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“I know where I can get an(other) engine, any time I want” – from Rapido Trains! Rapido Trains are excited to announce we have signed the world-wide exclusive rights to manufacture a range of models to celebrate the 70th Anniversary of the iconic film ‘The Titfield Thunderbolt’ in 2023. The range will feature a host of highly detailed new models of some of the favourite vehicles from the film alongside the historic liveries they wore outside the film. Full details of the range will be announced on Thursday 1st April at 12:00.

And finally we stop by the wasteland and have a last look back before we and 4825 depart.

Mostly Penrith today plus one landscape at Clifton, south of Penrith lookimg towards the site of the NER station. Links to sites about Clifton Moor station: http://www.cumbria-railways.co.uk/stainmore_clifton.html http://disused-stations.org.uk/c/clifton_moor/index.shtml Penrith 2 Class 86s up freightliner March 93 J13717.jpg Penrith 87025 Euston to Gasgow C March 93 J13719.jpg Penrith HST up Dorset Scot March 93 J13716.jpg Penrith March 93 J13739.jpg Clifton view to old NER station 29th March 94 C19368.jpg David

Then walking across the potato field, being carefully of course on not treading on any plants, we cast our eye (and camera) back to the railway and peer over the hedge.

Waiting to start the days local service, 4825 and her trusted auto-trailer.

Just thought that you would like to know that our shipment has arrived in port, just waiting for customs to clear it now. No, we don't know the name of the HMRC customs officer who will sign off on the shipment. Keith

Evening all and I hope today finds you well. Yes I did catch the Harry Hewitt and Megan interview although not by choice. Sarah decided to forego the football on Sky to watch it - come on, own up, who has pinched my wife?? Am I going to offer my thoughts on it? No! I won’t waste my time. Amber has returned to school today. This morning seemed stressful. I think she had mixed feelings but was looking forward to seeing her friends again. With Sarah at work, there was some time for quiet this morning although much of it was spent marking yet more dreadful assignments. After lunch I headed up to the shop to collect the items sold over the weekend so that the could be packed and sent out. I arrived to find the place in chaos. Workmen are renovating some of the properties in the centre, creating two new holiday lets. They are also completing the renovations to the cafe in the yard. Their supplies of floorboards had just been dumped across the front of my shop door. When I enquired to the workmen how I was supposed to get in the shop I was greeted with a vacant smile and a shrug of the shoulders. They soon moved them when I climbed onto the pile and walked across so that I could unlock the shop and go in. I returned from the shop around 3pm. It proved to be a bad move with school traffic resulting in a much longer journey. I have not seen things this bad in twelve months (even when the schools were open). Stay safe. Andy

For as long as I can remember, I've been a fan of large loco's, but something happened this morning that threw me. I found this J36 tucked in the bottom of a box and it was love at first sight. I couldn't believe just how attractive this small Hornby loco was, but sadly that was short lived once plonked on my programming track. On DCC it just buzzed for a second and then cut out my ECoS. OK, perhaps I hadn't fitted a decoder, so connected to DC and nothing. Out came the meter and somehow or other there was a dead short. Bear in mind this hadn't been out of the box before, so not a great start. The 8 pin blanking plug had its own small pcb on the back of the plug which included a couple of surface mount components. There appeared to be continuity where there shouldn't, but once removed from the socket, all was OK. The problem would seem to be in this new style of 8 pin plug. Once all that was removed and a Zimo fitted, all was well. Pick ups on all wheels and it runs like silk. The cab backplate is beautifully detailed and once close coupled, it moved off easily with 20 wagons, way over its expected load. I know RTR has come a long way, but this has to be one of the best runners I have ever seen. Shame about the initial short, but easily fixed. I also know it's way out of my area, but Rule 1 applies and I could watch this one for hours.

Morning, from a slightly overcast Fraggle Rock, that does not have an Ikea. There's a hint of brightness to the east, so either the cloud is breaking, or Sellafield has gone up. The day is predicted to get very draughty later (not the omeprazole although that doesn't help) and again tomorrow evening with damaging gales up to 60 mph. Nothing new there then. We didn't watch the Oprah thing, but did discuss Harry's, er, genetic background. We came to the conclusion he did look quite like his Great Grandfather in some shots, so maybe the hair was just very, very coincidental. Maybe. It turns out Mrs NHN's new office is shared with the permanent way manager for all IoM Railways, he was very pleased, and rather surprised, to find she knew quite a bit about track!

