Mick's Drivel

[mick]

There's supposed to be a break in the weather today with rain and strong winds forecast for the afternoon so that will signal an end to any progress I've been making of late, at least until things settle down again. I was hoping that my decking might arrive this week but I've been informed that some bits are temporarily out of stock and so it's looking like next week now before I'll be able to make a start on that. In the meantime I've been gradually removing turf from the lawn in the proposed location for my new pond so that I can get at the topsoil for use elsewhere in the garden. It's a good job I don't need a lot of it because there's barely a spade's depth of decent soil before I'm hitting rock and clay. Goodness knows what kind of job I'm going to have digging down through the remainder, however, I have already decided that the new pond will be partly in ground and partly raised above so I only need to be able to go down at least a couple of feet more to give me a minimum of 4 feet actual pond depth. I know that some additional depth would be better because a larger volume of water makes it easier to maintain a more stable temperature but it's also more expensive to heat in winter should I decide to go there. I think a minimum of 4 feet depth along with insulation during the winter and shading during the summer should keep things more or less in check.

Inside the greenhouse things are coming along nicely now. Some of the potatoes are still inside whilst others have had to be moved outdoors to give me some room. I'm conscious of the fact that last year the earlier plantings were caught by the frost and never flowered which may be the reason for those yields being much lower than with the later sets. This year I'm keeping an eye on the nighttime temps just in case and if there's any chance of a nip in the air then they can be moved back into the greenhouse for the night. I've got a dozen or so nice tomato plants that have now picked up after being transplanted from seedtrays into pots and I'll select the best from those to grow on in the greenhouse over summer. I've also got a number of pepper plants, something I've never grown before, so I'll have to see how they get on as I'm unsure how big they grow or anything. Most success has been with my bean plants which are growing very nicely and are about ready for being planted in the ground once the danger of frost has passed.

[mick]

Just a brief note to let everyone know that I'm still knocking around. I've popped in to the forum on occasions and discovered new members waiting for their first posts approving so I apologise for any delays there. There looks to be lots of new posts for me to catch up with and I'll be doing that over the coming days but I've still got a lot of work to finish off before I can return to my layout.

I've got so fed up with the garden needing finishing off and the fact that after a fall of rain it becomes almost inaccessible, that I've finally decided to do something about it and try to get everything done at once while the weather is on our side. Of most importance is our wish for a decked area on the patio and I'm pleased to say that I'm now well on the way to getting that completed. However, and as I've mentioned before, I also have a desire for a larger pond and as the only access onto the garden is via the patio I didn't want to be carrying tons of spoil over the new decking so I've dug out the new pond and finally got rid of all the soil and stones. I've filled 3 skips worth - 18 tons in total. If I can get a breather I'll add some photos later.

[grockle]

Should have got Griff to help you digging that hole, he's the expert on here.

Ian

[cleanerg6e]

You wrote of a two level pond, well how about a small waterfall. You need not have a Niagara just a small one which nature can provide the flow or a small submersible pump to pump the water back to the higher pond so that you and the missus can be soothed by it's gentle sounds whilst wrestling with each other (the axe) or another garden problem.

Roy.

[mick]

You will have noticed that I've not been around a great deal recently. I made some good progress with my pond build during the summer but haven't made any progress whatsoever with my garden railway, 'Worsley Dale'. Well, as I've mentioned in another post, this hasn't been a very good year for us, at least not since those balmy early summer months.

In June this year my nephew passed away. He was only 26 years old and had everything to live for. It was a terrific shock for me and Pam and so we couldn't have imagined how my brother and his wife must have felt. How do you ever come to terms with something like that? We returned home on the day of my nephew's funeral and Pam's son had spent the day at our house looking after our little dog while we were out. Pam remarked to her son how tragic the whole thing had been and how she couldn't ever imagine going through anything like that. One month ago, on 1st November, we were informed that one of our closest friends, an elderly gentleman, had died that morning. The following day, 2nd November, Pam's son died. He was her only child and was just 25 years of age.

