Update - No.18 - 09.10.11

Originally sent via email to friends and family only in October 2011

Well hello again everybody - I'm back.  Did you miss me?

I did warn you last time that this update may take a while but even I didn't expect it to be this late.  Apologies if you've been missing my regular banal ramblings, and conversely, apologies if you've been enjoying not having to read this sort of nonsense for the last couple of months and I'm now back to annoy you - ha!  I realised it was time for me to send something out when I received the following email from Chris, my brother-in-law this morning.........

Hello Mate

On behalf of a concerned nation I have to enquire if all is well. It's easy to say that's it's only been 7 weeks or so since the last update but this project is on a 00 scale; therefore it's actually been over 9 years since the last Corkscrew update when you scale it up to real world size. A near decade of silence.

Is it possible that Becky wasn't just making the tea but was the real driving force behind things and that now she is down in Brighton work has ground to a halt? We're your friends, you can tell us.

So, let us know of your progress down on the Corkscrew Line - we can't cope with another decade of silence.

All the best

Chris

Well, what can I say....... I feel embarrassed that you've all been sat there at home waiting for news on my large slice of a scale West Country in the 1960's, no doubt believing you have been forsaken by your beloved Corky....no sniggering at the back there!!  It has been a particularly hectic period over the last month or so as Mr & Mrs Corky have been on a grand European adventure including visits to France, Switzerland and Italy where local cuisine, customs and electric and diesel traction have been sampled and enjoyed......dreadful.  Many thousands of photographs have been taken and I will be including some in the next few updates in the new and terribly exciting (in a Harry Hill TV Burp sty-lee) , I'm sure you will agree, "European Nedding Highlight of the Week" section......Oh My Lords!!!  I don't know about you Guys, but I just can't wait!!!  The continental adventure was followed by extended visits to North Yorkshire for the North York Moors Railway diesel gala, another busy period whilst Becky prepared and then moved to her University in Brighton, the Nene Valley Railway diesel gala and finally the Severn Valley Railway diesel gala.  All in all, not much time to Corkscrew.

All is not totally lost from a modelling point of view however.  I have managed to lay some more track on the low level storage deck and devise a system for connecting the track work between adjacent boards with removable track sections to make baseboard removal easier.  The photos last time showed the latest efforts at track laying using the "Baked Beans & Soup Possession system" which works well for me.  Next step will be installing the first set of points and deciding how they will be remotely activated.  Favourite is a New Rail Models Blue Point switch machine with a wire-in-tube actuator to the baseboard fascia.  All will be revealed next time!

Full Size Railway Adventures

Now then, the North York Moors railway has always been a favourite of mine.......a decent run, wonderful scenery, locals with strange accents etc etc.  Well, my beloved agreed I could attend the diesel gala this year as long as she could come along too and we spent some time doing "normal" things.  A B&B was duly booked and I was allowed off the leash to play on the Saturday of the gala.  One of our old friends was spotted at Whitby.....Andy Gibbs of Brighton who has a considerable full size railway and modelling pedigree.  Meeting up with Andy was an added bonus.  Andy has now joined the ranks of the Corkettes and normal rules apply......simply press the spam button when you've had enough updates like everybody else does!  I will include a few shots of the fun and games over the next few updates so you can see what you missed!

 
European Nedding Highlight of the WeekBonjour....To kick off this new section, I have included some shots of SNCF traction in and around Paris.  I took every opportunity to use the "while you have a look in the shops darling, I'll just have a quick wander around the station" technique so managed to see quite a lot.  There were some pretty strange looking double deck suburban trains used on the RER network and the usual TGV units.  Highlights for me were the AC Electric locos in a variety of regional liveries including plenty of the classic "broken nose" locos.  I managed to get some time at Gare Du Nord, Gare D'Austerlitz, Gare De L'Est and Gare De Lyon.  As we travelled purely by rail for the whole holiday, I came home with hundreds of images so picking a few is pretty difficult.  Anyway, hope you enjoy the shots I've selected.  We naturally did all the usual sightseeing bits like big metal towers, hunchback's Cathedrals etc etc but I'm sure you've all done that yourselves so no need to bore you unnecessarily!   That's a first for me eh?

In the next thrilling instalment...

The first sections of track are now laid on the first pair of low level baseboards so the next job will be testing everything runs ok and then installing the first sections of wiring and points/point actuators.  This will involve removing baseboards and working on them whilst on the dining room table so I have to choose my times when Sarah is not going to be unduly upset by the "train set" once again taking over the normal bits of the house. 

I am toying with the idea of creating a website dedicated to the Corkscrew Lines and if this does happen then the updates will probably finish.  I'll let you know what I decide.

Time for a cuppa me thinks!

Until next time my friends.....keep dancing!