sem34090's Workbench, Layout and General Wittering

[Northroader]

The Railways come to Blackstone:

Edited November 2, 2018 by Northroader

[sem34090]

Nout wrong with that! Indeed, I need to work out more about Missenden's ancestry... I have started a story for Missenden, by the way, though work has stalled until the next Madame Noire instalment appears in order to give me more detail... hint, Alex, hint!

Not Ealing East, as Northroader requested, but here's a picture of Kimmeridge, my tea-tray 009 layout:

Incidentally, Mr Northroader, thank you for posting that image of the LBSCR station being initiated at Blackstone!

Edited November 2, 2018 by sem34090

[Northroader]

Might have been the SER station, sounds as if there’s a race on.

[sem34090]

The LBSCR got there first of course! The history is covered in my layout thread, and in Alexandra's too I believe!

[sem34090]

We triumph over the Sh*t Eating Railway again!

 

I apologise, Alex... I wasn't talking about the Sublime Elegant & Comfortable Railway...

[sem34090]

"Yes Miss, Sorry Miss... I'll never do it again, Miss, honist!" He cried, or certainly appeared to - he didn't like to see her upset.

Miss Staddon eyed the young lad with suspicion. Despite his apparent promise to never insult her beloved South Eastern, something about his tone indicated an insincerity...

[sem34090]

Opening time is almost upon us!

[sem34090]

Alright, so I fancy a loco bash with minimal 3D printing, but possibly some... I've already posted this in my layout thread, but perhaps here is more appropriate:

 

I regret not having any drawings to hand, but does anyone know how feasible a conversion from a (Urie Superheated) ex-LSWR Drummond Class 700 to an ex-LBSCR C2x? The two classes have a very similar sort of aesthetic, and their wheel diameters are so close as makes no difference in 00. My main concern is wheelbase, as I am unable to compare this, and possibly also the boiler length & diameter. To me the 700's boiler looks slimmer, though that may be because the C2x's boiler looks longer. The 700 may also appear to have a smaller boiler because of its taller cab. I'd like to think though that this is a plausible conversion. Some will shoot me for this, but I think if I were to do a C2x it'd have to be in post-LBSCR livery of some description. I say this because it's a class that I more closely associate with post-grouping than pre-grouping, maybe because some of the conversions were very late in the pre-grouping period, and others were long after the SR took over. At any rate, I think with the price they are now I will try and get hold of a Hornby 700 in the Hattons Sale, and if it can't be converted it can simply remain as-is.

[sem34090]

Besides the 700-that-probably-won't-become-a-C2x now being ordered, I recently found this:

And this:

Which put together currently make this:

I fancy a good kitbash! (Oo-er!)

[sem34090]

I bought this back in September for £30 (Well, £29) as a non runner. It still needs work on the valve gear, but the motor runs. A club member recently gave me some plasticard headcode disks, so I've fitted them for an SWML express, for now, as per my 'decent' Bulleid pacifics.

[sem34090]

Unfortunately I have not, as yet, anything appropriate to post here - no war memorial locos or notable family connections to comment on. My family was lucky enough to not lose anyone the first time round, and lost one in the second. I am hoping to release the first few bits for The Railway Operating Division project later today, should they be completed. Beyond that there is little that I am doing by way of a railway-based tribute, but I will be paying my respects at a service despite my not being a frequent churchgoer by any stretch of the imagination. At risk of ranting, it disappointed me last week as to just how few of my peers were wearing poppies, not even white ones or one of the small pin badges. I was even derided for having bought a poppy when they first went on sale. Call me old fashioned (and I'll agree with you...) but surely if you're not going to wear one yourself -and some people have their personal reasons- then that's no reason to deride another's wearing of one.

 

Anyway.

 

May I also comment on the wonderful little display that Mr Andy York has provided in the top left hand corner of the website! Very appropriate.

We will, I expect, remember them as best as we can, though I always feel that for us of a younger age 'Commemorate' is an equally applicable term, for those of us who cannot physically remember those who died in the First and Second World wars, or even more recent wars. A day, therefore, of remembrance and commemoration.

 

Edited to correct 'Them' to 'Those who died in the First and Second World Wars' - We can physically remember those whom we are able to.

Edited November 11, 2018 by sem34090

[sem34090]

I would also like the opportunity to re-post this, assuming the original poster does not mind: 

 

I totally agree we should remember the terrible price paid by our forebears, but an elaborate annual jamboree should not be a substitute for real care for those of our surviving military personnel who are suffering from PTSD or the result of injuries. Judging by the total absence of any psychiatric help – and the number of veterans sleeping rough or otherwise falling through Society's safety net – a substitute it has become. Perhaps it has always been so. We should pay homage to those shell-shocked teenagers ordered to be shot by their comrades for "cowardice".