Mooring Awl, Inner Temple Hare, 3.5 hours sleep. long break being bored by the whingers on every news channel before it finally sent me to sleep. Then 3 hours sleep. Ben the reluctant Collie came out followed me to the Landrover and gave me the can I come routine..he then needed encouragement to go for his patrol. when he did he was happy, till a pheasant squawked . Then started running to the house, caught a wiff of something interesting and investigated that before heading for the house. Land rover? yep the seaweed inspectors got it wrong yesterday and it was chucking it down when I left work. So it was Tes and cos prescription pickup from the surgery and then home. I'll try again for more MDF as they are claiming it's be sunny this afternoon . Hmm, I've removed 8 inch floppy disks, to replace them with 5 1/4 inch disks, and 5MB Winchesters with 10MB Winchesters.. Also worked on Drum drives 4ft tall multiple fixed heads on a magnetic film covered drum of about 15 inches in diameter. I've changed Core Stores, ferrite rings with a cross of wire through then each storing a "bit", 128K of them in a surprisingly small block. I've still got a 5 1/4 floppy, it was working when it got parked.. it was used to run MSDOS on a Sinclair QL which is also parked with it.. I got home to mud everywhere, in the road that is, they are ploughing the field just before our place and beet picking the other side of our place, which involves them going past the house to the concrete pan to deposit the pickings.. When the wind is right I can drop a dead tree into the field they have picked from, however I think the wind is in the wrong direction this weekend , it's towards the shed for an unmentionable hobby. I'm currently waiting for the first major system to be handed back, they needed it for an overnight run, they're just doing the fiddly bits at the end, which require lots of lead changes. Time to.. go see if they've finished yet..

Ey up! Our committee meeting last night went well. I now have a long list of things to do and a large article for our Newsletter to compile before sending it off today. HMRC has delivered a sum of dosh in the form of gift aid to the society. Now to organise getting the club room open. In other news, I must go out to buy some paint today, check the clubrooms, do some of the "G" word so it will be a busy day. Have as good a day as you can Baz

Morning All, A trip to the dentist awaits at 09:30 (scheduled for this evening, it was brought forward by a phone call from the dentist’s admin asking if I could come earlier). I tend to be relaxed about dental work and, once the local anaesthetic has been given, will happily drift off to sleep. Yesterday, I spent the evening killing punks and lowlifes in Cyberpunk 2077 - which was infinitely more rewarding than watching an incredibly rich, self-centred couple - living in luxurious splendour - moan about how hard-done-by they are. Whether you are a Royalist or a Roundhead, I think it’s worth remembering that in the UK, the military, the police (correct me if I’m wrong, Jamie) and many other important civil functions swear allegiance to the Crown, not the government: which is a Sword of Damocles hanging over every government’s head. As, in theory at least, the crown can, in extremis, dissolve parliament. An advantage, I would argue, over an elected or appointed head of state. Something to ponder over. I’m wondering if I made a mistake in getting the entry level Fender Tele instead of the Squier Classic Vibe Telecaster 50s - which I also tried out. The difference between the two in playability was minimal, with the Squier perhaps having a very slight edge. Still, once I get the Fender’s set up tweaked, I should be OK. Still, a bit annoying that even a quality brand like Fender still needs a set up “out-of-the-box” (in comparison: the David Gilmour Custom Shop Signature Strat was set up beautifully straight out-of-the-box [mind you, the DG strat cost a lot, lot, more than the entry level tele]). Some guitarists are very scathing about Custom Shop Signature models, but the way I look at it, I know it won’t make me play and sound like DG, but it does allow me to get a vintage quality instrument with great tonewoods etc. at a fraction of the price of what a real vintage guitar would cost. Enjoy the day iD

