TheQ

I get the servos from China, a pack of ten was ten pounds, but with the pound dropping like a stone they are today £11.95. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/10x-SG90-9G-Micro-Servo-Motor-RC-Robot-Arm-Helicopter-Airplane-Remote-Control-UK-/231896083976?hash=item35fe156e08:g:OqQAAOSwAvJW~hy4 You can import up to £15 worth per order before you get hit by import duties and tax duties. Remember, you have to drive the servo, you can't just use a switch, I'm going to use an "Arduino mega" computer which cost less than a tenner to drive 48 servos, but then you need a power supply and switches and various bits. There are alternative drivers peco do one, as do MERG, there are others.

Well I found enough dry weather on Saturday morning to replace an electricity cabinet that is bolted to a telegraph pole and supplies the mobile home and model railway shed. The old one must have dated from the days of the installation and 36 years of a wooden cabinet, outside in the rain, snow and sun meant it was severley rotting. So I bought a new fibreglass one and replaced it ( I used to change 3 phase contactors live as part of my job, so I do know what I'm doing!!) I found that the output lead, from the after meter fuse was burnt at the lead and loose in its socket it wouldn't have lasted much longer, an RCD was fitted after the fuse as part of the rewiring. After that it was time to go for a long walk to look for the site supervisor, our cat had been missing since I let her out last week one morning, A 2 mile walk between where we live and where she used to live, plus a few branch lines (roads) nothing. Got very wet in the rain. Sunday pottered around clearing up the railway shed ready for baseboard construction, sat down for a break , when I stood my back went click so that put paid to another supervisor hunt, as I painfully walked back down to the house. Monday a neighbour found the cat dumped, wrapped up in a childs cot duvet, it was on their back driveway, which has a caravan parked on it so they don't use that driveway. She must have been hit by a car. So she has been buried in our pet graveyard with 3 of our dogs. Today ( in 45minutes after work) off to B+Q to get some materials to build the first 6 baseboards and some cement to make some more paths for access to the railway shed / viaduct

As someone with 40 servos to attach, I must say I do like that very simple method of attachment for the servos

Welcome to the forum from the Coast of Norfolk, I've been down that way a few times when I used to live in Weston Super Mud or Ludgershall Wilts, particularly down to Charmouth and Lyme Regis. You may notice there have been a few insider jokes in the welcomes, I seem to remember an incident with a jigsaw as well, I think you'll have to do a lot lot of back reading of the threads to catch up!!! Any ideas of the future track plan? Do you have a region / period you are modelling? The Q

I've walked most of those routes during 83-88 When I was stationed at RAF Boulmer, propped up a lot of the pubs at least once in those days. It was nice stationed up there in good weather, not so much fun on patrol at 2 in the morning in three feet of snow checking the perimeter....

Thats a nice trip, I assume you won't be cycling down the A1, it's a lot nicer via Longhoughton or Rennington. Mind you don't get radiated if you Pass RAF Boulmer...

