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Ok, here's a photo that includes track, ballast, road-surface, grass, fence, gate etc.

Today's batch of photos were all taken along the ECML to the north of Grantham in the 1970s and 80s. Honington Lane crossing Class 47 47531 Kings X to Edinburgh March 77 J5653.jpg Honington Lane crossing Class 55 Leeds to Kings X March 77 J5652.jpg 55021 - with thanks to Andrew - brushman 47544 Hougham Class 47 up Aug 78 C4090.jpg Dry Doddington Class 254 down March 83 J7822.jpg Dry Doddington Class 254 up June 82 J7653.jpg David

Back on topic... 'Sheep 'ave gor out agen...'

I can do online mags but no way will online drinking do My other half is in group B for work. their plan is to alternate groups to work from home. For some reason she wanted to be in group A I am going to divide my bottle / can stash in various groups starting with weak and ending in wickedly strong with a supply in the shed incase one of us has to quarantine themselves I cant help but think about 'run Forest run' despite Mr Hanks not being able to do that at present. More seriously it Mum that I am concerned about as shes is approaching 87. Will see her tomorrow and makes sure she has supplies that she will need including prescriptions etc. just incase things do get nasty.

My own take on the matter is that people should feel free to post their efforts, however good, bad or otherwise, without fear of being vetted or censored. I personally think my photos have improved over the years and I might well have been put off altogether had my earlier (or later for that matter) efforts been filtered out. I see a huge variation in the realism of the photos on this thread and that matters not one jot. They are photos that people want to show to others in the spirit of the thread; surely, that's all that matters. Some show incredible modelling in unnatural, obviously indoor lighting, some show average modelling in realistic lighting; others still show fantastic modelling under realistic (usually natural) lighting. If I don't think a photo looks real, then I just move on. Simples. Surely we can all do that? I'd really hate to see elitism creeping into RMWeb. It should be a forum for modellers of all abilities and creeds. Anyway, moving on, this photo of my 45144 fooled one or two people on my layout thread...

On the topic of sulphur; the most evil compound of which is Sulphur Dibaxide. It's created from a perfect storm combination of beer and curry. On that note, I wish you all a goodnight.

The high tide was interesting, as I had expected! Our usual footbridge over a small Beck was almost underwater and the rock sea wall had waves coming over it. I have attached a couple of photos of it. The heavy machinery is ironically there to strengthen the rock wall, in order to protect the railway. Just as we left, a Porsche drove down the lane and parked next to the blue car in the photo. I hope that the driver has good anti-corrosion protection as it will have had quite a salty treatment down there!

One more angle on the K2. The crew have left the footplate for a short while, which is strange, as the train is not booked to stop. Up t'other end, more coal comes south, and the Grimsby sets off.

Greetings all from LBG where it is blue skies at the moment and fairly empty. I have heard rumours that someone on our Madrid office went down with the virus at the end of Feb. They haven't shut the office or anything. I had wondered why the work produced by his team was even worse than usual.....! Some people have reported emptier trains. Not a chance on my line, still standing room only. My parents have had a recurring problem with the rain blowing in under the soffits when the wind is in a certain direction. When you are in a house for 55 years, I guess problems do recur, even when you take remedial action. In law are due to go on (yet another) cruise after Easter. I suspect the MiL, who hates cruises and gets terribly seasick, is secretly hoping it is cancelled although FiL keeps saying it will be the last one due to the rising cost of insurance (his cancer, her heart attack).

Just a picture.... Though I have noticed this poor old tree is a bit battered now as the Seamoss sprigs keeps catching on my jumper... A bit of TLC will be required soon.

Morning all. Along with other managers I was instructed to attend a business contInuity meeting yesterday afternoon. "We want you all here!" "Erm, you want all the managers responsible for keeping the place running in the same room at the same time. Riiiiight. Had you thought of doing this as an online meeting?" My colleague and I self nominated ourselves as Designated Survivors and elected not to attend. Meanwhile I panic bought a packet of Pringles and the Hornby mag. I actually went to get some cuppa soups but forgot why I was in the supermarket so ended up with a railway magazine. Well that's my excuse anyway.

