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As promised, some 'educational' views of Little Bytham................. Looking south. When the sequence is run with four operators, the Down driver sits at this side. Nearer to the station. The Down kick-back sidings are just visible to the right behind the backscene (which is not attached to the layout). There's just enough room for the non-obese to get in between the layout and the backscene, for routine maintenance purposes and photography. Two views of the MR/M&GNER section and its relationship to the main line, including two Up kick-back sidings for the GN. It's definitely designed for one-person operation! Spare locos and stock abound. The full width (12') of the MR/M&GNR section. The end curves are really much too tight, but the decision whether to have a working railway or just a static, scenic break has been discussed before. Anyway, since most trains on it are slow and short, the compromise is lessened. The lifting section and part of the cassette system. For consistent good running, large-radius points have been mainly used in the GN fiddle yard, giving the smoothest transitions. Looking south down the 'spine', with the main GN fiddle yard to the left. One visitor was just too fat to get through this gap! The bulge-out was essential to accommodate The Willoughby. In fact, the full width here was necessary to capture the 'sprawl' of Little Bytham. Looking north, the various relationships are evident. Even more spare locos and stock are present for the GN. The drawers and shelves are full! The little levers sticking out from the backscene to the left control the ground signals (thanks Roy and Ray). The fiddle yard operator's position. Even more spare locos! The sequence cards and the 'maintenance' bit. The Gaugmaster controller, as well as providing a rolling road and power to the test track also controls the Down kick-back sidings. I hope the above pictures answer the questions being recently asked (I've discovered I'm a contortionist!), but I dislike several of them because of the distortions caused by having to use an 18mm lens in places. Would some be used in a potential article? Possibly, though I still prefer to manipulate 'realistic' images. Any comments welcome, please......................

Morning. What are these 'coats' people speak of? Is that like your big T shirt or the Toon away strip? It very seldom snows to any significant amount here other than up the mountain, twice in 18 years we have been here. However.....this was outside a friend's house in Kirk Michael. (Edit - in 2013). Laugh? I should say so. It did however have its compensations, taking a risk in posting.... -2c here first thing, soared up to, er zero currently. Sunny, though.

Back to layout progress and another little milestone to report on. Over the festive period, in amongst making 12-wheel sleeper vehicles, I was wielding the soldering iron to attend to some further wiring (something I can only do in short bursts - not my favourite job!). With the layout running from Central through Bog Junction, the new task at hand was to get the track livened up onwards through Grand Junction and on to the S&C route as far as Garsdale. The intermediate bit I didn't bother photo-ing, so here we are at the Garsdale section. Built with possible transportation in mind, they can be manipulated as seen here. Here, I'm soldering dropper wires from each rail to take them to the edge of the board. With the boards back in place, the said wires are brought to terminal blocks on the outside fascia, From there, wiring onwards can be done without disturbing the boards ... that's the theory anyway. And here we have the genesis of a control panel! This is only intended as an interim arrangement for now - I expect it will survive like this for the next two years, pending the extension of the running lines onwards towards Carlisle. For now, Garsdale is a terminus station! You can see how the wires have been run from the connector block to the switches. Can be therefore be re-worked in the future without too much disruption. And here we are! You'll have to take my word for it (for now), but the Stanier 2-6-4T test loco has made it here under its own power. And on, as far as Dandry Mire viaduct. A set of double insulators half way over the viaduct now constitutes the limit of travel; the rails end in a three foot drop to a rather hard landing beyond here. I haven't actually put a tape measure on it for a precise calculation but I reckon its roughly a scale mile from the platform ends at Central to the point shown. So that's a minute at a scale 60mph and more like two minutes for a yer typical train, when you take into account accelerating up to speed and slowing down at the start and the end of a run. Quite satisfying. Just a bit more work to do at Central then we can actually do some legitimate end-to-end running.

Simon - it didn't need a snowplough - action shot!

