Leaderboard

And swooping across the valley the Squadron Leader spots a busy day....

Newcastle again today on a selection of dates. Newcastle Class 111 78708 and 78958 special Driffield to Newcastle 10th July 87 C8643.jpg Newcastle Class 142 13th March 90 C14146.jpg Newcastle Class 143 Newcastle to Carlisle Nov 90 J11671.jpg Newcastle Class 254 Edinburgh to Kings X June 89 J09928.jpg Newcastle High level bridge, Swing bridge, Tyne bridge 18th Nov 89 C13866.jpg View looking down the river to the east. David

This morning we can look again at our LMS tank, now hooked up and ready to go. I still haven't really got the hang of this zooming.

Ey up! Today has been deemed "blood letting" day. Her indoors vilunteered both of us to take this test. Sister Drac will not be amused by me giving away some of my blood! The parcel, once completed, must go into an NHS Priority post box.. which happens to be next to the sub post office I also need to visit today. Have a good day everyone! Baz

I have (more or less) finished the London Road Models L&Y Class 23 I have been building. My second brass loco kit, and the first one completed. Many thanks to those who offered advice here and on my Ellerby thread. I say more or less finished as there are some little things that will need doing at some point. When I can get to a craft shop, I will get some little black round paper stickers to go over the wheel centre nuts, which can then be weathered back. Photos always show up odd things too, a bit more dirt to cover the silver of the brake wheel the diver is holding (I think it is a brake wheel?). I may also weather back the little bits of the numbers showing too bright by hand. I cleaned them after airbrushing, but overdid it. It would have been better to just leave them. It will also need a bit of running in when I have access to a layout, I suspect mine will be stored for quite a few months still, and also a little lubrication to the gears. I am pleased with the weathering, which is a little too much, but when out of direct sunlight is less obvious. My experiment with running thinner on the tank was a little too successful, maybe more akin what would be seen on an oil tanker, but after a light coat with the airbrush to tone it back I feel it gives it character. Character might just be a euphemism for mistake. Thanks again for the help in building this to everyone who contributed, or ticked images shared to give encouragement. Hopefully I will finish and share pictures of the Comet Caprotti Black 5 I hope to finish before too long, which was the first loco build I started. Jamie

@Winslow Boy Unbelievably simple - slid down a muddy bank in Groudle Glen, going to do a job on the boiler of one of the locomotives. Foot lodged against a tree root, I couldn't stop as I twisted and turned.....broke the foot in half basically, despite having heavy duty footwear on. It was a possible partial amputation I was warned, before surgery, but thankfully went back together reasonably well, but has left me with a lot of residual pain issues. The really annoying thing was John (the owner, my bestie) and I were taking the loco (the Steamplex) to the Ffestiniog Railway a few weeks later for the Quirks and Curiosities gala, which of course I missed. Pah! It would have been great fun, and poor John really struggled on his own. Then he broke it too, which wouldn't have happened if I had been there. C'est la vie. NHN piloting it on another visit elsewhere. (taking a risk posting....)

Hi folks, Just thought I'd post a few pics of the latest addition to WW's McRat fleet in the shape of Inverness-based 26041. This loco has been done in ex works condition, based on the condition it was in in Roy Harrison's excellent Inverness video. Complete with clean paintwork, shiny buffers and Inverness stags on the bodysides, not a condition normally associated with Railfreight 26s! The rear cab has been fitted with Lazerglaze glazing, but I clumsily broke one of the windows for the front cab (they're surprisingly thin), so I'll have to order some more. Here it is, running first through the newly almost-completed Princes Street Gardens, followed by Waverley. Apologies if some of the pictures are similar to my previous posting. It's currently being test-run on the same rake. In other news, the buffer-fitted, InterCity Swallow-liveried HST power cars are now in service. The dummy car has interchangeable bogies which can be swapped over, depending on whether I want to run the rake as a failed unit. Two Coal Sector 37s are currently doing the honours as rescue locos. More on this to follow. Work has being continuing on fitting the blue/grey HST rake with lights, which is now virtually complete. I just need to scatter some newspapers around the tables now and it will be complete. I have also upgraded a spare FO to add to the rake, so that it now has two FOs as per standard East Coast rakes. The ballasting and trackwork in Princes St Gardens has now been finished too and the two small sections of path in the gardens renewed, ready for repainting. One of the next jobs will be to refurbish the lift-off section above the Mound Tunnels, as it's looking a bit tired now after all the manhandling during the recent layout refresh. Hope to be back soon with another update. Stay save one and all, Dave

