
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Mal, the best way is to put the photos into the gallery first, then select as required when creating a thread/post. | |||||||||
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Kaiser Member
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Already do that Sol! Put them in the gallery first, even before I open new reply window. As I say, I've always had this problem, which is why I keep going to 'preview' after each insertion. Never had a complete deletion before after adding six or so pics, text & everything! I'm using XP Pro regularly updated with Firefox & PC just been upgraded to Pentium 2.7 Dual Core with 3 Gig RAM so I don't think the problem is my end. ____________________ All stressed out, got addled brains? Ride your bike or play with trains! |
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MaxSouthOz Admin
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Try this, Mal:- Just do a dummy post, it can be deleted afterwards. Type in some text. Go to the next line and upload one photo via "Upload new photo for insertion." When the photo uploads, you should see it in your Gallery. Click on the photo to insert it into the text. Hit enter. Type in some more text. Go to Preview. Scroll back down to Send. Hit Send. Let us know where it goes astray. ____________________ Max Port Elderley |
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Kaiser Member
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Hi Max - it doesn't happen every time - just a lot of the time! I now go to 'preview' 1st because I was sick of sending only to find an empty post come up! At least if it's on 'preview' I can correct it first. So it happens when I press 'send' or 'preview' but not every time! Don't you just love intermittent problems? Mal ____________________ All stressed out, got addled brains? Ride your bike or play with trains! |
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John Flann Legacy Member
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Mal, I enjoyed those recent shots of your layout. Nice and fresh. Well done.
____________________ John Flann. Providence River Branch, and GWR Hintock Branch |
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John Dew Full Member
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Took the words out of my mouth. Easewood is looking great Mal and I do like the way you detailed the Dean Goods.......one the quintessential GWR locos Regards ____________________ John Granby III Lenz DCC,RR&Co Gold V10 A4 Windows 10 |
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Chubber Casseroled Badger
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Kaiser wrote: Hi Max - it doesn't happen every time - just a lot of the time! I now go to 'preview' 1st because I was sick of sending only to find an empty post come up! At least if it's on 'preview' I can correct it first. So it happens when I press 'send' or 'preview' but not every time! Don't you just love intermittent problems? Mal Yes yes yes.........this will happen with this software if, having chosen 'Upload new photo for insertion' you don't actually upload something, perhaps you change your mind which picture to upload, or you can't remember if it's JPEG 1027 or JPEg 1028 you want. You can go on gaily typing away, adding subsequent pictures and words, press 'Send' and all you have is a couple of words, a space and "img!. So, golden rule, once you have selected 'Upload new photo for insertion' upload anything, you can always click on it and delete it in the final post if you have to. Good Luck! Doug Edited to say 'Tell Jim it might be the limestone rocks around his begonias that if doing them harm, I think they like a ph neutral or slightly acid soil...........' I'm enjoying this thread! D ____________________ 'You may share the labours of the great, but you will not share the spoil...' Aesop's Fables "Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy" - Benjamin Franklin In the land of the slap-dash and implausible, mediocrity is king |
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Kaiser Member
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Progress at Ottersford continues at a pace that makes watching paint dry a high activity pursuit. However, with a lot of help from Perry the first six main line points on the Southern approach to the station have been laid & wired using a 'Hex Frog Juicer'. (If you don't know what this is, look at Perry's excellent 'Plank Road' thread.) This has made the PL-13 switches I bought unnecessary for polarity switching, so I've decided to use them for LED route indicators. On Perry's advice, this has meant the installation of another BUS wire so that the LEDs are independent of the point circuit using a Capacitor Discharge Unit. This is the wiring diagram that Perry prepared for me - the fifth BUS wire runs from the CDU & eventually to all the PL-10s.  I'm sure whoever came up with the idea of DCC had shares in a wire making company - I can't believe how much wire I've used - & another 24 points to go! This is work so far:   This is the HFJ in place - works a treat with super slow, smooth running through all the switches.  I'm trying to have a min. 5' radius to get a smooth flow with the large radius points, exception being the line at the top left in the second pic that runs down to the dock with a 4' radius. At least all the baseboards are now complete with the finishing of the dropped section for the dock extension - just need to do the link between the old Easewood boards & the rest of the world. Oh, & two control panels to build! Oh, and the backboards & front boards! Doh! Not much to show for a couple of weeks. What have I learnt? You will ALWAYS bang your head when soldering under the baseboards. The tool you need will ALWAYS be out of reach on the other side. If a wire or a lead can get caught on any protuberance no matter how far away or tucked away, it ALWAYS will. Trying to fit under baseboard point motors is a nightmare unless you are a two headed octopus. That's all for now folks. Thanks again to Perry for his patience & help. Mal ____________________ All stressed out, got addled brains? Ride your bike or play with trains! |
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shunter1 Member
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 Mal, Great to see someone else in the endurance phase of building a railway. Hex frog juicers and such and miles of wiring 2-wire DCC  .Its really coming together though Mal and you posted some great photo,s of some of your scenic work as well in your railway thread. I am Catching up.Good luck with the rest of the points and wireing and I do hope things are on the up and up for you and your good lady. regards, Derek |
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Kaiser Member
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Cheers Derek - I've been following your thread with interest as we seem to be at similar stages (the 'endurance stage' - very well put!) - there is also going to be an LNWR influence at Ottersford & I used to live next to the old L & Y Liverpool to Southport line. The tracks were taken up in the late 50s & many an hour of my youth was spent walking the old track bed & exploring the disused & derelict signal boxes & station buildings. The old L & Y terminal in Southport became a bus station until redevelopment in the 80s. On the con-man front, the guy has been arrested & refused bail as it transpires he's done time for fraud before. I've managed to recover my BMW that he was using, albeit with R50,000 worth of damage, but at least when it's repaired & sold I should be able to recover something. Anyway, it's control panel building day as I've run out of wire! Cheers for now. Mal ____________________ All stressed out, got addled brains? Ride your bike or play with trains! |
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georgejacksongenius Kettle Watcher
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Keep on keeping on Kaiser.You're getting there,no doubt about it. |
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Petermac Admin 
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I've just read this thread from the start Mal and I have to say, you have a superb layout there. I love the little cameos and the whole thing is so realistic - a real credit to you and one that will inspire me to get a move on !!  ____________________ 'Petermac |
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John Dew Full Member
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Kaiser wrote: Cheers Derek - I've been following your thread with interest as we seem to be at similar stages (the 'endurance stage' - very well put!) - there is also going to be an LNWR influence at Ottersford & I used to live next to the old L & Y Liverpool to Southport line. The tracks were taken up in the late 50s & many an hour of my youth was spent walking the old track bed & exploring the disused & derelict signal boxes & station buildings. The old L & Y terminal in Southport became a bus station until redevelopment in the 80s. Hi Mal I missed this somehow and when I read I got confused for a bit...............the L&Y Liverpool to Southport Line is still in existence as far as I know...........it is the electrified line that runs from Liverpool Exchange to Southport Chapel Street..........if challenged I could probably name all the intermediate stations.......I travelled that line enough times to and from school! I am guessing the line you are referring to is the old Cheshire Lines Committee (really LNER) that ran from Liverpool Central and wound its way across Formby Moss to Southport Lord Street........it even had a stop in Birkdale right by the sand dunes for the old Palace Hotel Great to see the way your layout is developing and I totally relate to your comments about soldering under baseboards....ugh!! Kind Regards ____________________ John Granby III Lenz DCC,RR&Co Gold V10 A4 Windows 10 |
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ddolfelin Straight man to the stars.
