Leaderboard

So as I said, time to move on to the next task which is the carriage sidings, buffer stops, access platforms and ballasting! The access platforms are cut on the laser in three parts, the base, concrete stools and planked top. I assembled and painted the bases and stools so they could be fitted first. The top planking will be added after ballasting. Stools being glued to the base strips. Some stools are cut down for the end ramps. Underlay cut away and the base strips being fitted. The pins hold the strips to shape as there is a very slight curve. Ballasting in progress. The end result after preliminary colouring of the ballast. The planking is just laid in place and needs colouring.

Some odds and ends from the Settle and Carlisle today with photos taken at Ribblehead and Langwathby. There is only 41 years betwen the first and last photo. Ribblehead viaduct Dec 67 J1194.jpg Ribblehead March 78 J5935.jpg Ribblehead V2 4771 London to Carlisle The Norfolkman Sat 25 March 78 C3736.jpg Langwathby 158817 Carlisle to Leeds 30th April 08 NDSC_4275.jpg Langwathby DRS 66427 down empty coal 30th April 08 NDSC_4277.jpg David

Greetings one and all I was expecting yesterday’s announcement from Ffestiniog Travel that the Christmas and New Year trip to Switzerland has been cancelled. Apparently those entering Switzerland are required to spend 10 days in quarantine on top of the 14 days in the UK on return, making the trip unworkable. With the constantly shifting pattern of restrictions in the UK I am doubtful of finding something suitably festive that I would rather do than stay at home. Nevertheless I will ask around. For the last few years of his life my father and I went through the motions of the festive season for each other’s benefit. It was better than being home alone but only just. Shortly before he died in June 2005 I received the heaven-sent mailshot from Ffestiniog Travel giving details of the Swiss trip. The only one I have missed since then was when I had the chance to go to Canada. Such is the progress of the battle against that ruddy virus that I am not at all confident of making the trip next year either. We shall see what happens. Best wishes to all Chris

I'm long overdue a topic on my mini version of Whatley Quarry that I started nearly 10 years ago. I hope it's not too late to start something! This layout started off life as a little more than a shunting plank, built in a spare bedroom of a small London flat to run some of the aggregate stock that I had been working on. Since then, it's had a mega fiddle yard added (one of Tim Horn's first commissions) and has managed a couple of friendly exhibitions in the South East. Most of the stock has been either scratch-built, kit-built or modified ready to run. I'm now in a position where a lot more stock is suddenly about to hit the market (Dapol JHA, 59s, Accurascale PTAs) that will improve greatly the number of trains that I'm able to run on the layout and that has piqued my interest in getting the layout finished and hopefully getting it out on the exhibition circuit properly once this horrible covid situation is over. The layout is still small enough that I can set it up at home in the living room for a running day and I have the scenic section (all 6ft of it) permanently up and available in my modelling loft room. The current plan (following feedback from friends) is to extend it with the addition of another pair of 6ft boards to include a representation of the 'snaking' quarry reception sidings all the way up to Murder Coombe Tunnel. The research element has been fascinating and I've made about four or five trips to the real location and have amassed around 1000 photos of the location from the period that I am modelling it (1988-1992). I have to say a big thanks to all the people (you know who you are!) who have helped me with my research on this forum and within DEMU without whom the layout wouldn't be in the state it is in today. The ultimate plan is to only run stock on it that I have photographic evidence for that ran to Whatley during the period. However, in order to have enough trains running, I'm also (for the moment) including Foster Yeoman stock from the period as well. Although not strictly prototypical, this adds a bit of operational interest and colour. The photos below were mostly taken at the layouts first show at Broadstairs, Kent back in 2018 although I have many shots of the layout over the past 10 years. I'll use this thread to provide a few updates on the stock that I am doing for the layout. Guy

Another view of the Pullman, now from Spital Bridge. The 6.15 to Grantham is waiting at the north end of Platform 6, just two cars again, and a suitable job for New England's most decrepit B1.

