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Well now, I started this a few months ago, I think maybe more then a few.... I got the sh*ts with it and placed back in its box. I dragged it out the other day and was determined to finish it. It’s a Nucast kit I picked up from Warley last year and it’s my second attempt at a loco kit from start to finish, the first being the SEF J39 which was never finished. I probably will finish it one day, I have a new chassis and motor... hmmmm.....one day! Anyway, I’m proud to say I’ve pretty much finished this J6. Couple of small things to add on and a bit more cleaning up, but, she runs!!! I’ve surprised myself with this and I really am proud at the same time. All my own work, however thanks is in order to you Tony for sending me those pictures of your recent J6 build, it helped a lot. The tender is sitting awkwardly as it’s not screwed in properly, ran out of 6BA’s, off to get some now.

The Great Central between Nottingham and Loughborough today with a few more photos than usual. Two were taken while the line was still in full use, the others much later after closure of the line which initially meant trains ran between Weekday Cross and British Platerboard at Rushcliffe Halt. Later British Plasterboard and the MoD at Ruddington were served by a new connection to the GCR at Loughborough. Note: There are a lot more photos of the line in balck and white days in my black and white photo thread Nottingham Victoria remains and Mansfield Road Tunnel May 74 J3659.jpg Nottingham Weekday Cross view north July 76 J5343.jpg Nottingham Weekday Cross May 78 C3839.jpg River Trent Bridge BR diver about to inspect it c1949 JBWP175.jpg East Leake GCR south of station May 78 J6068.jpg East Leake tunnel north of view north Jan 71 C 454.jpg East Leake north of Tunnel Feb 83 C5934.jpg Loughborough Central B1 61154 up pass c1955 JBW3_83.jpg David

Greetings one and all I learned yesterday that my CT scan will take place next Wednesday, 2nd December. A large jiffy bag arrived, containing instructions and two lots of laxative. I shall be glad when the procedure is over. There is a list of recommended foods and a list of forbidden ones. For some strange reason, pancakes may be found in both lists. I am amazed at how quickly I have been given an appointment. In the back of my mind is the feeling that there is something to be found and the quicker the better. We shall see. So we are to have a five day festive season. For me, that will be more than enough. I have not experienced it in the UK since 2004, thanks to to a mailshot from a travel company which enticed me into discovering how the Swiss do it. But for that ruddy virus I would be sharing the experience again this year. My seasonal travelling companion BokStein is absolutely right to laud the public transport of Switzerland, where in many respects 25th December is just a normal day. In the UK there are, as I recall, few signs of life should one venture out. I look forward with little enthusiasm to discovering this for myself. Best wishes to all Chris

I'm still chipping away at making my N/2mm gasholder station with some slow progress. I'm getting to the stage for adding details and ground cover scenics (mainly asphalt roads, paving, gravelled areas, fences and just a smidge of grass):

Yesterday I made a couple of schoolboy errors that cost me the morning. Jill announced that the freezer needed defrosting and although she would do it, could I help move the baskets of contents into the kitchen? I duly did so and just to show willing cleaned the baskets - after all, the odd brownie point comes in useful. Then, just as I was about to slope off to the workshop a friend of hers rang to see how we were getting on so (and here comes the first error) while she was chatting I put some bowls and things into the freezer to contain the meltwater. "Ah," said herself as she came off the 'phone just as I was arranging things, "If you're taking over I can get on with..........." Bu**er! That was the next hour or so taken care of. After I finished that Jill was doing something in the front garden to do with plants and stuff (is it apparent that my knowledge of gardening is somewhat shallow?) so just before exiting stage left to the workshop I misguidedly uttered the fatal words, "Anything else I can do Dear?", in full expectation that the response would be, "No, thanks, you get on with what you have to do." Schoolboy error number 2. Then, after lunch, since it was my turn to make dinner, a significant part of the afternoon also evaporated. Ah, well, such is life I guess. I'm off to the workshop now but the first job there is to fix Jill's watch strap. That should take all of a couple of minutes but I'll later claim that it was a long and complicated job....... Stay safe everyone and avoid the gangs of idiots that now seem to infest everywhere. Dave