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I visited the old Cheshire Lines near Halsall a couple of years back and nature has completely reclaimed the ground level stuff which remained. Very attractive in a natural and unplanned way. Not many people visit it. ____________________ http://dddioramas.webs.com/ 11 + 2 = 12 + 1 |
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shunter1 Member
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Mal, Congrats on your railway being chosen for the YMR Photo spot. Hows the track wireing going, maybe use your motor bike crash hat save a few bruises .I chickened out on all those electro-frogs and converted most to insulated jobs, I don,t plan on running many 0-4-0 industrial loco,s, although I will have to be careful with the 2-4-2 T types. Thanks for telling me about your railway walks around your old stamping grounds. Goodluck with the build Derek |
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Kaiser Member
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Well, how honoured hi ham to have a pic of Easewood as header! Thanks guys. Not much been happening as I've run out of track underlay, wire & er - oh yes, money![img]"> Well, gremlins have struck again! Just went to 'Preview' after inserting photos & text & this is what I got. Bugger ____________________ All stressed out, got addled brains? Ride your bike or play with trains! |
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Petermac Admin
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If it was a picture of some money Mal - it won't print !! Everything is set up to forward money direct to my account so I can check for forgeries. Strange as it may seem, most of those I've received have in fact been forgeries so I've been unable to return them to their owners ................. ____________________ 'Petermac |
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Kaiser Member
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2nd try for this post! Have to remember what I said now. In the meantime, John you're quite right it was the old Cheshire Lines that I used to amble along - I remember seeing the signs now! The old L & Y (electrified) is still in existence - my Great Aunt used to take me trips to Southport from Waterloo on that line. However, it was Ainsdale station that was on the beach, not Birkdale! Birkdale station is still open! I used to live in Ainsdale not far from the old Palace Hotel, which in the 70's had become the night club Toad Hall. Now, where was I? Oh yes, I got caught out with my track plan because the original plan (see page 1) was for 'N' gauge which meant I needed 4' for the dock line & exit roads at the North end of Ottersford. As this section is against a wall, 4' would be too wide, so I may have to reduce the radius of the exit tracks & there will be a bit less sea! I've also decided to model the river & surrounding landscape before putting in bridges & track.   Sandra's medication comes every two weeks & has to be kept refrigerated, so comes packed in a box insulated with a high density foam. It's light, cuts very easily & doesn't make any mess like polystyrene. Unfortunately, I've only just found this out after 3 years so lots has been thrown away! I've also had a re-think about the control panel. The main panel is to be 'inside' the circuit, & as I've opted for 3-link couplings & the goods yard is on the opposite side, any shunting would have involved 'ducking under' all the time. So I've decided to have a secondary control panel, covering the goods reception loop & the yard, situated opposite the main panel, so allowing completely independent operation of the yard. Well, that's all for now. Thanks for everybody's kind comments - it really does help keep you motivated during the 'endurance stage'! ____________________ All stressed out, got addled brains? Ride your bike or play with trains! |
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shunter1 Member
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Mal Good to see your Post and photo,s, All those high level scenic runs should be great to view . 3-links Ahh your eyesite must be good, and a steady hand helps, Have you a lift up section for getting out of the operator well? Waiting for track and stuff, Part of the joys of the mail order railway brigade. I have another 20 yards either in the suppliers emporium or the post somewhere. Cash is another topic I did have some grand spending plans this week trouble is the phone and heating bills arrived.They have no consideration! Anyway enough rambling! All the best, Derek |
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John Dew Full Member
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Kaiser wrote:
There were actually two Ainsdale Stations (Well 3 if you include Woodvale).......there was and still is Ainsdale on the Electrified Line. Ainsdale Beach used to be on the CLC........it was the station before Birkdale Palace What really got the old nostalgia going was your mention of Toad Hall..........spent many happy saturday nights there in the early 70s...............isnt life bizarre a guy in Vancouver reminiscing with a guy in South Africa about an obscure night club in Lancashire in 1970......on a railway forum...............go figure!! Back to your thread .......good solid progress Mal until like me you ran out of track.....probably lots of other stuff to do though ____________________ John Granby III Lenz DCC,RR&Co Gold V10 A4 Windows 10 |
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Petermac Admin
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Aren't all nightclubs in Lancashire obscure ? .......................... ____________________ 'Petermac |
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Kaiser Member
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Aren't all nightclubs in Lancashire obscure ? .......................... Petermac - you're obviously a child of the 60s & still popping the odd sugar cube! Obscured By Clouds maybe! And the picture would only have been of small change so you couldn't print it anyway. John - I stand corrected again. I remember the old Palace Hotel in Birkdale - I was thinking of the Station Hotel Ainsdale. A friend of mine got a job on a local newspaper (Ormskirk Advertiser I think) around the time they were demolishing the Palace Hotel. Story was the Hotel had been built back to front & the owner or architect had committed suicide & the Hotel was reputed to be haunted by their ghost - lifts going up & down with the power off, that sort of thing. The Hotel had been emptied prior to demolition & he was commissioned to spend the night there & write a story for his paper. He lasted till about 2am & said it was the scariest thing (still, we were only in our 20s!) with doors slamming, creaking & indeed the lift did go up & down even though all power was off! Maybe journalistic licence as if nothing had happened he wouldn't have a story! Bizarre indeed that this communication is going on - makes you realise how the Earth has shrunk. I've just had an email from a guy I used to be at Grammar School with & haven't seen since. He moved to Durban in 1976! ____________________ All stressed out, got addled brains? Ride your bike or play with trains! |
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Kaiser Member
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Done a little bit more work on Station Road, Easewood. Compare this with pic on page 2 - not much to show for a few months!  Nanny hurries down Station Road with her charge, no doubt frightened by the large Rose blooms! The cottage is my 2nd attempt at scratch building - card & plasticard. The wall surface is fine surface Polyfilla stippled on with a brush. Plant in the window is the tip of a chicken feather, of which I now have plenty, dipped in green paint then teased out with a pin. The bush on the right has been compared to a Hydrangea. Some one said "That bush on the right looks nothing like a Hydrangea." Ah well. ____________________ All stressed out, got addled brains? Ride your bike or play with trains! |
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John Dew Full Member
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That looks great Mal..............where did you get the nanny on the bike ........I have never seen anything quite like that before........in the nicest possible sense I would tell your gardening critics that Hydrangeas were always that size in the 1920s Kind Regards ____________________ John Granby III Lenz DCC,RR&Co Gold V10 A4 Windows 10 |
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MaxSouthOz Admin
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Lovely work, Mal. Pity about the date stamp. I'm having a devil of a job photoshopping it out when I nick your photos. ____________________ Max Port Elderley |
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Bob K Member 
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Station road looks very effective and atmospheric. Some super scratch building going on and it is great to see nicely painted figures on a layout. | |||||||||
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John Flann Legacy Member
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Excellent, Mal a delightful little scene.
____________________ John Flann. Providence River Branch, and GWR Hintock Branch |
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Kaiser Member
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Unfortunately, not a lot to report as 2 puppy St Bernards & various other things have conspired to keep me away from the layout. Gremble & Honey are coming on fine - this is them after the first rain fall of the summer:  I still can't believe how long everything takes. I've got in excess of 100 kits accumulated over the years & at the current rate of progress I hope I keep going long enough to get my telegram from the Queen (or King as it may be by then). I just completed a 40' Siphon from a K's kit (£2.99 on the packet!) This is it being loaded with the morning milk at Easewood:  Didn't have an 'F' on my transfer sheet but the running number is authentic! This is a train spotters view from the road as Dean Goods shunts the Siphon to join the 5.45 to Ottersford:  I also spent quite some time putting together a Scalescene's Coal Office for Easewood, but Gremble can now reach the bench and his opinion of my work was unequivocal:  I've also been building a horse drawn parcel van but it's not quite complete - still, it's only been 3 weeks work so far! Main line track laying has stalled at the Northern end of Ottersford as the river section needs to be completed before the two bridge sections can be installed - I thought this would be easier than try to add the river under the track! I using the proven method of shaped formaldehyde foam covered in plaster soaked cloth:  I've also found a home for the weigh bridge at Easewood. I eventually went with Martin's suggestion & did a bit of re-landscaping. also took the opportunity to re-work the fencing:  If you compare this pic with the one earlier in the thread I think it's a bit of an improvement.  This shows that I only lost a few inches from the siding & the office looks OK. I set it a small angle for an easier 'flow' through the station gate:  So that's about it. Not much for three months or so! Next push is to get the river landscaping finished, the main line completed & get Easewood connected at last to the outside world! Best wishes to all - Mal ____________________ All stressed out, got addled brains? Ride your bike or play with trains! |
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John Dew Full Member
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Great Photos Mal................including the dogs.........they are clearly enjoying life. Thats a lovely model of the Siphon........I havent seen one like that before. I hope you have more luck than I with the Dean Goods............I hate tender drive with a passion and despite installing a Lenz Gold Chip and stay alive (cost far more than the loco) its running is still not really acceptable. I am so glad you adjusted the layout to accommodate the Weigh Bridge............it looks perfect there ......so much better than the various compromises.....................a diffident suggestion..........now you even have room to install the guard rail ____________________ John Granby III Lenz DCC,RR&Co Gold V10 A4 Windows 10 |
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Kaiser Member
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Thanks John - now job no. 137 on the 'to do' list - guard rails for weigh bridge! ____________________ All stressed out, got addled brains? Ride your bike or play with trains! |
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georgejacksongenius Kettle Watcher
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Kaiser, Love Gremble and Honey,but they're not much help with the layout building! What's the origin of Gremble"s name?? Cheers,John.B.
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Kaiser Member
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Hi John - Gremble was named by the breeder's daughter - the name comes from a character in a virtual playground called '"Pet Pet Park". Seems kids don't go to the park anymore - they have a "virtual" one on their computer! Can't say it would have been my first choice (Gremble was 5 months already when we got him) but at least when I call his name in a real park he's the only dog that comes! Mal ____________________ All stressed out, got addled brains? Ride your bike or play with trains! |
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Petermac Admin
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Is he still young enough to learn the value of Scalescenes building Mal ? They say you're never too old to learn. Love the latest photos. It looks "cosy" - just as a sleepy GWR branch should look. ____________________ 'Petermac |
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Brossard Member 
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John Dew wrote: I hope you have more luck than I with the Dean Goods............I hate tender drive with a passion and despite installing a Lenz Gold Chip and stay alive (cost far more than the loco) its running is still not really acceptable. John, the Dean is a lovely model and I completely agree with you on tender drive. Many years ago I installed Perserverance chassis kits (no longer available but I think Comet do them) under my Dean Goods loco and tender and the running was excellent (you can't get much weight in but it looked smart pulling a rake of 5 Ratio 4 wheelers). Being able to see daylight under the tender frames was marvelous. Sadly I sold the model but I still have fond memories. I am currently refurbishing my Airfix 4F. It has a Kemilway chassis. I just got a sound decoder for it. I must also add that the layout is delightful - congratulations Mal. John ____________________ John |
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Bob K Member
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Hi Mal, thanks to Bob's pictures at the side of the forum, I just took a wander through your layout thread and read the trials and tribulations that have surrounded the development of Ottersford Junction. I love this layout and the attention to detail, which are a result of your superb modelling skills. I sense that like me you prefer the scenic side of layout building to tracklaying and ballasting, but I do look forward to seeing more of the other areas of the layout as it develops. | |||||||||
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Kaiser Member
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Thanks for the kind comments Novice & you are quite right about track laying & ballasting! There have been no developments since my last post worth reporting. I did have a thought one day as I was making yet another pot of coffee - 2 things I have in abundance - coffee grounds & sunshine - & I thought of combining the two! Our coffee is course ground for a plunger & is very similar in size to '00' ballast so we set to & dried our used grounds. It only took a couple of days to get a fair amount so I tried it out on a length of track - ignoring the caution of using a length of 'test' track I did the one length of double track already laid & wired (big mistake)! It looked fine (& smelt nice) & I used the usual diluted PVA from a spray bottle to fix. Left it overnight & it was just as loose as ever. Gave another soaking (in fact 3 or 4, each time with more glue) with the same results. I think the coffee grounds are too absorbent & just keep soaking up the solution. So hope this saves any one else from wasting time! Vacced it all up & called it a day! Hope to be able to post some positive news soon, but in the meantime compliments of the season to all on YMR & I hope 2012 will be a better year for us all. Mal ____________________ All stressed out, got addled brains? Ride your bike or play with trains! |
