Leaderboard

Morning All, It was great to meet so many ERs on Saturday evening, and put faces to names after so many years. Back in the 90s, I wrote some software for the Boeing 777 - don't worry, it wasn't FADEC (Or indeed anything connected with engine control!) An interesting fact about the Boeing 777, is that the diameter of the engines is the same as the fuselage diameter of a 737. That's pretty large stuff that was falling from the sky! For those who commented about my visitor on Saturday evening, that was Parcifal (bottom). His brother Picasso (top) was asleep the whole time! Have a good day everyone...

More Newcastle photos today. I sometimes wonder how I took so many photos at the station when I didn't go there all that often. I did work in Newcastle but nowhere near the station. Newcastle Class 143 Sunderland to Hexham Feb 87 J8764.jpg Newcastle Class 253 Bristol to Newcastle coming in to the station over the High Level bridge Feb 89 J9775.jpg Newcastle Class 47 Liverpool to Newcastle 21st Oct 89 C13798.jpg 47503 Newcastle Class 156 Girvan to Newcastle having arrived via the High Level bridge Jan 1990 J10592.jpg Newcastle Class 143 and Bruff rerailing the 143 3rd March 90 C14148.jpg David

Good lunchtime all. Pecky birds not sighted. Not even the Great Guzzlewumping Megapecker. On the other hand a large number of small brown flitty things were doing something their kind has done for millenia and which was appropriated by an internet messaging service a few years ago. I suspect one or two might have broken wind at about the time I left the Hill of Strawberries. Moan-day has lived up to its name. There were no trains at the required hour to convey me to the House of Fun because of an engineering over-run. There are also no buses hereabouts either because the Ladies and Gentlemen of the Union are upset at something or another and have chosen to withdrawn their labour for three days. Plan C was invoked which required a brisk walk to the station of the Full Well and from where the (currently hourly) train was able to run allowing me to sign on with seconds to spare before being declared late. Even that wasn't plain sailing. The walk to that station required me to pass the bus garage of the same name which is one of those from which labour has been withdrawn. Outside - milling about on the footpath and partially blocking the main road - I found around 50 drivers. Some were wearing chin-protectors. Only one that I noticed was correctly wearing a face-covering. Most had nothing. All were standing close together in conversation in groups of 10 - 20 in clear violation of Covid regulations. It's one-plus-one and you must be on exercise, folks, and if you are in dispute with your workplace then you must, as I understand things, stay at home. Gatherings of large numbers anywhere are expressly forbidden and when those gatherings block the public footpath and part of the main road then any empathy from this member of the public can be considered null and void. I attempted to walk past. No-one was willing to move and allow me any sort of space. I asked if they might stand aside at which point two did so but not the majority. Instead I was verbally abused with shouts of "Use your feet - that's what they're for" and other choice expressions which cannot be repeated here. If drivers want social distancing to apply on their buses then they should remember it applies on the public footpath as well. If they want to make a point then the law allows them to strike. But it does not allow them to block the public highway and abuse members of the public and neither - currently - does it permit them to gather in numbers for any reason. Rant over. I'll take the blue pills and lie down for an hour. .

Afternoon all... Managed to get a bit more done today, with the rear pelmet and lights installed. Three five foot tubes make one hell of a difference, compared to the three measly 50w downlighters I had installed when the conversion was done years ago. Before, with no direct light at all for two thirds of the back straight. Lights are in and working, but still need to cut the 4" plasterboard discs to plug the old holes. A huge difference that will allow me to push on with the back of the layout. It was so depressing trying to work with very poor lighting. I also have the small triangles to cut so that a vertical front fascia can be fitted. I managed to get most of the other side done, but ran out of 2mm MDF. When finished it should look like this. The fascia will be painted and I will order an Eastwood Town totem to be placed right above the station building. Good grief, it's starting to look like a model railway..... Saturday saw me back at the hospital to have a camera inserted where the sun don't shine. The PET scan highlighted several hot spots, but biopsies on the lymph glands under my arm and my nether region have all come back negative. First bit of good news I've had in months and this would suggest any cancer in my bile ducts is likely to be localised and may be dealt with when I have the major surgery in a few weeks time. Still a mountain to climb, but I feel a bit more optimistic about a successful resolution.