Good morning everyone I’m up a bit earlier than usual as I’ve to be at the surgery for what will become a lifetime of (possibly life saving?) injections, aka, a needle in the belly! This will be the first one at the surgery and from here on they’ll be every 13 weeks, something that Chrisf knows all about. My appointment is at 9:10 and as it’s about a 15 minute walk, so I’ll leave home around 8:50 to give me plenty of time to get there, as the roads might be busy with the school run etc! After that it’s get back home, change into my working cloths and head down to the cellar for some more paint removing, I’m hoping to finish the section next to the door today and maybe even make a start on the 5ft long section. Stay safe, stay sane, enjoy whatever you have planned for the day, back later. Brian

Here in the US we will not only have this concern at Christmas but immediately, with the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday. The central theme of Thanksgiving (people from multiple households, some of them travelling, gathering in close quarters indoors for hours, unmasked, sharing a meal) has explosive superspreading potential. Daily CoViD-19 diagnoses are increasing exponentially. Even here in Oregon (with masking orders and public gatherings largely prohibited) where our total numbers are below national averages, the shape of the daily diagnosis curve locally matches the national one. Daily diagnosis rates have (roughly) tripled in the last four weeks and show no trend of declining. We set a record of new fatalities today. People are being asked not to host large gatherings that include guests from outside your household but these are resented by many.

Regular visitors to this thread will recall that my current plan is to complete the structures and scenic stuff on the rear part of the station boards. So having run a few trains its time to get the job done! Having completed the carriage cleaning platforms the next task was to do the backscene. One of the reasons for doing the layout in the orientation that it is, was because the train shed of the south side joint station formed a nice imposing backdrop to this area. First job then was to construct this in low relief as per the first pic below. Having done that, I realised that it was not very imposing and really needed the roof. The roof would cover the City South fiddle yard that runs behind the backscene so a job that I have been putting off for some time needed doing first, the sector plate for loco release at the end of the FY roads ( see second pic). Once that was complete I could get on with the task of constructing the roof. I think you will agree that it fits the "imposing" requirement quite well (pic no3). Quality of pics not great as all quick snaps on the Mob, better ones to follow in due course.

The setting sun glistened off the paintwork of the B17, but could find nothing to enable it to do the same when its replacement backed on. and while the Glasgow had another of its protracted station stops, our ghost J3 appeared on the slow with a transfer goods.

Oh I do hope they give some column inches to the collapse of Ms Quinn's business, followed by the appearance of debt collectors on her doorstep removing personal effects, car etc.... Perhaps the introduction of "roving" ten tonners would help - flip up the canvas back and give a quick ten second blat with an M60 (other flavours may be available) should help dissuade such activity. Perhaps HH has some contacts.... That would make a nice snippet for Martin Lewis on one of his Money Saving Expert TV programmes..... Throw in a mug of tea and we'll call it elevenses. I do hope those eclairs didn't contain cream though - that would really spoil the occasion... Perhaps the advert should read as follows: WOULD YOU RUSH INTO A BURNING BUILDING? WOULD YOU DIVE INTO A RAGING RIVER? WOULD YOU DONATE A KIDNEY? SO WHY THE F*** WON'T YOU WEAR A MASK AND STAY AWAY FROM OTHER PEOPLE??

