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Mick's Drivel


mick
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I thought it might be a good idea to introduce a new category where each member can, if they wish, start their own thread in which they can talk about anything whatsoever. There are many occasions when I feel I have something to say but I find that the subject doesn't seem to fit in with current discussions and doesn't merit a thread of its own. This is hopefully where this category can help - it's here for each of us to talk about our daily events without fear of hijacking another members thread.

So, now that I'm just about settled in my new home, my thoughts can safely return to model railways and the drivel that doesn't fit in elsewhere I can share here.

I'm hoping to be able to get the camera out one day to capture some photos of the BZA wagons and my new Bachmann TPO vehicles. In addition, as mentioned elsewhere I have ordered the NRM Flying Scotsman in lined LNER green livery. It's hard to believe that up to now my collection has never included Flying Scotsman. The NRM version is expensive but all for a good cause - which is how I feel able to justify the purchase.

On the subject of the LNER I'm looking forward to the Hornby Gresley suburban ( or non-vestibule) coaches which are expected to be available soon. I've actually pre-ordered a short rake in LNER teak livery so I might need to look for a suitable loco to place at the head of the train.

When I was out in the garden sorting out one of the sheds yesterday I came across the pile of track I had lifted from the Selby layout. I hadn't realised there was so much of it. I thought about taking a photo as the beginning of Worsley Dale but hopefully it won't be too long before the majority of it is back in use again.

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Spent most of the day clearing out the garage and making several trips to the recycling plant. Along with the items of our own that we've brought with us from Selby we now seem to have inherited 2 or 3 of everything. The garage contains 3 hose pipes on reels, 2 strimmers, 3 lawnmowers (one petrol engined), 2 hedge trimmers, 2 electric chainsaws, 2 wheelbarrows, 3 B&W workmates etc, etc.. to name just a few. I've had to dispose of many older handtools and other outdated equipment that I would never have made any use of but at least we're beginning to see some empty space.

Funnily enough the lawn isn't really big enough to justify the use of a petrol driven mower and we don't have any trees that require lopping or hedges that require trimming. As we are also on a water meter here, I can't see any immediate requirement for 3 hose pipes but I guess we'll hang onto them all just in case!

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I was wondering about this issue of double everything, when you told us you were moving into Pam's mother's house. I recall when my grandfather died our family inherited everything. Suddenly our house was full of stuff. I think my dad basically shoved everything in the garage where it sat for years because it was too much to sort through; we had also inherited his dads garage junk, imagine that mess.

Maybe you can have a yard sale where you can earn some pocket change for trains. Sell everything cheap so it actually goes, but make a little sum for a new loco or something.

For the last few years I've had room mates to help me cover the bills. When they moved out they would say, " oh you can have my ___fill the blank___, i'm not going to need it, you should be glad for the gift." Well, I have an issue with clutter anyway. I sort of get emotionally attached to inanimate objects. My house was over run with crap and I'm still trying to get rid of stuff. Now my daughters moved back in and she brought her double stuff like kitchen things. i once again have too much stuff. I've been slowly eliminating duplicates, but it's hard work.

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Our parents were from an era where nothing was ever discarded. No matter what it was it would be put safely away as it 'will come in useful one day'. I'm talking about things such as plastic bags, paper sacks, and old towels etc, up to pans, coffee tables and other small items of furniture and utensils. The attic itself contained five pressure cookers! One of the garden sheds contained several boxes of used plastic carrier bags, all neatly folded.

We couldn't be bothered with the hassle of holding a sale, instead the useful stuff was donated to a local charity shop and funnily enough we received a letter this morning thanking us for our support and notifying us of the amount our donations had raised to date. I could have purchased several Hornby A4s but at least we feel it's all gone to a good cause.

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I think charity is a good place to put it. For myself I sort of feel responsible for things and don't want to see perfectly good things end up in the garbage dump. I tend to hoard things out of this strange feeling that things are not just things but should be cared for. I got over it by ebaying a bunch of it. It got me through tough times, so there is that aspect of having things that are worth something when you need to sell them.

Ok just reread your reply... five pressure cookers?!**$@??? Gadzoiks

At the same time I go to charity stores, we call em' thrift stores here, when I need something. There are many things that were made 50 years ago that are more useful and lasting than the cheap plastic crap we find in stores today; you can also find the old stuff cheap! I'm actually looking at my stapler sitting by my computer monitor, it's a classy old blue metal Swingline. No cheap plastic and I can ward off intruders with it, it's that heavy.

I do think it's good you helped the charity. We are part of something greater than ourselves.

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It's good to be settled again and able to make some plans for the future although already the number of things I would like to acquire are beginning to mount up. The plywood for the base of the new layout has been mentioned already, as have the BZA wagons and NRM Flying Scotsman loco but now, thanks to IanR, there's a number of Really Useful Boxes and Peco Loco Lifts required if I'm to avoid some of the drawbacks with the previous layout.