Morning all from a cloudy place. We had a good day out yesterday but with mixed results. The appointment with the diabetolugue was frustrating as Beth asked to come off Metformin and to go back on insulin. This has not been totally achieved so we will have to wait and see how things go over the next few weeks. Shopping and eating followed, my wallet gotvopen when toddler stage clothes were seen. No moths were harmed in this event. Then a very useful hour with a financial advisor. We have now completed the salevof our house in Morley and now need to sort various things out. Some very good and common sense advice. Coming home we made a detour to an organic farm and bought some excellent sausages and pate with cognac. An evening watching the haunted fishtank followed. This morning us shutter change time. 2 large ones to go back on and the last large and 2 small ones to come off. This afternoon I'm off to help a friend lining a loco that he's built. I am hoping to learn something in the process. Regards to all. Jamie

I "had to purchase" a few Happy Meals a couple of years ago to collect some Minions - after all, they are yellow.................

I was in Small Heath, just going for a pint in The Garrison when I looked and under the bridge came this 48DS Ruston, with empties for Charlie Strong's scrap yard.

Now feeling older; first granchild born in the early hours of this morning. Mother and child doing well. Have just been informed that the dog sitting will continue into next week. Now need to find something suitable to raise a glass.

Really tempted to stream from Apple Music and leave the Bay City Roller's greatest hits on repeat at full plaster cracking volume, then sod off down to the pub.

We have 10k employees. (down from 14k thanks to brexshit) the VPN remote working service is supposedly capable of 6k concurrent users. I'm lucky in that I only need the VPN for email and intranet. Everything else is cloud or Azure and doesn't need routing via the corporate proxy. that is 99% of my work. I've still got 3l of Servisol from Maplin before they closed. That should last a while. Builders P*ssing me off so I'm flexing the Sonos speakers. Now playing: Berlin's The Metro @ 11. Maybe that will convince the twatwaffles to install some extra soundproofing. To rip off Mr 81: >> E V L b'stard.

Greetings all from the boring but windy as a curry convention, borough. Up half the night as the construction next door is covered in the noisiest tarps known to man. Flap flap, bang, repeat. I will be happy when they finally finish. Just had to rescue the bins from doing a Dorothy & Toto. The schitty beer virus is now impacting work. My week in Rotterdam is no more. Some big announcement happening tomorrow. Our practice has been told to all work from home tomorrow as well to help stress test our remote access systems and VPN tunnels. Easy for me. Not so great for some of my team who will have to work from hotel room. Not sure about Everclear, but I do have a bottle of 71% Absinthe. However, if you think I'm wasting that as a hand cleaner, you can do one. For internal disinfecting use only. Like Mr Roundhouse I have a robust supply of beer so see me through any quarantine. We also have an order of rather evil high abv beers enroute from Het Uiltje in the Netherlands. The whole panic buying for us is moronic. Both of us were brought up in households where a monthly bulk shop for anything not perishable was the norm. We get a weekly delivery of veggies, eggs, & milk. The freezer is full of pre-made meals and large quantities of meat. We could both self isolate for 2 to 3 weeks and really not notice it. I've also got around 9000 years worth of kits stacked up. Enjoy the day. Tonight's feature film: The Andromeda Strain (not the schitty mini series either)

Good morning all, We are all doomed, we’re all going to die! Well, yes, the two certainties in life are death and taxes and it’s only a matter of when and not if for the former. In no way am I saying that against Newbryford Mick’s brother, just a reaction to the meejuh thing that has inspired my daughter to suggest we no longer see them and the grandkids. Meanwhile one village family’s daughter has returned from a school trip to Italy - where all the cultural things they went to visit were in lockdown but the kid and that family are roaming freely. Another family has the father in isolation but the rest of the family are around and about - including taking elder grandson to sports practice last night. It is getting more likely that KZ and spouse will be wiped out by starvation. In more important news, the sun shines, trees are swaying in the breeze and birds are singing. I hope that seeds planted 10 days ago are about to germinate. Not much more to do for tonight’s full Parish Council meeting regarding the Sports & Social Club, I had no intention of being there myself as it should be The Camera Club and competition night again. Whether that remains on is yet to be announced. A trip to an old friend in Kidderminster on Sunday also now seems in doubt. Time to......who knows, orders have yet to be promulgated. Enjoy the day and be careful.

Good morning from a sunny Surrey. Other halfs train had plenty of vacant seats on it today with no one sitting next to her. Its been getting quieter each day recently and today is the quietest so far. her work have had numerous meetings about what to do and at some point she will be told to work from home. I doubt that would be the case for me if I was still working at my old job. You were told that you had to come in if not feeling well but if you did you got the blame for spreading it around the office. Its great working form home these days even if its only a tiny fraction of the income. Talking of which 4 more On30 locos weathered and just require sealing coat today then can drop them off tomorrow. Another three yet to start. I have heard of one upcoming show cancelled so one fiend now has a spare weekend butt has been invited to next years one. I see the Ally Pally thread ism ore about the virus than the show. Should have been helping a friend with his layout but with change of some of the team there he got missed off the layouts but was potentially in reserve. He's now planned something else for that weekend and I am now attending a local meet of NG modellers so I wont be at Ally Pally for the first time in many years. Its beer o'clock his afternoon, fingers crossed with a fellow rmwebber if alls Ok with his family. Now to try and learn to use the Silhouette cutter that arrived on Tuesday evening.

