Alive & Kicking

 A quick pictorial post just to prove what we have been doing.

                             

                             

And now they are both nearly finished this is what will replace them on my overcrowded workbench.

                             

Any questions please feel free to send a few comments.

HAVE A NICE DAY

 

Lizzie the Elephant wins again!!!! closely followed by The Tram

 

Yesterday we had the REAL PLEASURE of exhibiting in Swaffham Norfolk.

The local town council has a very active "Cultural Consortium" department and they had organised a  "Railway Reflections" event to commemorate the importance of the railway to the town,,,all in bygone days of course as Dr Beeching killed off most of the railways in East Anglia in the mid 1960's.

We did not know what to expect as it was not an official model railway event,,, and we were somewhat surprised to discover that the event was open to the public and it was ALSO FREE!!!!

WHAT!!! now there's a novelty.

Have we made the right decision I thought to myself in the van on the way to set up,, whatever,,, never mind we have had so few chances to do a show of late that it dosen't really matter,, lets have a good day "playing trains" and when all said and done it is only an hour away,,, which is yet another novelty.

The steam gods were with us and it became very apparent very quickly that we had definitely made the right decision.

What a lovely hall,, what a lovely bunch of people the organisers were,, not only friendly but helpful as well and I have to say that the questions and interest shown by the Swaffham public made it one of the most enjoyable show days I have ever had as an exhibitor.

Neville warmed to the occasion and graced us with his top of the range Top Hat,, it worked wonders,, he quickly recruited several under 8 trainee tram drivers who all seemed to enjoy the experience,, and the smiles on Mum Dads and proud grandparents faces make it well worth the risk every time.

Needless to say no day is perfect,,, we do keep a rough guide on which model creates the most interest and yet again Lizzie the Elephant garnered around 50% of the questions/requests closely followed by the tram at around 40%.

What do I have to do to get some interest in the railway aspects of the system,, which is approximately 95% of the total offering.

Just for the record can I say again,,, "I know nothing about trams and even less about elephants"

We even had one person ask permission to take a photo of the elephant for a friend of hers who was on holiday in France,,  apparently the text message was "whatever you do make sure you get a photo of the elephant" .

I sometimes wonder why we bother!!!

To conclude,, what a great day,, what a lovely place and to the lovely gentleman who asked all the right questions for an hour in the morning and then returned for another session in the afternoon,, we are doing Spalding in the near future,, why not come and join us,,,,we can even provide a chair.

A final shot to confirm my modelling of the tram track is not bloomin rough,, it is deadly accurate.

Broadland Model Railway Show. Hoveton Village Hall. Norwich NR12 8DU. Sunday 25th May 2025

 

Above is everything you need to know on how to come and see Salmon Pastures in the flesh.

We are exhibiting once again,, for the first time in very nearly 2 years,,, and only the second time in the last 9 years.

Crickey 2 of us had hair back then!!!

If the "significant other" insists on coming,, fear not,, you are in luck,, as you can leave her at Roys of Wroxham where she can very quickly dispose of your hard earned savings,,,, or even better you can hire a day boat and send her off on a cruise round the Norfolk Broads while you enjoy yourself watching us show just how much we have forgotten about running the layout properly in public. We can't wait.

I also attach a couple of pictures as mitigating evidence on why we have forgotten how to run the layout,,, I have been that busy trying to finish off some the "projects" that have been gathering dust on the "To Do Shelf" that we just haven't had time to play trains of late.

The track has got that dirty I can see I may have to attack it with an angle grinder if the inherited 12inch "b*st*rd" file dosen't do the trick,,, talking of cleaning track did I ever tell you about when we did a show at Barrow Hill and we were in the Deltic Society's workshop,,,, I had to clean the track that much over the 2 day show I got blisters,, and we still have some rather caustic smutty marks on the rail which just will not clean up.

The recently airborne Jersey Lily will be in evidence,,, [see above,, and how fitting with this being V.E. 80 week] along with it's brand new scratch built chassis and it might have even been weathered by then,,, along with the D2 and D21,,,, not that they need weathering but it is the easiest way of disguising my pretty average attempts at red lining a black loco,,, Ian Rathbone deserves every penny he gets painting and lining 00 locomotives,,, I think my eyes are the wrong shape for such activities,, a comfort zone it is not,,, and never will be. 

In that well known modelling phrase from way back "from 6 feet it looks fine,,, get any closer and it looks as though it's been done by a one armed blind man on a galloping horse" 

How Michael  Angle-ion managed to paint and line that cathedral ceiling whist lying on his back 35 metres up a ladder is a complete mystery to me,,, I have to wonder if he used Humbrol or acrylics???

Any way we look forward to seeing you again,,, we are usually the elderly mob in the corner,, giggling like Hyena's and almost certainly the furthest away from the tea and biscuit stall.