Two and a bit hours of being scanned..then an ecg.. then half a gallon of blood donated (and some other body fluids) ..then After the scanning bit I had to walk up and down a corridor under the LGI for 6 minutes. I did get a cupofcoffee and a biscuit though (and boy did I need it by then). Arrived there at 07:45 got out at 11:30 worn to a frazzz! I am now to inject myself every day using an epipen type device.. I did the first jab under the watchful eye of the Doctor. Next door don't learn.. the "foundations" are under water again.. Materials for the "dwarf wall" have been delivered. As he is in the trade I was surprised to see where he has bought the supplies from. I know a better and (to me at least) probably cheaper supplier. Have to go as her indoors has a cricket zoom meeting to attend TTFN Baz

Hi folks, Well, I see it's been more than a month since my last confession. I've been working away on the Princes St Gardens section, along with a few workbench projects, whenever time permits. A few wet weekends have helped here and I'm pretty pleased with where I am now, just over two months since I started the revamp of this section of the layout. I have now reached the stage where the basics of the refresh are done - walls, ballasting, first batch of trees, lowered footbridges, weathering of track, etc., etc. I'm pleased to say trains are now running again. I've enjoyed doing both the station and the Princes St Gardens refreshes, but I do find it frustrating when I can't run any trains. I have also completed a couple of Railfreight-liveried 26s (Inverness-based 26038 and Eastfield-based 26041), along with one of my two new buffer-fitted HST power cars. I have also been testing my Mk 2 ScotRail-liveried push-pull rake. I've made some progress with this, but I have yet to get it running in both push and pull mode as smoothly as my Mk 3 rake. Anyway, here are some piccies of the current state of play... 26041 runs through Princes St Gardens with a Speedlink service... ...passing under the newly lowered footbridge... ...through the Mound Tunnels and out into Waverley... I've also weathered a couple of POA scrap wagons and fitted a scrap load... ...and weathered another Cargowaggon bogie van. I've modified the couplings on this van, by attaching them to the bogie instead of the body, as I just couldn't get it to run through reverse curves without derailing. It now runs just fine. Finally, Coal Sector 31130 has been finished and is now assigned to the nuclear flask train. Since the photo below was taken, I have blanked over the cab light, as this annoyingly illuminated every time the loco's lights were switched on. The loco has had one of its cab doors prised open permanently too. Next on the project list are detailing of the gardens section, including another batch of trees, plus various jobs to finish off the refresh. The Mound is also in need of a refresh now, as it's looking a bit tired after repeatedly being removed and put back in position during the station and gardens refreshes. I also have the second buffer-fitted power car to weather. I ordered a rear bogie for this which is fitted with a standard coupling and is otherwise very similar to the front bogie. The idea is to use the original bogie when the set is not being hauled and then swap to the coupling-fitted bogie when I want to haul the set as a failure. Testing the idea has been very successful. I've found it necessary to use a slightly longer coupling on the rescue loco, but otherwise everything worked really well. Push-fit connectors will enable the pickups on the bogie to continue to be used too when swapping bogies. So watch this space for some HST drags on WW! Varied motive power is guaranteed. I quite fancy double-headed Coal Sector 37s for starters... Hope to be back soon with another update and some more piccies of the new Princes St Gardens section. Stay safe, Dave

