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No. 1 'Thomas'

No sooner said than a ‘weather window’ arrived. Would probably make a professional coach painter cry but there comes a time when there is more to be gained by finishing the job rather than leaving it or further time consuming fiddling. Importantly I’ve learned a lot from this and look forward to doing more. Hy-Cote rattle cans for the crimson and cream, Railmatch for the rest. Glazing in a couple of days when the paint is properly hardened then time to put an order into Fox for some transfers.

Body work detailing on the SDJR brake vans is now pretty much complete. Rainstrips are 36swg wire soldered on, photographs show some vans had split strips as well as single ones so I've done the same for variety. The oil lamp tops are Ultima castings and the vents are the heads of Peco track pins. The handrails are .3mm wire glued on the surface which, when painted and lightly dry brushed I find to be perfectly acceptable visually in 2mm scale. End steps are 10thou plasticard glued on with cyano - it's much easier to glue on big bits and trim them after than try and manipulate tiny little steps. Jerry

Morning all. It would have been Matthew’s 28th birthday today. We try to remember what we were doing on some of his birthdays. Quite often we were returning from holidays or in later years he was away somewhere. He was impossible to buy presents for, he always said he didn’t need anything. I think we sometimes managed to pay for a flight or train fare! Tony

You want a calm sea - this is ion the middle of the Engllsh Channel taken during our 2014 week on the briny - what is called a 'glass sea' (and you can see why). Firstly our ship, THV Patricia (we were in a workboat like the blue one you see on the davits) and then the reason why we were there - the Varne light vessel. On a more recent visit to the area the sea was more like normal with sime reasonable size waves to enjoy plus an occasional splashing as it came over the bow of the workboat. (We should have been having our second week this year on 'Patricia' starting this coming Wednesday but all passenger trips were cancelled for this year so we like lo like missing out on yet another week on the North Sea.)

Mainly the West Coast Main Line again today, this time around Low Gill. They were all taken on 11th April 1995. Even though the M6 is just behind the trees it was a very pleasant spot to take photos. Low Gill Class 87 Euston to Glasgow C 11th April 95 C20037.jpg 87 030 "Black Douglas" Low Gill 158750 Edinburgh to Manchester Airport 11th April 95 C20062.jpg Low Gill 87007 hauling 87001 down 11th April 95 C20065.jpg Low Gill 43161 up 11th April 95 C20066.jpg Low Gill Little North Western viaduct 11th April 95 C20067.jpg

Afternoon all The roads were fairly quiet and when I got to the main entrance there wasn't the large queue I expected, so I arrived at the department around 20 minutes early. I was seen exactly on time and I'm now radioactive and will be for several hours. I'm currently sat in the sunshine, but relative warmth of conservatory. If it's not raining at dinner time I might eat dinner outside. Back later

I don't have to keep away from small children or pregnant women, I prefer to do so... It makes life so less complicated...

I thought I may have been turning into my dad. But I'm now sure that I'm not. Because I've just thrown out a couple of pieces of 'useful' wood. [EDIT] But they did go into the kindling pile

Good morning everyone By the sloshing sound the passing cars are making as they pass by our house we must have had some more overnight rain, if we did I was completely unaware of it. Up a little later than usual, but today isn’t a normal day anyway, as it’s going to be a long one. I’m due at The Christie this morning, I’m attending the Nuclear Medicine Department for my full body bone scan. My appointment is at 12 o’clock, but I’m advised to be there 15 minutes early to get ready for my injection of radioactive dye. However, due to the current screening process the hospital has a one way system in place. You enter via one entrance, so there is usually quite a big queue and exit via a different entrance. Both these result in a long walk to and from the car park, so I need to get there for about 11 - 11:15, to give me plenty of time to book in and get to the relevant department on time. This means that I’ll have to leave home just after 10:30. Once I’ve had the injection I will then have to wait approximately 3 hours before the scan takes place, so I will then decamp to one of the rest areas and wait there for the duration. The cafes and restaurants aren’t open either, so I also need to take my own dinner, this will be a sandwich etc and a couple of bottles of water to keep me going. The scan itself takes around 30 - 45 minutes, so I’ll be there for most of the day. Stay safe, stay sane, enjoy whatever you have planned for the day, back later. Brian.

Early golf this morning, so here are the pictures. One A2/2 follows another, as 60505 runs past, on parcels duty yet again.

