What Did You Do Today 2025

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

Pity to hear the bad news Nigel. I note this is the first I have heard of this project. Maybe regular updates on here, even an idea of the location, would have helped.
The original Exeter club, decades ago, was at a farm and you can still see the outline of the track on Google Earth. Not sure how/why it stopped. The new EDMES has made major progress over 3 years and hope to have a full circle complete at St Katherine’s Priory mid summer. It is largely a handful of very keen organisers that boost it along.
At our public running yesterday a member had visited Taunton who it transpires had in just 4 years built an extensive multigauge track (2 1/2 to 7 1/4 ) both ground level and raised in just 4 years. Again we didn’t hear anything about it on here.

[Nigel Graham 2Participant @nigelgraham2]

Thankyou Bazyle.

Yes – I am impressed by what the Exeter and Taunton clubs have achieved!

I was discreet because this was not a model-engineering society project throughout, more a sort of mutual arrangment with a farmer thinking he could attract visitors to his farm, and wanting a miniature railway as part of it. Although near Swanage and with a camp-site even nearer, the chance of success was always slim and I think the owner came to realise this.

I can though give something of our group’s background.

 

Our first incarnation, with a few more members, was Purbeck Miniature Railway, based in Purbeck School in Wareham; but eventually we had to leave the site for various reasons including building work on the school itself.

There, we had built a ground-level 7-1/4″ g. railway, operated very successfully on the school’s monthly car-boot sales; but those ended and in due course so did our permissive tenure, hastened possibly by the retirement of the one member who was a teacher there.

As far as I know the formation is all still there. We donated the two turntables (one each end of the line) and a functioning, mechanical signal box, to other clubs; and eventually gave the lifted track to the farm project.

 

In its heyday in the school grounds, PMR took over a small outbuilding originally built as a Biology Lab outpost, and fitted it as a workshop.

We built a station near the workshop, with the signal box for the station’s two-road starter signals; the station exit points and an advance stop signal, used when the turntable beyond the station being operated. The single line’s token was a short steel bar with a big loop, hung on a lever on the outer starter signal post so its weight brought the signal “off”. The driver unhooking it to take it with him, allowed the signal “on”.

The public access station was at the far end from all that, with two-road station and turntable, and its own signals. We could, and normally did, operate each train with one locomotive “down” and a second returning “up”. This became elaborated to two trains and two locomotives alternating directions, even sometimes three locos, with passengers changing trains at what to them was the remote station.

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One of the turntables – plus a lot of very heavy rail, a petrol-engined locomotive and some rolling-stock – had come from Weymouth & District MES’ original track on Portland; closed when a new landowner decided to build a skate-park there! (Which did not last long, as we thought it wouldn’t.) That line was a 3.5, 5 and 7.25″ raised oval, with the turntable in the running-line to serve three steaming-bays. At Purbeck School we built a cylindrical, brick-lined pit of corresponding depth, for it.

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In the hiatus of a few years between the school and farm projects, we helped restore and operate the two-foot gauge demonstration line at Purbeck Mining Museum, adjacent to Norden Station on the preserved Swanage Railway.

The Museum occupies the former transfer site for ball-clay brought along narrow-gauge railways from local clay-pits, onto Standard Gauge trains. It owns two Ruston diesel locomotives; one originally in service on that private quarry network. We also had for a time, a Hunslet steam locomotive on loan from Hampshire Narrow Gauge Society, and used it on “Driver-For-A-Fiver” events for Museum fund-raising, in return for servicing it.

Norden Station itself, overlooked by Corfe Castle ruin, is not original to that location, but was built there by the preservation group to be the normal SR terminus combined with a Council park-&-ride. The line is connected and signalled to Network Rail’s London – Weymouth main-line, but so far at least only rare specials come down the branch.

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PMR has gone but there are two active ME societies in East Dorset: Wimborne and Bournemouth. I gather you need join Wimborne via a company sports and social club, as the wonderfully-designed 5″g. track is on its property. Bournemouth has a raised line, but although multi-gauge its weight limit precludes most 7.25″g locos. I have had the pleasure as guest, of riding round the Wimborne line, and driving on Bournemouth’s circuit.

Half way (ish) between Bournemouth and Taunton are the Weymouth and Yeovil, clubs. Weymouth has a decent length of ground-level 5 & 7.25″ line, plus a non-scenic, raised 16mm-scale circuit and lots of space for ministaure traction-engines to explore.

Sorry Yeovil, I don’t know your facilities!

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W&DMES thrives, now in a school grounds after some years of its own nomadic life after from losing a characterful but rented workshop on Portland (a victim of the Uniform Business Rate). Err, the adjective describes the workshop, not the habituees. Though…

[DellParticipant @dell]

I got fed up with having to remove the T bolt on my Pultra P type tool rest when I want to use the crosslide because my bed has a brace half way like the 17/50/70 & as I had a spare T bolt with a knackered thread although how anyone could knacker a thread on a T bold is beyond me anyway I cut all bar 15mm of the stud off put it in lathe drilled & threaded to 5mm made a new shaft with 5mm thread one end & 8mm the other , also made a new similar looking nut and washer I couldn’t make it same size as I only had 25mm mild steel, so now I can leave Athe original T bolt near the head & use the new one when I want to use the crosslide.

[Nicholas FarrParticipant @nicholasfarr14254]

Hi, today I’ve been mowing some more of my grassed areas, and although I’ve been living here for a little over 32 years, I found something in plain daylight that I’ve never seen before, despite mowing very close to a tree every year since I’ve been here.

