TheQ

I'm sorry to hear of various people losses Human or Furry. My brother in law is now into his 9th month after a six months to live diagnosis so sadly we are waiting. I must admit the software troubles seem to have cut the number of posts I make... This lot will be copied to my personal diary to make it a bit more complete.. I buy a lot of my railway stuff secondhand but other than a few key items there is not a lot to get now, But there is a lot of conversion work to be done to wheels / couplings / weathering.. We have acquired a new furry friend, a 6 year old Border Collie. Since we lost the supervisor, AKA the cat, to a road accident last year SWMBO has insisted I rebuild the gateway first, which has been an opening in the fence for some years. I've installed a six foot high 10ft wide gate way and I am now building two 15ft long six foot high walls to join the new gate recessed from the road to the old fence line. Border Collies are nothing if not athletic, he leapt the temporary 4ft fence in one bound... This has diverted my attention from viaduct building for the garden railway which has absolutely nothing done on it for ages. At the MRC the inherited N gauge layout I received earlier on this year is starting to show some progress, two of the six boards (3ft by 2ft) have now got their folding scenery extension on the front and now got the back scene / fiddle yard hiding boards on. At the moment they are looking like a wedding cake all In white. Once I have finished the viaduct and a little more of the scenery in white, then it'll be time to make the scenery a little more Hebridean, lots of browns, greens and grey lumps of rock.. Time to go, I Have to pretend to do some work, before heading off to get more breeze blocks and soft sand for the building works... I hope you all have a better year ahead, The Q

I'm sorry to hear of various people losses Human or Furry. My brother in law is now into his 9th month after a six months to live diagnosis so sadly we are waiting. I must admit the software troubles seem to have cut the number of posts I make... This lot will be copied to my personal diary to make it a bit more complete.. I buy a lot of my railway stuff secondhand but other than a few key items there is not a lot to get now, But there is a lot of conversion work to be done to wheels / couplings / weathering.. We have acquired a new furry friend, a 6 year old Border Collie. Since we lost the supervisor, AKA the cat, to a road accident last year SWMBO has insisted I rebuild the gateway first, which has been an opening in the fence for some years. I've installed a six foot high 10ft wide gate way and I am now building two 15ft long six foot high walls to join the new gate recessed from the road to the old fence line. Border Collies are nothing if not athletic, he leapt the temporary 4ft fence in one bound... This has diverted my attention from viaduct building for the garden railway which has absolutely nothing done on it for ages. At the MRC the inherited N gauge layout I received earlier on this year is starting to show some progress, two of the six boards (3ft by 2ft) have now got their folding scenery extension on the front and now got the back scene / fiddle yard hiding boards on. At the moment they are looking like a wedding cake all In white. Once I have finished the viaduct and a little more of the scenery in white, then it'll be time to make the scenery a little more Hebridean, lots of browns, greens and grey lumps of rock.. Time to go, I Have to pretend to do some work, before heading off to get more breeze blocks and soft sand for the building works... I hope you all have a better year ahead, The Q

And just to keep 'em coming here are the details for our annual show in early October. Broadland Model Railway Club's ( http://s643945335.websitehome.co.uk/ ) Annual Exhibition at Alysham. Jubilee Centre, Norwich Road, Aylsham, Norfolk NR11 6JG 7th October 2017, 10:00 to 16:00 Entry, £4 Adults, £3 Children, £3 Concessions Limited Disabled parking on site. ALL others at the Bure Valley Railway, Aylsham Station, Norwich Road, Aylsham, Norfolk, NR11 6BW (300 yards) By a ticket on the BVR From Wroxham and Hoveton Station and get entry to the show for free!! http://www.bvrw.co.u...el-rail-express The 2017 model railway exhibition sponsored by the Bure Valley Railway will be held again in the Jubilee Centre, Aylsham, NR11 6JG on Saturday 7th October. There will be models of different gauges and sizes. These range from N gauge to 00 gauge with model steam and diesel traction as the theme. Exhibitors will come from the surrounding counties of East Anglia. The exhibition owes much of its success to the catering support given by the ladies. They do a magnificent job providing refreshments for the visitors and lunches for the exhibitors, traders & our volunteer helpers. One of the BMRC members is offering a “Loco Doctor” service this year. If you have a loco that needs attention then bring it along for a once over and advice. There is no charge for this service. EXHIBITORS. OO Gauge Billingborough 00 Binegar 00 Broadfield 00 16.5mm and 4mm:1ft Cato Pass 00 East Park Depot 00 East Becton EM 4mm/ft Ebridge Mill 00 4mm Fine scale Terminus All Change 00/HO 34th Street HO Thomas 2 00 N Gauge Buda N 1:160 Charleston N Harnser”s Loke N Oma Park N Thunder Mountain American N Trenance Quay N 2mm 009 Hawkins Tower Narrow Gauge 009 narrow Gauge TRADE STANDS Bure Valley Model Shop Joe Lock Model Railways Bob Pearman Books Train Terrain David Rowlands OTHERS Stands Advent Modellers Malcolm Cooper D.C.C. Demonstration and advice

