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Quite a varied year for me: Dereliction near Gasworks Tunnel The not-so-round Midland Roundhouse in KX Goods Yard A new ‘week end’ chassis for Denys Brownlee’s N2 And of course Valour, which has occupied most of the last nine months. Tim

I started modelliong in P4 over 40 years ago because it looked better. Fortunatley back then there weren't people telling me it was too difficult in fact it was easier to get a compensated wagon to run with all the wheels on the track than it was a rigid wheelbase one. From there I just developed my skills in respect of loco frames. I don't think I am aprticularly skilled modelle but given care and patiece have manage to cobble some kits together. The last loco I finished ran beautifully first time. Nothing to do with my skills but as a result of a well designed compensation system.

Tonight's sunset at a local lake (absolutely no colour adjustment):

Whichever 4mm format we choose doesn't matter and we shouldn't deride those that take a different route. We should be aiming to create the model(s) that give us the most enjoyment. I can't see the point of buying highly detailed and increasingly accurate RTR models and running them on layouts with tight radius curve, Peco Insulfrog points that just look "wrong", no signals, etc. but seemingly many others enjoy doing that. So for me, P4 with it's challenges and sense of achievement, is what gives me satisfaction even though I haven't been able to build a model of my local childhood railway station. But then I don't know of anyone that has built a model of Rugby Midland. Like Paul, I took up modelling in P4 many years ago. I had had a break from railway modelling in 00, when I often had great problems building locos that ran well. I had also become rather disillusioned with the white metal LNWR and MR kits I had been building but hadn't had much success with several early etched kits either (MPD and the likes). When I started again after several years, I was fortunate to meet several modellers using P4 (including John Redrup of LRM, then working in Puffers at Kenton). Through their guidance and support and by using for the first time a consistent set of standards for which assembly jigs and gauges were available, I found I could build models that worked better than I had ever achieved before. Yes it takes more time to build and paint locos and carriages, as well as the time required to built the track, signals, etc. However I find the challenge worthwhile and while I have only 13 locos, 31 carriages and about 45 wagons completed, building those has been is enough to to keep me happy (although I have more in partly built or in kit form on the shelves). It would have helped of course if I hadn't spent quite a lot of time designing etched kits, building test etches and display models, etc. over the years for a particular kit supplier. 2019 has been rather unproductive with two unfinished locos, three carriages (shown below) and one more wagon still to be finished but I did complete the etch design (also shown below) for another LNWR carriage (and am currently working on the etched underframe for a six wheel LNWR brake van, despite trying to retire from doing that sort of thing!). Jol

I think this may be an appropriate time for me to add another picture. Though I am now a member of the bah humbug! brigade, the majority are not, so I wish to all, of both persuasions, a Happy Festive Period, and not too many regrets for over indulgences. As always, many thanks to Scott, (Jukebox), in Oz, who put the captions on for me. I still haven't fathomed out how to do it.

It's No. 1 son's birthday today. He's 49. Where do the years go? When Jill was pregnant with him I was posted to Germany but as she was on her way to join me in September of 1970 she collapsed on the train with a lung embolism and was taken into Luton & Dunstable hospital. After treatment she was told she would have to stay in as it would be dangerous to travel until after the birth but since my parents lived only ten miles away they let her go there by ambulance. On December 22nd I set off after work to go and join her and had one of the worst journeys of my life through blizzards. When I got to Zeebrugge all sailings had been cancelled but I was told that there were still sailings from Dunkirk so I set off down the coast and managed to get one of the last places available. I finally got to Mum & Dad's at 2am to find that Jill had gone back into hospital even though she wasn't due for another two weeks but Mum had been told that she was OK and had been told to ring later that morning for an update. I fell into bed exhausted and was woken up five hours later by Mum who said, "You've got a little son." The medics had decided to induce Jill but hadn't told us until Mum rang. Seems like yesterday still. Dave

And the last. For now....................... Tollesbury Quay in O. Trowbridge in OO. United Mills in P4. And finally, of course, my own Little Bytham in OO. May I please thank all those modellers who've very kindly allowed me to take pictures of their wonderful creations this year? What a good life? Retired, yet still able to build models, write articles and take pictures. What a great hobby!