Starting next week I’ll be uploading the first in a series of YouTube videos (with the link on here) on creating particular types of scenery found on Heaton Lodge Junction. Without wishing to come across pompous, these videos will be the first in a series of ‘Modelling Masterclasses’ with the emphasis on redefining realism. I suppose, given this projects timescale I’ve picked up and learnt a lot of what to do, and what not to do’s.! Moreover the great Mr Downes taught me how to work fast without compromising on detail. So next week will see the first video on creating the ultimate in static grass. It’s quick, it’s fast but gets great results. I’m planning future videos on : : modelling water features : modelling undergrowth : modelling lineside features such as concrete trunking : civil engineering eg retaining walls : stone walls & fencing : roads & tracks : paths and walkways Anything else of interest you’d like to see covered let me know. Simon oh and it’ll all be in the book too

Morning. Not bad here, chilly 4c and a lot of condensation on everything. 3 mile walk after dropping her ladyship off, it was rather dark..... Baz, there is evidence rather closer to home that lockdown can work. The 10 cases here currently, all of whom are one related group, are due to people travelling back from the UK after treatment or are returning residents given permission to travel back (detailed information not in the public domain to protect identities) - as all have to self-isolate anyway after return, there are no community transmission cases. One is hospitalised, others not so ill.

Ey up! Woke up this morning with a very painful eye ( the not yet lasered one). Her indoors can't see a trapped eyelash but.....it hurts... Domestics to be done.. It is unfortunate that some see no need to follow the lockdown rules.. in reality they are far too flimsy to get a proper grip on the virus. I fear some who think a quick jab will allow them freedom to get back to a "normal" may not live to get a jab. The students in Headingley yesterday are taking no notice of social distancing... we should have done a South Australia lockdown.. shut everyone in for 6 days then one person allowed out to get food. Does lockdown work? Evidence from the Antipodes, China, South Korea indicate it does. Even here it has helped in some places to reduce the rate (but not around Leeds ...perhaps people here think they cannot catch it?). Baz

Another plonk. The clouds are gathering again.

I bet these companies disappear as quickly as they appeared. Wham, bam thank you mam.

Good moaning. First off you discovered my typo test yesterday, i did indeed purchase forty sq ms of tiles and not 490. Much of yesterday was spent wrestling with the French healthcare site trying to set up online accounts for 3 of us. I was told many many times thst the info I was entering was incorrect. When this was 4 easily checked bits if information, name, social security number, dob and postcode I understandably got rather frustrated. We had discovered and English speaking helpline earlier but of course it closed fir 2 hours at lunchtime. Eventually after 14.00 I got through to a very helpful young lady and controlled my temper. It turned out that when we had registered originally, accounts had been set up but not activated. WHY COULDN'T THEY TELL US THE ACCOUNTS ALREADY EXISTED. I did not swearcat the young lady and the first of the 3 accounts is now validated and working. Morning wasted. Pah. Anyway the rest of the day went well and we have now finished the oatmeal biscuits. In the evening we watched Macron's presidential address with simultaneous translation.it's not going to make much difference to us.one set of friends have invited us for Christmas dinner as son and wife are joining them from Spain. We are going to politely decline and sacrifice a guinea fowl ourselves. We probablt won't come to the UK until vaccinstions have been rolled out. Anyway shopping to be shopped so regards to all. Jamie

The pandemic will be a rich source of study for psychologists. Humans don't make decisions based on logic. Our decisions that direct our actions are emotional, made in the amygdala and then rationalized. For those who respond to the pandemic with fear (with the perception that the virus is dangerous), the decision to accept reason and logic is easy. Those who perceive the virus as an abstract, non-existential threat won't have the same response and will act based on other emotional responses like - "the government can't tell me how to live my life" etc. I saw an article the other day comparing requests for people not to gather indoors at the holidays with the Stanford Marshmallow experiment* on delayed gratification. * While this test is not as definitive a test of will power and delayed gratification as it was once represented to be, it remains entertaining and an interesting study on logic and emotion. The State of Oregon started running a new public service announcement commercial on TV which I first saw last night. (I can't find it online yet.) It was a series of block capital questions on a stark yellow background (from memory) along the lines of: WHAT WOULD YOU DO TO PROTECT YOUR FAMILY? WOULD YOU RUSH INTO A BURNING BUILDING? WOULD YOU DIVE INTO A RAGING RIVER? WOULD YOU DONATE A KIDNEY? WOULD YOU WEAR A MASK? WEAR A MASK WHEN YOU VISIT FRIENDS AND FAMILY MASKS SAVE LIVES I found it to be quite effective.