Sorry to here the bad news, hopefully you'll find somewhere better (and flatter)

Yesterday was Broadland Model Railway Club's Second Open day at Stalham town hall. 15:30 Saturday set off for BMRC at Catfield (ask me for details should anyone wish to visit) 16:00 start loading up about ten cars and my landrover. 16:45 ish set off in convoy.. 17:00 Enter hall, puzzle how to get all the electrics on, unload cars place layouts into piles in designated places round the hall. 18:00 layouts assembled, some tested. 18:30 Sorting finished, depart for home via BMRC for forgotten things There were several layouts completed, one nearly finished, one track down scenics just started, one track still being laid. Saturday. 05:00 wake up, get up, SSS, 07:00 breakfast 08:00 set off for Stalham Town Hall 08:15 Arrive at S.T.H. 08:30 we are in, Put up banner and notices inside and outside the hall. 09:30 All members have arrived, bringing with them their rolling stock boxes, and have started final testing read for the day. 09:45, tea and coffee for everyone 10:00 open the doors... 10:00 -16:00 Since my layout isn't being shown this year, my particular role is a spare hand wandering around, assisting should anyone need it. 16:00 we've had nearly 100 visitors, and half a dozen asked for details of how to visit the club with a view to joining. Getting new members was the whole idea for having this open day each year. 16:45 by this time, we've packed up into all the cars, I leave with one of the first of the loads. 17:00 At BMRC, unloading the club layouts into their positions inside the club rooms, except for one which is off to a show next week. Most Members layouts stay in their cars for transport home. 17:15 head for home. Club layouts will be assembled as members come in to visit the club. For which we all have keys for and the club house is available all the time.

Just a reminder if you're in the area, I won't be working in the garden on Sunday because... Broadland Model Railway Club are holding their Open Day on Sunday 13th of August 2107 10:00 to 16:00 at: Stalham Town Hall, High Street Norwich Norfolk NR12 9AH. We do have to have a small charge for entry to cover costs which is a Huge £2 There will be Club and Members layouts in a variety of Gauges, We hope to have a second hand Stock and Book stall, Tea and Coffee will be available, there is a pub across the road!!! Drop in if you're in the area, have a chat and see what we do.

Regatta week went well, only two major incidents, one sailing boat was squashed against a bank by a hire cruiser, causing damage to the boat and a lady on the sailing boat needed dental work after hitting her face. The Other involved a diesel dayboat which managed to mount a sailing boat, and have the helm of the sailing boat lying on the cockpit floor looking up at the hull of the dayboat. I ( we on my dory) rescued, A topper Dinghy, Three ladys in a canoe and one of them's son in another canoe, paddle downwind in 40mph wind and with the tide was easy, they couldn't make it back against the wind. A Hire boat stuck nose to the bank trying to turn to tie up, with sailing boats bearing down. a quick sideways push on the stern by the dory pushed them parallel and cleared the river. I'll try to post a few pictures once I've sorted them out. Meantime this weekend was: A, resting B, Removing a concrete fence post, which turned out to be 9ft, three of which were buried into the ground, that destroyed my rest!!