I have started to convert some of my Bachmann short firebox Jubilees to P4 in order to run them on my layout. This project had been stalled for a while as I pondered on the best way to do this, however a visit by Dave Holt, David Clarke and Steve Ridgeway in September gave me the necessary push to get on with it. My conversion replaces the wheels with an Alan Gibson 3mm axle set of drivers plus bogie and tender wheels. Replacement crankpins are Markits stainless steel products. The only other modification is to use a Dave Franks Stanier chassis kit on the tender. r. Here is a youtube link to a video showing Bengal moving in the shed yard. Sorry but the media link refuses to work. https://youtu.be/IzwQGyGImDw Seasons greetings to all readers of my blog. Robin

After spending the better part of nine or so months staring at the sea from the flight deck of the Kitty Hawk, I really now get much more pleasure staring at the land around me!

This afternoon's photos were taken along the line from Newcastle to Middlesbrough. Note: Boldon Colliery station was renamed as Brockley Whins some time ago. Gateshead St James Bridge Junction Class 101 Sunderland to Newcastle Aug 85 J8357.jpg Boldon Colliery Brockley Whins 143004 Sunderland to Newcastle April 86 J8515.jpg Brockley Whins 143613 and 142065 Newcastle to Sunderland 28th March 92 C16744.jpg Seaton Carew 142017 Newcastle to Middlesbrough 3rd June 93 C18590.jpg Bowesfield 37514 northbound bogie bolsters 5th December 92 C18156.jpg David

In the spirit of sharing what you’ve built in 2019 (although not a lot of if is finished…) A Malcolm Mitchell kit for a Manor, this includes the first rolled boiler that I have built and my second Belpair firebox. The kit came as a set of body etches (via eBay) from Malcom himself (who kindly sorted my out a set of most of the castings from his spares. A modified Comet chassis* and a PDK chimney completed it, before I sprayed the model into post war GWR livery along with a Hornby Churchward 3500gl tender (resprayed to match). The chassis was a bit of a pain as the Comet product was of course designed for mounting to a thick plastic footplate, using the Mitchell frame overlays as a guide I was able to rebuild it to fit. There is one glaring omission in that I forgot to add the handrails, it was a job I was putting off (given I hate forming the curved end handrail) so I skipped the step and carried on with the build. When it was “finished” I then rushed it into the paint shop and forgot all about the missing handrails. They now need to be glued in position….. The photo was taken before refitting the crank pin nuts. *Whatever the correct railway terminology, to me the base structure of a vehicle is its chassis (made up of its frames and various other bits attached to it) The next complete loco (a GWR Bird) was sourced second hand in a sorry condition with the aim of reusing its boiler on a Bachmann Dukedog to make a Bulldog. Upon stripping off the bizarre hybrid paintjob (G W R logos with hand painted red frames), it uncovered a very well put together (but rather basic) scratch built model of a Great Western Bird. There were a fair few repairs needed where the frames had become damaged in transit, so they needed soldering back into place. The body needed work to round off the front of the firebox (a lot more difficult when its soldered into position!) Along with soldering on the beading to the cabside cutouts / cab rear handrails and fitting of castings for the mud doors / boiler washout plugs and the application of a number of Archer’s river transfers, before respraying into GWR green. It was certainly very satisfying taking this old model and giving it a new lease of life, and hopefully many more years of running ahead of it. While getting ready to paint the Bird, my Mitchell 73xx was dug out of its box. This was another eBay rescue (already built) and needed the crude paint stripping off, some minor soldering repairs, new handrails and a new coat of paint. It has a badly built P4 chassis which is being rebuilt into OO this year. The body has now been sprayed GWR green, transfers applied and just needs its new chassis to enter service. I am determined to get it running before the Dapol RTR example hits the shelves. The body does need one more bit of work (it is missing cab side number plates and outside steam pipes. Another “complete” loco without a chassis is a Finney 2251, again a second hand kit from eBay that was missing its chassis. The body has been assembled (containing my first Belpaire firebox and my second attempt at rolling a boiler). This has been finished as one of the early wartime built locos 2213, with no cab side windows. It has been sprayed into GWR green with shirtbutton logo (working from a photo of 2211 in Russell) using a resprayed Bachmann 3500gl Collett tender. Once 7316’s chassis is built, 2213 is next in the list using a modified High Level chassis clad in the Finney frame overlays. A “quick” conversion was to redo my already renumbered Hornby 38xx as one of the class converted to oil burning 4855, making use of a 3d printed oil tank (available on Shapeways from an RMWeb member) along with various bits from the scrap box to convert the loco’s cab. A nice easy conversion which results in something a bit different. Away from the locos I have finished a handful of coaches, lining out into Great crest Western chocolate and cream, my favourite of which is this BSL kit for a J12 sleeper (fitted to 247 Development 6 wheel bogies). It is however still sat on a shelf in the workshop awaiting fitting with couplings. Thanks for all the help and inspiration in 2019, hopefully 2020 will see a lot more output. I now only have 2 unfinished loco kits (my part built A4 and a Cotswold 54xx) So I think I will need to buy a couple more next year! More importantly will be getting those which I have “finished” to run reliably.