Greetings one and all There was no escaping that interview yesterday. Clearly the young Duke and Duchess have been in more than a little distress and far be it from me of all people to pour scorn on anyone in such a situation. Where mental health issues are concerned, it is OK to be not OK and the last thing anyone in that position should do is suffer in silence. As some know, I have had my own difficulties with mental health. I felt ashamed to be asking for help but soon learned that I was wrong to feel that way. However, there are ways and ways of asking for help. The way that Harry and Meghan have chosen has more than a touch of washing dirty linen in public and is, I fear, unlikely to lead to happier lives for either of them. They may have been paid handsomely for the interview but money isn’t everything. Today I am to be visited by a representative of the Fire and Rescue service, bringing gifts in the form of smoke detectors. Her confirmatory e-mail is headed “Safe and Well visit” so I wonder what else she has in mind. Best wishes to all Chris

Good evening everyone I’ve been quite busy in the office in the cellar today and I’m pleased to say that I’ve finished Sheila’s card, it didn’t take as long as I thought. It’s been printed off and is sat in a drawer drying off. However, I did hit a bit of a snag, as the card I was going to use, was too thick to go through the printer. So I ended up printing the design on a piece of plain paper, cutting out the front design and gluing that to the front of the card. I then printed off the verse on a second piece of paper, folding that in half and then gluing that to the inside of the card along the fold. So it now resembles a very thin book, but I’m pleased with it, hopefully, so will Sheila. In between the periods where I was waiting for the ink to dry, I did a bit more work on the TPO decals. After tea, I completed the weekly Sainsbury’s Grand Prix. It was very quiet, which now seems to be the norm and thankfully the shelves seem to be well stocked too, so all the items missing on the shopping list were acquired. This evening, Sheila asked when my next appointment was for a blood test at ‘The Christie’. I thought it was next week, but I couldn’t remember the time, so I got the letter with my date and times on and checked, it was a bl00dy good job I’d did, because my appointment is this Wednesday, my phone consultation is next week.

Happy birthday @jonny777 Moaning! Yesterday, the news of the "ideal car" wasn't good. It was scheduled for servicing as they had seen some issues with the charging circuit - a particular problem you DON'T want for a Hybrid! Turns out there are more issues/problems that have surfaced, and they're not recommending purchasing that vehicle. The GOOD news is that they've got another, very similar vehicle, same year 2019, 4,000 more miles (still only 25,000) and actually one trim level HIGHER than the one we were interested in, for the same price. This adds A/C seats as well as heated and a heated steering wheel - both EXCPETIONALLY desirable here due to the weather extremes, and a high end Sony sound system, seems like a reasonable "trade off" for 4,000 more miles. Needs to be transported from another of the dealers locations, so not sure when we'll get to see it, couple of days at most hopefully. Meanwhile, we continue with a rental car... Otherwise, yesterday uneventful, Meagan and their two dogs came over and the Mrs and Whitney all went for a walk, becoming a regular Monday occurrence, they all like. The evening saw us "study" for our murder mystery. With Jemma home over the weekend we postponed our weekly Zoom dinner/murder solving with our friends until tonight. Think we have a firm idea as to who else is going to be dropped as a suspect, just need to confirm tonight with our companion investigators 5 and partly sunny first thing, expected to reach 16 later Enjoy the day.

The news in the local paper is all the Secondary schools (5) within 10 Miles of my house have tested 100% negative for the virus.. and 68 of the 125 Areas in Norfolk and Waveney have no reported Virus cases ,, Including mine

@jonny777 happy birthday! Another job has been added to my list.. go to the butchers for some supplies. Better get a move on then... Baz

Another sunny morning in North Somerset. In weather terms my birthday is not usually as nice as this. I have sealed the water butt as best I can, and now all I have to do is wait for rain and monitor for leaks (story of my later life really). Cake making will commence later this morning, and I hope to produce my own chinese prawn dumplings this afternoon. A few glasses of sherbert, and that will complete the day.

On-hire from the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway to cover for the absence of the firms usual Andrew Barclay, ex-L&Y 'Pug' 51218 shunts the loading dock at 'A' Shop, Spon Lane, one misty October night in the early 1970's. (Yes, Spon Lane diorama again, but at least a different angle this time. Need to get around to building a full layout! And at least the KWVR's Pug being hired out to an industrial customer has some basis in reality from the time.)