Nothing much done this weekend, just nearly 1000 miles driving taking 18.5 hours, in a 27 hour period... Next week regatta week...

60103 is the last number the 4472 Flying Scotsman carried. She has carried many numbers over the years as she went Great Northern ownership to LNER ownership to British Rail ownership. there were a couple of interim changes over the years as well just 'cos they felt like it.. Pendennis Castle was shipped to AUS in 1977 and returned to the UK in 2000, her number was 4079 and as far as I'm aware never changed her number, She did run with the Flying Scotsman in Australia on the 17th Sept 1989.

I've not come across anything like this, which is why I was intending to use wire in tube to the track, and to put the point motors (servos in my case ) uphill from the track.

It's tin plate very prone to rust and the paint is probably not that sun resistant.. I haven't chosen what if any building I'd have outside, they wouldn't be permanently out anyway, Most likely it would be plastic. But if I wanted something permanent I'd cast something in concrete and paint that.

I can confirm our entry fee is a huge £2, and the opening hours are 10:00 to 16:00. I think we will have 6 or 7 operating layouts, 3 of which are completed. Also there will be other non operational layouts under construction / rebuild.

4472 The Flying Scotsman was rebuilt 2006 - 2016 and is running today, She has had the numbers: 1472 (to Feb 1924) 4472 (Feb 1924–Jan 1946) 502 (Jan–May 1946) 103 (May 1946–Dec 1948) 60103 (Dec 1948 on) Now she is in preservation She could appear in any of the above numbers but mostly runs under 4472. At the moment she as the German Style Smoke deflectors fitted

If I drink tree glasses of anything I'll be stopping a lot earlier than 400 miles...

In A fortnights time I have 400+miles to drive on the Saturday, and 400+ miles to drive on the Sunday, anyone got a crane to get me out of the car after?

Ok you lot wake up, Broadland Model Railway Club are holding their Open Day on Sunday 13th of August 2107 at: Stalham Town Hall, High Street Norwich Norfolk NR12 9AH. We do have to have a small charge for entry to cover costs. There will be Club and Members layouts in a variety of Gauges, We hope to have a second hand Stock and Book stall, Tea and Coffee will be available, there is a pub across the road!!! Drop in if you're in the area, have a chat and see what we do. I'll update this with the entry charge and opening hours once I've been to the club on Friday..

4472/ 60103 was bought by the National railway museum in 2003 having had several private owners which she did / nearly did bankrupt in succession in the past. She was rebuilt totally between 2005 and 2016 and is now out regularly on the rails.

Not much has been said mostly because I've been very busy on other things. Earlier on in the year a friend died, and I inherited his N gauge railway. This had been built on the Island of Tiree, by an electronics engineer, the whole underside of the 12ft by 2ft railway was covered in circuit boards!!! When the electronics engineer Died, it came to his sister who lived next door to my friend, who bought it. He was a marshman, born and raised on the Norfolk Broads marshes, spent his life working on the marshes and the surrounding area. Originally on farms, lately doing garden maintenance (in his 80s). So i had spent many hours simplifying the electronics for him. So MRC work has now been spent working on "Tiree" continuing the restoration of the model and changing some elements as I intend using it as my show layout. The layout had been built into the upstairs room of a tiny cottage, it had been extracted with some difficulty down narrow stairs. Then a ferry journey to the mainland and a long trip down to Norfolk. Meanwhile in the garden, not a huge amount has gone on for the garden railway, My parents are here for their annual months visit and neither are steady on their feet. Work on the mobile home and the garden has been going on to help them. Also further extensions to the raised patio have continued, last week I dug soil and rubble from the site of some old privies (from when there used to a pub on the site pre 1895) and filled an area of the raised patio about 10ft by 5ft by 18 inches. Also last week we "rescued" a six year old dog, well, through a mutual friend who has 8 Border collies (and some sheep) a friend of hers needed to rehome their Border, as that persons Mother has just had a stroke, the father has dementia, She has a job and just couldn't give Ben the Border Collie the attention all Border Collies need. Since we were on the look out for a Collie we've now got him. All work in the garden is now interupted by a ball arriving at your feet.. and him trying to round up the wheelbarrow as I'm pushing it. He is absolutely lovely as a dog, very well behaved and just needs a little reassurance due to the changes in his life. The only thing is, He's done very little lead work, So SWMBO is trying to do some obedience training with him at the moment..