Greetings one and all As hinted yesterday, I will be out and about today. If all goes well I will remember the way to Harpenden and Stevenage, not having visited either settlement or the friends who live there for five months or more. I am not expecting to do any m*d*ll*ng but have put the toolbox in the boot in case anything from it is needed in the course of the day. The car will feel a lot better after travelling about 100 miles, for since that ruddy virus took hold of our lives I have been hardly anywhere except the supermarket. A prime selection of CDs has been extracted from the hessian bag and if the mood takes me I shall wind down the window and share my music with everyone in earshot. It’s all in the best possible taste. On another matter altogether, I do hope that the snow in Australia does not harm the koalas. They have been through quite enough over the past 12 months as it is. Best wishes to all Chris

The 321 bus still links Luton and Harpenden as is has done since before we were born. From there to Stevenage required a trip into WGC on the 366 followed by 303 back in the day when I travelled extensively by bus for fun. The 303 and 321 were RT types and the 366 (a rail-replacement service) an RF. Forenshire was always a tantalizing step too far for days out from the Sussex coast even starting on the first bus and returning on the last. I got to see United Counties buses in Luton and Hitchin but never travelled on one. It's surprising how similar the core network is 50 years later; some routes even have the same numbers though London Transport / Country and United Counties have long gone. Of course one could always take the car ....... ..... speaking of which SWMBO has asked me again today whether we should invest in such a device. We have always said since returning to the London area that we have so little need (as opposed to occasional convenience or desire) for one that hiring for a couple of weekends a year is much the most cost-effective way. Now she feels uneasy about public transport and a little restricted by viral circumstances so we are investigating the pros and cons. Not to mention the costs. It doesn't. They can look pretty pathetic all covered in the stuff and huddling in their trees but they are well covered in fur and provided they can eat they come to no harm in the snow. It's not all that uncommon in their habitats and Australia has some of the finest skiing in the world in the Victorian Alpine region and the Kosciuszko ranges.

Evenin' each, Missed posting this morning as I've been in a world of hurt today. All I did was bend over to pick up the bath mat and something "went" in my back and I'm now in struggling to move mode. It was bad enough to deploy some Tramadol. I didn't help matters a little while ago because I ventured (gingerly) up the loft ladder. A couple of days ago I'd noticed a stain on the landing ceiling which looked a bit ominous. As it was tipping it down earlier I had a look from the top of the ladder (wasn't going to attempt going in) and sure enough could see daylight and there was water dripping in from what looks like a broken tile. Managed to get hold of an old roofer friend of SiL Steve and he's coming round tomorrow to have a dekko. If it's just a tile that needs replacing it'll only cost a few quid. Said he - hopefully. (Bearing in mind that I spent a large amount of quids on roof maintenance 18 months ago!) Now consoling myself with a large glass of Malbec which should go well with the Tramadol I took earlier.

Here is the few clips we filmed using my phone on Saturday. A couple of shots were unusable (I dropped a controller on the floor during one shot). I'll be editing a much more extensive video this week of Tony's own footage he has filmed using his camcorder. I'll post that video in here when it's done.

With the coal wagons left, the covered vans are moved into the goods shed.

The first Book, Swallows and Amazons is indeed set in the lake district, but with I believe Peel Island on lake Coniston transferred into Lake Windermere. As were the books , "Swallowdale", "Winter Holiday", " Pidgeon Post", and The "Picts and Martyrs". The unfinished "Coots in the North" starts on the Broads then moves to the Lake District. "The Coot Club " and "The Bix Six" are pretty accurately based on the broads especially in and around Horning just yards from my sailing club. The broads and places are very recognisable. We often still call the waterborne Grokles of the noisy intrusive type ... ...Hullabaloos.. The Books " We didn't mean to go to sea and Secret Waters are based around Suffolk and Essex particularly around Walton on the Naze. "Great Northern " Is set in the Outer Hebridies, which was relevant to me, as just having read it for the first time, we moved there!! The other two are on the Schooner Wild Cat, set in the Caribbean and the China sea are " Peter Duck" and " Missy Lee" Me an avid Ransome fan? well I was.. what do you think got me into sailing..

If it never ends, it probably never begins either, explaining why there is world hunger... Anyway, if it's a beef pie the Hindus won't eat it, if it's a pork pie the Jews and the Muslims won't eat it, if it's a fish pie the Christians will only eat it on Fridays, and if it's a cottage pie, the Welsh will burn it. And if it's a pie with four and twenty blackbirds baked in it, I'm not eating it; have you seen how many fleas and lice there are on a blackbird...

A'noon. Old Frats extra run out was in memory of two of our deceased members. 90 miles, a good run on a rock 32 miles long. iD, now you understand why I am no longer an NHS Manager! It was simply unbearable.