The focus tonight is on Nottingham Forest again. One of the last B17s to get a general overhaul, in April 58, Colchester have kept that paint shop shine going. Quickly uncoupled, 61666 heads off to go on shed.

Talking of belts, at the weekend I drilled 3 more holes, 1.5 inches apart in my main leather belt.. on the shortening side.. one I need, one it's heading that way, The third being hopeful.. Reducing carbs helps..

A dull and miserable day in Somerset. I can't even read the paper without a light on. I won't go into too many details, but I have a dairy intolerance. I can cope with small amounts of semi-skimmed milk, but that is about it. Virtually no butter, cheese, cream or anything which originated from a cow. Any excess will bring on severe stomach cramps, sweating, dizziness and the toilet trots. Surprisingly maybe, I can eat pizzas when they are made with proper mozzarella from buffalos. When M&S took over Ocado at the end of August, I decided to give their ham and pineapple pizza a try and was amazed to find I had no problems. Therefore M&S ham & pineapple pizza became a regular treat through September and October. I also braved the pepperoni version once, but it was too hot and spicy for my liking. However, the last two ham & pineapples have resulted in the pizza-cramps-trots at 2am. Now I can't believe that my digestion would accept the same pizzas for 8 weeks with no problem, and then suddenly turn against them. My only conclusion is that, in an effort to increase profits, M&S are cutting costs with their pizza products by using 'fake' mozzarella made from cow juice, and hoping the customer will not notice. Well my stomach has noticed; and now it will be back to the Chicago Town version, which are the only other ones I can cope with. Someone mentioned Union Blues jeans. Sadly that name rings alarm bells for me, as I have had them but resolved not to buy them again because of problems. I can't remember whether it was one or all three of these, but I had problems with too low waistbands, jamming zips and splits appearing in the fabric (well away from seams) around my bum area, or down the back of the legs. I may have just been unlucky, and had some from a bad batch, though.

Moaning awl. Currently sitting down with the inhaler, so plenty of time for saying hi! Chilly but sunny outside, which is a combination I don’t mind at all. Not a lot to report other than that. On the COVID front, state governors seem to consider an extension to the Christmas school holidays, meaning them starting a couple of days earlier than normal. Opinions seem to differ on how to best ensure schools to remain open while at the same time reducing interaction - also in the sense of reducing crowding on public transport - and infection risks, though. There are models of alternating self-study at home and in-school teaching being promoted, as well as the (to my mind, logical) choice of mandatory mask wearing in earlier years than had been the case up until now. Be safe, everyone...

Mooring Awl, Inner Temple hare, 6.5 hours sleep in bed, now on the sofa, not with trying to sleep again as I have to get up soon. The change in the rules for Christmas will not make any difference to us, unless my parents and us are vaccinated first, we will not be heading 400 miles north with the chance of meeting some super spreader between here and there on the half dozen stops required. My Dad must be near the top of the vaccination list as being over 80 with COPD, Mum won't be far behind, being slightly older. We are are down at the 6th of 7th round of expected vaccinations in a low covid area, I'm not expecting us to be punctured till next year. With that I got a letter yesterday saying they missed my last diabetic eye test in December due to covid?!, But they're not going to do me this year either.. I'm going to start in stage screen and online video call today, UKAS want to see me demonstrate some calibration. I'm not sure what yet, but I'd better make sure the lab is tidy. Time I moved and got breakfast..

I like Union Blues jeans, but get them from charity shops when I see them*. I wear other brands but they get the most wear. They last quite well, the pocket used for change being the first to go. I prefer the lower waistline. *Almost all my clothes come from charity shops, most are nearly new when bought. I do draw the line at underpants and socks! In other news, living with the resident conspiracy theorist is getting tedious. I avoid discussion as it leads to arguments, but I still get (mis)information. Fortunately I spend most of my time upstairs. Martyn starts at the Xmas post as a mail sorter next Monday. He had his induction yesterday and came in with a hi-vis vest and an ID lanyard. I have some Ebay sales to pack up so I'd better get on; I've a feeling I'm running out of card-backed envelopes (for vintage comics etc.) So I must check in the loft. Have a good day, stay elfy.