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CCGWR Member 
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I love your layout Mal I am doing somthing similer on my layout Oakley. I really like your engine shed and coal stage. Did you build them yourself?  Regards Connor ____________________ CC Weathering Services: https://ccgwr1.wixsite.com/ccweatheringservices/ CC Weathering Services Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ccweatheringservices/ |
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Kaiser Member
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Hi Connor - thanks for your interest. The engine shed is a Wills kit & the coal stage a Ratio. I find the kits of such good quality that if you take a bit of care when assembling, unless you are up to Doug or Stubby's standard of scratch building, they take some beating. I always seem to be posting apologies for the lack of progress at Ottersford, but fate continues to conspire against me. Followers of the thread may remember that I referred to a run-in I had with a con man last year. Well, I managed to retrieve my BMW with some body damage to rectify but still driveable. I gave it to a guy to repair, & on his way to the auto electricians (damn Xenon headlights) he put the car in a ditch, destroyed the off-side suspension (even broke the alloy wheel in half) & damaged the new front wing just fitted! By November, 12 months after first buying the thing & having spent R60,000 on repairs (about £5,000) it was ready for sale & looked like this:  [img]">I gave it to a guy with a car lot to sell for me, & although I knew I wouldn't get back what it had cost me I did expect by now to have had the financial situation eased a little. However, got a call just after Christmas to go see the guy (expected him to say [/img]  Story is he was out on a 'test drive' & a guy jumped the lights! Not much of an excuse as green here means go like hell, amber means go & red means go on, another 2 or 3 can make it. So the nightmare continues. Like walking across a muddy field & you think "Yes, I can make this!" but the mud just gets wetter & deeper, & then your wellies come off. On the bright side, Gremble & Honey continue to grow & have both just graduated puppy training class. Here they are waiting to open their presents on Christmas day:  We are also now having to seriously consider leaving SA. Sandra's medication & our medical aid here is now costing £500 a month. If we returned to within the EEC, that would be covered, & in addition Sandra would be eligible for a number of benefits. We've argued that we've saved the NHS thousands by Sandra having major corrective surgery done here, but that kind of logic doesn't compete with 'rules is rules'! Also, although we will be able to claim our pensions here, they will be 'frozen' & not eligible for any increases. Ottersford was never designed to be portable & it's unlikely that we would be able to afford any where that would give me as much space as I have here, so there's not much incentive just now to put more effort into the project. Sorry this is all un-railway related & off topic but there it is! Very frustrating! Tempting fate, I'll say things could be worse . . . . . . . . . . ____________________ All stressed out, got addled brains? Ride your bike or play with trains! |
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Petermac Admin
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That's a horrendous tale of woe Mal. Can you get the car re-repaired under the car lot insurance ? It would be incredible if he didn't have any. Re the potential move to the northern hemisphere, we also have friends who don't get any increase in their pension (state) levels because they live " outside" the designated areas. You pay it for years then they try to get out of their responsibilities when it comes to paying it back - but don't get me started on that kind of thing ..............  I don't know how long you've lived in S.A. - if it's a long time, you may have to move back to UK to get the benefits rather than just the EU but I'm sure you've been into that in depth. From my own experience, whilst there's a lot wrong with Europe, it does have advantages - for "Brits" at least - in that most things are reciprocal with UK. Liz recently had a new knee here in France and, whilst we had to lay out some of the costs, particularly post operative care, the insurance and NHS will ultimately pick up the tab. Certainly the several thousand euro hospital bill - the op itself, consultant and anaesthetist fees landed us with a bill of only 33 euros before we could leave the hospital !!!! I'd expected 3 or 4 thousand. The major problem is, we have winters here ......................... ____________________ 'Petermac |
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Kaiser Member
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Incredible but true Peter! Car insurance is not mandatory here (not even 3rd party). There is the RAF (Road Accident Fund) that is paid for by a subsidy on fuel but it takes years for claims to be settled. The other driver involved in the incident was insured & apparently there were witnesses so we hope that we'll be paid out if blame can be ascribed, but I'm not holding my breath! Hope Liz gets on fine with the knee - Sandra had to have a new elbow a couple of years ago but it's been fine since. Interesting what you said about costs - Sandra's elbow was R80,000 (about £7,000) but even with the medical aid our co-payment was R5,000. Mal ____________________ All stressed out, got addled brains? Ride your bike or play with trains! |
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Petermac Admin
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It's not all bad Mal - at least the dogs look fabulous. I trust Sandra's elbow is powerful enough to raise a glass ........................ ____________________ 'Petermac |
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FS Full Member 
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I am very sorry for you and wish you all the best! Thomas ____________________ TUTTO IN GRIGIO ARDESIA |
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Chubber Casseroled Badger
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'Buy-One-Get-One-Free' shouldn't apply to kicks in the fork, Mal! I'm very sorry to hear of your woeful times and wish you every cahnce of an improvement in fortunes, soon. Doug ____________________ 'You may share the labours of the great, but you will not share the spoil...' Aesop's Fables "Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy" - Benjamin Franklin In the land of the slap-dash and implausible, mediocrity is king |
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MaxSouthOz Admin
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I'm sorry to hear about your woes, Mal. Have you thought about replacing SA with SA? (South Australia) There are lots of ex-pats here - and similar weather. ____________________ Max Port Elderley |
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Kaiser Member
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Thanks for all the kind thoughts guys, but as Peter says things could be worse. I remind myself that it's only a car & there are folks with far more serious problems but jeepers I could do without the aggro. Ultimately, I'm just annoyed with myself for allowing myself to get into this situation. I'm astounded I was so taken in but fate just wants to keep reminding me! Max - I don't think Oz would want a couple of old reprobates like us - oh, wait a minute, that's how you started Peter - Sandra can still raise a glass as long as it doesn't exceed 5 Kgs & we have Winters here too - last year I had to wear a jumper on at least 3 days! Mal ____________________ All stressed out, got addled brains? Ride your bike or play with trains! |
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MaxSouthOz Admin
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Your dogs would be more than welcome! ____________________ Max Port Elderley |
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Ianbo Legacy Member
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Keep your "pecker" up Mal lets hope your run of bad luck has finally changed !
____________________ Bozzy(never known to pass a pub) |
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New Waltham Former Member
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Have just finished reading this thread. Some very nice modelling going on, but i have tp put things in perspective re winter. SHMBO and i will be going down to the local bar tonight as we tend to do most Saturdays, the Weather Man is calling for -23C but we are grateful in that there is no wind so it should be quiet pleasant. | |||||||||
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ddolfelin Straight man to the stars.
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Good Lord, Mal! I've just caught up. What a truck load of grief! Hope things improve for you soon. Best Wishes. ____________________ http://dddioramas.webs.com/ 11 + 2 = 12 + 1 |
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Chinahand Full Member 
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That really has to be the most unlucky car on the face of the Earth Mal. Those dogs look fabulous though and will certainly be far less trouble than the car has been. ____________________ Regards, Trevor |
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Petermac Admin
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Has anyone heard from Kaiser recently ? It's a year since he posted in this thread. I wonder how things are going and if he's still in S.A......... ____________________ 'Petermac |
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Sol A modelling Moderator. 
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Mal did post in Jan 2013 in reply to a new member from South Africa.
____________________ Ron NCE DCC ; 00 scale UK outline. |
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Petermac Admin
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Thanks Sol - I realised as soon as I'd posted that I should have checked it myself Good to know he's still "connected". ____________________ 'Petermac |
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Kaiser Member
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The glacial progress at Ottersford continues, so as usual excuses & whinges. Readers of this thread will know our dogs play a large part in our lives & that we have had some really bad luck with them. I have to report that atrocious luck continues as we lost our lovely Honey (the smaller of the two in the picture [subject of jigsaw of the week a few weeks ago]) just a month before her 1st birthday. She just literally dropped dead - right as rain one minute, dead on the floor the next. The vet tells us it's not uncommon with the large breeds with a fast rate of growth (she was already 40 Kgs at 11 months) that the walls of the heart get very thin & just 'burst'. It was a huge shock & to be honest I just lost it & didn't do much of anything for a few months. Anyway, as they say, look on the bright side, things could be worse. So I tried to look on the bright side, & sure enough things did get worse as in November my cell number was stolen, my bank account hacked & R300, 000 (about £25, 000) stolen. The bank said sorry for you not our problem, & as the money was taken from our Bond account, they're now charging me interest on the stolen amount! The case is now with the police, the Banking Ombudsman & the cell company fraud department, & I wait to hear. Then I came off my bike & jaspered my right knee. The BMW saga continues as I have had to sue the dealer who was selling the car. The good news is that as I can't afford petrol for the car & have to stay in I made the effort to get something done on Ottersford so I'll update with a railway related post soon! Whinge over - thanks for listening! ____________________ All stressed out, got addled brains? Ride your bike or play with trains! |
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Chinahand Full Member
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OMG Mal. You really are having a run of the most awful luck. So sorry to hear that you've lost Honey. I know it's probably not a lot of comfort but at least you can console yourself a little that she has been imortalised in a YMR jigsaw. As for the bank account hacking, I don't know how the banks work in SA but here in UK you would have a strong case for compensation from the bank. Typical bloody bankers though to just play Pontius Pilate.
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Petermac Admin
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Mal, that's a terrible tale of continuing woes. I'm so sorry. We once lost a Golden Retriever in similar circumstances. It's such a shock although, after a time, there is some comfort in knowing that, until a split second before they die, they are loved, happy and totally unaware of what's about to happen. No pain, no suffering, no long illness, and probably above all, we don't have to make that awful decision to have them put down. It's always those who are left who do the grieving. As Trevor said, in UK, and France for that matter, you'd sue the banks from here to kingdom come - and win hands down !! You weren't by any chance born on Friday 13th were you ? It seems incredible that so much bad luck can fall on one person. I'm sure I speak for us all when I say I really do hope the silver lining on every cloud soon makes itself evident to you. ____________________ 'Petermac |
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shunter1 Member
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Hi Mal, My condolences on your loss. I sure hope things are getting better for you these days. Well I have returned to the long saga of trying to get a railway together if I can avoid the distractions of the outside world there maybe hope. I do hope you can get writing again your lovely layout even in the endurance phase is a pleasure to follow. Regards, Derek |
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Spurno Owner/Webmaster. 
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Hi Mal.So sorry to hear about Honey.I lost one of my greyhounds last december although she was 13. So sad. ____________________ Regards Alan Born beside the mighty GWR. |
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georgejacksongenius Kettle Watcher
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Sorry to hear about Honey mate.Its never easy to lose a dog,for me,I prefer them to people! Cheers,John.B. |
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Kaiser Member
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Well it's about time & I promise nothing negative in this update! Firstly, thanks to everyone for their kind thoughts & support during the dark days of the last two years. I look in on the forum most days & must say it is a continuing source of inspiration - Phil C, Ben Alder, Bradford Wheregate (those mills!), Upton to Dunton, Downsway South et al all fabulous examples of what can be achieved. It's also great to see Allan Downes as a member having been in awe of his modelling over the last few decades! On the dog side, I don't believe in having one dog so we went to the rescue centre & found Dolly. No pedigrees or fancy breeders but there was something in her eyes even at 7 weeks old.  She has turned into the most intelligent, fastest learning dog I have known with boundless energy & the speed of a Whippet. She never rests & needs to be constantly occupied which isn't easy even when we're home most of the time. Current but not exclusive list of destruction is 4 pairs sandals, 1 pr trousers, 3 towels, Kodak digital camera, 2 water feature pumps (taken while plugged in & running!), 2 Persian rugs, mats out of my Audi, garden sprinkler, 2 garden hoses, static grass applicator, 2 books, 4 door stops, pool skimmer & various garden plants.  You will see in the background the chewed skirting boards missing from the above list! She is one year old next month - let's hope she sees it! After 4 months of fighting the bank 'recovered' my stolen money. I'm still trying to recover the over R10, 000 interest they charged me in the meantime but still a huge relief. I'm going to post this now to see if it goes through OK then I'll post more relevant railway matters. ____________________ All stressed out, got addled brains? Ride your bike or play with trains! |
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Robert Legacy Member
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That's a fine looking animal Mal. Sounds like a one dog destruction machine.