Yes, I swore allegiance to HM the Q and was very glad if that fact. I believe that the armed firces in the UK swear allegiance to HM and her ministers. I was very glad on occasions that I could happily turn round and say No to certain politicians. No one in this household watched the interview, thank goodness and I will make no more comnent on it. We are due to finally get Beth's inherited furniture delivered next week. The upshot of this was that space has to be made in our sitting room for a couple of items. Thus yesterday was spent rearranging the room and then demolishing the built in TV stand in the corner. This also involved a trip to the tip with yhe 3 seater settee.that xaused much amusement at the tip as the attendant tried, in a joking way, to offload the three seating units to some council employees. Needless to say, not a lot else got done but I believe that brownie points were earned. I did hiwever manage to scan another 150 slides by changing slide masks on every visit to the shed. Just about 200 to go. Muscles ached by the end of work after uding a jemmy to take some bits of wood off the wall. Today the fire has been lit. A touch of David Jason is visible on the grass outside and the temperature was -3 when I wentbout to hang the bread bag on the gatepost. Supermarket this morning then The Danglies this afternoon as Beth has got an ultrasound booked on her elbow. Mentioning hanging, the bird house has now been viewed several times by various small birds. Whether a tenancy is in the offing is still up in the air. Regards to all. Jamie

There was a note today that the under-80s could now register for the jab. So I got on and everything seemed to work until the end of SWMBO's acceptance where it said "over 80 or indigenous". I had fixed it when I started mine, but not sure if it changed or not. Phoned the people and and nice lady called back and seemed to say (I didn't talk to her) that we were all right. Now just have to wait for them to acquire some vaccine.

Evening all! Tony kindly suggested I post this in his thread, after I showed it him in an email. Recently finished this Hornby B1 for a client. Renumbered (and now named) as Doncaster's 61003 'Gazelle'. Depicted in its last years of work (working form a photo of her sister 61016 'Inyala'.) Did my own motivation and confidence a lot of good.

Afternoon all. Been a weird few days... The person who I worked with (on a temporary basis) just so happened to be off sick the last two days. We have a meeting later this week, which I'm not sure why as we're very unlikely to be working together for an extended period of time any more. But there's a whole load of swaps going on around the office, which may force us to work together again in the future. Clear rules will have to exist before I somewhat agree. Not sure yet. Ultimately, I'll be working in a different venue anyway. However today I picked up a ride-on train for Master Topham Hatt. He very much enjoyed being pushed around in a box the other day and the little bit of experience on a ride-on police car (that you push with your legs), he really enjoyed that but it's a little too big for him. The train comes with track and a handle to GO or STOP. Hope he won't be too scared of it but £35 (like-new) for something that is £140 new, not bad. Previous owner was scared of it, hence sold on. I also managed to fill in the wall nicely to re-hang (?) a shelf. Only for the next shelf down to need some work! Tut. I hate DIY, especially the simple things like drilling and putting up shelves. I guess I'm more technical and much more at home with computers. Just ordered myself a Hatton's 66 too. Chip + speaker, plus chips and speakers for another train are on their way - loads of expensive post hopefully arriving this week.

Had to smile last night, got a surprise visit from one of my neighbours from along the road asking if I knew where the owner of a long wheelbase van parked recently parked outside his house lived. The road where I live is (as explained in the estate agents blurb for a house for sale opposite me) a quiet residential road tucked away from the main roads but within easy distance to the train stations and seafront. Being within easy distance to one of the stations has its problems one of which surfaced once the high speed service to St. Pancras started and the local council established residents parking zone (no parking for a couple of hours in the morning) in the roads adjacent to the station. As time went on the zone was extended and now starts at the end of my road. As soon as that happened we got daytime parkers (wanting to avoid the expensive parking charges at the station) at my end of the road. The inconvenience is something that we, at my end of the road, have grown to accept. The only solution to this problem is to get to get the parking zone extended to include the road for which you need more than 50% of the residents to agree to the extension of the zone but as the road (which used to be a cul-de-sac) is made up of large houses at one end and chalet bungalows (at my end) we could never get more than 50% to agree to the change. The pandemic and resulting decline in daytime workers travelling to London meant that the daytime parkers disappeared but, more recently, we have gained a long term 24 hour overnight/daytime parker in the form of the big long wheelbase white van which parked itself outside my front door. I managed to speak with the owner (who lives somewhere in the parking zone) later and asked her if she could move her van a few feet so that it gets hidden behind my hydrangea bushes and I can't see it most of the time. She agreed and that was that. Over the weekend the van disappeared and reappeared a couple of days later parked outside one of the large houses at the other end of the road. Interesting, I thought....... The guy who turned up last night was one of those who did not agree to the extension of the parking zone and was looking for the owner to get them to move the van although he had no right to insist that she moved the van as it was parked on a public road causing no obstruction. He got quite aggressive when I told him that it's something we have to live with. I notice that today the van is still parked outside his house. Be interesting to see how long it stays there, made my day!! Keith