Morning, and as predicted by Q, a very wet and windy one. UK cut off overnight, but should be re-connected later this morning with a delayed ferry sailing. Mrs NHN is off to be Pilated, I usually go down to Ramsey with her and walk a couple of miles but that ain't happening today! I'd need Brian's wetsuit. Weather is alleged to improve later, we're going for a curry with friend Jayne this evening, that usually makes for appalling weather so it may return! The curry house is new, but we think is an older one re-located. We'll give it a go and see what the menu is like, the alternative one is much better (but a lot more expensive) than this one's previous incarnation, so is a treat now I'm on a fixed income. I realised this week it has taken me two months to stop worrying about work......the work that I don't have any more. Running a business is stressful, even when it is toy trains. I still feel sorry for the staff we had to pay off, but they're all doing OK in various ways, John and myself feel a lot better about that now. John is also a lot better and putting the sudden loss of his wife behind him and moving on with his life, so all is well really.

Pannier driver having a good look. perhaps, he's thinking - Now I've brought the crane it will be good to see the door on when I next return..... perhaps!

It's a filthy day outside but as promised we have a few more of 77294 on a down H class freight with an eclectic mix of vans heading to Tavistock Junction. Although the model dates back twenty years the wealth of detail is superb and has the usual weightiness of a Bachmann model, akin to my 9F workhorse. A splendid accompaniment to the LMS 8F purchased earlier this year.

Red boxes Hornby, Blue boxes Bachmann Brit15

Morning all. So I was sitting in the lounge yesterday afternoon having a cuppa. I'd left the front door on the latch as I was planning on heading back out to the garage. Now I was expecting swmbo to come back from shopping, so when I heard the front door open and a woman chatting away I didn't think much of it. After a while it occurred to me that the woman's accent was a tad different from swmbo's dulcet tones. It took a while obviously because we have been married a few years and I often need other cues to start listening. Anyway, mildly curious , I wandered out into the hall to be confronted by a strange woman in my hall peeling her clothes off. Now, being a gent, and having ascertained that said woman was not my type, I endeavoured to get a word in to the one-sided conversation. I say "conversation" but tbh it was more like a river of semi-consciousness flowing down the hall. Anyway having at last attracted her attention I enquired what she was doing in my house and would she mind leaving please. For those of you who read so far the explanation offered was equally bizarre. The woman had been cleaning next door, had gone to the end of the garden path to put some rubbish in the bin and - having no sense of direction for this 20' round trip - got lost on her way back.

And at long last I have actually got around to not only ordering but getting some noticeboards. I was going to make some awhile back but then Scalemodelscenery came out with some nice ones so here they are....eventually Just used half of them for now Think I might added a paving slab to in the grass by the last one as it looks wrong at present. (also need to sort the cobweb out be the telegraph pole!) The posters come with the kit, very smart - normal disclosure - just a very satisfied customer.

Now to start refitting this shed door...... No rush, need to give it a coat of looking at......

Next of the late afternoon departures from Kings Cross is the Tees-Tyne Pullman. Silver Fox is on duty today. Unsurprisingly, against the light shots work better when there is less of it.

'Right then ladies, what can I do for you?' 'Nice piece of rump?' 'A selection of bangers?' 'How about some bacon?' 'What it'll be, ladies this could be your lucky day.....!

Good moaning from this part of the globe, too! Insomnia with its follow-up effects did not stop, so, once again, I needed to pull an emergency stop to recover, and to hopefully address the worries about keeping my family sound which are causing it. Especially so since COVID cases in Germany have risen rather sharply! I suppose it’s fairly likely that seasonal factors will contribute also, but in any case: Safety First. Running someone down with a tram due to poor rest or distraction is something I’d rather not deal with. At least this here looks like a sunny morning, so maybe I can spend some time in the garden. You might recall that I began installing a watering pipeline and pop-up lawn sprinkler, which project needs a couple of finishing touches I was unable to find time for. Be safe and well, everyone. Virtual hugs to everyone who may be ailing in one way or another.

Yet another image of 7754, resting at Sheep Dip.......

I love Whernside as a backdrop to Ribblehead. It always strikes me as such a majestic mountain. This is my first instamatic photo of the location in 1971. Unfortunately the cloud covered the summit that day.

