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Here's something which is, as usual from me, a little different from the normal fare of steam trains on this thread, and it's the recent painting of some tiny things - 3D printed N/2mm scale NSE style self service ticket machines and permit to travel machines - cruelly photographically enlarged. They're finished by hand with a brush and acrylic paint (and a few little bits of decal paper) all applied by eye (and without any magnification assistance). They're not perfect but are very small and might not even be noticeable when in place on the layout, and I doubt I can do any better.

Afternoon all. What I will describe below has been carried out over the course of every evening this week and has proved to be quite good fun. The subject of all of this palarva is a bog standard Hornby Skaledale Butterley waiting room. My example was acquired s/h from Rowsley17D of the parish. The platform side had been repainted in Midland Railway colours whilst the back of the building was as per factory finish. Proceedings commenced with popping out the windows and cleaning up any webbing on the inside of the apertures which could be seen through the windows. The windows were set to one side to be weathered separately once the rest of the building was finished bar any tweaks. First up was a removal of the Midland Railway colours. Pretty certain its called Midland chrome yellow but I could be wrong. I dug out my tub of Modelstrip. It was solid and utterly unserviceable. Plan B then. A 2mm glass fibre brush was employed on a plank by plank basis to scrub away the paint on the walls. The roof and chimneys were fine and left alone. I wasn't too worried about the finish as I wanted a bit of a rough finish anyway. This removal took quite a while and I acquired more than a few splinters along the way. It did however do the job. Next, I deepened the grooves between the planks using a couple of pointy pokey probe jobbies. These were also used to add a bit of distress to the planks. There were a couple of slip ups which I hope are not too noticeable. However, I did take a couple of chunks out of the window sills at the back of the building. I didn't want to risk filling them so have left them for now. I have a plan to suggest a bit of rot and moss but I have left it for now. The walls were repainted with Humbrol 103 enamel cream . I wasn't too precious about the finish as the below image shows. The lowers, doors, frames and uprights were then painted in Tamiya XF64 Red Brown though to me it looked very choclatey. I painted each plank individually and some were repainted to provide a bit of tonal variation. Bits were however missed and I decided to leave it. It suggested to me that the brown paint had flaked off here and there. Once dry, the paint was sealed with Humbrol matt acrylic varnish. I then moved onto the weathering using the usual powders. Smoke was brushed into the grooves between the planks to pick them out. Iron oxide was then added, working on each plank individually. Rust was used to 'taper' the colour. Some planks were coloured using Sand weathering powders, other lightened using white. Some were toned down using dark earth or smoke. I just made it up as I went along, blending until it looked right. Once happy the powders were sealed using Humbrol matt acrylic varnish. Some of this was the removed using our 2mm fibre brush on a plank by plank basis. I did over do this on a few planks which required repainting and further weathering. The perils of listening to Planet Rock radio!! The brown lowers simply had Iron oxide and rust powders applied here and there. This was toned down using smoke powder to blend it all in. Uprights had a bit of iron oxide added as did the doors in the midst of the panels. Some Smoke powder was added to the tops and bottoms. Once again, all was sealed using Humbrol matt varnish. The brown lowers were then lightly buffed using a large soft brush flicked over as were the doors. Doors and uprights were also buffed. It seems to deepen the colours and highlight and raised details. Door handles were picked out using a soft pencil. At this stage I left the gutters and barge boards as I was handling the building so much and probably have rubbed the paint off. I then moved onto the ridge tiles and painted them using Humbrol 70 Enamel. Not sure of the name but it looks Brick Red. I then moved onto the roof and began picking out individual tiles. A variety of greys , all Humbrol enamels, were used including Feld Grau, Extra Dark Sea Grey, a light grey seemingly something to do with Israeli aircraft and a couple of others. By the time I had finished, I had painted every tile. The roof was then varnished. Black weathering powder was applied beneath the ridge tiles before the entire roof was dusted with Smoke powder. You have to be careful to avoid daubs or streaks ( and finger prints...) but the powder did settle into the grooves and serve to blend the various grey paints used on the roof. Ridge tiles were also toned down using Smoke powder. The brink plinth was painted using Humbrol 70 enamel. Again I painted each brick, leaving the grey base colour of the mortar clear. I then looked and saw I had the same colour but in Humbrol acrylic. It looked lighter and I picked out a couple of bricks here and there and it did indeed dry lighter and provided contrast. A few other bricks were picked out in Humbrol 173 Track Colour. The chimneys were done at the same time but just few bricks were picked out as they were already factory painted in brick. I was a tad troubled that the mortar was white instead of grey as per the plinth but decided to let it go. Smoke powder was then applied and this served to tone down the mortar. I was less troubled. Last to be painted were the gutters and barge boards. The only weathering powder added to the barge boards was Iron Oxide, daubed here and there as per the gutters. Again, once varnished a spot of buffing was conducted using a large soft brush. The windows then were simply varnished to act as a key, dusted with dark earth powder, revarnished to seal and replaced. The pre-printed notice boards had the white printed highlights coloured in using a 0.5 black Sharpie. I pressed quite hard and the the resulting indent happily seems to suggest a frame. They were the varnished before Black powder was applied to hide the posters etc. A bit of iron oxide and dark earth was tried to suggest wear. White weathering powder was daubed here and there to try and suggest the residue left by posters that had been removed. Two boards were then added to the building. The third I will hang onto for now. I will probably leave them as is but if I see some posters I like, then we could see something applied thereon. Just not sure what yet. And there we have it. I shall add fire buckets and a few other bits and bobs just before I plant it on the layout but I will leave them off to prevent damage. That then is my station building. Next up will be the engine shed but I need to give that a bit of thought. However, I do anticipate it will be a tad more distressed that the station building Rob.

