Leaderboard

From AJM Railways An Announcement from www.AJMRailways.com Gentlemen and Customers I will begin with 2 apologies, the first and most important being to my Customers (many of whom are members of this Group) in respect of the way recent events have and will affect my future ability to supply in the manner you have become used to and the second apology is for the time it has taken to convey this to you. As some of you already know, Hornby decided to "Band" retailers back in January. Now 4 months later they have finally given explanation to why and how each account is banded. In this announcement, they describe Band 3 retailers such as AJM as "retailers who dont have a shop or if they do it may be of such a standard no one would want to visit it". Other criteria would include bad credit history, manufacturing competing products and not stocking the full range of Hornby Brands (eg Airfix etc). While it is good to have received such clarification the initial effects of the "banding" back in January started to be felt when pre orders placed in January were then "allocated" back to much lower numbers. Gradually since then the "allocations" became more and more severe and in the May announcement confirming the banding rationale, any account in Band 3 was immediately removed from any pre order capacity and all existing pre orders were cancelled. Band 3 retailers are now only able to order "in stock" items and not future releases. So for example if a loco is released this week then Band 1 and 2 will receive theirs and if stock remains not allocated to the Hornby website then Band 3 customers can place orders a few days later I have enjoyed building a business this past 12 years and having a great relationship with customers all over the globe and initially this whole situation hit me severely both physically and mentally. However, it also made me realise the old addage "life is too short" and as such, after discussion with another well known retailer here in the UK, I decided to sell all my OO scale Rolling Stock in a deal that concluded last week. While I was sad to see this happening it also made me realise the net value of the stock was much higher than I had ever envisaged and as such, I can afford to take this all on the chin and not be too worried about it from a "selfish" perspective. However just as the hobby is in the veins of my customers, supplying them is embedded in mine. My thoughts are to continue the AJM site offering the remaining OO ranges like Train Tech, Oxford Diecast, as well as the existing HO ranges like Faller, Noch, Prieser etc which serve both HO modellers and have some commonality with OO modellers. Similarly the "non scale" items like Block Signalling, Loksound, DCC decoders and Hornby and Peco track and points will still be available on the site. With regards to the other OO manufacturers (Dapol, Heljan, Bachmann, Accurascale and soon, Rapido Trains), my thoughts are to take all their future locos and offer them on the AJM site with each new loco being available for 8 weeks (or longer if a Customer says he wants one but asks for it to be held for him). After that I will delist the locos and set them for sale in the UK only as having thinned out my stock holdings I really am not inclined, at my age, to build it back up again. Should this suit my Customers I will continue to do this? With regards to Hornby, for as long as they are happy to allow me to have an account (and this is totally in their control), I am happy to continue to offer their available new locos again on an 8 week rolling basis. Any loco listed will be in stock with me already and I cannot take pre orders for new releases until after they are offered to Band 1 and 2 accounts as set out above. I appreciate this does mean that some locos eg Hush Hush are unlikely to be available via AJM at all. Dealing with Coaches and Rolling stock I do not propose to get back into this to the extent of holding vast quantities of stock for many years into the future, so am happy for any Customer to simply ping me an email with the stock codes and quantities and I can see if I can supply this order on a bespoke basis at my usual competitive prices and shipping. This will apply to all manufacturers coaches and wagons in OO scale and not to future releases as I seek to maintain a good service but avoid holding vast stock in the future. I appreciate that this scenario of future orders will not suit all Customers and to them I can only apologise and wish them well in the future and thank them for their past Custom For Customers who are "happy to give AJM a try" in the future I again thank you and hope that I can offer you a good service with prompt replies and a reasonable level of successful outcomes on their inquiries As the saying goes "every cloud has a silver lining" and my initial upset and fears etc are now a distant memory as I know whatever happens I cannot be affected by the decisions of others beyond my control and regardless of their motivations. Any sadness is only to my Customers whom I may loose or who themselves are unable to get the items they require or at least in a manner that is affordable to them Thank you for taking the time to read this and again to all my Customers both in this Group and globally I can only say I hope you enjoy your layouts .. who knows .. I may even now have time to build a layout myself! Best Wishes Amanda