____________________ Barchester |
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Spurno Owner/Webmaster.
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Hi Mal,i've had two GSD's,both sadly gone now but they are fantastic dogs,probably the most loyal dogs of all breeds. ____________________ Regards Alan Born beside the mighty GWR. |
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shunter1 Member
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Great to see you posting with life for you on the up curve Mal . That,s a great new Dog and sure looks a happy animal. Best of luck getting back your 10 000 rand from the usury crowd. Regards, Derek |
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Kaiser Member
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Well that seems to have gone OK. A few months ago I decided to heed my Mother's trauma advice ("Stop feeling sorry for yourself & get on with it - you don't know how lucky you are.") This is probably the same trauma advice offered to my Grandfather after he was shot to ribbons at the Somme but more apposite in my case. To cheer myself up I ordered one of the new Hornby 'County' class, a Bachman 'City' & a Dapol track cleaner. I also managed to acquire one of the limited edition Hornby LSWR 'T9's. I then decided to get the main line circuit finished & get something running. I was glad I'd tiled the railway room as after nearly 12 months of inactivity a day with the vacuum & a mop got it back into shape. The first obstacle was where the main line leaves Ottersford & crosses the river. The bridge had to be on a curve & accomodate a road, the river & the line to the docks. The original plan (see 1st post) was for 'N' gauge & I couldn't allow the same width in '00'. I decided to shorten the branch platform & goods reception & bring the point forward - this meant I could have one single & one double width bridge. I had to pull up most of the scenic groundwork already done (it doesn't work fitting a model railway into the scenery!). I used the 'Scalescenes' viaduct as this seemed to give the most flexibility. I made each arch individually & as previously noted on the Forum, cutting out the arches is the worst part. I've had 16 to do & it's a real pita. Change blades regularly & take your time. I found when fitting the arch lining, it was far easier & more efficient to use a bead from a hot glue gun to hold everything in place rather than pieces of tape as suggested in the instructions. It also makes the structure much stronger. I cut a base out of 3mm ply & attached the arches directly to it, again using a hot glue gun. I had to build plinths for crossing the river. An inspirational picture is on page 39 of 'The Railway Photographs of P.W. Pilcher' available from the LNWR Society for only a tenner. This shows a stone viaduct crossing the Severn at Shrewsbury.   This shows the main line snaking off around the headland - the branch to Easwood is on the left. I've nearly finished the second viaduct that will carry the branch. Completion of the viaduct let me lay the rest of the circuit - I now have 38 metres of main line (with 80 droppers soldered underneath!) & 4 hex frog juicers. This is why I thought the Dapol track cleaner would be a good idea. However, once I had chipped it & tried to use it, the glaringly obvious fault became apparent - the track cleaner only works when the track is clean! I had to resort to the old abrasive block before it would work. I think track maintainer would be a better description although I found the 'vacuum' effect negligible. Can't say it's worth £50. The new 'County' however was very impressive. No where near the detail of the Bachmann (but half the price) but once chipped ran very smoothly & pulls 5 coaches with ease & I'm sure could manage more.   Loco & coaches all straight out the box (some of the coaches have been in them since the 70's!). Unfortunately, after a few circuits a problem arose, whereby a loco will respond when selected but will start to move at it's own pace & then won't respond to any commands, not even 'STOP'. The only way to stop it is to unplug the power. It will stop for no apparent reason & then start up again but not responding to any commands. I'm using the 'Dynamis' system but Bachmann have been less than helpful. They suggested it may be the hex frog juicers but I disconnected them & it made no difference. I did post a query on the Forum but for the first time didn't get any replies so I suppose not a problem anyone else has had. I found a guy in Johannesburg who is modelling UK & he was selling some stuff. I bought some unmade kits (I now have over 120 & Sandra went beresk as she says at the current rate of progress I won't live long enough) but also got a rake of 4 & 6 wheel coaches. They are brass built with fully detailed & compensated chassis, detailed interiors & screw link couplings fitted. I thought they would make a great branch set for Easwood & got them for the equivalent of £6 each! As I'm paying £5 a pair for screw link couplings (+postage) I thought they were a bargain.  They are in war time all-chocolate livery & could do with a bit of touching up (couldn't we all) but make an unusual & interesting train.  One kit I have finished - old Ebedia waits at Easwood to take out the morning parcel delivery.   Still need to bed in & detail that station building! That's all for now! Pip pip. Mal ____________________ All stressed out, got addled brains? Ride your bike or play with trains! |
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shunter1 Member
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Thanks for the update Mal, That's looking like some great progress on Ottersford Junction. Track dropper,s what a pain I am busy on that score myself among other things. Good luck with the kits. Maybe Sandra can give you a hand? regards, Derek |
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Kaiser Member
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Well Hi to all on the Forum. I find it hard to believe it's so long since my last post - it's certainly true that time speeds up as you get older. I won't bore everyone with reasons for the delay - suffice to say I had an emotional battering that meant I did very little of anything for a while. I do, however, look in on the Forum every day & it continues to be a source of inspiration & support. Another thing that stalled me was the thought of completing the control panel & wiring 38 or so point motors. Relief came in attending a local show where I met a guy who is an electrical engineer & who actually enjoys that kind of thing (!). After my Dynamis problems (see previous posts) I had invested in an Ecos ESU system that had immediately proved that my track laying & wiring had not been at fault as everything worked fine once it was plugged in. Anyway, Colin (for so he is called) is currently building me a control panel with automatic switching of crossovers, route indicators & all kinds of wizardry & he is going to wire all the point motors as well! I also met a guy who likes fitting decoders to locos (it really does take all sorts!) so he is busy fitting ESU Loksound to all my locos. The trouble with Loksound is that once you've had one loco done it's so good that not having sound isn't an option & it's very expensive. Anyway, the imminent arrival of the control panel gave me a boost to finish tracklaying so the main station is complete, the goods yard just about with only the loco depot to finish. I've ordered a Metalsmith's GWR turntable & I've re-designed the area a little so as to incorporate the raised coaling stage (such as at Didcot) of which the GWR was so fond.   I've also just about finished the 2 viaducts - I've left off the parapet walls for now as they kept getting knocked off.  Meanwhile, Easwood has at last got it's cattle dock.    A foreigner at Easwood - a Saturday market through special sees a LSWR train pull into the station.  I see from earlier in the thread I started to build the coach about 4 years ago - so I should have a rake by about 2030! So once the track is all wired & working OK I can start in earnest on scenery & that if I'm honest is what I really enjoy. But at least now I can have trains chuff chuffing around while I'm working & at least I'm starting to feel I'm getting some where, even though painfully slowly. So thanks again for all on the Forum for keeping me in touch with the hobby through bad times. Hope it won't be so long before the next post! Bye for now. Mal ____________________ All stressed out, got addled brains? Ride your bike or play with trains! |
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Chubber Casseroled Badger
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Lovely work...glad to see the cattle dock has got a poo collector in the track work , often forgotten. I did some arches for a chum, as you say a PITA. The Olfa cutter kept making a mess though using double sided sticky tape to hold the card/paper still and cutting on hardboard to stop the point wearing a big hole certainly helped. I think I will try cutting out an aluminium cutting guide next time. When I see some of the big viaducts on here I take my hat off to the builders, and indeed to you, Sir! Doug ____________________ 'You may share the labours of the great, but you will not share the spoil...' Aesop's Fables "Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy" - Benjamin Franklin In the land of the slap-dash and implausible, mediocrity is king |
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g0ibi Full Member 
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Awesome modelling Mal, another bench-mark model railway! Also like the cattle dock track, not seen that modelled before? Cheers Ron ____________________ Proper Preparation makes for Perfect Performance!! http://yourmodelrailway.net/view_topic.php?id=13331&forum_id=21 |
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shunter1 Member
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Hi Mal, Thanks for your PM and photo's. Nice of you. Great to see you back at your railway and making great progress which is more than I have achieved over the last while. Still I am back and ordering track parts and booked a couple of new loco's for when they get released. All the best ,Derek. |
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Silver Fox Legacy Member 
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well ,Kaiser and Shunter 1 back on,two for the price of one great,good to see you both are ok happy modelling,, Owen ____________________ web-cam http://82.2.74.174:8081 if the lights are off no cam |
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Allegheny1600 Full Member 
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Hi Mal, I'm relatively new here so only just found your thread. I've read through the whole thing and am absolutely in love with "Easwood", I think it was an early photo that kept me interested, although I must say the whole layout is starting to really look good now. I do hope your luck has improved! All the best, John. ____________________ Cheers, John E. My layout: http://yourmodelrailway.net/view_topic.php?id=15083&forum_id=21&page=1 Is this fair? https://www.taxjustice.net/2019/01/23/brexit-and-the-future-of-tax-havens/ |
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Kaiser Member
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Thanks for your kind comments John. Progress is as usual painfully slow but I hope to have the control panel wired & installed next month. I've been busy installing all the point motors - a lot of work but nothing worth photographing! I've taken delivery of the Metalsmith GWR turntable for Ottersford & need to get started on that & then that's all the trackwork complete. My Great Aunt lived to be 97 so if it runs in the family there's a chance Ottersford might get somewhere near finished! All the best. Mal ____________________ All stressed out, got addled brains? Ride your bike or play with trains! |
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Silver Fox Legacy Member
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well it`s good to have you back on posting at least Owen ____________________ web-cam http://82.2.74.174:8081 if the lights are off no cam |
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Marty Enjoying the Journey
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Nice to hear from you Mal.