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Would you believe that I even brought the contents of my compost bins to the new home :) After the time I had spent turning it all over to aerate it and aid the process of decomposition I really didn't care to leave it all behind, so with the aid of some strong bags inserted into empty plastic dustbins I shovelled in the rotting vegetable peelings and garden waste - worms and all. Today I've re-assembled the compost bins and emptied the contents back in, although even having had the bags sealed at the top there doesn't appear to be as many worms now as there was originally. Not sure where they've all gone.

My Flying Scotsman arrived today and pretty fine she looks too - just as I remember her. Hopefully some photos soon.

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I must be feeling content. There was a time when I would stay up late messing around on the computer until the small hours and then it would be gone midday before I eventually climbed out of bed. The new house has a gravity feed coal fired boiler and now I like to be up nice and early shovelling coal and taking out the ashes.

I've just been looking on the Hattons' website (honestly, there's no intentional advertising going on - just a satisfied customer) and there's a right old glut of new products being added to the shelves. I wasn't aware until a few days ago that the new 3F and Derby Lightweight DMUs were near completion and yet there they are - or at least some versions of them are now on sale.

Although there's not yet any mention on Hattons website regarding the new LMS twins, the Hattons Facebook page contains a nice set of images of 10000 in LMS Black livery. I'm sure we'll be getting some more information very soon.

Right, on with the day!

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Mick,

Just read your bit about Hattons, (again no advert intended) although after the revelation of my first purchase with them I had to send them a reply to say how over joyed I was with the service. (Living here in the Canaries we tend to accept the laid back "do it tomorrow" syndrome. Which leads me onto what I was going to mention.

Monday/Tuesday I put in an order to them, (posted to my son in England) but one item I wanted had just been sold out...so, went for another choice.

Now, I have received an email from them telling me that the class 47, two tone green loco(that I wanted) is in. Curses!

Although my son travels out here on Sunday, I don't think I could get an extra loco sent to him without annoying the Household Authorities... Or could I?

Rossi

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Rossi said:

...Now, I have received an email from them telling me that the class 47, two tone green loco(that I wanted) is in. Curses!

Although my son travels out here on Sunday, I don't think I could get an extra loco sent to him without annoying the Household Authorities... Or could I?

I'm sure you could - but did you?

I've mentioned in my Worsley Dale thread that I've been spending some time in the garden while the weather's been favourable. Thankfully, after a few more trips to the recycling plant, the garden is now more or less clear of rubbish. At the rear of the plastic shed which sits in the bottom corner of the garden was a large accumulation of stored timber which sadly had seen better days. I've retained a few better pieces 'just in case' but there was little point in holding on to any more. With all that timber cleared away there's a decent empty space around the back of the shed which may come in useful when routing the new garden railway.

The main lawn has always been kept neat and well cut but it suffers with discarded worm casts that spoil it's appearance, especially when walked on. As the garage contained 2 electric lawn rakes I decided to try one out yesterday, having never used one before. I was amazed at just how much grass and other vegetation it collected and after several passes the lawn looked much better. I finished off by giving it a good dressing of lawn sand and moss killer, as recommended, in order to deter the worms from coming to the surface. Today, compared to a small section of lawn on the opposite side of the path that I have yet to do anything with, it is much improved. There have been no new worm casts overnight so I'll see how it goes.

I've thinned out a lot of plants from the borders, many of which had become entwined with each other. Unfortunately I have limited knowledge of garden plants and I have a difficult time trying to determine which are garden plants and which are weeds, especially so as many of them have now died right down.

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Well it wouldn't be Mick's Daily Drivel without a bit of drivel would it?

It's been one of those days where very little seems to have been done - but it is Sunday so that's my lame excuse. Spent the morning with family and later, by the time we'd had lunch in the afternoon, it was just about dark so I've done nothing outside.

I've been looking on YouTube at the various methods of edging lawns and borders as some of them would seem to offer interesting opportunities to the garden railway constructor. I'm looking for a way to construct a nice solid base but one that isn't too overwhelming. I don't want it to end up of similar magnitude to the breeze block wall I had previously. The edging methods allow generous curves to be produced and are similar to the 'Snap-it' garden edging system described in a previous Track Base thread. If only I could decide exactly what I want!