Good moaning to all. Chrisf good luck in your search for an alternative lifestyle over the festive season. It's damp here but not raining at the moment. Yesterday several small tasks were completed. Today in a couple of minutes we'll be talking to Emily and her Mums. That will definitely brighten up the day despite the grey clouds. The ironing awaits after that and I need to go and give a pool robot it's weekly exercise. I may even clear some more of the shed floor ready for painting. Regards to all. Jamie

It is with some degree of regret I would advise that planned trip to train shop did not take place. With some thirty minutes left to go before my shift ended, I was advised that a further eight hours of my time was sought. Therefore, I have just returned home after a further nine hours......... I thank you. Rob

Ex S&D bulldog 43216 engaged in some shunting at Melcombe Magna

Ok, current "state of play". Some photos taken in a hurry (poor lighting, wrong white-balance etc) Still a few bits to add: Clack valves (when I'm sure I don't need to remove the boiler again) cab doors, union-link retainer (and shorten the pin) and steam-turret/manifold (on order from SEFinecast) and some last-minute paintwork touch-ups. But you get the drift.

TISWAS Or for those without knowledge of Australian children's television Today Is Saturday - Wear A Smile. Always abbreviated to TISWAS. Few smiles Upon the Hill of Strawberries where is it grey and windy but temporarily dry. SWMBO ventured to the Post Office earlier and reported that the two gentlemen who run it (father and son, we believe) were as rude and disorganised as always and as occasionally complained of to the Resident's Association. We need the facility. But we do not need people running it who arbitrarily select people from the queue to be next in to the one-at-a-time premises. Neither, when they are inside, do we need "attitude" in terms of "Oh - you want to post something? Why don't you already have stamps? It will be a lot of stamps* and that will take time which will hold other people up". Really. * packet to Australia We were winding down for the night last evening when a piece of paper was stuffed through our letterbox. It advised that Noisy Neighbours were celebrating a birthday and apologising in advance for the fact that there would be noise after 11pm. It was unsigned but included a mobile number. It was duly photographed and emailed to our managing agent who already has a file in preparation for their enforced departure and is only waiting for a few more examples of substantiated complaints / tenancy breaches to proceed. She advised by return that we should notify the police if we suspected a breach of Covid Tier 2 regulations might occur with other "households" gathering indoors, let alone noise. At around 10.30pm and after we had retired another note was slipped through the door. I suspected Noisy Neighbours might have been told how to behave appropriately by someone. It turned out to be from Lovely Neighbour (next door) who is currently home alone with her flat-mates all hiding from Covid outside of the London area. She had received a visit from the police asking about the tenants of Noisy Flat (who were out when Plod called) and advising quite firmly that police should be called immediately if any disturbance or any gathering occurred. It seems Managing Agent had tipped off the police which might be considered a good move in the current situation. We never heard from Noisy Flat again last night. We think they might have been alerted to the potential for intervention and either have gone quietly to bed or partied elsewhere. We dropped a little card into Neighbour (Next Door) earlier providing our phone numbers and inviting her to contact us immediately if she feels in need of support. She might be here over Christmas depending on circumstances. Her Alaskan / NW Territorian family now lives in Germany so visiting anyone else might not be possible. If that happens we shall endeavour to provide some sort of seasonal hospitality and festivity in a socially-distanced manner on the outdoor Terrace. We are most unlikely to be away. The only option is Sister's and with SWMBO unwilling to enter anyone else's home until vaccinated that's a long drive on a winter's day to sit outside over coffee and a chilly roast!

Just as well SWMBO didn't turn up at that moment.

When I worked for Broward County Transit, I did the monthly ridership report which my boss used for the basis for almost all of the reports that he prepared for others. I had created a somewhat different format that I had modified from his original template and he liked it. When I left on Thursday (the last day June that year), I had the report complete except for the late "strays" that usually showed up a day or two after the last day. Anyway, to cut to the chase, I stated to worry a bit about the June report; suddenly, when I woke up on Sunday, I realized that "Why am I worrying about it, it is no longer my yob!". It only took me two days! Admittedly, I had no one else to consider though.