The WD is now beneath the roof. and gradually creeps a little closer.

A bit of monochrome fun with the harbour scene at Caledonian Basin. It's a scratch-built foreground - based on Bowling Harbour - but a bit of Metcalfeshire in the background.

Over the years I’ve gathered a small collection of anecdotes and photos that document quirky situations and customs on the real-life railway. The idea is to re-enact them in model form while the glue dries on other projects. The Slipper Boy story was one attempt at this, although admittedly that one got a bit out of hand! Here’s another, simpler one. First, the props: ***** Clear as mud, I suspect! Here’s what it’s all about: Railway Magazine, January 1906: Just another incident on the everyday railway, but we can’t allow this stuff to be forgotten! Below is an attempt to re-enact it in my Farthing setting. I’ll see if it works without words: ***** That was the event as reported. But I wonder what happened afterwards? All those tasty eels, and no ice left to keep them fresh... A quick discussion among the staff, perhaps, to find a solution? 🙂 ***** PS: I couldn’t find a period description of exactly how live eel were transported in Edwardian days, so the container seen here is loosely based on a 1970 FAO publication which documents a method that does not seem out of place in earlier days: "Live eels can be transported in small quantities in tray-boxes […]. A typical wooden tray-box contains four lift-out trays about 50mm deep, each designed to hold about 10kg of eels graded according to size. The top tray is usually filled with crushed ice so that cold melt water trickles down through the eels during the journey to keep them cool and lively. […] Each tray has drain holes and is divided across the middle to make a total of eight compartments holding about 5kg each, that is about 40kg for the whole box. The lid of the box is nailed on, and the whole is steel-banded both to prevent pilferage and to prevent the eels escaping through the joints. Boxes of this type are used successfully for live transport not only within the UK but also for 24-hour journeys from the Continent with little or no loss." Source: http://www.fao.org/3/x5915e/x5915e01.htm#Live storage and transport

Transfers made for the tri-cycle, coated with three quick dustings of Dullcote, left over night to thoroughly dry before dunking into water and applying. And here is the Reliant Regent tri-cycle delivery van, all 700cc of it. Look how tiny it is next to the lorry.... Transfers added both sides but due to the small size very fiddly to handle so I will leave overnight to dry, apply a coat of varnish to protect before adding some more to front and back. They are to my own design carried out on a DTP using clip art and patience!! One thing is for sure, it's unique and the only one in the world.....

Some photos from what is now Rocks by Rail at Cottesmore this morning. Cottesmore Avonside CEGB 2 Dora Hunslet Coal Products 6 Hudswell Clarke 31 Peckett Elizabeth Aug 83 J8040.jpg Cottesmore Avonside ex CEGB 2 Dora Aug 81 J7548.jpg Cottesmore Barclay 2 Salmon Aug 81 J7539.jpg Cottesmore Hawthorn Leslie ex Chatham Dockyard Singapore Aug 81 J7547.jpg Cottesmore Hunslet Coal Products 6 Hudswell Clarke 31 Peckett Elizabeth Peckett ex Harwoth colliery Aug 81 J7545.jpg Cottesmore Yorksire Engine Co 0-6-0 ds Aug 83 J8043.jpg David

I’ll bet there’s a faster train behind it cursing because it can’t overtake the caravans.....

Photos from Carlisle to go with your afternoon tea this sunny Sunday. Carlisle 47566 26th Feb 94 C19323.jpg Carlisle 86206 l e 30th May 90 C14513.jpg Carlisle 86414 Euston to Glasgow C April 87 J8855.jpg Carlisle 87017 Edinburgh to Plymouth May 90 J10959.jpg Carlisle 144015 Leeds to Carlisle 31st May 95 C20222.jpg David

