7mm Pencarrow - Cornish BR(S)
- Thread starter Pencarrow
- Start date
Pencarrow
Western Thunderer
Thanks Ade, not doing any modelling at the moment, tackling some heavy duty decorating in the house.
Pencarrow
Western Thunderer
Morning all from a field somewhere in Gloucestershire. I've been somewhat absent posting modelling updates since the end of January and that's led to some kind souls asking about my wellbeing...
So the first answer is, yes, all is good in the hood (other class 50s are available). The reason for the lack of modelling updates has been, erm, a distinct lack of modelling since the flourish in January.
The problem started when one day in early February I was on a particularly tedious work call and took to stare out of the home office door. It was a view to behold. A patch of unpainted plaster above a door, patchy worn paintwork, a beat up stairs banister and a crappy carpet that we've hated since moving in around 16 years ago...
I had developed the distinct ability to ignore all this but I think deep down it was getting to me, particularly as the same joyous finishes extended down into the ground floor hall. Somewhat rashly I decided that the situation could be remedied in a couple of weekends with a paintbrush...
Well the 'couple of weekends' timescale was correct, but only for applying paint to the upstairs landing and corridor. Scope creep then set in.
The corridor to the train room had always been a bit of a dumping ground and always looked a bit tatty. Cue taking a track saw and a tad of creativity with instructions to some IKEA units. Much better.
But now the beat up stairs banister stood out even more against the nice fresh paintwork upstairs. The solution was obviously to wait until the good lady went on her monthly business trip to Scotland and, in a flash of bravado, rip it all out.
What had I done? Was going to be in big trouble with the good lady on her return. Worse still, investigation of the stair treads and risers revealed most had come loose, or were split or out of position. 1970s workmanship, combined with baby elephants when the kids were little.
So lots of work, extra supports and bracing required. Oh and time and effort. And yes, before you ask, the good lady wasn't overly impressed but I think secretly was pleased that I was finally doing something to address the poor internal decor.
No1 daughter came home from university for Easter and that was obviously the time to address the state of the landing floor, which had more lumps, bumps and dips than a mountain range. So the old boards came up. The joists sorted and new boards put down, which resulted in a very weird feeling walking across a flat floor.
This exercise gave the opportunity to clean up the mess left my the original builders and a dustbin full of dust, rubble, offcuts and period 'mens' magazines were cleared out. This takes us up to the end of March.
So the first answer is, yes, all is good in the hood (other class 50s are available). The reason for the lack of modelling updates has been, erm, a distinct lack of modelling since the flourish in January.
The problem started when one day in early February I was on a particularly tedious work call and took to stare out of the home office door. It was a view to behold. A patch of unpainted plaster above a door, patchy worn paintwork, a beat up stairs banister and a crappy carpet that we've hated since moving in around 16 years ago...
I had developed the distinct ability to ignore all this but I think deep down it was getting to me, particularly as the same joyous finishes extended down into the ground floor hall. Somewhat rashly I decided that the situation could be remedied in a couple of weekends with a paintbrush...
Well the 'couple of weekends' timescale was correct, but only for applying paint to the upstairs landing and corridor. Scope creep then set in.
The corridor to the train room had always been a bit of a dumping ground and always looked a bit tatty. Cue taking a track saw and a tad of creativity with instructions to some IKEA units. Much better.
But now the beat up stairs banister stood out even more against the nice fresh paintwork upstairs. The solution was obviously to wait until the good lady went on her monthly business trip to Scotland and, in a flash of bravado, rip it all out.
What had I done? Was going to be in big trouble with the good lady on her return. Worse still, investigation of the stair treads and risers revealed most had come loose, or were split or out of position. 1970s workmanship, combined with baby elephants when the kids were little.
So lots of work, extra supports and bracing required. Oh and time and effort. And yes, before you ask, the good lady wasn't overly impressed but I think secretly was pleased that I was finally doing something to address the poor internal decor.
No1 daughter came home from university for Easter and that was obviously the time to address the state of the landing floor, which had more lumps, bumps and dips than a mountain range. So the old boards came up. The joists sorted and new boards put down, which resulted in a very weird feeling walking across a flat floor.
This exercise gave the opportunity to clean up the mess left my the original builders and a dustbin full of dust, rubble, offcuts and period 'mens' magazines were cleared out. This takes us up to the end of March.
Pencarrow
Western Thunderer
Progress seriously slowed in April as we had a bit of time out. The first was long weekend away in Prague seeing the sights, dodging trams and trying out the local beer.
The second was a long weekend away with old friends in Shropshire but that did at least result in a trip to the Severn Valley Railway.
Less said about my alleged birthday age the better.
Another weekend disappeared taking No1 daughter back to university.
And before you know it we're in May which was punctuated by a weekend away with friends to the Mamma Mia party in Greece/London (the O2)...
...and a trip with relatives up to a Tramway museum.
The second was a long weekend away with old friends in Shropshire but that did at least result in a trip to the Severn Valley Railway.
Less said about my alleged birthday age the better.
Another weekend disappeared taking No1 daughter back to university.
And before you know it we're in May which was punctuated by a weekend away with friends to the Mamma Mia party in Greece/London (the O2)...
...and a trip with relatives up to a Tramway museum.
Pencarrow
Western Thunderer
But throughout all this, and the day job, work continued on the house. The stair structure was completely rebuilt (would have been easier in the end to rip the old one out completely and replace with new) and capped off with some nice oak.
Which then needed oiling...
...but it's turned out ok.
That was supposed to have been my jobs done and carpet fitters were to have come in to replace the god awful carpet. But. Scope creep has hit again. The stair treads are now to be clad in oak and the risers faced in white. The downstairs hall will now have a wooden floor. So that's the skirting now being replaced...
All for another day, as I'm currently in a field somewhere in Gloucestershire.
Which then needed oiling...
...but it's turned out ok.
That was supposed to have been my jobs done and carpet fitters were to have come in to replace the god awful carpet. But. Scope creep has hit again. The stair treads are now to be clad in oak and the risers faced in white. The downstairs hall will now have a wooden floor. So that's the skirting now being replaced...
All for another day, as I'm currently in a field somewhere in Gloucestershire.
Pencarrow
Western Thunderer
That was Oasis, who put aside their differences and reformed just for me this weekend... Honest
Pencarrow
Western Thunderer
I wondered if anyone would get the misquote...
Pencarrow
Western Thunderer
Yes that's right
DougT
Western Thunderer
I suspect there’s a very narrow age range for that quote!
Pencarrow
Western Thunderer
You're obviously early 30s like me then.....
DougT
Western Thunderer
Yeah, roughly early 30’s but with a massive margin of error…
michael mott
Western Thunderer
I’m guessing 20-50% 19 times out of 20
Michael
Pencarrow
Western Thunderer
I'll defo settle for a 50% error on 30...