Greetings one and all What will excite me in the week ahead? A stroll to the end of the road this morning to buy my lottery tickets is the most immediate thrill in prospect. This afternoon a batch of chicken in honey and mustard sauce will be stuck in the oven for however long the instructions tell me. Tomorrow or the next day, and who can tell the difference, will see the fodder run. On two evenings I will be in front of the laptop taking part in Zoom gatherings. One is a slide show, the other more of a discussion. This very morning I need to use the Stalag Surgery website to order another batch of meds, which, given a following wind, I shall collect from the pharmacy in a week's time. Gentle readers have twigged that I'm not feeling at all positive ahead of the much leaked announcement later today from those who rule us about the slow march to freedom or whatever the headline writers want to call it. Nevertheless I shall watch it later today with an unspecified degree of loathing. As I type this I hear on the radio that Denbigh County Council have decided no longer to name roads after notable people. Let this bright idea not spread to other councils. I say this because, as some know, a road in Godmanchester, Cambridgeshire, was named after my late father. He would not have expected it but would have been dead chuffed at the very thought. While I'm harrumphing, what on earth is wrong with the Prince of Wales visiting his father in hospital? Before I get any hotter under the collar I'd like to thank Monkeysarefun for posting the clip of a kangaroo playing the drums. Would that it had been a koala. Best wishes to all Chris

Apologies for the lack of any content on my thread but I’m now sat in the co-pilot’s seat with my Dad for his final approach and I’ll continue to do so until his plane lands silently on the runway. I’m very surprised to learn that the layout has been nominated in the layout of the year category again, which is extremely flattering considering it’s still unfinished. I will be back, but for now, I need to be elsewhere. Thanks for understanding.

Another 9F makes its way along the Down slow.

Panniers it is then....... Taken whilst cleaning the valley gutter of the creamery. From this angle the lack of top feed stands out. Few things this picture points out that I hadn't noticed before but the light from this angle shows up Moulding ridge on buffers needs sorting. Coupling loop missing Side tank lids seem to be not seating properly. Debate on whether to paint the spectacle windows brass or not?

"Skippy the Bush Kangaroo" is well known to Australians of a certain age. It was a television show along the lines of programmes like Lassie, Flipper and Gentle Ben where intelligent animals, befriended by young humans helped rescue people in trouble. "What's that Skip? Timmy's fallen down the well. I better tell Dad!"

Express train rattled through town heading East.

Good evening everyone Its been a lovely day here, quite warm, in fact warm enough to be able to leave the workshop door open whilst I was inside. Quite a bit of progress has been made with the linking piece to go between the turntable and the test track. However, I’ve had to replace 2 sections of the test track, so that they now reach the end of the board. Next weekend, I’ll make a start on cutting and laying the track on the interlinking piece. I’ve included a photo that shows how the home-brewed textured paint looks after it’s dried, I’m quite pleased with how it’s turned out. This evening ting I spoke to my brother in Canada. As is the norm, we just chatted about general stuff, he informed me that they’ve had quite a bit of snow of late and that it's stuck around too, they still have some at the moment.

Evening all. I hope today finds you well. Not a good day today. I know that ER is supposed to be a politics free zone, however the news that emerged in parliament this afternoon has left me angry and frustrated. Throughout the early part of the year I have been holding onto the fact that I should be open for Easter. Now that hope has gone and it will be mid-April before I can finally open the doors to the shop again. Simply soul destroying! Oh..and to compound everything, we have to wait ten days until we get a sniff of any further financial support. My spirits are lower than a worm's belly right now. On the positive side (and I am desperately trying to find some). * Amber will get to return to school on March 8th and she needs that. This long spell of home schooling has not done her any good. That will give me three weeks at home to have some peace and quiet. That might provide some quality modelling time. * The road map should mean, finance permitting, that our planned holiday in the summer will take place so I can look forward to another week in Whitby and that is something which will do the spirits a world of good. * The ongoing marking job will at least mean we can eat and keep a roof over our head in the intervening time. Probably not all bad then, but still not feeling the best right now. Stay safe, keep sane. Andy

