Leaderboard

As a regular contributor to MRJ from the earliest days and as someone who has written widely in both a professional capacity and as a hobbyist (with 16 books and more than 80 published articles to my name), I have always understood that my work will only ever exert a selective appeal. I think that is an inevitable consequence of the diverse nature of any readership and, as a writer, it is not a problem for me. I am equally happy to hear constructive criticism, provided it is grounded in a careful consideration of what I have written and is reasoned. But to have a piece categorised as "dull" before it has been read is something of a new departure for me. We live in strange times indeed. What's that old maxim? Never judge a book by its' cover. Come on chaps; at least afford contributors the courtesy of looking at their work before forming a damning view! I think the notion that the Christmas MRJ always used to be a special issue is something of a myth and I wonder whether the "rose tinted" spectacles of our memory is playing tricks here. Yes, I remember some issues that did dress the content with Christmas themes or showcased classic layouts of the past with more than a hint of a nostalgic gaze, and the Christmas competition was always something I enjoyed and which I do miss. But if you actually look back through the many Christmas MRJs that have been published (and I happen to have several on my desk as I write), then I think you will find that the content is, for the most part, the normal MRJ "fare". So I really don't think MRJ 275 is atypical in this regard. I have always enjoyed reading MRJ because I feel it takes its' subject matter seriously and provides in depth explanation of modelling techniques combined with truly inspirational images that none of the other magazines come close to equalling. To that extent it doesn't matter to me whether a particular article reflects my specific interests or not; there are always lessons we can learn from the work of other good exponents of railway modelling, irrespective of company allegiance or modelling period. The "Station Road" series is a case in point, as whilst I suspect some of the contributors to this forum have mentally categorised the articles as "GWR" (because the scene I am describing is attached to a Great Western branch layout), the articles are actually dealing with scenic modelling techniques and are almost entirely generic in nature. Any publisher will tell you that they can only publish material that they receive, so for those forum contributors who are unhappy about perceived imbalances in recent content, the answer surely lies in your own hands. Write some articles around the themes and ideas that interest you and submit them to the editors. Just don't make them too dull, that's all... Stephen Williams

Santa Special on the SDR featuring pannier 6412 near Hood Bridge. The weathering on that lineside hut is rather nice too.

Back from Germany with German Germs Now't more to say really. Best wishes to all.

Good evening everyone Well it’s been a week since I last posted an here and quite a lot has happened. As there has been so many posts since then, I’ll just have to pass on generic congratulations, commiserations to all who need then. You may recall that last weekend I was unwell, I had some flu like symptoms, feeling tired, aches and pains and unable to stay warm, but with no coughs, sneezes or headaches. By Saturday there was a slight improvement, but not enough for me to partake in a family get together at a local Indian restaurant. By Monday I was much better, which was lucky, as we were due to meet up with some friends in Harrogate on Wednesday. After that it we were a little busy getting everything ready for our trip, as my incapacity put us a bit behind. Thankfully the trip went ahead and all was well and we enjoyed couple of relaxing days there. As usual, I visited Starbeck Model shop whilst there and I even managed to get myself a new wetsuit, from a recently opened ‘dive shop’. Tomorrow I will be at the Manchester Model Railway Show, the plan is to catch the 9:17 train from our local station, which is only 10 minutes walk from home and to be in Manchester for just after 9:30. Goodnight all

It's been a very long time since my last post (which I think was a 4mm scale chair!) but I've nearly completed my latest build: Canterbury & Whitstable Railway, Taylor 0-6-0 goods loco, no.121, c1847. The bulk of it was constructed whilst convalescing with a broken left metatarsal. What a tragedy to be signed off work and have to sit there day after day with my foot up, drinking tea and model making, life can be so cruel! A friend offered some Portescap motor/gearboxes in exchange for kits so one of these formed the basis for this engine. The gearbox had to be dismantled and reversed so the driving axle sat under the motor and the wheels were some old Romford ones from the scrap box. One of the biggest challenges was the haycock firebox with it's brass beading around the corners. The box itself was build up from two strips of scribed 10thou brass bent into an 'n', cut and soldered together, then the brass corners cut from 5thou, bent and beaten into submission around the curves, a horrible job and much learned in the process but it doesn't look too bad. It hasn't put me off doing another one anyway. The tender was rest was gradually scratch built using good old fashioned measure, bend and cut techniques, as was the rest of the loco, a refreshingly 3D print free zone! It still requires some water feed pipes under the footplate and there is an annoying little short every time it goes left which I must sort out. Of course some crew will be required before it moves 'off shed' but they can wait. The photographs leave a bit to be desired, I find the low sun at this time of year a bit tricky, our house faces due south and not casting a shadow over the photo at midday requires some degree of contortion. Hopefully they will do for now, next up is an 1845 Bodmer Single but as usual it will take me ages! Thanks for looking and please feel free to ask if you need to know more.

