On my Workbench

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Blink Bonny
LNER A4 4-6-2 'Streak'
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Re: An Atlantic is born!!!!!

Post by Blink Bonny »

Oh, before I forget, handrails are now complete on the Atlantic. Currently trying to remember where I put my table vice. May have to spend money to make some footsteps.

Oh, God!! The Wallet has left home and gone feral......
If I ain't here, I'm in Bilston, scoffing decent chips at last!!!!
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Blink Bonny
LNER A4 4-6-2 'Streak'
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Re: Eating my own words!!

Post by Blink Bonny »

Ay up!

For years now I've been comparing the Triang X04 to a Rover V8 - the cheapest form of abundant power available. Until today, I've always found them reliable.

So there I am, fitting a smoke unit to a B12 and replacement element to a Jinty. All went well until testing. Then I discovered that each of the motors had a duff winding. So then I tested a Brit that I have a smoke unit on order for. Guess what? Another X04 with a duff winding!

So I dug through my spares box and found three good runners, so I dug out my worm gear puller with the thought of changing the worms over.

Then..... the flaming worm puller would not fit behind the worm so I had to go on the jolly old Bay of Evil to order one.

So now I hear the Wallet growling and preparing to attack.

With a bit of luck, the new vice will be here tomorrow so I get busy on those steps.
If I ain't here, I'm in Bilston, scoffing decent chips at last!!!!
deltico12
GER J70 0-6-0T Tram
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Re: Returning to the fold.....

Post by deltico12 »

notascoobie wrote: Wed Nov 02, 2016 8:40 am
Atlantic 3279 wrote:I'm glad I'm not the only one to have noticed the uselessness of the Police in respect of enforcement of most laws, yet if I happen to be in a hurry (usually only because I've been held up by various time-wasters) on virtually empty rural roads around here I have to keep a constant look-out for Lincolnshire's Road Gestapo. I think they should be let loose on some proper fast-roads like the M40 as they could fix the shortfall in the county's policing budget in just a few hours!
An interesting observation. IIRC Lincolnshire's "virtually empty rural roads" host a high death rate from RTAs which is among the highest per capita in England. Speed is one of the contributory factors........
A lot of the time it is not speed that causes accidents but the inability of some drivers not able to read the road ahead, behind and either side of them.Hence why they cannot stop in time if someone pulls out or steps out in front of them. You could be doing only 20mph in a 30mph limit but if someone pulls out of aside road or steps off the footpath at the last second as you get to them and you hit them because you did not anticipate their action, if you hit them there is a good chance you will kill them. It also helps if you can be a mind reader.I have always known the roads of Lincolnshire as "Bandit country".Worst county to drive in for police action. mind you,back in 2011 all the police speed cameras were removed.Have they been put back yet?
Graeme Leary
GNR C1 4-4-2
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Re: Eating my own words!!

Post by Graeme Leary »

A gripping series of posts and replies but please tell me (as a NZr who visits the UK annually) which Bilston has these fantastic fish and ships that Blink Bonny ended his earlier postings with reference to? My (1998) AA Large road map tells me there's a Bilston in Midlothian (unlikely I know - as I thought up there they just did deep fried Mars Bars) and West Midlands with no mention of Yorkshire, where I had always understood the 'best' fish and chips came from!

I need to plan this year's trip around this highly appealing (but not promoted that I've ever seen) hotbed of British culture.

Graeme
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Kestrel
NER C7 4-4-2
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Re: Eating my own words!!

Post by Kestrel »

Didn't a chippy in Scarborough recently receive an award for the best fish and chips?
Hatfield Shed
LNER A4 4-6-2 'Streak'
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Re: Eating my own words!!