Morning everyone. Todays task is to finally buy a 3D printer. Mainly for printing board game pieces, and while resin is better quality, the extra hassle is not worth it. I will probably mosey into creating things for model railways. I have seen one thing that I think is a pretty good idea. The good lady took our Son out. She thought she'd get some baby milk so promptly bought some from the shop. However upon getting home, realised she'd left it on the roof of the car while strapping said Son in. I told her I'd have got it off if I was driving!

In other news (well the BBC actually): I hear that PPE price rises have cost us £10bn. I do hope that after all this bunfight is over the Gov will seek to identify any company guilty of blatant profiteering and cross them off their "approved suppliers" books?

Morning all. Not a good night was spent. Already time to attend the House of Fun. Stay well

Is that not ALWAYS the case? Sod's law applied.

The rain arrived a bit earlier than expected so I didn't go for a walk and took the car for a burst down the A3 instead. Was my journey really necessary? Well, I needed to get some more diesel as I was running on fumes, the last time I filled up was in March. Also I haven't used the car since lockdown 2 started and after it stood idle for a couple of months in lockdown 1 I ended up with engine management warning lights staying on and had to take it to the garage to get sorted. They did suggest giving it the occasional run so that's now done for another 2 or 3 weeks. The Boss has just asked me to finalise tomorrow's online shopping list so that's next. Sod's law says that later on I'll have to "re-finalise" it.

I lost so much waist I had to cut the belt short as the flappy end was getting annoying - almost on its second turn around! Just by reducing carbs, yes.

And a few from my current layout, Kirkmellington Clayton D8583 arrives with empties Type 2, 5034, waits in the exchange sidings Big Barclay 0-6-0T, No8, shunts mineral wagons

Good morning all, Dull and dry here but light rain is forecast for later. Nothing much happening here but I did manage to secure a Sainsbury delivery slot for the 23rd December at 12.35 this morning. They were giving early access if you hold a delivery pass. I'm still aching from yesterday's walk and feel a bit carp but I'm hoping another stroll in the fresh air will improve things. Have a good one, Bob.

Out of stock at Ocado

Jeans have a habit of making my back hurt recently so have resorted to joggers. I dont have jeans with a zip fly due to a very nasty accident in my university days. I had caught a train from Sheffield to Pontefract Baghill which was lucky really in the end (there were only 2 services a day direct). I was wearing a pair of jeans with a faulty zip that would come down of its own accord. So i sit on the Pacer reading the paper alls well. I go to stand up and jeez the pain from my groin area shall we say was eye watering i coudnt stand up straight. I managed to get off the train and down into the subway shuffling like Igor. I got to a phone box looked down the zip on my jeans had come down trapping my on the slider of the zip. I had to ring my Mum at work to tell her i was going to be late all she did was laugh. I then had to go to casualty which was luckily only a quarter of a mile shuffle away. I was taken into a side room i seemed to end up with a lot of medical professionals in that small room to look at my predicament. Full marks to the dr who managed to free me. My mum worked in a bank full af women every time i went in they called me Zippy