Our Model railway show went well, with about 500 visitors. Friday, we met at the Club at 11:00, loaded up the club layout, banners, stuff for the second-hand stall, electricity extension cables, a pile of trestle tables, into 3 estate cars, a trailer, a discovery and my long wheel base landrover. By 13:00 we were at the hall, we unloaded everything and dumped it in the hall, and then spent a couple of hours moving all the chairs, the stage, various bits and pieces out of the hall packing them into their cresh room and part of the entrance way. We then had to go the the churches portacabin and move a load of sofas and coffee tables, as we use the Portacabin as a dining hall for the exhibitors. Then the floor was marked out with masking tape for the various stands, I laid out the extension cables and haz taped them down. Meanwhile other club members were assembling the club layout and stalls. I with others went on to laying out the trestle tables for those who requested them. Due to more requests for them this year, we had to scrounge some more from the Bure valley railway. During this, the first three exhibitors and one of the traders turned up and were shown to their positions. 18:00 I and those who had brought stuff from the club house left, leaving a couple of members local to the show, to see to the exhibitors and lock up when finished. Saturday 06:00 leave for the hall, 06:45 park the landrover (with the other club members) in a Surgery car park (By arrangement) 300 yards from the hall, walk up to the hall in the drizzle. Start assisting layouts and traders into the hall at 07:00 their entry time. 08:00 hammer posts into the ground outside put up the banners and then go across the road to put up the A board. 08:30 Bacon butties all round as the Royal British Legion Ladies open up the kitchens, we supply a bacon butty to each exhibitor / trader as part of the show, plus unlimited free tea and coffee all day, plus lunch (this year baked potato, beans, sausages followed by custard and a choice of cake . I was last to be served this year other than the ladies themselves, we have 4 strictly timed sittings for dinner to allow rotation of staff on the stands. Being last I got an extra sausage!! 09:00 one group of four layouts report no electricity, others in the area confirm this, I walk back to the landrover in the heavy drizzle, to pick up my tool kit and box of fuses, then back to the hall in the heavy drizzle, to find out that they had plugged into the wrong socket and there was nothing wrong..... 09:15 I console my soggy self with spending £140 on second hand boxed mint wagons.. checking the web Sunday, I got some good bargains there. 10:00 the doors open, the show goes on, I'm wandering around checking everyone is happy on the electrickery side 11:00 my term on the DCC main club layout begins, by this time we had lost three of the fiddle yard roads and one track of the 3 on the scenic side of the layout. So the line I was controlling was reduced to running two trains following each other, so one was trundelling through the scenic side at a time. I just kept them from catching up with each other, although they did meet a couple of times while I was talking to visitors, we got a couple of prospective members just while I was on. 13:30 I go for dinner with sore feet.... 14:00 Sat having a coffee in the main hall, happy moment of the day, a young girl who appeared to have downs syndrome, grabbed my hand held it to her face, kissed my hand and then walked off... 14:15 time to go and actually look at all the other layouts and traders, bought a couple of books... 15:00 return for a final run of the layout 16:00 the door close, we had visitors right up to the end. Immediately go and remove the extension cables so all the exhibitors trollies have several less bumps to go over. Then go back to the club layout and dissassemble. After that go out into the main hall and with others start collecting our trestles by the door, get the trailer and push it to a vacant space by the door as an exhibitor has left, start loading the trestles. 16:30 wander back to the landrover collect it and park outside the hall load up the club layout and other remaining stuff in the the members cars. 17:00 by this time most of the club including me, are laying out the chairs and the stage for Sundays church service. Shortly after, those of us who had brought stuff over from the club, left back for the club, leaving the local members to finish up. 17:45 arrive at the club, unload, just dumping stuff on the clubhouse floor. 18:30 home, time for a bath, a pint and something to eat..

A repeat of this post to remind everyone of this show on Saturday, somewhere to go out of the forecast wind and rain. I couldn't post this tomorrow, as I'll be humping and dumping layouts for the show!! Broadland Model Railway Club's Aylsham Model Railway Exhibition at Jubilee Family Centre Aylsham North Norfolk. NR11 6JG 1st October 2016, Opening times Day 1: opening 10:00 closing 16:00 Prices: Adults £4.00 Concessions £3.00 Children £3.00 Disability access: yes , parking At the Jubilee centre Or park at the Bure Valley Railway at Wroxham and Hoveton Station, pay I think £16 and get a return trip on the BVR, the free bus to the show and free entry to the Show. broadlandmodelrailwayclub.co.uk Car parking: At the Bure Vally Railway, Aylsham, free historic bus to Exhibition and back. 2016 EXHIBITORS confirmed Upton Junction OO Summer Springs OO Tubular Belles OO Potterborne OO Broadsea OO There another layout in this spot But I haven't got the details.... East Dunnet O 16.5 Margaret's Mill O Gneiss Cider Gn15 Obertonberg N Rosebud City N Bentwater N Grandads Trains Tinplate Hornby Dublo 3-rail DEMONSTRATIONS Advent Modellers Norfolk Mardlers SOCIETIES Friends of the BVR Norfolk Railway Society TRADERS Bure Valley Railway Model Shop Friends BVR Books Bob Perman Books Joe Lock 2nd Hand Items Train Terrain Woonough Railway Memories Railway Photo Man BMRC 2nd Hand Stall In conjunction with the Bure Valley Railway. Refreshments courtesy of the Royal British Legion Aylsham.