After one of my tests I was given a letter to show in case I set off any radiation alarms in airports or railway stations. This was before lockdown/shielding. Also I had to keep away from small children or pregnant women for a few days. Tony

Psst..... Do want some fresh meat? I have some very fresh meat in this wagon behind me? No....! Ladies, how about you? Can give you a good price........ It fact it's so fresh it will walk to your home.... In fact this picture reminds me I was planning to do a noticeboard next the lifebuoy. Another nice little project to add to the list!

How right you are, Tony, how right.................. Even the 'departed' aren't immune. I'm sure you'll remember this A2/2. As you'll recall, I built the chassis for this and completed most of the basic bodywork, including starting the making of the tender for Roy. The next time I returned, he'd completely dismantled the bodywork, much to my astonishment (it was at a bit of a low time for me and I didn't need it, but that's in the past now; and thanks once more for your support at the time). Anyway, he rebuilt it to produce the (rather nice) loco you see here. However, any work I'd done on the tender must have been abandoned because I found all the bits I'd done in a box the last time I was over. Didn't you say to me once that one of Roy's statements was 'Near enough is not good enough'? With that in mind, I'd say that tender is not near enough; the tank is 2mm too low - the horizontal beading should line up with the bottom of the eaves on the cab roof! Another thing I found (which I now find amusing) was that he can't have thought much of my chassis either, because Sandra and I found a set of A2/2 frames he was making as a replacement. All the above said shouldn't take away anything from the 'great man's work'. Seen in context within this staggering creation, I don't think there's been a finer model railway in any scale or gauge. It'll be a tribute to him when it's finished, and I'm starting to make some (massive) telegraph poles for it! By the way, it's been decided that there won't be a separate Retford thread, and Sandra's very happy for me to post progress reports on Retford on here. Regards, Tony.

Mawnin‘ awl. Long time no see as ever so often currently... Currently out of Leipzig for a visit to my mum and dad oop narf till Friday. Weather up here is much more to my liking: Sitting underneath the terrace sunroof with rain pouring down. Yes, I absolutely do love it after the atrocious heat we had at home for the past few weeks! As I keep saying, if income and work were all sorted one way or another, I guess the northern climes were my preferred homestead without question. Annika loves keeping her grandma and grandpa on their toes as well. Enjoy whatever you’re up to...

" Corgi" Was replaced by " Gas Safe" in 2009... (decision made 2006)

Has Deltic gained a "Trunk", or is that an In-Flight Refuelling Probe I see.....

The thing that amused me about that sort of thing was that when I had an injection of a radio active isotope for a lung scan it was squirted into my body from a hypodermic encased in a not inconsiderable thickness of lead. (Yes, I did work out that it was to protect those doing the needle job but at the time it struck me as incongruous that something which was said to be safe enough to inject into my body had to be surrounded by lead shielding.)

Greetings all from Sidcup where it is cool but dry. I agree with PhilJW about checkatrade - unless we have a personal recommendation re a tradesman, we pick one from there; they have to have consistently good reviews over a reasonable length of time - i wouldn't choose the newly registered who has 5 10 out 10s in preference to the firm that is averaging 9.7 over 5 years. We hit on some very good plumbers/gas fitters/bathroom fitters and have used them a number of times.

Really sorry to hear about today being about bittersweet memories, Tony. Not much to add except to say that the miscreants on ER are here for you if you need support or just want to share a memory. iD

(This may be a repeat) There was a major flood warning and the army sent its trucks out to collect residents. One lady refused to leave, sayin "The Lord will provide." When the water reached her front porch, a boat came by, but "The Lord will provide." Later she was sitting on the roof and a helicopter offered to take her. "The Lord will provide." A bit later, she was knocking at the Pearly Gates. She told St. Peter "I thought the Lord would provide." St. Peter said, "We sent a truck, a boat and a helicopter. What more did you want?"

Quite right. Elizabeth the First had a bath every year, whether she needed one or not.

My only knowledge of the Broads is reading Swallows and Amazons and other Arthur Ransome titles. Although we did some sailing on Plymouth Sound in Mayflowers as long as there was a dead calm. Brian.