Todays photos start in Gateshead and then head south along the Durham Coast line. Gateshead St James Bridge Junction Metro to Tynemouth Aug 85 J8358.jpg East Boldon 142026 Sunderland to Metro Centre 27th March 93 C18395.jpg Hartlepool 142025 Newcastle to Middlesbrough 14th Feb 89 C11632.jpg Hartlepool 37503 down vans 14th Feb 89 C11626.jpg Seaton Carew view south 3rd June 93 C18589.jpg David

There's a couple here if you need them Good afternoon all. A tad late on parade after the video call to Emily then a walk round the village to check two houses. We then called on Denyse, the 90 yr old Belgian Widow who plied us with coffee, cognac and cake. It would have been very rude to refuse. A good day was spent yesterday, sitting lineside but not many trains were seen. However I provided the coffee and Andy brought the Christmas cake. Not a lot else on the agenda for today apart from some wood cutting. Regards to all. Jamie

Morning all, The sun shineth and it is actually visible for once with a generally clear sky and only a little cloud visible away to the east. Temprature just above zero in the porch but it has got the sun on it although not directly on what passes for a thermometer. I remember the 1962/63 winter quite well. We always went to my gran's near Wantage for Christmas and on Boxing Day my uncle used to drive us over to my aunt's on the other side of Wantage and that day it began to snow really heavily so he brought us back home the following day before it got any worse. Just as well because within a few days the side road up to my grandparents farm was virtually impassable except for farm tractors and it remained like that for a month p the Postman used to struggle on foot up from the main road. First Sunday after Christmas a pal and I always used to go to Swindon to do the shed and works but we had about 8" of snow on the Saturday night and having got ourselves to the station got no further because the branch bubble car had got stuck in a snowdrift. On the first day of school there were only about a dozen pupils in by 09.00 so several of use were sent round to do a count just after 09.00 - fewer than 40 out of 400 in by then so we were sent home although we met arrivals of one of the country 'buses as we got to the bottom of the drive - and sent them away PDQ. We had an extra week off and the snow didn't go until mid March - after which came the floods. Worst one at work was 1978 when I was AM at Taunton and that was real snow. In the station on the through line when I stood at rail level the drifted snow was level with my nose and in the yard where it hadn't drifted it was up to thigh level on me. We eventually had a huge gang sent down from Bristol to clear it but it a had mostly gone in little over a week. The centre of Taunton was amazing - nothing could move on the roads except tracked vehicles (courtesy of the army) and the only way in or out of the town was by rail - we had one line open in each direction - while various officialdom etc was coming and going courtesy of RN helicopters. The failure alarms went off on our two AHB level crossing but after one train going through at caution we ran at line speed, no chance of any vehicles getting onto the crossings - at Victory the snow just up the lane was later measured at 19 ft deep. Snow had drifted up to eaves level against the down side station building at Taunton (single storey) and we had signals frozen 'off' where 'boxes had been closed over the weekend - we just left them switched out. On the Saturday night when it had started we had an empty HST run through the trailing end of a crossover - did no damage at all. Further east and into the Mendips it was just as bad in places. A Westbury Driver had been sent down to Taunton witha Class 47, no ploughs, and it turned up looking like a giant snowball - he refused to go back via Castle Cary (and I didn't blame him one bit). A pair of Class 37s with one of the big independent snow ploughs at each end at each end got trapped in drifts between Castle Cary and Sparkford and the crew had to be rescued by an RN helicopter and a BR snow plough was derailed at Merehead when it collided with 50 ton bucket loader coming in the opposite direction trying to clear the same line. That was really the snow highlight (lowlight?) of my railway career - there were one or two others which had their impact in different ways but that was undoubtedly the most impressive for deep snow. AA man due soon, I hope, so a battery boost (I hope) and a 'gentle' reminder about running the engine more frequently. Have a good day one and all and stay safe.

A more typical S&D branch train.

Looked out into the garden just now and two foxes were getting "friendly." I'm not standing for that sort of behaviour around here so I soon put a bloody stop to that. Not having it!.....neither are they now. Pump action water blaster is now primed and ready in case they return.

Ooooh double-negatives at work! Morning all. Domestic engineering is occurring Upon the Hill of Strawberries but having set feet outside a few times already I can assure all that we have Andrew's missing Degrees of Celsius. Not many, mind, but around six is far more than we have had of late. The Terrace also needs a tidy-up as the Greater Nuisance Mining Squirrel has been at work in the pansy pots. There is soil everywhere except in the pots and the forlorn remains of plants which will no longer offer us a show of colour in a few weeks' time. As vermin it is a shame we cannot legally do more to excise them from the ecosystem. Perhaps as natives of America (as opposed to Native Americans who are quite different) they are somehow in league with the Orange One and are staging a rearguard action. Roll on the reintroduction of Sciurus vulgaris I say. "Vulgar" meaning "common" rather than anything more offensive. Red, British natives and far less destructive to the gardens. Former Neighbours (Australian) now living in the Never Lands have reported they are all slightly unwell with the Plague. Not a lot we can do for them at this distance other than offer our good wishes for a speedy recovery. At least they can soon go about knowing they have had it and are unlikely to get it again. Small mercies? Best wishes to all. I'll try to back-read later.