Thomas, I've been working on plans, the construction of a shed, the clearing and rebuilding of part of the garden for nearly 10 years, so far not a metre of track is laid. There are however 300 metres of EM Gauge track stacked in boxes waiting £4.60, @ 5.30 euros, a metre. I'll be hand making my Points though, copperclad sleepers soldered to the rails, with cosmetic chairs on the railway inside the shed. All you can do is keep pushing on trying to do a bit of work when you can. I would of thought it fairly easy to build slab track yourself using copperclad board for the base, plus base plates then rails see here for parts: http://colincraig4mm.co.uk/#/plain-track/4532599926 Or using plastic card for the slab using plastic baseplates, glued on, see here for parts: http://www.finescale.org.uk/index.php?route=product/category&path=346_347_348 and rail from Peco In the UK Slab track is rare, even on modern railways, our HS1 high speed line is for the most part, still concrete sleepered track. As for railway of the grandfathers, my own Model railway is in part, a tribute to, my grandfathers. I would advise against making up permenant baseboards for the outside world with many pieces of wood particularly plywood, every joint is another possible leaking joint to get water or insects in to cause failure.

Two other castles with railways close by are Corfe castle https://satnavandcider.wordpress.com/2012/09/24/swanage-railway-train-to-the-past/ And Conwy castle for which some one has come a lot of research. http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/71151-north-welsh-coast-railway-welsh-dragon-rail/

The Poem is called Chaos Dr G. Nolst Trenité wrote it in 1922 As he was Dutchman it shows he had remarkable comprehension of English...

Dearest creature in creation, Study English pronunciation. I will teach you in my verse Sounds like corpse, corps, horse, and worse. I will keep you, Suzy, busy, Make your head with heat grow dizzy. Tear in eye, your dress will tear. So shall I! Oh hear my prayer. Just compare heart, beard, and heard, Dies and diet, lord and word, Sword and sward, retain and Britain. (Mind the latter, how it’s written.) Now I surely will not plague you With such words as plaque and ague. But be careful how you speak: Say break and steak, but bleak and streak; Cloven, oven, how and low, Script, receipt, show, poem, and toe. Hear me say, devoid of trickery, Daughter, laughter, and Terpsichore, Typhoid, measles, topsails, aisles, Exiles, similes, and reviles; Scholar, vicar, and cigar, Solar, mica, war and far; One, anemone, Balmoral, Kitchen, lichen, laundry, laurel; Gertrude, German, wind and mind, Scene, Melpomene, mankind. Billet does not rhyme with ballet, Bouquet, wallet, mallet, chalet. Blood and flood are not like food, Nor is mould like should and would. Viscous, viscount, load and broad, Toward, to forward, to reward. And your pronunciation’s OK When you correctly say croquet, Rounded, wounded, grieve and sieve, Friend and fiend, alive and live. Ivy, privy, famous; clamour And enamour rhyme with hammer. River, rival, tomb, bomb, comb, Doll and roll and some and home. Stranger does not rhyme with anger, Neither does devour with clangour. Souls but foul, haunt but aunt, Font, front, wont, want, grand, and grant, Shoes, goes, does. Now first say finger, And then singer, ginger, linger, Real, zeal, mauve, gauze, gouge and gauge, Marriage, foliage, mirage, and age. Query does not rhyme with very, Nor does fury sound like bury. Dost, lost, post and doth, cloth, loth. Job, nob, bosom, transom, oath. Though the differences seem little, We say actual but victual. Refer does not rhyme with deafer. Fe0ffer does, and zephyr, heifer. Mint, pint, senate and sedate; Dull, bull, and George ate late. Scenic, Arabic, Pacific, Science, conscience, scientific. Liberty, library, heave and heaven, Rachel, ache, moustache, eleven. We say hallowed, but allowed, People, leopard, towed, but vowed. Mark the differences, moreover, Between mover, cover, clover; Leeches, breeches, wise, precise, Chalice, but police and lice; Camel, constable, unstable, Principle, disciple, label. Petal, panel, and canal, Wait, surprise, plait, promise, pal. Worm and storm, chaise, chaos, chair, Senator, spectator, mayor. Tour, but our and succour, four. Gas, alas, and Arkansas. Sea, idea, Korea, area, Psalm, Maria, but malaria. Youth, south, southern, cleanse and clean. Doctrine, turpentine, marine. Compare alien with Italian, Dandelion and battalion. Sally with ally, yea, ye, Eye, I, ay, aye, whey, and key. Say aver, but ever, fever, Neither, leisure, skein, deceiver. Heron, granary, canary. Crevice and device and aerie. Face, but preface, not efface. Phlegm, phlegmatic, ass, glass, bass. Large, but target, gin, give, verging, Ought, out, joust and scour, scourging. Ear, but earn and wear and tear Do not rhyme with here but ere. Seven is right, but so is even, Hyphen, roughen, nephew Stephen, Monkey, donkey, Turk and jerk, Ask, grasp, wasp, and cork and work. Pronunciation (think of Psyche!) Is a paling stout and spikey? Won’t it make you lose your wits, Writing groats and saying grits? It’s a dark abyss or tunnel: Strewn with stones, stowed, solace, gunwale, Islington and Isle of Wight, Housewife, verdict and indict. Finally, which rhymes with enough, Though, through, plough, or dough, or cough? Hiccough has the sound of cup. My advice is to give up!!! English Pronunciation by G. Nolst Trenité