Morning All, The talk of blood, ‘guts’ and general squeamishness reminds me of an incident involving my sister. She was travelling down the M1 with her then boyfriend when theyarrived at the scene of the ‘Kegworth’ air crash. Being a final year medical student she got out of the car to help. Her boyfriend did the same but on ‘doctor’s’ made a hasty retreat to the car, as he was more of a hindrance than a help.(Sight of the human carnage being the cause) Sister only told this part of her experience and has never mentioned any other details. It is not a funny story but does highlight how those trained can ‘deal’ with the situation whist most of the others can’t. On that sombre note I’ll bit you all a pleasant day and be back later. I think I can here the garden calling. Robert

Scratch building, to me, is enjoyable because you are effectively creating something from a selection of materials. There is no plan to follow, no parts to fit together rather in this case I had to design, work out assembly, finishes, and make. A kit is undoubtably easier but no so much fun. This is the garage and adjoining store to date The issue I had with the garage was that I wanted to look it had been built of the boundary wall in a different brick!!! Bits I had this wonderful idea of the garage doors being open and a car parked inside.... Perhaps I could have one of the doors falling off.....hang on, that’s done before????

G'day all, iropracted I have been, plus a very brief shop in Waitrose and a visit to WHS to purchase a magazne which covers an unmentionable subject. Not bad outside but it s definitely blowing a bit. One interesting effect of the Summer Time all year experiment was the impact it had on train punctuality. Previously every year the end of summer Time saw a definite decline in opunctuality which it took agaes to recover from but with no change of the clocks the decline just ceased to happen, so lots of commuters had more punctual journeys home. once we went back to changing the clocks back we went to a concurrent dip in punctuality. Not so bad once the railway got rid of loco hauled trains. Mind you the thing I can't understand about all this nonsense involved with changing the clocks is that it doesn't give any more daylight or darkness - nature controls that. All it does is move it to a different place on the artificial construct of a clock face - discuss. Before people had clocks they got up with the dawn and went to bed when it got dark and many still do because of their occupations; and animals still work like that. As for blood and stuff I can say from experience that scalp wounds bleed like merry whatsit with, in many cases, virtually nothing to show after the mess has been cleared up. I can quite understand what Robert ('Erichill') had to say about his sister's involvement at Kegworth. Until you have seen the results of a human body coming it contact with something - even at relatively high speed you probably wouldn't believe what can happen to it. Slow speed contact with a train or rail movement is one thing although it may well involve loss of limbs but a collision at even 50 or 60 mph won't leave much for the medical profession to deal with and I doubt the situation in the interior of something fairly solid which suddenly stops from this, or higher, speeds would not be much different depending on its interior layout and safety equipment. On a more positive note my plan for a redesign of the back door step when it ceases to be a pallet with loose slabs on top and becomes something permanent has been approved by management. Its unusual design is a consequence of my being unable to replace the previous large slabs without immediate hospitalisation to repair a hernia so it is based around using much smaller slabs which I have in stock. i do however need to order various things such as sands and cement and a few bricks - if I can get blue engineering bricks (i like to keep some of those in stock as supplies of them are irregular to say the least). Have a good day one and all and stay safe

Bear has seen internal photos of that fuselage shown during an Aircrew Survival Course; apparently the doctors were surprised by the number of head injuries. The photos show big "V" notches in the seat headrests, caused by the overhead lockers coming down. Worth bearing in mind when you're next asking the stewardess to help you lift that anvil into the locker above your seat - put it above someone else's seat if you must.... Buddy next door arrived as arranged to help clear the kitchen; Bear is now scraping the kitchen floor to remove any loose remnants of self-levelling compound from the floor. Some bits are "looser" than others , whilst the bits that don't want to shift without the use of a Kango are staying there. Bear will be limited to toast, cereal and "ding" dinners for the next few days; cake is unaffected, fortunately.

