Broithe

Anything is possible, but the wheels are solid.

It was, a lot of agencies had to tick boxes before anybody could actually do anything about removing it.

Yes, I got distracted and accidentally did the chassis in black.

Working on it now...

I would prefer to see it seized* and sold. It's not the van's fault. *Assuming it belongs to the driver, who 'left the scene'.

Park & (Not) Ride on the LUAS.

OK, it is a model, but it's not really the result of modelling, as it would be understood in here. This is an H0 scale Monogram Metal Master, Snap-Tite kit, that I got around the late 80s. Someone saw it here yesterday and asked me about it - a quick check found that there is one on eBay now. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/315445947124 From opening the box to the finished item would take around ten to fifteen minutes - no gluing, no painting, nothing except carefully separating the items from the sprue and clicking them together. There are four pins which attach the vehicles to the track and they are a tiny bit oversize, a little (invisible) sanding will sort that - other than that, there is little modelling to do, it just snaps together, as seen. And the pins aren't really necessary, if you're prepared to rely on gravity. The design of the mould is a true masterpiece of the art. The kit was available in four forms, the 'silver', as above, a 'brass/gold' colour and a strange metallic blue version, plus a 'plain', unfinished moulding, for a painted final result. (What you get is the silvery stuff - the base and the glass case are my work, to keep the dust off). I did once convince someone, who had seen it from a couple of feet, and not felt the (lack of) weight, that it had been made in Hatton Garden, as a retirement present for Barnes Wallis. There's enough volume inside the boiler and the tender to add the missing weight...

Commentary is NSFW. If I ever get a sat-nav, I want the voice changed to this.

A Dutch bicycle company used to get a good bit of transit damage to their bicycles that were shipped in flat cardboard boxes. So, they just added a TV to the image on the box and got a lot less damage as a result...

Talk of the Killamuck Bog Trail reminded me that I found this video the other day, recorded under the skew bridge on the Rathdowney & Templemore road, by the old station house.

https://consultations.tipperarycoco.ie/consultation/littleton-labyrinth-proposed-greenway

Is it sound-fitted..?

I often wonder if anybody ever found a old box of spares at the back of the stores in the 1960s, with "Westland Whirlwind" written on them, and then wondered why they wouldn't fit the big yellow helicopter he was working on..?

It may not matter so much if concrete sleepers are buried.

https://www.facebook.com/watch?v=8275431195813290

Looking forward to it. In general, model ballast tends to be overscale, I find - so N usually looks better on a 00 layout.

That's the loop platform, about ten years ago now.

Some pictures of ballast at Ballybrophy.

A stand magnifier on the bench, and a head-mounted magnifier for mobile, 'on site' work. I rarely use a head-mounted one, but there are some times when it is the better option. On the solar fire-risk issue, the type with the cover, as above, will preclude that issue, and keep the lens clean.

There is something to be said for both types of arrangements, in different circumstances. There is also the odd occasion where a single magnifier over one eye will still leave you with 'real' vision from the other. You can get nice small ones that will clip onto the arms of spectacle frames and easily swing into and out of use. If using the magnifier on a stand-type of arrangement, then do be sure not to leave it in a position where sunlight can be focused onto something, with the associated fire hazard. I also have the advantage of being very short-sighted, so, in circumstances where eye-protection is not an issue, then I can just take my glasses off and focus down a couple of inches.

I'm in the programme to have some of 'my' shed cat's DNA.

Probably best to make sure the cat is indoors and insist on full PPE for any operational staff on site - that hacksaw blade went past at some speed.

It was OK, I was upwind. It was probably less difficult than the time he was walking downstairs behind me and another chap who was describing an explosion to me and illustrated it by flinging his arm backwards and accidentally punching Barry in a delicate region, provoking him to fold into a foetal position and only just be caught by us as he hurtled past, no longer in control of his own descent of the stairway.

Seeing @Dempsey's terminal boards reminded me of a highlight event of my time in the factory. Our control cabinets had large columns of terminal boards and relays, as there was not enough commonality for the wiring to be done with a loom, but each wire was individually terminated and run to be bundled up. This also, coincidentally, gave a means to find out what was going on, if the control arrangements failed, as they often did. The relays were meant to have protective covers on, but it was common to leave them off until things were working reliably. One day, myself and another chap were walking past Barry, often mentioned in reports of events, whilst he was delving into a suspect cabinet with his beloved Fluke meter. Just as we reached him, he suddenly adopted a position very like a figure skater - on one leg, with the other pointing straight back and both arms outstretched and fluttering. He had clearly found a live bit, and not with the probe, as intended, but with his head. Test items were mounted on a large cast-iron bedplate, with T-slots in, for ease of clamping things down quickly. Thus, being on a very nicely earthed floor, this meant that dragging Barry off the source of the shock was really not a good idea at all and I took a step back to aim a kick at his chest, as he performed his (potentially real) dying swan act. This would separate him from it and give me the minimum time exposure. I was actually quite disappointed when he managed to extricate himself before I could kick him off it, but I was still treated to the memorable sight of the small hole in his forehead, as he turned to face us, dazed. The hole was where he had put his head onto the 415 volt connection of one of the relays. There was quite a significant wisp of smoke coming out of the hole, not a thing you'll see very often. He survived the event without any extra issues, but he wasn't right before it, to be fair.