Over the coming weeks I'll talk a bit more about Pam and her son because there are stories and photos that may be of interest. Her son was also an enthusiastic railway modeller although fast cars and young ladies had taken priority as they do at that age. Pam's late husband was an ex-railway employee and there's a story or two there as well.

As everyone says when they phone, "we don't know what to say" and so I don't expect anyone to say anything. I just wanted everyone to know why I've not been around. We've got through the worst and have to now focus on the future. There are some nice things to look forward to and I've got some nice/interesting things to share with you over the coming weeks so remember to enjoy what you've got while you can and make every day count.

[mick]

After a 6 month period that left me wondering what the point was in collecting or indeed doing anything, I'm pleased to say that I'm now getting up on a morning and looking forward to coming on the forum to see if anyone's posted any progress reports. I know it's not the time of year to expect that a lot's been going on outdoors but I'm slowly regaining my enthusiasm and I'd like to be able to get on with my own layout again. I've previously spoken about building an indoor layout of some sort that can be used when the weather's not favourable outdoors and that's going to be something I will certainly consider now. After sorting through Rob's model railway collection and finding that some of his treasured loco's had almost disintegrated in their boxes I'm now more determined than ever to do something with my own collection rather than having them stored in their boxes doing nothing. The ones I believe won't get used will be offered for sale in the hope that the buyer will make use of them.

I've got a number of jobs to complete around the home before I can realistically start with a model railway indoors but this winter I am indeed going to make a start.

Returning to the earlier posts surrounding the problems I've found with some Heljan class 47 loco's, Iain's (ba14eagle) mention of his concerns for the Hornby class 31 prompted me to check on my 2 Heljan class 58 locos and my lone Hornby class 31. All three appear to be okay. However, whilst having the Hornby class 31 out of the box I thought it might be a good idea to take a quick photo of it alongside another of my recent acquisitions - a Heljan class 31.

The Heljan class 31 is an O gauge model and compared to the smaller Hornby model it is a real handful. The Hornby class 31 is a factory fitted sound example.

[mick]

I've added a few photographs to my Prototype Images Gallery that I've come across while we've been sorting things out at home. They're photos taken by Pam's son Rob during visits to preserved railway locations and I'm sure they'll be of interest to someone. I've also found a number of photo albums containing prints of BR blue locos that were taken by Rob's dad Andy. Unfortunately some of the images are fading and they'll all need scanning before I can post them here, but although they are undated there are some brief details included regarding the locations etc.

[mick]

It's Xmas Eve but it's a very different Xmas for us this year. I know we're not going to be the only family who are missing someone dear at this time because my brother is in the same situation as we find ourselves in and it will be his family's first Xmas without his youngest son. There'll be countless others in similar situations who we know nothing about.

Xmas day for us is going to be a few hours out with a picnic but we haven't yet decided where we are going. It just has to be something different this year.

Here's wishing every member of the forum, and your respective families, a safe and very Merry Christmas and I look forward to sharing your news, ideas and progress during the coming New Year. Best wishes to you all.

[traingeekboy]

Well Mick, thank you for the christmas wishes. The same goes out to you.

This is a difficult season for me as well. It was my mothers favorite holiday and she passed on the 13 of december 10 years ago. Despite it being ten years I still suffer from the loss. But I am determined to honor her joy at this time of year, and I am going to have some fun no matter what!

I think we need to really ramp it up this year on our layouts. I've had an off year. Believe it or not even more plumbing nightmares. ha ha Had to tear out the bathroom floor to get at the sewer line. And then the laundry room water pipes froze and cracked during last months big freeze. All good now though.

Anyway, It's morning still here, but all of you must be enjoying a nice dinner with family soon. I should be sipping scotch and leaning back from the table later on, while all of you are tucked in sleeping.

Merry Christmas MICK!

