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Iain's occasional drivel, moans & groans


ba14eagle
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Having been unceremoniously woken up by the kids at too early an hour this morning and exhausted most of my fatherly duties (supplying batteries, undoing annoying toy packaging etc), I retreated to the garden for 15 minutes peace and ran a train :!: (Bachmann Class 45 and 9 MK1/2 coaches - a NE/SW special service) Only half a dozen circuits but very rewarding.

Merry Christmas to you all.

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:x over 4 hours without electricity last night...

We were having friends around, but when they arrived at about 5pm we decided the, then, intermittent supply of electric wasnt reliable enough to entertain. Took all the food over to theirs and had a very enjoyable time. Trouble was, when we got back, the whole of our road was still in complete darkness - very eerie for a main road :shock: Cue panic :o from wife and contents of freezers hastily dispatched to the inlaws. Normal service returned shortly after 10pm but neighbours confirmed that it had been off since 6pm. Apparently a large part of town had been blacked out during the late afternoon - even Tesco had to close :!:

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  • 2 weeks later...

A gorgeous, sunny, winters day here in Wiltshire.

I got the guinea pigs cleaned out early on and put them out on the grass for some exercise. I am now thinking :idea: , it would be very remiss to waste the combination of no work today, fine weather and my son not needing support from the touchline of a local rugby pitch! So, I took the covers off the railway, set about cleaning the track and getting the stock out for a running session. I swapped the sound chip out of 33211 and put it in 33025 for a change.

Well the session was ok - the outer track ran great, but the inner :x was a bit more trying. 2 sections of dead rail - seemingly due to defective bonding wires / solder joints. I got all the tools out and started rectifying the problems. Again, not the easiest of jobs as the soldering iron seemed to be on strike and the only solder I could find didnt want to work with the flux. Got there in the end, though there are a couple of more bits to revisit when it gets warmer and I get some new solder and flux :!: The 2 loop points in the inner circuit are also needing a bit more attention - they still seem to be very poor at providing current in the turnout - got to get some conductive grease or oil on them - see if that helps.

Then, when I got back to running trains, my 37 lost all traction :x . The motor was running full bore, but there seemed to be no movement. (Once I'd packed up, I bought the 37 in doors, took it apart and it all seemed to be working fine - both bogies had drive, so I am a bit stumped what went on outside :? The chassis has never been the best and if it does this again, I might have to look for another..)

I managed to grab a small bit of video before it got too cold and will hope to have it on YT shortly. Its nice to run a different loco and some new rolling stock :) .

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  • 2 weeks later...

A week or so ago, I took delivery of a new toy - and for once, it didnt look like a train ;)

The package contained a Veho VFS-008 - digital film scanner. I have a large collection of slides (mostly trains, of course) and had been planning to scan them onto the computer for a while now (they had been done previously, but with varying degrees of sucess....) I had also borrowed a work colleagues set of slides, taken a few years earlier than mine, which I had promised to scan for him.

The results, from this amazing bit of kit, were a big improvement on the previous attempt. Now this device doenst only scan slides, but 35mm and 110 camera negatives also. I have found a number of negatives and scanned these also, with similarly great results - I only wish I could find all the early photo negatives I had taken, but I fear these all went in the bin some years ago :x. No doubt, I will be adding to my galleries soon!

So, if like me, you have loads of slides or 35mm negatives from years back, the investment in one of these little machines, may really be worth your while. Its a Veho VFS-008 and I ordered mine from PLAY.COM :)

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ba14eagle said:

A week or so ago, I took delivery of a new toy - and for once, it didnt look like a train ;)

The package contained a Veho VFS-008 - digital film scanner. I have a large collection of slides (mostly trains, of course) and had been planning to scan them onto the computer for a while now (they had been done previously, but with varying degrees of sucess....) I had also borrowed a work colleagues set of slides, taken a few years earlier than mine, which I had promised to scan for him.

The results, from this amazing bit of kit, were a big improvement on the previous attempt. Now this device doenst only scan slides, but 35mm and 110 camera negatives also. I have found a number of negatives and scanned these also, with similarly great results - I only wish I could find all the early photo negatives I had taken, but I fear these all went in the bin some years ago :x. No doubt, I will be adding to my galleries soon!