Evening all, I got the Weeden power plant running today, with a heat source provided by a Bassett Lowke burner. A bit of pulley fetteling is in order me thinks. Next will be to do a bunch of math as to the feed pump piping etc. The video is titled in that way as this plant is based off one most likely made by John Fowler (Leeds) Ltd, and installed at the Luabo Mill of the Sena Sugar Estates, on the Zambezi in Mozambique. Tomorrow is some online learning, first time at new school so it should be absolutely riveting. Some more English style sausages have been scrounged up from somewhere, they are a vast improvement on the last ones. One was had for lunch accompanied by a fried egg and similarly prepared toast. Yesterday after the speedy frivolity had ceased the man who wrote my signature came by and dropped off a scan of the ancient original track map for the raceway, which is now up on my wall and covered in various apex and track out markings. Unfortunately it only has 3/4 of the track, as the rest was on another negative and has been lost. stay healthy Douglas

I can't understand why you weren't outside, up the Ladder on top of the roof and just getting on with the job yourself Bob. It's not as though you have History in the disaster zone, now is it?

Afternoon All A bit of skipping has happened, as I wanted to post, but I will try to backread tomorrow. Meantime, the usual greetings of the generic variety must suffice. Today was another fodder run day, this time to the German purveyor of food beginning with A, and I managed to spend a lot more than expected - then it was back homewards, and I had a bathroom to clean after the putting away of the shopping - than a phone call from the log man, and he duly arrived, and dumped the logs onto the drive - they are now stacked in the garage, and I am sure that there are less than last year, but then I say that every year - we'll see how long they last. Back tomorrow (I hope) Regards to All Stewart

been a busy day so far.. Parcels posted , most of my prescription collected (I need to contact the Marie Celeste first thing to sort the missing ones out), paint bought and used, lawns mowed, lunch made and eaten...next up...er a bit of muddling I hope. Our cricket tomorrow has been cancelled already so a bit more gloss work will be undertaken, some muddling to be done along with cleaning and tidying.. Baz

I too have to keep away from small children and pregnant women for today at least. Once I get back home, I've no intention of going out again until tomorrow evening.

G'f day all, My father was a skilled tradesman who served a 5 year apprenticeship and the bu ig difference today is that some trades don't require apprenticeships and NVQs give some people the idea that they are qualified tradesmen. But as already mentioned gas plumbing etc work requires Gas Safe registration - which means training courses - electrical work is very tightly controlled including certification, there is now Water Safe registration for plumbers. If you engage any tradesman to do a job you're a totally naive idiot if you don't first assess and check out his past workmanship and any good tradesman will be happy to arrange for you to see examples of his past work. Checkatrade can be good but personal recommendation is ideal if you are looking for decent tradesmen or you pay a bit more and go to a proper company that complies with various standards. And I speak as somebody who this week will be paying our plumber the thick end of £2,000, and his work comes with a guarantee that any problems, should they arise, will be dealt with free of charge. so sorry but unless you an idiot you aren't over likely to be caught out by spiv, so called, tradesmen taking the whatsit out of your ignorance. If nothing else just watching them at work will quickly tell you how good, bad, or indifferent they are and in many areas if they can't do a better job than me I will quickly see that they are not what they claim to be, a maxim I also applied back in my big railway days. Back to earth. Rain clouds look to be gathering outside but on the bright side I have mushrooms for lunch today although the current packet of bacon produced one very poor rasher yesterday although it did cook up nice and crisp. In the garden the GD is doing a bit of clearance work so the last of the self-seeded spuds were dug yesterday (a bit too late for last night's lamb curry) and the sweetcorn has been removed today as it is fast approaching the state where it would only be good for cattle food (seemingly muntjac don't have the same foodie tastes as cows), I'm not sure if we have enough mustard seed to deal with all the recently dug over areas. No other major plans so I'll no doubt spend some time laughing (or crying) at various idiot postings on RMweb and having a go at a few online jigsaws. Have a good day one and all particularly those in the hands of the medical fraternity talking of which Flavio will now have had a further indication of why the NHS costs us so much, all too typical of Britain today alas. And stay safe folks.

Pipe, Cardigan, slippers.

It seems even sites like Checkatrade can have their downsides too; admittedly this article dates from 2014: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2671559/Can-trust-website-claims-banish-cowboy-workmen.html It's worth researching the checking site you are using too, it seems. Best story I heard of was the woman who had a new bathroom fitted. Some time afterwards she noticed a sewage/drain smell; Plumber who did the work couldn't be contacted.... It turns out that he'd left a gap between the toilet soil pipe going thru' the inner wall, and the outside pipe coming in thru' the outer wall. Result? The cavity wall was slowly being filled with sh1t....... Luckily the insurance picked up the (very large) tab, which included ripping down walls, cleaning out, disinfecting, dehumidifying, rebuilding, plastering, decorating, plumbing...... Reckless. Very, very reckless. You'll need them next week, mark my words. Book, Play, Film, T-shirt......been there, done that.