Indeed. In the meantime, someone has either attached a camera to his balsa wood glider or has climbed a tree in the style of Ben Ashworth:

Well, overall I was very pleased with the way that Churminster looked in this month's (January cover date) edition of Hornby Magazine - aside obviously, from the picture of the gormless operator at the controls! The majority of the pictures that Trevor Jones took back in February were used in the article, but three were not, and since I have his permission, I have shown them below as I feel they are worth exposing: The first shows the courtyard within Geoff Taylor's excellent brewery complex, with the 2 horse-power brewery dray about to depart with another load of Wadleys Best Churminster Ale: The second shot covers Churminster's industrial area, including the brewery, Barker's engineering, the Southdown bus garage, and the yard of the Wellard Timber Company: I suspect that both of these may have been omitted as they don't include much railway content - well none, actually! The third and last image shows Churminster Station, with an N15 and an H16 passing in opposite directions, the locoshed complex to the right and P class no.1555 shunting the goods yard entrance in the foreground: The modelling mojo has taken a bit of a hit recently as I have experienced two significant bereavements within a four week period, but I am hopeful that I might make a progress this coming week, perhaps inspired by a visit tomorrow to the Peterborough Show. Tony

I drove home a long Silverdale Road Friday afternoon through thick smoke , this is later on in the evening... https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/i-could-smell-the-hair-on-my-face-cooking-at-the-scene-of-the-blow-up-20191206-p53hf8.html The fires are predicted to burn until February, since there is no rain forecast before then. Just wanted to add that almost all of Australias rural fire fighters are non-paid volunteers

Trent Lane crossing today, just east of the site of Trent station on the line to Nottingham. One photos is from 1983, the others are from December 1989 - I can't remember what I was doing there in 1989, I presume I must have been visiting relatives. Trent Lane crossing 43086 St Pancras to Sheffield July 83 J8023.jpg Trent Lane crossing 150129 Derby to Skegness 22nd Dec 89 C13868.jpg Trent Lane crossing 150113 to Birmingham 22nd Dec 89 C14117.jpg Trent Lane crossing Class 47 up l e 22nd Dec 89 C14119.jpg Trent Lane crossing Class 101 up 22nd Dec 89 C14124.jpg David

