SRman

Back in the earlier 1960s, I used to get regular trips in West Sussex County Council Bedfords, again in their dull blue scheme, on weekly school trips to the swimming pool in Haslett Avenue, Crawley. We could get either or both Bedford OB or SB models. Even as a youngster I found them amazingly primitive compared the LTs RT and RF families on our regular bus routes.

Quick question: for those using the Heljan 33/1 and the KErnow TC in push mode, what couplings are you using between loco and unit? I was thinking of permanently fitting Kadees to one of my 33/1 locos and allocating it to the blue TC as a semi-permanent set, but am open to other suggestions and others' experiences with their units (mine is just on its way so probably won't be here for a few weeks yet).

But what if, like me, you are going to the "OTHER" place?

That seems to be a problem with the architecture of the decoders and how they handle the sounds, rather than a speaker problem. I have several electric locos and units with sound, and while I generally like them, they mostly lack the whine of the traction motors, and even if they do have the whine, they lack synchronisation with track speed. That seems to be impossible to arrange entirely satisfactorily, from what I have seen and heard so far.

I prefer the Black Beetle over the SPUDs, although I have tried a few SPUDs over the years. The only one that I found ran really well, very smoothly and quietly, was one in a London Transport 1938 stock kit I built ... unfortunately, it was built for someone else, so wasn't mine!

Ahhh yes, fencing wire. I used to keep a coil in the boot when bush-bashing in the old days! Very useful for getting one out of the odd scrapes.

Was that in shades of black, Peter?

Incidentally, snakes cannot hear. They do sense vibrations; in fact, they are very sensitive to vibrations, so if one walks heavily while bush walking, the chances are the snakes will clear off the path before one gets to them. However, snakes can get a bit territorial during mating season. I found this with some blue-bellied black snakes when I was camping along the Condamine River in western Queensland. They would attack if anyone approached within about 20 feet of them. I later identified them as being Small Scaled Snakes (also known as Inland or Western Taipans), THE most venomous of all snakes. I also encountered quite a few red bellied black snakes, a very common type which, while venomous, is generally quite placid and not known to have killed anyone.

All of Australia's venomous snakes are elapids, which means their fangs are at the fronts of their mouths, which allows them to deliver the venom very efficiently when they bite. However, not all Australian snakes are venomous; the pythons are constrictors, and our local versions include (common names) the carpet snake and the diamond python. A bite from a python is not venomous or lethal, but can still make one ill due to the bacteria in their mouths. Likewise the bite from a goanna can make one ill. For spiders, the white tail spider has also gained a reputation for causing a lot of damage to those who have been bitten.

Hi Peter. Thanks for the bits and pieces you gave me today. Doug did a bit of Google searching and we worked out that the etched brass clerestory mail van is a Great Western vehicle from around 1898 or so. 247 Developments have the sides listed and may possibly have other related bits for the vehicle, but I haven't yet looked through the lists. It will make an interesting coach for my pre-grouping trains if I can get it built.

I did eventually. I should have gone with my instincts and loosened the fixing screw but didn't until much later. We live and learn! Thanks for asking, 71H.

I only found this out after I damaged one of the locating pins on mine!

The red names and numbers on the saddle tanks come off easily with T-cut,with no damage to the underlying paintwork. I can't say the same for any cabside markings.

An earlier photo of the kind of "assistance" I was getting! And a few others to show what they look like. One-handed typing is not that easy - neither am I good at it!! Edit: p.s. Keep these away from your budgie!

I know you have probably already investigated this, but it really sounds to me like the bogie movement is being restricted, particularly in the up and down plane, but also possibly any vertical movement when the bogies shift horizontally (I'm not sure I have explained that well). Try pushing each bogie sideways then move them up and down while holding them to the side. Then try the same thing with them turned slightly. See if any components are snagging or raised slightly to prevent the vertical movement. I have memories of a Bachmann class 66 doing much the same as you described; there were two mechanisms combining to cause the effect. One was the centre axle being slightly lower mounted than the outer axles (I'll go no further with that because that cannot occur on a Bo-Bo); the second was a small separate fitting on the inner end of one of the inner end of one bogie that was attached too high, so fouled the body side when the bogie pivoted. A file fixed that! 3..........3 Edit: Sorry. Small kitt en assisting mbe with typing!

I received my Holland Afrika Line yesterday. It ran beautifully straight out of the box, but I agree with comments about the sound not suiting the MN/WC/BoB. However, I think it would better suit a two cylinder type, so will contemplate transferring the sound decoder and speaker into something suitable, like a T9 or a BR Standard - the whistle may be more appropriate for the latter. The model itself is superb, and puts my kit-built one in its place. I may experiment with different speakers too - even the best sound decoders often need something different from the originally supplied speakers to get the best out of the loaded sounds.

It will just give them that extra 'glow'!

In the early days of class 444, they were tested and run between two class 450 units, making 13 car trains. This was at a time when they weren't allowed to be driven on the main lines.

DJ Models have a small industrial in the pipeline too; a Hudswell-Clarke 0-6-0. While a bit larger than the PEcketts, that also would fit into the scenarios described in earlier posts.

I went onto Hornby's Facebook page to make one suggestion (in addition to complimenting them on doing some more): that is, to make the whistles more robust. Even one of the pictures in the blog shows a Peckett with the whistle leaning forwards. I have all three of the original releases and have had to replace two of the whistles, and I am by no means the only person to have had the problem. In all other respects they are really excellent models.

Yes. I was on a Biology excursion to the mud flats at Wellington Point, south east of Brisbane, many years ago. We saw many eels and crabs, mud skippers and lots of shellfish. One of the guys on the excursion picked up a bivalve shell and opened, gave a sharp gasp and snapped it shut again. It contained a blue ringed octopus. The shell, compete with octopus was taken back to Queensland University's biology department and placed in the seaquarium (a salt water aquarium). Two or three days later, there was not only the original blue ringed octopus swimming around, but lots of tiny little blue ringed octopi as well!

A friend's 10 year old was trying to get a photo of an emu. The emu kept advancing on him, so he would step backwards, and the emu would follow. He eventually went backwards over a log and into a ditch, to the amusement of all the rest of us watching him!

You could try a good cutting polish, such as T-cut.

... except on DC!

If you place a point (turnout) and a Toad at the bottom when you do jump, you could be said to be hitting the frog and toad! Sorry, I'll get me hat and coat ...