Warehouse Wednesday: Stephenson Lift Bridge

An interesting freature at the Mountsorrel and Rothley Community Heritage Centre. This bridge was designed to get the reailway over a canal, without blocking navigation. 

You can read the full history on the Centre website. 

I'll admit to being a little bemused by this when I saw it in real life, but having read up on it, what a fascinating device - and very modelable too. You wouldn't even need motors, if simplicity was the aim. Four cords running down under a baseboard, would do the job. Whatever you did though, this would be a crowd-pleaser on an exhibition layout.

Putting a damper on it

 

Time for an interesting job on the Sand Scorcher - making up the dampers. 

Each tube is filled, to a step made in the inside, with special oil, and the piston (made up earlier) shoved in, with excess oil wiped away. 

I'll be honest, I'm not convinced by all this. I did it twice to ensure that the dampers ended up as two identical pairs, but with no experience, how much damping should they do? 

I've done a little research, and these are considered old-fashioned, so long term I might find out what the current state of the art is, and replace them. 

As usual, everything bolts into place perfectly. Another tip I read while digging around, was to mount the dampers upside down, to stop the oil dripping out. Does this make sense (I ask, because I know there are people with experience of this sort of thing reading these words)? If I'm wrong, swapping them over won't take very long at least.

Bristol haul

Trade was good at Bristol, lots of buy, and a few unicorns. 

Let's start with something I didn't buy. 

Yes, the famous Tri-ang TT gold-plated trains set produced for Kays catalogue. I think this is only the second or third time I've seen one of these. And you know me well enough to know that I would love it for its tackiness. 

When I play the "If I were a millionaire" game, then I'd find the £875 and buy this. And the Tri-ang Minix motorway roadrailer set above it. Not the blue Class 31s though as over a grand each. I know they are properly rare, but they do nothing for me. Who says I'm profligate with imaginary money?  

Much more sensible is this pack of fishplates. 

Useless, but since they are a tiny accesory, still in their original packing, a fun addition to the Tri-ang collection. 

Another cheap buy is this jigsaw. 

My Dad is into jigsaws at the moment, and this is a bit of fun. I'm going to open it carefully, so it can be resealed when he's done it. Of course, there is no picture on the box, which will make it a little more challengeing. Does any bus fan want to try and date this? I'm thinking 1980s. 

A Lima Western? Still with it's 'orrible wheels? Why did I buy this? 

I'll save this for a future Friday post. Rest assured, it will be worth the wait. 

Final buy, and this is another exciting addition to the fleet. 

A crude model of a Y6 tram engine? 

Oh yes, this has been something I've coveted for years. Produced by Lutz Hielscher of Wuppertal, Germany, this was originally around £200 £185 for a kit) back in 2002. This was less than half price. My enthusiasm can be explained when the roof is lifted off. 

It's a OO (OK, the packing says HO) scale live steam locomotive!

As far as I can tell, the model has never been run. The syringes needed to water and fuel it are untouched. This will be another Friday post, once I've found time to give it a go. 

So, an interesting haul. I wasn't looking for anything, but sometimes you just trip over fascinating toys. 

Bristol 2025

 

The friday afternoon at Bristol really throws me. I get up early, drive to the show, set up, and it's lunchtime. Then the show opens, running until 6pm. An easily confused person can be quite discombobulated by all this!

Still, the quality of layouts on show was excellent (we'll talk about the trade tomorrow), and I managed four shoots over the three days - and could easily have added a couple to that list if it had been practical. That's on top of the layouts I've photographed in the past! Over 2000 images were taken, which have stacked down into just over 150 final photos to appear in BRM at some point this year. 

One of the highlights of the show is that we have the best cake of any Warners event. My colleagues are starting to understand that I will review the comestibles, and I've tried to explain that good catering is very much part of the show experience. That's why I love little, local event, the nosh on offer is often different and enjoyable. 

We were stopping just over the road from the show, at a golf club. Apparently, this is the cheapest spot locally, and it's certainly handy. The drive up the drive is longer than that from show to entrance gate. On Sunday morning, I took myself for a little stroll around the golf show - blimey, toy trains are CHEAP! A single golf stick costs anything from £300 upwards, topping out at the price of a 16mm scale steam locomotive. Now, don't get me wrong, looking out over the fairway on a nice sunny morning, I can see the pleasure of strolling around whacking a ball, but you certainly pay for the privilege.

Despite the lovely weather, crowds were good, and there was an awful lot of chat. Thanks to the blog reader who dropped by, even the chap doing his best to persaude me in the direction of another Tamiya RC car. You are supposed to tell me the kit is dreadful, so I'm not tempted!

Seriously though, this was a lovely, freindly, high-quality show. If I'd been a visitor, I'd have been delighted with my day. 

Saturday Film Club: Pantograph Mill: The Coolest Machine Adam Savage Owns!

Pantograph Mills are fascinating. A tool I've wanted to own ever since reading about them in an old MRJ. If only I had the space. 

I came close - our club owned a non-working one for a while, but no one had the skills and enthusiasm to get it going, so off it went for scrap. 

Truth is, CNC machining and then 3D printing technology has largely eliminated the needs for mills like this, but I like the hands-on tactile approach. Maybe one day...