Ey up! Wine from the Marlborough region arrived yesterday. Seems fine to me. While 8 hours sleep is being achieved going to sleep at 9:30pm means a very early rising. Probably get it sorted just in time for clock change. Pah! Chirs, I am in the same boat as you (but only diabetes in my case). As Corporal Jones used to say "Don't panic!" Follow the guidelines and treat it all as an extreme outbreak of flu. I asked someone why they were bulk buying past..the response " Italy is full of this lurgi. All pasta is made in Italy, so none will be available." Says a lot for the gene pool..... Now , time to get on with shaking the day into action. Positive thoughts to all who ail! Baz

Fascinating pictures Simon, thanks. I obviously know Ravenglass well but have never seen the sea as high as that. I look forward to seeing the new coach in due course. I hope that you and your wife are OK after the overdise of liquid sunshine. As to water penetration, we had a similar problem in Leeds on our south west facing wall. We tried all the usual remedies including repointing. It only happenned about 2 or 3 times a year after south westerly gales. We were told that it was due to porosity in the bricks and we ended up just luvi g with it and had towels on the window sill for a day. Jamie

Good morning all, A very wet and windy night that has left bins that were on the drive ready for collection today strewn across the pavement and road. I've just sent The Boss out to recover them! We're up early as we're going to Sainsbury's before it gets crowded. Back later. Have a good one, Bob.

Good Dafter Noon all. The Hill of Strawberries has turned from cold and sunny to cold, grey and with intermittent violent showers. As it is Thor's Day I am awaiting his arrival presaged by deafening cloud-farts. There is no sign of Corona Virus here but just to be sure I am consuming a bottle every night to maintain my immunity. It also helps me with the writing; deadline for the magazine is tomorrow and I am very likely to achieve it. Just another 500 words ..... SWMBO said that years ago then discovered that it took a lot more than "just another 500 words" to write a PhD thesis. I am, among other things, checking her final draft for good English, consistent grammar, correct tense and for spelling because we know what computers are - they can't tell the difference between to, too and two nor between annex and annexe. Final submission is Friday next week after which we plan to mark the event by what ever means Boris the Mophead still allows. It's 16.35. That means I am overdue for a muggertee and a choccy bar. All the best, dear friends. I'll be back.

Usually about 15 hours after I eat a dozen hard boiled eggs in a single sitting.

We are fine after our drenching. My coat dripped onto the utility room floor for hours after we got back home. I have done a visual inspection of our outer wall, but cant see any issues with the pointing from goround level, and the wind means I wont be getting the ladders out today! The brickwork shouldn't have a porosity issue, as last time we had this problem, I had the builder treat the side of the house with a waterproofing compound. I might consider doing a repeat treatment if the ladder inspection doesn't reveal the problem. Today's high tide will be just after 1pm, and nearly as high as yesterday, so we might take the short stroll down to the beach as it could be interesting given the 50mph onshore winds we have today!

Other halfs work has been adding extra VPN capability last week. If she is WFH she will have to be sober so all the beer is mine but as she buys most of the beer I will let her have a sip after work. There is IPA in the shed but not the beer type. I may order some extra solutions so I can mix our own hand sanitizer. We have plenty that my other half managed to purchase many years ago and just found them but I like making things!

Went to Sainsbury's earlier and it was very quiet to start with. Lots of empty shelves but we were told this was mainly due to them doing a "refit." It seemed to us that they were just aimlessly moving stuff from one shelf/aisle to another. This of course meant that it took twice as long to find stuff. The main excitement came when a pallet of toilet rolls was hauled into view. All of sudden there was a manic rush and the pallet was emptied before it got to the shelves. They were limiting purchases to 5 packs per customer which seems far too many to me as lots of people will now have to go without.

Looking down the brook....

I had a set of neighbours who had their telly on loud enough to annoy both me and the neighbours on the far side (we lived in a terrace). Simple solution, took my speakers off the other wall then put them face touching the party wall. Led Zeppelin 1 was then put on at full blast for 10 minutes. I never had any more trouble with their noisy telly. They did however manage to block the sewer up with condoms, knotted at the top after use but that's another story. Jamie

Our neighbour has recently retired so he's always in. Normally when other half is in our TV is on so we here nothing from next door but occasionally whrn I don't have music on I can hear them moving about in their kitchen or on the stairs. However on a nice day when the doors are open they can hear the music in my shed as my other half can when she's home!