Post by Hatfield Shed »

Best fish and chips I have ever had was at 'No 15' in Solva, Dyfed; located right on the quay of this tiny and lovely harbour. Key factors:
Saw the fish landed as we walked toward the shop, and twenty five minutes later it was served.
The chips were being cut as we arrived and came from a field just up the road.
The weather smiled on us with a beautiful autumn sunset lighting the gorgeous scenery as we ate our meal.
It certainly didn't hurt that the lady owning the shop and her assistant were both fit to appear on the cover of Vogue or similar glossies.
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manna
LNER A4 4-6-2 'Streak'
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Re: Eating my own words!!

Post by manna »

Hatfield Shed wrote: Wed Jan 03, 2018 11:19 am Best fish and chips I have ever had was at 'No 15' in Solva, Dyfed; located right on the quay of this tiny and lovely harbour. Key factors:
Saw the fish landed as we walked toward the shop, and twenty five minutes later it was served.
The chips were being cut as we arrived and came from a field just up the road.
The weather smiled on us with a beautiful autumn sunset lighting the gorgeous scenery as we ate our meal.
It certainly didn't hurt that the lady owning the shop and her assistant were both fit to appear on the cover of Vogue or similar glossies.
G'Day Gents

Makes you wonder, why were they working (owning) a chip shop ??????

manna
EDGWARE GN, Steam in the Suburbs.
Graeme Leary
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Re: Eating my own words!!

Post by Graeme Leary »

Heathrow to Solva, then across to Scarborough - should be a challenging day's driving hot off a 28 hour flight from New Zealand but not beyond the realms of possibility. (A quick peruse of said ancient road map indicates about 450-500 miles - might be necessary to break the journey)!

I suppose it's pretty cliched but my best previous fish and chips have probably been at Whitby with a couple of places in deepest Cornwall doing a great job too (from memory St Ives and Boscastle) and a feed on Orkney earlier this year was not too bad either.

Graeme
Hatfield Shed
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Re: Eating my own words!!

Post by Hatfield Shed »

manna wrote: Wed Jan 03, 2018 8:54 pm Makes you wonder, why were they working (owning) a chip shop ?
Straightforward lifestyle choice, he was a fisherman, she wanted a traditional country upbringing for their children.
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Blink Bonny
LNER A4 4-6-2 'Streak'
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Re: Eating my own words!!

Post by Blink Bonny »

Ay up!

Wombourne chippy in, err.... Wombourne is the best round here in the West Midlands. Their haddock is the only non cat food our cat will deign to eat!

For those wondering, I live in Wolverhampton in the West Midlands. A culinary and cultural desert.....
If I ain't here, I'm in Bilston, scoffing decent chips at last!!!!
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Blink Bonny
LNER A4 4-6-2 'Streak'
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Re: On my Workbench

Post by Blink Bonny »

Ay up!

Progress on the Atlantic. And a lesson.
Ready for snagging.jpg
1st off, the Atlantic ready for a long snagging list. there is still a persistent short on the front driving axle, I suspect material needs to be removed from inside the splasher. this could be fraught! Wish me luck. 2ndly, the frames beneath the cylinders are too deep and need trimming to allow some bogie swing at least, not that there will be much. 3rdly, cylinder cladding needs to be made and fitted. 4thly, I really DO need to junk those handrails! 5th, fit the footsteps. Then order filler in bulk!

Anyway, steps. They can be a bugbear. If you have a proprietary loco then they may well be available as spares from Bachmann or Hornby and for surprisingly little cost. If not, or you are looking a loco like this Atlantic with longer than normal steps, then scratch building is the only way. Handy stuff, scratch, you can make anything from it.....
Raw materials.jpg
Brass sheet is the basic raw material. IIRC, this is 20 thou, easily cut with decent scissors. On the right is some shim brass, but I found a better way.
Step shaping.jpg
When you have an original (Gods only know what happened to the other one!) then this solves one problem. Simply draw round the original and cut the sheet roughly to shape, leaving an area top and bottom for the bottom step and a "Land" for attachment.
Steps finished.jpg
Then finally solder on some strip to form the middle step.