Afternoon all. Where were we? Time has slipped away since my last visit. Rewind to Thursday when SWMBO and myself finally enjoyed our evening inside the Palace of Westminster. We had booked in February but the requirements of Brexit meant that Parliament didn't rise for the expected break and our booking was cancelled. We rebooked and were not disappointed. After passing security we admired the inside of Westminster Hall, its 14th Century hammerbeam roof and walls dating back to 1099. We strolled on to the Central Lobby (as often seen on tv) which is beautiful - nay magnificent - in reality. At this point we were met and escorted through a series of "No photography" signs, through corridors lined with ornate wooden lockers and shown the Member's Dining Room. Our reservation was for 7pm and we had taken the offered advice to arrive an hour beforehand. The Stranger's Dining Room was in use as a cloakroom and having de-coated there we were duly shown through to the Pugin Room. This, for those unfamiliar with the innards of the Houses of Parliament, is within the Lords and serves as one of their Lordship's bars. Just beyond is the Peer's Dining Room which we were not permitted to see. The demarcation is defined by the carpet changing from House of Commons green to House of Lords red (both with gold fleur de lys motifs) and separated by ..... a most incongruous strip of grey gaffer tape!!!!! We were served in the bar by our personal barman who, at precisely 7pm, advised our table was ready and escorted us back into the Member's Dining Room. Here the table service matched the very best restaurants. Neither the menu nor the prices were the "Members" versions but our fixed-price £55-a-head offered us a choice of five starters, five mains and four desserts plus a cheeseboard (£4 additional), all with vegetarian and vegan options, and with drinks at favourable prices. I opted for the ham hock starter, Norfolk turkey main and Christmas pudding. This was a Michelin-star quality seasonal dinner and all our party of four (SWMBO plus her senior director and his wife) agreed. In total we sampled two starters and three desserts but all opted for the same main course. A bottle of 2012 French Côtes du Rhone was £22 and proved to be an excellent choice and a very fair price for its quality. Tickets for public dining are rather akin to rocking horse manure. They are available but one needs to know where and when to find them. And they are highly sough after. But if the chance is there take it. We thoroughly enjoyed our evening, the food, drink and service was as good as anywhere we have ever been and the security - whilst necessary and thorough - was largely unobtrusive. The only thing being that for the most part we were not allowed to take photos. We were permitted a small number of record shots of ourselves and the waiting staff happily obliged numerous tables when asked. How different, then, last night. We were booked at a local pub with two of SWMBO's workmates. Upon arrival we found we had been bumped from restaurant to the bar as they had a party in. The bar staff then advised that it was too busy to serve meals. Indeed it was - anyone in the bar would have had difficulty even moving so packed was it. We hastily decamped to the Hill of Strawberries and enjoyed a Thai takeaway sitting in the comfort of our own lounge. Not a pub-full of shouting, drinking, pushing, shoving Friday-nighters but not the evening we had expected either. Today has been catch-up day. I have spent much of it performing menial tasks of domestic engineering. During one of those tasks my head and the corner of the cooker hood came into very firm contact with each other which caused a loud exclamation of pain. I was sat on the sofa by SWMBO with a cold compress pressed to my head and was assured that nothing was visibly damaged. I felt sure the metal corner had at the least pierced the skin but no. A few hours later and there's not even a souvenir lump ......... Better luck next time???

Morning, I felt decidedly meh yesterday, even going to bed mid-evening. Although somewhat improved this morning, I would not attend Peterborough based on present indications so I do hope the improvement continues. I am supposed to be installing some lights at daughter’s today, I will just go and instruct son-in-law I think but will make the final terminations myself. I also should pop up to the Sports Club and check on something for Tuesday’s meeting but I will defer that. Wood-burner has been in for around 10 days now and as SWMBO didn’t get any more logs in, it has extinguished itself due to a lack of fuel - she can clean it whilst I’m doing the lights. Onwards and slowly upwards, sympathies to sufferers!

Muggocoffee consumed and now off to Whitchurch to catch the train to Manchester where I hope to see some other ERs. Yesterday was a pure mode***ng day and much was achieved in trac***ing but ny back is telling me this morning that too much bending over was involved. Have a good one. Dave

Good morning all, There is a glimmer of something bright through the clouds and it should be a dry day with sunny spells. Bad night here as my right hip is playing up. This caused a lot of fidgeting which woke up The Boss which is not a good thing to do. Oh no. A quick visit to Sainsbury's required as extra supplies needed for lunch. My oldest friend and his wife are visiting their son and family who live locally and are popping in to see us. Shed visited for a while and new purchase tested. Wow! However I need to learn how to drive it properly to get the best out of the sounds and it has also identified a fault in my trackwork. No surprises there! It sounds like "we need to get a move on" will be uttered shorty as I hear the approach of Have a good one, Bob.

Back off patrol, I think Ben the desperate Collie, superseded Ben I'm scared of the dark Collie, we weren't out for long. There is a hint of red in the east, as the lone cockerel tries to announce Dawn is on her way, whilst being drowned out by the beeping of reversing JCB, the rumble rumble rumble of beet dropping into tin trailers, and the roar of Artics manoeuvring ..Quiet this countryside... Unlike Australia I need more heat, so the stove has been loaded up. Time for breakfast and a Muggacoffee not necessarily in that order..