Another long gap since my last post, Mostly because I've been very busy on other things. SEE personnal journal, Another section of trenching for the future railway foundations was excavated by shovel and the soil also went in the the patio fill. Due the undergrowth beyond the railway area getting high, it was realised the wall / viaduct will make the garden bit, seem very enclosed. So the design has been altered slightly, so there will be more viaduct and less wall. Just as well there is still a shortage of breeze / foundation blocks and the prices have gone up considerably..

Sorry to hear of your problems, I did something similar 35 years ago playing baseball, Being in the military it was 1 weeks light duties and get on with it. This may be why these days it's coming back to haunt me, as I sit here with very light pain from my back. Though probably not helped by laying 3/4 ton of concrete at the weekend. Look after yourself

I'm no expert on the construction of batteries themselves, however from what I know leisure batteries use thicker heavier plates that are of a more active compound. Starters use more surface area to give that higher short period current. Generally I'd agree with Roddy's assessment of the two main types of batteries as to their use. Going via an inverter to control a model railway is an electrically expensive way of doing it as there are losses, converting 12v to 230v and back down again. However using a Car battery doesn't give you 100% of a mains supplied system first they are charged at up to 15.6 volts, although a floating voltage of about 13.5 V for long term charging is required. Although called 12V power supplies, oo gauge controllers actually put out up to 16v, so if you want to run flat out you'll find your top speed limited unless you use more electronics to up the battery voltage. I could quite easily see a battery supplied, solar charged, model railway system, working quite well. Say allowing for losses you need 3 Amps 12v supplied to the controller an extreme 10 hour running session ( single loco) would use 30Amp hours A 150 amp hour leisure battery has about 120AH available to use so you'd only use 25% of its capacity. How often you could do that would depend on your charging capacity, the more full discharges of any type of battery the shorter its life. Jimbob, Putting a jig saw on a 300w inverter is pushing it somewhat, most jigsaws are 500W or more you could easily blow your inverter. Personally I always would over rate inverters by at least 50%. For the boat below I will eventually get a 5kW continuously rated inverter to run a 3kW kettle!!! I have about 600w of nominally 12v solar panels, charging 24, 2v batteries of 500AH. This will power my 27ft motor boat for about 4 to 5 hours on the Norfolk Broads. However If I'm going that far I'll wind up the 4kW generator, batteries are expensive so I don't want too many cycles taken out of them. Short trips the solar panels can look after..

Not all parts of the UK are that wet, I'm lucky enough to live somewhere near the east coast, where we only get about 26 inches of rain. Wood rot is still significant!!

I'm using Servos on the points indoors they cost about £1 each, waterproof servos appear to be about £6 for outdoors. With servos you don't need the spring, not that that affects me as all the points will be handmade Copperclad with power switching done by a switch attached to the servo. That DCC++ site is interesting, my previous plan had been to use a pc as the signal generator, with a current source fed from it. That circuit using an Arduino would be much more compact .

I've just been reviewing ballast glue threads on this site and elsewhere, I've also reviewed a few of the specifications of the various glues. I previously said I prefer latex glues indoors and now I'm thinking i agree with previous comments that SBR is the way to go. SBR which is a latex glue for outdoors. It is weatherproof except for not being light resistant. I'm thinking any under the ballast would be hidden from the sun and therefore that would not not be affected. SBR has the advantage also of not being hugely expensive it's about £18 for 5 ltr.

PVA sets really hard, as do most wood glues. It's one of the strange things people lay cork on the ply to reduce noise on indoor layouts and then they use PVA glue which sets rock hard, defeating the object. For in the shed I'm planning to use latex glues, for outdoors I'm thinking possibly, silicon sealant a thin layer with the ballast and track pushed in. There is a possibility of polyurethane glues, but it's known to foam if conditions aren't right.