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Actually went to the local garden centre today. It's within walking distance of home but we took the car as I wanted to pick up some more lawn sand. It might have appeared to the sales staff as if we'd had some premonition of severe weather on the way as we also picked up some bags of rock salt and 2 pairs of 'Snow & Ice Grippers' that you attach to the bottom of your shoes! Well.., everytime I go shopping especially for salt they've sold out and we need something to help us stay on our feet during the icy weather when we take the dog out for his daily walks. Took the opportunity while we were at the garden centre to have a closer look at some of the different types of lawn edgings available whch I think might come in useful for the area where my proposed railway will be at ground level. I'm not entirtely sure just how useful they might be but it's one of those items which just looks like it offers possibilities - hmmm.

On the model railway front I was really pleased to see the engineering samples of Bachmann's forthcoming Blue Pullman. It sounds like they have put a lot of resources into making it something really special and although the complete set isn't cheap at a little under £300 :o it does look like it'll be the highlight of the coming year. I've had a pre-order in ever since Bachmann announced they were to make it available and although I did consider cancelling it a few months ago it's now firmly back at the top of my list. I suppose when you see that some online retailers are advertising a single R4172D LNER Gresley 61ft 6in 3rd class corridor coach at almost £55 :shock: then a six-car set (which includes 2 power cars) for an average cost of just under £50 per individual vehicle isn't too unreasonable these days.

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First off, if you are writing a bunch of drivel can you then be considered to be driveling. hmmm interesting verb.

Anymore everything is so seasonal, good idea to stock up and be ready for it.

I saw the pictures you posted of the blue pullman. Very impressive looking models. I do think that the cost of trains has gone up considerably in the past 5 years. Not everyone is going to get one, yet if it's the model you want that isn't unreasonable. Plus there is the added bonus that not everyone will have one. :)

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traingeekboy said:

First off, if you are writing a bunch of drivel can you then be considered to be driveling. hmmm interesting verb...

It was intended that drivel would refer to a few worthless bits of information but as drivel appears to be synonymous with the act of drivelling it sounds more like I should be keeping a tissue up my sleeve! Better to stick with the worthless info!

Seeing the Bachmann model of the Blue Pullman coming to fruition I have to wonder how those at Hornby feel about it. The old Triang model of the Blue Pullman has been around for years and for as long as I can remember one of the main topics of conversation as each year end approached was whether Hornby would oblige and bring out a new or upgraded model of the Blue Pullman. It seemed the concensus of opinion at Hornby was that there would be insufficient demand. I've always considered the BP to be Hornby's 'baby' but it seems to me like they've had it taken from their grasp - I wonder what's going on?

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mick said:

Seeing the Bachmann model of the Blue Pullman coming to fruition I have to wonder how those at Hornby feel about it. The old Triang model of the Blue Pullman has been around for years and for as long as I can remember one of the main topics of conversation as each year end approached was whether Hornby would oblige and bring out a new or upgraded model of the Blue Pullman. It seemed the concensus of opinion at Hornby was that there would be insufficient demand. I've always considered the BP to be Hornby's 'baby' but it seems to me like they've had it taken from their grasp - I wonder what's going on?

Mick when the Bachmann model of the Blue Pullman does appear it will be a thoroughly updated model. The were appealing to modellers for the colour of the seats and wanting to know if the seats were all one colour or different colours in first and second.

Hornby stated they didn't want to do a new Blue Pullman as it would mean a whole set of new toolings and they thought that there was no market for a new Blue Pullman even though modellers have been requesting one for years as when the Blue Pullman was released by Triang the market was (and still is) swamped with power cars and very few trailer cars. I hope Bachmann will release trailer cars on their own so we can have an 8 car Pullman as well.

Perhaps Dapol should have done the Blue Pullman as it was originally a Kit Master product and they took over the majority of the Kit Master range.

Roy.

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cleanerg6e said:

...Mick when the Bachmann model of the Blue Pullman does appear it will be a thoroughly updated model...

Absolutely brand spanking new in fact - and it's looking amazing!

I'm sure that if the Midland Pullman is deemed a success that Bachmann will in time elect to release a Western Region version too. I'm not sure of the differences between the two sets other than the fact that the WR comprised eight cars as opposed to the Midland's six but I suspect it's not as simple as just adding an additional 2 cars.

I can't help thinking that Hornby have missed an opportunity with this one but wouldn't be surprised to discover they were planning on releasing a budget 'Railroad' version although that would seem unlikely.

I'm pleased that it's Bachmann who have taken this on. It deserves doing well and Bachmann seem fully committed to doing things right.

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Why is it that when you find you've got lots of time to do something you don't get anything done? I've had a completely free day today but I've done nothing and I feel bad about it. I became distracted with something of minor importance and by the time I realised...well, the time had all but gone.

Tomorrow is a busy day so I'm not expecting making any progress with anything in the garden. I'm looking to install some additional lighting outdoors as added security but also keen to ensure that running costs are kept to a minimum whilst offering sufficient illumination to provide safe access as and when required. It's a task at the top of my list but shopping for suitable lights is a nightmare!

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