TheQ

No progress see personal journal

Is it really nearly a year since I posted here? Life has got in the way, a family funeral, and too much to do and not enough time to do it. Very shortly I'll be heading out Into the cold to finish building a new shed, not for railways but gardening equipment . That means I can clear half the garage, so that I can use it as a workshop. That then means I can clear the alleyway between the mobile home and model railway shed which was my workshop, as SWMBO has highjacked it for use as a wool treatment room for preparing wool for weaving. It does mean the new workshop is nearer where I need it. This summer I will be still continuing with my boat rebuild, which I hoping to complete this summer, no garden railway work will be going on for some time, my plans haven't changed, just delayed.. My indoor model railway work only continues at the MRC, the N gauge layout https://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/index.php?topic=38780.0 Progresses well but slowly, there are 4 original boards and one sub-board, I'm finishing board three and working mostly on board 4. Soon I should start on new boards 5 and 6 where the sub-board will now sit. It will however go on display on the 26th May, 10:30-15:30 at Hoveton village hall, where we, the Broadland model railway club are having a club open day, we'll have to charge £3.50 at the door due to hall hire costs. We'll have about a dozen club or club members layouts will be there, most will be running . Hall costs are a problem, one of the local shows has had to close due the increasing cost of halls. Our own full show in early October can only continue with sponsorship which pays the £500 hall costs.. Right time to finish the coffee and get wrapped up warm to venture outside..

They can, join our sailing school at the age of 8, which is the youngest the Broads authority allows anyone to helm on the Norfolk Broads. ( But they do teach adults as well), If anyone lives nearby, then you are advised to visit the year before. to get information and you name on the list such is the waiting list... Horning sailing club is one of the cheapest on the broads, with club membership being roughly £120 a year for a family. There are additional small fees for the sailing school, we are a self help club, the only paid staff is the cleaner once a week.. I was PAT testing the Club in Saturday. I've spent many times upside down in Lasers and Enterprises. Just once crewed a hobbie cat out in Saudi Arabia. These days I mostly sail a Yeoman.. http://www.yeomankinsman.org.uk/yeoman/yeoman.shtm if you can see Yeoman 103 in the main picture I'm the red blob under the sail. I do helm as well .. The picture is taken from the front of the sailing club. I'm also restoring a minature keelboat I built in Saudi, when rebuilt it will be 16ft long, sit in facing forward., steer with your feet, control the jib and main with your hands.. A sort of Norfolk Broads International 2.4 in operation, but not style of boat. As for the race, yesterday they were forecasting a northerly 3mph for the start of the race race today they are forecasting a North Easterly a 9mph north easterly. We need more wind as the race is spending the first 4 hours against the tide... More webcams have come on ready for the race, you can see the boats are starting to arrive ready for Saturday, If you click on the black screen you get Potter Heigham bridge, the hole in the wall all the boats have to go through twice..

They've had grass land fires, on Arthurs Seat, the hill behind Edinburgh!! Oh Norfolks just had a yellow warning issued for heavy rain, thunder and lightening.

Interupting the real purpose of this thread, Bunnings bought Homebase for £340million, 2 years ago, yesterday they sold it for......£1 ouch... the buyers are Hilco a private restructuring company...expect lots of closures and redundancies... good idea to use the track settas, it's warm and wet over here on the east coast.

89 boats are confirmed for the race, little down on Numbers. With 8 days 23 hours and a bit till the start, the webcames are begining to come to life and one appears to be live feed for the first time instead of 15second stills. click on the black screen to see it.. https://horning-sailing.club/webcams.php And today being Thursday they are getting the sailing club ready for the sailing school, up to 80 kids will turn up later to learn to sail in ever decreasing circles.

Whilst the temperature expansion of Nickle silver track is negligable, many track bases especially wood, have a considerable expansion / contraction rate. Going for such long sections could well give difficulties with track buckling

Having said all that abut Bunnings, It's on the business news today, that they've thrown in the towel and are chosing one of three buyers for the Homebase chain today. It sees a remarkably short time to have given up on the situation. The report said whoever buys it, is likely to shut many stores...