Meanwhile, some workshop work to report on ... Remember this? This was back in November, when I was having a 'take stock' of my Stanier 3-cyl 4-6-0 firepower. This loco was scratchbuilt some 40 years ago by my late scratch / kit build 'mentor' Peter Sykes. It saw service on my Dad's layout back in the day but was eventually handed to me, along with the words 'it keep falling off' and has languished in the repair shop ever since. Until now. (the first bit of what follows next I posted on Tony's thread some while back so apologies for that bit a being a repeat if you also follow 'Wright writes') An initial attempt to clean it up and see if it still had some 'go' in it met with little success. You might have been able to second guess that with the 'from a different age' X04 in place. So this is my first chance to try out one of these DJH motor/greabox combos Tony goes on about. A hefty investment - but the rest of the loco is 'free' and hopefully should put it right for the rest of my lifetime. Also destined for replacement are the wheels. The loco was 'live' chassis with those older type solid Romford wheels on one side, with equally 'yuck' bogie wheels. Upon stripping the chassis down further, the true reason why 'it keeps falling off' becomes apparent. Yes you are seeing right - the axles are not set up parallel, and not one of them was truly parallel to the frames. It's a wonder it ever ran at all! A bit 'Heath Robinson', but my way of sorting out the axle parallel-ness. First of all the existing bearings were unsoldered, the holes in the chassis sides enlarged to allow for adjustment of the new bearings, then set up like this, using one of the existing bearings as the reference point. Careful measuring and adjustment of each, one at a time, got them back to something like parallel. Of course, that then threw out the coupling rods(!) as each side matched the uneven spacing and their centres were not the same! The worst affected was drilled out and a new length of brass tube soldered in, as shown here. The good 'ol Poppy's jig came in handy for checking and adjusting this aspect. Time for a try out. With flying leads temporarily attached, the chassis could be temporarily assembled. Success! Or at least smooth enough at this stage to give confidence to carry on. Note the replacement wheels. I didn't say 'new'! I had various odds and ends of otherwise serviceable 26mm Romfords insulated wheels to make up a set. I prefer my chassis dead. While I'm at it, I might as well get the other aspects of the valve gear up to scratch, as best I can. The loco had no slidebar brackets thus the slidebars themselves were only attached at the cylinder and were threatening to become detached altogether. The top of the bracket is also an attachment point for the front of the motion bracket so, all in all, worth doing. A plasticard template was cut to shape (left) then n/s parts cut (sweated together for the first rough cut). You can just about make out the new installation on the right hand photo. Also on view is the existing piece of brass which previously held the motion bracket in place but was a bit short. It still has a role, though... Spot the difference? The 'orrible chunk cut out of the frame to accommodate the X04 is now history - new pieces of brass cut to shape and soldered in place. Also the wheels have balance weights. Study of pictures show that the centre balance weights were all curious shapes and sizes; what I have portrayed is 'typical'. Also now installed are the pieces of n/s wire to hang the brake blocks off (they weren't previously fitted either). And now the motion brackets. The original ones are seen here below the wheels. They'll serve as the rear plates, with new, longer ones needing to be cut from scrap etch. Never throw anything away. Marked and sweated together, the trusty piercing saw is the 'tool for the job' here. I can't help myself! 5 amp fuse wire being used to add the raised detail along the bottom edge of the bracket, together with the raised cover for the bearing. I think it's worth it as it's quite a noticeable detail on a LMS / Stanier loco. Now being installed. The old brackets are on at the rear. The expansion links were made with spigots at front and back, with the prototype slot for the radius rod to sit in (nice). Unseen, I soldered on tiny little stops on the back of the radius rods so that they sit in the correct position in the expansion link AND could be adjusted to set a cut off position. Front bracket piece about to be soldered on, once the bearing cover plate is attached. The 'ta-daa!' picture. Painted up, it don't look half bad - and it works! Items of note here include the front valve guides (old w/m items from the scrapbox. Never throw anything away) and also replacement eccentric cranks, suitably set in '90deg forward' position. Radius rod is set in running position (ie 15-20%) which just imparts a nice back-n-forth 'lollop' to the whole thing. The top of the slidebar bracket has had its strengthening rib added to complete the appearance. For now, she's released to traffic for running trials. A few more things to do yet (eg brake blocks) but let's see how she fares. A change of identity to 46136 is being contemplated, which would be a most appropriate choice for Carlisle (the prototype was a long time Upperby resident) See how she gets on with her maiden run soon ...

A trio of Iron Minks wait in the siding.

Between the showers a gleam of sunshine catches 5557 as it runs round its train at Stoke Courtenay. (Gleam of sunlight courtesy of the big Velux in the sky.) John C.

A trio of BR black panniers sit in the afternoon sun on a glorious end of winter's day. Left to right we have 1609, 9440 and 9678.

More mundane running (it can't all be 'crack' expresses!) Back at Garsdale, A typical S&C stopping train awaits departure southbound. Loco is a standard Hornby product, acquired second hand. Have done nothing to it so far, apart from a clean up to make the numbers up for now as a layout loco. Of more interest (possibly?) is the rear coach. This is the Roxey Mouldings kit for the D.1778 full brake. In the end, I decided to go for unlined crimson, depicting an older coach, downrated from XP mainline use - effectively NPCCS. Need weathering(!) but otherwise addition of such vehicles appears quite common-place in pictures of these S&C trains so I think it adds a bit of character. Routine addition / detachment of such vehicles is all part of the plan once Carlisle station itself is up and running. Platform end view of arrival in Central, plat.2 And rolling into the main trainshed. Station pilot removes stock and positions in the adjacent centre road ... ... to allow the 5 to back out to the stabling sidings. A gathering of 5MTs! Each needs work doing to it to a greater or lesser extent but they'll have plenty of work on the layout.