The recently painted J39,,, one of the original Dad's Army crew from way back when,,, last painted in about 1972 and to say it looked shell shocked was an understatement,,, I was going to go mad with a new chassis and motor/gearbox etc but once again just like the J52 I decided against it as it has served me well for so long I thought it could do without the pain and trauma,,, perhaps I should just call it a "Layout Loco" and believe me I've got a few!!

A personal favourite the N4,,, another from the Millholme series of "Heavy Metal Models",,,,  for me this is your archetypal station pilot and when the mood takes me I may well build it's sister engine as I ended up with 2. 

I know I'm biased but I think they looked good when Parker built them but they looked even better with a J G Robinson chimney and dome,,, and back in the day there were many of them working in the Sheffield / Barnsley area,,,, needs weathering but it looks quite good straight from the paint shop.

Back to the Future with an Ivatt Mucky D

 

Now I don't know if I've mentioned it before but we are all getting rather excited about the Broadland Model Railway Club exhibition next month!!!

How exciting is that,, I hear you ask,, well we usually get together before a show to remind ourselves how it all works,, and what [if any] improvements do the operating staff need to be aware of.

As there have been very few improvements [actually Non] since we last entertained the great unwashed the formal part of the meeting took virtually no time at all

The bulk of the meeting was spent drinking tea,, chomping on Kit Kat's,, playing with the resident cat and entertaining each other with ridiculous tales of steam driven "daring do".

Neville saw fit to bring his own motive power in the form of a Bachmann Ivatt "Mucky Duck".

 Now this model is right up my street,, filthy,, ungainly,, not just weird but down right ugly,, lovely,, well done Neville and I can see why you bought one of those.

If you look upwards you will see that it created such a stir on a supposedly mid 1930's LNER engine shed that the owner had to take a photo of it!!

Now did you know that Mr Ivatt was not only connected to some of the most established railway designers this country has ever produced but he was also a scientologist and on his latest adventure he managed to drive 'Le Duc' as it is know in France back to the future and they terminated in South Yorkshire,,, how lucky was I being able to get my first cop of a Mucky D!!!

[ For the uninitiated that is trainspotter speak,, and highly significant believe you me!!]  

Don't forget Hoveton Village Hall near Norwich Norfolk ,,, somewhere I have the date but I'll remind you of that later,, now where did I put the invite with the date on it???

Remember This??? Salmon Pastures very own Jersey Lily

Yes,,, one of the most handsome engines of not only the Edwardian period,, but probably all time,,, in my opinion,, of course.

For the GCR men it will always be the class 8B,, for the LNER afficianado's it was the C4,, for lesser mortals like me it will always be a "Jersey Lily".

Mr J.G. Robinson once commented that a chimney and dome to a steam locomotive are as important as a hat to any "man about town" and I have to say he got this 100% correct.

As a rather obsessive GCR fan I just had to have a C4,, I bought mine as a McGowan kit from Millholme Models at Woodborough near Nottingham in 1976,, and the box says it was £3.75,, +  motor and wheels!!!

I was so happy to have a C4 kit that. it quickly reached "icon" status in my collection,, which means it sat in it's box on a shelf gathering dust from the date of purchase to about 1994.

In fairness I would regularly get it out of the box/tissue paper and look at all those white metal bits and admire my purchase,,, but one day,,, having read various articles on what a swine it was to put together I had this inner self thought!!! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!!!  that's £3.75p down the tubes!!!

NO no,,now calm down and just think about it,,, so,,, more time on the ToDo shelf.  

But one fine day grasping in the right hand not only all the white metal bits but also the hot soldering iron [ouch] and being full of enthusiasm,, bravado,,, and home made lager,,, I set about building my very own Jersey Lily. YooHoo.

I won't bore you with the full 9 yards of the build,,, it was 31 years ago,,, and I have been affected by the ageing process the same as everyone else,,, but a quick synopsis would have to be:

To carry the just purchased 4mm 00 gauge kit from the counter to the car I needed a sack barrow,, talk about heavy metal.

Instructions should have been an optional extra,,, as I never used them,,[no change there then] they made no sense whatsoever.

There was more flash than castings,, and when you'd got rid of the flash it still weighed a ton.

I spent more time trying to make it lighter than I did building it,,, and in the end I decided I had gone as far as I could,,, it ran,, just,, almost,, after a fashion,, but it was never up to impressing at an exhibition,, start,, splutter,, cough,, fizz,, repeat,,short,, repeat,,  more time on the shelf,, but at least I'd made a start,,,and then one fine day about 4 years ago I yet again decided that this,,,for the very last time,,, I was going to sort the Fizzing Thing out,, for once and for all.  [determined to say the least]

I got technical,, I wrote a list of what it would and would not do,, to try and identify where the problem was,, were there any common denominators,, recurring themes,, overlooked insights !!!