Recently got back from a walk and I think I’ve just seen some stupidity of the first order. Get a few centimetres of snow round here and next doors lad, about 25years old, is practicing his skiing. He's got a stool and climbing on their stone wall, about 5ft high while wearing his skis and ‘skiing’ down a piece of wood, approximately 20ft long onto a length of pipe and then doing an attempted pirouette off the pipe. Stupid at the best of times but who’d want to visit A &E with COVID-19 raging? His dads out encouraging him, I think he’s just as bad. f*ckwits of the first order? Speak later, Robert

Of course, the ecologically appropriate method of dealing with such vermin is to re-introduce the natural predator for that species and let nature take its course. The problem is that the predator will not totally eradicate the prey species (there are some interesting data which, in graphical form, show how the peak population of a predator species follows just behind the peak population of the prey species. Over time, the graph looks like a series of waves breaking on the shore). Also, eviscerated prey species corpses strewn around the landscape can upset some people The truly humane way of eliminating a fast reproducing relatively short lived prey species is to introduce a contraceptive into their food supply: so Mr and Mrs squirrel can enjoy playing with their nuts, but no baby squirrels result from their activities. But given that the mammalian reproduction system is quite complicated, any contraceptive likely to work on squirrels will probably work on other species that you may or may not also want to see a reduction in the number thereof. Success has been obtained, at least in managing some insect species that only mate once, by releasing radiation sterilised males into the environment so that every sexually receptive female gets a fellow who is basically firing blanks. And, if I may be incredibly and evilly misanthropic for the moment, there are certain subspecies of H0mo sapiens to which this method of control could be most appropriately and effectively applied!

That’s despicable. Imagine your reaction if the tables were turned....

Morning all, Early start this morning as our food delivery came early courtesy of friends who also shopped for us during Lockdown 1. Temperatures here still around zero, but they may rise just enough to melt the ice in the drive. As our lane had become rather treacherous with ice, yesterday afternoon I walked carefully up to the end and filled a bucket with grit from a Grit Box. I then put bits down in the worst areas, saving some to make a narrow path up my drive. I then made another trip to get some more to put down in the lane. A quite bizarre rugby match watched last night between Bath and Wasps. I wouldnt like to have been the defence coach for either side, but it made for compulsive viewing.

Good morning all, Dull and dismal here but not damp. A maximum temperature of 2°C is expected today. Went for a walk yesterday and managed 1.75 miles before The Leg told me to give up. Later on drove to Sainsbury's pharmacy. Really surprised at the amount of traffic, it was like a normal Friday afternoon. The store itself wasn't crowded with everybody being sensible and masked. Shelves looked quite well stocked. Very entertaining rugby match watched last night, 96 points scored with Bath losing to Wasps 44-52. Two games on offer today, Newcastle v Gloucester and Exeter v Bristol. that's my afternoon sorted then. There are mutterings of "this house is a tip" again. It isn't but I suspect that's a hint for me to assist with some domestic tasks. Have a good one, Bob.

Battery was boosted, and wouldn't hold a full charge (only c.190 amps so less than a third of capacity). Housekeeping money (not toy box money ) expended on a new 680 amp battery and the AA are £139 richer as a result.

Poly, some say it was once available from Roundhouse Engineering in Doncaster, supplied through the once mighty, but recently deceased Trackshack (ahem) organisation. It has been said it is a Vale of Rheidol 2-6-2T with a gas fired boiler, 40psi pressure, fully sprung, extra large gas tank option, full R/C, whistle, drain cocks etc, gauge adjustable (32/45mm) and rumoured to negotiate a 2 foot radius curve (albeit with some difficulty) but is fine on the alleged 4 foot with some tighter bits of the L&L. It is no longer available as a new model, this one recently attracted a fine offer to part with it far in excess of what it cost me, that has been politely turned down. You're (allegedly) looking at about £2.5k for something similar, cheaper locos are available. https://www.roundhouse-eng.com/ Good people, these. Salt of the earth folk, 100% solid.