Three consecutive days of sunshine mean that the image store is well stocked again, so here is the afternoon KX Goods-Doncaster ECS, booked to stand here for 33 minutes. Well cleaned KX V2 60854 will have a rest while the pilot gets busy with removing and adding stock. Strange light when this was taken, and despite all my efforts I haven't really got the balance as I would like it.

As a result of the edumocation disasters above, I am occasionally rude about teachers on here, and get rightly told off by the various educators on here, so I should say I had two really good teachers in the grammar school, who managed to engage me and got good results. There were 5 horrors for every good one though, including one who would without doubt be locked up nowadays. I don't know why there were so many sarcastic bullies, but things have thankfully changed 'since my day' and the school is an 'Excellent' in Ofsted. The unofficial school old boys website makes guarded comments about that particular teacher, but there were several almost as bad. It was a boys only school in my time, and the so called sex education left us years behind our secondary modern mixed school friends in that area of knowledge! The school here failed my 'adopted later in life daughter' badly, in failing to identify her dyslexia, and she left school with no qualifications. She now has an MA and is a highly respected practitioner in her field. Still mad as a box of frogs though......

Thought I might as well post this as it was in the folder....

Greetings one and all The long awaited double CD finally arrived yesterday morning. I look forward to sitting, relaxing and playing it and who knows, some of that may occur today. As a change I plan to stir-fry some strips of pork into submission for lunch. They were an impulse purchase in the unfamiliar supermarket where I went to top up my reserves of custard powder. To say that one tires of steak amounts to heresy but it does happen. There was more good news yesterday in the form of a trailer on Facebook for an autumn touring performance of Riverdance. Its nearest calling points to me are Cambridge and Milton Keynes. I prefer the latter, which will be at the same theatre where I saw the National Theatre production of War Horse a few years ago. My late father saw a version of Riverdance in Brighton circa 2000, having been sufficiently keen on the idea to travel from Huntingdon by train. Any time I get the idea that I am getting too old to do the things I do I remember him and some of his exploits with just a little inspiration. This morning I learn that the Speaker of the House of Lords, Lord Fowler, is to stand down. He plans to campaign for greater LGBT+ equality around the world, saying that he is "only" 83. Wow! Remind me to look out for a man dressed in full Lords ermine at the head of the parade at Pride in London. Best wishes to all Chris EDIT - I neglected to thank Monkeysarefun for posting the clip of the koala joey. Look no further if anyone is in doubt as to why I am so fond of the delightful creatures!

Odd how we pick up particular foreigna accents. I apparently speak French with a Parisian accent while my German accent was described on one occasion as being Bavarian. (hardly surprising i suppose as i spent several weeks there on a school exchange visit. Best one of all though which I have ever come across was an SNCF Traction Inspector who spoke perfect English - with an accent which Baz in particular would almost find a reminder of home. Apparently as a lad he spent every summer holiday staying with family friends in that part of England and was still visiting them regularly in his working years so had kept up the accent.

A couple from my layout, based in North Devon.

Hello everyone, I too have been AWOL due to [multiple excuses]. It feels like the first day of spring up here. Winter probably hasn’t done with us yet (there was a frost this am and the birdbath lightly frozen over) but the crocuses are out and some other flowers too. At the front (south-facing) it feels warm and no need of coat or hat. By ***** , we need something to lift the spirits. Frantic G-word activity so far this weekend, trying to catch up on/repair a year's neglect is always likely to produce a sweat. If you know of anyone complaining about the gyms being closed in West Yorkshire, point them in my direction, they'll get more exercise and aerobic activity than in any gym - and I'll happily waive subs and attendance fees () Busy week, I'll try and catch up on ERs and other followed threads shortly. It sounds like there's been some reminiscences about schooldays - as the saying goes, I've only just finished therapy for mine. Some (both inmates and warders) were OK, others were psychopathic and/or sadistic and made various people's lives an utter misery. Of some of the former warders, one was killed in a still unsolved hit and run case, one did time for child-abuse, another for ABH and another got convicted for supplying 'exotic substances'. Looking back at my school-life, I now realise just how much psychological damage was done. The numbers of ex-inmates with mental health problems or who came off the rails one way or another is rather above the national average and that's without those who are still too traumatised to speak out. At the risk of sounding commercial/being accused of soliciting, are there any ERs in the West Yorkshire area who could be tempted by free furniture? Beds, desks, sofa, armchair, desk type shelving units, melamine shelving units? Probably to be collected from near Shipley once the current public health issues have eased. I need to create some space fairly urgently, both by disposing of the ex-exhibition trade stock and clearing the bigger items from my mother's house. If I can't find a good home for these, they'll end up being skipped, which would be a real shame. Can I nominate il D for 'quote of the week' for this comment?