Really a fun sitcom, back in the days when American sitcoms could be funny (anyone remember the first two seasons of Mork and Mindy? i.e. the seasons before the television executives got their hands on it) Apart from the humour, WKRP in Cincinnati became famous because of the pneumatic qualities of Miss Loni Sanders, although to be candid I much preferred the rather appealing Bailey Quarters (Jan Smithers). Pneumatic blondes have never held much of an appeal for me. Now doesn’t that just take the biscuit? True, true. But let’s not forget, back in those days we may have been stroppy hooligans but we were better quality stroppy hooligans. No going into meltdown because someone used the wrong pronoun in addressing us or perhaps used an epithet or slur that we might have found objectionable. Unlike most of the yoof of today we were – as the vernacular puts it - “well hard“ One of the differences that can explain why travel in Switzerland over the Christmas period is very different to that in Great Britain is that Christmas Day is not a big celebration. People get together on Christmas Eve, exchange presents and then - in the Catholic Cantons - head to Midnight Mass. so Christmas Eve is the big family event, not Christmas Day. As some of our learnéd railway historians can tell us, the complete shutdown of the travel network on Christmas and Boxing Day is a relatively new phenomena. In the pre-World War 1 heyday of railway travel, Christmas and Boxing Day were busy periods for the railways. Whether or not the complete shutdown of all travel and shops dates back to the first or the second world Wars, I couldn’t say. But certainly it is true that a lot of the restrictions on things like drinking, shopping, et cetera were put in place during one or the other of the world wars and never removed. At least in the UK. That’s interesting, Mike. I had been led to believe, at least by the Skoda salesman who sold us our much loved Skoda Yeti, that modern generation batteries don’t have to be charged up over a long period of time – which is what this advice suggests. Sometimes, nowadays, with all the competing advice from different “experts”, each with a particular axe to grind, it is difficult to figure out what is true and what is not. Well, that’s my lunch break over (a late “proper“ English breakfast: bacon, eggs and black pudding [sausage will be had tonight]), so back to work it is. But not before I tease our good chum Mr P Bear by announcing that over the next few days I will be baking a French Apple Cake, a Turkish Quince Cake and an old-fashioned English Boiled Fruitcake. And to twist the knife just a little bit more, the cakes are also very bear friendly as not a single dollop of whipped cream of any description is part of their recipes Enjoy “hump day” iD

Small Heath, 1976. A Tyseley 350 departs, having left empty wagons for Charlie Strong's scrapyard.

Too low waistbands seems to be a common theme in all menswear. The other thing is this idea of going up in 2" categories for size. This means that the 'lower' size is just too tight and the 'next size up' needs a tight belt to stop them falling down. That in itself is uncomfortable. Just when will the trade come to the idea that 1" , computer design etc can do this easily for cutting, is needed because 2" is one great jump up.

Hi folks, Just thought I'd post a few pics and give a pitstop update to my progress, as despite (because of?) my absence from RMWeb, I've actually been pretty busy on the modelling front when time allows. The big project at the moment is a fourth push-pull rake, this time of ScotRail-liveried Mk 2d's. With no prospect of a new RTR release on the horizon, I've been thinking about how I can improve my rake of resprayed Airfix Mk 2d's. These are basically a sound coach, let down mostly by the shape of the windows and the glazing. The lack of sufficient tumblehome is another issue, but I didn't tackle this when I resprayed them some years ago, so I'm just going to let that lie. I decided to bring my Mk 2d's up to the level of my HSTs and other Mk 3s by fitting them with Shawplan's Extreme Etches window frames, Lazerglaze glazing and interior lighting. They already have detailed and painted interiors, although the addition of a few newspapers dotted around will improve them further. Work is now well advanced and I hope to post some pics of the finished rake soon. In other news, I've been working on some details for the station throat, including some power cables which are attached to the wall by the entrance to The Mound Tunnels, along with various other details such as wheelbarrows and wall-mounted relay boxes and a curious-looking tap alongside Platform 11/12. More on those later. Various minor permanent way works have also been going on with the aim of eliminating derailments on the layout and these have generally been pretty successful, making derailments much less frequent and operating sessions a lot more fun. The big task will be to do the same to my fiddle yards, where derailments are still far too frequent. I also have a major track possession planned for the Christmas holidays, when the Princes St Station will be refreshed in the same way the station throat was during Lockdown 1. The trackside walls will be repainted/reclad, the existing trees replaced and the track reballasted with grey/brown ballast for that mid- to late-1980s look. I need to look into lowering the footbridges as well, as they are currently too high. Well, that's what I've been up to, so without further ado, here are some piccies taken during some recent operating sessions... Hope to be back soon with some more developments. Stay safe one and all, Dave

