24 October 2025

OK all the magazines rescanned and a set of electronic copies in the folder. Next step perhaps is to OCR them so I can search for content, but I've got the Parts List pages as a single document and was going to scan through the recommended tools list, so I've just run ocrmypdf on that. And failed. While the block on white and white on red text has been recognised, the black on yellow boxes have been missed and those are the 'You will need' boxes. AH it's only some boxes that have not been ocr'ed and that seems to be down to the shade of yellow in the background. Anyway, next step I think is to push a copy over to the windows box and run it through Finereader and see if that does any better. Using OCR is something I've been used to for some time and all of the Model Engineer magazines are now searchable, but Finereader actually builds a text version of the pdf, rather than simply creating a background text layer behind the raw scan of the pages. Mush more time consuming and only really useful where I've pulled together a set of articles for a project, such as the Springbok train which I still have an almost complete chassis for over in the garage. So pulling the Flying Scotsman documentation together may fall into that category.

Another useful find is the motor and gearbox set for the model. I knew I had it safe somewhere, and I've been slowly sorting through boxes and downsizing from the margarine and Chinese food boxes to trays in much smaller 'Realy Useful' boxes. While sorting the latest stuff, the motor came to light again and is now in with the rest of the kit ready to be fitted. It was in a box with some of the tools and hence the next step being to pull all of those into one place as well. I've brought two tool boxes over from the garage and there is still a third one to sort through. One that needs a little work to re-rivet the lid section, which should take me back in time as it was one of the apprentice pieces I built in the Apprentice Training School at EMI Electronics back in mid 70's. All of the other tools made at the time are still stored in it, but a damp problem at the garage is pushing me to get everything 'home' and cleaned up. JUST got an email that they are going to send someone around to check out the water problem in the garage which will help, but I'm still fighting to use the loft space here as an alternative and the delays on that is what has held up making progress on some of the longer term projects.