Greetings one and all The errant DVD is still in the care of Royal Mail. The vendor has kindly offered me a replacement. I would much rather have that than a refund, which is what the great and good Amazon would offer. I would rather not involve their Third Party Vendors Liaison person because he and I are acquainted. It is never a good idea to mix business and pleasure, is it? Clearly it is still remotely possible that the original consignment will make it to my letter box, so I will not press the panic button until tomorrow. It does beg the question of just what happens to missing mail. Is it perhaps pilfered if it looks to be of value? Surely not. The telephone call from Professor Oncologist did not contain unalloyed good news. My PSA reading is up, from 1.2 to 4.0. This worries me more than it does the Prof, who reminded me that when I was diagnosed it was over 800. He is sending me for a bone scan, probably in July. The implication is that the cancer may have spread. The hormone injections that I have been having since 2015 may finally have stopped working. Whether the next step is chemo or a change in medication is yet to be decided. Continuing warm thoughts to Dave, his Dad, Gordon S and all missing persons. Best wishes to all. Chris

Before and after, a Class 122 approaches Llangunllo for Presteign, Titley Junction, Kington and Leominster on a hazy summer afternoon. The scene six months later on a dismal Welsh morning, passenger services have now been withdrawn and the end of another country byway is fast approaching. Geoff

Lets get up close and personal with the pannier 8752. Good morning, how are you today?

Phil has been working at us trying to be even-handed and extended an invitation to Hornby to have the opportunity to respond. We'll keep you posted.

If we are talking long lived models, I think I may be able to contribute to the discussion with the first Buckingham loco. In December, she will celebrate her 75th birthday. In all that time, she has run week in, week out covering an average of 2 scale miles a week. I believe she is on her second motor but the gears, wheels, rods, frames and everything else, including the paint job, are original from 1946.

On the subject of transfers for the BR emblems I think the HMRS transfers are rather primitive, the Fox ones are far more detailed - and you get more time to position them. Conversely, if you model the areas of BR that used 10” numbers then I think the HMRS numbers are better as Fox’s figures are too fat, especially in 7mm. A couple of weeks ago I dug out a loco that I built back in 1976, which makes it 45 years old. It’s a Wills A3 for which I scratch built a chassis and used Jamieson valve gear. I can’t remember which paint I used but looking at it now it seems more Darlington than Doncaster. On my metre of track it ran well but it could do with a decent run somewhere, unfortunately LB is ruled out as it is EM gauge, (I built it while a member of the Market Deeping Club, which had a strong EM group). Ian R

Just seen this on Facebook, it doesn't apply to our Surgery, but I know someone on here that will appreciate it.

Standby folks ... the cavalry's arrived! Visited father for the first time in nine months and, somewhat unexpectedly, returned home with these two. Nowadays superseded by more modern offerings, Dad doesn't really do sentiment but has hung on to these two machines from an earlier era and they are now on indefinite loan to 'Hills of the North'. They're both original Hornby Dublo items. The green one (46227) I repainted some 25 odd years ago but the real star is the red 'un ... This is Dad's original Duchess purchase from when HD two-rail was first available (1959) so is over 60 years old. She was repainted by a professional model maker friend in the early 1970s - but erroneously numbered / named as 46227 'Duchess of Devonshire'! (a Polmadie loco that was never painted red in BR days). Nevertheless, that's very much as I remember her as a layout regular, almost always in charge of the 'Royal Scot', during our interminable operating sessions together. Eventually, he took matters in hand, and she not only got renumbered as one of Crewe North's regulars but also - can you spot it? - was re-wheeled and now sports 24mm Romford drivers and slightly finer bogie and tender wheels. Still a bit under scale, but a bit of an improvement. But most importantly ... After over 60 years of service, she's still as strong as an ox and game for yet more adventures! Here she is on test last night, walking away from a signal check at Shap Wells IB signal, 11 bogies in tow - no problem. The mechanism is the original HD motor from 60+ years ago - quite remarkable. So, not only will she feature in the roster for sentimental reasons but will have a real role to play, tackling the heavier trains (sleepers especially) to help out her more modern but spineless sisters! (meanwhile, the green 46227 will receive some attention, probably including a similar re-wheeling as she's still got her original HD wheels which aren't the best on Code 75!)

63220 all ready for a coat of filth now. If there's anything else wrong about it I don't want to know.....