Evening all. Very late on parade today after what has been a very busy day. It began with a very early trip to the local Asda. The upcoming week is Sarah’s planning week at the nursery. Along with planning certain activities for the children, she also has to purchase the fruit and snacks. The shop opens its doors at 9.30am on a Sunday with the tills opening half an hour later due to trading restrictions. We strode through the door at 9.40am, hoping to get the shopping done before things got too busy. It was unbelievable to see a queue of 20+ already lined up at the self service tills all carrying flowers. Talk about last minute shopping! With shopping completed fairly painlessly, we then headed over to Nottingham so Sarah could have a doorstop visit to hand over gifts to her mum. The cold and damp weather was hardly conducive to making it an enjoyable stop off. Back home I then braved the conditions in the afternoon to visit my mum. My brother and his children turned up at the same time. That made holding conversations and maintaining distances more of a challenge especially with the high winds! The afternoon was spent on marking whilst Sarah continued with preparation for the week ahead, getting the resources ready etc. She has been very stressed by the whole process and has bemoaned the time it has taken. I have resisted the temptation to mention the challenges of having to conduct similar preparations every week of six half terms. Perhaps she may now understand he challenges and demands I faced during my years as a teacher. I have tried to help her as much as I can and hope the week goes well. The evening has been spent on some modelling. Unfortunately, Sarah commandeered the main tv for the final episode of Bloodlands so it prevented me from making use of the new toy! Stay safe, stay sane. Andy

An old black and white shot of 26041 entering Waverley station with a Speedlink service. Shot undated, but I think it must have been summer '88...

I never had a problem dealing with blood and guts. I did some in Mountain and Cave rescue before leaving home. As a young sprog bobby we had to act as the pathologists assistant in our little 1 slab morgue. A baptism of fire but I seem to have escaped unscathed, for which I am very grateful. The gut wrenching things that will always live with me are the death warnings after fatal incidents. The living are far harder to deal with than the dead. A good railway modelling friend was an eminent orthopod and one day travelling through the peak district he was first on scene at a motorbike crash where the rider had a badly broken leg. The next two cars that stopped contained a consultant anaesthetist and a theatre nurse between them. The ambulance crew that eventually turned up were rather surprised that three random civvies had cared for the rider and recuced a nasty open fracture before they arrived. Jamie

Morning, just. Joking aside, the foot injury a couple of years ago was a 'Lisfranc' fracture and not an experience I wish to repeat. So much pain and damage caused so easily. This morning was spent once again in the same hospital, but for eyes this time as my optician had expressed concern about something, so this was a Consultant poke and prod to see what was going on. Precursor (no, not LNWR...) to cataracts apparently, probably caused by the period of high blood sugars prior to diagnosis of being diabolical. Under control now and sort of OK, 6 month reviews for the rest of my natural. Consultant surprised by my knowledge of diabetes, as he went into lecture mode, so had a good and informative discussion with him. I left reassured. But....why do eye drops sting so much? Surely in this day and age they could make something that doesn't! Builder/handywitheverythingman friend in doing some work today, he's a real grafter. Known as 'Tank' - he is, as they say, a big lad. I too am stepping back from DIY's more awkward tasks, Arthur Itis being as unhelpful as he is. Tank is repairing the garden gate/fence and re-setting and pointing the paving pathways as they have become a bit higgeldy-piggeldy over the intervening 18 years since I laid them.