Ey up! Beautiful photograph of a stunning sunset. Question..can any one answer me this please? If we have everything we need for Christmas why was her indoors up and off to moreasons at crack of sparrows for "one or two" items of food?? Dr Eldest Herbert and youngest Herbert arrive today...they are eating machines..so perhaps she has decided we don't have enough food? As it happens I must travel to the Post Office to send a parcel and two cards we didn't send this year (one of which was the first received in 3 years from a couple of friends who are not well judging from their handwriting). I am detailed to tidy up my work room...pah! Why?? Positive thoughts to all ERs and their partners who may be ailing at this time. Hoping that our travellers are safe and sound and that our "missing" ERs are ok. Right, time to kick the day in its nether regions and JFDI! Baz

Keep up the good work..we will turn you into a Durham lad one day and you can come and help me in Leeds showing Yorkshiremen how to make best use of their money! Baz

Ladies, Gents, families and friends. I am about to switch off the computer in order to concentrate on the imminent Festive Season. I already have my gift from Santa namely a stinker of a cold but am taking the pharmacist's advice and consuming little brown pills to rid myself of it by Wednesday. Sharon and myself would like to thank everyone here for their friendship and support through what hasn't been the easiest of years. In doing so we remember others who have been less fortunate and spend this time missing their loved ones. Our thoughts are with you all. Whether you speak English, Cornish or any other language may our friendships endure and bring calm to a troubled world.

So what I have done this year? Not as much as planned. I have built several coaches, mainly by task building, shells in the winter, painting in the summer, finishing in Autumn. Sill a few to finish. Work has somewhat overtaken everything. Tony will probably appreciate this. My school senior management ‘wellbeing’ initiative to reduce workload and stress, actually added 40% more GCSE students to my roll, much reducing my available time for proper work like making trains. I still managed to build the SEF/Wills pannier featured previously and a Bulldog from a wreck bought at a show. I converted another Bulldog from a Bachmann Dukedog. Next year's loco project is I a GWR 303 double frame pannier, currently at planning stage being semi – scratchbuilt from various parts, and to complete the few remaing working signals. The one that stands out was never in the plan. The MSJWR acquired stock from the Midland. The MSJWR was absorbed by the GWR. I had a call that there was a set of Bedford etches for this brake compo available, which ended up on the workbench. I slotted the build in somewhere and here is the result. It will run with a pair of GWR non corridor clerestories. Just finished, and delivered (I hope the paint had dried??), are these two, both from Worsley Works etches. The left one is a D31 from full body etches, and the right a D33 sides/ends only on a Hornby body. A good friend has been nursing his wife and his modelling has all but stalled and she wanted to give him something for his layout at Christmas and I was asked if I could sort something out for her. As I was building the same for me, I batch built a second pair at the same time. Nice way to end the year. Merry Christmas and a happy modelling new year to you all. Mike Wiltshire

I took Kerry to the vets this morning as they haven’t seen her for six months and that was when I was caring for Sandy. She’s put weight on, only a kilo and a half but that's good. Heart OK (for a seventeen year old) Temperature OK. I was concerned about her lack of appetite and have got some food from the vet (smooth and tasty) she seems to like., as well as clearance for what I’ve been giving her. This afternoon I took her for a walk in the park. She chased squirrels Twice. Little blighter.

Morning All chilly and sunny Spent an hour chatting to Lady Horsell last night on the phone yes we are going for it !!!, I P.M.ed GDB with her photo he said she looked very nice too good for me, there nothing like having great friends around like him. We are both smitten she has texted already this morning I told to read up on google our star signs It floats my boat she is Taurus I'm Virgo. We are both on "What's app" she is going to try the video function tonight the mind boggles. On the modelling front I have started to plan my layout a BLT what else and all the mainline stuff will be used at the R.E.C. in Farnborough on their big layout. Better get on I'm out with my daughter and SiL for Xmas lunch as she is working Xmas day. Enjoy your day W.Ellard