Can we stop with the moaning and just get on with posting cool photos of our models? This is one of my fave threads on here, modelling is a compromise. Nothings usually perfect so just enjoy the content. cheers

Snowflake is all but finished. Still pondering over the ships dinghy as some have then some don't so for the moment I have left it. Propose to add some crew, say 2 figures, and I will order some in due course. This is the latest picture..

I mean... where did all that wind from last night come from?! Have given up on cleaning up for this week and will continue to deflect jobs until next week - the ultimate in procrastination! However, we're now on to Season 3 of Downton Abbey. I didn't think I'd like it as much as I do. I'm also a bit concerned (?) by admitting that!

We used to have a slight damp problem but it was only when there was rain accompanying wind from the west. It was rain coming through the soffit vents and disobeying gravity being wind driven into the loft. When the wooden soffits were replaced with upvc with top vents the damp disappeared. Tony

Good morning. Bright and breezy here. I wasn’t aware of high winds overnight but Aditi mentioned it. All the blossom from a neighbours tree has gone but otherwise I can’t see any evidence, the garden furniture is still there. I am not sure what we are doing today. Going for a walk has been mentioned. Tony

Morning All, It is a rather dull morning today. Rather too warm for the time of year and there is currently a light drizzle falling. I can report that despite reports to the contrary, I was able to buy a packet of toilet rolls yesterday afternoon! Have a good day everyone...

I won't comment on the address itself, but it was followed by a deluge of separate announcements. The President cancelled trips to hold rallies this weekend. (He did not mention this in his address to the nation at 9:00pm EDT / 6:00pm PDT.) A Democratic candidate debate planned for the weekend had already determined that this would be a television-only event, with no crowd in attendance. More dramatically, the NBA has indefinitely suspended the remainder of the professional basketball season, (there's only a month or so left), now that one of the players on the Utah Jazz is positive for COVID-19. The NCAA has declared that their March college basketball tournament will take place, but there will be no fans in attendance. The annual tournament (referred to as "March Madness") is a very big fixture on the sports calendar. The Indian Wells tennis tournament outside Palm Springs which usually attracts the world's best players was supposed to start today. It was cancelled due to COVID-19 cases in the local area. Late Night television shows filmed in New York will have no live audiences. The breakfast infotainment programmes are already doing this. Here in Oregon assemblies of more than 250 people are now banned along with a number of guidelines being recommended by the Governor. In celebrity news, Tom Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson have tested positive for COVID-19 while in Australia. I did post this in Mike's COVID-19 thread but thought I would share it here. Is this all overreaction? I don't know. It's hard to really tell. Traffic today was noticeably light. I doubt the airlines are busy. I saw a report that two TSA agents in San Jose tested positive for COVID-19 as well.

Evening all, a bit of a mixed day today. The first half was good, the second half much less so! This morning, we had a ride on the Ratty with a couple of friends. It wasn’t a normal service, but a test of the new 1st Class Observation Coach, recently built at Boston Lodge on the Welsh Highland Line. Our round trip was really quite comfortable and smooth, and the coach looks really smart, both inside and out. Following the trip, the tide at Ravenglass was higher than I have ever seen. The end of the street in the village leads straight onto the beach, but today the tidal flood gate was closed and the sea was crashing into it. We then had a good meal in the Ratty Arms. when we got home, we decided to go out for a walk. Half way through the walk, the heavens opened, and despite wearing coats etc, we were totally drenched when we got home. Worse still was that rainwater was getting into the house through our bedroom window. This has happened before and I have twice repointed the brickwork above the window, and it looks like it needs doing again. Photos of the new coach and Ravenglass flood gate:

Unfortunately I have had to withdraw North Ballachulish from the show, the other layout coming from the Rochdale group, Harkness, has also withdrawn from the show for exactly the same reason. As I explained in an earlier post I'm in the at risk group and whilst picking up a prescription this morning managed to get a word with the practice Sister who runs the asthma clinic. Her opinion was fairly unequivocal and I felt there was no option but to pull out. Not a easy decision to make as an exhibition manager myself, and I'm still not comfortable with it, but at the end of the day my health is more important than toy trains.

A loco weathered as a bit of crust earning. As its an ex trench loco I offered to drill bullet holes in it but he declined the offer but he's happy with weathering. Now drinking Harvey's Porter to ward off any contagious stuff.