I hhave my alarm system working.. her indoors is volunteering today after visiting the dentist so a 6:30 wake up is alarm time! @chrisf if the Prof isn't worried ..stay calm, enjoy your presentation slot at the weekend and live life to as full as you can. Time for my mugatea. Have a calm and steady Friday everyone! Baz

Mornin' Usual South Derbyshire grey' again, though it has stopped raining for the moment - still windy with a forecast barely into double figures. Seen some of every hour since 03:00, at which time I visited read and rated only for the whole lot to be lost due to an Error 500 message and no rmweb. Sorry, but I'm in no frame of mind to go back and retrace my steps, unlike @Barry O, I don't have the luxury of more kip- alarm at 07:00; medical appointment at 08:00. Hope your day starts better than mine. See you soon.

Ben Ashworth had to climb a pretty tall tree to get this view of Bleakhouse Road, on one of his rare forays down to the Somerset Levels: Photo by Andy York, courtesy of BRM magazine.

Morning all from Estuary-Land. I'm slowly recovering from the water infection but still some way to go yet' I feel as weak as a kitten so another lay down is required.

More of Sir Nigel this morning, heading purposefully for the end of the PSR, and soon for the climb to Stoke.

Morning, late night and a Band Rehearsal so a bit stiff this morning. Lots of New material like Born to be Wild, Satisfaction, and many more, plus re doing the standards like Route 66, Wakin the Dog, Jonny B Goode etc. We got through 3 solid hours and the legs and hips are killing me this morning so a quiet day ahead I think.

Good moaning from the Charente. It doesn't seem to be able to decide whether to rain or not outside? @chrisf, sorry to hear about your phone call, i hope that your scan results are good. Here I spent most of yesterday waiting in an empty house for a delivery. The time slot was 08.00 to 18.00. I did come home for lunch, as no self respecting Frenchman would deliver between 12.00 and 14.00. At 14.30 I got a text amending the slot to 15.05 to 18.05. Why couldn't they have sent that text in the morning. Pah. The three mattresses finally arrived at 17.45. Fortunately just in time for me to head off to pick up the fish and chips. Anyway, today I'm off to a village near Ruffec to try and source some tiles to repair the edge of the terrace at the front of the house. Some other shopping needs to be done at the DIY shed near the station so a packed lunch is to be prepared and Andy is going to join me for a couple of hours after lunch. Not a bad day in prospect. Regards to those who are feeling a bit down, and others who have things to deal with. Jamie

Driver's saying something.... Hang on, let me get closer Pardon ........ Sorry, about that, didn't think it would be a problem ........ Well, the others haven't said anything! ........? It appears he is having a bit of a moan as he hasn't had time to comb his hair before having his picture taken. I tried to plicate him that I had painted his hair neat and tidy with his parting in place, plus he had a cap on but.......!!!! Still moaning! Does this mean in the future I have to ask for their permission before I take a picture, or provide a make up artist first.....?

Hello Tony, I was going to post this anyway but the recent discussion re older (RTR) locos makes this rather serendipitous. 46245 has a rival! This is a Hornby Dublo original, now over 60 years old. Repainted / renumbered and rewheeled during her life but it is otherwise the original mechanism. But more importantly ... She goes as well as ever and tackled this 11 coach train last night, including from a standing start on the bank, no trouble whatsoever! Quite remarkable for a 60 year loco. Makes me wonder whether any of the latest Hornby Duchesses being bought new in 2021 will still be going strong in 2081?

My doc sent me to the local hospital for a bone density scan; when I first saw the scanner, I immediately thought of Dad's radial arm saw but without the blade. The machine worked just like the saw but very much quieter. Less than about thirty minutes and I was scanned (no problems found). What sticks in my mind the most was that I had to pay something upfront ($200.00?) and about five or six months later the hospital sent me a check for the same amount. I suspect that Medicare and/or my supplemental policy actually paid for the scan and the admissions clerk was unaware of that. It felt quite nice to get some "free" modelling tokens! Good luck with your bone scan.