 

Basically, war is a bitch, and our politicians need to be reminded of this from time to time – and especially today.

I feel that this is so true. Although I enjoy (for want of a much better word) the ceremonial side of things, probably on account of my involvement with brass bands, and have a developing interest in military history, I agree that it has almost become a replacement for actual care, even actual remembrance and commemoration. Some of you will know the following quote, and I think that ties in with the above post somewhat: "It's not so much lest we forget, as lest we remember. (...) there's no better way of forgetting something than by commemorating it.” I don't wholly agree with the quote -There is much that is remembered, or (as I said before) commemorated- but as other lines that surround that quote say, by commemorating the war dead I think we perhaps do what was written with the Treaty of Versailles and pass all the guilt to Germany. I think we sometimes forget our country's own involvement in the death of those who fought, or assisted in other ways.

I hope this poster won't mind me repeating his post here either:

 

 

Folkestone Harbour played a big part in the First World War, with about 10 million troops, medical personnel and refugees passing through the station on their way to the front, or returning to local hospitals or refugee camps - for many, it will have been the last time they ever stood on home soil. The whole place has been 'restored' and very much gentrified since I took these photos. It's at times like this that I wonder if we are equally gentrifying our history, remembering the key figures and heroic stories but forgetting the everyday people who suffered, such as those killed in the Tontine Street bombing in 1917, which led to the realisation that it was no longer just those on the frontline who would pay the price. I would consider myself one of the more switched-on people in my generation when it comes to our history, but it shocks me sometimes how little I know about the Great War, and even the Second World War. The only close family member I have left who lived through it was at school at the time, evacuated from the Kent coast to Wales, along with everyone else from my old school. Once we run out of people like this, I fear we may start to lose track of the importance of the events that took place 100 years ago.

I think that this, too, is very true. History (as also stated in the work I took that quote from!!!) has become entertainment - leisure. Places like the Imperial War Museum are just another stop on a tourist trail, a day out with the kids, or at least that's the impression I got when I was last there. At the same time as history is being opened up, it's being softened and gentrified - made safe for the public at large. The stories are recited because they entertain, they engage the public and make money. Heritage railways are as guilty of this as anyone else, and here I am especially referring to wartime events. From what I hear, the best of these were the events that were held at Apedale, but even these cannot have got close to the true horror of Western Europe in the late 1910s. Most wartime events are little more than a mockery, really, and here I am basically being a pure hypocrite! Most heritage railways can't even provide authentic stock, let alone the general air of terror, fatigue and misery - the war of 'War on the Line' events is a rose-tinted lovely time of patriotism, songs and lots of men in uniform. To make even more of a mockery of historical fact and realism, some events see SS officers wandering around quite happily amongst the allied troops. Now, I actually quite like the events but for one reason only - I like them because they allow heritage stations to be seen with the majority of people wearing authentic period costume.

 

Now, some of you on here know just how much I waffle, so I apologise, but I... I don't know. I just had a few thoughts and felt I could set them down here. I'm not expecting anyone to agree with me, I'm not trying to encourage anyone to agree with me, but I feel that whilst all of this 'Remembrance' is going on, people are forgetting those who still battle daily with the scars -physical and mental- of war and military service. Also, I feel that by making history into a tourist attraction (Really hypocritical as a heritage railway volunteer!), or at least making military history into a tourist attraction is eroding the respect and reverence that some aspects of history deserve. To see facts about the size of First World War weapons, and the amount of destruction they caused, boasted about in an attempt to engage the public just doesn't sit right with me.

 

Anyway, I thank you all for your time! Back to railways - I have some DCC chips to fit... Also, my first train simulator download went live last night and is available here: http://sem34090.simplesite.com/441152272 . Unfortunately, the first ROD reskin and the first Ambulance train reskin have been delayed, and sadly are unable to be released today as hoped.

[sem34090]

So, from black themes (Or Blackadder - take your pick) to Black Motors...

I've just managed to fit a decoder in there, but unfortunately getting one to fit has required the removal of the tender weights, or at least for me it has. I'm now worried that the loco is going to derail constantly when running tender-first. I may have to look at getting a direct-plug decoder for this one so that I can reinstate the weight (Rhyming!). Has anyone else around here fitted a chip into one of these ex-LSWR machines? Not witty jokes about potato-based products if you don't mind...