Good morning everyone Well it’s sunny outside, but there are some very ominously dark clouds just to the east, so I think I’ll stay indoors today. The last part of the cellar wall that needs the paint removing has still to be done, so I’m hoping to get half done today and the rest done tomorrow. But to give my back a rest (all the work is at floor level) I shall do it in small sections, with short rests in between. Stay safe, stay sane, enjoy whatever you have planned for the day, back later. Brian

So a major project has been finished. I started these milk tank conversions many moons ago and I’ve finally finished them. The GNR milk brake still needs lettering and a weather. The milk tanks are converted from Hornby wagons, thanks to @jwealleans, who has already built some, i just mimicked his work. The trickiest bit of the lot was scratchbuilding the tank strapping and painting the letters on the strapping, nearly gave myself a stroke. The GNR milk brake is from Isinglass, built by myself and painted by @Jack P going to be a shame to weather it but unfortunately the glazing stuffed up again and weathering will hide most of the muck. For a Southern Modeller I’m ashamed I can’t paint teak as good as Jack....but I have a Southern Nucast kit here he wants and I have coaches that need painting, horse trading at its best. The other lonesome wagon is another Hornby conversion, a H & B Railway ventilated refrigerator van. Hornby body and scratchbuilt the rest. I know it’s meant to have ‘HB’ before the numbers, I have to make that myself, one day in the future...

Morning all. I think it is cloudier than it was earlier. Otherwise nothing to report. The most exciting thing appears to be waiting for the damp bathroom carpet to dry after the cistern leak .

Mooring Awl , Inner Temple Hare, 629/393 5 hours sleep, then I lost 1.5 hours but don't remember sleeping. Heavy rain last night water running down the roads this Morning.. Ben was happy again going out in the day light... He won't be happy in two weeks time when he has to get up an hour earlier.. Had to dodge three mallard duck on the way in.. Paddling around in a puddle on a B road.. Confirmation arrangements are coming in about the start of the sailing season on the 4th of April, and the arrangements for those who's summer clubs close for the winter, for towing their boats back from Snowflake sailing club, which will occur Good Friday. (2nd April). I think this week will include two trips to the orange shed, one to get more shelving planks, the other to get something suitable for moving the keel on, that would be useful for making things out of after, It may well be thick OSB or shuttering ply cut into two 2ft by 8ft lengths. But first today a trip to the Tes and co establishment.. I'm hoping March will leave like a lamb as the Easter weekend, I intend putting the roof back on top of the Marquee, though not yet the sides, ready for boat work.. Now the fridge is back down to temperature, there is a lot of ice left in the Ice cream tubs after 12 hours, I think we will be able to cut the number of changes to 1 a day.. The Authorities have decided that the old fridge freezer will progress to the storage area of my workshop. The now useless fridge part will become storage for my more valuable marine paints glues and varnishes. the lower half a freezer overflow when required.. I also suspect I'll keep some cans of cider in there, promoting them to to the defrosting area above for use as required. Time to head for the Labs again....

Good moaning. It's not raining and the fire stayed in overnight. We had a good day yesterday and Beth had contact from all the kids. Today is painting day to get the corner of the sitting room ready for the picevof furniture that's setting off from Boroughbridge this morning, along with other items. We have no idea when they will arrive but will apparently get a phone call the day before. As well as painting I'm going to visit the pharmacy to enquire about vaccination. According to the various websites, a combination of my age, a history of raised blood pressure and a BMI of 31 mean that I am now eligible. Regards to all. Jamie

Good evening everyone Well it’s been very wet here in the southwest of Manchester, the puddles that were forming in the back garden almost joined together to make one large one, but then the rain stopped and spoiled that little plan. Sheila really liked her homemade card, so much so, that may well be the way forward from now on! Vickie, Ian and Ava called round this afternoon and dropped off Sheila’s cards and presents, but due to the cold and wet weather and also that they couldn’t come inside, they didn’t stop long. Sheila then had phone calls from both Mike and James, they’d both dropped off Sheila’s cards etc, earlier in the week, but again, didn’t stop due to the cold wet weather and the lateness of the visit. We had an email today from the RHS, informing us that both the ‘Hampton Court’ and ‘Tatton Park Flower Shows’ will go ahead as planned this year. We won’t be attending the Hampton Court one, be well go to the ‘Tatton Park’ one. This was something we didn’t expect and are both greatly looking forward to it. We usually go on the Wednesday, which is members only day, the visitor numbers are a lot lower than the days when it’s open to the general public, but I suspect masks will still be a compulsory accessory. We are both quite happy to be at home, as we both have hobbies that both keep active and sane, but we have missed seeing friends and family. Something that has had to be done via, text messages, phone calls or emails. But hopefully this can be addressed later in the year. Like a lot of others, I miss going to shows and meeting up with fellow modellers, perhaps these will also start to be organised for later in the year, fingers crossed. Yet another invitation to ‘sell’ our house from another estate agent today, so more paper that went straight into the recycling bag.