London is like that. It's actually quite civilised now and the some of the natives even know how to use soap and a shower! One of the first things SWMBO said about London was that she noticed how respectful and polite most people were in such situations as a crowded tube train or bus. Yet they remain reserved in general and only speak when spoken to. Another thing she said was that when spoken to almost all were extraordinarily helpful. This coming from an Aussie, remember, from a land allegedly renowned for its friendly and helpful people. We found Paris to be much the opposite and much as noted above; no-one gave anyone space, consideration and never ever a seat on the Metro. It was one for one and chien-mange-chien. The Clockwork Orange - as the Glasgow Subway is commonly known these days - is indeed a wee little thing. Even I was surprised at how small it was and with narrow island platforms between two tracks at some stations it felt very strange to someone accustomed to the London system. Glaswegians seem to be fond of and rather proud of their Subway and a goodly number spend many hours sleeping off the effects of the local Falling-Down Waters by purchasing a daily ticket and riding around in circles until evicted! Much as their inebriated and hungover planet-sharers once did on the Sydney Monorail. In other news I am now fully protected against the Bumbling One having received my second jab. Same story as before - very efficient processing at St. Thomas's Hospital and despite arriving 30 minutes early I was admitted to the waiting area and waited only three minutes until called. There were different questions this time as they were keen to record any evidence of after-effects and instead of being administered by a nursing person assisted by an army volunteer I was in the sole company of a community vaxer who had to ask all the questions and record the answers before awaiting the authority of a distant doctor somewhere to insert the needle. I felt it this time - slightly - but there was nothing in the way of pain. And unlike Dr. SWMBO who received the same vaccine on Monday (Oxford AZ) there were no warnings given about blood clotting symptoms and response. But it's done and hey ho away I go. Now counting 14 days to theoretical maximum protection before finally being able to escort the Good Lady to a pub, cafe or restaurant at long last. And now it's only 2 1/2 hours until Friday Drinks can be enjoyed. Inside once again due to the very windy and cold, wet weather being enjoyed outside. Four hours facing the teeth of the gale at the House of Fun this morning was enough. Best wishes to those missing, under-well or under stress. Support and friendship is offered here as always.

I've begun work on the side walls that go along the far side of the train shed. The aluminium sheet, 0.9mm thick, has been shaped to sit on the platform surface so that all the structures can be built on it and then slid out of the way if necessary. The black dots mark the positions of the canopy supports. This is the inside face that goes inside the train shed. The height difference will be hidden inside the signal box. I need to complete the detailing of these areas before the canopy is attached. The clear plastic boxes will be waiting rooms. Peter

The last time I was on the tube in London, a young lady gave up her seat for another lady half my age and I was left standing! I did not mind - Maybe I didn't look old enough...and wondered what I could do about it! It kept me amused for the length of the journey! Maybe I was not old after all!

Good morning everyone It’s still raining, I don’t think it’s stopped since yesterday morning! As its Friday I’ll soon be setting off for my usual walk to the butchers for the weekly meat rations and hopefully a pastie for dinner. Once back home and the rations have been put away, I’ll have a quick drink then head off to the Trafford Centre, on the way I’ll drop Sheila off to meet up with some of her Zumba friends, who are meeting up for the first time since late last year. This means when I get back I’ll have the place to myself for a few hours! Chrisf, I’m sorry your PSA has risen, I know only too well what happens to the brain when it starts to rise, as was happening to me up until late last year, when a return to hormone treatment brought it back down again. People/doctors say don’t worry, but you can’t help it can you? It’s always there at the back of you mind and it won’t go away will it? So fingers (and everything else too) crossed it is then. Stay safe, stay sane, enjoy whatever you have planned for the day, back later. Brian.

December 2003 for today, winter had set in. Damdykes Class 66 66230 down 22nd Dec 03 IMG_2186.jpg Damdykes Class 43 up 22nd Dec 03 IMG_2194.jpg Damdykes Class 43 up going away 22nd Dec 03 IMG_2195.jpg Damdykes Class 142 Morpeth to Newcastle 22nd Dec 03 IMG_2197.jpg Cramlington Class 142 142087 Newcastle to Morpeth 22nd Dec 03 IMG_2206.jpg Note that the destination blind is wrong. Cramlington Class 43 up 22nd Dec 03 IMG_2210.jpg David

On both occasions I had directed Aditi to the only seat. On both occasions the young chaps sitting down insisted I should sit next to her. It was busy but not rush hour.