Morning All Overcast and dull I'm off to look at another flat I'm getting fed up with the inactions of the freeholders of the flat I'm buying the roof repair has gone from Wednesday to Saturday without being informed the estate manager has small man syndrome coupled with being a total #rse'ole he is a nightmare to deal with and not loose your temper in the process once I've done the viewing I will visit to see if the roof has been repaired if not I will be onto someone more senior to ask what the hell is going on it's totally f'ed up the move date we could have completed yesterday. A Czech Lady has asked for a date next week it has been difficult to talk to her with her command of English not being very good I'm getting there. Better get on things to do enjoy your weekend I. Datamenni

Mooring awl, inner Temple Hare, A good nights 3 piece sleep, 3.75 hours in bed, 4 on the sofa in two bits.. In an hour when daylight occurs I'm sure brown eye will want out. The strong winds seem to have temporarily eased. The second nearest house seems to have copied Blackpool illuminations, as a general review with the number of extra things out side this election, the Christmas party will win... Plans for today, boat work and tool box building, Hello brown eyes has turned up earlier than expected, Time to go on patrol.

Good morning one and all I’m off to Manchester for the show. The journey on Virgin West Coast is seldom uneventful but the last day of the franchise is fast approaching and may even be here. You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone ... I have important business at the demo stand and hope to meet lots of inmates around the show. Best wishes to all Chris