We used to have a term for the latter when it followed an interface between a human and a fast train. In that situation when the police arrived the first thing they always did was count the number of arms or legs etc (if they could find them) to ascertain how many victims were involved a difficult task if a fast train had been involved. At the first one I ever attended - which was a night of tragi-comedy as it happened - I picked up a sock (empty) which had been on one of the victim's feet several hundred yards from the site, the coppers were happy because they had at least accounted for both his socks.

Morning, we too have some brightness, though with fresh snow on the hills the wind coming off them feels like it's straight from the North Pole, apparently there's a Walrus turned up in Ireland, not surprised if it's as cold over there. Stay safe and warm all.

Well another absolutely fabulous day here near the Souf Coast, almost tropical, well O.K. I did exaggerate the last bit, but it certainly is a nice one, so a quick look around here before doing my Blood Pressure, then its orf to the Bathroom and then out for a walk before breakfast. Not a great deal planned other than the Sainsbury delivery due about 10 ish, he / she (nice young lady last week) is normally spot on 10am. Hoping you all had a good weekend, I've not read of any further injuries to anyone which has to be good. Keep well, stay safe one and all.

Phil, in the words of the famous Guinness ad: “accept no substitutes” We need the official groan button back! Not much of a “fearless denizen of the forest” are we? Captain Cynical is most delighted to find this degree of squeamishness in what should be a fearless Ursine. I could retire this year, however I quite enjoy working and especially enjoying the muddling tokens it provides. It’s (for me) easy work and what’s more it’s indoors, done sitting down and doesn’t require any sort of safety gear. Having worked in the UK for a short while (and paid taxes and NI contributions) I checked on my pension status in the UK. Once I am allowed to retire (at age 67) I can claim an eye wateringly, gob smackingly enormous pension of £5.75 a week. Unless the Swiss Franc to British Pound exchange rate goes to something like SFr.100 to £1.00, I don’t see the point in going through the hassle of getting this sum of money (besides, by the time you add on bank “handling charges” you’d probably end up with something like 35p a week) Interesting bit of ironware, although probably not much of a challenge for the orthopaedic surgeon. Simultaneously inserted, bilateral, knee prostheses are slightly more complicated! Captain Cynical is really, really rubbing his hands in glee at this news. This Ursine faintheartedness has provided the Captain with a whole lorry load of new ways to protect his CAKE stash! Scalp wounds! Definitely not something for the “feel faint at the sight of blood“ crowd. One of the hallmarks of a scalp wound is that patients bleed like a stuck pig and it looks very alarming. Of course, once you have established there is no damage to the skull and skull’s content, then management is fairly straightforward (although from my days when I worked in the ER I recall that it was sometimes hard to determine whether or not the skull actually contained, before injury, fully functional and normal content). Oddly enough, I am not overly comfortable at looking at films and photos of injuries and medical procedures. But “in the flesh“, so to speak, I have absolutely no problems with dealing with even the severest of situations. Others, have the complete opposite experience: they can look at films and photos of such things with equanimity, but faced with the “real life” event with its multidimensional aspects (sight, sound and smell), they tend to be a bit faint hearted (and I understate a bit). And on that medical/surgical note I bid you a great start to the week! iD