[mick]

Cheers Griff. Seems like you've added your own little brand of Xmas cheer to everyone's threads. Nice touch and most welcomed.

Have a Happy/Merry Christmas yourself and look forward to seeing you around next year.

[traingeekboy]

You know Mick, I just really have enjoyed all the effort people put into sharing their layouts; especially considering how unique everyone's style is. Love the detail of some and also love the simplicity of others.

I think missed a couple layouts, and some went dormant ages ago sadly. I noticed george went silent after he realized his grades were too steep for his older locos. I'm going to have to teach him about cheater locos hidden under baggage coaches as that should fix the problem without having to redo the layout.

After much pondering I have a fix for the under ground pipe that is still unburied due to the current fix being so temporary. I am excited to get out there on a warmer day and get it done so I can relink my ovals for more running. Good thing I found some more plywood too. he he he

So yeah, really appreciate all my long distance friends on here; who share that special obsession mixed with gardening.

[roddy]

traingeekboy said:

I noticed george went silent after he realized his grades were too steep for his older locos. I'm going to have to teach him about cheater locos hidden under baggage coaches as that should fix the problem without having to redo the layout.

Re George. As has been mentioned before, we share a love of our Mazda MX5 sportscars. I haven't heard from him for quite a while (except for a Christmas card) I know that he retired earlier in the year and is probably doing what we all do on finishing work, and that is catching up with all the jobs around the house that have been ignored for too long. I don't think that he has had a lot of time for railway work this year, or even the car. I am as much to blame as George I'm afraid, as depite there being only something like 15 miles between us, I haven't steered my car in his direction. Makes me feel quite guilty, but I haven't felt up to much this year myself. I had a car weekend back in October when I brimmed the tank. Did 250 or so miles that weekend, and still haven't put more petrol in it. That shows how much I have been out. Must try harder next year.

[traingeekboy]

Roddy, I realized I could pester him directly. So he should have an email shortly. he he he

But I know about that feeling too distracted to get out and play with the trains. I suffer horrible time management issues. I need to get back to where I was when I started. I would grab every spare moment and run out to tinker on the railway. I got a ton of stuff done in tiny increments of half hour here and and hour there. A railway is not built in one sitting by any means.

Some railway discussions have gone very quiet. I don't believe we've gotten any updates on the balcony patio layout in some time and it was looking so promising too.

[mick]

Well Christmas has been and gone for another year but at least I feel I've got back into the swing a little bit. I've been spending a lot of time looking at indoor layouts featured on other online resources and wishing I could just create something similar. It's going to be a few months yet before I can make any progress outdoors so perhaps I do need to think about building something I can use indoors. I've enjoyed reading how people have built their own little 4mm scale world and created a number of scenes with named characters that bring it all to life. It's something I would like to do too. I've got a lengthy attic space that I could use once the space was properly sorted out but there's no reason why I can't make a start right away and move things up there once it's completed. I can feel a small layout coming on.....

[traingeekboy]

Mick, with such a nice outdoor layout for running long trains, you might consider a shunting layout. Of course WE call it switching.

I still have all my little N scale American profile trains. Not to mention the boxes full of scenics and built up structures. And for years now I keep saying I'm going to build one of these time savers in N scale.

http://www.wymann.info/ShuntingPuzzles/Timesaver/timesaver-rules.html

http://forum.atlasrr.com/forum/data/Bill%20Hebb/200912518377_TimeSaver%20cropped.jpg

Not sure what you're planning. For myself I need something to fiddle with that's small and portable.

[mick]

Happy New Year to everyone!

traingeekboy said:

...Not sure what you're planning...

Me neither just yet Griff. I would like my own 'little world' something that I can build upon over the coming years. Not sure of the size but I'm not looking for a layout with lots of track and pointwork - although a large fiddle yard area would be nice. We're considering having some work done on our attic that will give us some extra storage space and hopefully a good area for me to work in. We're still sorting through things at the other house but I've come across a large quantity of railway books, many of them of local railways, and so I'll be looking through them for some ideas and inspiration. I've spent hours reading about various layouts online and I get really taken in by those which have evolved over the years rather than the ones that have been put together quickly. I'll be looking to start small and will allow things to grow and develop from there.