Well, if I dumped the nuts and added sultanas and changed the coating from a chocolate glasur to chocolate fingers, then it wouldn’t be a chocolate fruit and nut chocolate bar cake would it? In fact, the base recipe is for an old-fashioned boiled fruitcake with the fruit in the cake being sultanas and raisins (which is very, very good indeed) And one that undoubtably could be made by a bear or a hippo without special equipment or training.... In regards to modifying the base recipe yet again, I think I might go back to the original recipe for the boiled fruitcake, and take it in one direction by adding things like Angelica, candied peel and glacé cherries for a very fruity fruitcake and also take it in a different direction by removing the fruit from the base cake batter and adding loads of assorted nuts, such as walnuts, almonds, macadamia nuts and pistachios for a very nutty nut cake. I will let people know how the clinical trials go. What is it about the BBC and British culture? Britain has a rich and intriguing culture, some of it is relatively new (such as “pop music“ from swinging 60s onwards) and some of it goes back centuries; yet the “trendies” at the BBC can’t seem to accept the fact that certain things just don’t need changing. Whether it is because they think by mucking around with tradition they can “get down wid da kids, innit” (their preferred demographic, even though older generations are the more populous viewing/listening public) or because they truly despise Britain and British culture and wish that they were “sophisticated continentals” (as some so obviously seem to do), is hard to say. Somehow I can’t see the Germans, the French, the Italians or the Austrians (or any other European nation) mucking around with their version of an institution and tradition such as The Last Night of the Proms. I regret to say I am experiencing a frisson of schadenfreude over your mishap with a lemon and chocolate cake. What were you thinking of Andrew? Many things go well with lemon and many things go well with chocolate, but trying to marry chocolate and lemon is akin to trying to marry a Rangers supporter’s boy to a Celtic supporter’ girl! Assuming that lemon-chocolate cakes are sufficiently deterrent for long enough, these may turn out to be a suitably low-tech solution for protecting my stocks of HNW (high net worth) cake. My only concern would be whether or not a lemon-chocolate cake would be considered that as a biological weapon of mass destruction...

Interesting to note how special schools differ from the mainstream. The special school attended by my friends lad has no homework, once they go home thats it. Its more a case of gentle nudges and encouragement and praise. The lad has obviously benefited from it, he has advanced five years in the two and a half years he's been attending the school and would have done even better had it not been for covid. When I used to man the polling booths at elections the polling stations were often on school premises. On one such occasion it was an all girls comprehensive. We had to use one of the pupils toilets, the graffiti was eye opening.

Afternoon all. Just typing this sat in bed after a very rough night. The side effects from the AZ vaccine arrived last night - head ache, chills, sweats and intense tiredness. Despite this no sleep all night, although I managed to grab a couple of hours this morning. I am just starting to feel human again all be it very delicate. On the subject of schools I have a long association with my primary school having also conducted a year of my teacher training and completed my NQT year there. I returned 17 years later for a brief spell after I left Weston but by then the black dog was in control and was on the slippery slope towards exiting the profession. Overall I enjoyed my primary days. It was generally a female dominated staff however the one male teacher had a fierce reputation. There were many of us dreading it when we ended up his class. It turned out he was the best teacher I had. Firm, did not take any messing, but very fair and the nicest man you could meet. The head teacher at the time eventually retired and opened a model shop. He set up the miniature / narrow gauge railway attraction in Devon and, I believe, is still involved with it.

The venerable old photographer Ben Ashworth risks life and limb again to capture more of 9440. His trusted assistant is holding his ladder if you are wondering or worried for him.

Morning all. A more comprehensive update will follow but for now I can confirm that the notice boards are done and ready to go on. Rob.

Morning awl, Female teachers. At primary school it was almost all women apart from two men. One was quite young but a fearsome individual who clearly wanted to be in the army. He shouted a lot (for no good reason), would publicly humiliate any miscreant (no matter how minor the offence) and gave us all a number which had to be written on every exercise book and other pieces of equipment. He even rotated pencils on a weekly basis, so you would gradually work your way up to the best/newest/longest pencil. Although he'd been at the school a few years, I only had him as my teacher for a couple of terms. He left on promotion to another school. At least that's what we were told. Most of us thought it should have been the other way. By the time I got to high school (late 70's/early 80's), female teachers made up at least half of the teaching staff if not more. I remember many of them but two of them stick in my mind. The fake tan, bottle blonde, bottle green tracksuit wearing games teacher who we christened "Farah Fawcett-Kermit". The other was a young and very nice English teacher who was rather well endowed and forgot the affect water has on a white t-shirt when she agreed to participate in the "soak the villain in the stocks" event at the school fete.