Only two oktars and a moderate breeze here, the combination of which could result in some drying of the locality. I hope that is the case for the idiots enthusiasts who feel it is necessary to dress in hi-viz Lycra and make the wobbly bits shake, rattle and roll fora 10k run after binging on Christmas Day. I shall remain in KZ Towers, hopefully making use of the myriad of useful modelling items trying the new socks and underwear I shall be given on the previous day. I hope to see my way into a box containing some Scottish falling down water rather than overdo my exercise quotient. Today’s challenges involve gathering some vegetables and dairy produce, both of which were in short supply, I.e. non-existent, when Waitrose was last visited. If she behaves herself, I may also by a card for SWMBO - hah, bumbug. A coffee delivery is anticipated but that doesn’t require a signature, the wood-burner needs emptying as it hasn’t been out for about ten days now (she does like to be warm when snuggled up in front of the haunted fish tank) but it seems to still be alight so that could be a task for tomorrow. To those ailing, GWS. Be good, be careful and, as Baz wouldn’t say recap dime.

Mooring Awl, inner Temple Hare, A good nights Sleep was shortened about 3 hours ago by Ben the desperate Collie. He left the back door like a rocket as he spotted a small deer intruding in the garden to chase. When we returned, I tried to get on here but got 502 gateway not available. Films, I've only been to the cinema less than half a dozen times in my life, living many miles from them most of the time was a big disincentive. Today it would be only a 40mile + round trip. Observing the web cams the rivers have risen by another couple of inches. The fisherman are out annoying the aquatic denizens. Time I think for a Muggacoffee...

My dead mitre saw is now working again. (The one that the PH had helpfully loctited the blade fixing bolt into position.) When the replacement blade guard lifting mechanism arrived, I was a bit confused as to why it had 4 parts instead of three. communicating with the manufacturer revealed that the lift mechanism had been superseded, but there was, as of yet, no change to the 'works drawing' nor were there any fitting instructions available. But they did promise to get some sent out to me this week................ I will do a follow up report if they managed this or not. To cut a long story short, I took the whole thing to bits, cleaned it and then set about trying various combinations of part location to fit the lifting mechanism. Things were made a lot easier when I remembered that if you add additional pivoting links into the process, due to clearance issues, some of the original spacers had to be cast aside. However, in the process I managed to misplace (lose) the spring which operates the blade guard lock. I mentioned this to my neighbour who was dropping in a Christmas card, and he said he'd check his spares box. In the meantime, I found some 0.7 mm spring steel wire. Yes, I did make my own spring and had just fitted it and got the machine fully functioning when Ian, returned with a selection of spring s from his spares box... All of which would have fitted. I could have used that time to eat drink and be merry rather than slave over engineering matters. Fortunately I was able to eat drink and be merry as we had our Christmas dinner yesterday evening (Because we are off to the PH's Chrismas Day.) The Obergrumpenfuhrer pointed out that this was only the second Christmas meal we had eaten when there was just two of us since we got married! Today, I will attempt to get my hair cut, and repaint the catches off the now lilac coloured cot. I can also start drooling over the thought of cold turkey with salad and baked potatoes and turkey sandwiches and a turkey casserole. Then I can start on the alcohol............. And it's not even 0800!

Quick update Herself says moreasons full of people wandering round not knowing what to buy. She has updated my worklist..Pah! Seems like my role as Chief Chef starts today...buggrritt! Pass me that spatula and a pinnie! Baz

Morning all from down here. It's not raining at the moment, which makes a change. I can only concur with Baz's comments about the need for extra shopping. Why this happens when the shops are only closed for 1 day us a total mystery. Beth has just fi nished a shopping list and is off to the supermarket shortly. I'm off to the garage to gave my front brakes looked at. After that various unspecified tasks will no doubt be specified. I hope however to get the woodwork finished on the new shutter during the day. I might even get a coat of primer on it. Regards to all. Jamie

Morning all. Not a good nights sleep to start with as kept waking up but then the planned early morning trip to the shed didnt happen as I didnt wake up till 6am. however cork has been laid on one fiddelyard board due to my other halfs train being cancelled - two in a row throughout their journey from Horsham ot bedford / Peterborough. No reason given either. Quite a few Horsham / Peterborough services were cancelled on Saturday with no reason given but luckily not the ones we were heading for. Also the Redhill - Tonbridge line is currently shut due ot a landslip. Yesterdays beer trip didnt happen which actually suited us after beer on Saturday. My other half did yet more shopping dispite we wont be around to consume much food due to various trips to parents etc. I managed to lay all points and track on one fiddleyard board so a good day and plenty more beerdays ahead. Today I am getting part of my old layout back to carry out maintenance to turnouts - they were scratchbuild over 30 years ago so the off tie bar and solenoid repalcement is well overdue. However the working signal keeps getting bashed so that will depend on the state of it. Our friend then collects it new years eve to take back up North. Its next show is Bristol. After that I may get the layout back as its only on loan and he is running out of shows for it. Next beer day is tomorrow.