It looked fine,,, as it should it's a C4,,, but it would not run reliably.

About 90 minutes later I once again decided enough was enough!!! A life's too short moment!!!

I give in,, you win,, buggie off back to Gorton and take your lovely chimney and dome with you!!! .

AND SUDDENLY as if by magic it was suddenly under the control of a new driver an ungainly fellow called Douglas Bader Esq,, and yes it literally flew the complete length of my workbench,,, the smoothest journey it had ever had [honest]  but the halt was,,,mmm,,, shall we say abrupt!!!

Now the post mortem revealed some interesting issue's on the deceased:

The main one being the chassis was a banana,,, not a Jon Claude Junker of Luxembourg variant but a "normal banana" bent and straight off the  Tesco value shelf.

What To Do,, commit it to a quiet secluded departure for a few close friends or bite the bullet yet again and make a proper chassis for it,,, 

Ha Ha,,, to be concluded,,, and watch this space for further instalments!!!

You never know it may even make a cameo appearance at the Broadland Exhibition at Hoveton in May,,, BUSY BUSY BUSY,,, on the other hand it may not,,, heavens the suspense!!!

Would you believe it!!!

 In an attempt to keep various factions of the Pastures supporters group happy I offer a pictorial diary of the rebuild of the D21.[stop complaining,,, it only took 5 years,,, I'm in no rush] 

This is how it came,,, I thought it a bargain as it had a set of Romford wheels attached,,, WRONG,,, none of them were useable,, not round,, different spokes, and 2 bent.

 

After swimming in a bath of Nitromors for a few days it looked like this,,, I won't comment on what this evil potion doe's to glue and I know what it looks like but I won't mention that here as it may put you off your dinner. YUK

The "bargain" tag bit me on the posterior more than once,,, the loco was a D21 [roughly] but the tender bore no resemblance to anything of N.E.R. origin,, so one Isinglass drawing was purchased and we set about turning whatever it was into something that may just resemble something that sat behind a D21,,, I spent about twice as much time bashing the tender than I did the loco,,, and whoever had it first certainly knew how to bash whitemetal about.

It's a shame I have to paint it really,,,more of a comment on my painting skills than ability as a tin basher.

And there it is in all it's glory,,, needless to say it still isn't finished as I have the other side to line out but after getting this far I'm convinced my eye's are the wrong shape for lining!!

I hope the late Mr Worsdell is happy with the end result,,, but please don't mention to him that I have no intention of doing another one.

However since starting on the project I have become rather interested in loco's of the N.E.R. and have even bought a book on the same subject,, now that's serious,,, and we now have the following Geordie visitors to the pasture's,, D21 Q6, Q7, and a J26,,, I think some of the attraction is that Worsdell could successfully fit an O gauge boiler onto a 00 gauge chassis,,, in short my sort of engineer.

The Salmon Pasture's Delivery Elephant,,, Lizzie Ward

 

         

Anyone who has read the full diatribe related to our Delivery Elephant,,, will know how popular she is at exhibitions,,, if you don't know can I suggest the following reads which covers this situation nicely:

1, Salmon Pastures Blog of 25th Feb 2015.  Title:   Lizzie Ward a severe case of elephantitus

2, Salmon Pastures Blog of 22nd July 2014. Title:   T'hat's the way to do it.

Anyway doing further research at the Pastures library recently I discovered that TWW Wards not only seconded elephants from a circus to work in the steelworks but they also had a couple of camels,,, [ I know you just can't make it up],,, and to prove the point take a look at this.

Now my research also led me to discover that when the camels arrived Lizzie was less than impressed and had a mammoth hissy fit,,, in fact it is rumoured that she really did take the hump!! and the end result was she downed tools,,, refused to co-operate,, & pleaded insanity by pretending she was a bird!!

This leaves me with a heart felt question which needs to be answered as quickly as possible.

WHERE CAN I GET A 4MM SCALE CAMEL FROM???

PS:  By the way,,, Happy New Year to all our reader.

 

Normal Service has been restored,,, and what a week that was.

 It has to be said there have been some MOMENTUS happenings over the last few days:

7 Planets could all be seen at the same time,,, 3 of them were in danger of colliding from where I was standing.

President Trump has proved what a lof of us have been thinking since around 2016.

UK Politicians and a lot of the European Hierarchy have actually been talking sense for a change.           Crikey,, who ever would have thought it!!!

Well if that is not MOMENTUS enough for you then can I advise that we have been invited to 2 more  exhibitions,,, YES really,,, Covid has a lot to answer for but the most contentious gripe/issue  for everyone on the Pastures is the destruction of the exhibition scene.   