Morning all. Sunny here., clear blue sky. The forecast is a bit stormy though. I finish the antibiotics today and have to phone the dentist tomorrow to,see how he intends to proceed with the tooth extraction. Not eating dairy products(apart from yoghurt) and bread seems to have stopped the unfortunate side effects of the tablets. Dal and rice again for lunch and dinner today but as a special treat it will be a different colour dal. Tony

Really glad the site's getting the thumbs up. I'm still developing some of the content, so things are still likely to change and there'll be a few more hiccups yet, but it's getting there. One of the main aims (other than online shop) was to present the info on gears, motors and CSBs in a clear and easy-to-follow format. One major problem is that the a mail is not working properly. This will no doubt be causing some customers considerable frustration, thinking they're being ignored. I'm trying to sort the mails problem out. We are trying to use this down-time productively so will be re-ordering stock so when we are no longer furloughed we can bounce back and supply all products. Some products may have to be suspended if they take specific motors which we no have. I plan to re-design the motor bogies although I still carry reasonable stocks of 1420s so they'll keep the Lo/Long riders going for a bit. The J50 was just about finished so that won't be long in coming out and I have a Hattons' Barclay in pieces but won't be able to drop back onto that job until I can get the shop side of things running smoothly. Please browse the site the info on it. You can download any of the instructions as PDFs. More later. Chris.

@grandadbob is having a good break from here, so if you look in, we do miss you Bob.

Bear did watch the interview, though missed the first ten minutes and attention in latter stages did wander a little at times. It did sound that help had been sought at times, to no effect. However, if Bear were in a similar situation (unlikely, as Bear doesn't fancy Harry one bit, Prince or no Prince ) then if I were told "You can't do that" or that as I wasn't on the payroll (and therefore not an "employee" and not covered) then Bear's response would be "can I not?" and go do it anyway. Let's face it, going "private" and funding it certainly wouldn't be an issue. One thing I did find somewhat concerning is the withdrawal of protection/security; as Harry stated, he was born into it and didn't choose it. Perhaps the Palace may have cause to regret that decision should Harry be kidnapped (or worse), being the future King's son and Queen's Grandson. One explanation for some of the apparent (I use that term, as we've only heard from the Prosecution and not the Defence) treatment is that the Palace has a Human Resources Department. Say no more. Should @Erichill16 keep his head down, one wonders? In other news: Bear notes that the Lawyer for Anne Sacoolas (suspect in the death of Harry Dunn, by allegedly driving on the wrong side of the road, and then doing a runner back to the USA to escape justice) has come out with the following: Speaking to Joshua Rozenberg, for BBC Radio 4's Law in Action, Ms Jeffress said they had been trying to resolve the case in a way that would not involve Mrs Sacoolas's return to the UK. Ms Jeffress said: "We understand that community service is a typical sentence for offences like this. "We have offered ever since over a year ago that she would be willing to serve that kind of a sentence and to make a contribution in Harry's memory, to take other steps to try to bring some peace to the family." Not sure Harry's parents will be happy for AS to do a few weeks' of litter picking, followed by a bunce to pay them off somehow. Bear got up this morning to find that the lining paper previously stuck to the wall yesterday was....still stuck to the wall Always a good sign; clever stuff, glue. Now if the paint has dried, and without runs, sags, brush hairs, bits of cr@p stuck to it or brush marks then Bear will really be on a roll. Right, look out lining paper, here comes Bear..... On a downside, the Goober Engineer (aka Dentist) has chased Bear up for a second time as being due for a check-up, Bvgger. S'pose I'd better not ignore it this time, as I've a feeling he may have a policy of striking you off the books if you repeatedly ignore such summonses. I guess he has a Mortgage to pay, just like everyone else. Bear did ask him several years ago how many Implants (of the dental variety) he'd done (Bear was in the chair, about to be the next victim). "Over a thousand", came the reply. Bear responded with "Jeez, that's two million quid's worth!". At that point I've a feeling he regretted revealing that little nugget of information, whilst the dental nurses assisting may well have been considering asking for rises. Bear's final comment to him was "OK, ready when you are, Doctor Doooom.....". The room cracked up.