Inspired by James Harrison's, in my view, brilliant idea of juxtaposing War of the Worlds with Three Men in a Boat, I've been indulging in my own form of escapism and proudly announce ... The BBC Presents Peter Harness Adapts the Classics Three Men in a Tripod (To say nothing of the Martian) Prologue – Woke in Woking No one would have believed in the last years of the nineteenth century that this world was being watched keenly and closely by intelligences greater than man. And this was for good reason, because we, the Martians I mean, had been doing the watching, and we, as it turned out, would struggle to out-think a small dog. It wasn’t meant to be an invasion. We thought we’d do a bit of trading, lay down the odd colony here and there. Genocide was very definitely optional, so far as we’d been concerned. In retrospect, it might have been better to land nearer to Whitehall and engage immediately in High Level Diplomacy. Instead we landed in village Surrey and gave the local rustics one almighty fright. I don’t think they were quite ready to meet extra-terrestrials. These people were still struggling with the concept of a loving long-term relationship without the sacrament of marriage, and with the existence of the French, so, you can see, it was all quite hopeless. I have since endeavoured to discover quite why we chose to land near Woking. Of course nobody knew; nobody at the observatory on Mars ever does know where a cylinder is going to start from, or where a cylinder when it’s shot off is going to, or anything about it. The gunner who fired the first cylinder thought it would go to London, as this was the Capital of Empire, while another gunner, with whom he discussed the question, had heard a rumour that it was supposed to go to Berlin, as German industrial production had a exceeded Britain’s as early as 1870 and, thus, represented the greater World Power. The stella ordnance-master, on the other hand, was convinced, if that were the case, the cylinder must have been bound for New York. “You have to bear in mind the need to appeal to the US audience”, he added sagely. To put an end to the matter, I went upstairs, and asked the expedition superintendent, and he told me that he had just met a passer-by, who said he was sure that the first cylinder was bound for Peking, on the basis that, in the long run, the Western Powers were finished anyway, and didn’t need much of a helping hand. In the end I decided that H G Wells had probably slipped him half-a-crown and begged him to send it to Woking. It started well. I mean at least we avoided landing on anyone. While it was unfortunate that blaring Elgar at them on a gramophone caused the occupants of the first cylinder to panic and get a bit free with the heat-ray, it was really the complacent imperialist xenophobia of the provincial Englishman that got us all riled up. The heat-ray was designed as a scientifically efficient way to clear ground for settlement, whereas the black smoke was intended as a mild disinfectant. Possibly we underestimated the potency of these, and certainly we were rather non-plussed at being shelled by artillery. Of course, Wells sensationalised the whole thing – he had a novel to sell after all – but it’s fair to say that things got a little out of hand for a time, though we soon had to admit defeat. We had reckoned without the Suffragettes and Sir David Attenborough, of course, and were completely unprepared for Public Meetings in which we were relentlessly lectured upon the Evils of Colonialism, the Vital Importance of Female Suffrage, and the Countryside Code (always close gates to prevent the escape of livestock, never litter, and try not to incinerate too much of our native woodland (as this quite annoying and also contributes to Climate Change)). I think, though, the decisive point in our re-education was when Mrs Pankhurst argued that Martian Tyranny was just to replace one out-moded oppressive patriarchy with another, albeit it even slimier, one, and that, if we didn’t want a nail-bomb shoved up our heat-ray funnel, we’d better get Woke pdq. So, with the expedition barely begun, we were stopped in our tracks by the power of Socially Progressive Thinking. That and the fact that we all came down with a really nasty bout of ‘flu. For the next few years we led blameless lives keeping to our pit on Horsell Common, taking The Manchester Guardian, inventing a wind turbine, reading all the great feminist academics (intellects vast and cool and unsympathetic), and learning how to recycle single-use plastics. In an effort to get out more, I joined the local Society of Free Thinkers where I met the companions, whose journey with me I now have the privilege of laying before the Reading Public. Chapter 1 There were four of us—George, and William Samuel Harris, and myself, and Montmorency. We were sitting in my room, smoking, and talking about how bad we were—bad from the point of view of our sufferings I mean, of course. We were all feeling seedy, and we were getting quite nervous about it. Harris said he felt such extraordinary fits of post-colonial guilt come over him at times, that he hardly knew when to insert a suitably recriminatory monologue into the day; and then George said that he too had fits of Imperial Angst, but hoped that joining the Fabian Society and Living in Sin would cure it. With me, it was my Martian physiology that was out of order. I knew it was my Martian physiology that was out of order, because I had just been Googling "Martians - proneness to disease", where links detailed the various bacteria that swarm and multiply in a drop of water. I had them all. At this point, Ms Deliveroo knocked at the door to know if we were ready for supper. We smiled sadly at one another, and said we supposed we had better try to swallow a bit. Harris said a little something in one’s stomach often kept radical politics in check; and Ms Deliveroo brought the tray in, and we drew up to the table, and toyed with a little steak and onions, and some rhubarb tart. Had I but realised that eating beef was destroying the earth faster and more effectively than red weed, I might not have had seconds. This duty done, we refilled our glasses, lit our pipes (we were Hipsters to a man), and resumed the discussion upon our state of health. What it was that was actually the matter with us, we none of us could be sure of; but the unanimous opinion was that it—whatever it was—had been brought on by overthinking. “What we want is a rest from the tired clichés of classic literature,” said Harris. “Rest and a complete change,” said George. “The efforts of sympathy with late nineteenth century modes of expression and social mores, even those penned by a popular Free-Thinking author, cause overstrain upon our brains and produce a depressing craving for the anachronistic touches of a dumbed-down re-write, relevant for a supposedly dull-witted modern audience. Change of plot, and absence of the necessity for thought, will restore the mental equilibrium.” Debate then ranged to and forth upon the possible means of achieving such a change, and an expedition of our own was mooted. George said: “Let’s hire a Tripod.” He said we should have fresh air, fine elevated views and they couldn’t be wheel-clamped; the constant change of scene would occupy our minds (including what there was of Harris’s); and life at higher altitude would give us a good appetite, and make us sleep well. Harris said he didn’t think George ought to do anything that would have a tendency to make him sleepier than he always was, as it might be dangerous. He said he didn’t very well understand how George was going to sleep any more than he did now, seeing that there were only twenty-four hours in each day, summer and winter alike; but thought that if he did sleep any more, he might just as well be dead, and so save his board and lodging. It was at this point that I think I annoyed Harris by pointing out that I was indefatigable (when I hadn’t a head cold, of course). Harris said, however, that a Tripod would suit him to a “T” and that I’d know how the drive one. Harris and I both said it was a good idea of George’s; and we said it in a tone that seemed to somehow imply that we were surprised that George should have come out so sensible. The only one who was not struck with the suggestion was Montmorency. He never did care for heights, did Montmorency. “It’s all very well for you fellows,” he says; “you like it, but I don’t. There’s nothing for me to do. Scenery is not in my line, and I don’t smoke. If you ask me, I call the whole thing bally foolishness.” We were three to one, however, and the motion was carried.