[mick]

It already feels like a long drawn out winter and we've yet to have any really bad weather. According to my weather station, we're currently on our 17th consecutive rainy day and it's been damp and miserable throughout. The good news is that although at times the temperature has dropped on an evening to round about freezing, my pond has remained no lower than 10.0 degrees Celsius. That's due in part to the insulation I built into the floor and walls of the pond but also to the fact that I've covered the top surface with Polycarbonate sheets. The Polycarb certainly keeps the wind off the surface and prevents it getting chilled. I pulled back a cover yesterday and the fish were there wanting food! It'll be interesting to see how it all fares should the temperatures drop further which I expect it will do at some point.

For the past few days I've been working on completing our bathroom, a task that we had to put off from last November. My incentive to get it finished is that I feel once I've done it I can start to think of doing something I'd rather do instead. I'd made a start on the bathroom just before our world was turned upside down at the end of last year and it's been difficult getting motivated ever since. At times I enjoyed doing the plumbing, but at times there was a lot of unsavoury language when things weren't going quite as they should have. Right now I've got everything plumbed in and working but I've still to replace a section of the floor and fix a tall cupboard onto the wall.

I've been compiling a nice list of interesting indoor layouts I've discovered online. Funnily enough they tend to be small branch type layouts that get my attention and that's the type of 'world' I'd like to build for myself. In fact I've actually got back to looking at smaller branch type loco's in readiness for something along those lines. Hopefully one day something will come of it.

[mick]

It's been good to get back out in the garden over the past couple of weeks. Almost everything I enjoy doing is out there. I've made progress completing some walling which in turn results in progress with the railway layout in the form of a much needed access bridge over the tracks from the patio and onto the main garden area. I'm quite pleased to have got that almost out of the way.

We're well into March now and the winter has been especially mild. There's till chance for a cold snap but anything too cold shouldn't last for too long. I've been removing the polycarb covers from over the pond during the day but replacing them overnight to help keep the water temperatures stable. Can you believe that the pond is at 13.0 degrees without heating! The fish are loving it! I've just purchased another filter for the pond and I'll be fitting that over the next week or so depending on just how much work is required to plumb it in to the existing system.

I can't remember exactly how many but I've got a fair number of bags planted up with seed potatoes and already several of them have emerged. My windowsill is also still well stocked with 'chitting' potatoes all waiting to be planted just as soon as the weather improves a little. I only ordered 60 seed potatoes this year, which I deemed was more than enough, but for some reason they sent me 120 so it looks like I'll be having more bags than I had planned. Just need somewhere to stand them all.

[traingeekboy]

Good to hear the gardening plans are on schedule. I too have been out digging and prepping the veggie beds. I have even expanded some of my planting areas. So far everything looks fairly good over here. The asparagus I planted from seed last spring are peeking out. Expect it will be another year before I can harvest any. I even have some perennials greening up right now.

Can we expect the now infamous potato barrels then? And exactly how many barrels does 120 seed potatoes make?

Looking forward to seeing photos of your garden as it grows this spring.

[mick]

traingeekboy said:

....Can we expect the now infamous potato barrels then? And exactly how many barrels does 120 seed potatoes make? ....

Yes, the barrels, bags and plastic dustbins are all just about planted. Some of the larger potato bags have been left outdoors over winter and have disintegrated so they'll need replacing. The bags generally take 5 seed potatoes, barrels 6 and with the dustbins I put 7 in each. I must have used about 80 seed potatoes so far as there's roughly 40 on the windowsill in front of me. I've even added a short row of potatoes in the raised bed hoping that they will have been lifted before the space is needed for something else, however, they've been in the ground for 3-4 weeks so far and there's no sign of them yet.