Evening. Yes Bear, a Fraggle....and you can't tell them anything....those argumentative Celts Gwiwer was talking about! 500 cases now. Its out of the box. NHN was OIC Wallpaper in our old gaff, and what a task it was with 10 foot ceilings, thankfully this one is paint only, which leaves it to Mrs NHN as I'm not allowed to paint, I make a mess apparently. Shame.... Fish n chippy night, socially distanced queue at the side window, well organised. Yummy too, enjoyed them, but the view was somewhat compromised by it hissing down and blowing a hoolie.

I chose not announce when my birthday was this year, shame that paranoia over having your details hijacked has come this eh? Maybe I have become a tad over careful, but I've removed my date of birth from everywhere I can online just in case, probably wouldn't stop anyone, but might slow them down a bit..............................not that I've got any money SWMBO has spent it all.

A'noon. 2 miles toddle around the village revealed most folk wearing masks, only defaulters were older folk. They will have been jabbed so probably consider themselves immune, little do they know! CV19 has got a hold here this time, with 400 now infected, the Kent variant (thanks, Lurker!) proving as virulent as they thought. All from one ferry crew member....and some late decisions from the Chief Fraggle and his cabinet. They almost got away with it. A boring day otherwise, househusband stuff again. Wind getting up now, externally, a couple of jobs in the garden halted as although 11c, it feels far, far less.

On that point we may surely agree A happy birthday to @jonny777 A Happy Cheeseday to the rest of us. Today's cheese is Baron Bigod which has been enjoyed with bacon, cranberry and salad leaves for lunch. The House of Fun was not. I had barely left the shower when the work-phone pinged. That is seldom good news. Waterloo station was closed due to over-running ginger-beering works and other problems existed at Wimbledon. My train to work would not run. Neither would my Plan B from the Full Well. Plan C was the later train which would have me arrive only 10 minutes late but looking at the messages it seemed this was also likely to be a non-starter. Plan D is use the bus but those are currently running at or somewhat above Covid capacity at the required hour and I couldn't chance being left behind. Enter Plan E; I have never got as far as a Plan E before but I checked the cost of an Uber ride and the potential availability. The app suggested around £20 and arrival in good time to sign on. Then the Plan C train started on time and Plans D and E were no longer required. During the course of the morning we managed dogs on the line at Berrylands, emergency line-blocks at Wimbledon (for the engineers to go in and check what they had very hastily left earlier) and a bridge strike at Honiton. All in a day's work. And we are also more than somewhat busier than has been the case for year now. More people apparently going to or from work, the school run, those freed by having kids at school just going somewhere (whether or not they strictly should have been isn't my business) and a small but noticeable number with large travel bags coming from or going to somewhere else. And there was Ms. Shouty-pants. An altercation had broken out between two mask-wearing cycle-owning passengers and two very vocal females sporting chin-protectors. It seemed the two females had taken exception to the others bringing bikes onto the train (which is no problem currently - bike restrictions at peak times are suspended) and the cyclists objected to the women failing to wear their masks correctly and attempting to photograph them for what ever reason whilst using some fairly choice language. One of the two women quietly sat down when staff boarded the train to resolve the problem. The other launched into an extremely loud, abusive rant in mixed English and Italian and came within a whisker of being removed and continuing her journey under blue lights. Intolerance has been an intermittent "thing" and as more people come back into the system I suspect we are going to see more of it. We didn't see the M+H Show last night and frankly have no interest. They have made their stand and said their piece. Let those involved sort out what needs to be sorted. The rest of the world doesn't need to know Chapter and Verse. Perhaps a little of it is in the wider public interest. If you have the sun as we do enjoy it. Tomorrow's forecast is both dire and bolical. Wind. Rain. Disruption. Yellow warnings. March coming in like a lion a little late perhaps?