Greetings one and all It is as well that I have not summoned the courage to ring Stalag Surgery this morning. So far today the knees have not twinged. They will be subjected to further tests when I get up from the sofa later on and attempt a purposeful stride to the corner shop to buy my lottery tickets. If the knees have healed and do not require attention, well and good. As a rule I prefer nature's way to chemical warfare but there are times when needs must. We shall see what happens. The makers of the frozen chips that accompanied my lunch yesterday would be horrified if they knew how I prepared them. The packet advises that they should be placed on a baking tray in a pre-heated oven and left to incubate for 25 minutes. This is fine if there is something else in the oven, such as a plaice fillet. Oven baked steaks are, I'm told, not a good idea. Instead I utilised my collection of frying pans well, devoting one to the chips and the other to the steak and its accompaniment of mushrooms. As is well known, there is more than one way of skinning a cat - not that I would ever think of skinning a cat, you understand. Before lunch yesterday I decided, impulsively, to watch a DVD. The reliability of my DVD player is suspect and already the remote control appears kaput - and yes, I have tried changing the batteries. About an hour into the film the picture froze and the only button that I could persuade to function was Eject. Fortunately the laptop has an E drive which enables the watching of DVDs. I wonder if DVD players count as non-essential goods? Best wishes to all Chris

I object to daylight saving. If the government wants me to be at work at 7:00 instaed of 8:00 it can pass legislation to that effect, rather than lying about what time it is. We managed to change most of the clocks last night except one that was dropped behind the washing machine. That was retrieved but one of the hands had bent enough to interfere with the other hand. I managed to sort that this morning. Temperatures have risen enough here that there is more grass than snow showing.

I decided watching bathroom carpet dry was tedious so I have pulled it up to allow the floor chipboard to dry. It doesn’t appear to have got wet enough to be damaged. The bathroom carpet underlay is some sort of rubbery foam stuff not the thick hairy stuff used elsewhere in the house. If we ever replace the bathroom I suspect we may not use carpeting. I didn’t in the en suite bathroom.

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Arthur Itis woke me up this morning but a brace of paracetamol soon sent him on his way. I will need to go to Tess Coes today to stock up, the fridge is looking empty at the moment but first to run a bath.

The Sun is out and the Sky is Blue, as a Class 37, No 37183, Large Logo with Highland Stag is seen leaving Seven Mills Sidings.

And in Canada. There’s talk that this may be the last time we change here in BC, and we’ll stay on ‘summer time’ from now on, though that really depends on Washington, Oregon and California doing the same.

I've completed the Spalding 'jinty' today........................... The request was 'in LMS condition'. So, a quick glance at the essential Essery/Jenkinson Bible on LMS locos, and this seemed to suit. Please don't judge it too harshly (that bunker fit - or lack of it - makes me cringe) because I've tried to retain the essential 'spirit' of the thing. Now, I really must get on with that 'County' 4-4-2T. I hope everyone who followed it enjoyed the virtual show......................

We had a bed delivered once by a two man team. The older one was quite small , the other chap was enormous. Robbie was making barking noises from the kitchen. The big chap said “Please can I see your dog and stroke him”. Robbie ran out of the kitchen and just threw himself upside-down at the mans feet. I honestly think Robbie would have gone off with him. The other chap said “this happens every time. “

Well it has rained in Sidcup, I have now been invited to book for the jab. I have done so, for the 20th of March. So they are down to the next bracket below the 56-59 one that they were talking about on the news the other day. I used to live next door to a bloke called Tank when I lived Northampton. His wife was also large. She explained that when they first went out, she was slim. They went for a meal but when she went to leave some food on her plate, Tank told her off and said "If you're gonna be my girl, you're gonna have to learn to eat properly". And the rest is history!

Greetings all from Sidcup where the earlier sun has been partly replaced by clouds. Younger Lurker, who successfully recovered his trainers from lost property on Friday, has been deposited at school again. The weekend was its usual dull self, enlivened by a family call to wish a cousin happy birthday. He has managed two lockdown birthdays. And mothers day was the usual thing of the Lurker boys doing nothing for their mum....although I did cook the meal that she requested for lunch. And now it is back to another week of work...have a good day all

The UK stayed on ‘summer time’ from March 1968 to October 1971 i.e. through three winters. The effect on daylight hours in winter became more the further north and west you went. In some of the western islands in Scotland, in the shortest days of the year, it was dark till mid-morning. The main push for all-year daylight saving appears to come from road safety organizations. It seems to have resulted in fewer accidents overall (more in mornings, fewer in late afternoons/evenings) in most parts of the UK, but more overall in northern Scotland.

