big jim

I got confused with the different planning rules etc on our local council website, filled out an ‘enquiry form’ to see whether I needed planning permission to convert my garage etc, only to discover I’d filled out some sort of building regulation form that’s now cost me £440 for the building regs people to visit and sign off/check things during the conversion As I put in another thread and ‘chris p bacon’ has given very good advice about it (listen to him!) I’ve got no issue paying the £440 so the job is done right and I’m in the clear of i ever come to sell the house but to a ‘lay man’ like myself the website wasn’t clear that I was being directed to a pretty much ‘legally binding’ document that I’ve been warned that if I don’t pay, even if I don’t go ahead with the plan the council could sent the debt to the bailiffs!

Did the side grille (on one side) And attached New grille Blanked off 1/2 a bodyside grille and added the cant rail grilles Filled the old fan void with smart putty as well as the old exhaust and around the edge of the 1/2 grille which I’m hoping will run down to a nice smooth finish Drilled a hole for the 3rd light I happen to have a few Bachmann class 66 light assemblies that fit in nicely Light guide poking through And inside Then before I came back indoors I sculpted a wipac light assembly, I’ll check it size wise against some shawplan ones I have (somewhere!) Another grille to do the other side then rub down the putty before a coat of primer i recon

Just one from this morning, 97s in Basford hall having arrived in from tallerddig Same again tonight

No probs, just had a look in the NRM lt ed thread and rails say the bells aren’t included on the standard release so it looks like you do have to shell out for them I think I may be able to live without! I did see the shop bell and gloss and had a chuckle to myself

It was actually a serious question, are there any bells and brackets inside the box? Would be a shame if the bells are not part of the standard model and you have to shell out extra for them from rails

Does the model come with ‘plastic’ brass bells or nothing at all?

My shed is a custom built 12x6 building with minimal glazing for security etc, see the thread below for a footing up build, the building cost me £550 iirc including them erecting it, took them all of 30 mins including getting it off the van! http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/69543-big-jims-roundy-roundy-shed-layout-trains-running-again/?fromsearch=1 As it happens I’ve just decided in the last 2 weeks to move into the garage and start afresh with a new layout, and as the building is now going to be a ‘habitable room’ I have all the joys of building regs to work to as I will be having a new roof and bi fold doors fitted as well as lining out and plasterboarding etc Regards the shed, you can see it was started in November 2013 when I lined it out and insulated it all round, the only maintainance I’ve really had to do was nail down the roof felt when it ripped but at the same time I fitted corolux bitumen sheets over the top too to futher protect the wood Electricity was fitted last year (also to the garage), running from a secondary consumer unit in the garage, drilled through the wall and sealed with expanding foam Hope my thread is if some help to you

That’s a bargain, I got one off them at their stall at Stafford show that they had futher reduced to £75, it’s currenly sat in my workbench, stripped and part way through becoming a GBRf 73/9 Tempted by another one though to become it’s sister!

Oh god, don’t start the steam vs Diesel, which sells best debate too!

Sorry it’s gonna be ‘normal’ GBRF livery, thing is like most things test trainy I really need 2 of them!

Couple of hours on the 73 earlier, the main area of work is actually the roof as you need to add an exhaust and new fan as well as blocking off the old ones The exhaust is a cut down Bachmann class 66 one mounted on a piece of plasticard and the fannis actually a shawplan etch, don’t know what it’s off but it fits nice The fan is also sat on plasticard with a recessed shaped piece over the top but slightly below the roofline as there is then a piece of etch grille over the top of that too! Need to blank off the old exhaust, going to do that with a thin piece of plasticard over the whole roof panel between the exhaust and fan I’ve also made the grille holes bigger on both sides, ready for the replacement panel to sit over, thankfully on the real thing it’s not flush so it’s just a case of another piece of plasticard over the top with the holes cut into it Then it’s onto the front for the wipac and roof lights which I’m hoping to get working

Only took 2 pics today Carnforth loop waiting to head south And into Basford hall, parked up and shut down

Just couldn’t be bothered getting down to do it! It does cause issues though if it’s as in the picture it’s away from the platform and there is an open running line next to the train

Despite having a load of unfinished projects on the go and bits lay around to start other jobs I have decided to start something new! Got this from Stafford show from modellers Mecca for £75 And stripped a couple of days in dilute IPA and a quick scrub down ready to be turned into a GBRf 73/9, I was going to have a go at the RVEL ‘minion’ 73 but that involves a lot lot more work Marked up roughly what needs doing and it’s not too much really Basically reduce the size of one grille, increase the size of another and one extra grille and add a fan and exhaust to the roof as well as half a dozen grilles which are similar to EWS class 56 cant line grilles, one of the biggest (but also the most subtle) changes I spotted is the raised guttering along the bodyside is totally removed on the real thing between the cabs The end needs wipac lights adding and moving round the multi cables a bit