____________________ Marty N Gauge, GWR West Wales Newcastle Emlyn Layout. Newcastle Emlyn Station is "Under construction" |
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Allegheny1600 Full Member
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You're welcome Mal! Slow progress is better than no progress, that's what I keep telling myself anyway. I shall certainly look forward to seeing how the TT comes along, they are something of a 'thing' for me! Cheers, John. ____________________ Cheers, John E. My layout: http://yourmodelrailway.net/view_topic.php?id=15083&forum_id=21&page=1 Is this fair? https://www.taxjustice.net/2019/01/23/brexit-and-the-future-of-tax-havens/ |
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D_Will Dreamy Member 
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Congratulations on Pic of the week Mal! Well earned, glad to see you back
____________________ - Darius |
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peterm Full Member
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Well Mal' although the only sort of luck you have seems to be bad, I reckon you've done exceptionally well. The layout looks really good... much better than mine; I must get the stuff to build a platform because it's at the back of the layout, so no point building things just so I can destroy them while doing the station. Just like your viaduct parapets. ____________________ Cheers Pete. |
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Kaiser Member
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Hi Pete good to here from you. Next Tuesday (9th) is big day as the control panel for Ottersford is to be installed & wired. Once that's all working OK I can make a serious start on the scenery. Have you looked at Scalescenes for your platforms? I'm using them because you can tailor them to fit your particular location. Godd luck anyway. Mal ____________________ All stressed out, got addled brains? Ride your bike or play with trains! |
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peterm Full Member
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Good luck for the 9th, hope it all goes well first time. I don't use scalescenes because the humidity and silver fish get to the paper finish. On my last attempt which I was pleased with, I used 12mm ply for the platform base and cut strips of balsa which I scored with a knife for the edging stones and then black tile grout for the asphalt surface. I sanded it lightly which turned it a nice asphalt colour. The scoring of the balsa wood drives you nuts, but the finish is good. ____________________ Cheers Pete. |
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Kaiser Member
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Hi Pete. I used plywood for the 'Easewood' platform but wimped out of scribing paving stones & used fine grade sandpaper for the surface. Did edge it with stones though! Would like to see a pic of your platform. Mal ____________________ All stressed out, got addled brains? Ride your bike or play with trains! |
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peterm Full Member
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That particular one is long gone, but I'm going to start another one soon. Meanwhile I'll try and find some pic's of it. ____________________ Cheers Pete. |
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Phil.c Full Member 
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Pete, For an easy platform solution, cork underlay works great, when painted grey it gives an excellent tarmac surface which I remember on the platforms in my area. Phil ____________________ Phil |
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peterm Full Member
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Thanks Phil, but I've got the tile grout so it might as well be used. ____________________ Cheers Pete. |
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Kaiser Member
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Well some progress at last. Day spent yesterday on the control panel, for which I can accept no credit. It's all down to electrical engineer & railway enthusiast Colin He's got a file full of track & wiring diagrams & made all the circuit boards himself.  I'm really impressed with the hours of work he must have put in, and this is the result:  So now there is just 25 points with 5 wires each to be connected!!!!!  I seem to remember reading some promotional literature that said "DCC - run your railway with just two wires". So he's here tomorrow again for another jolly day of wiring! Then it's the turntable to be sorted & that will be electrics done - oh, apart from signalling, lighting etc.  Can't imagine how long it would have taken me to do all that - I'd got as far as buying some black Dymo tape to do the track plan!! Good luck to all. Pip pip Mal ____________________ All stressed out, got addled brains? Ride your bike or play with trains! |
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Silver Fox Legacy Member
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you are one lucky man to have that done for you, one hell of a job though,looks brill Owen ____________________ web-cam http://82.2.74.174:8081 if the lights are off no cam |
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amdaley Full Member 
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I just love the layout of that control panel.
____________________ "The only stupid question is the one you don't ask" Regards. Tony. |
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peterm Full Member
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A bit more organised than mine.  ____________________ Cheers Pete. |
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MaxSouthOz Admin
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Excellent work, Colin. ____________________ Max Port Elderley |
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Kaiser Member
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I can’t believe it’s 4 years since I posted on the Forum. Take a peek each day & am agog at the progress of some members (Headmaster stands out) & appalled at how little I’ve managed to achieve in 10 years. Anyway, if anyone is interested or maybe time to waste in lock down, here is an update (or down date to be more accurate). After my last post when Colin had all but completed the wiring I was looking forward to starting what really interests me – the scenery & buildings. I built the tunnel mouths for where the Easewood branch leaves the main line  & then (big demotivator) realised that the crossover was in the wrong place – it should be after (or before – anyway the other side) of where the branch joins the main line. As it is, a goods train coming on the down line (or up?) would have to pull through the station then reverse into the goods reception siding. The GWR wasn’t a fan of unnecessary reversing! I checked the plan (see earlier post) & had followed it correctly so it’s the Clerk of Works who’s at fault (or would it be the architect - who designed station layouts?). Anyway, heads should roll but these switches are in the most awkward place to re-site & rewire.  I then built the Ottersford platforms - mainly Scalescenes.  (Couldn't get the photo to rotate). A tip for modellers (otherwise known as stating the obvious) when you’ve got 60 sq. metres of railway room, don’t put your damp rag down on 4 sq. centimetres of newly finished platform!  I then decided to start renovating one of our bathrooms that involved wielding a sledge hammer knocking walls down etc. and putting in new ceiling, new floor, underfloor heating. Not long started when we had another scare with Sandra. She had fallen on some stone steps a few weeks before & been badly bruised and although X-Rays were clear she was still in pain. Then suddenly her temperature was though the roof & her elbow swelled up massively - of course it was Friday. Took her to her G.P. who after blood tests panicked & tried to find an orthopaedic surgeon who hadn't made an early weekend dart. Eventually found one & she was in theatre 2 hours later. She had acute septicemia & wouldn't have made it till Monday. They had to remove her left elbow but wouldn't fit a replacement until they were sure there was no more infection so strapped her arm to a plank & put her on a continuous anti-biotic flush. She was in isolation & looked like the Bride of Frankenstein. Apparently there had been a hair line fracture that hadn't been picked up on X-Ray & infection had got in. She was in hospital for nearly 3 moths & came out just before Christmas. So that was 2016 finished. Looking after Sandra meant time on the bathroom was limited so it wasn't finished until just before Christmas 2017. Turned this:  Into this:
So that was 2017. 2018 saw me in casualty with a stomach virus - nothing serious but debilitating. Then another big scare with Sandra - sores on her mouth & face that turned out to be skin cancer. Surgeon reckoned we'd caught it in time but she needs to go for regular check-ups. Then July I got H1N1 swine 'flu. Thought it was ordinary 'flu until I collapsed. Dr in casualty said he'd 3 elderly patients die that week with this - was very upset as I hadn't been referred to as 'elderly' before! Anyway, that knocked me out for 3 months & left me with lung damage & heart arrhythmia. During this time our financial situation was deteriorating rapidly. Our medical aid now costs £800 a month & goes up 10% a year. Sandra, like all ladies born in the mid 50's, had 6 years of her pension stolen from her (because they could) & of course she lost all her disability benefits when we came to S.A.. We looked into returning to the E.U. but then all the Brexit nonsense started & nobody could tell us what was going to happen. Also costs were eye watering - £10K to ship our belongings, £8K to ship the animals then our fares & complicated logistics. Our furniture would take 6-8 weeks but if we didn't arrive within 4 days of the animals they would be classed as imports & subject to duty! So it would be either kennels or renting here or there. Plus with the parlous state of the Rand we'd be lucky to afford a 2 bed terrace in the middle of nowhere. So 2019 saw me looking for business opportunities. I found a local business where the owner was getting divorced & had other interests so it was run down. I offered asset value & he accepted. Due diligence? Well, yes, but didn't account for blatent lies & falsified accounts. Poured money in & doubled the turnover in the first 3 months but then it stalled. We were losing R1K a day so after 6 months had to close. So that was another R350K down the drain. Then November decided that we should sell the house & downsize - I doubt we use 1/4 of it (if any one is interested you can view at https://www.century21.co.za/results/residential/for-sale/randburg/fairland/house/3118463). Yours for the equivalent of £150K so you can see why we were reluctant to come back to Europe! Was a tough decision as Ottersford was never intended to be portable & after 50 years of planning I didn't relish the idea of breaking it down! First viewers made an asking price offer so I started to pack away all the rolling stock & accessories. Then along came the Corona man! One of our buyers lost her job, the sale of their house fell through so that was that. Then we went into 'hard' lockdown - no cigarette or alcohol sales, all shops except those selling essentials closed, no travel except for emergencies or to buy essentials, curfew from 8 pm until 5 am, everyone wear a mask in public. Obviously no house showing allowed. They didn't mess about & put the military on the streets to 'support' the police. If you broke curfew you risked getting shot with rubber bullets (7 killed so far). One guy was shot dead for shouting insults at a soldier so the military was asked if they would be so kind as not to kill people just for being rude. Then in April Sandra's right hand locked & swelled up like a melon. She's had some pain over the years but she said this was the worst. Was in casualty 3 am & they pumped her full of pain killers & cortisone but didn't help. Her rheumatologist had closed her rooms because of Covid so I had to find a hand specialist & he took one look at her & said he must operate immediately or her wrist could burst. He operated the next day but it wasn't a success so she had to have a second operation. So for 5 months she's had no use of her right hand - she's only now being able to use it a little. We've had no maid or gardener since March so looking after an invalid wife, four dogs, a 300 sq. metre house & 1/2 acre garden doesn't leave much time for modelling! So now we've decided to stay put & tough it out. I've cashed in a couple of small savings policies I've had since the 70's & had to sell my lovely 2001 Saab Viggen (one of only 2 in S.A. - Saab only made 250 of them in 2001).  So Ottersford has a reprieve! So maybe the next post will actually be relevant to a railway forum! On a sad note, the Corona man got Colin & he has recently passed away so when I get round to the control panel for Easewood the bar has been set pretty high. If anyone is still awake & hasn't opened a vein thanks for listening. BTW does any one know what happened to Gormo (Great Chesterford) - used to be a prolific poster? Also shunter1 (Derek) in Ireland? Remember a line from Basil in Fawlty Towers? Whoosh! What was that? That was your life mate. Do I get another? No, sorry, that was it. Whinge over. Hope everyone keeps safe & avoids the Corona man. Best wishes Mal ____________________ All stressed out, got addled brains? Ride your bike or play with trains! |
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BCDR Moderator 
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Hi Mal, Thanks for that. No holds barred either. Pity about the Viggen. Nigel ____________________ ©Nigel C. Phillips |
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Sol A modelling Moderator.