[sem34090]

EDIT: Over-the-top and potentially offensive post removed - I shouldn't have let my own views get so muddled, nor was this the place to post them. I apologise for any offence caused.

 

Instead, some news from the Train Simulator front:

https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/973236088938592991/C143D86AA12C55B2B9986F24A6F69F12C405E947/

A huge thank you to L49 of this parish for putting together some Ambulance Train coach reskins for me. I know these are LMS P1's, but they're representative of the multitude of different designs that were sent, most of which are not modelled in train simulator. There is still a little way to go, but they should be out within the next few days.

Edited November 11, 2018 by sem34090

[sem34090]

Thanks once again go to Mr L49 and Family - the lining has now been removed, as has the other post-grouping insignia. There is a version that retains the lining, because I like it, but I don't think that's authentic. Hopefully these will be going up tonight.

https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/973236088938755559/68EB3B5097320417C1D98188803521925C8B7FD9/

The T2 is going to get the ROD treatment in order to represent the T's that were sent to ROD service. Not strictly accurate, but as the T2 is the only NER 0-8-0 in TS it is the best match.

[sem34090]

Okay, please prepare for a rant...

I recently posted on another forum...

 

 

 Also at this time, the Kemp Town branch in Brighton was still open, as was the branch line to Hayling Island (already superbly modelled as a freeware route). There was also the Dyke branch from Dyke Junction Halt, which closed in 1939. 

Can anybody see anything wrong with that? Anything offensive there? I couldn't.

Now, I posted it only to find that it had been changed to this:

 

 

Also at this time, the Kemp Town branch in Brighton was still open, as was the branch line to Hayling Island (already superbly modelled as a freeware route). There was also the LOVE branch from LOVE Junction Halt, which closed in 1939.

Now,  I can only assume that the forum filter on that forum has detected the word, in this case name 'Dyke' as some obscenity.

I then edited the comment to clarify that I wasn't talking about the 'LOVE' branch:

 

 

Also at this time, the Kemp Town branch in Brighton was still open, as was the branch line to Hayling Island (already superbly modelled as a freeware route). There was also the LOVE branch (That word has been blanked out? It should read D yke but without the space between D and y... I don't wish to rant, but I don't get why some forums blank it out now.) from LOVE Junction Halt, which closed in 1939.

So, I wondered, why has the legitimate word 'Dyke', in this case referring to the Branchline to Devil's Dyke, been forbidden?

It turns out that the word is an obscenity, an offensive term. Now, I may be ignorant and/or stupid, but I have never heard or seen the word used in the following context:

 

dyke¹

/dʌɪk/

noun

INFORMAL•OFFENSIVE

noun: dyke; plural noun: dykes; noun: ######; plural noun: dikes

1. a lesbian.

Right, okay, so that's why the word was changed... but. What does one then do when referring to a place or is using that word in the context in which I have traditionally used it:

 

dyke²

/dʌɪk/

noun

noun: dyke; plural noun: dykes; noun: ######; plural noun: dikes

1. 1.

   a long wall or embankment built to prevent flooding from the sea.

   • a low wall or earthwork serving as a boundary or defence.

     "Offa's Dyke"
   • a causeway.
2. 2.

   a ditch or watercourse.
3. 3.

   GEOLOGY

   an intrusion of igneous rock cutting across existing strata.
4. 4.

   INFORMAL•DATED

   a toilet.

Looking this up also caused me to wonder how come the offensive usage of the word has shown up as the primary definition, yet I have never heard it used in that sense. I really am ranting now, but surely a word's proper definition should appear before it's offensive, slang, definition?! What's more, the slang usage could cause all sorts of problems if it's interpreted as the standard definition:

 

Phrases

put one's finger in the dyke

What's more, the offensive term is one of so many that, apparently, has been 'reclaimed' by some of those to whom it refers!!!

 

dyke

A word used to refer to Lesbians. Originally meant to be a slur, it has been "reclaimed" by many Lesbians who might use it to identify themselves of other Lesbians. It is considered rude to use the word "Dyke" unless you self-identify as one. 

So -and I know how indefinitely unlikely it is for this to happen on a train simulator forum- someone referring to themselves could have the word blanked out?!!! More to the point, how is one supposed to model Dyke or Dyke Junction in a politically correct manner?! And what about residents of Devil's Dyke or Gilberdyke?! (Okay, so my tongue was located in my left cheek there...) 

Sigh... I'm tired. Ranting about a single word in the English language at great length simply because Dovetail Games seemingly feel they have to blank it out on their train simulator forum... whatever next? Ranting about a single syllable? Ranting about a single letter?!