For fixing to the loco, I would normally use solder but the footplate casting on this kit is very brittle. I had planned to cut strips from the shim brass but instead found some flexxxxxy phosphor bronze strip so I soldered a piece of that onto the top of the step to be fixed with epoxy.

Now, guess who has no epoxy and lives in a town blighted with a Premiership football team? Yup me, so into Town on Monday to buy some.
If I ain't here, I'm in Bilston, scoffing decent chips at last!!!!
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Blink Bonny
LNER A4 4-6-2 'Streak'
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Re: On my Workbench

Post by Blink Bonny »

Ay up!

I also realised I had forgotten to post about the scratch cab and chassis extensions on this loco. So here we go!
Cab templates.jpg
More templates.jpg
Here are pics of the card templates. I prepared these from a combination of the Roche drawing and the original parts where they survived! The shapes were then transferred onto sheet brass, cut out and fettled to shape. Holes drilled for handrails and now the cab is mounted to the loco. Once the cab interior is painted, I will add Liquid Glazing to the spectacles.
If I ain't here, I'm in Bilston, scoffing decent chips at last!!!!
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Blink Bonny
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Re: On my Workbench

Post by Blink Bonny »

Oh, and as for the lesson?

in the background can be seen 3717 City of Truro. This was one of 2 GWR engines I bought cheaply on the Bay of Evil. Both are based on Airfix kits, the 56xx on a Triang Jinty chassis with bodywork modded from a 61xx kit. The City's chassis is entirely scratchbuilt, using Ks wheels, plastikard main frames and a tender drive unit fretted out from thick fibre and a Ks motor and wheels.

The lesson is this. I put a very low bid on them and won! However, the locos were much more interesting when they arrived than I had thought and a bargain at £35 for the pair, plus 3 Churchward tenders!!
If I ain't here, I'm in Bilston, scoffing decent chips at last!!!!
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Blink Bonny
LNER A4 4-6-2 'Streak'
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Re: On my Workbench

Post by Blink Bonny »

Ay up!

Normally I would not share this but thought it worthwhile.

My regular readers (if there are any left!) will know that, for the past couple of years, I have been battling depression and today I found 3 tangible symbols of just how far I let things slide before seeking help.

My project box contains a number of part finished items but I have removed 3 today for a modicum of effort.

1: a Jinty. K's body on a High Level chassis which I was certain was a non-runner. Examination revealed a piece of ballast gumming up the compensation so remove that and a drop of oil and we have a runner.

2: a scratchbuilt Crab. I bought 3 scratchbuilt locos many years ago from a club stand, a Compound, Crab and 2-6-4T of vaguely Stanier outline. The Compound has been a runner for years now but the Crab? Always had a short. Guess my reaction when I found the pickups rubbing on the backs of the uninsulated wheels.......

Oh, and the tanky? New motor and gearbox required but the wheels, which I had condemned, are perfectly serviceable. Although I may interrogate the motor. What's the betting I've messed up the connections?

3: a Railroad 9F. This was one of 3 locos I took as payment for services rendered. What this guy did to his engines, I know not. The Hornby 4MT 4-6-0 was minus its tender bulkhead and it's pipework, the Bachmann 4MT 2-6-0 the rear half of its cab roof and the 9F was a chassis with 10 drivers, a motor and gears with a body on it, minus the rear half of the cab floor. This has now replacement valve gear and appeared to have been condemned because of a loose crank pin.

All had seemed beyond me and the cause of further depression.

Guys, don't be numpties. Know the symptoms. When you lose interest in things you enjoy, this is usually the 1st sign of serious depression. GET HELP!
If I ain't here, I'm in Bilston, scoffing decent chips at last!!!!
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Atlantic 3279
LNER A4 4-6-2 'Streak'
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Re: On my Workbench

Post by Atlantic 3279 »

Having been there to some extent myself, for various reasons, I completely agree and it's good to know that you can now see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Most subjects, models and techniques covered in this thread are now listed in various categories on page1

Dec. 2018: Almost all images that disappeared from my own thread following loss of free remote hosting are now restored.
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