Good moaning. It's dry and bright here and a tad warmer. Yesterday, despite bright sunshine we needed the fire lit in the afternoon and I had a fleece and jumper over my shirt when working in the shed. I did eventually get the gate finished and re hung and it looks fine. I jow need to do it's oppo. Today will stsrt with our usual trip to the market then not a lot. I plan to do a little tidying up in the shed and hopefully some modelling but agendas can change as daily orders have not been posted yet. However this is posted for Chris, Sydney Zoo in April 2019. Regards to all. Jamie

Good evening everyone I also went to a boys only school, but it don’t recall and dodgy teachers when I was there. There weren’t many female teacher either, I only remember 1, who was a student and so was very young, quite attractive too I seem to recall, although I was never taught by her myself. By the time I’d got to the 5th year, I too was sick of learning and couldn’t wait to leave. I did my exams, but not all of them and still I walked away with 5 CSE’s and an O level. Once I started my apprenticeship and went to college, I excelled and gained mainly distinctions or merits. My last junior school had a mixed entrance and so we’re the classes, where there were no restrictions as to who you sat next too, although we all had individual desks, the type that had a lift up top and inkwells. But invariably, boys sat with boys and the girls sat with girls. However the playground was diff, that was divided by a white line which separated the girls from the boys and woe betide, any girl or boy who crossed it. I got into trouble several a few times when I crossed ‘just to get my ball’ back! When we moved to Canada in ‘67, I took an autograph book into school and all my class mates signed it. One girl wrote in that book the following message, “if all the girls lived under the sea, what a good swimmer Brian would be”, oooh, if only she knew! Well the removable extension piece to the test track is almost finished, I just need to make a couple of alignment pins and it’s finished. It was at this point that I suddenly thought, I could have made a fixed extension and just made alignment pins for the turntable, Doh! Possibly something to consider later. Aligning the new tracks to those on the turntable were a bit tricky, but with the use of a couple of tracksetta pieces certainly assisted greatly, the tracks line up perfectly.

Afternoon All Sorry but have been AWOL for some time now, due to (insert current excuse here...............................................................................). So it's the usual generic greetings, but I have to also report that 30747 has had an awful reaction to her COVID jab - arm very tender, and almost on her back on Wednesday after getting vaccinated on Tuesday afternoon - and not a whole lot better on Thursday. Went to work on Friday, but really should've stayed at home. Starting to pick up a bit now - must stock up on paracetemol and ibuprofen as she has been consuming a lot more of them than normal - though well within the set down maxima. Finally got round to getting some of the excess items from the doll's house purchase onto Ebay, along with some doubles of railway books that I haven't been able to shift last year at the car boot - some are going to the charity shops, but I have a spare copy of Steam Finale North by Colin T Gifford, which I've just listed - if anybody out there wants a copy, I happen to know that there's one on eBay for fifteen quid - proceeds to my beer and modelling token fund which is sadly depleted due to the doll's house purchase. Back tomorrow? Regards to All Stewart

Ready when you are

Morning, a frosty but sunny start over here, with covid hanging on to ruin our day by the look of it. Morons on line here going on about legally forcing the closing hospitality venues and a circuit breaker lockdown (they have been asked to voluntarily close etc over the weekend) failing to understand that to do so legally means passing emergency legislation - and the necessary folk to produce this are also having their weekend off. Friend Jayne for instance, is the person the reads through such legislation for legal whoopsies after drafting by lawyers (and boy does she find a lot) is walking her dogs in the middle of nowhere so she certainly isn't able to work this morning. We all just are asked to take care and wait developments while voluntarily avoiding contacts...... So next door has just gone shopping with her MiL....#sigh# Makes me mad. Think I'll get the log splitter out and work it off on scrunching wood! Oh, school - hated it, I think because of my last two years in primary when I had the most horrible female teacher (boy did she have a reputation) who ground out any enjoyment of the process of education. What's the opposite of a Mysoginist? She hated boys, it was a mixed class of 42 sat girl/boy in pairs alphabetically. By the time I went to the Grammar school (having being told all the boys would fail the 11 plus by her - but we all passed, unlike her girls!) any thought of engaging with education was beaten. So I bumbled along, occasionally being noticed in sciences as doing little work but producing good exam results, which was due to my personal interests at home. In physics they were making a circuit to make a lamp light, I was making simple transistor speed controllers at home! When I went to college it all changed - good lecturers, enthusiasm, and lots of distinctions followed! And a 2.1 later. And MIMarE, MCIPD, all that guff.....despite school's best failings. I envy those who had good schooling with enthusiastic teachers, I could have achieved so much more. OK, wood, you're in for it now....

Back to some more pannier action as we see 9440 continuing to head west.

I have done some modelling and on that bombshell ! Goodnight.

We’re about 3 hours into a scheduled 8 hour power outage. Judging by the length of it and the significant area affected, I’d guess they’re working on a substation. Plenty of warning, so we’re well prepared. But isn’t it interesting how unthinking you are about electricity being always available? So far, I’ve tried to switch on lights four times, and the TV once.