We never got to Hyde Hall for our walk. While we had some sunny spells Aditi decided to open the windows to “air” the house. We then walked up to the A13 (not far really). There are shops there but we didn’t go in, we don’t need anything for the one day the shops will be shut. I had a nice chat with neighbours while waiting for Aditi to appear. Aditi did ask her Mum if she would like her to visit tomorrow but MiL suggested Aditi should stay home and look after me. I think MiL thinks since having my heart/lung issues diagnosed that I should rest, whereas I was just told not to do anything stupid. My desk lamp started flickering this evening. I have now learned about a lamp connection I don’t think I have ever had to change before, G23. Tony

OK, the sun came and went intermittently, and fortunately I took advantage earlier than usual, as I got yet another long golf club related phone call around the time I would usually have been going up. The light was gone by the time the call finished. Anyway, light there was, and some proper photos were taken. 60032 arrived with the 6.40am KX- Grantham slow. The HMRS survey shows a different formation every day of the week, and none of them anything like what the official book says. I chose this one. Gannet is yet another on the Timming list, but she looks quite nice here, and this really shows the difference some good light makes. Why an A4 on such a train? Well, the survey shows the same V2 for three days, then Flying Scotsman, which spent the whole week on these slow trains, and then Quicksilver for two days, so I've diagrammed it for an A4. Gannet is KX duty 4 for this sequence. What about the train? Quite eclectic. Departmental van for Doncaster, then an LMS BG. Two Gresley TSOs. A lovely Gresley CK. and a Thompson BSK and a Southern interloper at the rear.

I've thought for a while that in order to add a bit of variety during operating sessions, Sherton Abbas could do with a few wagons from companies other than the GWR. The layout is set in Dorset, so likely candidates would be from the S&DJR, MSWJR, and Midland companies. During the weekend exhibiting the layout at the Telford O gauge show, I bought a couple of kits from Furness wagon works ttps://pregroupingrailways.com/wagons/ in order to build a couple of S&D examples. FRWC17 Midland/S&DJR/LSWR/LMS/Private Owner 5plk Wagon (With Raised Ends) FRWC21 S&DJR/MR/LNWR/LMS/SR/BRRoad Van The kits comprise of resin moulded bodies, accompanied by etched brass and white metal detail parts. Kit components. A bit of filler was needed to repair a few air bubbles in the resin castings, but that apart the kits are a really quick way of building wagons! I decided to change the buffers for sprung examples from Slater's, but that was just personal choice. The S&D appear to have painted the iron work on their wagons in black, so to avoid fiddly painting I chemically blackened the etched brass components before fitting them to the body work Blackened etched brass components. I found a couple of pictures on the internet of prototype wagons, which I used to base the models on. Hopefully as they appear to be in the public domain it's not a problem posting them here! I hope I've got the tare weight right, its a bit tricky to decipher and I'm also not that convinced by the models axle boxes Model open wagon. Prototype Road Van. Model road van. Pair of wagons together. Pictures of the wagons in service on the layout. I'll take the opportunity to wish everyone on RMweb a very Merry Christmas and an excellent 2020! Best wishes Dave

Aditi and her sister learned to speak English in Yorkshire too, (Knaresborough). Their Mum had hired a tutor in Delhi to teach them English but Aditi and her sister were naughty and made paper hats and boats instead but a combination of her Dad insisting that they from then on only spoke English at home in Knaresborough and attending a very small school soon had them sounding like locals.

G'day all. Off to Pangbourne we went, road traffic about normal but we found the river to be rather high at Pangbourne and over the top but not to worry as the road is on an embankment. Queue in the butcher's solid right to, and at times outside, the door but no worries as this bunch are mega-efficient. As you get level with the counter end there's somebody there to ask your name and the largest item in your order, by the time you're approaching the other end of the counter your order is out being checked off against their list and ready to be loaded to your bag(s). You then get the necessary little docket to take to the pay desk which means you're clear of the counter when you pay - superb system and despite the number of customers in the queue herself was in and out in well under 10 minutes. I decided, daft that I am, to return via the edge of Reading and got delayed by the queue of vehicles waiting to get into Waitrose's car park - odd to remark Mrs Stationmaster said she could see plenty of spaces - but they were at the end furthest from the shop. Got caught behind an idiotwomble for part of the distance home, I think he'd set his speed limiter to 40 mph for whatever reason. Considerable flooding in all the usual places around Sonning with one by-road closed and a field looking more like quite a decent sized lake. We then visited Tesco where the principle problem was incompetent/brain dead car drivers who hadn't got the first idea of how to get into or out of a parking space. The shop was busy and still no whipping cream so the management procured some double cream for her to mistreat by whipping it. The baked bean mountain was duly restocked and some doughnuts were added to today's diet. Long queues at the tills with people with huge trolley loads who are presumably expecting invasion by starving hordes or Baz's Herberts heading south after eating him out of house and home - so we went to the d-i-y checkouts where there not only no queue but a vacant checkout sitting there waiting for us. So again basically in, shopped, and out in not much time at all. That's the lot except for a stroll down to the town to collect herself's surprise present from the bookshop. Enjoy the rest of your day one and all

