MrWolf

Dang, I was desperately trying to remember that line! Can anyone smell Elderberries?

Or to microwave a Rustlers cheeseburger because they are totally baked and got the munchies. They don't call them garages anymore because they don't fix cars, or sell parts, or brake fluid etc. They're just a miniature Tesco that sells petrol. A friend got a part time job to pay his way through university as a "parts advisor" at a major car parts and accessories outlet (Or Chav's toyshop as we called it) we would often go in and ask for stupid things like a radiator hose for a 1966 VW Beetle ( they were of course, air cooled) as he freely admitted he'd never so much as sat behind the wheel of a car, let alone have any idea what made cars work.

That's always been my philosophy and how I feel like I have learned much more than I did at university. If it's scrap anyway, why feel any trepidation over pulling something apart? You will either fix this one or learn what to do with the next one.

As for the who put the bop question, crucially, who put the ram in the ramalamadingdong? If so, was the ram organically farmed by a couple of ex graphic designers? As for TRAIN station, I'm sticking with it being a searing indictment of the state of the British education system, who state: "It doesn't matter if the words are spelt wrongly or used incorrectly as long as they get the message across." Which is why you get such things as "were?" Instead of "where?" Or "there" instead of. "their". Such things are only an indicator of much greater issues. This country has truly gone to s@%# in the last 50 years. I wasn't around in the 50s/60s, so all I have seen is steady, inexorable decline. If you say anything, you get beaten with the "extremist" stick!

Here's one for you: Why is it that what we all knew as a RAILWAY station has become constantly referred to as a TRAIN station? When did that start? It's a pet hate of my other half and she's only 25, so it's not some grumpy old bloke thing. When she hears the phrase (or "train tracks") she usually responds with: "What are we? Six years old?!!" Discuss.

No, I don't. Er indoors may have the holy hand grenade of Antioch though. I realised that I was no longer in the kingdom of Arthur though when the cast iron sign at the end of the platform said: GWR. NONE SHALL PASS! (Penalty forty shillings or Frenchmen hurling insults at thee)

As long as it isn't L@@K! Shrubbery made with Britains plastic trees - RARE!!!!

In which case this Wolf (yes, my actual name and I have learned to make the most of it!) is one lucky dog. Although I have to put up with even more records /CDs, rusty bicycles, antique weapons, woodwind instruments and vintage designer clothes.

We are the Knights of Ni! You have uttered the word L@@K! It is a word the Knights of Ni! Cannot hear!! (Dies...)

Oh gawd not this debate again!

There's a good result! Lockdown clearly hasn't driven model railway fans totally nuts.

I'm not sure it is even possible to have too many wagons. This is a philosophy that I also apply to ancient motorcycles, records and CDs, art materials, scruffy pairs of Levis, tea bags.... The list goes on quite a bit.

So if I can manage to put it diplomatically without going off into some obscure piece of humour / scathing comment / outright stand up, point and laugh routine... The price being asked is somewhat optimistic? Damn it. I can't do it! Is he hoping to reel in some schmuck of a collector with more money than sense who has got to have it no matter what the price thereby falsely inflating the perceived value ceiling of mass produced 1950s toys as a precursor to selling more of his stock at similarly inflated prices in a type of investment quality collectors item gold rush that we have seen so many times before as witnessed some years ago amongst the classic car fraternity... (pause for breath) That's better, I'm going for a lie down. Miss Riding Hood! Be a dear and fetch me my pills....

The hammer finally fell at £451.00. Holy pot metal Batman! I bet the seller wishes that the pubs were open!

If the motor won't start by itself in a no-load condition then it's pretty much F.U.B.A.R. I don't suppose for a moment that it can be dismantled and checked. I wasn't aware that anyone had produced a locomotive drive County class 4-4-0. What make is it?

Desperately trying to find a peaceful use for the atomic bomb, Robert Oppenheimer turned to model railways, with as you can see, mixed results...

The problem with your County sounds to me like one related to the motor starting circuit. I don't pretend to know a great deal about the electronic side, but a motor that is a lazy starter can be tested by applying power straight to the brushes / solid state pickups. If the motor starts instantly you need to look elsewhere. If the motor is sluggish it can be down to worn or sticking brushes, worn bearings, burned / scored commutator or a partial breakdown of the windings. Often with motors designed to start on minimal current there will be a shunt circuit of one or more capacitors which allow a soft start. If these break down the motor needs a bump start every time it is used, because the capacitor gets hot and fails.

If it wasn't for the lockdown, you could write the description up something like: Rare! Until the model railway exhibitions start up again and you'll find one in every £2 bin... I have to admit that it is rare though. Rare to see anyone asking £25 for a bit of dog-eared old Superquick.

Demolishing everything and having a single godless plastic bus shelter would solve the GWR paint supply issue, but at the price of depression and boredom brought on by running a prototypical one per hour rattler service

You're right, we did. It's been relisted. Clearly someone didn't get the hint that it's overpriced junk.

Now THAT'S a proper engine.

My inner cynic says that was thrown in with a job lot of secondhand trains.

I had presumed that the main building was scratchbuilt using a few proprietary components, so a job well done!

The price tag suppressed any interest I might have had. Not that long ago though, back in the 90s I had a 1953 Vauxhall Velox, according to my neighbour, every time I drove past his satellite dish it "#@%&s up Sky sports" I called it a result.

You have another fan of proper creosote right here. I have for years been slightly confused also the idea that unleaded petrol is somehow safer and cleaner than traditional four star. Tetraethyl lead has been demonised, why? Because Joe dimwit KNOWS lead is bad. We've then removed the nasties from paint and aerosols etc. But it's fine to dump benzene butane toluene xylene et al into petroleum to up the octane (but not enough) and call it a green fuel. I have worked with benzene in particular and it's nasty stuff. So I really don't see the big issue with creosote. Give it 20 years or so and "they" will probably be telling you that smoking is good for you. If it suits their purposes and makes them rich of course!