Back from shopping. The sun is glorious and we have blue skies. A lovely day to be made the most of. Jamie

A couple from our former layout, Eskmuir

Good evening everyone Another day spent in the cellar, but a bit more progress has been made. I continued to work on the side wall to the left door, I’ve removed all the loose flakey paint, so all that remains to do is get the stubborn bits off. To do that I’ll need to use the steam stripper. So my next task was to set up with the steam stripper, I then made a start removing the final few stubborn bits of paint, the wall below the window is now finished. I just need to finish raking out the old mortar so that I can re-point it. After dinner I started on the wall next to the door, quite a bit was done, but there’s still a fair bit to do. Hopefully finish this bit tomorrow, then I can make a start on the next 5ft section of wall. What I did notice was as I removed some of the paint, it would seem the darker bottom colour went up to about 3ft -3 1/2ft from the floor and not the 12in - 18in I initially thought, what ever it was it’s a bu99er to get off. Below are 2 photos of the section of wall below the cellar window, showing how it looked before work started and as it is at the moment. 16 November 24 November

HUMP day, taking the day and the rest of the week off... Nothing much to report, windows completed at the rental property, look great although the exterior trim/woodwork NOW is more obviously in need of repair/painting than it was before <sigh>, never ends. On the recommendation of friends, watched "Fisherman's Friends", we both thoroughly enjoyed it and loved the scenes around Port Isaac, having visited there as a result of being "Doc Martin" fans. Wish we'd have known that they were probably still singing Friday nights when we were over there 4 years ago, would have made it a must see. Today, Whitney is visiting, we've not seen her for ages as Jemma is on "unassigned" status and not travelling/flying. On that note, their pilots union voted in favor of the latest Delta deal, which means a large reduction in pay, BUT, neither Jemma nor Brendan will be furloughed. Basically better news than the alternative, and whilst they are on unassigned status they are allowed to take some flying jobs, which includes then being able to return to the University of North Dakota (both got their degrees/licenses there) and work as flight instructors until the airline industry picks up again. As they are both qualified single and multi-engine instructor "instructors" they are actually in demand!!! 0 and overcast first thing, 2 expected high. Off to do some chores, walk Whitney and maybe make a start in the "basement/train room"

Will the next one you buy be a frost free version? The one we bought to replace our starting to fail 40 year old freezer is a frost free type. It does seem to be so! It is bigger outside than the old model but smaller inside. The walls are very thick. The problem is we constantly seem to be one shelf short of space for what we want to keep frozen. Arrangements are underway to supplement freezer space. Not by eating the 3 month supply of frozen fruit from the garden or cakes though.

Morning all, Having had a look at the official version of the Christmas unlocking (a lock up ???, sorry - more like a cock up). I was puzzled to see there was no date given for Lockdown 3 which will no doubt inevitably result from mid January onwards because every halfwit in Britain (which alas equates to a very substantial proportion of the population) will regard it as a free for all and will ignore even its limited strictures. Overall it appears to imply that you can be in Tier 3 in England, or Tier 4 in Scotland, on 22 December, then ignore many of those restrictions until they restart on 28 December. I was left wondering if it's me or them but then of course I remembered that they are politicians and have therefore undergone brain cell transplants in order to take the reins of Govt in their own patch of Britain. I wonder if there will be anybody left to vote for any of them, whatever their politics, when they come up for re-election? Somewhat amusingly the implied Christmas travel arrangements of the 5 day 'window' take me back to the good old days of Christmas travel peaks when 25 December fell on a Friday and of course the vast majority of people didn't have umpteen weeks off over the Christmas/New Year period. It was always something of a toss up to work out if the outward peak would be on the 23rd or 24th although over the years it increasingly moved forwards to the 23rd when Christmas fell on a weekend. The return day was also something of a guessing game when the 25th fell on a Friday but even with the 28th being the substitute Bank Holiday Sunday return travel was always heavy and the 28th tended to be light. The real problem was trying to predict what would happen if Boxing Day was on the Sunday and would people head home on the Monday Bank Holiday or would they wait until the Tuesday? In some respects it got a lot easier when more and more people tended to have leave for the whole week between Christmas and New Year but the guessing, sorry 'forecasting', game then moved to what would happen after New Year's Eve. If they still have the old details I wonder how many train operators will be looking back through old traffic notices or calling on retired planners to ask how to deal with this one? All of which of course has to assume that NR is not following the more recently established idea of digging up important chunks of railway over an extended Christmas period. I bet (and hope) there are some interesting conversations going on in the rail industry since all this lot has become public knowledge because somehow replacement 'buses aren't exactly the remedy in social distancing times. Back to today and the rain has stopped and I think herself is planning to visit the town as we have a cheque to pay in plus, so I'm told, some more shopping is needed. Have a good day one and all and stay safe.

