Claude_Dreyfus

Progress on the little engine shed on my 'lockdown layout'. Since it was last seen, the height has been reduced by 3mm and the width increased by 4mm. It is also sited on a new 'concrete' hardstanding (actually made from balsa, coated with pollyfilla), which helps with the height. The hardstanding still requires extra texturing, as well as the shed needing to be bedded in. The door to the lean-to needs a step. It is built from 20 thou plasticard, with the roof panels made from tin foil embossed by rolling a screwdriver handle. The main doors are made from the same 20 thou plasticard, with some Slaters planking plasticard mounted on the front. The framing on the doors is made from microstrip. The windows and lean-to door are from a Pikestuff kit. The main body of the structure is painted with a blend of Railmatch Concrete and Falcon Grey. The main shed roof is meant to have been recently replaced, so hasn't rusted and deteriorated as much as the lean-to. Still a few bits of detailing to do, but nearly there.

Not too much progress now, as work unfortunately gets in the way! There has been some gradual progress on my little lockdown layout project, with extra colours going down, and work starting on the buildings. There will be number of handbuilt structures, including the loco shed for the yard shunter. The shed was initially mocked up in paper. The yard shunter is a World Craft model - a very cute little 0-4-0. The engine shed itself will be made from 20 thou plasticard. The window frames come from a Pikestuff kit. Some of the parts can be seen in this picture...still requiring a little bit of trimming...the right-hand side of the entrance was cut a little wonky. No matter, that's what files were invented for! The main part of the shed was assembled, and the lean-to office was added. The scenery around the structure is a little ropy at present...but that will be sorted out once the shed has been completed and I can bed it in. The lean-to gets its roof. The corrugated iron is simply made from kitchen foil, embossed by rolling a small screwdriver over the foil. A brief spray with undercoat to give it a little more rigidity. Hopefully there will be more progress on this structure during the week.

A little more progress on my N gauge layout; which I forgot to mention in my previous post is set in Japan. Since the last update I have started to add the base colours, as well as some Sculptamold rock faces. The ballasting is essentially complete and the town buildings have been fixed down and bedded in. I should add that it has been wired and the point motors added, but a lack of switches means they haven't been finished off yet.

A couple of pictures of an N gauge layout I am working on using nothing but things in my shed/modelling cupboard. Work started on 30th March on a baseboard I got from a friend on the off chance it may be useful one day. The raised fiddleyard was simply to try to get a little variety on the track levels....didn't want the track bed completely flat. In the end, I really didn't like the Bachmann/Farish set track on the right hand curve, so replaced with flexitrack. The buildings were just placed for location checking. The scenery starts to take shape The townscape starting to take shape. As we currently are...

I think that was 37207. It had the Cornish Rail motif and flags on its nose.

Didn't 37217 make it until the late 1990s in blue? Edit: I have a photo of it at York in the summer of 1994.

Do any of these pictures help?

That last digit looks like a 6. If so, then it could well be 50036, as that was one of two with number ending in 6 which had been refurbished by that point (the other being 006, but I am not sure when it was painted in large logo livery, or when it got the odd handrail on the cab front). 50016 was outshopped in Jan 82, but I suspect wouldn't have had time to get that mucky in a couple of weeks (if the photo was taken in late Jan 82). Edit: Just seen a picture of 50006 dated April 1982, still in all over blue.

The Victory MRC have postponed their show at Portsmouth (4-5 April) until later in the year. See their Facebook page and their exhibition thread in this area.

Worth clarifying this though. My understanding from the government press conference is insurance companies will pay out if there is some ambiguity around the interpretation, or if the policy allows to claim in the event of a government edict (as opposed to the current very strong advice). All this agreement has done remove the legal ambiguity around the advice for the purposes of claim handling. Many policies (in general) do not cover cancellation due to government restrictions or epidemics/pandemics. The government's discussions with the insurance companies has not altered where there is no cover, and as a consequence these claims (where there is an exclusion) may well not be met.

It is quite scary how the time has flown over the last 15 years...12 of which I have been a member of RMWeb and another of the "15%ers"! The site itself may have become more sophisticated over the years and grown in functionality, but it is the accumulation of 11 years (in this incarnation) of prototype photos and information, modelling and layout developments - how many top-class layouts are there now which began as a set of photos of bare baseboards or just an idea at the start of a thread? - as well as product development. We have seen new manufacturers appear (and disappear), as well as being involved in the early stages of crowd funding. Personalities have come and gone, like the aforementioned Don Bradley brought a combination of wit and wisdom (the word association game, with his verbal to-ing and fro-with Smudgeloco, was a lot of fun) as well as his inspirational work building the layout for Thabo, but many of senior users are still here. A testament to the evolution and depth of the forum. Thank you Andy and all who have made this such a valuable resource for the last 15 years...and here's to the next 15+.

