Broithe

It seems to work quite nicely. It may even be more useful than I expected. Nowhere in the paperwork is the rpm mentioned, as far as I can see, but, based on the speed that a 2mm drill draws in a thread wrapped round it, I suspect it's around 500rpm.

This thing won't be for everyone, but I've fancied one for a while. I got it a few months ago and, trapped by the blizzard today, I've finally got around to assembling it. I'm not a great fan of drilling with the Dremel-type devices, they seem rather too 'speedy' for me, with a lot of stored rotational energy, if you do get a 'snag', so a low-powered, geared-down drill seemed like a good idea. For a while, I wondered if I could bodge up something, possibly using a battery-powered toy drill, adapted to take a Dremel chuck, but I never found a decent donor machine. When this came available on eBay, I took the plunge. 2 AA batteries driving a single-speed output. It's all up to the standard Tamiya quality and goes together via snap-fits and screws, no glue required. Fine pliers, screwdriver and a scalpel were all that was necessary to assemble it. Some spares of the metal parts were supplied (handy, as I did have a circlip escape, although I did find it again). Also, there is a small tube of silicone grease. Some assembly, particularly of the trigger-switch arrangement, was very fiddly. But, It all went together nicely in the end. The trigger switch mechanism looked a bit Heath Robinson - until the last part was fitted, and it all suddenly became much more plausible then. It does work reliably and even has a 'safety-catch', should you feel the need. Two sizes of collets are supplied and, with the batteries in, it seems to work well, with a decent amount of torque and a fairly low speed. There is a spindle-lock - you can see the detent in the output shaft in the second-last picture. All in all, it seems a reasonable device, with a good compromise between the high-speed electric tools and the hand-driven devices that were necessary before, if I wanted a low speed approach. It's much easier to keep in line than a drill that I'm also trying to power with the other hand... Obviously, it's only really suitable for plastics and wood. Unfortunately, the thread on the output shaft does not match the Dremel or any other "multi-tools" that I've checked, but the collets seem likely to be OK for what use I'll give it. Also, it is really quite small - there is a €2 coin in the last picture - those with more gargantuan hands might struggle with it.

I've been warned that cataract operations will be happening in the future, if I last as far as them being bad enough to justify it. I'm not looking forward to someone fiddling with such delicate bits... I'm inclined to wait until you have some spare time coming up.

Next door's cat has popped in, to ensure that my seasonal food preparation and storage arrangements are adequate. Having completed a full assessment, she's having a rest period now.

This arrived on the Christmas services information email just now.

Harcourt Street line running through Shankill. 1952. https://www.facebook.com/groups/956594948451100/posts/1752391405538113/

I was more of a Scania man myself, in my youth. The first thing I ever drove, probably aged 14, was one of these Swedish Army things, in white, as it was on UN duty in Famagusta. Walking past it with a mate, we asked, for a laugh, if we could have a go in it - and the driver said "Yes". We had a good spin in it, over some fairly rough ground and ended up back in the canteen at the base with him. Ours had the guns on, but we didn't want to liven things up too much.

It is a process that is not for the fainthearted...

I think it was 1972 and I'm not sure where, but it has an 'up north' look about it.

An interesting cameo..?

Smaller timber wagons do exist. At the Stradbally Woodland Railway. https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1193728478770903&set=a.603858721091218

A local publican was a notorious gruff character and one of his customers was a very quiet chap, who rarely said much, but that would generally be worth hearing. One day, the customer asked -"Willie, what are those vegetables that make you cry?" "Onions." "No, the ones that make you cry." "Onions, Jerry!" "No, no, the ones that make you cry." "Onions! Onions! They're fecking onions, Jerry!" "Ah, you obviously never had a belt of a turnip." --------

This popped up just now - a Wickham-like device in DR Congo. https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10162881364525625&set=pcb.2891981674340266

Ah, this is 2012. . And this is the old sidings, but the weedkiller got there first - 2008

Ballybrophy in 2008..?

We really have to give you your dew for that one.

People are just making a mocha what this thread is supposed to be about now!

Yule regret starting this...

When it became compulsory for the local paper in Stafford to 'illustrate' every story with a picture, however unnecessary and futile it was, I used to keep a record of the more pointless ones. Two of the stories were about issues at the station - one was about problems with the taxi rank and the other was about a track failure at the northern end of the station and the associated disruption it caused. The articles were accompanied by a picture of a taxi rank and one of trackwork at the end of some station platforms. The taxi rank was clearly not Stafford, as it was indoor, and a bit of work established that it was a picture from Edinburgh Waverley. The trackwork was clearly Southern region, with its clearly visible third rail. The point about all this rambling is that their editorial office was on the first floor of a building overlooking both the taxi rank and the northern end of the platforms - for some reason, it must have seemed more like 'journalism' to use ludicrously inappropriate pictures. Or they had a very impressive telephoto lens... My favourite one, though, was a story about a bloke taking a court case over a claim for industrial deafness - illustrated by a generic picture of a random ear. At least it was a human ear.

The sound of silence for a few months now...

They're just keeping us in suspension. Whoops, I see that one has been used before. I really need to have a longer span of attention...

On DCC, the flushing sound will be disabled when the loco is stationary.

I'm sure we all know people who moved seamlessly from "The Luas is a white elephant. Who's going to bother using that?" to "The Luas has nowhere near enough capacity" without even noticing it themselves.

This could be an inspiration for the continental boys, if they want a decent-sized shunting layout. https://www.google.com/maps/place/Seevetal-Maschen,+Germany/@53.4070883,10.0510059,1361m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m6!3m5!1s0x47b1946f43793b07:0xa263df5063de3e0!8m2!3d53.3774197!4d10.0348263!16s%2Fm%2F06w56r3?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI0MTExNy4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

There were two of us in the morning, but the evening crowd was only half the size.