NEEDLESS TO SAY WE CANNOT WAIT.

Wroxham Norfolk in May for the Broadland Model Railway Club show.

Reepham & Whitwell [Norfolk again] a 2 day show for the 200th Anniversary Gala bash for the start of steam railway reaching Reepham in 1825.

You've probably noticed that I haven't been posting for some time,,, there's no excuses,,, I haven't been doing a lot on the modelling front,,, apart from a few more locomotives,,,, I will offer updates on those when I can remember how  my digi camera works on close-ups,,,,, where's Hasselbad Davies when you need him??.

But the posts are about to start arriving again thick and fast and hopefully showing the progress we have to make before we tread the boards again in just 3 months time.

If you have never been or heard of Reepham then you don't know what your missing,,, they have a lovely live steam layout in a 12"to 1 foot scale,,, the station buildings are still in tact and have been beautifully restored and the Platform Cafe is wonderful,,, especially the coffee and walnut cake,, I know co's I've had some.

Reepham is one of those typically beautiful Norfolk places that most people have never heard of,,, but you have now,,, why not come and have a look,,,, in September for the 200th Steam Gala!!!

Just to wet the appetite,,, a picture showing how pleasant "Gorton-aura" can be.

Ups and Downs

 The UP's,,, the Zeppelin L1 Ugly Duckling is very nearly finished,,,

PROOF,,,, apart from painting the cab,, weathering and fixing the roof permanently,,, the 5 year old Blu-Tac is starting to smell.

DOWNS

Any avid Pastures readers will remember on 16th April 2016 we read about our pal Cecil Gee leaving the railway to become a flower arranger,,, well that didn't work either and Cecil is now back working on the railway as a movements operative second class,,, [storeman to you and me] and as you can see he still hasn't mastered the art of getting either "stuck in" or dirty!!!

Welcome Back Cec,,,, you have been missed,,,[no really]

Please come and see both at Sheringham High School on 2nd September 2023,,, open 10 to 4

GOOD NEWS....We are back on the exhibition circuit. September 2nd 2023.

Yes it's true,,, and I didn't think it would ever happen either.

Am very pleased to announce that we will be at the Midland and Great Northern show at Sheringham High School Norfolk NR26 8ND on Saturday 2nd September 2023.

Opening at 10.00am Closing at 4.00pm.

All we have to do now is vacuum 6 years of dust off the layout,,, run a crash course for the operators [literally] as we have all forgotten how it works,,, have a go at cleaning the track,,, usually a quick wipe with the emery pad is enough but I fear this time we might need the angle grinder!!!

You cannot believe how much we are looking forward to treading the boards once again,,,, the last time was Manchester 2016 & that is very nearly 7 years ago,,, I had much more hair and teeth back then.

Things to look forward to that you haven't seen before,,, crickey where do I start:

 Watch the tram operate under it's recently fitted overhead cables,, [ actually about 4 years ago!!! ]

See if you can spot any of the recently finished and painted LNER locomotives,,,, L1 Zeppelin,, D2,, Q7,, C4  and the D21,,, where will we put them all,,, I can see many of the LMS contingent getting the elbow for this one.

Meet the many fashionable housewives who have all recently moved into the terraced housing.

How will we cram it all in to just 6 hours!!!!

Please come along and join in the fun,,,, and it is all for a good cause,,,, when you have finished at the show you can take yourself off and jump on the real M&GN and ride all the way up to Holt,,, and if your very lucky all the way back!!!

A very Merry Xmas to all our readers.

 Having spent a little time attempting to understand the STATS page on this blog,,, I discovered that after UK the most views are from Australia,,, and one of them even sent me an Xmas card which I thought I should share with you all.

This little gem was sent by Bruce Goodhey,,, well that's what it said on the envelope,,, and he did point out that as it was taken last year when he was on his holiday it is unlikely to look as prominent right now as our antipodean friends are in the middle of summer.  Well thank you Bruce,, it really is the festive thought that counts.

To add some actual news to the yuletide proceedings I can also advise, with proof, that I have spent a couple of days in the garage and what a productive time we had,,,, the C4 now has stoneguards fitted not the earlier boulder guards,, and the LMS Scot is getting very close to completion.

Definite proof that up here in the frozen north we have passed the winter equinox,, things are heading in the right direction and not all posts are absolute twaddle.

Have a Merry Xmas everybody,, stay calm and solder on,,,, you know it makes sense.

SPUDCO Rules OK

 

Further to the extra-ordinary business meeting which was called late yesterday evening by the Salmon Pastures Urban District Council I offer a brief appraisal of the outcome of the meeting.

Apologies were received from Mr S Klaus who understandably could not attend the meeting at such short notice. 