Morning all. Earlyish start (by my body clock) this a.m. asI was g hauled out of bed - without first being given a cuppa and a biscuit to transport the Good Doctor (of naval history) up to our local almost hospital to see the emergency Doctor (of the MD sort) as she has (the GD) has been somewhat out of sorts for several days, After actually doing a test the ED confirmed the previous (non test) diagnosis of the GP and told the GD to keep on taking the prescribed medicine and if that doesn't improve things go back to see the GP. Fingers remained crossed and we trust the prescribed medicine might have more effect in the final 24 hours of the course than it did in the first 48 hours. That early excitement over I returned (with the GD) to get a proper cuppa and a piece of toast to make up for the earlier lack of liquid sustenance. We had a further visit from Mr Fox yesterday afternoon. It came up to within a couple of feet of the french windows and took no notice of either myself, the mum cat, or the lad standing about 3 feet away from it on the inside of the french windows (even when I tapped on the window), before wandering off down the garden. Having spoken to it without being noticed, the previous day I am beginning to wonder if it is deaf or possibly simply doesn't worry about human presence? And there's more amusement off the north coast of Cornwall as our former 'hoiiday haunt' ship is out yet again looking for 'adrift containers' - I hope they find it/them (?) this time because the things are a right menace to smaller vessels especially yachts although it's probably a bit late for the leisure sailors to be out there. No hint of what the containers are or where they have come from although 8 years back during our first trip we weren't too far away from the area looking for what had been reported as a drifting shipping buoy - which the ship found and was able to recover. The buoy had come from Canada but whether or not the container(s) have had such a long trip I don't know. There were 8 containers reported adrift in the area 4 days ago although that warning was later cancelled. Havea good day and the rain might be good for the gardens, possibly.

Ey up! By eck..I slept in..come tomorrow it will be I woke early..pah! Weather doesn't sound great (rain can be heard on the windows.) As it is Saturday other than cooking some salmon for tea I have no household duties to perform. While this is good news it also means her indoors could be building up to a pre-emptive strike with some reordering of items in cupboards etc.. Hang on a minute.. her indoors has announced that today is Christmas cake baking day! I generally miss this as today I should be at our Model Railway Exhibition .. pah! @chrisf I am sure you will find somewhere to go.. but spending a day on the internet will be required. Good luck in your search. time to drink my mugatea, then I shall grasp Saturday firmly and shape it to suit what I want to do... have a great day if you can! baz

A full Seven Mills today as West Shed shut for weekend Track re laying. The Resident 08 moves the Warwell out of the way.

I seem to be in a wagon building mood these days. Dunno whether I’m locked down, locked up or or which tier of the cake I’m on, so wagon building is a cheap and time consuming activity. Now it might be argued that I’m getting my ratios wrong again, too many unusual wagons and not enough of the bread and butter diagrams. I’d agree, but the fun is in the odd stuff. I therefore decided to have a shot at one of the 1896 built D38 glass well wagons. Decent pics in the wagon books and a diagram for the basic dimensions. The wagon was built on a steel channel frame. Plastic channel has too thick a web to my eye so I soldered this up with brass channel sections from Eileens Emporium. The 19’4” wb makes it a long and awkward thing so I made a jig up on a bit of scrap wood. The W irons on this wagon were straight edged with no knee so I cut them from 0.3 mm brass sheet. The floor and well are from 10 thou styrene, cut on the silhouette and laminated. The bottom edge isn't as grubby as that, odd how the pic came out. The well itself is a tight fit between the wheels, the original being 3’ 11 1/2 “ wide. EM back to back is 16.5 mm, so it just fits. I think I’ll keep the frame and the body as two assemblies as long as possible. Difficult to paint if I jump the gun and glue the two together, but that gives an idea of how it will look. Sides next.

Change of direction. Since the start of this lockdown I have been beavering away updating and adding to the rolling stock for LM I thought it might be nice to group them altogether to see exactly what has been going on Also there was the Thornycroft lorry, Lima Prairie, Bradley Manor and lots of figures.... so since the end of March there has been quite a bit done. Funny, I sometimes go up and there and think, not much has progressed up here!!!

Morning all, Absolutely foul here so far today with incessant wind and rain, although the rain is showing some signs of abating. Like others on here, I shall be watching rugby for a good part of the afternoon/evening. The morning has been spent balancing the books from the MRC account in advance of a possible Zoom AGM next month. Books are now balanced, but a narrative is required to go with them to help explain what has been a turbulent year financially as well as in other ways!