Not had a chance to go in it as a Bunning yet, they are converting store by store and ours was only done recently. (they appear to have only converted 24 out of the 265 Homebase) Q

Bunnings is an Austrailian DIY company that just over a year ago took over the UK Homebase chain. They have over 300 stores in Austrailia and New Zealand, and Homebase brought with them another 265 stores. https://www.bunnings.com.au/ https://www.bunnings.co.uk/

Oh we are up to 13 confirmed layouts for Broadland Model railway clubs annual show in October, just a couple more to confirm, there is another trader and more demo's organised as well. For full details of it, see, http://s643945335.websitehome.co.uk/annual-exhibition/ Meanwhile No progress on the garden railway, the alleyway between the Model railway shed and the Mobile home has now been wired up electrically, but I am awaiting parts to replumb the mobile home water incomer / garden water supplies. A decision has been made not to hold a club open day /exhibition this year. We have to have the open day at the local town hall, as the club house is unsuitable / too far in the wilds for the public to attend. So it's more a club layout exhibition, and we have nothing new ready for this year. This slightly works in my favour as I like going to the Southwold show, this is on the end of our regatta week, to follow that with being out at our club exhibition the following weekend would not go down well with SWMBO.

Morning All, Thanks for the Pictures of the "drifting", a condition often encountered on the Norfolk Broads. Not I hope not too much, on Jun 2/3rd As this is the Big race of the year. The third toughest mass participation competion event in the UK, and one of the longest inland sailing races in the world. Those cats are wider than some of the rivers the competitors sail in.... The 3 Rivers Race, which is almost upon us, entries have closed and the competitors should get their entry packs in the next few days. First start at Horning Sailing club 11:00 2nd June 2018, about 10 boats in a start at 5 minute intervals last startaround 12:30, roughly 100 boats expected to start. You have 24 hours to complete 54 miles of sailing under 3 bridges twice, meaning you have take the mast down 4 times, boats from 14 foot to 45ft. (maps on the below websites) The Record is around 8 hours, the worst year only about a dozen boats finished. My record, about ten hours, and of those races completed, the slowest 23 hours 57 minutes 7 seconds.. There are about a dozen guardships around the Course complete with a rescue boat each, first aid trained personnel, and radio comunication back to base. As each boat goes past a guardship they have to call out their RACE number and the next leg they are going to ( doesn't apply to my boat as we are at one end of the course..) Yours truly, is based on Hickling Broad at their sailing club on a guardship, so a long night is expected. The 3 Rivers Race has finally it's own official website http://3rr.uk/, and it's official Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/groups/306353193114566/ There is a fans Website http://www.threeriversrace.org.uk/index.php5?title=Main_Page and it's facebook page https://www.facebook.com/groups/187800327911928/ Webcams and other information Horning Sailing club https://horning-sailing.club/webcams.php (Note they are in the process of being reset for the race and a bit intermittant at the moment)

Well the above show was a good one, I bought some stuff for my in herited N gauge railway, Tiree, namely second hand kit built loco, a coach and several wagons and a book on the Highland railway. Oh and a bacon butty..... or two... The widow of the previous owner of the N gauge railway is about to down size and move house, hence I have been handed piles of Points and other bits of N gauge railway. She is coming across them clearing the old house and also odd bits of horticultural equipment like A Dydle from the triple garage. A Dydle? it's a Norfolk tool for dredging dykes by hand, in this case its a 10ft long wooden pole on which is a scoup which faces back towards the user so you drag the mud to you, out of the dyke. My plans to go to other shows in May are unlikely now, due to sailing commitments. Work is about to restart in the Garden railway area, However not on the garden railway, I have to build some raised beds for Yacon plants, each will have a bed of 3 ft square, soil to fill them will however be dug from the foundation trenches for the railway Viaduct. A viaduct it will be, during the gale prior to the Beast from the East, 20ft of garden wall was blown down. Therefore, a thin wall is now, not in my plans, but a less wind resisting viaduct is. For strength purposes each pillar will be two or three foundation blocks of 215mm X 300mm X 440mm on end.

That Helter skelter reminds me of somewhere near here... http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/194375 I like your modellling...

You'll need to get a shed to put it in... Having a shed, into which you can run your track is quite common, even if it's just straight into a fiddle yard.that way you don't spend ages getting everything out before a running session. Many of us also have the track run into a layout into the shed (or plan to). so in the bad weather there is still some runnning capability.