And just after I posted this I heard a noise, that turned out to be a fluttering. It's taken me a good hour to evict the juvenile sparrow. Don't know how it got in, but it got out via the bak door. Prior to that it took a tour of the ground floor, from front to back, The back door escape was aided by it nicking the debris from my croissants from the plate on the draining board, and somehow I got round it to open the back door. Didn't leave a tip, though, although I may find a contribution after I've shifted all the boxes where it journeyed during the tour of the house. The coffee is now cold.

Cold but cloudy and dry in North Somerset, but no frost. I gather the temperature fell to minus 12C in the border counties of Scotland. That is a bit too brass monkeys for me. Decided that reading matter would become more classic-centred during lockdown, so have now turned to David Copperfield, and am quite enjoying it. Managed to drag a dumpy bag of sticks into the garage without any personal injury, and now have enough in a convenient place to last for weeks. They are only prunings from the trees bordering the allotment, but they burn well. I have almost finished the Chr*stm*s sweets and chocolates, which is good in a way as I will have nothing left to tempt me. A delivery of bird food is expected this morning, so the feathered critters will no doubt get excited when I venture towards the feeders this afternoon.

I thought I had posted this already, but I can't find it. If it is a repeat posting, I apologize.

Whilst the prototypical formations discussion is reasonably current(!), perhaps I can fly the flag for the LMR to compare and contrast with the ER posts: 'The Royal Scot' circa 1953 in 'Festival of Britain' guise. Reduced slightly from 13 to 11 vehicles, simply by losing one each of TK and TO from the front section of the train (I refer to them as 'Thirds' not 'Seconds' in the Blood n Custard era). Nine of the vehicles are standard RTR offerings; the tricky bit - as always - is the catering core, in this case 'solved' by Comet sides on Lima bodies for the full kitchen car and the Rest. Third (to go with the RTR Rest. First <-- one of the more bizarre RTR offerings, IMHO, cos it's meaningless on its own). The Midday Scot c.1955. This is a monster train in its full guise (up to 17 vehicles); however, it did run with a portion so, by simply losing that, we have a more manageable train. Depending on the time of year, it ran without the separate portion (or at least there are several pictures showing it running like this). This train is even easier from a RTR point of view as the catering core is shown with standard FO and TO vehicles. The heart of the catering core still causes a problem however; in this case solved with a Comet D.1697, built by Mr. Duck; painted by me. Probably should be a Stanier equivalent but at least it's the right type of vehicle. Erroneously depicted as the rear vehicle is a Choc./cream BCK as the Plymouth through coach. Erroneous as Choc./cream wouldn't have been until at least 1957 and even more erroneous because it I've now realised that it wasn't even conveyed on this train in the Up direction!! (it was more usually two vehicles but a BCK can represent it in my book) 1950s Liverpool/Manchester-Glasgow ... or it might actually be a Liverpool-Glasgow/Edinburgh (I think it was Andrew who mentioned this train or one like it). By complete contrast this was all LMS stock in the 1950s so much more of a challenge. Formation-wise, there's a strengthener at the front (a delightful PdII offering by Barry O of this parish), then the Glasgow portion of six vehicles, including the catering vehicle (in this case, the Hornby nee Dapol offering does the job nicely here), with the four coach Edinburgh portion bringing up the rear. So four brake vehicles in the consist. It should be 13 vehicles, so again slight compression without losing the character of the train. Seven RTR and four kit / conversions. (two by Barry; two by Tom D) Late 1950s Birmingham-Glasgow. I don't yet have the definitive formation information for this train so this is based on pictures. Most pictures do however show a consistent eight vehicle core consist so that's what I've gone for. A full brake plus all Third strengtheners at the front seems to be something the West Coast had a bit of a penchant for; their addition makes for a pleasing looking train. Again, the catering car is a problem; again solved by a Comet kit build, a magnificent Stanier 12-wheel RTKit by Iain Henderson (92220 of this parish). In fact at least half the coaches in this train are Iain's at the present time; the second vehicle is another Barry O build. The Caledonian in its first year or so of running. Six RTR; one kit build; one conversion. Guess what? Yep, the kitchen car is one of them, a Stanier 50ft vehicle this time (92220 again). At least Hornby's new Coronation Scot vehicles offers the hope that such a vehicle will be available RTR in the future. This train is not fully correct yet as the rear vehicle was - famously - a pre-war Stanier Brake First. So that needs tackling at some point. (no idea where the loco came from ... ) Finally - for now - the late 1950s Waverley (obviously not seen on Shap!) One coach reduced from its usual booked nine (some pictures do in fact show it as just eight vehicles, probably in the winter time). 100% RTR! And all of the correct type, I believe? Pictures show the catering vehicle types dancing about a bit. This is again the Dapol (this one really is a Dapol one!) RCKit. I think someone on here mentioned that the caterer was only acting as a buffet rather than full meal service (or at least there was a period when that happened). My one obvious train missing at the moment is the Thames-Clyde Express, which I fancy in c.1954 condition (then the S&C route on my Carlisle scheme layout will have one of each in terms of the livery of its two principal expresses). Conclusion? Not too dissimilar from the East Coast route. Quite a bit of use can be made of RTR but the catering core is usually the challenge. My own personal 'wish list' vehicle is for a RTR Stanier 12-wheel restaurant car ... but which one? Probably the Third (Second) as the most common type ... and a CO to go with it! (apologies for picture quality on one or two - they were taken 'live' at the Glasgow show, with the trains actually moving! It was the first time some of these trains were running in their full formation - most have remained in their boxes since)