Morning all, Happy birthday Johnny and many more of them. Not sure what weather you've arranged for yourself but we have bright sinshine - just to lure us into a false state of security before tomorrow's heavy rain. Having no wish to purchase a new tv set we avoided the Oprah crocodile tears, lies. and hypocrisy. Show where - from what I've heard of it - any lack of balance and facts was well absent. I'd like to hear John Humphries interviewing the runaways and asking them, among other things, why they rejected the offer of a private life on an estate in Herefordshire 9no doubt complete with normal Royal protection when they were saying that all they wanted was privacy? Despite all the nonsense coming frm the runaways I remain a firm believer in a constitutional monarchy to the UK pattern as a trail of Presidents around the world have shown just how bad that way of appointing a head of state can be. I have very mixed views an bout the House of Lords but it does have one benefit that some of its members need have no political allegiance. But a partially elected house wouldn't be a bad idea with a good compromise model being that all the politically nominated members should be subject to election but not the whole house and with a fixed limit on the size of the house. Anyway back to earth and - yet again no major or minor plans for today. The GD has returned this morning, with her colleagues, to an orthopaedic ward at the Nuffield but they are currently working on the other ward there as their own has not yet reopened - so presumably the surgeons are not yet back to full speed on elective work. When she finished her night shift on Saturday morning there were only four Covid patients remaining on the last high dependency ward at the Radcliffe. Have a good day one and all and stay safe PS. Just called the surgery to book an appointment with the Good Count's daughter for the 23rd. Long wait for the call to be answered but I got the time I asked for plus the blood taker I specifically asked for; receptionist duly and profusely thanked.,

@jonny777 Happy Birthday. Did not watch 'the show' last night but SWMBO says that Markle comes across as a very controlling person and this morning stated that her father seemed sad and had said that she had basically cut off ties with both sides the family. Guitars, giggs and food I really know nothing about so cannot comment on them. Second house - must really never be elected as it would then become no different from the HoC. It has its downsides but generally when it really matters it is willing to vote against the incumbent government, something that a politically elected chamber would probably not do. Recent history seems to show that many 'elected' heads of state do their own thing, 'rig' elections or go 'one party' and yet call themselves democratic 'ebagam' being a prime example of one whose 'opponents' seemed to not live too long from various 'accidents' just happening. Local radio says that our area is currently the worst in the country for Covid-19 infections. The bright sunny morning means that SWMBO wants weeding carried out ...

I had two goes at this portrait of the Claud on its way out, and down to East. But I'm not really very happy with either of them.

Greetings all from Sidcup where the sun is streaming in through the windows with such intensity that I have had to close one of the curtains so that I can see this screen. A shame really as rain is forecast for tomorrow. The schools are slowly returning round here. The primary children were not all in yesterday but were today; Younger Lurker goes in for a covid-19 test tomorrow; and the dancing girls are back! These are the students from the two dance/theatre colleges in town, Bird College and Rose Bruford. They're not all dancing girls, some of them are dancing boys, and judging by the shape of some of the girls, they're studying something other than dance. In happier times, if you got a train back from town in the evening after a night in the pub, you'd often be "treated" to a re-run of the musical they'd all just been to see. Right, I had better get on with some more work. Have a good day all

And some from today, got a call asking if I could come in early Tuesday instead of late Monday as my job was cancelled and move a couple of locos The locos being these so I prepped them and headed off Leicester LIP for derby close up of the delner coupling on the 47 permissive working in the station at derby into chaddesden to change ends I then went into litchurch lane to pick up an anglia 720 unit and dragged it back out top and tail into the station with the 56 leading The relief driver then took it to Wembley via the MML and Bletchley to Wembley i then went home to crewe where just as I arrived 37800 came through the platform dragging a 365 unit for store in the south yard back in tomorrow morning crewe to rugby with a Stone train then rail milling again late tomorrow evening

Back from the trek across the city to Monk Bar Models to pick up Sun Castle from their 'click and collect'; here's a few quick pictures. All seems to be intact, and the fit of the parts is good, including in the firebox / cab / running plate area, and the running plate seems to be straight. I was impressed to see the the extended front lamp irons of the design which allowed for electric lighting, which this loco carried although it wasn't fitted with electric lighting. There is also a representation of the conduit for the AWS along the driver's side footplate edge, which I added to Thane of Fife using thin wire! The first photo is taken in daylight with no adjustment, in the spare bedroom alongside 60049 which is a few years old but hasn't been weathered or anything. The next ones are taken in electric light on the layout; the first isn't very sharp: This last one is a close up of the front end and has been lightened to try and bring out some of the detail.