I'd rather not!! try..... yes since being diabetic and of course I'm getting older. Things take much longer to heal or go down, and the moment I went on metaformin it was like someone cut samsons' hair, i'm definately much weaker and my stamina has gone and left.

Heavy duty pruning a hedge to allow access to build a path for the model railway viaduct and around the railway shed this weekend, by heavy duty that means branches up to 5 inches diameter!! I had bought a couple of weeks ago, an ALDI battery electric hedge pruner that extends out to about 8 ft long. I'm impressed, it does the job very well. the only down side it uses a fair amount of oil in it's chain lubrication system, it uses 3/4 of it's built in oil container per battery charge (100ml?) luckily i have a gallon of the appropriate oil for use with my petrol chainsaw. The battery charger is a quick 1 hour one, so that if you have to spend time dragging branches down the garden, as I do, it lasts longer cutting than charging! Disadvantage of pruning bushes, things come out to bite you. It feels like I have half an egg on the top of my head due to one bite. My little finger is swollen due to a bite or sting through a pair of those cloth dipped in rubber gloves The back of my knee has been bitten, trousers tucked into rigger boots, overalls on top of that, over the boots and the rest of me and it still got through!! and finally my left shoulder got bitten though overalls and a T shirt!!!

Sounds like you had a fried egg sandwich not an egg sandwich (chopped egg and mayo) As to house prices if I had bought a house in 1980 near where I live now ( coastal Norfolk ) they were about £14,000 for a small 2up 2down. I eventually bought this our second home for ,£115,000 in 1999 (3 bed room detached with 1.5 acres of garden) It's now worth around £300,000. I take it your employer is the local council? Otherwise i can't quite work out what your employer would have to do with building control. I assume your planning laws mean you need permission for any buildings? In the UK you build up to 30 square meters floor area, 3 meters high flat roof or 4 meters pitched roof. With out permission providing you are are not in a National park or conservation area ( there are other limitations but too complicated for here)

I'd agree 100% with your beliefs on show layouts, it's exactly my experience on the last few shows I've been to. I also demonstrate my clubs layouts, one is an 8ft harbour shunting puzzle ( with 4ft fiddle yard), the other is a 12ft by 12ft coastal roundy roundy, with just 2 points on display and no station. I've also demonstrated and watched layouts of a very high standard. But spending 8 hours, coupling and uncoupling 3 links is a huge nightmare and I found real turn off watching with the hand of God reaching over all the time. The running of the shunting puzzle is a real strain if you try to keep something moving all the time, which I feel is necessary. But just running trains past while good for the small children has less interest for the adults. I'm currently planning an exhibition layout, this will use at least one section of my shed layout with,( which will normally lead out to the garden). So with your and my observations in mind, my layout will be an 8 by 12 roundy roundy, if children are around or I'm having a cup of tea, I'll run the through trains. at other times I'll bring in the local passenger stopper or local freight into a station and use the automatic couplers.