This reminds me of a conversation I had with an old bloke from a trade stand (I won't say which one) at Warley a couple of years ago. He came up to me as I was walked through the hall, beaming. His opening was something along the lines of "I've just given the girl on the Hornby stand what for." I asked why, and it was something to do with the late delivery of a product. I then asked why, since there were three company directors on the stand, he hadn't spoken to one of them. After all, they could probably have done something about his problem. At this point he huffed and puffed a bit, so I explained his thinking to him. He was a bully. If he'd wanted to fix the problem, he would have talked to one of the male directors. But he didn't want that. He wanted to bully someone smaller and female. And then he offend me by thinking I'd be impressed by his bullying. By the end of our short "conversation", he knew he'd judged wrong. Verbal and physical attacks on stand staff are not something to be applauded. They don't do their job so that you can sit back with your popcorn and be entertained by their discomfort. And no, abusing someone on the stand won't make any company change their policy. You might get lucky and talk to someone senior, but their past experience is (and I have this from the horses mouth) that angry people on the web, aren't anything like as angry face-to-face. Hattons and Rails are professionals. If you hope that differences will be sorted out by a slanging match at a show for your entertainment, you'll be disappointed. Those discussions, as with all businesses, take place behind closed doors. There might be jokes, like the Rails Warley banner, but serious chats are private and not for our "entertainment". We may never know exactly what has happened here, but there is a simple red line - veiled threats to the staff of any company gets you banned. You want to play that game, there are other places online you can go, we don't need you here.

Today’s entertainment was watching a heating oil tank being dug up and removed from son’s driveway. A small digger and a couple of guys with shovels spent about six hours on the job, breaking up the concrete driveway, uncovering the tank, slinging it out, refilling the hole and levelling the site off with sand they’d trucked in. Fortunately, the tank had been emptied and hadn’t rusted, so no oil leaks and son now has a certificate to say everything is clean. Our three year old grandson sat riveted through the whole six hours (he loves machines) ; the four year old - not so much.

Good evening everyone Well the weather hasn’t been kind to me at all today, although I did manage to get the strawberry plants planted. However, I’ve decided to leave the rhubarb in it’s pot for now and plant it out once I’ve put in the camomile, then I will be able to see where is a good place for it. I did make a start on the path, but kept getting rained off, so after the third time, of packing stuff away and then restarting, I gave up completely, packed everything away for the last time and went back to the cellar. I then made a start on putting up the plasterboard for the ceiling. When I measured up the other day, it became apparent that I’d have to do more cutting than first though, due to the fact that where 2 boards joined together, lengthways, there wasn’t a joist at that point. So I bought an extra sheet, getting 6 instead of 5! After measuring carefully I cut the first sheet, I then removed the 2 light fittings that would otherwise be covered by the plasterboard. I then positioned the jacks so that the plasterboard when resting on them, would be clear of the gas pipe. The sheet of plasterboard was then lifted onto the 4 (homemade) plasterboard jacks and jacked it up until it almost touched the joists. It was then very carefully slide it between the joists and the gas pipe, (the gap was less than 1 inch) moving the jacks along as I did so, until it reached its final position. Once there, I was then able to make the cutout for the dining radiator pipe, before sliding up against the wall. Phew, happy with its position, it was jacked up until it touched the joists and I could fix it permanently in place. So using the screws I picked up from Screwfix the other day, I started screwing it to the ceiling, it seemed to take ages, but is a lot quicker than using nails and quieter too! This whole procedure was repeated 2 more times, removing light fittings as I went along. By dinner time I’d got 2 sheets up and a 3rd was done after dinner, so by the end of the afternoon I’d done half of the ceiling.

Road laid using Treemendous earth powder and coated with grey washes. Slow process as I have to let the previous coat throughly dry before next application.

E‘ning awl. First up, may I send my thoughts and best wishes to those ailing and absent for any reason. I’ll need to read up on a couple of days for sure! Other than that, I still have to make up my mind on resurrection, but I can attest to reincarnation being a thing. In other words, here’s The Replacement, or more properly Corolla Touring Sports, freshly picked up this afternoon! (I‘m calling it a reincarnation of sorts because I migrated the regs from the Prius and because it is, obviously, a hybrid as well! ) It‘s been a bit of a long day, so I’ll need to refresh for a bit now. Be safe, wherever you are…

I haven’t found crossing Paris by Metro to be at all difficult, even with a suitcase each. Easier than London. I must have looked aged in my last two trips as on both occasions young men insisted on giving me their seat!

