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Good morning wishes to you all with supportive thoughts and healing wishes to those who require them including Sherry and also to ChrisF. A dull Tuesday morning is dawning although it is not looking like it is quite as cold as yesterday judging by the reduced frost level outside. Hopefully that will mean the school run will be less treacherous. The pavements and side streets were like glass yesterday morning and I had to make the trip twice after Amber left her water bottle at home! The shop does not open on a Monday but the day still proved to be busy. I have inadvertently landed myself the role of chair of the committee running our new local community centre (long story), so yesterday morning I was there volunteering to serve the drinks at the mother and toddler group. It has only been running for three weeks so it is all hands on deck to try and get things established and find more helpers. In the afternoon and evening I was busy marking more assignments ahead of the invoicing deadline. The bill was duly submitted last night and stands to be my best ever payment which, in view of current circumstances, is no bad thing. Today it is back to the shop and a hope for an increase in trade. Things are tight at the moment after the recent challenges. It is frustrating when trade is hit by things that cannot be controlled. The flooding in November being the main cause. I can feel the kennel door breaking open again and the black hound reappearing. In the last two years or so I have battled the beast brought about by that bullying headteacher. That sapped the confidence which left me unable to cope with the incompetent management and unreasonable out of hours communications whilst at the next school. These led to the trip to the doctor and the illness being diagnosed. I hoped that the move out of teaching would help, although I knew it would not be easy. Since then I have been the victim of an online fraud attack, had trade decimated by the floods and have also been let down by two model clubs who, having booked me for shows forgot, and did not honour their bookings. These are all issues beyond my control and I do wonder how much more can go wrong before things turn around. Hmmm may that is my “Blue Monday” post a day late. Have a good day all. Andy

Oxford Rail have announced at the London Toy Fair that they are to produce a Worsdell J26, a GE-origin van, a PO tank wagon, Pilchard ballast and sleeper wagon and a rather interesting 15T crane. OR76J26001 LNER 0-6-0 Class J26 No. 5738 OR76J26001XS LNER 0-6-0 Class J26 No. 5738 Sound Fitted OR76J26002 BR (Early) 0-6-0 Class J26 No.65767 OR76J26002XS BR (Early) 0-6-0 Class J26 No.65767 Sound Fitted OR76J26003 BR (Late) 0-6-0 Class J26 No.65736 OR76J26003XS BR (Late) 0-6-0 Class J26 No.65736 Sound Fitted OR76TK2007 PO Tank Wagon, BP No.1061 OR76GEGV001 Great Eastern GER 10t Covered Van No.23109 OR76GEGV002 NE GER 10t Covered Van No.630616 OR76GEGV003 BR GER 10t Covered Van No.E612630 OR76SCS1001 Standard Cowans Sheldon 15T Crane BR Stoke M.P.D No.RS1023/15 OR76SCS1002 Standard Cowans Sheldon 15T Crane LMS Wellingborough No.243 OR76SCS2001 Standard Cowans Sheldon 15T Crane BR Stewarts Lane DS.316 OR76SCS2002 Standard Cowans Sheldon 15T Crane LNER Sunderland No.901628 OR76PIL001 Pilchard Wagon BR Black DB990099 OR76PIL002 Pilchard Wagon BR Black DB990092

Hi all, I would just like to politely ask that the propagation of misinformation be stopped regarding Cavalex our 225 project. Our statement on our website illustrates the facts regarding our difficult decision to pull the project for now. We have never said that the project failed due to a lack of support/pre-orders from the community. On the contrary it was very well received indeed. To also clarify dates, we announced that we would be focussing on project 225 last March and scanned 91116 in April. We then worked on the CADs opened our pre order books in September once the CADs were at a point where we had something concrete to show people. Again to state that people have been ordering the loco for a year is not correct. Three months at best, in which time we have been happy with the uptake. We are happy for people to discuss this project and others however please try to make statements that are factual rather than personal opinion as hearsay can easily become perceived fact. Cheers Cav

Those who also frequent my thread know my propensity for plonking the camera down in order to try to get infrastructure views which aren't normally seen. The small Canon G12 can get to places on LB that Tony's much better but also bigger camera can't, which is why I asked permission to have a go. This is the kind of thing I like to try. It also shows the quality of the scenic side of the layout, which can be overlooked when concentrating on the procession of lovely trains.