Morning all, Another grey day (I haven't counted how many shades of). Talking about light fittings and wiring if it's a 1960s job the light fitting won't be bakelite (unless it was secondhand used for sentimental reasons) as bakelite was way out of date by then for new stuff, and the wiring is probably pvc covered. although obviously getting ona bit. As to leg cramps if you know a mitigation I think I've tried them all. Stage 1 was to stop taking statins (after I'd tried all the normally available ones) and that made a massive and is why I'm nowadays on something else but it isn't so good as statins when it comes to bashing cholesterol. The best mitigation I have found is a glass of dioralyte before going to bed - gives soem salts and obviously some liquid and taken over a period is pretty effective but I've mainly been off it for the past few months and have simply had a glass of fruit jice before heading for bed (I did have dioralyte last night but steer clear of too much of it because of its impact on the kidneys). I tried one of those fancy tonic waters and it was useless and i get the impression that any sort of hydration is better than none. Fortunately I don't suffer every night but if one of the cats sets off arthur'sitis in my feet that inevitably leads to cramp in the calves and, as Polly described, just getting up and standing/walking around usually rectifies the problem. Some warming-up exercises to sttrretch the muscles before going to bed were recommended by the GP and they are reasonably effective while the chiropractor's ministrations can help as well but I don't think I'll go in for pins in my legs as well as my back (and they might not work for cramp). So sorry to rattle on and it's very much a first world problem with far worse being suffered by far too many folk to make too much fuss about this. Incidentally talking of 'far worse' during her Saturday shift the GD and colleague were rasked with transferring a patient to the ICU - described as 'very interesting with masses of equipment. the ICU staff have a special changing/clean up area for when teh y gfinish their shifts - in a wooden lean to shed. Overall I understand from the GD that while the High Dependency unit is still getting admissions they have reduced and they are now below capacity and even have a few 'recovered' patients in their care - all their patens are in individual rooms. so some good news. GD is up for her much delayed second jab this week and the lad will be getting his first one. Ratty appears to be starting to ingest some of the poison and the car will be burning modelling tokens tomorrow as it has a service and its MoT test. Have a good day one and all and stay safe.

Morning all. Slightly hazy here but not at all cold. As it isn’t too cold I will have a rummage round in the garage to find a few parts to make a replacement part for the diesel Aditi’s brother sent me to repair. It works now but needs some body parts. I have some items, “decals” (not for trains!) coming from the US. Postage is $3. The manufacturer mentions I could pay $15 but he said it won’t get here any quicker. Last time I used them I paid for the $3 and the package arrived quickly. Tony

I was aware of Skippy, however what I didn't want was a new earworm for today. Guess what it is, thanks to Monkeyesarefun. Jamie

Mooring Awl Inner Temple Hare, 3 hours sleep, long break, 2 hours sleep... Ben you're too early , One hours sleep. Ben having wanted out earlier refused to go out to the dawn chorus again.. By the time I was arriving at work the street lights were beginning to go out.. Forepaws say rain, seaweed inspectors say not.. We shall see.. One branch of my family has a road named after them, it's a small close, on the site of one of the family coal yards.. While doing trial fits of a bit of trailer, I was able to get true measurements of the trailer as I had removed the last of the plant pots,, it proves my plan for towing the boat backwards on the trailer is the only solution. I need to get several foundations blocks to raise the trailer up to work on it, then later those blocks will be used to raise the boat up higher to fit the keel. I was going to weigh the trailer by using the bathroom scales under each wheel in turn and then under the coupling, but found the scales had failed. They were in excess of 30 years old, so I've ordered the cheapest on line.. Which not only weighs you, but calculates body mass etc and gives you accusing numbers. Also ordered a stack of lock nuts, and washers. After having a ferret around I found I have sufficient threaded rod to bolt the various different sections of trailer together, meaning they can all be tailor made to fit. Then going through various technical documents, I've found that the threaded rods, even if of the weakest grade, each have several times the strength required to hold the axle onto the trailer. Well it's Time to head for the lab and work.. no majors systems this week so I'ts work i=on a lot of smaller Items in the back log.