Motion 1,

For affiliated members of the Salmon Pastures Operating Group to join in the current industrial action being taken by the RMT Union. 

The members of the operating group decided against joining the action by 14 votes to nil,  It was felt by all members that considering the difficult circumstances experienced over the 2020 and 2021 Festive Seasons that our paying passengers had quite probably experienced enough hardship in recent years and were in no position to take unpaid industrial action at the current time. 

Motion 2,

For affiliated members of the Salmon Pastures Operating Group to offer support to the nursing staff  with their industrial action at the Salmon Pastures Cottage Hospital.

The members of the operating group decided against joining the action by 14 votes to nil,  it was felt by all members of the operating group that even if support was offered it probably would not fit or be of a  size to be of any use. 

It was agreed that a hefty portion of moral support be sent to Matron H Jacques with the condition that it is returned as and when they have no further use for it and providing it was still in a useable condition.

Motion 3,

That a testing sequence be instigated by the permanent way and motive power departments as soon as possible to ensure that a full Yuletide service can be carried out at short notice over the Festive Season.

This motion was passed by all members present and was then carried out of the chamber to be disposed of by the sanitary department.

As there were no further motions presented to the meeting all members ajourned to the Ball Cock Inn at approximately 21.45 hours.

Full minutes of the meeting are available for perusal at the council office's.

The Chairman [male] wished all present a Happy Xmas, Successful New Year and positive modelling during whichever trials and tribulations are likely to be thrown at it over the coming 12 months. 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PS: The World has gone absolutely mad,,, and we can't blame this one on Putin, Brexit, or any other spurious excuse our leaders are likely to come up with.

If in doubt, just smile and solder on,,,, and for any interested party my 25watt iron costs me 3p an hour  [ I know co's I've now got a smart meter] which I see as damn good value for money,,, especially as Mr Hatton is trying very hard to sell me 3 x decidedly dodgy,,sorry "genesis" 6 wheel coaches for £150,,, as Mr Meldrew once said,,, "I just don't believe it" the world really has gone bonkers!!!

Have a Very Merry Xmas everybody,,, stay away from the sherry,, avoid,, the lager and just go full tilt into the single malt of your choice,,, you know it makes sense!!!

 

You don't have to be mad,,,, but,,,, it certainly helps.

 

A recent report published by the British Medical Journal advised that various recent "polls" [or should that be "poles" ] had concluded that living in UK over the past 10>12 years had seen a dramatic rise in the number of suicides and felt honour bound to advise all it's readers that committing suicide can seriously affect your health!!!

Do they really need to spend 5 years at Uni before coming out with such momentus insights,,, come on,,, even I, with my semi-addled brain remember the:

Financial crash 

Tory Lib Dem coalition

Austerity,,, [made a lovely 0-6-0 saddle tank]"

Brexit

Jousting with Bruxelles,, [I've been and I know how to spell it properly]

Covid's 1, 2, and 3

Boris,, closely followed by Trussonomics,,,

and now just to round the square off we can all enjoy some "Politically Induced Poverty" just to keep our minds of it whilst we all go completely bonkers. 

Suicide,, I considered it myself once but the date of choice clashed with an appointment at the hairdresser's so I gave it a miss,,, and I'm glad I did,, co's soon after I rediscovered railway modelling and just look at what I have been up to recently.

Yes the L1 has fought it's way through the cobwebs and is now being fitted with a new cab roof!!!

Yes,, you guessed it,, the caravan season is over and I am back at it in a rapidly cooling garage.

Still no exhibition's to report on,,, perhaps I should add that to the above list!!

Dad's Army gets another recruit.

 

Well here is another blast from the past a 1962 version of a Robinson GCR 11F or LNER D11.

1962 was a very special year for yours truly,,, firstly it was the only year at technical school that I managed to produce  school report that father was relatively happy with,,, the other 4 years reports were most definitely of the "bite the bullet" variety.

I do remember him being somewhat profound on reading the 62 report with "those who put in the work get the rewards" at the time it meant nothing.

Secondly,, come December 25th 1962 this appeared at the end of the bed,, and I have to be honest in 1962 not many schoolboys had a scratch built D11 and it became a bit of a celebrity and was instantly promoted to the vaunted position of "pride of the line".

Less than 12 month's later Mr Bec decided he would bring out a white metal kit for the same loco and to say father was not impressed was a bit of an understatement,,, his anger matched the level achieved on reading my school reports!!!

The D11 served me well but the purchaser was never happy with 2 things,,, the cab looked nothing like a Robinson cab and the chimney was miles out even to my untrained eye.

It starred on my exhibition layout "Clossett" for some time in the early 70's and on one occasion father and myself were sat behind the layout and he disclosed how much he had paid to have it built,, £45 and £18 to have it painted which at that time was a considerable amount of money,, he then announced he'd been had as it looked nothing like a Director,,, I reassured him it did "but" it could be improved,,, and agreed with his comments that the cab and chimney were well out of order.