I think I met his brother whilst clearing out old furniture from my dad's house. Brother and I hired a large van to shift everything that was going to the tip and when we got there this huge member of staff came over and pulled out the large three seater sofa that the pair of us had struggled to get in the van and carried it to the skip. On our next visit, we saw him stacking fridges on his own with arms so long they seemed to go right around the fridge and he was making piles three fridges high so that's a lot of weight to get above your head !! .

I saw that news item. The article suggests the walrus had fallen asleep on an ice floe and had drifted across the Atlantic.

Daylight saving time began in the US this morning. For some reason (perhaps because today was cloudy and the last couple of days were sunny) my system overrode intent and decided today would be a day to sleep in. I had set the clock before retiring. Having at one point stirred and visited the second smallest room (the pantry is smaller) before what I thought would be a short snooze, when I finally awoke I was quite shocked to see that it was 10:45am! We had very delightful weather (15°C and sunny) for a few days but rain was forecast midday-ish. It arrived as I stepped outside for my daily constitutional a little after eleven. After that, golf* on television and the day is pretty much done. * The Players tournament. There is little in the way of broadcast television diversions this evening. For pop culture fans (not really me) the Grammy awards are on. I think I'll watch the evening news and prepare something to eat. EDIT Even if a little rainy, the weather here is kinder than in the Rockies and plains, with blizzards and tornadoes. Even if the equinox is a week away, it is certainly Spring.

Reminds me of a house we owned many years ago. It had a phone with and extension and an additional bell in the back porch. Problem was if you picked up both of the phones at the same time the bell in the porch would ring continuously. The GPO telephone engineer who came to fix it said "I wish I could meet the effin idiot who wired this lot" to which I replied "You probably already have, the previous owner did it and he's an instructor at your training school" My daughter and some of her friends are absolute artists at that. During her time at university she was in a club with one of the other girls when two England footballers tried to pick them up. She knew full well who they were but didn't let on, then asked one of them what he did for a living.

That accords with my first aid training. Never remove a weight lest it cause death as described but do all you can to preserve life short of that. Likewise never remove an impaled object; leave that for the surgeons. Do what you can to stem any blood loss and prevent the casualty from moving even slightly but leave the object where it is and splinted in place if needs be. Evening all. A respectable Moan-day was had after yet another poor attempt at a night's sleep. I can only hope for better tonight but there are no guarantees. The hospital appointment to look into things has been cancelled after waiting 15 months; I shall speak to the surgery tomorrow and express my frustration whilst acknowledging the workload the NHS is currently under. Not all conditions are Covid; they keep telling us the NHS is still open for business. Except when it isn't it would seem. Notter lot else to report of the day. Dishes await my caring attention. A couple of emails require answering. Then the last hour or so of my day is my own.

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. Successful trip to Tess Coes earlier and I now have sufficient meals for the next few days. I've seen the aftermath of a RTA and thats something I never want to see again. That was way back in the 1960's on the A12 near the Gants Hill roundabout. A Bedford Viva van had hit a lamp post on the meridian strip. The front end of the van was wrapped around the lamp post and the van was facing to the way it had come. A couple of people were attending the driver but it was obviously too late, there were no collapsible steering columns back then. My cousin who was driving was too busy checking the inevitable traffic jam to look, just as well. In the 50+ years since I have never had the inclination to rubberneck when I see an accident.

