EngineDriver Posted January 3, 2013 Share Posted January 3, 2013 So, Christmas and the New Year have come and gone, we all seem to have survived the "End of theWorld" event on Dec 21st or 22nd or whenever it was supposed to be!! So what are we up to now? I went out into the garden this morning seeing as the sun was shining............ but it is still a swamp!! (with the promise of more rain to come!! )so no garden railroading for the time being at least. I have spent some time in the workshop recently and have finished off a couple of projects that have been hanging around a while. I have also put some more buildings and things together for the little "N" gauge layout for my son, but thats about it. So what are you all doing now the dust has settled? Nige. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyR Posted January 3, 2013 Share Posted January 3, 2013 Hi Nige, Well despite the poor weather it was dry enough up my way to give my sons Christmas present a run out along with my GWR pannier tank. Looking at the weekends forecast its dry at the moment, so may get another day... we shall see. Also have my n layout up and running, so a fairly productive festive period! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EngineDriver Posted January 3, 2013 Author Share Posted January 3, 2013 Oh thats good Andy, as I sit here I can look out of the back window and see the hills and moors.(very nice in the summer, if we get a summer ) At the moment there is a great big grey/dirty black cloud rolling towards us down the valley, you can see the rain working its way along. Brilliant!!! more water, just what we need! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
traingeekboy Posted January 3, 2013 Share Posted January 3, 2013 I was reading the news and it seems you folk are getting the wettest year ever. We're having a cold winter this year. I don't have anything going on with my layout. It's too cold for me. I did drop the draw bridge section and admire the layout the other day. I have to say I am pleased with my layout. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mick Posted January 3, 2013 Share Posted January 3, 2013 Looks like we're all more or less in the same boat. I can't even get my new greenhouse finished off yet because the ground is still so waterlogged. The strong winds a few days ago actually moved the heavy aluminium frame a foot further along the garden but now it's just slowly sinking into the mire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EngineDriver Posted January 3, 2013 Author Share Posted January 3, 2013 Well, as Mick says we all seem to be in the same boat ......................... can we build a layout in a boat?............ just a thought Anyway I was going to show you a video of my "other" garden layout but I can't work out how to upload the video. I don't want to put it on "Youtube" or anything like that. If it can be done straight from my comp then I will do it, so any ideas? can it be done? if so how? if not why not? Nige. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
traingeekboy Posted January 4, 2013 Share Posted January 4, 2013 Considering bandwidth costs you may want to put it on youtube or viddler. Not sure if mick has to pay for this sites location. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grockle Posted January 4, 2013 Share Posted January 4, 2013 Summer, what summer. If there had been anymore of that wet stuff the GGR might have been floating. The Garden itself is in a soggy mess, as the rain has again washed away vast amounts of top soil. My Patio's looking a dark shade of Devon brown mud. Most running has been done in the shed in 2012 as its been vertually impossible to get any running done at all. The occassional posed photograph has been about the best I could manage for 2012. Stock has been added to throughout the year and the house insurance which is due for renewal has had to be increased due to buying a far amount of rolling stock and loco's over 2012. Problem now is finding storage space for it all. I have managed to do one car boot a month thoughout the year at Newton Abbot Livestock Market and will continue to do so throughout 2013. If anyone wants dates for 2013 car boots that I will be attending please just ask away. The same goes for Toy Fairs that are again being held at Newton Abbot Racecourse throughout 2013 as I also have those dates as well. If the weather changes for the better in 2013 the shed needs looking at as its starting to show its age and signs of bowing, not good. Maybe get some of the permanent way rebuilt again after it collasped in 2012, as I aquired a fair amount of timber to do it but as yet its just sitting there doing nothing. I will be continue hunting out the MK1 Pullman coaches that I am still missing to make up my full rake of 14 coaches. At about £30 per coach, secondhand as well, this is going to end up as one very exspensive rake. The car is due its yearly MOT shortly but needs some welding done on the front left chassis and crossmember and quotes so far are between £225 and £250. Is it worth spending that amount of money on a car that 23 years old. In my case yes as its ticking all the boxes for requirements needed. Its a large estate car, has 7 seats when needed, reliable, has a towbar fitted, which is used regularly and reliable. what more could one ask for. Doctors on the 16 January as they have found something on my last yearly check up. Won't tell me over the phone, like they do normally, so a little worried, but not concerned yet. Lets see what the doctor has to say first. Don't want to make a mountain out of a molehill. The only real downer for 2013 is that sometime in the near future I have to go to the funeral of my Ex wife. Considering that our marraige only lasted for 3 years, we actually got on much better before and after our brief marraige. Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