The evolution of British coal hopper wagons in one picture.... Ashington 1986

Been a busy bee today. Spray painted an object not mentionable, fixed some items which I had serviced, avoided the "G" word.. her indoors reckoned it was too muddy and she didn't want two of use getting all "clarty" My turn to cook tea.. two rump steaks, some morrisons "best" oven chips and garlic mushrooms.. May need a bottle of red to go with it though. Tried contacting @grandadbobbut no response yet.. Hope all is well with him and his family. I still have friends from Infant school - primarily those that went to the same Grammar School My maths teachers at all schools got me into pure maths .. still enjoy solving one or two mathematical puzzles.. Worst teacher? Our German language one at Grammar School.. years later I was given free tuition in German while working on JET. My teacher was a large lady from Berlin.. Hannalore.. who got my German up to speed.. she did say my big problem was "You speak with a Hamburg accent".. not sure if that was a positive things or not.. but the guys I worked with in Bremen could understand my German. Baz

SWMBO suggests that may not have the effect she desires Good after-lunch one and all. A cold grey start has given way to a cold slightly sunny day. It may be time to venture beyond the front door but neither of us is keen. I also have to be home between 3 and 4 to receive the weekly offerings of Ocado. Something went awry in their warehouse overnight - our order has barely half of the items requested today with those missing not substituted. They cannot, surely, be all out of potatoes, wine, milk and other standards. I hopped onto their website and found everything was in stock and was able to place an order for all the missing items for delivery on Wednesday. I then called them. A lovely woman answered on the first ring (and thereby immediately exceeding my expectations) and was both very apologetic and very helpful. There has been, it seems, an up-c0ckage overnight. Every order on "my" van is short about half its items. Helpful woman also mentioned that they normally aim to call customers when more than a couple of items can be neither delivered nor substituted but she acknowledged that I had "beaten them to it" and "would provide feedback" . She went into my account and could see not only that I had successfully ordered all the missing items but also that I had the Wednesday slot. She promptly offered to have them delivered tomorrow afternoon instead. That's something I could not do via the public side of the operation. So full marks for their customer service though a lot of customers in this area are going to be inconvenienced today for some sort of technical reason behind their scenes. SWMBO reported a sore arm during the night after her Government Stabbing but so far that is the only after-effect. We hope that's as bad as it gets and are aware that many people have no ill effects whatsoever while a few have more severe side-effects starting as late as 2-3 days after jabbing. The sun calls. It is time to inspect the green-bladed stuff outside.

Good morning Steve, If ever a model of a particular class needs weathering, it's the A2/2s. As I mentioned, you've really brought yours to life. Your mentioning of the rivet/bolt head detail reaches the conclusion which is, in those respects, that the Hornby model is superior to the DJH kit. The DJH kit is naked at the front end in comparison. I built this from such a kit for a customer, and Geoff Haynes painted it. I built another for the same customer, again with Geoff's painting. The chap really wanted MONS MEG as well, but it would require a different smokebox/boiler/firebox, different footplate and different cab to produce 60504 (and 60503) from the DJH kit (the same for the Hornby models). When I built the 'prototype' for the DJH kit, I included rivet/bolt head/pipework details on the front frames, but this was not perpetuated in the production kits. At least the tender has the lower frontplate. Ian Rathbone painted this one. In tighter, three quarter front shots the lack of detail isn't that apparent, but it still should be there. This is the third DJH A2/2 built of the production batch. I built the first one (60505) for review, the second (60506) for DJH (which they've since sold) and this one (60506) for myself, again painted by Ian Rathbone. It ran originally on Stoke Summit. Who'd have thought that models of Thompson's Pacifics would become available RTR? When I took this shot (at the turn of the century) nobody would ever have believed it. I suppose what's gone now is the 'exclusivity' that the class had in the model form illustrated. Anyone seeing the likes of this at the time (and for over 20 more years) must have known that it was either kit- or scratch-built. The 'God of gaps' I suppose (to quote Richard Dawkins). Regards, Tony.

Lets slow things down and catch the Dean Goods clanking across the viaduct. Must, must get around to doing a transfer for the name stone... Can you remind me please...thanks

Taking a few photos yesterday, I thought this one turned out well. 4680 in the yard

Mooring Awl, inner Temple Hare, Nearly seven hours solid sleep, something to do with physical work and a quantity of red liquid. I should add that with football being like religion, between Rangers and Celtic it is religion. The granddad from Glasgow, wouldn't let a Catholic or Celtic supporter in the house!! I note the latest figures show having just one vaccination jab reduces the chance of hospitalisation by 90% which is good news. Plans for today, Top coat the bits of metal zinc coated yesterday. More shelving, finish yesterday's section and prepare next week's section. And if the rod set arrives, clear the drain, I note the rod set arrived at the Norwich depot at 01:05, I hope we get the delivery early, they often don't get here till after dark, and I'm not playing with open drains in darkness. Brown eyes wants out.. Time to get up.

Bought too many 1:76 caravans? Simple, pop them on a flat wagon. 25 026 on a train of caravans at Dundee 13/6/78 (RCTS) [Never seen pictures of this type of traffic before!]

School friends? Two from primary school with whom I am still in regular contact. We remained friends through all the different schools, colleges, universities, nations, careers and partners we have gone through in that time. One is on his third marriage and generously invited me to be his Best Man at all three (!!). For the third occasion I was living in Australia. When he called to ask, expecting a negative response, he later told me he had to pick himself up off the floor when my reply was “of course”. By sheer good fortune his big day was the Saturday following my parents Diamond Wedding. I had already booked my trip over and would be in the country anyway. The opening of my speech at his wedding was to thank him for 50 years of friendship. The other long-time friend has been through divorce, lost a son to overdose, lost a house to fire and has only just avoided losing her marbles. She has called upon my friendship in many times of need and has always been offered support, care and what ever I could offer. I didn’t make any friendshipd through grammar school which survived the transition to university / work / unemployment. Given the environment at that place I am probably not surprised.