Well it looks like the above plan is going ahead but not as quick as i hoped, the roofer is booked and the bi-fold doors have been delivered tonat least get the garage conversion started once the weather improves but the internals such as the lining out/ insulation and plasterboarding will have to wait a bit longer as the money I put aside for that has gone on a ‘new’ car instead Layout wise that means that this layout will stop being worked on any more but at the moment it won’t be dismantled so I can still play trains for a good while and use the shed as a workspace etc, once the garage is complete then the layout will be dismantled and I will start in something new but realistically I can’t see that happening for a good 6 to 9 months yet When I do get round to it I have an available space of 12 x 13 ft at my disposal

Didn’t bother with many pics last night, carlisle to stoke at 30mph track recording!! 37116 Op stop at oxenholme, 37421 leading Then More stops at Lancaster and Preston, no pics as it was a chance to get a bit of sleep for a couple of hours before heading onward to crewe and stoke 421 on the rear again before I turned the tail lights on, I was going to put a flashing one on but annoyingly this loco only has one lamp bracket! 116 leading away And that was it for pics as the battery went on the phone Back in later at hest bank on a rail drop train

up until you mentioned it ive never heard anyone describe 'barmouth' as north wales! i suppose if the current geography of the railway was different then i may think of it more as being in 'the north' , for example if going to barmouth you could still access the cambrian line via the north wales coast, caernarfon and pen-y-chain or via the dee valley route from ruabon to morfa mawddach (which i'd loved to have done) then it may feel more like north wales but as the current route takes you through 'the middle of wales' it feels like your in mid wales, almost in the back of beyond but in reality you are only just over an hour or so by road from the cheshire/shropshire border (at the right time of day of course!) certainly as someone born in north wales (wrexham) and raised in llwyngwril, mold and bala they all feel like 3 separate distinct 'regions' not all 'north wales' it amazes me when you see holiday makers on the train going to butlins at pwllheli who have travelled from the likes of liverpool and have been travelling for 5 hours plus liverpool, crewe, shrewsbury, machynlleth, pwllheli etc, its a lot easier to go via bangor and get a bus, similarly by road the one time we stayed in portmadog our sat nav sent me crewe to there via the A55, caernarfon, dinas etc rather than via 'mid wales' (corwen, bala, ffestiniog etc)

Andone who happens to be in nantwich might want a look in the blue cross charity shop, someone has donated a load of steam era stock and locos Hornby ‘boxed set’ with Pullman’s, BoB loco, track, controller etc £185 Hornby Black 5 BRM ltd ed £85 Bachmann ‘evening star’ £99 Maroon Mk1s £20 Pines express coach pack £45 Hornby City of Coventry ‘duchess’ £80 Plus more bits of Hornby rolling stock, Dapol wagons etc Looks to be older versions of Hornby rolling stock mainly butbthere might be something of interest to someone (evening star seems a reasonable price to me)

You might want to swap the 3rd word for ‘now’!

Looking at the thread title I thought it was futher discussion about MK3 lower body colours!! (The clip is very funny too)

To top off my £100 off the bifold doors I managed last week I also managed to get £500 off a car I bought thanks to ‘best offer’ so I’m more than happy sellers use it!

To me Barmouth is mid wales, my ‘border’ starts north of portmadog, goes south of Blaenau and betws y coed over to corwen then across the mountains towards Oswestry! Having gone to school In Bala i always classed that as mid wales, similarly when I visit my mum in llwyngwril were ‘off to mid wales’ even Welshpool to me is mid wales despite being practically Shropshire! Quite where i’d class Llandrindod wells as being is a bit of a dark area, mid wales maybe? Might have a look at the book for a pressie for my dad

Much like my Citroen C2 that I asked my wife to put up on Facebook for £500 ono First message received “what would you say if I said I’d give you £100?” Answer, you don’t wanna know what I’d say but the 2nd word is ‘off’

Only one pic from today, a bit fuller than yesterday, 97s in Basford hall yard again, that’s it for the Cambrian this week ,carlisle to crewe tomorrow at 30mph all the way!

That’s exactly what I thought would happen, my ‘idea/plan’ on file until whenever I chose to get the guy in for the first visit, paying up front just before, if it didn’t go ahead then no fees to pay as no visits undertaken