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Iain's occasional drivel, moans & groans


ba14eagle
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That's not good news Iain. We've been involved with 2 house sales in recent times and both were completed very quickly. The first was sold before it even went live on the estate agents website and completed within a matter of a few weeks. Fortunately for us there was no 'chain' involved with either sale which made things much simpler.

Sounds like you've got some way to go yet before you'll be back with a new layout but I would expect that to be the case anyway. I had an enforced break of several years before things turned around for me - hopefully it won't be that long before you return. Have you indicated, or given some thought as to whether you'll be back with an outdoor layout or would you be looking at going indoors next time?

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  • 4 weeks later...

Definitely looking to build outside in the garden again or in a garage - houses are just too small (even lofts) when you have been used to having a total run of around 120ft (give or take a bit).

Still no joy with the house sale - at this rate I might have to do something silly - like re-buy my own house! - at least I know it has a nice ready to use railway trackbed in it - and I might even be able to have that extension / phase 2, that I wasnt allowed before :lol::lol:

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  • 3 months later...

That is sad news on your house sale Ian. A friend of mine put his house on the market here thinking that he'd have loads of time whilst his new house was being built. His old has went on the market on a Monday and was sold by the Wednesday. So he had to move into rental accommodation whilst his new house was being completed.

It really p*sses you off when people waste your time in playing games with the sale of your home.

There was a lady (and I use that term very broadly) who used to live across the road from mum and dad and when she put her house on the market every buyer who was interested she would up the price to try to get more for it. So for buyers she was playing games. She also went through a number of real estate agents who were sick of her antics.

So the gate can swing both ways. I'm not implying that you would do that Ian.

So when it comes to garden railways your get up and go has got up and gone. Don't worry it will return.

Roy.

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House sale is back on and the buyers, seem to be quite keen. I dont know how keen I am at the prospect of making myself homeless - well, thats what it feels like, but I will probably have to move in with my Dad for a period - thats where 90% of my belongings are currently anyhow!!

Talking of Dad, we have just come back from a relaxing weekend away in Sussex and enjoyed a very splendid day out at the Bluebell Railway on Saturday, where the weekends event was a model railway weekend. This for me has to be one of the top 2 or 3 preserved lines in Britain. Ok, the bias is towards the Southern Railway (which I dont mind at all), but every detail is thought about and you cant beat riding in a pre-grouping or big 4 piece of rolling stock - no need to ride in a tatty old mk1 coach there!

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  • 6 months later...

So the new year has arrived and I am back, hopefully with lots of news to share with you all again!

I have been in my new house (still in BA14 so the name still works!!) for nearly 4 weeks now and I have just about got out of headless chicken mode. Attention has turned towards surveying the garden, now all those boxes are unpacked and stashed away in the loft!

As mentioned on a previous thread sometime ago, the new railway - name pending - will be limited to a square of 15ft sides. Construction will be of posts, rails and boards, as per Duncan's Minfordd Railway and, as far as finances will allow, be of recycled plastic construction. As Duncan mentioned in his thread, this is not at all cheap, but I love the idea that it will be fairly low maintenance and will probably out-live me :lol: I do have a fair bit of well treated timber around, which would do for some of the posts, so this may have be my concession towards keeping the costs down.

I have 2 ideas in mind :idea:

Firstly, very straight forward, around each side of the square. 4 tracks, with one station located on one side. Station boards will be 2ft wide, with options on keeping it this width all the way around - allowing for a bit of lineside scenery - or reducing the width to 1ft on the other 3 sides.

Second option and much preferred, if I am brave enough to tackle inclines :lol: , is again for 4 tracks all the way around, with a 2 ft wide station board down one side. This then narrows to 1ft width for the rest of the layout, but with a sort of figure of eight, that has been folded back over on itself, if you see what I mean - the inner loop, being inside 3 of the sides of the square :? . This will obviously involve the previously mentioned gradients, but with an all diesel fleet, this shouldnt be much of a problem - providing I can get my head round the rise and falls that lead to the crossover section. This will give an increased running length, even if most of it will be on the curve.

Whichever design I go for, the tightest radii will be 3ft (thats an improvement on the HFR which was down to about 2ft in one place - ouch :lol: )

I have a few new items of rolling stock "in works" at present, so when they are ready, I will post some photos in the relevant section. I have embarked on the creation of a new passenger train, which I have reduced in length slightly, but even so, it will be quite a thing when its complete 8-) . I must admit though, Im not exactly looking forward to dismantling all the coaches and going to work on them like I have previous ones, but hey, i will get there!

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Good to hear you're getting back on your feet and 'on track' again Iain. The days of the HFR seem a long time ago but progress with the rest of us, and the popularity of the forum in general, means that your old thread is still near the top of page 2 so it's still fresh in our minds.

I'd say get stuck in to the coaches as you did before. They look so much better for the work you put into them. I hope in time to be able to do something similar with much of my stock just to make it unique and personal rather than looking fresh out of the box. I was only looking last night at a thread I bookmarked a few years ago on another forum, where the guy works on batches of wagons at a time, weathering and detailing them to an amazing standard. I compare that to my meager efforts :oops:

I'm looking forward to the start of your new thread and seeing how you improve on your previous layout. Great to have you back.

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ba14eagle said:

Why is it, when you are cleaning your airbrush after use, that you manage to drop on the floor and lose, the smallest, most expensive part, to replace :evil:

Have you got a 'black hole' on your floor same as me? :)

Glad your in modelling mood again Iain!

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We've got a breed of gremlins in our shed that hide things when you put them down......

Other than SWMBOs varnished floor in her art end of the shed, I'm painting the shed floor blue, as the least likely of the floor paint colours available to be that of small bits dropped.