Occasionally, I'm asked to fix things for friends (more than occasionally, actually). That's what friends do. And, without boasting (too much), I usually succeed. However, recently, I was asked if I could make these three 'work' again. Those in the know will know that it's a trio of Trix A2s, dating from the late-'60s. My dear old friend had bought them new (by the way, the 'weathering' is natural!). After years of hard work on his (very dusty) loft layout, they'd rather given up. That said, on investigation, the motors still ran and the traction tyres (ugh!) were still intact. It was the tender pick-ups which weren't working. Umbilical wires had broken, some pick-ups had gone adrift and the wheel treads had the crud of decades. So, a regime of cleaning/oiling, making new pick-ups and installing new wires and, magically, off they all went again. Their haulage powers are prodigious! All have been repainted (sort of) and two have been renumbered/renamed - wholly inappropriately, though BLUE PETER does have a replacement double chimney (even if it's in the wrong position). I admit to finding these hideous (at source). Corridor tenders (one body is Hornby)? Beading on those tenders? Banjo domes? A German chassis? I actually bought one of these when they first appeared in the '60s. I didn't keep it for long, as ignorance was replaced by knowledge of what a Peppercorn A2 should look like. Looking at the trio, it makes my much-the-same-age Wills A2 look not too bad. My old friend will be delighted. Not for him the wringing of hands because some detail is incorrect or accuracy is compromised. As long as they work, he's happy. And, he will be...........

If I may offer some thoughts Robert? (I think that I can speak with some authority given that I have two dogs and spent a lot of time helping Mrs iD revise for her dog trainer exams [Mrs iD is a certified SKG dog trainer]). And forgive me if I say anything you already know. Firstly, the new dog absolutely must get on with Sydney, although as Sydney was “there first” it is possible that Sydney will be territorial about your place. It is best that they first meet outside on neutral ground. In that way there will be nothing territorial for Sydney to be protective about. However, that’s just the first step, what happens at home also needs close attention, stepping in whenever either dog starts to exhibit territorial behaviour. In these instances the dog involved is to be told, sternly, that the behaviour is unacceptable but it shouldn’t be a punishment (after all the dog is only doing what he thinks is right and has been bred to do). When we introduced Lucy to Schotty, there were a few days with some territorial protectiveness on the part of Schotty, which did result in him snapping at Lucy, but I intervened and made it clear that was not acceptable. Now they are quite attached to each other, with Schotty always greeting Lucy when she has been absent for awhile (like being at the vets for an afternoon). When we have dogs visit, Schotty does tend to be somewhat jealous, but is happy to retreat to his basket and let the humans get on with what they are doing, whilst Lucy tends to ignore the newcomer. When Mrs iD has friends with dogs stay with her at the holiday hovel, the visiting dog and our two have very clearly separate places to “call their own”. So two separate well-defined areas, either a dog cage or a dog basket, should be set aside: one would be “Syd’s place“ and the other the “New dog’s place“ (Incidentally, although we may think caging a dog is unkind, in actuality a good roomy cage with a soft flooring, put in a warm location is much loved by dogs as a safe retreat for them when they need to get away and have some “downtime“. Schotty has a basket underneath the table in the entrance hall of the house which pretty much serves the same purpose). Secondly, owning a dog is quite a different proposition to hosting a dog for a few days, even if you are hosting on a regular basis. A number of years ago (and old time ERs will remember this), we regularly hosted what we called our “Hairy Houseguest” Jordi - a border collie mix - So we thought we were well prepared for Schotty. Not so. For one thing, there is a huge sense of responsibility and a desire to “do the right thing“. For example, one night it was absolutely chucking it down and Lucy was very agitated pawing me awake at 3 am, she wouldn't settle and refused the garden, so I took her out in the deluge and after 10 minutes of her agitatedly running around, she squatted and had an episode of diarrhoea. I wasn’t upset, nor annoyed about getting soaked, because I thought that it is part of my responsibility to take care of her properly. Cost is another factor that is not so apparent when the dog is only a hairy houseguest. Vet bills and food bills do mount up, but quite frankly - in my view – the dogs are worth every penny (as a digression, but relevant to the topic of the cost of food, dog treats which are used aplenty when training dogs are quite expensive [and gods know what’s in them]. However, I do have a dehydrator so I take a turkey breast, slice it thinly and dehydrate it overnight. The result is a cheap and incredibly healthy dog treat). Thirdly, and I would imagine you have already considered this, is that you need to make sure your house and, especially, your garden is “dog safe“. Sometimes, when dogs are feeling under the weather, they will eat grass and leaves, so it is important that there are no plants toxic to dogs in your garden. Before we got Schotty, the rescue organisation we were getting him from sent someone to check out our house and, especially, our garden to make sure there was nothing that could harm or injure Schotty. Fourthly, and again I’m sure I am telling you the patently obvious, in the first couple of weeks when you have the new dog an incredible amount of patience is required: the dog will be stressed, uncertain and nervous. This may exhibit itself in inappropriate behaviour (Schotty in particular tried to hump my leg on a regular basis in the first six weeks of us getting him – not because he was any sort of canine pervert, but because it was a coping mechanism for dealing with what was, for him, a new and somewhat stressful situation. This behaviour passed with some gentle correction and as he became used to his new environment). Terriers in particular can be quite stubborn, but I have never met a terrier that was immune to being bribed by a home-made turkey treat. Nonetheless, patience, rewards and “work” for the Terrier will bring huge rewards to both of you (by “work“ I mean any sort of thing that will engage the dog’s brain, such as dog sports or agility training) Finally, if I may ask, does the Terrier have a name that you will be keeping or will you rename the dog (if and when you get him)? Anyway, enough of my waffle, I hope that, if you do get the Terrier, all works out splendidly. Cheers iD p.s. we have a fairly extensive library about dogs (their anatomy, their behaviour and their training) and I will be happy to pass on the titles of a few books I think would be of interest to a new dog owner.