So, if like me, you have loads of slides or 35mm negatives from years back, the investment in one of these little machines, may really be worth your while. Its a Veho VFS-008 and I ordered mine from PLAY.COM :)

I wish I'd known.... I have a Nikon Coolscan V ED LS50 at my parents in the UK thats doing nothing :(

I got it for my dad to scan all his slides to computer.... I think he used it once and said "It will take longer than the years I have left to do this lot!" :D

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My only experience with a film scanner was one I purchased from Jessops about 10 years ago and which didn't make the journey from Selby to Doncaster with us. My initial expectations quickly faded to a feeling of disappointment at the results I obtained with it. I can't remember the make/model. I'm pleased to hear that you're getting better results with the Veho VFS-008 and look forward to seeing your gallery expanding in the near future. Hopefully my Jessop's scanner will have been recycled now into something much more useful to someone!

Good to hear about your recent running session. The weather's certainly been extraordinarily kind to us this winter. All those niggly little operating problems are part and parcel of an exposed garden railway but not too dissimilar from the real world.

I have a 37 that sometimes loses drive - the camshaft thingy keeps coming adrift of the bogie housing wotsit :? . Maybe I have part of that recycled Jessops scanner in mine - or perhaps you've got some of it in yours?

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Does the slide scanner do stacks of them automatically or do you have to load them one at a time? My dad has thousands upon thousands of slides, he had one that was manual load and it took forever. I think he did a few hundred and then gave up.

Mick, I think they've gotten better,faster,easier to use.

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Been a busy little bee the last 3 or 4 days. I have fitted buffer beam details and cast nameplates / crests (where applicable) to all except one of my diesel locos. Hopefully these wont get knocked off by stray debris on the track outside. I am pretty thorough with my hand held vacuum cleaner before each running session, but theres always 1 piece that falls off a bush or tree when your back is turned :x My 2 Hornby Class 50 loco's are packaged up ready to go for weathering and for 50048 "Dauntless", renumbering / renaming into 50044 "Exeter". I will report back how good this service is, when they return (fingers crossed!)

Despite the snow, I made the 140+ mile round trip to Alton today, to visit the Alton MRC model rail exhibition. I must say, I am normally, mostly, a shopper at these types of things, not too many layouts holding my attention for very long. However, today was quite different and although the main reason for attending was to pick up some more stock boxes from JB's Model World, I found a good number of the layouts very interesting and enjoyable to watch. My thanks go out to all those exhibitors for their bravery in taking their layouts out in the inclement weather! A lot of the layouts were quite busy (layouts with nothing moving really bore me, however good the scenary) and the exhibitors themselves seemed to quite chatty and personable. I particularly liked Fareham MRC exhibits - 2 layouts of the same fictious place, but in different periods in time. What a great, original idea.

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  • 1 month later...

Today started really well - My Father and I installed the ex "Nottingham Midland" station light into my shed and it works superbly. I then decided to have a good spring clean and clearout of the 2 sheds - another job done to great satisfaction.

This evening I started to do some more work on the Bachmann Mk1 CK I have been detailing. The people had gone in and I had reassembled everything, ready to start weathering. Oh, I had also completed the renumbering to something more suitable to my period of operation. I have completed the weathering this evening - it had been partly started already. Then I screwed up :evil::oops::evil::oops::evil::oops: You know, one of those moments when you really wish the phone had rung or somebody had come to the door and stopped you.....

:oops: Instead of masking each of the individual windows, before varnishing, I put my trust in Humbrol "Maskol" to protect the glass :oops::evil:

Result - after lots of hard work getting a coach to look really good, Ive cocked up the glazing. Ive tried everything to clean it up, almost ruining the painting on the coach in the process - I did stop myself before I got to that point. As Bachmann glazing also carries the detail for the quarter lights, I cant even get out of jail by replacing it with some clear plastic / acetate sheet. I have emailed Bachmann in the slim hope they might be able to supply some more, but hold out little hope.