Phil, I tried the number and got this: My fault, I mis typed!!

Good morning all, A dry start to the day and there is some blue sky and sunshine. Up at 5.30 and in Sainsbury's for 7.00 to collect our turkey. Absolute shambles! We were 12th in the queue so it shouldn't have taken more than a few minutes. Wrong. Had to wait until 7.40. Apparently the container that held all the Christmas orders had no lights so they couldn't find anything. A lot of unhappy punters there. Then started doing the rest of the fresh food shopping but our bill was cocked up at the checkout and we were overcharged by £20. We then had to queue at Customer Services to get that sorted and eventually got home at 8.30. If it wasn't for the discount we get I think we'd look for another supermarket but talking to friends who use others they all seem to suffer from the same problems. After getting home I phoned the dentist and managed to get an appointment for tomorrow morning to look at the broken fang. Luckily it isn't causing any great problems. Last film I saw at the cinema was Apollo 13 in 1995/6! I'm told that the local cinema is somewhat different now as it's had a least 2 refurbs since then, one just recently. Joe and Steve are going there to see Star Wars tomorrow while Nicki, Abbie & Gemma are seeing Frozen2. After that they will be invading us. Now looking forward to the rest of the day free of stress. (I won't hold my breath though) Have a good one, Bob.

Why these were sitting in the unused folder I don't know as when I edited them they look OK.... 2322 sweeping around the bend, heading for the viaduct

That sunset was a surprise. We've been having much the same weather as you. We'd been out fighting the crowds at a local mall, and decided to go for a quick walk round the lake - it's only just over a kilometre round. The sunset was behind us driving to the lake - we didn't appreciate how spectacular it was till we stopped in the parking lot. That picture was only one of several dozen being taken as the sun went down.

Quite a full day has just passed. After an early start making some nibbles for Christmas Eve when No. 1 son will be arriving, SWMBO and I went to church then picked up my Dad to go and have lunch at our local hostelry. After lunch we went to the town's festival centre to see Susan Jameson and Robert Powell presenting a series of readings from and about Charles Dickens entitled 'A Dickensian Christmas' that also featured brief musical interludes and was very entertaining and enjoyable. Returning home I got to spend a couple of hours in the workshop before going to a carol concert that was also very enjoyable then rounding things off with a glass of Penderyn Welsh happy juice. Tomorrow will see the final pre Christmas frenzy of shopping, cooking and whatever else the Management deems essential as we are determined that Christmas Eve will, for once, be relaxed and could even involve some mod***ing and another visit to the local hostelry. We shall see.... So far there have been no groans of, 'Oh, no, we haven't sent them one,' when opening Christmas cards. Either we're getting better or our circle of friends is shrinking. And we no longer buy presents for adults, just the horde grandchildren so that cuts out the wandering round shopping centres hoping for inspiration. As long as I remember to get a card for SWMBO tomorrow I should be OK. No. 1 son's arrival late on Christmas Eve will be the signal for a fairly constant stream of visitors that will mean catering for ten on Christmas Day and various numbers up to January 4th when the last ones will depart. Our reward, I am reliably informed, will be in heaven. I wonder if there's a model railway club there? I'm hoping to go to see the last Star Wars movie but we're leaving it until after new year when the rush should have died down. Have a quiet and peaceful night all. Dave

I've been thinking about doing the OS quiz, but then I thought better of it - if it ain't in Yorkshire it's not important Off and runnin'........ ps Good afternoon all

Parcels posted. The Herberts are en route from East Didsbury.. (which has the most expensive Tes and Co in Britain!)locks on food store.. locked! Glad to see a bit of rain in Adelaide this morning. Our friends live in Murray Bridge and have been very quiet for about a week. Fingers crossed they are OK. Mugadecaff then the rest of this morning is, apparently, my own! Ba