No, it wasn’t found on the Tee, but both this Tee and another one, I found hiding in a car I had several years ago, and it is only courteous to photograph it on a Tee in a grassed area. It can now accompany a Commando one I found some 30 odd years ago near an old golf course.

Regards Nick.

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

Raised the union flag at 1300ft asl in the cold easterly wind. Should have worn my coat.

[DiogenesParticipant @diogenes]

From my mailbox this lunchtime..

 

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

Taken the flag down now. Unfortunately our village bonfire has been banned by National Parks owing to no rain.

[DiogenesParticipant @diogenes]

Commiserations – who’d have thought we’d ever live in a world where Dartmoor is too dry..

[DiogenesParticipant @diogenes]

Completed the Vickers base, and was finishing the mouldings around the ‘table top’ just before tea-time on Sunday when a car suddenly pulled round into the remote and windswept yard signalling, I thought, some rural emergency – in any case providing just enough distraction to make me over-bite it on one corner..

..the vehicle? ..didn’t stop, an MPV almost certainly looking for a landmark which a carelessly-worded Google search will helpfully ‘pin’ halfway up the farm drive..

Luckily I’d chosen to rough it first, so a bit of filler and careful resetting and all should be well..

[Nigel Graham 2Participant @nigelgraham2]

Attended a funeral….

That of another of our society’s long-time members.

His last journey, past very many mourners waiting in the crematorium garden in the bright sunshine, was on the platform of the former bewery dray lorry he had bought from service for preservation; with his freelance Showman’s Road Locomotive (about 2 – 3″ scale), its eaves lamps on, occupying the space between the headboard and his coffin.

The immediate family’s car was another of his collection, a Toyota with 1972 UK plates I understand he had imported from Japan.

The chapel was full, with many of us listening to the service in speakers in the porch.

[duncan webster 1Participant @duncanwebster1]

Sat in a hospital waiting room bored to tears, hence the flurry of posts

[Nicholas FarrParticipant @nicholasfarr14254]

Hi, today I anodized, and dyed my first piece of aluminium, and although I don’t think it’s not top notch, it is satisfactory enough for me.

However, I overlooked one thing, as I had it suspended in the acid, with a piece of aluminium rod, with a 5mm thread on the end, which screwed into a thread in the hole in the photo above, there must have been a bubble of air, trapped in the dimple on the opposite side to the hole.

As can be seen, the dimple didn’t get anodized, despite me swinging it around every now and again, and so it didn’t get dyed either.

So this evening I set it back in my lathe, screwed into the holder that I made to turn it to size, knurl the top edge, and mill the dimple, to cut a fresh start.

Tomorrow I will mask the dyed area off, and spray some etch primer into the dimple, ready for some satin black in a day or two.

Regards Nick.

[DiogenesParticipant @diogenes]

Was that with a home-brewed set-up or from a kit?

[Nicholas FarrParticipant @nicholasfarr14254]

Hi Diogenes, it’s with the 2 Litre kit from Chornos.

Regards Nick.

[DiogenesParticipant @diogenes]

👍

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

Boring day yesterday – that is showed someone how to bore out the centre of an 11in  wheel on his version of a Clarke 500. Good solid lathe though the ‘metric thous’ on the handwheel dials were a bit confusing for accuracy. And it is now raining on Dartmoor at last  so off to the Men’s Shed for hard work or drinking tea.

[DiogenesParticipant @diogenes]

..wondering whether I shouldn’t just shelve this hobby until such time as I am able to retire..

..one piece of 6082 left.. fh it’s annoying..

 

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

When you retire you will be too busy to play……..

[Diogenes]

On Diogenes Said:

..wondering whether I shouldn’t just shelve this hobby until such time as I am able to retire..

..one piece of 6082 left.. fh it’s annoying..

 

I’m with Bazyle on this one because retirement does not seem to equal more hobby time.
Make the most of the now because you never know what crap might be waiting round the corner!

 

[Nicholas FarrParticipant @nicholasfarr14254]

Hi. when I was still working, I jokingly used to say that I didn’t really have time to go to work. Since I’ve been retired, nothing seems to have changed.

Regards Nick.

[DiogenesParticipant @diogenes]

Yes, you are right, all – but I will have to rethink how I work, or make some re-adjustment to expectations somehow; trying to snatch an hour’s work here and there whilst my head is still full of the day’s demands isn’t working out well at all, on the other hand, once my a**e hits the sofa that’s the day done..

..now we have proper daylight again maybe I should get out to the workshop at 4 each morning and get a couple of hours in then..

*I say ‘retirement’ but actually mean ‘am forced to give up working’ – it’ll be state pension for me. Joy. School seemed such a load of rubbish at the time..

[DiogenesParticipant @diogenes]

The end of a joyful four days without internet connection..

 

[DiogenesParticipant @diogenes]

..at the stage where an assembly has a enough bits to start hanging things together and getting an idea of what it’s going to look like.. ..always good for impetus..

 

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Looking rather good. I’m at a similar stage with just two bits until an engine is finished but wasting time on boilers!

[Diogenes]

On Diogenes Said:

..at the stage where an assembly has a enough bits to start hanging things together and getting an idea of what it’s going to look like.. ..always good for impetus..

 

Always good to have a part assembly to see how things are going. I am doing woodwork for the base of my engine and then a test assembly. Look forward to some more progress photos as and when you do some more.

[Author]

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