If, by slim chance, anyone out there has a broken / spares or repair only BR mk1 CK which has good glazing, please let me know.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I have spent an enjoyable day at the West Somerset Railway's Spring Steam Gala today and the weather was absolutely stunning :!: Joined by my son (teacher training day at school) and an old rail enthusiast friend, we rode on a total of 6 different trains, including riding behind 4 steam engines that I had not ridden behind before : GWR "Manor" class no. 7828 "Odney Manor", BR standard class 4 tank no 80072, GWR "Hall" class no. 6960 "Raveningham Hall" & GWR 2884 class no 3850. Also sampled were GWR 1400 class no. 1450 & autocoach (in propelling mode) & SDJR 7F no. 53808 - an awesome 2-8-0 with a clean, crisp bark and lots of power :D

I have not been to one of these events for about 6 or 7 years and boy, have I missed out - the West Somerset Railway do themselves proud, running a very professional event, which seemed to be enjoyed by lots of smiling travellers.

Back to work tomorrow :| but Sunday is Shepton Mallet toyfair - whoopee!! - oh, remember the therapy Iain - dont buy anything.....

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ba14eagle said:

...I have spent an enjoyable day at the West Somerset Railway's Spring Steam Gala today and the weather was absolutely stunning :!: Joined by my son (teacher training day at school) and an old rail enthusiast friend, we rode on a total of 6 different trains, including .... SDJR 7F no. 53808 - an awesome 2-8-0 with a clean, crisp bark and lots of power ....

You'll be needing the Bachmann model then Iain? 53808 in BR Black or why not go for the 150th Anniversary Commemorative Model in S&DJR Blue livery No. 88 in a nice wooden presentation case.

I visited the West Somerset Railway about 15-20 years ago. Had a great day out with several workmates but remember little about the railway itself now.

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I've been to the WSR 12 years ago. Rode from Bishop's Lydeard to Minehead behind 34027 Taw Valley painted Maroon and called Hogwarts Express. At Minehead I had an egg sandwich but over here an egg sandwich is made with eggs and mayonnaise. At Minehead the egg sandwich was just the a fried egg between two slices of bread. I bit into the yoke and it gushed out of the sandwich and went onto the platform. 34027 departed Minehead double heading with a class 33 and I rode back to Bishop's Lydeard behind 7828 Odney Manor in filthy condition without nameplates, number plates or a safety valve bonnet as it was a mid 1960's weekend. Taw Valley and the class 33 were spotless so an odd weekend. 7820 Dinmore Manor was in the loco yard at Minehead getting a good spit and polish. Their 2-6-0 9351 was just a frame, coupled wheels, and boiler and the bunker from the donor loco 5193 was sitting in long grass.

Roy.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Back yesterday from a break away in Brixham, Devon. Nice freebie, thanks to my sister who let us use her house whilst she was holidaying in the Peak District.

Bank Holiday Easter Monday - tipping it down all day so what better to do than spend most of the day going up and down the South Devon Railway, between Totnes and Buckfastleigh. A lot of other people and families had the same idea - the whole railway was fit to bursting. Locos travelled behind : BR class 2MT, 78019, BR class 20, D8110, BR class 4MT, 80072 & GWR 2251 class, 3205.

Tuesday - After the cinema in Paignton, visited Trago Mills at Newton Abbot. Here they have a large model railway exhibition, that despite running some odd combinations of rolling stock (has there been a Grockle influence :lol::?::lol: ), is quite entertaining. We, unfortunately, were too late to ride on the miniature steam railway, which seems to have been extended since my last visit, approx 11 years ago.

Thursday - Strolled along the beach from Slapton to Torcross, scene of "Operation Tiger" - a tragic loss of life, whilst practicing for the D-Day landings of WW2. The monument at Torcross and the accompanying plaques, make this quite a moving experience.

Today I attended a local model railway exhibition with my Dad. This is quite a large event in a local sports centre not far from me and will require a second visit tomorrow, to catch up on stuff missed today. The organisers operate a policy whereby if you go the first day, your ticket also allows you free entry on the second day. I didnt buy anything, but my Dad bought me a Woodland Scenics Roto Wheel Cleaner (early birthday present). I have had a little play with this this evening and will start another thread elsewhere with my findings about its use / efficiency....

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Back yesterday from a break away in Brixham, Devon.

And did not visit the Grockle Garden Railway, yet another name to go in the BLACK BOOK.. :lol::lol::lol:

But glad to hear that you enjoyed your day on the SDR where I am a volunteer, but I only go there on Saturdays to service the little Thomas & Friends layout situated in the Monster at Totnes end of the line.

Ian

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