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Mal, responded re Gormo via PM You better buy a lottery ticket after your troubles.... ____________________ Ron NCE DCC ; 00 scale UK outline. |
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AUSSIETRAINS Member
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Great to see you back Mal. Fantastic bathroom reno there. I, like you, have not posted for a long time due to retiring, moving, working with the boys on their farms etc etc. Hope to get back into modelling soon. John. ____________________ John. |
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Headmaster Full Member 
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Hi Mal - thank you for the compliment tucked away in your post, much appreciated. As I have said many times, pretty much everything I know has been gleaned from the posts on this forum, and without the many wonderful layouts and threads for inspiration, I would still be an armchair modeller. Quite a few of us seem to have had a tough few years recently, one way or another, and Coronavirus has certainly had its impact. Although lockdown and then quarantine rules, has allowed me the time to practise my modelling, so it hasn't been all bad! I'm back at work now so things have definitely slowed down. It has been great flicking through Ottersford again and I remember this particular photo was one of many here that really captured an atmosphere I wanted to create at Faversham Creek: You may have noticed a feature for voting for photo of the month for the front page of the website, which has the aim of recognising current modellers and also those hidden away in the many threads, so you might like to dig a nomination..... Sadly Gormo doesn't post here any more, but he has an active Youtube channel.... Great to have you back here though and hope to see more of Ottersford. Regards Michael ____________________ Kent Coast Railway (formerly Faversham Creek) |
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Kaiser Member
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Thanks for the link Sol - notice a number of other layouts there that have been awol recently! Michael you are right about the Forum but as you seem to be relatively new to the hobby I think your progress has been remarkable. Your small details in the warehouse for example are top class. I must read your post again & try & get my head around these laser cutters (would have been a huge help doing all the arches for viaducts & tunnel mouths). Do you show the thing a photo & say "I want one of those"? Anyway, as all the stock & loose items are packed away, a good clean & tidy of the railway room is first on agenda then I must tackle moving the cross over. I thought about leaving it but it's only going to annoy me. Good luck & health to all. Mal ____________________ All stressed out, got addled brains? Ride your bike or play with trains! |
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Longchap Full Member 
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Hi Mal and welcome back to your 'band of brothers'. You and Sandra are overdue some other sort of luck and good karma to brighten your days and you both have my best wishes in that regard. I have spent an enjoyable couple of hours re-reading your thread this morning and admire the lovely and skilful development of your railway very much, particularly as you also have a junction and branch, although very much more advanced than my own. We also have the same turntable kit, so I'm looking forward to how you get on with yours in due course. I understand the trick is to completely build the base structure as a modular unit, before being tempted with the sexy iconic GWR delight above. I expelled a sad sigh with the news of your Viggen and I'm having to find a deserving new owner for my TR3, since with the passage of years, I no longer drive it as if I'd just stolen it, which in many respects is a pity! Best, Bill ____________________ At 6'4'', Bill is a tall chap, then again, when horizontal he is rather long and people often used to trip over him! . . . and so a nickname was born |
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Kaiser Member
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Hi Bill. Thanks for the good wishes. Our lives have been ruled by Sandra's R.A. for over twenty years now. My post did seem a bit like Mrs Dale's Diary but there are always those far worse off than ourselves so it wasn't so much a moan as a review of where the last 4 years had gone & a wake up call as to how fast time passes. Yes the turntable kit is a bit daunting, but more so how to cut the hole for it! This of course should have been done before all Colin's complex wiring. I might have to re-site it a little as, typically, the planned site is right over a baseboard joint & support to which is attached a wiring loom. I've invested in a new soldering iron as you have to solder the guide rails onto each little support pin. It has to be the next job after repositioning the switches as then I can lay the final bit of trackwork for the loco shed. Luckily Colin had already wired the 3-way point! I only got peanuts for the Viggen (£5K) to a Saab enthusiast. Most people were put off by parts availability but I'd never had a problem & the thing was so well built nothing ever went wrong. The new owner owns a liquor store so sweetened the deal with 20 bottles of Rose champagne & re-stocked our bar. Last time we went out in it she was up to 250 easily with wheel spin in 3rd & 4th. 0-100 in around 6 secs. Can't think of anything you can buy at that price to give such performance. Had to be careful though - no traction control & she was the torque steer queen - when the turbo came in she tried to wrench the wheel from your hand & pulled to the left - if you were overtaking they thought you were trying to run them off the road. Also the turbo cut out at 260 which was embarrassing when chasing motor bikes. The new Lexus convertible is £100K, only a smidgeon quicker 0-100 & makes a big issue of features the Saab had 20 years ago. Must say I thought your little cameo of the window frame on the trestles was brilliant. Mal ____________________ All stressed out, got addled brains? Ride your bike or play with trains! |
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Petermac Admin
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It's always good to welcome an "old boy" back Mal so welcome but oh my, what a time you've been having during your absence. So sorry to hear of all your troubles and shocked to hear the Covid Man got to Colin - I think you're the first "real" person I "know" to have had personal dealings with the awful guy. Did Colin have "underlying" health problems or was he just very unlucky ? Whatever, it must have been a dreadful shock to you all. Also, sorry to hear of all the problems over health care, property sales and Brexit related things. We often have similar worries about what will happen after Brexit, particularly with health care. The 30% "top-up" insurance cover we have (UK only pays 70% of our health care here in France) takes a chunk out of our monthly income and, like you, goes up annually to coincide with the increasing need one has as age takes it's toll. Health Insurance is a bit like a banker's umbrella - it's freely available for peanuts when the sun shines but, at the first sign of a shower, he wants it back !!! The less said about your car, the better !! Some people just don't recognise quality when they see it ..........but a Lexus convertible is hardly a donkey so my heart doesn't bleed too heavily for you on that score ............... In spite of all your worries and woes, you managed to do a fantastic job on the bathroom - was that your paid job when you were working or are you just a DIY whizz-kid ? On the up-side, having decided to stay put, you don't have to dismantle Ottersford - when we moved house nearly 3 years ago, dismantling Maxmill nearly broke my heart and it was nothing like as classy as Ottersford. Really looking forward to watching future developments. ____________________ 'Petermac |
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Kaiser Member
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Hi Peter - thanks for the good wishes. When I said 'the' new Lexus I didn't mean 'my' new Lexus!!! There is no way I'd ever spend £100K on a car, especially not a Lexus! No, home improvements was not my 'paid' job - in fact haven't had a 'paid' job since 1976! I've always been a petrol head & when I was young I used to look at car mechanics & think "well, if they can do it, I can do it". Adopted the same attitude when I bought my first property in 1972. Read a lot (no Google!) & made a lot of cock-ups but over the years learnt wiring, plumbing, woodwork, decorating etc. Mainly because I couldn't afford to pay anybody! That bathroom will probably be my last big project - knocking down walls, kneeling for tiling & stretching for ceilings really knackered me. I was up on the roof last week doing maintenance in preparation for the Summer rains & I was finished for 2 days afterwards. Feel for you about dismantling Maxmill - it was upsetting enough just packing things away (you will have noticed how nothing goes back in the box easily!). I'm now looking on it as a positive - the decks are cleared for a good spruce up & track clean. Anyway, looks like your new railway room is a big improvement on your previous location so that must be some consolation - & what an outlook! Was a brilliant find. Good luck & let's hope we can both show some progress soon. ____________________ All stressed out, got addled brains? Ride your bike or play with trains! |
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Kaiser Member
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Well Sandra's hand is recovering slowly & she can now drive & do some cooking (not at the same time you understand). This has released so first job was to clean the railway room. I hadn't covered the boards as you think 'be back soon' then poof! 4 years gone. Easewood had been covered but when I removed the covers to replace the unpacked buildings I found this: The tie bar for the switch to the loco shed had broken up. Plastic fatigue I suspect - had just gone brittle (must be 30+ years old). Does any one know if there is a way to replace this or will entail a new point? I've decided not to reposition the crossover. I can't believe that after looking at that plan since 1979 I only realised the error when it was the first section I decided to ballast. With no Colin to do the rewiring & with it being the only section now securely glued down I've decided to live with it. Down goods trains will have to pull through the station then the station pilot can draw the wagons back into goods reception (no reversing over main line points), so releasing the incoming goods loco for coaling/watering. When I was cleaning my workbench I found the Ratio signal box I'd started to build for Easewood so decided to finish it (even though there are no signals yet!)   A fiddly little devil, especially the stairs. Some mental deficiency made me decide to detail the interior   Doesn't stand close inspection but the best fading eyesight & shaky hands (must drink less coffee [not going to happen]) could manage. 3 weeks modelling time! Why do we do these things when it won't see light of day once the roof is on? Sandra thinks I'm crackers - she can't see the coal bucket by the stove, that the bike has a leather seat & she can't read the name plate so what's the point. "Why don't you do something big that will make a difference?" She keeps popping in - "Any trains running yet?" Anyway, that's decided me that wherever possible I should use ready made to speed up the process. I see Oxford Rail are producing some reasonable looking GWR buildings that are going to be marketed by Hornby. I need 2 x signal boxes for Ottersford & the goods shed doesn't look too bad. I haven't seen any in the flesh - does anyone know anything about them? I guess they'll need a bit of fettling but will save lots of time. Life has a way of reminding you that a pessimist is an optimist with experience, & on Saturday morning our male St Bernard dropped dead. With think it was stomach torsion that male large breeds are prone to (the gut twists & chokes the main artery). He was over 9 which isn't bad for a St Bernard & he was starting to struggle with dysplasia but he was OK. At least is was quick. Some members may remember he was the subject of jigsaw of the week some years ago. Suppose I should change my avatar now. The other dogs have been mopey last few days. Next job will be to clean all the track & do some test running. I've decided to leave most stuff packed away & only bring out when needed, detailing & weathering then. Was just about to post this when we had a power out so the WiFi was down (the joys of Africa - at least it's warm). The power came on & the site had saved my post, so I hit send but had forgotten to reconnect the WiFi so lost everything anyway & had to do it all again! Hope everyone is avoiding the Corona man & keeping safe. Good luck. Mal ____________________ All stressed out, got addled brains? Ride your bike or play with trains! |
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Headmaster Full Member
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Hi Mal Thoroughly enjoyed your post - made me chuckle and realise I'm not alone in 1: doing things that will never really be seen, and 2: Having a wife who tells me I'm doing things that will never be seen. Having said that, the signal box interior is exquisite! Thoroughly worth the time and effort - I always say that at least I know it is there, and that is enough. But that is so good it deserves the lovely photos, and a detachable roof to the signal box. However, so sorry to hear about your St Bernard. Pets, especially dogs, become such a part of the family and I know how it feels. When our springer died a couple of years ago, we said no more..... but then we met a very cute Springer puppy and our resolve diminished. There are some really good ready made models these days and I'm sure you will find a way to make them a little unique, if only in the setting. Regards Michael ____________________ Kent Coast Railway (formerly Faversham Creek) |
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Kaiser Member
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Opinions please! I'm trying to break the deadlock at Ottersford - I've finished the main platform but don't want to install it until I've ballasted the station tracks. Can't do them until I finish the viaduct parapet walls, know if I do those before the river section I'll knock then off as I reach over. So the river section needs to be done (seem to remember saying this 9 years ago!). I'm going to use Woodlands Scenic 'Realistic Water' but as it's now £30 a bottle I thought I'd try a coat of varnish first to see how it looked. Marty's thread from a few years ago was very helpful & I tried various combinations of colours. The Woodlands idea of dark brown going to sandy just didn't look right. So this is what I ended up with:  Can't decide if it's too blue. The Otters River is fast lowing so maybe too much 'side'. Would be grateful for comments. Meantime have built Ottersford's foot bridge. Would have been easier (& probably quicker) to paint a real one! The 'V.R.' lettering was tricky!  (Don't know why this has come in sideways - it's OK on the PC) Sorted, Barchester I've also started to build the Scalescenes coaling stage - talk about death by 1,000 cuts! Already lost one finger tip. Makes an incredibly strong building though. Pleas let me have thoughts on the river. Mal ____________________ All stressed out, got addled brains? Ride your bike or play with trains! |