Mooring Awl, inner Temple Hare, 6 hours sleep interrupted once, by an attack of cramp in my left calf, very painful. Now, there is just a throbbing reminder, hence some pink pills have been taken. Wandering around the net yesterday I found in the Radio times a 1955 issue.. It was that the Sunday radio programme "Parade " was doing piece from Snowflake sailing club, where I sail in the winter. I wonder how that came about, as the club was only 13 years old then, quite small and had just moved to borrowing Horning sailing club each year.. https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/2d164bc48da84618a821b0d1d069bdcd I see the government is stopping duty free sales at UK airports, I didn't buy anything at airports anyway, I quickly realised much of their goods was more expensive than in a normal shop.. The wind hasn't reached here yet, and the main rain is not due till after my work will cease later.. Wrestling sheets of OSB into the garage could be interesting though.. Time I think to consider breakfast, and a Muggacoffee or two this will disturb Ben the Snoring Collie..

Well back at the end of May a few seeds were sown and now it's come to fruition. Inspired by another Norman Lockett photo, we now have a Laira based Austerity in the shape of 77294. This was an eBay purchase and given to @toboldlygoto expertly renumber and weather. It also has the 247 etched trinket for the use of his fire irons fitted too. I need to get a driver from Modelu with his right hand on the regulator and apparently Alan can do mirror image figures using his GWR drivers. More tomorrow.

Bear dodged the kitchen refurb today and spent time sorting the gar*den whilst the weather was dry - plants un-potted, compost saved, water feature drained and disconnected from mains, and a new bulb fitted in the light above the shed door; all in all it blew the morning. Awards in volved the scoffing of saveloy, chip roll, beans and home grown tomatoes. I've picked the last of the tomatoes -unfortunately they're still green - I'm told that wrapping them in newspaper and storing them in a cardboard box tends to make them turn red. Not sure if they need to be individually wrapped though? A couple of hours eyelid inspection, followed by claiming my "working from home" tax allowance - dead easy and quick, though you do have to go thru' the registration process for Government Gateway too: https://blog.moneysavingexpert.com/2020/04/martin-lewis--working-from-home-due-to-coronavirus--claim-p6-wk-/ Technically, I was only WFH from 30 March until the end of April this year, as I then retired, but it seems the very nice (in this case) Government (other opinions are available) are quite happy to pay me the tax allowance until April next year. Worth about sixty quid to me apparently, which will pay for 2/3rds of the Bosch SDS Drill I ordered last night. Tomorrow will see work resumed on the kitchen refurb. Deep joy.......

Work on the Peckett has commenced. As per Mick's write up on his series of blog entries detailing his weathering of the same B2, I found a lot of grease about the place. First job is to clean out the migrated grease to prevent issues later on. I used a Wooden improvised light lubricant intrusive excavating system ( cocktail stick) or W.I.L.L.I.E.S for short to remove the grease. I then mopped up using a cotton bud. Rob.

