Great Chesterford Junction Part Two

Thanks Pete.......should have checked the box properly before I threw it away.......
Gormo

 

G`day Folks,
Not much happening on the railway at the moment, although Gormo`s Shed seems to be occupying a good deal of my time, which is by it`s very nature, something to do with the railway.
With railway modellers all over the world now in lock down, views and subscribers on my YouTube channel, and I guess everybody else`s channels, have increased significantly over the last month or so.
I think people now have time in abundance to research the net and find ideas to help with building their model railways.
I have had comments lately from my regular subscribers, who say they are looking forward to the videos coming through, so I feel I am, in some small way, helping them deal with their confinement.
So my mind has been occupied to that end lately, to keep the ideas and the videos coming.
The ideas don`t always flow, I wish they did, and sometimes I`m struggling to come up with a topic for a new episode
Unfortunately this means I am not participating as much as I would like on the forum, and I`m not actually doing that much on my railway either.
I also don`t wish to leave my wife all alone all day trying to amuse herself indoors with nobody to talk to.
With all that in mind I am spreading my time between Gormo`s Shed episode development and keeping my wife company. Julie is an anxious person and needs to keep her mind occupied to distract her from the bad stuff that`s affecting all of us at the moment in one way or another.
I guess I could limit the number of episodes I do, but this is not really the time to do that......but rather just keep pumping them out.
This may all sound a bit depressing, but it`s not.
It`s just a change of focus for a while and adapting to new circumstances. The pressure to come up with new ideas is good for me actually......keeps me on the edge......and open to new ideas.
On that note I have revisited my three link coupling system and redesigned it. It`s taken about two weeks of trial and error and development, but I am now finished I think?
I now have a coupling that is simple to use and can be fitted to both ends of a wagon. It can also be fitted to locos and work in parallel with the fitted tension locks, so it has become a much more flexible system. I can have three links on my goods wagons and leave tension locks on my coaching stock, yet when all the locos are dual fitted, they can deal with either one.
I`m now having a think about whether I can get them made and sell them myself or possibly do a deal with some major company to get them on the market........or indeed......just put them out there for the greater good.
Ethical questions here for Gormo to deal with folks, but in the meantime much more testing required to prove the thing is reliable......I need to know what it takes to break it.....
Gormo

 

Well I have been testing the coupling and I broke it in respect of found it`s limitations. .....I`m not sure if I`m happy with limitations so maybe it`s back to the drawing board....
The coupling will pull 10 coaches before it lets go........the coaches were a mixture of old and newer stock, so not all as free running as some of the others.
It will also pull 30 wagons before it lets go. The wagons were a mixture of sizes and mostly older stock, so again not as free running as the new stuff.
The limitation in favor of convenience may be just a tad too much for me to accept, so I need to bomb proof it I think........yes back to the drawing board / think tank for Gormo.
I am so close to the final solution that I can taste it.........but the final piece in the puzzle is missing from the old grey matter at the moment and as I have found lately, subtle changes can make all the difference.
I`m waiting on a delivery of new magnets which should arrive soon, so maybe they will solve the problem..????
Gormo

 

Hhhmmmm.????????........

That`s a very intersting idea .....you may notice I deliberately left an " e " out of interesting........I think " e`s " are being over-used in our language and I am worried they will run out.!
In these days of lock downs and rationing I am trying to save wherever possible. I mean...look at deliberately......that`s just used up another three in one go.....and look at three....that`s another two, I should have just put the number 3..........

Gormo

 

G`day Folks,
Nothing to report of any consequence on the layout front, although I`ve picked up another loco for a good price....no pics yet, but I`ll put something up soon.
I think it`s time for an update.
The lockdown restrictions are easing off here now to the point where we can get out and about and check out the countryside once more.
People of my vintage still really should be staying home, however we`ve taken the MG out for a run down the coast and had a picnic and stayed well away from everybody else.
We also took it out again to go visit my Son`s family and Grandkids.....again practicing social distancing.....so the old car is getting some good runs under it`s bonnet.
I found a couple of pics from a car run we did a few years ago. We were waiting for a convoy of classic cars so Julie took a couple of pics.






Stay safe
Gormo

 

G`day Folks,
I was given a Nikon Coolpix S 3700 camera this afternoon. It`s a few years old and it has had a hard life courtesy of it`s previous owner, however it seems to work fairly well and indeed may be a good replacement for a little Canon we have been using for 10 years now.
It`s very compact and just the sort of camera that`s good to carry whilst traveling.




So I got home tonight and cleaned it up and tried some pics and video out in the shed.




The Macro is not bad ......it just needs a bit of getting used to.......no instruction manual supplied so I`ll have to wing it.

























Maybe not too many more close ups in the future.........some of my little people are most unattractive little suckers......

The video is a bit grainy but it seems good enough considering the camera has to deal with artificial light.



Anyway...a nice little camera.
Gormo

 

Hello Gloria,
Yes we are doing fine....hope you guys are doing well also..
The photos are fine considering the light conditions and a mug on the other end taking the pics. I have found an online manual so I will read up on best practice for this little camera.
Stay safe
Gormo

 

Yes Richard,
Nix...free ....gratis.
It belonged to my Father In Law, who we have been moving over the last couple of days.
He`s in a retirement village and we`ve shifted him from self care to 24 hour supervised care in a different section of the village.
His self care unit was in a right state but had to be left in a reasonable state for the next victim.
So we have had two very physical days and it will be an early night tonight.
The camera was no longer wanted or required plus I`ve gained a big magnifying light and 10 lengths of timber for future projects.
Gormo

 

Thanks Paul,
I have not modeled any particular area, what I`m doing is giving an impression of British towns and countryside.
So if you are reminded of Whitby......I`ll take it I`ve got something in the ballpark.....
Gormo

 

Hi Gloria,
If you tried to load a video directly onto the forum you would have hit a size limit......I`m not sure what that is actually....
However, the preferred method is to load your video onto a dedicated site like YouTube or Pinterest or Facebook maybe or whatever...... and then insert a link into your Platform 1 MRC posts to that offsite video.
The reason for doing it that way is to conserve space on Platform 1 and reduce the need to buy extra storage. Video files are huge.
Offsite videos have no storage impact on Platform 1 and therefore could be as long as you like.
Gormo from sunny Sydney