Good moaning from The Charente. It is apparently going to be rather damp today. Thus ironing is on the agenda this morning. I did manage a couplevof hours in the shed yesterday and the frame for the gate has now been screwed back together. The slats have all bern cut and sanded and the hinges are now in primer. Not a lot else to report so I will wish youball a good day/night as appropriate. Jamie

Two Midland 'boxes: Barrow Hill North, 25 June 1981 and Barrow Hill Junction on the same day Valehouse on the Great Central's Woodhead line, 9 July 1981 complete with tea stain! and Woodhead on the same day

The issue is not with the ceiling rose. The wires come down a hollow piece of wood from the rose and then into the baker lite housing for the bulb onto which the shade is attached. This lower section appears, at first glance to be held only by the ends of the wiring. It’s a real PIA as Mums is wanting to stay down Newark and will probably sell the house when I move business addresses but I think she needs to spend time up here sorting things out so will need the lights sorting. If she was stopping long term I’d replace the lights but get the feeling the the job would escalate out of control and my abilities. The house was built in the sixties and hasn’t been rewired and when I asked an electrician to do a minor job he said he couldn’t without rewiring the whole whole house. Something to ponder. Mum (and SWMBO and myself through association) will shortly be in a similar position, trying to decide what to do with ‘stuff’. It was a real eye opener yesterday seeing what mums still got hanging around. In particular theres my Dads snooker cue propped up by the back door and he passed away in 2004! Better get a move on, Robert

MOrning, and a beautiful sunny one it is - pecky birds in full song, NHN thankfully not singing at all. Spring is sproinging, however winter returns tomorrow apparently, according to you know who. Whom, Lewis..... The snowdrops are just about over now, the narcissii are flowering, crocii too, however the lawn is a swamp, 120mm rain the couple of days prior to yesterday, and the lawn needs mowing too (grows all year here) but that isn't likely.

Bear thinks you have some iffy wiring there, on both lights. As regards the bottom light there are usually strain relief tabs or similar to wrap the flex wires around before they exit the ceiling rose. Bear recalls coming home one dark evening and seeing dross all over the kitchen floor; Bear thinks "What the f. 'ell is that?? Bear switches light on for a better view - no light. Bear thinks bulb has blown and looks up to see no bulb and no glass shade either. It looks like there was some form of fault with the bulb that meant it got so hot that the plastic bulb holder melted - luckily - and dropped the bulb and shade all over the floor. Bear very pleased that bulb holder wasn't metal.... All replaced, as was the ceiling rose "just in case". I did look for a makers name on the bulb remnants but could find nothing (I think, but am not sure it came from Wilko - not a market stool stall/ebay etc special). Whatever the fault was, it never tripped the RCD Consumer Unit Thank you, that's very nice of you to say so Oh, hang on, you meant the jam roly..... Bear hopes to see the back of filling/sanding/filling/sanding....today, on the ceiling and coving at least. Then it'll be painting.... (Just heard that Panorama may be worth a watch tonight - all about dumping/fly-tipping. There was mention of a Council & BBC getting together to arrange for a licenced waste disposal company to collect and dispose of a garage full of rubbish. The BBC had fitted trackers inside the rubbish.....). Incidentally, whilst researching bits for the kitchen, Bear came across the fact that Bristan "Easy-Fit" taps are asking for trouble (they have since been modified but are still less than perfect apparently) - they can "blow- off" (no, not that sort of blow-off....) meaning both hot and cold water feeds rapidly fill your kitchen with water. Plenty of mention of it on the 'net, including here: - so be very careful if you have these taps installed. Crossed-off Bear's shopping list........ Buddy next door has offered to help Bear dispose of an armchair to the local dump (I was expecting to have to get the council to collect it - £30 for one item). He's confirmed it should fit in the back of their Honda CRV (there are few times when Bear misses having a bigger car, but those few times are far outweighed by the practicality of a smaller car). It's a leather recliner and has seen better days and not really saleable enough for a charity shop, sadly; Bear also has another matching one in much better condition, as well as the 2-seater sofa that is nigh-on as-new, despite being probably 20+ years old (it very rarely gets sat on). Bear has decided to go a little bit more minimalist (nothing silly - Bear has far too many "useful things" for that) but unused/un-needed furniture, ornaments etc. that Bear doesn't use or need are likely to start disappearing fairly soon. If anything can be ebayed or go to charity then even better. Some will include ornaments that were my mum's so that will take some thought - and courage - though; however they just sit in a display cabinet from one year to the next and never even get thought about or looked at - they're just a PITA when they do require dusting. I'd much rather I have control to see them go to a (hopefully) good home now than for someone else to skip them in the event of Bear's demise (hopefully not imminently though ). As for the sorting the shed.... Bit by bit, Bear......bit by bit......