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Petermac Admin
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I think texture-wise, your river looks super Mal. I do however, think your concern that it may be too blue is well founded. I don't know how deep it's supposed to be but rivers, unlike the sea, are seldom blue - even in their estuaries. I think they contain too much solid matter plus, they don't reflect the sky in the same way the sea does - more likely to reflect the overhanging trees. To my mind they should be either a dark muddy brown/black type of colour, maybe with a hint of very dull dark green - rather as I'd imagine a seal to be coloured...... In fact, I'd say it's actually very difficult to say what colour a river is !!!As I said though, I think you've created an excellent texture for a fast flowing river (rather than a "babbling brook") The footbridge looks great. ____________________ 'Petermac |
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Marty Enjoying the Journey
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Hi Mal, Whilst I agree with Peter in that it is very difficult to nominate a river/stream colour, I think your blue-green will work once the vegetation along the surrounding banks is installed. A lot of overhanging reeds, bushes and trees should blend it in nicely. Maybe gallop ahead and complete a 6” section along the banks to confirm. My west Wales rivers are predominantly dark muddy green, reflecting the surrounding vegetation, overcast sky’s and muddy sediment in the water. New Zealand’s rivers can be a clear blue white caused by snow melt, suspended mineralisation and bright blue skys. At worst, a couple of light washes of green over the top of the varnish might tone it down if you are concerned but I’d try the vegetation first. Chin up and crack on mate, so glad to see Ottersford Junction underway again All the best Marty ____________________ Marty N Gauge, GWR West Wales Newcastle Emlyn Layout. Newcastle Emlyn Station is "Under construction" |
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Kaiser Member
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Hi Marty - good to hear from you & thanks for the comments. I agreed with Peter so yesterday found a yukky green paint (actually a roof paint) & gave a wash over the blue, also widening the centre. It now looks like this: Not shiny of course. I am going to put in plenty of 'vegetation', logs etc before pouring the 'goo'. What thoughts? Looks a bit more blue in the pic. than in the flesh! I think Marty is right I should just crack on. ____________________ All stressed out, got addled brains? Ride your bike or play with trains! |
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Marty Enjoying the Journey
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I think that will look better Mal. Following along. Marty ____________________ Marty N Gauge, GWR West Wales Newcastle Emlyn Layout. Newcastle Emlyn Station is "Under construction" |
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Petermac Admin
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I'll go with that one too Mal - much better and, as I ssid before, I love the texture. As you say, get plenty of vegetation along the river banks and it will look great. ____________________ 'Petermac |
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Kaiser Member
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So, progress at Ottersford has been, well, progress! I fell off the top of a 15' ladder while trimming some trees (spookily enough on Friday 13th November). Luckily, the ground broke my fall & I'd locked the blade on the chain saw otherwise there may have been some limbs flying around. I twisted my left knee & ankle rather badly (still a bit swollen now) & had a few nasty bruises but being slightly disabled meant I could spend time on the railway. We also had an unprecedented 3 weeks of rain thanks to cyclone somebody or other which while welcome to break our 5 year drought meant more railway time. So, as instructed by Marty, I 'cracked on' with Otters River.    Aerial view  I set up a production line for trees & wagons (7 down - about 50 to go!). I've also finished the coaling building & some station buildings but more of those later. Gratuitous photo  and another  What's an SECR 'P' class doing on a GW dock branch? Well, such a pretty loco I had to have one, but anyone with any knowledge of Ottersford, in the ancient county of Stormede, will know it's not as unlikely as it may seem. A more likely scenario:  small Prairie takes the morning workman's train down to the docks. Emmanuel the gate keeper used to be Station Master at Ottersford but manages the crossing in his retirement. He still likes to wear his frock coat. His wife has a rest & enjoys the view while Jepp his dog waits by the gate.  Stan the post man pedals up the hill. He'll no doubt stop for a chat & a cuppa. I've tried to represent those white flowers that seem to line the roadsides (I think they are called Cowslips?). A few thoughts if anyone is considering using Woodlands 'Realistic Water'. The first bottle I bought a few years ago was R170 (about £8.50). I correctly guessed that one bottle wouldn't be enough & when I bought the second bottle it had gone up to a whopping R700 (£35). Is it worth it? Well, I'd say no. Anyone wanting to do a water feature could do worse than read Marty's excellent thread on various ways of representing water. You will get as good results for a fraction of the price. I couldn't find a suitable backscene so settled for a blue/grey base with a 'tree line'. It's a bit repetitive but you can't look at it all at once! So now I've finished this corner of the layout, which represents about 1/6th of what needs to be done, I can start on the main station area. I've been amazed at how much time & resources were expended on this small section. I've ordered a Hornby 'Granite Station Building' as it looked like it might be OK with a bit of fettling. When I was buying Airfix kits for 2 bob if someone had said I'd be paying £60 for a station building I have thought they should be committed. Still, seems cheap next to a bottle of Realistic Water & you can't buy time which is what I'm short of. Some pictures I've tried to post come out upside down or sideways & it makes no difference if I spin them round in my gallery on the PC (where they look fine anyway). Any ideas? Trouble is now spending so much time on the railway means the 101 jobs that normally need attention are now about 501! So that's all for now. Keep safe & well. Mal ____________________ All stressed out, got addled brains? Ride your bike or play with trains! |
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Longchap Full Member
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Hi Mal and Happy New Year! I’m sorry to hear of your latest touch of bad luck, but so glad that you’re making progress to full recovery, albeit slowly. Your railway however, has come on leaps and bounds, as well as long and triple jumps.The photographs show your impressive progressl with the landscape full of life and realism. Also great news with reducing the kit mountain. We all have them and mine is now only getting marginally bigger. Have fun fettling the Hornby station building, mine has been interesting. Is it one of their resin ones? Take care, Bill ____________________ At 6'4'', Bill is a tall chap, then again, when horizontal he is rather long and people often used to trip over him! . . . and so a nickname was born |
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Barchester Administrator 
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Oooo did you bounce ? !!! Im so glad i read your latest post AFTER finishing attacking a couple of overgrown privets from the top of a platform Super progress due to your enforced layup though Now I'm in first nominating one for picture of the month but which one ??? Cheers Matt ____________________ Wasnie me, a big boy did it and ran away "Why did you volunteer ? I didn't Sir, the other three stepped backwards" |
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Longchap Full Member
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I'm thinking of either the 3rd or the 7th Matt. How about you? Bill ____________________ At 6'4'', Bill is a tall chap, then again, when horizontal he is rather long and people often used to trip over him! . . . and so a nickname was born |
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Barchester Administrator
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Mines in Bill, you choose your own, mind you I still havent worked out what secret formula Peter uses to choose ?Does he go for number of nominations for each picture ? Or a cumalative number if more than one picture from the same thread ? Or does he pour a large glass ( or three) and then stick a virtual pin in to choose ?? He do keep his cards close to his chest ! Cheers Matt ____________________ Wasnie me, a big boy did it and ran away "Why did you volunteer ? I didn't Sir, the other three stepped backwards" |
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Petermac Admin
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Barchester wrote: Mines in Bill, you choose your own, mind you I still havent worked out what secret formula Peter uses to choose ?Does he go for number of nominations for each picture ? Or a cumalative number if more than one picture from the same thread ? Or does he pour a large glass ( or three) and then stick a virtual pin in to choose ?? It's very simple Matt........ I go for the nominee who crosses my palm with the heaviest silver ....... ____________________ 'Petermac |
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georgejacksongenius Kettle Watcher
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Mal,Loving that SECR loco....it's very "Ivor The Engine"!! Some cracking scenery too.Good to see you back with more GWR goodies mate! Cheers,John.B. |
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TeaselBay Novice
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Kaiser wrote: Glad to hear there wasn't any lasting damage from your fall last year! That could have been rather nasty! You've rescued the river well, from the original blue it looks brilliant. I feel I need to add a few more reeds etc to mine! The overarching viaduct sits grand over the scene and really helps to set it. Where did you get the ducks from? ____________________ Chris Teasel Bay Teasel Bay on Facebook |
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Longchap Full Member
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TeaselBay wrote: Kaiser wrote: Well Chris, them's GWR ducks and are special issue only by Swindon Provenance Stores to the Paddington Stationmaster to provide First Class passengers with extra unctuous eggs benedict at the breakfast tables of the Paddington to Penzance express services. If you dress up as a Stationmaster, Mal may get a Swindon clerk to squirrel you some, but you'll have to send the eggs on to Reading station on a regular basis. Best, Bill ____________________ At 6'4'', Bill is a tall chap, then again, when horizontal he is rather long and people often used to trip over him! . . . and so a nickname was born |
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Kaiser Member
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Glad to hear there wasn't any lasting damage from your fall last year! That could have been rather nasty!You've rescued the river well, from the original blue it looks brilliant. I feel I need to add a few more reeds etc to mine! The overarching viaduct sits grand over the scene and really helps to set it. Where did you get the ducks from? Hi Chris - if you don't want to go through Swindon Provenance Stores you could try Preiser! Peter - the cheque is in the post. Another footnote re: Realistic Water. I'd used pva adhesive to 'plant' the trees & reeds around the river & it had dried clear. However, once the R.W. was applied it went & has stayed opaque. Luckily it doesn't really show on the photos. Thanks for all the kind comments. ____________________ All stressed out, got addled brains? Ride your bike or play with trains! |
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Barchester Administrator
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Sorry Mal I missed your question Re upside down photos ? I take it your using an Ipad or Iphone ? The Camera lense has a set Orientation. The Iphone or Ipad knows which way up the phone was when you took the photo ( it can read this info in the photo) and 'Rights' the picture on your display. Once you take the photo out of An Apple device this information is 'lost' so the photo will then display sideways or upside down depending on which way up the lense was. Most people naturally want to hold tha Iphone or IPad with the volume buttons at the top but this is actually upside down as far as the lense is concerned. A link HERE. To turning your photos from within the device Alternatively use an online editor, upload the photo and rotate as necessary, ( the online editor should show it as taken IE upside down etc) then remember to 'Save As' and re name it so you know which one is the edited version. THEN you can upload it to the forum ( P.S. if your NOT using Apple. . No idea mate ! )H T H Cheers Matt ____________________ Wasnie me, a big boy did it and ran away "Why did you volunteer ? I didn't Sir, the other three stepped backwards" |
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Kaiser Member
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Thanks for reply Matt but no. I'm not using an Apple device, just a Samsung android. Spooky thing is some pics were fine - just the ones I wanted to post were squiffy! ____________________ All stressed out, got addled brains? Ride your bike or play with trains! |
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Barchester Administrator
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GREMLINS I take it your screen rotates when you turn the phone sideways ? Never thought that Auto rotation effected pictures though ! Never looked in camera settings to see if there is a fixed orientation setting ? So nope no idea mate Turn it off ? Turn it back on ?? Cheers Matt ____________________ Wasnie me, a big boy did it and ran away "Why did you volunteer ? I didn't Sir, the other three stepped backwards" |
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Longchap Full Member
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I remember back in the day when we walked round the corner in the rain from the flat to the bright red smelly telephone box on the corner with some of the Queen's coinage and we could speak to our mums and dads, never mind take a photograph of them. Kids today eh? Don't know thery're born! Grumpy LC ____________________ At 6'4'', Bill is a tall chap, then again, when horizontal he is rather long and people often used to trip over him! . . . and so a nickname was born |
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Kaiser Member
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Remember the joy when you found someone had pressed button 'B' & forgotten to pick up their money!