Made it

Good morning from a nicely sunny but slightly cool Charente. The delights of digging out at the corner of the wood shed await me later so I hope that it doesn't get too warm. I too am an avid Ransome fan and have most if the series in hardback. I was unaware of the unfinished one and may have to try and get hold of a copy. Yesterday went well and I even did some scanning and measuring of small bits of brass. We laughed ourselves silly watching Bridget Jones' Baby. We also had a goodc40 minutes chatting to Martin and Katie in Lincoln. Chrisf, I hope that your journeys go well and Rick, I'm glad that you had such a good day out. Douglas, that engine set up looks great. Well done. Regards to all. Jamie

Good evening everyone It rained for most of the morning, but eased off just enough so that when I went in at dinner time for something to eat, I didn’t get wet in the process. Whilst we were eating dinner the sun came out and then shone for the rest of the afternoon. Some more progress has been made with the control panel, I’ve spent most of the time putting cable ident markers on all the wiring, this will make fault finding a lot easier should one arise in the future. I’ve also fitted the common 12v to the items requiring that voltage and the 0v line to all the circuit boards, I’ll carry on with this next weekend. Goodnight all

Evening photos are of Mons Meg, which has backed on to the 1033 slow to KX and is beginning to move away. and another shot after it had travelled just a little further.

Will my new pannier suffice.

My recent model is now finished (not in time for my visit to LB on Saturday.....to Sir's relief!). A 3D printed body on a Bachmann Jinty chassis, plus subsequent detailing. My interpretation of how the real NWR No. 1 'Thomas' would have really looked, circa Autumn 1959 (the time period of my layout, Ffarquhar). The driver is a 3D print from Modelu of my good friend Ben @BritishGypsum4 who is a fireman and driver on two heritage railways. A few years ago, I would never have thought I'd have been able to paint and line out locomotives. What a rewarding hobby this is!

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. I was intending to get a few things done outside this afternoon but now its persisting down. That reminds me of when my mum was having radiation treatment for her cancer. My dad and myself went to see her in hospital and found she had been put in a side ward on her own. Visiting time (1 hour) was almost up when the matron came in and asked us how long we had been there. We answered since visiting time started (about 50 minutes) whereupon the matron ordered us out. Because my mum was radioactive we should only have been there for 20 minutes max.

Some more Retford shots.................... My re-gauged Bachmann D11 carries on northwards. Unfortunately, Rick Hunt's wonderful 'Queen's boards' bracket signal has ceased to work................. Class A3 60042 SINGAPORE heads the Down afternoon 'Talisman'. It's shots such as this which illustrate one of Roy Jackson's blind spots. No lamps, and not even lamp brackets. Do the omissions spoil the overall effect? I think so, and so easy to rectify. I'll make it one of my tasks! Lamps or not, it's the broad sweep of Retford which absolutely convinces. A Clas 9F (complete with numberplate, but with no numbers on it - another job!) takes the Down goods avoiding line to the west of the station. Though the signal to control this move has been built, it's still to be installed.

Post no longer relevant Baz

I believe that anyone can set themselves up as a plumber, so long as they're not dealing with Gas - for that you need to be trained and Corgi(?) Registered. Electricians also need to be certified - or their work signed off by a qualified electrician

As just mentioned, a splendid time spent with Retford today. I took along four locos; the J6 just shown, and the following three.................... Here's the modified Bachmann D11 which Ray Chessum altered to EM for me (I defy anyone to be able to see that the mainframes are too narrow at this range!). It performed impeccably, so thanks again Ray. It's now on indefinite loan to Retford. Strictly speaking, it's carrying the wrong headlamp code, since the rake is either parcels or empty stock. I also took along Tom Wright's Judith Edge Hunslet (it's on delivery from Leeds!). Though we didn't actually time this at its slowest speed (less than two mph), we calculated that it would take at least an hour to circumnavigate the GN bit of Retford! What a fantastic kit this is. Mike Edge (when he gave it to Tom) said it could be built by a teenager - and it was................ I think Sandra will paint it. I also took along Tom's twin-motored (O Gauge Mashimas) unfinished prototype 'Deltic'. At 50 mph it just roared round. We attached 29 carriages (half and half modified RTR and kit-built), and it made absolutely no difference to its speed. On a previous occasion, towards 70 carriages were tried (yes, five of Roy's full-length trains!), but the huge rake wanted to collapse inwards on the end curves, so the mucking-about was abandoned. Robert Carroll took some moving footage on his phone which he says he'll post on here. More Retford pictures tomorrow.........................