Long Time No See, or: Baldrick Rides Again!

Today, having rearranged the stock cupboard a bit, I found that the venerable Baldrick (my Toytrain Otto 0-4-0) was for some strange reason at the front of the drawer, rather than his traditional position at the back... so I took the hint. Normally, this loco is very fussy; the rails need to be perfectly clean, the electrical continuity absolutely on the money before this fellow will even think about turning a wheel. Consequently, he tends not to be used very often.

Today, however, it seems that conditions were never more perfect. He ran like a dream - slowly, evenly, and looking every bit the battle-weary but nevertheless plucky little loco as he ambled round the line with his goods train in tow... I wish I'd video'd it as well, to be honest. Ah well, maybe another day. Anyway, here are some pics of the event:

A nice little loco Clive, sometimes the little ones go quite well but the god’s have to be with you as you say. You have an interesting looking line there, so the next time I am passing through Portsmouth! Who knows?

French Chuffed wrote:

You have an interesting looking line there, so the next time I am passing through Portsmouth! Who knows?

You'd be most welcome, of course. It's interesting to note that in the 6 years or so that my line has been in existence, I have only ever received 2 visitors: the first was about 3 years ago, the second (in the person of our illustrious forum administrator) was last Friday! To be honest though, if I had the bottle to host a G-Scale Society Open Day, I would possibly have had more. So it's my own fault really.

We only need a bit of notice so's you don't waste time banging on the door of an empty house!

Thanks Clive.
I think an open day is something completely different. There are too many things that can go wrong, at least with my set up at the moment. I have had a few visitors since it has been in a working state, (mainly French satisfying their curiosity) the first time the mts control centre refused to work as the outside temp was in the mid 30’s, I can cope with 2 disappointed people, but not a hole crowd of them.

theres a lot of character in that little engine Clive. Did you 'make' the coal loads or buy them? Theyre very realistic.

Mikey

Yes, I think that's a large part of why I haven't bothered. The thought of little 'niggles' suddenly appearing when previously (and with only myself as a witness) it operated faultlessly, really does put me off. The other thing is, a lot of my track is still laid on 'sticks, bricks and flower pots' - as a temporary measure whilst I wait for it to somehow magically build itself! I am ok with my stock taking a dive should the structure collapse under the weight, but to have to witness someone else's pride and joy perform the same trick, would be mortifying.

I am of course in the midst of improving matters there (as posted on another thread), but as everyone on here will appreciate, it's a painfully slow process.

I guess the other side of the coin is, most times when I've attended open days, there's always been something that didn't go 100% to plan - even at Ryde a couple of weeks ago there were a couple of mishaps with stock derailing because of something fouling the PW. But it did get sorted on the fly, and in any case I was too engrossed in looking at the rest of the layout to be concerned by it. I think most people are happy to just look at the line as a whole, pick up ideas for their own lines, and generally chat with like-minded individuals. And of course, if there's any tea/coffee and such like going around, then that's even better!

mikeyh wrote:

theres a lot of character in that little engine Clive. Did you 'make' the coal loads or buy them? Theyre very realistic.

Mikey

Mikey, they're hand made! I cut up bits of foam rubber, and coated them with some black grit that used to be the filling for the MD's ankle/wrist weights before the dreaded scissors got a hold of them! The 'load' is removable, so they can run as either full loads or 'empties'

I thought I already had pics of the coal wagon and its load on my Photobucket page, but evidently not. No matter, they are now:

Now you sees it:


... now ya don't!

That is a good tried and tested method of loading Clive.
Baldrick looks very good, a loco of the same ilk as my own "Rusty".
Does Baldrick have a traction tyre fitted ? and have you added weight to him ? - its a decent train being hauled in your excellent photos.

As for open days, I prefer to invite folk I know over (several from forums) or locals - there are three G scalers within 3 miles of me.
I find that more than six or seven people are too many - you can't get round them all to talk to.

(And I have to make the tea/coffee and heat the pizzas too !)

Pizza's? I'll just book my flight!

Mikey

mikeyh wrote:

Pizza's? I'll just book my flight!

Mikey

You'd be very welcome Mikey
Anyone who is in the North Wales area (where we have no less than 9 narrow gauge railways) is welcome to visit - I just need a few days notice.
(Not only pizza, but C*** too )

paul stainz holt wrote:

Anyone who is in the North Wales area (where we have no less than 9 narrow gauge railways) is welcome to visit - I just need a few days notice.

So, erm, how far are you from this Welshpool/Llanfair gala then?

clive_t wrote:

paul stainz holt wrote:

Anyone who is in the North Wales area (where we have no less than 9 narrow gauge railways) is welcome to visit - I just need a few days notice.

So, erm, how far are you from this Welshpool/Llanfair gala then?

About 35 miles away Clive.
I'll be going to the W&LR gala on Saturday morning.
Usually I run trains with a couple of mates back at my place at about 3.00 in the afternoon.

You are very welcome to come over on the Saturday afternoon - we can meet up at the show.

paul stainz holt wrote:

About 35 miles away Clive.
I'll be going to the W&LR gala on Saturday morning.
Usually I run trains with a couple of mates back at my place at about 3.00 in the afternoon.

You are very welcome to come over on the Saturday afternoon - we can meet up at the show.

Thanks Paul, could have possibilities - only thing is, i will have MD and son in tow...

In answer to your earlier question: no, there are no traction tyres fitted to the loco, and no additional weight beyond what was there already!

On that note Clive, did the Carl / Laurent duo drop by or have I missed that on another thread?

Ah, thereby hangs a tale, Brian... we received a visit from one half of that duo, in the person of our illustrious forum administrator... I will leave it to the individuals concerned to relate the whole story! What I can say is that we had beautiful warm dry weather all day until about 3 minutes after he arrived, whereupon.... the heavens opened! Not only that, but the tramlok that up until then had been running superbly, decided that running in the rain was not its cup of tea at all

We took delivery of some very nice wine, and some exceedingly smelly cheese (both of which are going down a storm even as I type!), and even a genuine SNCF driver's hat for Steven! So thanks, gentlemen, for your generosity. Carl is obviously not in a position to comment just yet on his own perceptions of the experience, but he seemed to enjoy himself!

[quote="clive_t"]

paul stainz holt wrote:

Thanks Paul, could have possibilities - only thing is, i will have MD and son in tow...

Do they like shopping ? (There is an out of town development 3 miles away)...........while we get on with the serious business of running trains maybe.
Or if they like trains they would be welcome too.

Well that's interesting to know, thanks. The MD is OK-ish with trains as a rule, although after overdosing on them over that weekend who knows! Also, the problem with Steven is, because of his disability we can never tell how he'll react to being in an unfamiliar place having already been out and about to a whole load of other unfamiliar places. Don't get me wrong, he's no trouble at all, and he does like trains of all sizes normally. But, if we have options as to where we can take him if he's tired or obviously bored, then that's always a good thing.

I will PM you nearer the time to get some address details etc.

Nice one! Am I allowed to bring stock, or will I have to buy something at the GR Show to run?

clive_t wrote:

I will PM you nearer the time to get some address details etc.

Nice one! Am I allowed to bring stock, or will I have to buy something at the GR Show to run?

You can bring or buy stock or both Clive.
I can run analogue locos on MTS using the "Zero" mode - the only disadvantage is, that an analogue loco gets trapped in a reversing loop - but they can be avoided , if you have digital loco(s), no problem at all

OK, probably won't be able to bring too much - don't want to use up precious boot space for the return trip!