Well you'd better get on and improve it then,, but I'm not paying you for it,,, "hang on I thought it was my Xmas present" cried I,,, "actually it was ours" replied father "you have the tender and I'll be responsible for the loco,,, which is why I have awarded you the contract" say's he with a rather large smile beaming through his somewhat extravagant handlebar moustache.

So in a moment of madness when the garage warmed up for a couple of days lately I set about improving the cab and replacing the chimney,,, unfortunately father shunted off to the great engine shed in the sky very nearly 20 years ago and as I've mentioned on several occasions I am not very good at doing things quickly,, but the contract will be honoured,,, eventually!!!

It was made in the early 60's and having inspected it without it's paintwork it shows,,, vice jaw protectors obviously hand not been invented in 1962,, you can still see the teeth marks all over it,,, but the paint always did a good job in covering such shortcomings and will do again.

It has a certain rough charm but the memory's it evoke's are priceless,, so it will be improved as agreed and it will then join the J52 in Dad's Army,,, as mentioned on an earlier post I bought an etched chassis for that but when it came to put it together I convinced myself I would destroy it's heritage of a Triang chassis and XO4 motor which is exactly what drives the D11 and so I will do what was agreed and just leave the rest alone.

Sorry it took so long father,,, but very soon the contract will be complete!!!

and another thing,,, last post continued.

 

The world has gone mad,,, how do I know???,,it's easy,, I have this very morning received a written request for an update to the blog!!!

WHAT,,whatever happened to the freedom of information act,, I'll decide when the blog gets updated.

In fairness I may need a bit of reminder now and again that I haven't been active for some time,,mmm,,[and it's not only on the blog] but have you checked out the statistic's for this year,,, not to be sniffed at,,, especially when I'm in the garage!!

Where was I,, Oh yes,, the clandestine improvements to a foreign tank engine of questionable parentage and I forgot to mention,,, and let's be honest it should come as no surprise that this GW pannier is actually backward,,, I bet I shouldn't say things like that anymore so let's rephrase backward with erm,, special needs.

Why,,, well,,, if I put any of my LNER, GCR, GNR, NER, LYR, LMS engines [and I have a fair few] on the track and select reverse,,, they go in reverse,,, if I select forward,, believe it or not they go forward,, but not satan's chariot,, oh no,,, to fall in line with the ridiculous lamp iron scenario,, if you put this thing on the track and select forward it ignores you and go's in reverse,, and vicky verky.

It really is very hard to find any positives about working on this thing,, and believe me I have tried.

                                            GOVERNMENT HEALTH WARNING.

The Ministry of Technical Advancement would like to advise any person using a digital soldering iron for either commercial or non commercial purposes that the pre-set temperature at the working end of the iron [that is the sizzly end for all railway modellers] is the same for all interchangeable tips,,,,,,,,,,,, SO BE WARNED.

What this means in practice is if you have a small spindly soldering tip in place  and set the temp for working with 145 deg's solder and work nicely attaching lamp irons to unspecified white metal lumps,, then life is fine.

If you then change the tip to a more substantial item which retains heat much better than a spindly tip then life is not fine,,, especially if you do not change the temperature setting to compensate for this fact,, and so if you then go into action, full of confidence, based on past successes, with the bigger tip without lowering the temperature then you can very easily burn wacking great big holes in substantial parts of unspecified lumps of white metal,,,,, OH DEAR WHAT A SHAME!!!!  just mentioning this for a friend.

PS: I do hope you all like the new header photo of the soon to be completed Jersey Lily.

Memo to manufacturing: 

Either lengthen the stone guard irons or rename them as boulder guards,,, how the heck did I miss that!!

A light to show us the way.

 "Bring out the smelling salts Mable,,,, he's done more posts before the end of February than he did all last year" I hear you cry,,,

And what is the cause for this sudden urge for endless blogging????

That's right LAMP IRONS,,, until recently they all looked the same to me,,, ha de ha ha,,, how little did I know and that was all before I won a spurious contract to affix some lamp irons to [puts paper bag over his head so not to be recognised] a GWR 57xx pannier tank.

Getting the wretched thing into the workshop without being spotted was difficult enough but to be honest I was surprised how restful modelling at 3am was but by 4am I was totally bewildered.

Everybody else in the railway world who wants to make a lamp iron takes a 10" x 2" piece of mild steel puts a 90 degree bend in it at 2" and promptly rivets it to the footplate, smokebox or bunker,,,, 

But not the loopies at Swinedon,,,, 

Oh No No,, life was never intended to be that bloomin simple.  