Afternoon Awl, During that 1978 snow previously mentioned, I wasn't too far away on an equipment course at RAF Locking just outside Weston super mud. We got snowed in for three days, at least not being on the basic training course, we weren't expected to be out there with a shovel.. The keel bottom has been filled, one side has been painted with top coat. Another shelving unit is now assembled, and is setting. Ben the sleeping Collie, took me for a long walk, the farmer who now runs the farm around us, came out from the muddy lane, towing a trailer of logs with his landrover. The lanes were frosty, once we reached the parts the farmer hadn't been, we were breaking through ice. At the far end of the muddy lane, a family were sat at the back of their estate car with a camping stove on the ground, dad cooking sausages, cups of tea being drunk. Several vehicles, went past on the tarmac bit, mostly surfers. But also including a VW van driver and German Shepherd puppy.. pity the puppy was on the driver's lap. A light aircraft was doing aerobatics just of the coast. A teenage girl was picking up litter with a grabbing stick, her bicycle parked a few yards up the road, already had a carrier bag full on the handles.

Because grey squirrels are an invasive pest species, it is against the law to re-release a grey squirrel if it’s been caught alive, per the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and Invasive Alien Species (Enforcement and Permitting) Order 2019. That means that any person who catches a grey squirrel alive is legally obliged to humanely dispatch it. Fortunately we still have Reds round here, but the Greys are being dealt with not too far away in a vain hope of stopping them infecting the native Reds.

Morning, ice breaking duties done on the garden pond, it is over an inch thick, you could have walked on it, my 17 stone bulk might not have, minus 7 inside the greenhouse, sure I saw a Polar Bear walk past the window earlier. Off for a walk soon, no snow so I can't test my new Crampons out and we are not allowed to drive to the empty local hills for a walk.

Misty, sun trying to break through, but no obvious frost. It is damned cold out - just been out to the bin and that's as far as I'm going today. Moving and emptying boxes of books today, but before that moving the boxes of other stuff that's stacked in front of the books. Then I can think about moving the furniture that's in front of the place where the next demolition has to take place. Before then I have to m9ount the TV on the wall bracket as it gets it out of the way. Always had a TV on a stand/table/bench, so this should be a new experience for me. The success or failure or non-completion or non-starting of any of these will be reported within tonight's blog. But at the moment sitting with coffee.

The Orange One is now talking of "building his own platform for the future". Some 4 x 2, a few planks, nails and a length of rope should work fine I reckon. It seems other sites are also joining in with Twitter, according to the Beeb - to stop both his (and his supporters) rants and also to stop the sale of Tw@t sorry Trump memorabilia: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-55597840 And don't you just hate it when a post won't post? So you have to refresh the page...which loses your post and you have to start again.....