Next along was a mixed goods to London, but this one started from Colwick, which gave an excuse to see another K3 in action. It isn't a Colwick engine actually, and it isn't correct in more than one respect, but apart from that, everything is OK. The second is again taken from the slightly higher level, which I personally think is a bit better.

Derbyshire today, with a mix of infrastructure and trains. Belper looking north April 90 J10709 Chinley Class 142 eastbound 24th Aug 90 C15313 Cromford MR viaduct over River Derwent March 72 J2835.jpg Great Rocks 37684 and 37678 l e from Buxton 19th April 90 C14405.jpg Peak Forest 37425 shunting 19th April 90 C14394 David

Morning... After posting Friday, the weekend took over! We did get a winter storm, but it was decidedly (by Minnesotan standards) wimpy. We only got 5 inches of snow, but it went down to about -19C overnight and that resulted in some seriously icy conditions on Saturday - most chemical methods of snow abatement are rendered useless at those temps - fortunately we didn't need to go anywhere first thing. Reports of a lot of road accidents around the state, and certainly out-state there was more snow than we got. Friends over for dinner Saturday evening, very enjoyable, and Sunday a very chilly -17C morning as I braved the elements and headed to sing in the choir at 7:30 for the MLK services! Remainder of Sunday was quiet, Jemma arriving back in town early evening, much to the delight of Whitney Yesterday a few hours work before taking the afternoon plane to NY - since Monday was a "holiday, Martin Luther King Day" decided to travel on Monday rather than my usual Sunday late flight - so much better to get to the hotel at 7PM rather than 1AM!! Crystal clear evening in NY, and a great view of Manhattan from the plane; This week, for my driving pleasure I have; A Volvo S70-T6, whatever those designations imply. It is FAR more user-friendly/intuitive than the Cadillac I had two weeks ago for sure. -8 and clear driving in, rather cold for the NY area, panic in the voices of the seaweed twirler on TV. I wanted to call the station and mention it was -19 in Minneapolis at the time Tally ho...

Still in the recovery ward. Procedure went well. Results not marvellous. However treatment regime and more tests scheduled. May be promoted to Basildon for treatment.

Good morning all, Quite frosty here still with a temperature of 0°C but it should stay dry with some sunny periods. The Boss is off to see the hair mechanic later, glad my hair service doesn't cost as much. Actually mine costs nothing as The Boss does it. I'm tasked with waiting in for parcels, one for herself and one for me but nothing that would excite anyone here. I also expect to get parcels for neighbours as that is almost a daily occurrence here and all the local couriers and postie know we'll take them in. Usual Tuesday visit from Joe and Gemma today. Joe will be here for lunch as well as being a 6th former he gets more freedom. Gem will be here after school. Before Christmas she was quite worried about her GCSE mock exams and was ill at the time but she's actually done very well with only one hiccup. I have considerable sympathy for anyone suffering stress related problems at work having suffered myself many years ago and being off for 9 months. My Boss was very supportive and wanted me back in the same position but I decided enough was enough and chose to take a lesser job within the company. This resulted in a reduction in salary (which reduced my pension) and the loss of a company car. It was the best decision I've ever made in my life. (Apart from The Boss and kids of course!) I still get the hound trying to escape but that's more to do with annoying ongoing health issues that come with getting older. Have a good one, Bob.

My Daughter used to be a teacher in the Reading area. There were children who were starting school who were not toilet trained, some still in nappies! Their ethnic background was white and of British descent. I'm sure it's not a localised issue. My daughter has no intention of going back to work as a teacher; the Obergrumpenfuhrer gave up teaching; our neighbour did likewise There does seem to be a trend towards experienced teachers giving up and going onto other things for the sake of their health, both mental and physical.