traingeekboy Posted January 4, 2013 Share Posted January 4, 2013 I hope everything is ok Ian. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grockle Posted January 4, 2013 Share Posted January 4, 2013 I hope everything is ok Ian. So do I. Whats the worst he can tell me ? I'm an Anorak Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sykarost Posted January 4, 2013 Share Posted January 4, 2013 Good luck Ian, hope it's nothing to worry about. Nothing happening on the construction of 'Oakdale Valley' for the same reason that nothing much is happening anywhere at the moment. I could have probably made a little progress but things have been pretty busy family wise over Christmas & New year so have not been able to do anything. I still have to put in some mid panel supports on the raised section, build my bridge & lay the track but a few decent days might see some developments. I do have just a slight drawback which even on a nice dry day will hinder my progress somewhat......... Last May we were on holiday with our caravan in Bridlington, East Yorkshire when on the last day I developed a problem with my left eye..... it kept closing against my will. I managed to tow the van 150 miles home in pouring rain & eventually presented myself at our eye hospital for advice. After months of tests, scans & examinations I know what the prognosis is and now face the uncertainty each day of which one or both of my eyelids don't want to work properly all day Although it can be intermittent, it means that I am often forced to stop whatever I'm doing, make a cuppa & just relax for a while. Sylvia thinks I'm exploiting it a little because it happens a lot within seconds of her asking me to do something . Anyway, sorry to go on about my own health issues because we all have something we would rather be without no doubt especially if it hinders the pursuit of our hobbies & interests. Here's to us all for a drier & healthy New Year so that we may continue to do so. Best Wishes, Brian. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
traingeekboy Posted January 4, 2013 Share Posted January 4, 2013 I am going to assume an anorak is Brit slang for a nerd or perhaps train foamer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EngineDriver Posted January 4, 2013 Author Share Posted January 4, 2013 OMG Ian, I have just read your reply, I thought it was just us that has a life like that!!!. We seem to Stagger from one crisis to another all the time. I have been off sick since late October with abdominal pains, and have spent a week in hospital in November,(I was quite ill) but test results came back inconclusive! So seen consultantant again before Christmas and he said they know there is a problem but they don't know what it is so, I will have to go back in hospital again for further investigations. Work are getting a bit tetchy, but they say everything is cool, bit of a worry though. I read that you're going to have to do some work to your shed, I had to rebuild quite a bit of mine back in 2010, due to sagging roof etc, there were two nights it went without a roof altogether....... with the layout still inside. I was praying it didn't rain!! my prayers were answered on that occaision. The shed is 20ft long and I had some steel roof trusses made up by a friend which also served to pull back in the sides which like yours had stared to bow out a little. Good job I did as that winter we had a heavy fall of snow and the old roof would have collapsed onto the layout. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grockle Posted January 5, 2013 Share Posted January 5, 2013 Nige, yopur lucky only being off since last October. I haven't been able to work since May 2002. After having 3 strokes I have had to slow down too much for my own liking but its a simple case of carry on as before and be no more. Sick and tired of hospital appointments but the last one last year was the final nail in the back to work issue. The surgeon is prepared to do the operation but at only a max of 40% success, with the end result being that if it went wrong I would be permanently paralised from the neck down and totally reliant of other folks its not an operation that he wants to perform. So I am now a total write off for the future. The dreaded social services medical was a joke when they said that I was fit for work even though I can't do a lot of thinks without aids or difficulty. The Surgeon was at the medical and said that if the social were prepared to pay in excess of £4000 a day if the op went wrong or rather keep me on £400+ a month so that I can live out the rest of my life as best as I can at present was really a no brainer. So its carry on with the £400+ for life and just live life to the best of my own abilities. The operation is now a no go. The operation would have been to remove growth on my spinal cord around the nerves in my neck and the slighest of slips would leave me totally paralaysed from the neck down. The medication I am on at preseent are doing there job so its a case of carry on taking the pills. Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