Over the years I've watched many war films and read many books on the subject, I've just watched "The Railway Man" a book I've read in the past. The biography of Eric Lomax. It's only as you get older you realise the real meaning of the bravery of these men that fought in the far east and the consequences it brought over many years, some of these men I must have met. But in the past, I didn't recognise what they did. So many years ago, when my father as a volunteer British legion pensions officer was sorting out what little they were entitled to, and getting them specialist treatment for various tropical diseases for which they never had been treated for in the previous 40 years. I wish I could have helped...

The mornings are getting darker, so the season of misaligned headlights is upon us. Just why do people think it's fine to over take me through a small unlit village in the dark when I'm doing the speed limit, and then when I come out onto an open straight road I find the same car doing 10-15 miles an hour below the limit?

I never thought i'd fancy Queen Victoria, but now Clara Oswald had taken over.......

If anyone is in the Norfolk area here's the details of our Alysham show in just 5 weeks time. Broadland Model Railway Club's Aylsham Model Railway Exhibition at Jubilee Family Centre Aylsham North Norfolk. NR11 6JG 1st October 2016, Opening times Day 1: opening 10:00 closing 16:00 Prices: Adults £4.00 Concessions £3.00 Children £3.00 Disability access: yes , parking At the Jubilee centre broadlandmodelrailwayclub.co.uk Car parking: At the Bure Vally Railway, Aylsham, free historic bus to Exhibition and back. 2016 EXHIBITORS confirmed so far are: Upton Junction OO Summer Springs OO Tubular Belles OO Potterborne OO Broadsea OO East Dunnet O 16.5 Margaret's Mill O Gneiss Cider Gn15 Obertonberg N Rosebud City N Bentwater N Grandads Trains Tinplate Hornby Dublo 3-rail DEMONSTRATIONS Advent Modellers Norfolk Mardlers More will be added as confirmation is received, so keep visiting. SOCIETIES Friends of the BVR Norfolk Railway Society TRADERS Bure Valley Railway Model Shop Friends BVR Books Bob Perman Books Joe Lock 2nd Hand Items Train Terrain Woonough Railway Memories Railway Photo Man BMRC 2nd Hand Stall In conjunction with the Bure Valley Railway. Get a return trip from Wroxham and Hoveton Station on the BVR, get free entry to the show. Refreshments courtesy of the Royal British Legion Aylsham.

Ive been very busy for a few weeks so time for some updates, First Horning Sailing Club regatta week. See this link 'cos I'm not typing it all in again. See my posts from 31 July 2016 about what happened http://forum.norfolkbroadsnetwork.com/topic/10947-horning-regatta-2016/?page=2. Then I had the 6th of August off, Sunday 7th of August, Club MRC open day we had to Hire Stalham town hall as our club building was not suitable, it was very successful with 8 prospective new members and we made more than enough to cover our costs. pictures to follow. 8th August back to work, lots to do as there is no one to cover my work.... 13th August laid 1 ton of Concrete 14th August, the farmer has cut the corn in his field, time for some heavy duty pruning, I'm slowly demolishing some sycamore trees, this time several branches of up to 1 ft diameter were cut off and chopped up to be able to move them. Back to work I need the rest.

Having spent hours at a MRC show assisting on a layout with 3 link or screw link couplings http://www.scalelink.co.uk/acatalog/WTLP5.jpg , they are definately not coming anywhere near my railway except in fixed rake trains. After a lot of research, I've gone for Dingham couplings, http://www.dingham.co.uk/ , which can be magnetically / electromagnetically uncoupled. Outside there will be just a few strategially place permanent magnets, Luckily my garden railway will lead into the shed meaning no packing away, just park up in a fiddle yard. Heres an Idea, could you have a siding leading to a place where you could use cassettes to remove stock? it would be a lot quicker... http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/data/2015/IMG_4267.JPG how to arrange connections http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3647/3606966844_806aabb42b.jpg

Being slight involved in fine scale work, I was thinking of Wire hand rails instead of molded, the same for various tubes and wires on the ends and I'm not sure if the corridor connectors were black or brown.