Back home now. Very strict instructions about what not to do for a couple of days. No sedation used so I am relatively clear headed (ha!). Glad of the local anaesthetic on the entry site for the catheter though. The pressure bandage after the catheter was removed from the artery was an interesting piece of technology using Velcro and pneumatics. Tony

..... and the dawn came up like thunder out o’ China ‘cross the bay... Bradenton, Fla.

For clarity I've extracted the relevant elements of Dave Haarhaus's covering letter which has been sent to Collectors' Club members along with the new 'Combined Volume' catalogue.

Deltic Update! Work on the Class 55 Deltics has been ongoing since we showed you the first engineering prototype in October. We liked a lot, but other parts we did not like so much. This has meant that some parts have been redesigned and retooled as we want to make the best Deltic model there has been. Unfortunately this has resulted in a delay in delivery until November 2020. Check out our web update for more information on what we have been working on and future project milestones. We apologise for this delay, but we want it to be right. More info: https://accurascale.co.uk/blogs/news/deltic-update-january-2020 Thanks, Fran (on behalf of Accurascale team)

Morning, we returned home last night after a couple of days away in the Lake District which was very pleasant, up early this morning to deposit other half at the railway station as the is off to London for the day. Thus I have the day to my self with only a couple of small jobs to do. Time in the shed is a real possibility!!! Enjoy your day folks Alan

Morning all. The car will need defrosting, it is -1 C this morning. Off to Southend soon. Tony

No real problems today. We signed our new land lease -- the government changed the regulations on what had to be included and the residents' committee and the management negociated for a year to figure out an acceptable one. It took less than a half hour today (after all the other prep) but the poor girl in the office has a couple of hundred to do in addition to her regular work. Other than Monday housework, the day was pretty relaxed.

I have been playing around with working point rodding on my test track. It is a very simple arrangement, and is made much easier by going down the protocab route so I don't have to worry about electrified track. However it has been an interesting experiment and something I will pursue. It has been up and running for a couple of years now. It works using 0.5 nickel silver wire ... this is run through some modelu stools which have capillary tube bonded in to the top of them. The cranks are Ambis etches and the compensator is home made. It is currently rigged up to a simple track side lever cobbled together using scrap etch and a bit of rail. The stools prevent deflection of the wire and I have a couple of omega loops to prevent damage whilst maintaining the pressure ... the friction in the system is sufficient to keep the switches positively engaged.

Finding Nellie this weekend, or, rather, placing her on the test track this morning, proved to be a Madeleine Moment. I'm involuntarily lost in lost time, with the sense of loss and of the waste of years that usually it would take a whole afternoon of Elgar to induce ... B*gger

I have a second Cousin, who is a Headteacher at a primary school in the North of England. He is off work with Stress at the moments and has been for many Months. The School has Pupils that speak 32 different languages, they have 19 full time interpreters, and some of the kids from some African continents, not only do not know how to use cutlery, but even at age 6 or 7 are not toilet trained, and just do their business wherever they are, i.e. in the Classroom or Playground, so they have helpers that have to grab them and take them to the toilet and clean up any mess. God only knows what their homes must be like. I could not even to begin to imagine working in that environment, and seeing the bright kids held back because of all this. He and all Teachers have my greatest respect and support.

Good morning one and all Yesterday's shopping expedition was successful and thanks to Debenhams I now have a box of new handkerchiefs in every conceivable shade of blue and very reasonably priced too. I hit the High Street early, before the news came of the collapse of Beales. Bedford said farewell to Marks and Spencers and British Home Stores some time ago. What is to happen to all these empty shops? Not even the charity and coffee sectors can absorb all that floorspace. At this rate we will have people living in town centres and going to out-of-town complexes to do their shopping - or, worse still, doing it all by mail order. Several times a week a parcel arrives for the nice people next door and muggins finds himself taking it in for them. One day they will be at home when the man from Amazon arrives and I will die of shock. The lurgi is still making its presence felt. Today it was not at 3 am as is so often the case but when I got up a couple of hours later. Fortunately the diary is not too crowded for the next few days and - famous last words - I have time to gather my strength before the next long journey. Tomorrow evening I should be OK for an evening trip to Dunstable Downs amid good company. I hope to travel a bit further afield at the weekend but I will not commit myself just yet. Meanwhile there are a few tweaks to make in the arrangements for my trip to Dublin in June. That is a trip that I will make come hell or high water and I will have more to say about it nearer the time. Best wishes to all Chris