traingeekboy Posted January 5, 2013 Share Posted January 5, 2013 Ian that sounds like a pain in the ass. Nice shot of the snow and weight covered shed Nige. I keep eyeing my own shed. It's an old cheap Peace of crap from the 70's. It's too low to stand in and is completely useless because of it. If I could just build a base for it that is a foot tall... Must keep my eyes open for lumber again. Since it's too cold for railroading. I've decided to get going on the veggie patch. I'm off to visit a friend who owns a horse. I should be driving back with my entire station wagon full of manure. I'm thinking this year the garden will really be green with all the organics in the soil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EngineDriver Posted January 5, 2013 Author Share Posted January 5, 2013 WOW Ian, I suppose you are right that I am lucky to only have been off since October, but I have to say at this moment I don't feel particularly lucky. Thats the thing though with forums and websites, you talk to people and sort of get to know them, and become friends. But you don't get to meet them, (or rarely so) and as such you are not aware of such things as illness or other problems the same as you do when you are a member of a local club. I am a member of our local Model Engineers club and I know pretty much whats happening with fellow members as they do with me. I think you do remarkably well to construct and operate an outdoor model railway after 3 strokes, a couple of our members have suffered strokes and I have seen the devastation they can cause. It does not surprise me that the social services think you are fit for work, they would most likely reccomend "scafolding" or "road mending" as suitable jobs, they never fail to amaze me. My son is disabled and we have had many dealings with these authorities. I won't get on my "soapbox" about this as it just make me angry and frustrated. I have to say if we lived closer then I would be only too happy to come over and give you a hand with the things on your layout you were struggling to do on you're own. I hope things do improve for you, or if thats not possible then at least not get any worse. best regards Nige. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grockle Posted January 5, 2013 Share Posted January 5, 2013 Nige, What once took me a couple of hours to do, now takes probably a couple of weeks to complete. I am lucky that I have a few friends that are also into their trains so if Iever need any help they do help when they can, but I also try to make sure that anytime they do help is not disrupting their own social lives. The targets for this year are; 1. Try and get the shed finally waterproof with a replacement lid going straight over the existing one and then refelting the roof with a much better quality felt than what was used last time of doing. 2. Getting the side of the shed straightened, as its bowing at present. Better get that done before 1 above or else I can see the shed doing a one way trip down and flat packed. Have already managed to aquire some steel at too long a length, from the old bed that was dismantled. Just need to get that cut down to the correct lengths now. 3. Maybe might even be able to make a start on the extension that was up, but fell down due to the weather last year. 4. Get some 4 inch square posts about 4 metres long to make 3 uprights for the permanant way to hang on, but also as a divider between the patio, that sits about 16 inches below the level of the lawned area of the garden. This part should be fun as I also have to incorporate a lifting double tracked bridge as well. 5. Purchase at least 4 boxes of code 100 flexi track to complete the roundy roundy. I already have all the necessary poinwork sitting around in the shed somewhere, along with I hope is enough platform pieces to make up three 16foot long platforms. 6. Get all the points outside working via manual rodding, becuase at present its all 'hand of god' operation. If I manage to get at least half of that done I will be a happy chappy. Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EngineDriver Posted January 5, 2013 Author Share Posted January 5, 2013 I don't know about you, but if I'd got that lot done in one year I'd be a happy chappy as well. Every time I plan a job for myself, her indoors plans something else! Guess which takes priority! I'm sure you're friends like to help you out as much as they can, they will get satisfaction out of knowing they have helped you to achieve a little bit more of your layout. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grockle Posted January 5, 2013 Share Posted January 5, 2013 Griff, Sorry mate forgot to answer you assumption. Correct 'Anorak' is a phrase used by the more unkindly folks that don't like trainspotters and the like. Nige, If I get any of it done, that will be a miracle. Next stop is the garage to get a quote for the welding that needs doing on the Mazda. Front cross member and left hand side chassis are nearly divorcing each other. This is going to hurt the poor old wallet and serverly deplete the train funds. Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EngineDriver Posted January 5, 2013 Author Share Posted January 5, 2013 This is true, but need car to go to swap-meets to get more trains!! Nige. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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