Or maybe language is just evolving as it always does and I'm too stuck in a multitude of decades before the one I was born in to keep up...

 

EDIT: I now see that RMweb has blocked an alternate spelling of Dyke, that with an 'I' replacing the 'y'. Now, this I initially understood as the altered spelling appeared to only be listed with the derogatory and offensive version of the term, but then I looked further and realised that the altered spelling also applied to the 'proper' version!!! So different forums can't even standardise on which spelling of the word 'Dyke' is offensive!!! Interestingly, the plural isn't blocked, so it's seemingly alright to offend one person but not several people!!!! This is driving me ridiculously senile, entirely out of proportion with the word and the way I've used it... I hear people talking about the destruction, twisting, misappropriation, alteration, etc, of language and usually just comment that 'language evolves', but when it comes to not being able to refer to something perfectly decent online where another word is sometimes impossible to substitute... I don't know.

 

Here endeth the rant, finally!

Edited November 12, 2018 by sem34090

[Regularity]

It’s more commonly used in the USA.

It features quite often in Tom Sharpe’s novel, “Wilt”, which dates from 1976, as a term of abuse levelled at an American character by her husband.

[Skinnylinny]

The word has definitely been used as a homophobic insult for many years. What you're referring to (especially in the concept of Gilberdyke) is also known as the Scunthorpe Problem, but no, I can confirm that the word you refer to has long been (and is often still used - I've heard it used myself!) as a homophobic slur. You must be very lucky never to have come across it in that context.

[sem34090]

Ah, well that explains my having not heard it used in that context!

Once again, it seems that tiredness has caused my writing of a load of waffling semi-comprehensible rubbish! Oh well, though I will add that should anyone be offended by the comments above then I apologise, though this time I shan't be removing the comment because it has been commented on and as such to remove it would confuse matters.

[TurboSnail]

Might be veering a bit close to off-topic, but this is an interesting video on how such filters can work, with a few slightly 'strong language' jokes thrown in for good measure, so be warned:

 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CcZdwX4noCE

[Edwardian]

Evidently you were the victim of an automatic prude.

 

Just be thankful you don't live in Chorlton-@!*/&!-Hardy.

Edited November 13, 2018 by Edwardian

[sem34090]

The word has definitely been used as a homophobic insult for many years. What you're referring to (especially in the concept of Gilberdyke) is also known as the Scunthorpe Problem, but no, I can confirm that the word you refer to has long been (and is often still used - I've heard it used myself!) as a homophobic slur. You must be very lucky never to have come across it in that context.

My apologies, Linny - I must have posted my last post at the same time as you posted yours. I must, indeed, be lucky to have not heard the word used in that way. Thinking about the whole thing now that I'm actually awake and vaguely capable of logical thought, something I will add to my thoughts is that actually I find it very sad that an insulting definition of a word has come to be seen as the primary one, clearly that use of the word is more common than I thought, and that is saddening on both the level that I was ranting about and on the level that people are still being insulted in that way.

 

Anyway, I guess that as much as these conversations are interesting and thought provoking, this is a railway modelling forum, and this is not Castle Aching!!! However, I am more than happy with interesting and thought provoking discussion taking place here.

 

Edit: May I also clarify that I am most certainly not endorsing of homophobia, as I can see some people perhaps interpreting my comments in that way, even though I actually meant them in the opposite way.

Edited November 13, 2018 by sem34090

[Skinnylinny]

Might be veering a bit close to off-topic, but this is an interesting video on how such filters can work, with a few slightly 'strong language' jokes thrown in for good measure, so be warned:

 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CcZdwX4noCE

 

I have to say, I always rather enjoy Tom Scott's videos on Youtube - they're well-thought-out and interesting and I usually end up learning something I would never have researched! I can also highly recommend his videos "Internationalising Code" (for which you don't need to be a programmer to understand it) and The Problem with Time & Timezones to give a good feel for what might, on the surface, seem like simple problems but have layers of complexity just under the surface.

 

Aaaanyway... Going back to the topic...

[sem34090]

Aaaanyway... Going back to the topic...

Erm... Can someone remind me exactly what the topic is again?

[BlueLightning]

Aaaanyway... Going back to the topic...

 

Do we have too????

 

Just want to also add my praise for the videos by Tom Scott!! One of my favourite YouTubers. I have seen all his videos, and instantly knew what Tom's link was without even pressing it.

 

Anyway, sorry SEM, we can go back on topic now!!

 

Gary

Edited November 13, 2018 by BlueLightning