Good morning all, Dull but dry here and a wet and windy day is forecast. Rugby watched last night and more to come today with Ireland v Italy this afternoon and Exeter v Wasps this evening. That's me sorted then! (Like the socks so much Andy that I've ordered some!) I've got a bit of money laundering financial juggling to do this morning and after that I may go down to The Shed to see if I can break something else. Have a good one, D.E. Molitionman.

Having googled it, that is one impressive piece of machinery and I'm glad that the city is looking after it. That doesn't always happen. In 1978 I was fortunate enough to be able to wander round 6060 in Spadina Avenue roundhouse. I suspect that though it could be moved carefully by rail, it's the mountain of paperwork and the cost of insurance that would put the mockers on such a fabulous bit of PR. I know UP did an awful lot of work on the bearings and suspension of 4014 before it was first moved from it's resting place in Pomona. I look forward to pictures in due course. At least they have employed a reputable contractor. Mammoet seem to know what they are doing. Jamie

We have interesting news today. The steam locomotive (6167) at the Guelph railway station is going to be moved on Nov. 14. They have a new spot down by the river. The space it is in now is to be used to expand the number of tracks or something by the commuter authority. The obvious solution would be to connect it to the mainline and make a grand tour down to the new site (beside the city-owned railway) but iy has probably been sitting there too many dceades to run on its own wheels. https://www.guelphtoday.com/local-news/john-galt-park-gets-ready-for-big-move-of-historic-steam-engine-2814083

Evening All, Flavio earlier today suggested that Sydney was a ‘lucky boy’ but I think I’m also a lucky boy to have a pet to look after. He’s a good guard dog as he keeps black dogs at bay. We’ve be advised that a Border terrier is looking for a new home as his/her owner has passed away and SWMBO and myself are really torn on the idea of giving him/her a new home. We’ve thought about having a dog in the past but have always shied away as we have at the moment the best of everything, a dog when we want or when we’re needed to have him. If we did take a dog into our family he/would obviously have to get on with Sydney as he spends a couple of days and nights at our house each week. Probably a good job we’ve not been sent a picture and given further details or we may not have been able to resist. I hope he/she gets adopted as I don’t think we could resist if push came to shove. Anyway, got some paperwork done, a bit of tidying in the garden and even took Mil shopping. Still awaiting medal. Even managed a bit of shed time. swmbo is watching a film in bed as I’m typing this but what’s annoying is it’s an oriental film with subtitles but she’s got the volume on. Goodnight All, Robert

Thanks Ian , all credit to the art and yes it is art, of weathering applied by @toboldlygo. A few more as she rounds the curve.

Two things, neither of which will be met with universal approval, I'm sure. The shed door being still out of place gives every reason for leaving that splendid crane alongside. The re-location project is a work in progress, and so can be a sort of timeless cameo. Wagons. I model Southern in the South West, and as you have lots of lovely GW wagons, so I have a great preponderance of SR wagons. It was never so. The whole point of a wagon was to move something from here to there. Thus we should all have a much greater percentage of "foreign" vehicles, representing the import of goods to our area from other parts of the country. I need, and suggest Little Muddle does, a much bigger presence from other members of the Big Four, or at least from the LMS and LNER, as SR didn't have as great an "export" business. Learned folk on here will tell us a percentage by Company, but even a few more of each would add credibility. Just a couple of thoughts.

Why not......

Tiswas also existed on UK TV 1974-82, supposedly a children's programme, it's most remembered for a certain female wearing tight T shirts in close proximity to buckets full of water. It kept teenage boys watching long after the age group the show was aimed at.. This is being sent via a new route(r), yep another 2 year contract supplied with a new supposedly better transmitting box. We get to keep the old one, which will, via some powerline adaptors be used to increase the range, by putting it in the garage aimed at the muddle railway shed. Today was mostly spent OSB bashing, the shelves the other side of the window was given an end plate from floor to roof. Then at 38 inches above floor level a shelf was fitted, this sounds a simple task but the walls are " on the huh", that is it tilts, and it's not straight horizontally. An old two drawer cabinet, on spindley legs was shortened by 4 inches, to go below the shelf, allowing for another drawer to be fitted above that. Also shelves will be fitted to one side to use up the rest of the space. Then the led light Batten was taken from the box... No fittings... The other three boxes were check all ok, so one of those was fitted above the area for the lathe.. Not wired in yet that's probably Next Week. Ben the happy Collie then took me for the long walk, he was a lot happier than I was due to this Carb flu, I was somewhat exhausted after just a small bit. All day it's been getting windier, as yet no rain but is getting seriously dark. For those remembering their past may I present.... Sally James