Good evening everyone Well the sun has shone all day, but it has been quite cool, I don’t think it got into double figures. It hasn’t been very busy here on the domestic duties front only 1 washing machine load was required today, so I’ve spent quite a biter time completing some MERG kits, 14 in total today. I don’t think I’ll get that many done tomorrow though, as I will need to bake some cakes for Wednesday evenings meal. Evie has asked for chicken curry followed by red velvet cakes, the curry is simple, I raided the freezer for the sauce, which is now sat on the kitchen worktop thawing out! Goodnight all.

Hi Tony, I rated this friendly supportive, because I'm not sure which is worst; -1 C or Southend

Good morning everyone It’s a bit fuller than yesterday and cool (4C), but thankfully no frost. I’ve just unlocked the front door for the first time since I locked up on Friday night. Once I’ve administered Sheila’s first round of eye drops I shall head off and complete the Sainsbury’s Grand Prix, calling at the butchers on my way home for some chicken for tomorrow nights curry. I’m then hoping to get an hour with the soldering iron before dinner. After dinner I shall be making a dozen red velvet cupcakes so that’s the afternoon taken care of. Tony, I hope all goes well for you at Southend hospital. Back later.

Morning all from a sunny but distinctly cool bit of the Charente. The grass loks a little crunchy. The ironing awaits. Then I'm cashing in all my stock of brownie points snd setti g off to Angouleme. Ostensibly this is to buy a new valve for the pool but the station is nearby and I plan to spend an hour or so there watching big things that move on strips of metal 1435mm apart. Fortunately the station has plenty of cover plus a cafe and other essential facilities. Tony, I hope that your day goes well. Regards to all. Jamie

Frost? Nope...but a kangaroo airline turned the air con off while they fixed a fault (plane developed this as we were getting on..it had been on the ground 4 hrs. .pah!) Do I get delay repay??? Morne Morkel joined us for the flight. Pleasant guy. Now off to get provisions in..the coles is a good 15 minutes walk away TTFN Baz

This morning my railway room seemed suddenly to be very small. I wonder why? Still, it is not going to grow, so I shall make the best of what I have. TW has kindly given me permission to put on here some of the pictures I took of the lovely wide open spaces at Little Bytham, so here is the first one. I'm not sure I've ever seen a model of a D9 before, and I certainly never saw the real thing.

Greetings all from LBG where it is sunny but cold. I think this morning was the coldest of the winter up on the fold in the hill. The trains were disrupted by signal failure at Slade Green, but not so badly I couldn't get to work. Best wishes to Tony today - on past showings he will be leaving hospital soon. We seem to have made a decision on the best school for Younger Lurker - not our first choice, but we are reasonably happy with the ASD experience the team there has. It is not so easy to get to but in time he may be able to cope with going on his own, as the 51 goes most of the way there (cue Rick's eidetic memory of the route map - Willersley Ave stop!) The experience of kids starting school not toilet trained is present in the boring borough too, although not particularly prevalent - what is worse is the complete lack of a notion of doing as you're told and not always having an opinion about whether you want to do something or not. And that's the neurotypicals....the biters and kickers and runners are another set altogether.

This afternoon the Obergrumpenfuhrer departs for Gogledd once more. I have been given a number of tasks, which due to the present weather, will be impossible to carry out. I can see some extended sessions hovering over my workbench with a soldering iron, because those independent ground discs aren't going to build themselves. I also need to get hold of a couple of sandbags.