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Getting ready for the Brentwood toy fair and on my way shortly. Thats about it, be back later.

Well, the PH and I tried our best to bring the streets of Leamington Spa to a halt at lunchtime, when we had to double park in order to collect the sofa, but failed dismally. A chap who appeared to be walking past even gave us a hand to lift the sofa into the trailer and helped to lashit secure and put the cover over it. Public spirit of the highest order? My rase; We were blocking him in and he wanted to get his car out. Had he mentioned this we would have moved to let him out and such was the space we could then have parked at the kerb side. Once the sofa had been returned to and installed in the sitting room of PH Grange (6881 for the true GWR afficionado,) I took my leave and proceeded to Rodington where I got in for free as they had run out of mince pies! Since it was a charitable event, I made up for this by rather obscene purchases of essential sustenance. ie. I had to make do with cake instead. Regular readers of my drivel will understand how heartbroken I would have been over this issue. Does anyone else on here get irritated when you ask a simple question of a trader: In this case someone selling a live steam loco, and they look at you as if you have just bayonetted their pet rabbit. I only asked what the stroke and bore of the cylinders were. The Obergrumpenfuhrer was just informed me it is Bratwurst(s) for tea. Oh look! A large glass of single malt Irish whiskey has just been delivered to my side. Life can be sheer hell at the Hippodrome!

Afternoon all from a slighly damp Charente. No modelling shows to visit nearby so I might even head for the shed later. Beth is slowly getting to grips with using insulin but the nurses are giving slightly difficult dietary advice. Hopefully things will calm down and sort themselves out soon. I am shortly to head for the utility room to remove an ancient and very small and yseless dishwasher. This is plumbed in to the same waste ststem as the shower, the washer and a pair of sinks. We often get a sewerage smell comi g out if the trap in the shower. My cunning plan is to remove the double drainer sink and the cupboard it stands on. Then survey and try and sort out the plumbing. Then install a single sink on a new cupboard plus a dishwasher we've been given. This should keep me out of mischief for a while. However I may well have to vidit the trainspotting branch of a builders merchant a coupke of times...... Regards to all. Jamie

Just a couple from last night, rugby to Preston with 47749 and an electric unit Didn’t manage a proper pic at Preston as as soon as I’d stepped off the loco the other driver was away! Got a couple of stills from a Video I took which was also poor as he’s already started moving by the time i started!

Morning all, Reasonable weather at present, the rain is hanging back unyil tomorrow it would seem. Most recent fellings, mainly cherry, were tested in the woodburner yesterday evening with highly satisfactory results so we might avoid having to buy a load of logs this winter. Today the lad and I will pop down the road (a slight exaggeration as it's around 8 miles) to one of the nearest to home model railway events on the calendar - the Reading 0 Gauge trade show. Be not afeared this does not (necessarily) mean a change of heart scale as this show also sees a number of any scale related items from a whole range of purveyors of such things and you can at least get near to Hobby Holidays at this venue (if he attends this year). Plus a good burger van outside as it happens (usually). Enjoy your day if you are proceeding to one of the more important shows and commiserations if you are a unable to make it for any reason - alas a seasonal lurgi seems to be doing the rounds at present.

The ECS from Delaval sidings to Holloway is next, with a rather neglected KX V2 doing the job. I really must ask the photographer what was the point of taking the next one.

My brother is visiting, so taking him over the hills to the whisky shop in Aboyne, looks like it might be a nice day, but rain/sleet/snow forecast depending how high we go, have a good day all, best wishes to those feeling under the weather.

2.2 Mha is a lot of ground. The very destructive wildfires in California in 2017 burned 559 kha (0.559 Mha) with an additional 183 kha in Oregon and more in Washington. In terms of area consumed, this year's Australian fires are about three times this area. (Property damage, particularly in California is likely worse.) 2019 fires on the US west coast were bad, but not as bad as 2017 with about 102 kha burned in California through the end of November. I noted the link to a story on water theft from a fire fighting tanker in South East Queensland. The town of Canungra is officially out of water.