Morning all, What a grey day, and a fairly consitent shade thereof across the sky although it will no doubt change a little with the cpming and going of precipitation. The wind is gusting about as if it's enjoying itself and the tankers of basemen ts currently working at the house opposite now seem to be reduced to single van operation - thank goodness. the knee injection os yesterday definitely appear to be doing what it says on the phial and the ascent and descent of stairs is already a much pleasanter experience. There is little doubt in my mind about the ability of aircraft trips to spread nasally acquired infections as i have suffered such on a couple of occasions. Although the cabin air might well be 'changed' every few minutes the more of that air is freshly acquired from outside the more fuel is used according to what I've heard said in the past. So most of the cabin air is in fact going round and round carrying whatever things it happened to pick up and depositing them in the noses of other pasengers. hence air travel would seem to have its drawbacks. The lad has been told that 'they' would like the pleasure of his company in HQ some time this year, but it does depend on Switzerland being elevated to the green list. In view of past discussions I suspect the company might not be too keen for him to spend more of their money using trains to get there. But if air fares have risen sufficiently that might make the debate for train travel more favourable and Geneva is quite a nice trip from London apart from having to cross Paris - time will tell. No other news so have an enjoyable day one and all and hoping for some more positive news in respect of both Gordon and the way in which Dave's dad is being dealt with.

Wet and windy in North Somerset this morning. My solar powered air bubbler, for the goldfish pond, arrived yesterday. I doubt it has had much chance to charge the battery powering the air pump, as the sun has gone walkabout. However the battery also has a USB charger which can be plugged into a laptop or mobile phone charging socket, and I gave it a full charge before installation and it has continued to bubble away ever since yesterday afternoon. I think it is not a bad little device for around £15. As for the Indian variant of Covid, my belief is that for it to spread across the UK in accelerating numbers, there must be a lot of people returning from India and not bothering to follow the quarantine rules. It must be pretty obvious by now that Covid spreads rapidly in confined spaces with little ventilation, where there are lots of people gathered together. If that still does not deter people from civil aircraft, and indoor parties, then there is no hope for certain sectors of the population; or our beleaguered NHS.

Morning. Awake early, which is a result really, better than the alternative. 11c feels like 7, drizzly (no lemon) and windy still, so the old farts club brunch will be local cafe and in the car. Discussion there often reflects the age of attendees, I'm the youngest official member at 62, and PSA tests and levels often feature. A recent revelation was that you shouldn't have any.....activity....for at least a couple of days before the test, as it causes a falsely high result. Who knew? Never got told that previously before a test, but I find it is true when researched. Food for thought? I have to go way out west to Kirk Michael to get a prescription for Mrs NHN, Other than that the day is mine, allegedly. This is because everything I want to do, is outside - where it is wet and miserable, the drizzle (vanilla) is now fully fledged rain. Bu££er.

Mooring Awl, Inner Temple Hare, 1 hours sleep and... very intermittent not dozing.. decidedly a bad nights lack of sleep. Ben the Alarm clock Collie was a whole hour early which didn't help, though when he was out he wasn't interested in doing anything except follow that smell, which appears to be concentrated under the old decking.. Master foxes are in for a surprise as that decking is firewood, it's just rotted away in many places.. Windy, overcast, but the grass is less wet than yesterdays dew.. So we've not had much rain. Much of the awake dozing was spent considering tomorrow work which I think will be shelving a mass production of 20 identical pieces for the first section of hallway shelves. and metal bashing. The metal bashing being 3 keel plates to sit on top of the wooden bearers to stop keel nuts being pulled through the wood. and the lifting plate for the whole assembly. I have Identified several candidates from my might come in handy pile. So weather permitting, the blanks will be cut tomorrow. Macarthy and Stone purveyors of housing to the misguided, have been assaulting my ears on Classic FM and filling my post with junk mail.. They also seem to have got permission for an enormous building. When Tes and Co got built there were strict limits on height they were even told to remove the unlit sign off the top. Across the road, the main building at M+S is now towering over Tes and Co, and the brickwork is only at halfway up upstairs window height... One wonders how that got permission.. Driving home yesterday was interesting.. A broken down double decker bus on a roundabout, not helped by the van on the right of me, trying to straight line the roundabout , giving me the choice of him , The back of the bus or brake heavily. The Current transformer unit that was the main job yesterday had been completed, I'm doing our two today as it's difficult to get the equipment together to do them.. Possession of the equipment not being released by me for a change. I've also got an assortment of minor bits and pieces to do today. Time I went and go started.