GBRf 60021 'Penyghent' approaching Deighton on 24th October 2020 with 6E09, 07.40 Liverpool Biomass Terminal to Drax Power Station. Day light workings of biomass trains (and the daily Knowsley binliners) along the Huddersfield line are unusual, but there should be a weeks worth of them between 24th October and 1st November. This is because the usual route along the Calder Valley is closed just west of Todmorden due to engineering work on Gauxholme viaduct and Taylors bridge.

Sanity has prevailed! As you say, 10 days quarantine on arrival in Switzerland for a 14 day tour with a 15 day Swiss Pass (3 days of which are taken up with travel to and from Switzerland so the 15 day pass is only usable for 11 days!) then 14 days quarantine in the UK is extremely nonviable! Having often been on this tour with you, I resigned myself a long while back by declaring myself available to work on 24th and 26th December with the option of attending to telephone calls on 25th December and 1st January! FYI, InnoTrans in 2021has already been cancelled so we'll just have to sit tight and see how this pandemic pans out. Further frustration may be encountered but it has to be respectfully tolerated.

It was a steady and successful afternoon today, although at one point I didn't think it was going to be. First of all, I fitted a JST RCY connector to the battery-powered Trewoon Junction Up Main Distant. No problems with this and the connection was 100% secure. Good! Here's a step-by-step guide. There are six parts to each connector - two pins, two sockets and two housings. Confusingly (to me, anyway), the pins go in the female half of the connectors and the sockets in the male half. I fitted the sockets to the signal by soldering instead of crimping. No problem here with the thin flex... ...fitting the sockets into the housing. They are retained by the little spring tabs that you can see here. Although the data sheet says that 16/0.2 wire should fit, I found that the thickness of the wire and insulation, even after squeezing the crimp tabs as hard as I could, meant that the pins wouldn't go fully into the housing. I therefore wrote these pins off and used a new pair with the crimp tabs snipped away, which worked much better. Here are the pins in their housing... ...and here the the assembled connector. I then converted Porthmellyn Road Down Homes (2/17) and Up Advanced Starter (49). When I reinstalled 49 signal it was fine with a battery but wouldn't operate with the 1.3V power. Hmm. I measured the current and it was only about 130mA, which was obviously not enough to heat the memory wire to make it contract. These signals are the furthest from the power supply so obviously the resistance of the cable run was too high. I can't do much about that, so I increased the voltage to 1.6V, which is the off-load voltage of a new battery. This time, thank goodness, everything was fine (I didn't bother to measure the current again). I fixed the connector to the baseboard with a dab of hot glue so that it didn't hang down and put extra load on the actuator. I then worked round more signals (3/4/7/30) before running out of connectors, because of the damaged set and one defective set, so I'll order more tonight.

Good evening everyone The visit to the Trafford Centre was as usual uneventful, but there are still some people who don’t know how to wear a mask. I mean, it isn’t rocket science is it? After dinner I did a couple of sudoku puzzles and then I placed an order with David at SEF for a few spare parts. These are for a future project, my intention is to convert a ‘Langley’ Kit of an LBSCR ‘L class’ Baltic tank into an LBSCR J1 Pacific tank, something that just isn’t available, in either kit of R-T-R form. There then followed a spot of eyelid inspection, happily both eyes passed the inspection. Later in the afternoon I made a batch of leek and potato soup, some of which we had for tea tonight, the rest, once cooled was put in the freezer for future use. Bokstein, yes it was me who used to swim in the docks, but the wearing of a wetsuit was purely down to what the water temperature was, generally id wear it below 14C, above that I’d wear just my trunks. Whether it was raining or not makes no difference at all, once your in the water, you can’t get any wetter! Goodnight all