Back home having check the other flat out, the dirty B'stard had had a tom tit just before I got there the place was a sh!t hole the entire block was dirty parking was a joke I couldn't get out quick enough. A visit to the flat I'm buying revealed the roof had been repaired earlier this morning, absolutely brilliant only took them a month to action the complaint. I will get on with my day.

Off to Manchester this morning. Makes a change from wrestling with my old desktop computer which seems to have broken Windows. All data is backed up so not a problem from that aspect but it seems to work O.K. on some days then goes into I'm going to shut down without warning every ten minutes mode. Possibly a driver issue from an update as sometimes display won't work then another day it keeps losing the mouse, although when I plug in a spare one it works. Run the diagnostics and it says Windows is all fine. Perhaps a couple of hours at the show when I've been to the shops will clear my head and I can get back to some m*****ing.

I assume you are hoping that she has sufficient understanding of our language and its double-entendres to take a firm grasp of your English thing I Datamenni?

Evenink awl. A running about the place with SWMBO day. Worse, MRJ wasn't in stock in the Big City. Jamie, I don't know about insulin, being T2, but dietary advice from the NHS (should you access it from la Belle Francaise) is , well, rubbish. Absolute crepe in fact. Diabetes.co.uk is a superb forum for information, from folk at the front end of the condition. Info from there (and not the NHS) has taken my A1c from 51 to 36 - as in not diabetic, provided I avoid bread, pasta and rice. There are alternatives. Mike, Cherry is a great wood for the burner, only beaten by Apple in our experience. Unfortunately most of what we get is European Pine from local sustainable forests. P.S. Minerva Panniers are highly recommended!

Afternoon all, The O Gauge Trade Show duly visited as was the burger etc van parked outside. Rivermead seems to be engaging in loony car park ticketing instructions - the instructions by the ticket machine say no need to put the ticket in your car, the ticket tells you to put it in the car visible through the windscreen. The lad-mobile was parked a long way from the ticket machine so the choice of which instruction to follow was easy. Good shopportunity as it always is and of course not everything is 7mm scale which is probably just as well when you look at the prices - for the kits. The ready built stuff comes with even bigger price tickets so attracted no attention apart from oohs and aahs although as always the Minerva stand was full of temptation, especially pannier shaped temptation - firmly resisted. His ladship duly purchased a present to be presented to me on 25 December plus another to come early next year when I achieve the completion of another circuit round Sol. Two books about GWR freight working with excellent illustrations although a quick scan through both indicated that Mr Atkins managed to produce them with what might best be described as a limited understanding of what he was writing about. Definitely not the sort of thing which would receive great applause at next week's Christmas Lunch gathering of former WR freight planning staff whose work and, more relevantly, that of our predecessors gets no mention at all despite lavish presentation & illustration of the results of their labours. The implication being that all the essential planning and consequent publications appeared by some sort of osmosis not involving human effort. However that is a common failing of the vast majority of authors writing about the railway and who simply don't understand all the work done behind the scenes. On a much more important b npte it's sausage casserole for dinner this evening, very yummy.

Morning. Yesterday reported on, save the evening neighborhood get together. Very enjoyable and a chance to actually relax and chat. Some neighbors weren't actually aware that there was a vast railway empire in the basement of the old house, this subject arose as one who DID know asked after the current state/location of said empire. Much discussion followed as those not knowing perked up and wanted details... Today, pretty quiet, though I AM tasked with writing a personal note for my brother and his family, to include with our seasonal greeting/change of address mailing. Never really enjoy this, can be a somewhat arduous task, as they never communicate with us, and I've absolutely NO IDEA what they and the two children are up to. Hardly easy to enquire as to any progress of school/sporting activities when you've no clue what they're doing!!! This evening is out choir Christmas party, being held at the top of the very new and very flashy Intercontinental Hotel at the airport. The owner of the local one is the proprietor of several up-market establishments in the Minneapolis area and also a prominent member of our church, so offered the locale AND free parking vouchers for the crowd - can't complain -5 and sunny first thing, 2 the expected high. Enjoy the weekend/shows for those going...

Switched on as soon as I got back and it duly crashed. It was in auto-reboot so I fired up an old machine and have managed to access photos not on that computer but in a directory on the faulty one which is shared to the home network. Makes my think there is possibly a video driver conflict from a recent update.