Indeed yes, more details (well not MUCH really) below in the post of the day... Monday it is - I looked around and found nothing to dispute that fact, so... Yesterday fairly uneventful, reading the paper, that sort of activity, Mrs still having residual affects from the #2 shot, but overall we're faring better, just a casual Sunday. <RANT> Today back working, with the receipt of a new set of requests from the client as dictated by the auditors, for the annual reports. I continue to ask/question why, unless the business has decided to branch out into automotive manufacture, or a side-business as an airline, WHY, WHY, WHY, do we have to add an additional twenty or so lines of excruciating details to the annual report. Auditors certainly have excellent and creative ways of extracting more than their share of any profit from a company, for exactly the same thing they did the past several years!!! <END RANT> Weather, as noted by @Ozexpatriate, taking a change for the warmer here for a few days at least - not exactly the SPRING some of you folks are reporting, given there's still nearly a foot of snow, and overnights below zero, but it's heading in the right direction for a while. -5 and sunny first thing, will reach PLUS FIVE later today, definitely Whitney walking weather :). the next five days at least threaten to be highs above zero each day. Stay safe.

And here's me thinking that Water Wall was a carpet fitter

' morning all from red dragon land. HEATWAVE 10C and wall to wall sunshine ... if pine cone predictions are to be believed. A chance at last to check up on the pot plants. I have already noticed the daffodil bulbs I re-potted have come up nicely but no buds. I will give them another chance later on and plant them in the garden and hope they flower next year. The tree fern protection cover did not survive the winds so that is another job to sort out. But first, a mugadecaf. Fitt and Elfie working on it. Take care all and play safe. _________ Best wishes Polly

Greetings all from Sidcup where there is a scattering of grey cloud in the sky but the air is mild. There is the doom and gloom of the "return" to school after half term (literally for Mrs Lurker, virtually from Younger Lurker) and the groundhog day of work in this room for me. Happy birthday belatedly to Chris. I did try to post on the day but I could not post twice in quick succession and then my phone would not let me post at all. I am sure Chris coped without my greetings. Have a good day all

The passengers on the United 777 that lost an engine over Denver were put on a replacement aircraft to Honolulu after they returned to Denver airport. I imagine they wouldn’t have been too happy to learn about the history of the replacement aircraft! https://onemileatatime.com/ua328-aircraft-replacement/

Fortunately no one was physically injured from 777 engine debris in this incident so I imagine that personal injury suits related to physical harm will be non-existent. A substantial number of videos have emerged today including doorbell cameras recording a large strut of some kind falling into a street. The front cowling appears to have significantly damaged the pick-up truck it may have fallen on before it came to rest and there is at least one home where debris broke through the roof and ceiling. How United Airlines and perhaps Boeing and or Pratt and Whitney will deal with property damage in suburban Denver will be curious to watch. Additionally I can imagine many passengers being terrified by the visible engine fire and shattered housing. Their first thoughts probably weren't "It's OK, a 777 can fly and land safely on one engine". While it is appropriate to let the NTSB investigate this accident, national news outlets have shown video stills where a broken fan blade on the 777 engine is quite visible, similar to the 2018, SWA-1380 737 fan blade failure which led to the death of a passenger seated in a window seat. By the way, I know people who live in a city bordering on Broomfield, CO. Two people in the vicinity of Meerssen (The Netherlands) were "slightly injured" by debris from a 747-400 freighter with some kind of engine failure today.