 There is at least 3, yes 3 right angle bends in a GWR lamp iron and if you attempt to go for the simple version  you can expect a visit from the horse hair shirted boys from the Scalefour Society,, so best not mess about going down that route.

Now it transpires if you want to get it right you have to purchase the Affixing GW Lamp Iron's Manual from "the SS boys",, a weighty little tome which gives you all manner of detail on how they are affixed properly and best you pay attention believe you me,, I had to giggle when they suggested I rang their coordination office to get a compass reading so I could get the smokebox correctly aligned with Swinedon before commencing the operation,,, that surely is taking it all a little bit too far.

Understandably perhaps,, if you are into horse hair shirts,,, all the bends have to face in a certain direction,, to the left,,, if you are looking at it from the back and to the right if you are looking at it from the front,, and WHY I hear you ask is it all so wretchedly complicated.

Well would you believe GW lamps don't have the fixing slot at the back of the lamp they have it on one side so the access door is easily opened,,, I'm not surprised all their engines looked the same,,,, they spent so much time inventing the most ridiculous lamp iron in the world they didn't have time to mix things up a tad when it came to the  aesthetics of the locomotives.

Anyway they are done,,, I am meeting the owner in a shady layby on the A11 at some ungodly hour on a date which is non of your business and after that clandestine meeting the whole sorry saga will be behind me,,, and as we started with a picture I will finish with one,,, this is what I think of GW lamp iron technology,,,  with one simple digit finale,, believe you me I won't be doing any more!!

Kindred Spirits

 Until recently Tuesdays have always been a sort of non-day,,,, but not anymore,,, Tuesday [or Toosdy as it is pronounced locally] is Squitters Day

Now your understanding of squitters may be different to ours but in rural Norfolk parlance having a friendly conversation with friends is to have a "Squit",,so as we get together on a weekly basis to have such a meeting Toosdy's have become a day to look forward to as it is full of Squit,,,, and yesterday was no exception.

The gods were with us and for the first time since last October I spent 2 happy hours squitting in the garage and DID NOT look like one of Ernest Shackleton's minions,,, yes folk Spring is on its way!!

We have been know to have so much fun that my neighbour recently asked me what we actually get up to in the garage on a regular basis,,,in the words of that well known maxim,,,,"you've either got it or you ain't" and when the weather is balmy and wind is in the right direction just like yesterday then we definitely HAD it all,,,, good friends, kindred spirits so to speak, worthwhile conversation and my repeated ability to prove quite conclusively that the various lockdowns have had a serious effect on my Mental Wellness as I had completely forgotten how my train set worked,,, and it showed,,, much to the delight of the assembled squitters.  

As the enforced isolations appear to have finished and without a shadow of a doubt my modelling mojo has returned,,, the L1 Zeppelin continues on it's haphazard dash to the finishing line,, I'll squit no more but leave you with a few piccies of progress so far,,,, Enjoy

Happy New Year to all our readers!!!

 Well,,, [sorry,,, we can't say "Well" anymore apparently it has to be SO],, so I shall enlighten you with a little bit of progress from the frozen wastes of North Norfick.

Having found my crampons and bottled oxygen cylinder I today braved the extremes of the north face of the garage and made a concerted effort at getting the D21 finished off,,,,,[excluding paint obviously,, so there is another 2 year delay] and this is quite quick for me as I only started it in May 2020!!!

So having donned my crampons and Steptoe style fingerless gloves I ignored the Niagra nose and got stuck in to fitting all the twiddly bits,,, 2 whistles, lamp irons, balance weights etc etc I have to say I'm rather pleased with the end result,,, especially when you compare it with raw material I started with way back when.

There is something strangely satisfying in taking a crock of *rap [see the 3rd photo]and improving it to the best you can,,, and it only cost me a new set of driving wheels,, motor and gear set and a book on the Locomotives of the NER and as all the labour was thrown in for free it has turned out to be a bit of a bargain.

Well [apologies for that] it could have but this little project has kindled a bit of an interest in NER loco's and so to give it a bit of company I have bought it a Q6 as a shed mate,, and found an old DJH D16 kit which I invested in many years ago which needs a bit spare time throwing at it,,, but a bargain whichever way you look at it.

One quick tip,,,, when you are trimming all the footplate heights with bits of plastikard to get everything to line up nicely it really is a good idea to glue them into the body,,,, as you can see,,, I have learnt this lesson just this morning.

I had the body sitting nicely on the chassis and everything being square and equal etc etc until I separated the body from the chassis to aid fitting all the bits,,, there was this sudden avalanche of plastikard bits flying everywhere,,, which will need refitting and GLUING in place,,,, drat,,, no I think this deserves a double drat.

Am still waiting for exhibition confirmations but I'm sure they are on the way now we appear to be getting back to some form of normality.

