17-9-2017

Hi All,

Tuesday evening already - I had better knock out a few words before the short term memory fails me altogether.

So, with only one Chief present, the Indians were able to get on with things quite nicely.  Truth to tell, we did need the Chief - he had the keys.  When we did get inside it was plain to see that that Derek had put my borrowed keys to good use during the week.  You can always tell where a sparkie has been at work - there is a trail of bits of wire and insulation.  Quite unabashed, he carried on doing the same all afternoon.  Following on from a comment by Derek about USA diesels derailing when he tested his wiring, I re-aligned a curved point and swapped another that had its actuator boss cut off from the wrong side.  The re-alignment did not help.  Both locos and wagons (freight cars) of USA origin continued to derail, whereas Hornby stock would fly through.  The problem appears to be that fine scale wheels are not held into the curve by the guard rail, so that the outer wheel can ride up on the frog and derail (bl**dy insulfrog).  It may be down to the difference between 3.5mm and 4mm scale but, whatever it is, more work is required to solve the issue in perpetuity.

Oblivious to all this, Dale finished clearing out the long room and later in the day, after George and I scavenged anything even slightly useful, we cleaned the floor and gave back to the Seniors the table tops that had been cluttering up our new store room, plus the two tables that had been in the middle of the new room.  We are out of there, folks!  Alan Droscher was even there, to help us celebrate.

On the new layout, Grant and Rod finally solved the riddle of how to connect the branch line to the Port Gary wharves.  Greg lent moral support to Derek (i.e. I did not see him crawling around under the benches).  Helen indulged her penchant for tidying things up - somewhat inhibited by cries of "Don't put that away - I'll never find it again".  George shuttled back and forth with quarry bits.  Judy helped with anything that she was asked to do.  Ernie was with us initially, deep in discussion with Dale, then left early with a commitment to watching a footy match and the intention to build a farm house.  

Spoiled for choice at tea - chocolate cake from Helen and little berry cakelet things from Jane (I don't know what these things are - I just enjoy them) - conversation turned to such burning topics as how hard it is to break into the pill bottles for the pills that we all seem to need these days.  And also every other child proof container that we seem to be stuck with nowadays.  It remains a mystery to us all - how did we survive to our current ripe old age?

If I survive another week - see you on the 24th

Peter