Greetings one and all From the surgery webshite it appears that vaccination in Bedford is to be done in two venues, a conference centre and a temple! Both are on the west side of town. I live on the east side! Apparently the GP practice will be in touch to invite me and to book both my appointments. Here comes the worrying bit: “provided that the appointment system is available that far in advance, the intention is for both appointments to be booked when the GP practice contacts you”. There lies the weakness. We shall see what happens. I must remind myself that patience is a virtue. I opened a Twitter account yesterday. Do not expect any world-shattering posts. Adding an emoji to my profile has so far proved intractable but it’s early days. Best wishes to all Chris

I remember the consternation caused one morning at a semi-rural B&B I used to stay at regularly. The host's daughter's boyfriend had stayed over and brought his dog, a terrier raised on a farm. The dining room had French windows opening onto a large lawn which was patronised regularly by rabbits. Mine host said it saved a fortune on lawnmower parts & fuel... Anyway, I'd had an early breakfast and was walking down the patio past the (fully occupied) dining room to the car, when a blur in terrier colours catapulted from the French windows and hurled itself on the nearest rabbit before it could even look up. The terrier then trotted back into the dining room looking very proud, carrying the by now ex-rabbit. She took one look at the shocked guests and dropped the rabbit on the carpet, sat down and started having her 'breakfast', deaf to all entreaties, invitations and 'instructions'. I left stage right before most of the guests had recovered their speech but the hullabaloo was audible for some distance down the drive...

Cornwall is successfully reintroducing red squirrels having created a "buffer zone" where greys have been eliminated. They are hoping this can spread across the country given time but it requires resources to catch and despatch the greys. There is not thought to be any infection between them - the greys merely out-compete the reds by being larger and much more aggressive. One issue is that if greys are removed from a fairly localised area, for example by a local person dealing with those on their own land, then more are very likely to move in overnight. The removal needs to be on a fairly large scale. I would be very happy to catch and despatch here but am wary of upsetting others by doing so. We have several very young children in the block for whom squirrels are cute and something to be fed - if not from the hand then by dropping a morsel a few inches from them and watching them collect it. Our eldest resident happily feeds cream-crackers to the critters who promptly come down to this end of the block, dig up our plants and bury the crackers On the other hand of anyone needs a job-lot of decent-quality paint-brushes I'm sure some squirrel-hair might be found ....... because these pesky critters refuse to hibernate even in this weather!

Good afternoon everyone Late on parade today, we both over slept and since getting up and coming downstairs I've been busy. I'm starting to pack up stuff to take back to the workshop, so I can restart work on the cellar walls next week. Cold and foggy here at the moment, - 2C outside, so I mihjt need to put on my jacket for the trips to and from the workshop. Stay safe, stay sane, enjoy whatever you have planned for the day, back later. Brian

Morning all from Estuary-Land. The sore foot kept me awake last night until the early hours which resulted in my oversleeping. I applied a new dressing this morning with the aid of a small mirror which has much improved matters. I will have to go out today as the bathroom shower hose has sprung a leak so a replacement will be sought, they stock them in Tess Coes so shouldn't be a problem.

Ey up! Seems like the temperature is fairly cool here at the moment.. i have no plans to venture out just yet. @grandadbob yes.. it was very nice as well. Her indoors approved! @Winslow Boy.. a coat is something the Mancs wear to keep the rain off.. so they wear it every day Time to make my mugatea. Stay safe..and hope you can enjoy your day! Baz

Evening all, swmbo watching a disater film, half the worlds been frozen to death, really chearing me up. Just realised vat return hasnt been accepted, i dont have authority. Been using same system for two years and no problem. Spent quite a bit of time trying to sort it out. More time i´ll never get back. Left feed back on HMRC website, coments fueled by Old Speckled Hen and she was quite rude. Anyway goodnight, Robert

37029 creeps into Peasevern Yard

On the wall, in many locations..... In other news: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi describes the Orange One as "deranged, unhinged and dangerous". Is she not a fan then? A pretty laid back day today - a bit of kitchen planning done, a bit of cooker cleaning done, some general dross and TV. Must try harder.....

I have around 5 5 or 10m tape measures that get borrowed then they get forgotten where they get put certainly not in the drawer from whence they came. Best thing is i end up having to buy the new one because I have lost it. Double pah.