Keep calm and solder on.

SAD😞

 

The Festive Season!!!!

 Rather than bottle it all up I thought I would have a little rant regarding the XMAS season,,,, mmm

Now back in my day it was always called Christmas,,, but in these uncertain Cov-Brex-itus days we have to be very careful that we don't upset anybody,,, heaven forbid,,, [perhaps that should be celestial restrictions,,, better safe than sorry.]

Since when did the festive season start in early November,,, WHY,,, we haven't even had bonfire night yet.

I listened to some plummy lady from the National Society for Maximising Seasonal Retail Profits on the radio yesterday basic blaming both Brexit and Covid,,,, reasoning that this and last years festive seasons had been obliterated by circumstances well out of her control and there ain't no way she is going to let that happen again so to give themselves a fair chance of getting back on the financial tracks they are totally committed to maximising the opportunity this year!!!!

The less than plummy interviewer [seems to be the norm these days from Auntie Beeb] asked if this was just going to be a one off seasonal market adjustment,,,,, "well one never knows does one,,, if this years campaign proves successful we may well decide to start next years Festive Season early as well".

I bet you will,,, any excuse to maximise profits,,, this wretched woman has obviously never had kids as if she had she would realise the virtue of  keeping the festive season at a very low profile for as long as possible,,, get a grip woman,,, my legs are still tanned and this years summer was hopeless and your starting Xmas,,, RIDICULOUS,,, why am I sitting here in shorts and a T shirt watching adverts about mince pies flushed down by the odd pint of Bailey's,,, the world has gone mad.

MINIRANT

How has some 16 year old Scandinavian bint suddenly become an expert on the worlds problems,,, it's all about life experiences apparently,,,, that's rich,, I bet she hasn't cruised the Valetta Gut or Hero's Square in Limassol on a Saturday night,,, now anyone who has been there will know exactly what sort of life's experiences are really important,,,, life forming,,, that's what they were!!! 

Having said that having listened to her in the Glasgey flag wavers sing song she could be a very strong contender for one of the many vacancy's at the Beeb,,,,"I fink shid do rite well and she shud seeze the opertoonity"

Just to prove that I have been spending some productive time in the garage I offer a couple of shots of this weeks efforts,,, slowly slowly,,, I'm in no rush,,, and am still waiting for a formal exhibition invite.

 

My Mojo won't come back,,,, is it Covid,, Brexit, or just me???

 I have no photo's to show of any recent progress,,, and the reason for that is I haven't done a damn thing.

At last nights assembly of the local G.O.G club [that's Grumpy Old Git's,,, not the 7mm mob] I was interrogated as to why I haven't posted anything on the Salmon Pasture's Blog for very nearly a year,,,, 

C.B.A, was my first thought for a witty response,,, "Can't Be A**ed" but later when my air of indifference had passed I had a good deep ponder and thought "is it that long ago" and the answer is YES,, very nearly a year.

Don't take it too personally as I haven't posted anything on RMWeb or the LNE site either!!

With even further thought and perhaps a bit of soul searching it is apparent that my Modelling Mojo has not so much weakened but quite simply vanished,,, the last time I did anything like constructive in the garage was mid spring,,, I was in shorts and a T shirt and all was well with the world,,, I was cobbling an N5 chassis together and it was going well,,, and as we type today it is still sitting their upside down in the testing cradle and 5 months has elapsed!!!

When I first got the layout back after it's holiday in Sunny Surrey I went beserk,,, understandable perhaps as I hadn't been anywhere near it whilst we were trying to realign ourselves in some Maltese Sunshine,,, on returning to the ancestral home it was quickly retrieved and bashed into shape,,at this stage it was suggested by the management I consider putting a sleeping bag in the garage to save a bit of time,, a sure sign of how high my level of enthusiasm had reached!!

Anyway this morning after fighting my way through all the cobwebs and "spider guano" I actually cleaned the track a bit and had a play,,,, then I was overtaken with a timely flash of constructiveness and put a new battery in my wristwatch!!! then returned indoors to find my sawn off winter modelling gloves,, I know it would have been much easier to continue throughout the summer as against mid Autumn,, but I learnt a long time ago if you aren't in the mood it is best to leave it alone co's if you don't you end up doing things 2wice which in it's way is worse than doing nothing at all.

So dear readers prepare yourselves,,, we are about to start again.

Perhaps this is a good time to mention the dreaded Covid,,, let's hope all those who are reading this have either managed to avoid it or if not recovered from it,,,, now I don't know why but I have this funny feeling in my flux that the exhibition circuit is about to start getting back to what we all desire and if so then hopefully Aylsham, Immingham and Ipswich will be in touch,,, be assured at the moment I am Covid FREE!!