Good moaning all from the boring borough. Still coughing, really forking fed up with it now. Tempted to just inhale a bottle of Laphroig and let nature sort it out. A grand night out at the Bluebell despite a land slip limiting the trip to a pair of shuttle runs between Sheffield Park and Horsetead Keynes. The only thing that marred it was the table next to us buqqered off after the main course during the carol singing. Why someone would pay over £360 for 4 meals then leave half way through, stiffing the waiter of around £40 in drinks, I'll never know. Today is our planned "Great Chwistmas Adwenture" (to be read out loud in Jim Broadbent's silly German sausage Prince Albert accent from Blackadder) Hopefully the trains will behave and we will be wandering the west end, enjoying the lights and a few festive beverages. I also need to get my phone's lightning port fixed/replaced, so a trip to ISmash is on the agenda. Enjoy the day. Time to fire up the espresso machine for some eggnog lattes.

The river continues to rise but much more slowly for the time being - the peak level usually reaches here about 3 days after heavy rainfall so the weekend's rain isn't here yet. The first spot in the town area to flood already is - Not so usual is for it to overlap onto the riverside footpath just here. i hope Mr Hobbs hasn't got any party bookings for that boat this week - Definitely high at the bridge and with a much stronger current than normal - And alas back upstream at Playhatch, next to the main road, the car park at 'The Flowing Spring' pub is yet again underwater as is all the surrounding low level land - http://theflowingspringpub.co.uk/gallery/

Better get some NR civil engineers to have a look at it then!

I'll counter your image alert and raise you one: My line manager is at least 26 stone in weight and probably two days round the waist. Looking at a list of the top 40 heaviest Sumo wrestlers, he'd probably rank somewhere between 50 and 60. He has ridden on a specially built bicycle, from Lands End to John O'Groats. When cycling, he always lycra gear! (Our witnesses are still in rehab!) Sorry, HH, but the term "hippopotamus on a roller skate", in this case, may prove too diminutive!

I didn’t tell Aditi that not only was her guess for best selling OS map (Yorkshire Dales) wrong it wasn’t even in the top 5. Just being in Yorkshire long enough for infant and junior education seems to have affected her judgement. She does point out that her little brother was born in Yorkshire (Huddersfield).

An Army liveried Ruston seen shunting various wagons. It came too late for it's owner to have it for Christmas.

Good morning everyone A bit late on parade this morning, I woke up at around 5:30 and couldn’t get back to sleep. The radio then came on at 7 o’clock and guess what, I nodded off and ended up getting up later than planned! Anyway, this week’s Sainsbury’s Grand Prix was brought forward a day as there is NO chance I’m going shopping tomorrow morning. But as I wanted to fill the car up and I had a 10p off each litre of fuel, I decided to go to the big one at Salford. The car park was fairly empty and the store wasn’t as busy as I’d expected, but it took a little longer than usual as I didn’t know the layout of the store. Anyway, what we haven’t got now, we’ll have to do without until after Christmas! Not much else planned for the day, although the boss may well change that. Enjoy the day, back later.

Looking back I have managed to undertake a variety of tasks... from wagon and coach building to sound fitting and loco weathering this year although holdiays and cricket umpiring has reduced my modelling time. Shap needed a particular vehicle in one of the freight trains used in the sequence. Step forward a very old Maj ex L&Y long wheelbase van. Notice the "inside out" planking.. this has since been weathered and is in one of the Shap freights. I kit bashed a Palvan Shock - it isn't correct but I couldn't see and obvious place where BR shortened the body.. (I have now got a dimensioned sketch so another be will be built) weathered to match a photograph of one of these.. why the clean section? An ex LMS 12 wheel dining car.. and a bit of commissioned sound fitting/weathering A Bachmann 4MT which had been rewheeled to EM Gauge, sound chip fitted and speaker in the loco body, stay alive in the tender then weathered to match a photograph supplied by teh loco owner Pete Rigby. And next year? Already started a number of projects , more coaches, more locos and a lot more wetahering. Have a great Festive Season! baz .

Lovely. We've had nothing but overcast for a week. (As you well know, that is "normal" for this time of year.) The "atmospheric river" has moved on, but we still had showers this afternoon. We should see "mostly cloudy" by Tuesday and Wednesday. Unlike the northwest Oregon coast and Seattle, Portland metro escaped most of the deluge, apparently we were on the metaphorical banks of the "atmospheric river". Nevertheless I have a couple of casualties of the rain - at least two bulbs for Christmas lights bought new this year. They weren't even LEDs but very old school incandescents. I'm not sure how to source these. They are coloured screw-in bulbs (about 2" long) with no printing on them to indicate what type they are. I have the leaflet somewhere - either filed in the "instructions" folder or lying about the living room. They are certainly supposed to be outdoor lamps - each unit comes with a stake for the garden. There are only five bulbs per strand and I bought two strands.