Far from it. Standing shoulder to shoulder or face to face and definitely not at 2m separation though possibly some were 1m apart. Then there is the issue of obstructing the highway ..... And then there was the language; members of the public who are clearly not involved in any way with a dispute should not be advised to "F*** off" when they request social distancing be observed on the footpath.

Some Monday afternoon delight with a few leftovers of 1609.

You may find the house difficult to sell if the wiring is that old, a new consumer unit will also be required no doubt, if there's Bakelite fittings there's a chance the wiring will be rubber insulated, if so that has possibly perished causing a real fire risk.

Ey up! Early riser... no tea or coffee..(fasting blood test this morning). Time to get myself ready for my trip to the LGI. TTFN Baz

Actually no. The right to picket ones workplace under lockdown is allowed. However the picketers must be socially distanced in addition to obeying any laws regarding what constitutes a picket. However it doesn’t sound as if those you encountered this morning were social distancing.

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. Spent the best part of the morning clearing out the shed that is attached to the house. This is the same shed that I was preparing to be lined out about 18 months ago. The timetable seems to have slipped a bit lot since then and it became a depositary for all sorts of rubbish (2 pink sacks full). I've temporarily installed the 18 mm ply shelf that I had cut, not fixed yet as there are still adjustments to be made. I also checked out some other things such as space for shelving etc. Hopefully it will be a lot less than 18 months before I carry on with it. Tea is made so I'll be back later.

Thanks for your concern folks, however we still need new bathroom scales even if they don't work for the boat. I do have a 1 Ton crane strain gauge, but that would need something to support the top end while I look at the meter.. I could probably lift from the top and then Have SWMBO read the results but I don't fancy straining my back. A ball park oblong tube weight calculator on line, indicates the all up weight to be around 200KG I need to weigh the weight at both wheels and at the coupling. The keel weighs 188Kg, the Hull weighs 244KG so that's 432KG, take that off the unbraked trailer maximum weight of 750 KG and there is 318 KG to play with for the trailer.. giving if the tube guesstimator is right 118 Kg left for hull supports.. wheels and Jockey wheel.

Morning all Had a bit of a running session yesterday afternoon and took a bit of footage. As you'll see the cliffs are still very white but I've spent a bit of time fettling some locos that hadn't been out of their boxes yet despite being purchased in some cases a couple of years ago! As it has been rather cold out there over the last couple of weeks or so a change of scene was required but I've now got 6 locos lined up for weathering before making their debuts.

Morning All Great to be here two days running - it does make a change, and I doubt it will continue. Not a lot to report, other than the usual 5.10 start this morning to make 30747 some breakfast, prepare her lunch, feed Lily (while 30747 has her shower and hair wash) , and come back to bed for an hour before my shower and hair wash. The reason for this being that a few years ago we had a power cut early one morning, resulting in 30747 not getting her shower, so now she grabs it as soon as she's awake - which is almost always by 05.00. And the usual greetings of the generic variety are on offer to all fellow ERs. So with that in mind all I pffer today is a little bit of the amazing Mona Lisa twins which popped into my inbox last night, and which I'm sure Andrew P will appreciate if it didn't also pop into his Regards to All Stewart

Good morning everyone It appears that we’ve had quite a bit of overnight rain going on how wet the garden looks. The plans for today are to do some light work in the cellar, possibly sorting out some magazines and getting rid of those I no longer want, I will remove some articles that I think will be useful in the future but the rest will be recycled, giving me more space on the book shelves. But this may well take some time, so occasionally I’ll take a break and ‘play’ with a few control items for the unmentionable items that run and parallel tracks. Stay safe, stay sane, enjoy whatever you have planned for the day, back later. Brian

Another cloudy and damp morning in North Somerset. Light drizzly rain at the moment, but given how wet everything looks it must have been heavier at times overnight. I don't intend to do a lot today, but might get around to reading a few magazines which have been piling up waiting for a day when I can't be @rsed to do much else.