Morning all. no frost here this morning although there has been for the last couple of days. Still quite refreshing though and a beautiful sky as the sun started to colour it in.

Morning All, There has been quite a significant temperature drop overnight. It's down to -4°C this morning. It looks like today is going to be a rather busy one - so I guess I had better get on! Have a good day everyone...

Evening all from Estuary-Land. Just before Christmas I purchased a Stollen cake. I put it in the top of the cupboard out of site in case I was tempted. That worked a little bit too well as I only rediscovered it this evening. A few slices went down well with the mugs of tea this evening and theres still some for the next couple of days.

As soon as the Derby unit is in the Manchester sidings we have the next two making their way to the station. The Gloucester-Derby consist has already left the Doncaster sidings and is passing the Manchester ones as a right old mixture leaves. After doing its six or so laps around the room the Gloucester-Derby consist arrives from Leeds. The passengers in the leading car are sure they are going hit the train that is leaving. Phew, the signalman knew what he was doing allowing the Transpennine to Liverpool to leave on time. Many of the trains have been made shorter for this time table, the public think it is to discourage them from travelling to Exchange and to use Midland and Victoria stations instead. Still busy but it is a sign of things to come

A very nice day at Little Bytham, where I took rather a lot of photos, a few of which may appear here, but most on the appropriate thread. When a relief runs, the main train is usually not far behind, as here, where Silver King appears with the 9.55 Newcastle.

Evening all, we've had a nice sunny day and 10 degrees according to the car thermometer, I think it needs re-calibrating, it felt colder. Went to Kirriemuir to a small loch with the camera, didn't stay long due to the afore mentioned temperatures and SWMBO gets to feel it more than me(the low temperature that is). Some Widgeon

^^^^ About 3 days so far, but I don't think it will change, blurry and 'banana shaped' verticals when moving head, leading to nausea and loss of balance.

Morning all from Estuary-Land. A heavy frost earlier this morning but no sign of fog. The sun is up and shining brightly and warming things up. I'm not sure if we still have a Debenhams, I've heard nothing suggesting imminent closure. We have lost BHS and M&S and other parts of the town are a building site. I don't go into town very often now as now the legs aren't really up to it and it costs an arm and a leg to park, if you can find a parking place. Has no one realised yet that those shopping centres that are not dying are those where parking is cheaper? I checked on one show that I like to go to, Southern Expo, a none-railway modelling show (plastic kit bashers, military and aircraft mostly). Only to find that this years show will be the last at the current venue and if they can't find another venue the last one of all. Their current venue is due to be demolished/remodelled and afterwards will not be big enough. http://www.ipmsuk.org/calendar/southern-expo-2020/ -1C in Southend?

Mooring Awl, Inner Temple Hare. 1048 / 656 A surprisingly good nights sleep, 4.5 hours followed by 3 hours near enough solid.. Also Surprising, Ben the changeable Border Collie decided he wanted out, typical , me having to stand there on the very crunchy grass.. it was a proper chiselling job getting the screens clear, but I was glad I had the heater fixed, yes I have that unusual thing a Landrover with a working heater.. However I don't have a working radio, last time out it was working... this morning it wasn't.. Ah... I'm somewhat chillier now, I've just been outside and unplgged the radio, having fiddled with it on the way in I have no idea whether its turned on or off. I don't want it to burst into life during the day and flatten the battery.. There was no gof outside when I drove in an hour and a half ago, now it's a pea souper.. 3 cockwombles on the way in, two exceedingly slow.. 40 and 35 on a 60mph road, and one Ford Ka Van doing 50+ weaving in and out of the traffic in the 30mph limit of Wroxham.. During the typing of the above a major system was retrieved from the user who wanted it back over night, and 4 resistances have been measured on it.. Time to measure the 5th..

