Crane installation
Workshop - externals
Workshop - lighting
It was possibly the hottest day of the year - around 35 degrees - and it wasn't comfortable. Each of us had his own mode of dress to suit the conditions...
Laurence concentrated on making and fitting two wooden blocks to represent the concrete bases for the crane legs. These need to be located up in the hillside behind the crane.
Stephen continued with the workshop lighting. Filament lamps like the generator room were considered too bright. Rummaging through Geoff's 'semi-conductor' box, a pack of 3mm warm white LED's were found - 4 were thought sufficient for a trial. Geoff did a quick calculation based on the 19v DC supply that each board has, and determined a single resistor around 500 ohms (i.e. 470 or 560) should work, with final brightness tuned by the power drop-down unit that would be fitted. The unit was fitted and all components soldered up. 15v seemed to produce a decent light, but won't be confirmed until testing in the building can be carried out at a later date. (Geoff was painting it at that moment!)
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| The LED test-rig. |
Geoff, as mentioned, was painting the outside of the workshop, attempting to 'weather' the stark new plastic sheet. Varying colours were applied randomly, which will be further weathered, when dry.
Stephen brought along some strips of 'foliage' for review. The strips form along the mortar joints on the top of a 9" wall that is mainly in the shade. A combination of moss and its seed heads grow very well and can easily be harvested with a pallet knife.
Geoff also produced a box of John's rolling stock, which was given a nostalgic run. John usually made his own chassis which were invariably noisy, gaining the affectionate description of 'coffee grinders'.
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| Scratchbuilt battery loco |
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| Scratchbuilt McEwan-Pratt WW1 petrol loco. |
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| Bord-Na-Mona inspired diesel on a Piko chassis. |
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| A powered 'Cars of Yesteryear' model with a 4W coach using spare kit parts. |
We received sad news this week with the death of Roy Thurston - one of the Cottesmore Five. The photo below records a night out in November 2014, just before Roy's move to Fort Augustus in Scotland.
Roy had only recently offered-up 'Lansdown Green', his section of Cottesmore, which was gratefully received by some members of the South Downs Area Group of the 7mm NGA. They hope to incorporate the boards into a new modular layout, and so they may grace the exhibition circuit again.