Agree. Common as muck...y Rob. More Pannier photos please, Kev.

Mornin' all. Time for work.... I suppose the e-postie's bag will be groaning under the weight of (mainly unnecessary) email correspondence - oh the joy that awaits. Best wishes for the day, back later.

Oooh yes how about some wagons then...... A few weathered and a few built and weathered these last couple of days. From left to right: Parkside GWR Beetle, a very easy and straightforward kit to make. A Parkside LNER 12 Ton van kit bashed into an earlier version build for the Cheshire Lines, a bit fiddly and removing the centre door support proved tricky, some of its still there.....but from a 3ft viewing angle....might still see it... Lastly a Wizards whitemetal GCR open for the CL, it’s just awaiting some ropes for that load. From left to right: A Cambrian Ex Midland Meat wagon, built this a year or so ago but it’s now been weathered. The middle wagon is a DS LNER Perishables wagon that I’d build a few months ago, it’s now been weathered as well. Lastly a NER Fish van downgraded to Meat duties, this came to me from a deceased estate I finished it off, lettered and weathered it.

We are blessed with at least one pair of those. SWMBO has spotted both together; to date I have only managed to see the one she pointed to up a tree and so obscured by branches that if I were a twitcher I could not conscientiously "tick" it. Idiot-tube watching was interrupted for half an hour by Neighbours (Upstairs) doing something. It sounded like running on the spot. What ever it was it caused a crack in our ceiling paintwork large enough for an email to be sent to the agent. It also disturbed our otherwise fairly peaceful evening. We chose not to watch the Boris Show. We can read what we need to elsewhere. SWMBO and I disagree on a number of points and can usually agree to differ quietly. And thus ends a frustrating Moan-day. I hope sleep will restore some sort of peace and quiet to the somewhat befuddled brain. Rest well, one and all.

Hi all, Thanks for the kind comments. I'm so happy and excited about what's to come with the little one, but I will definitely miss my modelling. I have been busy taking images with a decent camera for a change, with a hope to get some published. I imagine I will start dismantling in about 1 - 2 weeks. It will be a sad day. I've not decided what will pull the last train. Perhaps the Fairburn tank formerly of Tetley Mills? As for the future... I have a few favoured options. Staying close to where I grew up in West Lancashire (clue in my profile name!), heading a little further east into Wigan, or a venture into Scotland. I'll have plenty of time to think and plan! Thanks, Pete

As mentioned elsewhere the electronic scales will work fine for weight. The other features require bare feet. Before we stopped going anywhere I used to use ours for weighing suitcases. Even for cruises there is a maximum weight!

I think the house would be sold as a ‘renervation’ project rather than a house to live in straight away. It’s actually got a new(ish) consumer unit. Not sure quite what the bulb holder is made from but of 60s origin. I’m hoping that perhaps she’ll not sleep in the house again but there is a lot of stuff to move and it wouldn’t be practical for her to drive up from Newark day after day to sort stuff out. thanks, Robert.

Good morning Sandra, My memory of seeing HAPPY KNIGHT on every occasion was that it certainly wasn't green, nor had any lining of any colour! It was just all-over grey/brown. Like this; taken in 1956/'57 before her chimney was altered. It's approaching Retford on a Down express. My own model of 60533 is really far too clean. It's a Crownline/Kinsey/Wright/Rathbone) combination. When weathered (in this case, expertly by Tom Foster), the Bachmann A2's appearance looks much more 'natural'. All I did beforehand was to detail, renumber and rename this original Bachmann HAPPY KNIGHT. Regards, Tony.

Gary might have retired by then. His replacement wasn't involved with the B-I Council. Howard Quayle has done a good job this last year as CM, despite what the keyboard warriors say! I bet he didn't expect to be dealing with this situation. I understand he isn't going to stand in the autumn, a shame.

A special treat tonight, not one, not two, but three rear ends.