Herself used my Blutack at Christmas.. question is .. wheer did she put it when she was finished with it ? Answers on a postcard... PAH!! Baz

@Gwiwer in some places you get a small amount of money for the grey squirrel tails. The ones around here have gone into hibernation at last. Was sunny earlier.. now very leaden clouds cover the sky. Snow still here..pah! Baz

Early afternoon all. 34019 Bideford, out of section light engine from Eastleigh (AC Models) earlier. First new loco of the year, I've been hunting down some I missed in 2019/20. Unboxing and testing later but first, a spot of lunch. John

Very much so and here she is awaiting Dave Frank's buffers. A little filling to be done but overall a very clean build indeed. I've also fitted cast coupling hooks and with use the blackened hoops from Smith's on these. The Climax fire pumps are from the Oxford Diecast range and will be tied in at the end of the build.

Sorry Brian - your comments here made me smile . . . . . . .

Mooring Awl, inner Temple hare, A vastly better night 7 hours sleep with a short wake up and turn over. North Norfolk will finally get two vaccination centres next week, both in doctors surgeries, just 10 miles apart. Hopefully this is a run up to all surgeries getting the job. Sledging or come to that the old go cart made with pram wheels, just wasn't really done anywhere I lived, no suitable hills .. Coming home yesterday afternoon it was still misty , which may explain the radio warning of three crashes on three separate roads round Norwich..also lots of twos and blues on ambulances and police cars. Luckily it was clear on the route I was using .. But had I been using the non big Tes and Coe route home I'd have been in the jam for one of the accidents. This being a day off, Ben the alarm clock Collie turned up, it's clear skies and crunchy grass out there, a sight easterly is bringing the sound of waves crashing on the beach.. Plans for today, Do the second side of the keel, assemble the second shelving unit using a left and right side. Time to...think of breakfast..

Good evening everyone Whilst I was tidying up the wiring of the turntable control panel, I noticed that I’d connected the input and the output for the motor supply incorrectly. I’d rewired it from memory and got it wrong, it was only when I was referring to the drawing that I noticed my mistake, doh. Anyway, once I’d rectified my mistake it soon became apparent why the circuit I’d added to fine tune the voltage to the motor wasn’t working correctly, there was a dead short across the supply! So I reinstated the voltage trimming circuit board, applied voltage, tested the voltage and hey presto, it worked. So a few more minor modifications were made and I now have a circuit that will let me fine tune the speed of the turntable bridge drive motor, I can vary the voltage, anything from 6v to 1v, I’ve set it at 2.6v and I’ll give it a run tomorrow to see how long it takes for a complete revolution. I’m a very happy bunny now. A quick check with some of the drawings I’d used during the circuit boards construction earlier also revealed a few mistakes (all typos), so they were altered and the amended drawings were reprinted and put in the folder with all the other turntable documents. This afternoon I finished writing up the schedule for the points and the Point frog monitoring.

Much like the folk who asked to re-install 2020 because the version they were given had a virus

There are more than enough urban foxes already. They also emit some quite alarming cries when engaged, or seeking to engage, in acts of making more. Far worse than anything I have heard from any of my fellow humans I’ll not have foxes watching my antics under any circumstances. Not that there are any antics to watch these days. The Big C put paid to that. Oh look. This just happened to fall off the bookshelf

Methinks you need a snowplough for the front!

My dear learned friend, I fear you may be mixing your computers! Sinclair ZX80, ZX90, ZX91, Spectrum; Commodore (CBM) C64, perhaps? BTW, I spent several months a few years back wearing a white coat whilst employed as a school science lab technician.

Away goes Andrew K. Plenty more opportunities to be booed before arrival at Newcastle.

Now you can spend ages setting up a picture. Staging the props to your liking. Getting the lighting correct. Check the composure of the picture but why do you miss obvious????

I remember the 62/63 winter well. We were living at Giggleswick. I remember sledging on the higher slopes of Atermire, above Settle, at the end of October, coming down a slope sitting on my anorak. Sometime in January I think we walked over to Malham and the normal route through Upper Settle had a 6' snow bank across it. Roundabout that time a train, I think the southbound Thames Clyde was snowed in near Dent. Apparently you could always recognise the engine block from the Peak brcause the crankcase got distorted by ice. However I had to walk half a mile to school every day, though a few of my compatriots from outlying farms weren't seen for a week or two. Jamie