More on the J3................... There's something about a brass loco............................

Set against the garden railway it definitely looks like a scene from Day Of The Triffids.. Boasting or complaining, Herr Bach? And going beyond tape storage, does anyone remember the MiniDisc? It was supposed to be much better than all the other forms of computer (and music) data media then available. Then along came USB flash drives/memory sticks... I wonder if this was another VHS vs Betamax technology moment? That reminds me about a scene from one of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld books that featured the Ankh-Mopork City Watch: when being sworn in, the recruits were given The King’s Shilling on a string to hold - the string being so that the shilling wouldn’t get nicked. Terry Pratchett also noted that Sgt Fred Colon would lean on old lags and old coppers for information - sometimes both being the one and the same person! Good old TP, sorely missed. I have mixed feelings about this. In theory, at least, a second house that is full of people appointed through service to the country would not owe their allegiance to any particular government nor would they need to consider whether or not a decision - made according to conscience - would impact on their re-election chances. And thus be able to hold any elected lower chamber to account. The reality, of course, is very different. Dentist visit went well: the dentist was pleased with the outcome (but back in 2 weeks for further work ). I now have a hole in my head, so-to-speak (no comments from the peanut gallery, please) and feeling slightly under-par. This too shall pass.... Happy Toosday, folks! iD

Don't mix the ingredients up. Prawn cake.... Bear notes that Covid testing for pupils is voluntary, so if little Tarquin (other names are available) doesn't like it then he doesn't have to do it. Makes sense... Right, where's the glue?

Morning one and all, from a sunny (!) Kernow. Il D...... yes indeed they are......"A Constable, is a citizen, locally appointed who's authority is derived from the Crown." I also took the Queens shilling ( not that I got one mind you). If you want to know about the 'real' royal family....... ask one of the protection officers. Lots could be told, if only they were allowed to but the threat of the Officl Secrets act hangs over like the sword of Damocles. I joined up a sworn and avid Royalist. My own experiences now lead me to republicanism, but then I'm a Celt ( correct spelling) and we are known to be rebellious

Not sure if this is early or late... Still up pulling an all nighter patching Exchange servers for the latest Zero Day exploits (Hafnium).

Koalas hate that here cos we have to pinch their trees to make our upper house ballot paper.

Managed to get a few hours at the work bench over the past week, and had a go at renumbering my first loco, fiddly in N gauge but very satisfying knowing I'm now able to do this, and can start making the layout a lot more personalised 31817 a Redhill loco, perfect for the line I'm modelling on the Reading to Redhill line, then of course popped it though the weathering shop. Don't worry Tony it'll be fitted with discs and a crew All the best Matt

Happy Birthday @jonny777 have a good day, and many more we hope.

Sunny thing is shining and so time for a walk before breakfast, Bright mornings, lighter evenings. perfect. Have a good day one and all and stay safe.

I have an Epiphone Les Paul cherry sunburst, an Epiphone viola bass, a Crafter (who?) electro-acoustic which has been excellent as an acoustic since I snapped the thingummyjig on the battery cover about 10 years ago and a mandolin (couldn’t tell you the make and can’t play the blessed thing either) Gosh, that’s a fair proportion of the entire population! Evening all from the wilds beyond the Wall. Rumour has it that our Deputy First Minister will face a vote of no confidence tomorrow but looks likely to survive it as the Greens have been persuaded to vote with the Government. OH is still watching Thirsty and Kill’s Love it or List it and getting more ideas for how to extend the house. Dog has decided he doesn’t want to be with us tonight and has set up camp on the cool wooden floor downstairs. Weather broke at about 7pm and it’s now hissing down... Nothing much of interest to report, otherwise! Happy birthday to @jonny777

Morning all from Estuary-Land. HB Johnny777. I didn't watch that interview last night, I had better things to do. I'm no royalist but the last four years of what was happening on the other side of the pond certainly put any thoughts of republicism aside. I do think that we should have an elected second house, we are not a democracy until we can choose directly over who rules over us. Stiff joints again this morning but it soon cleared up but the warmer weather has set the eczema itching off again.