Yes it's a wonderful part of the country which is why I moved here. My other main interest is sailing so the Norfolk broads are really good. If you come again, there is the Bure Valley Railway near the Wroxham and Hoveton Station, a narrow gauge line which goes as far as Aylsham. There is Model world, a display of model railways also near the station, not that fantatic but for a one off visit OK. There is also Barton house Railway in Wroxham, a 7 inch line opened for charity, but you'd have to be around at the right time as it's not open that often. All the above have websites. I'd recommend a Broads boat holiday but they are not cheap...best time would be May or June Before the Kids go on holiday so it's cheaper and the weather is just as good. I noticed from you're early comments on age that you are unlikely to have school age children. The above railways are 5 minutes walk from the river and Barton house has it's own moorings. I'm told the fishing is good, so that would limit it to the last 2 weeks in June or after if you're interested in fishing. Should you decide to go for a broads holiday on or off the river give us a shout on here for any Advice you want.

Well we've got several pounds of peas in the freezer now SWMBO went and did a little Gleaning after the farm machinery finished. this week Friday, Dug up about 4 cubic yards of soil and filled the last remaining hole in the raised patio section, About half way through got so hot and sweaty, I broke out the cider from the fridge in the railway shed it was only about 09:30!! Then went onto making Soilcrete and covered some of the previously filled areas. The routine for soilcrete: Put required amount of water into mixer which then splashed around clearing previous loose concrete mix so it doesn't set round the edges. Remove two spade widths of turf, dig 1 depths by 2 width of soil put in Wheelbarrow. Chop up soil in wheel barrow and remove roots. Put two spade loads of soil into mixer. Sit and drink cider while waiting for soil to disolve. Chuck in 3/4 bag of sand Drink cider while waiting for mix. Chuck in a full shovelful of cement. Drink Cider while waiting for mix. Add more water if required, ( note a runny mix as this is just filler and to soak into the top level of soil as well to help solidify it.) it then prevents the water being drawn from the real concrete mix later. Drink cider while waiting for mix. Fill bucket with soilcrete from mixer. Pour first bucket of soilcrete into patio area and roughly level. Pour remaing soilcrete into bucket Pour second bucket of soil crete into patio area and roughly level. Back to begining. Saturday Go on to concreting a previously (several days ago) soilcreted area Same routine as above but no soil and more sand. leveling is a bit more accurate.. Later on clear out the back of the landrover, install mattress ready for next Saturdays Start of Regatta week when the Landrover will be my bedrooom for the week. Sunday Tidy up inspect the the previous couple of days work, with a very stiff back. move 4 of the temporary blocks that were holding up one end of the raised Patio. This provides another 6ft by 10 ft area for soil removed from the future viaduct area. dig a trench and fit two new foundation block to the end of the raised patio wall. Place two standard breeze block on top to be cemented in later. Have a can of John Smiths, Stack up the last couple of days removed turves against area that temporary blocks were removed from, dig up a couple of barrow loads of soil tip them up against the stacked turves. Go back to house for a wash and brush up. Dragged out to Car boot ( "THE LATE ONE") starts at 11:00 only ten minutes from the house.. Amazing .... normally there is no model railway stuff at all, this time there were 5 different stall holders with Model railway stuff. Got to one, to find a trader buying up all the locos on the layout ( mint boxed) 15 of them for........£5 each. Wagons £3, coaches £5, Dapol container wagons mint boxed £5, hornby virgin coaches £5. Luckily I got there before many but unluckily I didn't have much money with me. So I started collecting wagons (pre 1940's) (some boxed some not), ran out of hands, so the stall holder gave me a tesco shopping bag which I filled. when it was full I handed it to him for a price and he said £15!!! By this time all the model railway people were there and the majority of stuff was in peoples hands... so There wasn't anything left for me to have another go.. Got home and laid all the wagons out.... less than £1 a wagon. Had an Ice cream, went out to the local village fete, which is not as good as it was, as they have built a childrens play area on the grounds, leaving less space for stands. Got laden with plants by SWMBO. Had coffee, scones cream and Jam, very good... Bought a large size Don Breckon print (Summer Service) , Mint framed, for £10, checked ebay when I got back £65!!! As a joke SWMBO said what was the value of a Spitfire painting She bought off a bloke who painted it while they were both in the RAF.. So I googled his name and found he has his own web site http://wallond.com/ , and that he has built himself TWO FULL SIZE SPITFIRE Models!!! http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w184/shackletonmr3/P8210174.jpg http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i154/Eurofighter63/Misc/DSCF0058.jpg Ummm I think we are going to have to get the painting seperately insured if he can now afford to do that!!!!