The last two arrivals form this short operating session are the empty stock for the postal train and a express service from Manchester. Soon the only loco hauled trains will be parcels even the postal is going to be re-routed. The Type 2 Bo-Bo waits for the Manchester train to arrive. A couple of shots taken at platform level by friends of our intrepid photographer. Those who know their cloud formations I am sure you recognise the black cloud over Sheffield, yes that's right it is called a finger. The postal is given a green signal and makes its way to platform 1. The postmen are soon unloading their road vans directly into the sorting van.

Following Tony's ethos of making things for yourself, I give you my first ever semaphore signal from an MSE kit. There are a couple of things I screwed up along the way and it has proved to be, by far, the most complicated soldering job I've undertaken and the first time I've used solders with different melting points although I will admit to supergluing the lamp in place. The platform is a little crooked but I made it myself and despite my lack of soldering skill, it actually works...

It isn’t a promotion as a shopping venue but for heart ops is the place to go now I believe. To be honest as a shopping experience Southend isn’t what it used to be either. Our recent experiences at Southend and Basildon hospitals have been very good. Tony

Brit15

Full size, so I can pull them up, swing a lamp and bore folk to death with tall tales!

Bleat Wharf goes a tad diesel.... Loco courtesy of the good Captain Kernow, weathering by Tom Foster........Bleat Wharf by me. Rob

1,2,4,7 or 304 mm scale? (other scales are available)

Morning All A white car in the parking lot this morning. 1 more sleep left before I meet my new woman on a proper date we chatted this morning already so it's set me up for the day for being happy , I can still feel the eyes of the slapped #rse looking over me , my black dog is Zeus I've not got to see to him for a few days my daughter is off duty he was happy to see me yesterday I got the full licky licky treatment. I restored my car back to it's original colour yesterday yes it's still maroon and not camo' grey, let them get too dirty and they blend into the background that's when the blind feckwits crash into you. Driving back from my daughters house I notice skid marks in the road and a big heavy metal security fence smashed to buqqery whoever was in the car went to hospital it hit the fence about 3 feet up having come over a brow of a hill the road veers off to the left it must have been airborne for at least 20-30 feet, the driver must have been drunk no doubt, the cupid stunt. Spose I better get on glad to hear our "old mucker" Chris is on the mend. Al Gooey Btw Mr. T.H. get yourself a Ford with a climate pack fitted the car will defrost in the time it takes you to scrap the frost off the rear window nice this time of year with the heated seats.

Morning all. What a cold one it is! Didn't wrap up the car last night so had to spray it this morning (weather said it wouldn't drop below freezing). However, upon writing this, it has reminded me to get the blanket from the car to dry it out at work. Go me!

Bescot to rugby tonight with a rake of autoballasters 66783 in biffa livery leading, 66747 in NWT livery was on the rear fenny Compton to crewe tomorrow

Evenin'all. Work was very Mondayish, including a bit of a disagreement with a colleague. Also just had some new glasses 2nd attempt that still don't seem to suit; do any opticians reside in ERs? - I'd like to discuss if possible so that I can go back to my optician and have an informed conversation. A visit to the supermarket on the way home yielded some reduced price goodies and an unexpectedly tasty meal was had. Anyway, time for bed, hoping that all are well or if not then improving and that the car will be easier to defrost tomorrow than it was this morning.

Once upon a time, claiming allowable dental expenses for the last year involved writing a short letter, attaching a photocopy of a single sheet of supporting information and posting it to an office of my previous employer here in Vancouver. Arrangements have changed in the last year. Today I started to claim for 2019. So far, I have spent three hours online and on the phone, talked to people (very polite and helpful) in eastern Canada and Ireland and paid to join a retiree organisation I had no reason or desire to join previously. Having declined to sign up for online completion of claim forms and payment by direct transfer to a bank account, for which I would have had to supply bank details, I am now in possession of a printed claim form. I will now fill this form in, attach photocopies of two sheets of supporting information, and mail it off to offices of an insurance company in Ontario. I.e. I'm now at about the start point of the process as it was in previous years. This better go well from now on, or you may hear the scream of frustration in the UK!