Evening all from Estuary-Land. The neighbours have moved out so I'm going to have a quiet Christmas. Not much else to report, be back later.

Married And Content A man and a woman who had never met before, but who were both married to other people, found themselves assigned to the same sleeping room on a trans-continental train. Though initially embarrassed and uneasy over sharing a room, they were both very tired and fell asleep quickly, he in the upper berth and she in the lower. At 1:00 AM, the man leaned down and gently woke the woman saying, 'Ma'am, I'm sorry to bother you, but would you be willing to reach into the closet to get me a second blanket? I'm awfully cold.' 'I have a better idea,' she replied, 'Just for tonight, let's pretend that we're married.' 'Wow! That's a great idea!', he exclaimed. 'Good,' she replied, 'get your own ******* blanket!' After a moment of silence, he farted.

We consistently delay seeing films and then by the time we want to go they are not on release anymore and we end up seeing them later on Sky or buying the DVD or Blu-ray disc.

Good evening everyone As I mentioned earlier, there wasn’t much planned for today and it proved to be so. I spent most of the day playing with an electronic circuit simulator on the old laptop. Last night I had a couple of ideas that I wanted to try out, if they worked it meant that some of the feedback circuits would be a lot smaller and simpler to build. One worked the other didn’t, so a bit more playing research will need to be done. Well not only did I earn a few brownie points cleaning some of Sheila’s jewellery I also earned a few extra by fixing the loose knob on the towel rail. It had a captive nut in, that had worked loose cute to being over tightened. I informed Sheila that I needed to take it to the workshop and sort it out, stating I’d only be about 10 minutes. 10 minutes, she said, I’ve heard that one before. Anyway, off I trots down to the workshop, I put a spot of super glue on the nut and also fitted several small slivers of glue soaked match stick to fill the gaps and I was back inside with in 5 minutes, Sheila couldn’t believe it! However, she is very pleased with the results. Goodnight all

Eb vening all, The Mayor's 'Christmas Drinks & Buffet' was a very pleasant afternoon/early evening out with plenty of eats duly arranged by the Mayoress (courtesy Waitrose and Tesco). It was fairly well attended although not all the Councillors were present but there was a good mixture of folk from other local organisations and various of Ken's (the Mayor) and Dorothy's (the Mayoress) friends with several of us in the latter group dating right back to schooldays. Very much a social event of course so basically we were just there for a chat but even then some there was some networking going on which included myself and the lad being asked if we would be happy to be co-opted onto the Branch User Group (BUG) committee with him as the Council representative and me as the Technical Advisor (or even the Technical Director ) as the leading light on the committee has decided they need a bit more weight (that would be me obviously ) to deal with the train operators and we need to put some stronger, well informed, ideas to the two MPs involved. Apparently you can't even go out for a drink and a sarnie in this town without being collared to take part in something. On which subject several of us present reminded the Mayor that he's not giving enough attention to our occasional curry house outings. But he's a busy chap with a load more official engagements this week complete with 3 visits to various old folks' homes on Christmas morning so it's not all beer & skittles for him. And the river level has risen 2 inches since this morning but still a long way from anything serious

I have amazed myself by scoring 18, which did include a few correct guesses. That has been one of the better parts of the day though. It is the second anniversary of my elder brother’s passing as a result of throat cancer, and the thought still brings a tear to my eyes. Also today, we were busy preparing for the family invasion starting tomorrow when nosy neighbour above our back garden appears with wood to apparently build more of a stepped pathway he is constructing on the steep bank between our houses. Fortunately he wasn’t out for long, but Mrs G was most upset by him doing this just before Christmas and she is worried he might do more over the next few days while the family are here which would put a real damper on things for her. This afternoon, we went out to the Service of 9 lessons and carols at the St Bees priory church. It was a good service, but the best bit for me was the organist playing the Widor Toccata and Fugue at the end of the service. The church has a good quality organ, the last that was built by “Father” Willis, a major Victorian organ builder. Maybe not the quality of the version that NHN posted here a few days ago, but you can’t beat the live sound of an organ. I am now rather fatigued after the day’s events, but am relaxing with a large dram of Glen Morangie in memory of my brother. He would have approved.