Goods train passing westwards... or is some of the parked wagons on the main line.....?

Good morning everyone It’s another day where the sun is shining and the skies are blue, but it’s quite cold, currently 3C. Thankfully the wind has gone and the wheelie bins are still where they were left last night, so I don’t need to go on a search and rescue mission first thing. Breakfast has been consumed and Sheila is now getting herself ready for her Zumba class, once she’s gone I’ll set up the outer cellar door on trestles and continue the paint removal, I’m hoping that I can get it finished today, so long as the weather holds out. Enjoy the day, back later.

Unfortunately they also visited us on Friday 7th February. Two O gauge locomotives were stolen which were on the counter during a cabinet clean. Luckily they tried to open further cabinets but all were locked and they soon left. This was reported to the police and footage / image was supplied to them Here are a couple of screen shots, including one of the registration plate of the vehicle they arrived in.

Mooring Awl Inner Temple Hare, 997/623 After the wake up, I got about another hour and a halves sleep. The high winds howling round the house lasted about another 15 minutes before subsiding to a strong wind.. Ben the I want out Collie was insistent this morning, I think He thinks because the day light is there, it's time for out.. Someone was flashing their headlights at me this morning I think because they though I should have my lights on... It was after dawn (just) with a clear blue sky, Visibility was not impaired.. The Sun is now high enough in the morning that it's in my eyes on the final drive into work. I had a delivery from the house of strong ladies, 20 hacksaw and 10 jig saw blades.. in a box 2ft by 6 inches by 3inches!!! Time I went down to the lab, the second major system is on its, 40 minutes turn a knob press a button and repeat for several hours, So in t he mean time I'm going to investigate the not working 120A current unit..

Good morning one and all That ruddy virus is really screwing things up. It is spreading fear of the unknown like butter on toast. Maybe I should be more scared of it than I am but I do not regard the risk of catching a new type of lurgi as a particularly good reason for not going somewhere that I want to go. I take the view that if I fall ill, with anything, so be it. As a 72 year old with prostate cancer I am considered to be more vulnerable than others. I live with it. This time last year I had just returned from what should have been the holiday of a lifetime down under. It is commonly supposed that a good way of incubating viruses is to put yourself in a sealed aluminium flying tube overnight and breathe the constantly recirculating air. Our group was subjected to three of these and it is hardly surprising that all of us went down with something. In my case it knocked the stuffing out of me for two and a half months and at times I could barely function. I tried to carry on regardless but, to put it mildly, I was not entirely successful. Flying has to be a prime suspect in distributing the corona virus among the undeserving. It must be less healthy than fresh air, as I'm sure those who were hoping to join the St Patrick's Day parade in Dublin next week would tell you. Matters arising. Monkeysare fun, what you say is a prime example of just how up against it the koalas are. Government doublethink will not help them. Danemouth, thank you for reminding us of the Guinness clock at Barry Island. I am ashamed to say that I had forgotten all about it. Best wishes to all Chris

Sorry, but we are banning people coming to the US from Europe for 30 days. But it's OK if you are coming from the UK. Eh?!?

Good evening everyone As I was walking to the swimming pool this morning the sky turned dark and a bit gloomy, but luckily the rain held off until later in the evening. The swimming pool was for some reason fairly quiet today, not that I minded. I don’t think it got into double figures, until the group of adults with learning difficulties turned up. However, they had the small training pool, to themselves, which meant that their presence didn’t impeded those of us who wanted to swim, which it had done in the past. I managed 80 lengths in just over an hour this morning, so I’m really pleased with that. As I’ve only just started swimming again after looking after Sheila, I’ve been taking it easy, I do a couple of warm up lengths, then move onto 4 lengths then having a short break and repeat. After 16 I then went to 6 lengths, then 8 and finally 10 lengths at a time. This afternoon we had Ava, Evie and Max round for tea, tonight it was roast chicken and all the trimmings, followed by homemade apple crumble and custard. I made the apple crumble yesterday afternoon, so it was just a quick reheat job. Ian picked them up as he was of work today, which makes a change. The wind has started to get a bit wild here, I do hope the wheelie bins stay put tonight and don’t decide to go walkabout! Goodnight all

My wife and I entered a McDonald's today for the first time in at least 5 years, and probably longer. We each bought (and ate!) a Happy Meal. Why this act of self-sacrifice? They are giving away 'Mr. Men' toys with the Happy Meal, a grandson is currently obsessed with Mr. Men, but lives in a town with no McDonald's. So we will have a couple to give him next time we see him. Actually, since the Happy Meal toy changes regularly, we may be forced to do this more than once!