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I made the not too short trip to Sheffield and back today. Priority was to get to Olivias Trains to get some assistance in fitting a sound chip to a Bachmann 37/4 I recently purchased - they just seem to get fiddlyer and fiddlyer these days, so I know when to give up! I needed a new speaker too. Well, I was served in the usual very efficient and cheerful manner Ive come to expect at Olivias (why else would you put up with nearly 3 hours on a XC Voyager...) Thank you

I then travelled down to "Rails" to see what might tempt me there ;) Now its been a few years since ive been, but I was pretty disappointed with what was on offer :( Now, ok, they do do some good offers on new stuff at times - at Christmas I treated myself to a very much much reduced Heljan Class 128 DPU and it arrived very smartly - all good, but I was a bit disappointed today, to say the least, when I find that there is no longer a showroom available to view secondhand items - "its all on EB#y" I was informed. Oh yes, all 50 pages of it :roll::lol:

Anyway, off to West London tomorrow - I have had a tip off about Northfields Model Centre being a very interesting shop to visit, if you like to browse secondhand items, so thats where Im off to. I suspect I might also get a couple of hours in at Heathrow too :D

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ba14eagle said:

...Priority was to get to Olivias Trains to get some assistance in fitting a sound chip to a Bachmann 37/4 I recently purchased - they just seem to get fiddlyer and fiddlyer these days....

Back in the summer I fitted sound chips in the fuel tanks of two Bachmann class 37s following a how-to guide I'd seen published online. It was the first time I had attempted actually taking loco's apart as part of sound chip fitting but I was encouraged by reports that it would sound so much better. None of the two I attempted had the lighting switches in the tanks so it did make it that much easier - not too much soldering required. I can't really comment on whether they sound that much better as I've not had the chance to really compare but for me it's something of a start as I don't usually get so involved.

Sounds like you had a good trip out. I'm not too distant from either retailer but have never visited. I've used Rails online and always been pleased with their service and they have a great secondhand selection in their ebay store - especially those blooming Silver Jubilee coaches! Prices are significantly higher for secondhand stuff these days I'd say.

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You certainly get about a bit, unfortunately I don't have the free accommodation in Rotherham that I used to get (SWMBOs Relatives) so don't get there much any more. You missed out Marcway models on Attercliffe road apart from going there for EM gauge track, they do have the occasional bargain, I couple of years ago got a Mitchell kits GWR Praire tank Loco complete with everything except the motor and paint for £20

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  • 2 weeks later...

Tonight I am quite happy, if a little weary, after making a 400+ miles round trip to North Norfolk in my car, to pick up materials for the New Hampton Field Railway :)

Effectively, 7 second hand, cut down, 8 x 4 sheets of 18mm eko board (recycled plastic), for about 1/3 of the cheapest price I can find anywhere online.

Now for some posts and some thinner planks, to use for stringers.

But then its time for some manual earth-shifting :|

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Hang on, are you following me around? :D

I've lived in Wiltshire

I've visited Sheffield many times,

I live in North Norfolk these days,

Add Inverness , the Outer Hebrides, Saudi and the Falklands and you've got most of my life..

Some time soon must organize a trip back to Wiltshire to visit the area, I'm modeling but as you've noticed it's a LooooNg way and the roads up here aren't too good.

Good buy by the way :D

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  • 7 months later...

Wow! I cant believe its been so long since ive posted on this thread - ive now got a fully operating garden railway since.

In case ive not mentioned it on any other thread, ive been to Northfields Model Centre a couple of times now. The chap is very friendly and certainly has a very well stocked shop - unfortunately, so well stocked with secondhand items that there is only about 8 ft sq to stand in :o:lol: Well worth a visit if you are in the area, nearest tube is Northfields, about 2 minutes walk away.

Anyway, the real reason for my posting today, 2 moans :( - (must be getting old)

Little moan - Yesterday I got the train down to Bodmin Parkway, so as to visit the Bodmin & Wenford Steam Railway and its "china clay gala day". A brilliant day, scoring haulage behind 3 new (hardly) locomotives - 37142 and Beattie Well tanks 30585 & 30587. The afternoon double-headed train from Boscarne Jn with the Well tanks was awesome - they were absolutely volcanic!

However, it could have been a bit better, if the 8 minute late arrival of my down HST didnt mean I missed the B&W train - leaving a 50 minute wait for the next (I believe the following down train also missed the connection by less than 5 minutes). I dont expect the B&W to hold their trains to connect, but why cant they create a timetable that allows more than a 5 minute connection, out of down trains?

Bigger moan :(:roll: - another fairly early start today saw me travel to Woking, for the Rail Enthusiasts Club model railway exhibition. This was a first visit to this event for me and it promised a good selection of layouts and traders. £8 entry seems to be par for an event of this size these days and being so close to London, I suppose not bad, although it still feels a little unnatural to pay this sort of price to me. So, I think my disappointment at the spectacle on offer, is justified. A nice selection of traders hit the right spot for me, but the layouts just didnt "cut the mustard" :( There were a couple that were really great - Harlyn Quay in particular was a delight - a few that looked great and worked well or catered well for their target audience, but the rest were well below par. Most looked great, but all suffered similar problems - either not functioning correctly due to technical issues or through what appeared to be lack of operator familarity (are the 2 intrinsically linked?). Im no veteran of exhibiting layouts, but have always made sure Ive known how to operate what was on show - whether a club or private / home layout - people travel distances and pay money to be given a show - please give it to us. I did offer my feedback to one of the organisers, on the door, on my way out - I wonder how some of the other "enthusiast" visitors viewed the layouts?

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