Bear can challenge with a 25 yards swimming certificate...... Bear's primary school days were fun - wish I could shrink and go do it again, with the same friends (all of whom I've long lost contact with ). All teachers female, apart from Mr. Blake (crafty type; his wife used to help out and she was a bit of a dragon IIRC) and Mr. Rees (sporty type). All female teachers were fine, apart from Mrs Scott - you didn't want to get on the wrong side of her. I still recall many cakes later an incident where she asked Bear to pass her a pair of scissors, so I did - pointy end first; boy did she let me have it. I'd never been taught differently (I was probably only 6 at the time) so it's her fault, not mine - right? Secondary school? Not fun, from start to finish. May Bear also suggest the following ideas: 1. Some Charities welcome furniture, and will collect (I believe British Heart Foundation is one, and has specialist furniture shops accordingly. Any upholstered items need a fire label though, and certain leccy (and gas) items are a no-no. Other shops will take leccy items as they have arrangements for PAT testing. 2. List items on ebay for a 99p start price and see what happens..... 3. Offer for free on Freecycle (now Freegle). It'll keep them out of landfill and give them some more useful life with luck, and may with luck raise money too. Bear's ceiling is painted Also the sellotape used to mask and protect the new window frame from risk of scratches during plastering was removed. It was applied in four pieces, and removed in 15,684 pieces - effin' piggin' soddin' stuff.... Need to ponder the next stage now - the Floor tiler arrives 2 weeks tomorrow; I still have to remove the old stick-on floor tiles, though indications so far suggest that these should fall off easily. I may live to regret that statement. I also have a bathroom doorframe to paint - at least in part, an Alarm sensor to refit, some papering of walls, some stripping of paint from pipework, a lump of kitchen worktop to cut..... I guess that should keep me busy until tomorrow lunchtime

The lawn got its first cut, it really was to wet and long, and so was hard work, but it's done now, and looks a lot better for it. Never did like Gardening either, but LOVE to see a nice garden.

Cue sound of bears and hippos running in the opposite direction.

Morning all, Weather reasonable but currently high cloud although it's forecast to break up and allow a sight of the sun for several hours. In a touch of genius I have fired up Radio Garden so currently have 'The Archers' on the 'puter - nice way to spend Sunday morning. Back to schools. The infants school was 100% female teachers but boys and girls were pretty thoroughly mixed - only one gate for the pupils and only one playground. Just the same at junior school although there the teaching staff were predominantly male and rather nicely during the couple of terms my mum was supply teaching there I had no aggro from anybody although she was teaching the other class for our age group. Grammar school was, as mentioned previously, rather more segregated during the lunch hour although a little more mixed in just one area during the breaks. Staff was fairly mixd with several very attractive females to hold the attention of hormonal teenage males. Our games field was (and is) of a decent size so in winter the hockey pitch and rugby pitch didn't need to intrude on the cricket square or where of where the running track went in summer. So boys and girls were within reasonable distance of each other although the tennis courts - 100% for the girls - were all separate, on the other side of the main building. There were a few mixed hockey matches for the 6th form including an annual pupils vs the staff match - which tended to get rather rough. The CCF of course, being the 1960s, was very definitely not mixed but was good fun for all that ex spevcially for the 6th form as a couple of events involved considerable alcohol consumption. At about the time I arrived a new building containing the main hall, kitchen, and canteen area opened with the games changing rooms underneath. There were high level ventilation grills between the two lots of changing rooms so very quickly metalwork started to get bent with the idea that someone standing on somebody else's shoulders/back could see through to the other sides. Now the interesting thing about that was that when plays were put on only the girls changing rooms were used - for both boys and girls although unlike the boys side they were partitioned into cubicles big enough for 4 or 5 people to change at once but still not entirely private - yes, plays were fun. But the real eye opener was that there were far more bent pieces, and worse, in the ventilation grills on the girls' side than there were on the boys' side. Appalling music at the end of 'The Archers' - some BBC trendy needs to be shot - slowly, in numerous places starting with the knee caps. Have a good day folks and stay clear of the lemmings

Dump the nuts and add Sultanas instead, and surround the outside with a wall of Cadburys Milk Choccy Fingerss standing vertically. Even better, dump the choccy and use sticky lemon icing instead.... Bear is down to his very last Lemon Bakewell, with no sign of any Jaffa Cakes either. There's is one sole remaining Treacle Sponge though, in the emergency rations. After that it's biscuits or now't, although ice cream still exists, as does packets of strawberry jelly and various tinned fruit (peaches or pineapple). Yesterday involved painting the kitchen ceiling - a second coat will take place this morning. Also lots of "figuring out" the best way of wallpapering the walls - which widths go where, and when (i.e. before or after the kitchen units) - as well as pondering cunning plans regarding the best way to wallpaper before the tile splashbacks are applied. Still pondering.