Ricks new name GDR

In other news .....

Back to some fiddling (modelling?). And trying to put together a bunch of buildings to potentially form a sub-assembly and because I wanted to make sure that they fitted a specifically sized area. The problem is that each building was made individually at different times and with various elements of compression and simplification. Bringing them together is rather like herding cats or trying to make a changing jigsaw although the footprint (pen) is a fixed size. But I'm nearly there . . . . Next is to add the 3D aspect. The left edge slopes up but only for the building on that roadside, while the front/right edge and centre remains flat.

No-one does double-entendres like Finbarr Saunders. If you know not of whom I speak then delve into the toilet-rag known as Viz for enlightenment. And no-one does Hippopotamisms like our own Happy one. I was reminded recently, by my sister, that at a young age when I was learning some of the longer words that I referred to the creature - making a mountain out of a mole hill as it were - as a "hippomaspotamus". Easy really.

They are staring at something..... Yep, most definitely.....I wonder Could it be the thundering approach of a King has caught their attention?

And still there just standing around talking, glad I don't pay their wages.

Evenings Awl, 10 mm hair that's 5ft in N scale ish. The height of the 0.6mm square fence posts I have been inserting tonight to keep the sheep off the tracks.. Please don't stand to close to the layout you might get a transplant.. Some one left a box of power supplies to pat test for their layout, they failed with out me even getting them out of the box.... Bare transformers with no enclosures!!! I'll mention that at our Christmas dinner on Tuesday.. It was heavily chuckinitdarn as I went to the MRC, only 3 of us most of the night, which went up to 5 for a short time. The club chairman is under orders to keep his feet up, so a couple of others went to see him and some are missing presumed going to Peterborough tomorrow. On the way home on one back lane the water was around 9 inches deep, OK for me in the landrover, but the car behind slowed somewhat. Muggachoccy time, good night Awl..

Good Lord, this is a family friendly forum. Get a grip Sir, otherwise one of the moderators will have to take you in hand! I remain Disgusting of Horton.

Sorry Gwiwir, you only qualify as a trainee GDB.. Afternoon Awl, Grinding of boat carried out, which included getting the dremel out to get into the corners. To reduce backache the above was carried out with me sitting, lying and generally scrunched up inside the boat. No backache but bruises in strange places.. Once hovered out, the previous areas were recoated where required, and the next compartment given a first coat. During all of the above, the new fan heater was the other end of the boat blowing down the length. Once painting was done, the rear two hatches were replaced so trapping some heat. Then it was onto tool box building. First was the removal of the sticky, price / size / bar code label, which was some what obstinate. Then thickening strips were attached, round, the sides of the baseboard. Brass reinforcing corners were placed appropriately, then the first end board was cut to 14 inches high, and loosely placed. Holes for the reinforcing corner screws marked and dremel drilled. Then the end board was glued and screwed on place. Pilot holes for the panel pins were drilled, then I found a problem, no small pin hammer, Just a normal sized one or several even bigger.. So a modelling hammer which is big enough for panel pins has been ordered for future installation in the toolbox. Panel pins were carefully inserted in addition to the corner screws. The back panel, and other end were similarly attached. Then the quadrant corners were cut and fitted, then some panel pins inserted. However tapping them in neatly with a wacking hammer was awkward, so they are only in enough to hold the corners tight to the glue . By now it was nearing sunset, so it was time to pack up..

This picture seemed to suit monochrome better Original for the record

Afternoon All My Czech friend has sent me another massage (message), I have asked her to choose a coffee house in Guildford where we can meet tomorrow and would she give me her phone number it's been silent for 3 hours I wonder if I should have spoken to her in Crabtree or Stanley Unwin language.

You could have a look at the Green Scene one , works okay for me .

A few of mine for now, taken at Bickershaw Leigh. No.7 is seen shunting empty MGR'S on the exchange sidings at Bolton House Rd. 21-Jan''83. And in 1982 loco's Respite and Gwyneth are seen at the Bickershaw Colliery, Plank Ln. end scrapped and stored.

Ey up! Goodnight from Peterborough Baz