____________________ All stressed out, got addled brains? Ride your bike or play with trains! |
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Barchester Administrator
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I remember the SMELL of the one just down the road from the Pub
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Kaiser Member
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Well I've just put in 40 fence posts for the next stretch of scenic section. Then when I come to put in the .3mm fencing wire I find all the holes in the posts are blocked with plastic swarf. I know I should have checked first but for goodness sake to make a fence post with holes that are actually holes shouldn't be too much to expect. I've probably had them for over 30 years so can't send them back. So now I need to poke 160 holes but what with? The plastic wire provided is much too delicate, I've tried fuse wire but that's not strong enough either. I've tried heating the fuse wire but it just melts. I filed down a track pin to .3 but even that just bent. Trying to do them in situ is a pain but now they are all nicely glued in. All suggestions gratefully received. 
____________________ All stressed out, got addled brains? Ride your bike or play with trains! |
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Barchester Administrator
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Maybe try a pin vice drill with the smallest bit you have ? What a pain though !! Cheers Matt ____________________ Wasnie me, a big boy did it and ran away "Why did you volunteer ? I didn't Sir, the other three stepped backwards" |
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Marty Enjoying the Journey
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I think the posts are too close together for a pin vice, if you have a tiny drill bit maybe hold it in a pair of pliers.... mmmm... tricky one.... plant vegetation along the fence line with the tops of the posts sticking through here and there, quite prototypical ... and then you don’t need the wire. The water in the river is fabulous... you must be very pleased.... Glad you’re healing up... what is it with ladders and old blokes eh? They’ve got it in for us I reckon. ____________________ Marty N Gauge, GWR West Wales Newcastle Emlyn Layout. Newcastle Emlyn Station is "Under construction" |
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Longchap Full Member
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If and it is an 'if', you only see the fence line from one side, you could cheat by cutting a slot on the hidden side of the post, then push the wire in, secure it with a dab of goo and even some filler if you think you may want to look at it in the future. Just a thought. Best, Bill ____________________ At 6'4'', Bill is a tall chap, then again, when horizontal he is rather long and people often used to trip over him! . . . and so a nickname was born |
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Kaiser Member
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Hi Matt/Marty/Bill. Marty is right about how close the poles are. I've tried filing down a steel pin but now either the pole snaps (old plastic!) or I stab my finger when the pin goes through - I think it's more than just a little swarf. I have to shine a torch through to see where the holes are (should be!) as well. I think it's either pull them all out & put in post & rail fencing or Marty's idea of a lot of vegetation - leaning towards the latter. Sandra said just wrap the wire around the post but that's not at all G.W.. Bill's idea would work as it can only be viewed from one side - still have to cut 160 slots though! No wonder it takes so long to do anything. I thought "few fence posts, dab of paint, thread the wire - couple of hours". Took me longer than that to file down the pins! Thanks for the river comments Marty but you must share some of the credit. The fall did shake me up but I broke all the basic rules - 3 points of contact etc. I thought "I can just reach this last branch without having to move the ladder if I just turn around" so momentarily 0 points of contact with the inevitable result. Like most accidents, a momentary lapse of reason (to quote Floyd). Keep well all & jolly modelling. ____________________ All stressed out, got addled brains? Ride your bike or play with trains! |
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Petermac Admin
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Can you use just the drill bit Mal ? Wrap the end witn tape of some kind and twiddle it between finger and thumb...... If the hole is so small, unless the posts are metal, or the holes are just indents, it shouldn't be too difficult to drill out. ____________________ 'Petermac |
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Barchester Administrator
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Yes, very difficult ! I did think after posting that the pin vice wouldn't fit in unless you had a bit of give in the posts to bend them out of line. What you need is something like a small Alan key shape that you can sharpen a point on the short side of, and then use an Ice lolly stick ( or something like) to hold against the back of the post to support it AND save your fingers while you drill Probably only worth all the effort if it is in your face ? Cheers Matt ____________________ Wasnie me, a big boy did it and ran away "Why did you volunteer ? I didn't Sir, the other three stepped backwards" |
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Headmaster Full Member
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Could you push through the holes with a pin? Mchael ____________________ Kent Coast Railway (formerly Faversham Creek) |
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Kaiser Member
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Kaiser wrote: Hi Matt/Marty/Bill. Marty is right about how close the poles are. I've tried filing down a steel pin but now either the pole snaps (old plastic!) or I stab my finger when the pin goes through - I think it's more than just a little swarf. I have to shine a torch through to see where the holes are (should be!) as well. I think it's either pull them all out & put in post & rail fencing or Marty's idea of a lot of vegetation - leaning towards the latter. Sandra said just wrap the wire around the post but that's not at all G.W.. Bill's idea would work as it can only be viewed from one side - still have to cut 160 slots though!Michael - typical Headmaster you've marked the paper without reading it through! Peter - can I get a .3mm drill bit?As I'm the nutter who details signal box interiors when they won't be seen I don't know if I can have a 'wireless' fence. Anyway, here's another gratuitous photo of a pretty intruder:  ____________________ All stressed out, got addled brains? Ride your bike or play with trains! |
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Barchester Administrator
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My set goes down to 0.5 Mal. And it is TINY !! Cheers Matt ____________________ Wasnie me, a big boy did it and ran away "Why did you volunteer ? I didn't Sir, the other three stepped backwards" |
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Petermac Admin
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I thought you said the wire was 0.3mm Mal ...... If that's the case, you'll need a drill of, at the smallest 0.5mm - probably more. I've recently been using a 0.8mm drill in my pin vice and it's certainly not the smallest in the set. Not sure what the smallest I have is but, as Matt says, it's tiny. Any smaller, you'd have a job seeing it, in which case, I wouldn't bother with the wire Mal - you most likely won't be able to see it !!! This is similar to the set I've got - I just googled "micro drill set" and this happened to be in the southern hemisphere - maybe you could find similar in S.A........ http://www.jaycar.com.au › 20-piece-micr... 20 Piece Micro Drill Set 0.3 - 1.6mm CAT.NO: TD2406 $12.95 - Jaycar Sorry - it appears the link only gets you to Jaycar but their catalogue number is there too .... ____________________ 'Petermac |
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Kaiser Member
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Thanks for that Peter. You will remember in the 19C they called Africa the 'Dark Continent'? Well it's not much brighter now! I have found a supplier in S.A. with a Carbide PCB drill set that goes down to .03! I've asked them for a quote. I suppose I could use my variable speed Dremel but I'll have to pull up all the posts - far too fiddly in situ. Curse faulty manufacture & poor quality control!
____________________ All stressed out, got addled brains? Ride your bike or play with trains! |
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Longchap Full Member
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Hi Mal, Do you know if the collet of the Dremel will fit those tiny drills? I had some issues last summer with mine and had to find another chuck to hold a smallish cutting disc for some stone mosaic I was finessing in a new shower room. For small drills, I’ve now use sets all having a common larger diameter shank, which fit into all my drills and pin vices, so life is a tad easier. Good luck and best wishes, Bill ____________________ At 6'4'', Bill is a tall chap, then again, when horizontal he is rather long and people often used to trip over him! . . . and so a nickname was born |
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Petermac Admin
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If you buy the drill Mal, wrap the end with tape or similar and use your fingers as a pin vice. I've just done that this morning with a 0.8mm drill into a servo horn - worked a treat !
____________________ 'Petermac |
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Barry Miltenburg Full Member 
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Hi Mal I have a couple of sets of collets of different sizes. Eileens Emporium (UK-SA postage???) or Ebay (SA at all?). Not sure what the model shop situation is in SA and if they are delivering during the lockdowns. Any decent shop should stock this sort of thing. The DIY sheds in the UK sell Dremmel bits and pieces so that could be another option. The good news is that the collet sets are only a few £££. Hope that helps Barry ____________________ Shed dweller, Softie Southerner and Meglomaniac |
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