They did... https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/08/coronavirus-stockpiling-supermarkets-toilet-paper-hand-gel https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-51800046

I do like that. I will be interested to see how accurate this turns out to be (no reason to suspect it won't). I passed 66718 at Crawley yard this morning, which is reflected in the RTT entry below... https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/R01148/2020-02-28/detailed

There is definitely an art to driving and operating an ice cream van. For a start they were heavy. They were full of stock, fridges, freezers, not to mention the whippy machine itself; a combination that meant some vans weighed over 3 tons at the start of the day. The whippy mix came in gallon containers, with the consistency of batter mix. We tended to carry 10-15 depending on fridge capacity. The whippy machine also made the van very top heavy (not helped by the tall fibreglass cabin with lots of windows (which made the van like a furnace in the summer)). I never tipped one over, but a colleague did coming off the Hog's Back. Our Transit vans tended to be ex rental, so had been thoroughly ragged by the time they got converted. That, combined with the weight, meant they had the acceleration and manoeuvrability of an oil tanker. The Bedfords were older, but less thrashed... The whippy machine itself was a beast. Some are electric, but ours were belt-driven directly from the engine. They operated at engine idle speed (meaning the vans engine was running all day), but you had to watch to disengage from the drive belt before you drive off. A sharp increase in engine revs could cause some damage. They also operated under quite some pressure (to get the combination of mix and air right, to give the perfect ice-cream!). You needed to release the pressure before cleaning it. Failing to do so, and releasing the T-piece in the hopper could result in said item shooting through the roof of the van, and sending a fountain of mix over you and everything else! In our vans, the chimes were provided by a small wind-up music box fixed to the dashboard, wired up to a pair of speakers fitted to the roof of the cab. My van, a C reg mark 2 Transit, serenaded the punters with something called the Tonibell Jingle. We all tried to avoid the Bedford CF2 which not only was painted pink and white, but also played the Teddy Bear's Picnic! This was the 1990s, so little bit off topic, but this thread gave the chance to wander down memory lane a bit.

I worked for an Ice Cream company based at Ash Green* back in the late 90s. Parked around the yard were a collection of old Bedford CAs and CFs (marked up as Walls), obtained locally (certainly the CAs were 1960s vintage). My first van was a 1974 Bedford CF. * Near Guildford...

A little less of the dramatic or urban, and more of the bucolic; our club's (Liphook and District MRC) 00 layout 'Titherleigh' will also be in attendance.

I'm guessing this is also the 4D56, 11.32 Biggleswade Plasmor to Heck Plasmore. Also at Doncaster, but on 9th November 2019 and behind 66135. A couple of close-ups of the wagons...in case anyone is interested.

A timely post on this thread reminds me that Friedrichstrasse's next outing is at the Victory MRC show in Portsmouth on 4/5 April.

66850 heads north through Pulborough with the 09:52 Eastleigh East Yard - Horsham, servicing the engineering works today between Horsham and Crawley. Unfortunate that the front is a little burred, camera setting not quite right.

It could be, but I don't normally see them there. The MPVs yes, but they normally share the yard with various track machines. Then again, at this time of year I normally pass Horsham yard in the dark, so it could be a regular thing. It's a good vantage point from that bridge.

Class 73 heaven! Four examples are stabled at Horsham yard earlier today (27th January). Not 100% sure why they are here, but wonder if it is connected to the line between Redhill and Tonbridge being closed. 73213 and 73201 top and tail the front train, whilst 73119 and 73212 are on the rear set. The usual fare of MPVs are scattered around, as well as a class 700 in the recently installed stabling sidings beyond.

I've seen bus drivers in Japan use the same 'point and call' procedure as well.

I have managed to find this video on Youtube of our club layout at Fareham Rotarail last year. The Brawa example is pulling out of the station at 9:00 in the video

I have the Brawa version, which is a lovely little model. It is sound fitted, and definitely looks and sounds the part. Like others here however, I do find Brawa a little delicate, and have had issues with some of their other models. I and a club colleague had their sound-fitted class 146, and we both have had issues. He's given up and flogged his...mine seems to have lost its voice so needs further attention! I recently added a DB 211 to my fleet. I had a choice. I opted for the Roco version as they are far more robust... especially for exhibition running.