Yes, we used to have to account for all the major parts. The infra red camera on the helicopter was very useful as it could find limbs for quite some time after the incident. The fearful thought was a repeat of an incident that had happenned in the 70's when someone had spotted a local mutt carrying a foot down Hemsworth High Street. Jamie

Speaking of painting....................... The LRM J3 is now ready for its coats of paint. One thing which puzzles me is why folk struggle to solder bands on to etched boilers. If they're subsequently lined, I don't bother with them. If they'll be plain black (as in this case), I'll use PVC self-adhesive insulation tape, cut to the required width. It really is much easier. The dodge is to cut them to length (adjacent to the dome, say) about half an hour after they're applied - that way they'll have shrunk to the correct length and adhere to the surface. A bead of superglue underneath the boiler at the end of each band ensure their staying put.

You can get arrested for torturing someone

So a major project has been finished. I started these milk tank conversions many moons ago and I’ve finally finished them. The GNR milk brake still needs lettering and a weather. The milk tanks are converted from Hornby wagons, thanks to @jwealleans, who has already built some, i just mimicked his work. The trickiest bit of the lot was scratchbuilding the tank strapping. The GNR milk brake is from Isinglass, built by myself and painted by @Jack P, going to be a shame to weather it but unfortunately the glazing stuffed up again and weathering will hide most of the muck. The other lonesome wagon is another Hornby conversion, a H & B Railway ventilated refrigerator van. Hornby body and scratchbuilt the rest. I know it’s meant to have ‘HB’ before the numbers, I have to make that myself, one day in the future...

So, 1885 days later after post #1, I have all scenic-area track finally laid and (mostly) wired; the four baseboards up, connected, and a test train run from one end to the other. We see here the 1035 from Tillynaught, passing the engine shed on its way to terminate at the Banff southern platform. I was puzzled as to why some of the baseboard join track ends were no longer as well aligned as when I laid them, but I suspect that the plywood that I had bolted to the ends of the boards to protect the track had actually had the opposite effect. I will look at adding a little card or other padding to avoid this reoccurring, before wielding the soldering iron to correct the alignment. Another small learning along the – errmmmm – track. Having made this milestone (what’s the metric equivalent?), my modelling world suddenly explodes with potential projects that, one day, may make my layout view-worthy. High on the list will be turnout actuators, along with frog switching. While my trusty class 4MT with stay-alive makes it through unifrog turnouts without a wired frog, it doesn’t manage electrofrog turnouts without the use of alligator clip cables – something which is sure to lose its shine quickly.

Fifty Bucks for shovellin' sh1t. Bear missed a trick somewhere..... Bear recalls a programme where they were following the London Fire Brigade; one call was to a jumper under a tube train. The Fire Chief explained that it is quite common for people to survive initially, only to die as the train is jacked up and off them. Not recommended. In other news: Bear has finished prepping the kitchen floor for the Tiler tomorrow . I've a strong suspicion that paws will let me know all about it tomorrow though. That's the last sh1t job on the kitchen refurb - I think. From now on it should be interesting, constructive jobs not involving dust everywhere. I'm so happy I could almost share a LDC, if I had one.....

There was a lad at the Council we called him Tiny as he was entirely the opposite but he had a really high pitched voice that didnt fit with him. He worked on bulky collections and i have seen him bear hug fridge freezers and put them on their wagon.

Morning all. Busy weekend with a variety of things going on, most, of course, on Zoom or social distancing! Young local lad - 14 at best - working to pay off his new golf clubs (parents "recommended he do that ) did an excellent job of poo-pickup in our back yard. An entire winters worth. He's got a lot of local support and neighbors signing up for him to work at, good luck to him as he seems very conscientious. We had an excellent neighborhood get-together around a fire pit Saturday. Weather very cooperative, nice to be able to do that again. Clocks changed overnight Saturday, they really need to decided on that carp and leave them ONE WAY OR THE OTHER! Sunday, the Mrs got together with a great niece for some "whatever" while I was charged with sorting out the garage, and we then in the evening managed to solve our murder mystery! Yay! So here we are, back working on Monday. Weather over the weekend was very nice, hit 15 Saturday afternoon and had sun all day. Today, back to MinneSNOWta. -1 and overcast first thing, started snowing about 30 minutes ago and we may get 4-8 inches of wet snow, but forecast very varied so far. Tally ho.