Just a couple from today, schenker service winds it’s way up the hill to EMG Heading away from basford hall past various electric locos

Interesting piece in yesterday's 'Daily Telegraph' business section (yes, I do read it a day behind - that can be amusing at times as articles are overtaken by events). Anyway back to what it had to say and that is that all Covid vaccine stocks for many months ahead have been purchased in advance by Govts thus there is no likelihood at all that any vaccination will be possible outside the Govt's proposed priorities because there isn't any vaccine available for anybody else to purchase. So that, in turn, means that all the vaccine which will pass through the wholesale distributors is already sold so they will not have any to offer to other customers should anyone try to buy from them and the manufacturers are unlikely to have any to sell either because it has already been sold to national Govts.. As for Christmas as I've already said there are a substantial number of people who already ignore the rules and guidelines (hence a second peak of infection) and that will be even worse come Christmas time irrespective of what any Govt in the UK has to say about it. The odd thing about infection in households seems to be the mechanism by which it does or doesn't happen because clearly it sometimes doesn't (as in our case, and others I have heard about) while according to the experts it is a major route of infection transmission. To me that indicates it might be a lot more down to personal behaviour (and applying guidelines?) rather than simply 'the infection spreads in households'. I bet people won't think about that when they have a house full at Christmas; and maybe mistletoe should be banned this year?

Ah it depends on the type of battery, iD. AGM (not not a club AGM, absorbent glass mat....) types have a much lower self discharge rate than traditional lead-acid types. They have been very useful to us in our fleet of motorcycles that don't see much use over winter. No need for mid-winter charging.

Bob the AA man's advice to me (when he came to boost the battery so I could start the car after Lockdown 1) is to run the engine for at least one hour every week. any shorter time than an hour and you are likely to take more out of the battery than you put back in.

Tempting to write, " so what else is new"? A lot of my youthful contemporaries fitted that bill; beer was still cheap, as were Woodbines (if one indulged - as most did in those days). You couldn't drink until you were 18 so pubs then were out, but there was always the pictures. You dressed up for that then as there were always girls; you ignored the usherette as you headed for the back row! There was always the park, if you couldn't afford the price of admission and perhaps the best one was to borrow Dads car and head for some country pub where you and your date might not be well known Brian.

The wind and rain of this morning persisted for most of the day, but we managed to get out for a short walk, albeit pleased we were wearing full waterproofs. This evening we went into town for the weekly shop. We prefer an evening shop as the supermarkets are so much quieter, and also there is the chance of getting some bargains. We came home with too much bread to fit in the freezer, plus some teacakes, doughnuts and chocolate eclairs. Cue my occasional gluttony! Since returning home, I have eaten a toasted tea cake, 3 slices of bread and jam, followed by the 2 chocolate eclairs. I could have had more, but that really would have been greedy! I am now feeling happily replete. Goodnight all.

Watford Tank 1032 with a train of mixed stock passing Whitworth 901 "Hero". The crew have adopted the common practise of storing a loco head/tail lamp between the boiler and ejector exhaust pipe. Photo courtesy Paul Bason/RM.