Dear Tony, Thanks to you and Mo for your very kind hospitality yesterday. It was great to see LB again and all the new locomotives you’ve built since the first Lockdown. It was also nice to meet Ray and Keith again. It was immensely kind of you to let me have B17 61620 “Clumber” on loan. I tried it today on the boat train and it worked beautifully.Here’s a photo of her crossing the flat crossing with the Liverpool/Harwich boat train. Here’s another photo of her with the boat train. The locomotive runs very well and the weathered finish is wonderful. At present the boat train only runs in the up direction but I would also like to have the boat train running in the down direction. To do this I would have to slightly rebuild the GC fiddle yard but I’m not sure I can face doing it. Sandra

The picture shows 40129 at Golborne in 1983 and the photographer is Richard Clayton. Revolution finds caustic soda at the end of the Rainbow! Revolution Trains is teaming up with Scottish model railway retailer Rainbow Railways to offer the TU013A TUA caustic soda tank wagon in 00. 28 TUA wagons were built by Standard Wagon of Heywood in Lancashire in 1977, to the design code TU013A. They had a gross weight of 51 tonnes and featured Gloucester pedestal suspension. The wagons were built for TRL and leased by them to ICI for use on caustic soda delivery trains from their Mond works in Cheshire. The barrels were painted in ICI’s dark transport blue, with orange solebars, and prominent TRL/ICI ‘Mond Division’ lettering. The wagons were used largely in Speedlink services to customers across Britain, with destinations including Corkickle, Haverton Hill, Dalry, Grangemouth, Purfleet, Seal Sands and Wigton. Later the ICI branding was painted over. Some wagons received the ATO chemicals branding, on the same base colour scheme, while in 1988 12 were repurposed for china clay slurry traffic between Burngullow, Mossend and Aberdeen and given ECC blue livery. Among those options, versions will include original TRL and revised Tiger branding, along with accurately observed variations in colours, positioning and styles. The models will feature NEM couplers, RP25 wheelsets with 26mm axles (for simple EM/P4 conversion and high levels of detailing with numerous separately fitted plastic and photo-etched parts. In the first run Revolution will be offering 19 different numbers overall with 9 in the original ICI livery, four in the original livery but branded ATO, four in ECC blue livery, and two in debranded china clay use. CAD work is done and tooling will begin in June. All versions are available only from Rainbow Railways at an EarlyBird price of £35 each, rising to £40 later. Please visit our website at Rainbow Railways for further details and to place your order now. Thank you Mark

More examples of modified/weathered Hornby items running on Little Bytham................. Loco weathered by Geoff Haynes. I've weathered all of these using dry-brush enamels and enamel washes, with the excess taken off with a cotton bud. I cannot confirm the accuracy of the goods rolling stock (not my area of expertise), but they look 'natural' to me.

'afternoon all from red dragon land. Tipping it down...not much wind to speak of Some of the H word to do but hopefully I will muster up some mojo to finish off the pobl bach for The Prisoner bus. I am thinking of using the livery of the mini moke for the VW bus with yellow stripes on the otherwise plain white seats and a plain yellow lower half of the bus body with just a pennyfathing on each side (facing the right way!). I could go all white but I need the yellow to reflect the autumn colours of the estuary and trees on the cakebox which is why I used it in the first place. Note, I said, thinking....only a tiny amount of my thinking ends up in action! Time to think about making a mugadecag and lunch.... Fitt and Elfie thinking about it. Thinking of you all. Take care and play safe. _______ Best wishes Polly

I found crossing Paris quite straightforward. From Gare du Nord to Gare de Lyon is two stops on the RER and the last time I did it the journey time was about 40 minutes. There is the option of taking a taxi but I'm not brave enough any more! Chris

Blowin an absolute hooley here this morning. The Summer House arrived yesterday in more bits than I expected, I thought it might be the Base, 4 sides, two roof sections and two doors and a window, but each section is half, so two HALF Basses, 8 half sides etc. I just hope the wind doesn't decide that it would be better off in a neighbours Garden. We're hoping it stays dry enough for long enough to lay the Patio bit today, and then I have a large tarpaulin to cover it, as heavy rain is forecast again for tonight. Have a good day one and all, stay safe and well.

The rain appears to have stopped here for now, so we managed a dry walk this morning. Before that, I had tried to sort out the bathroom door, which keeps swinging open since I put new hinges on a few weeks ago. I had put some packing pieces behind the bottom hinge, but that didn’t work, so I have moved them to the top hinge. While not perfect, it is a lot better now, so I will leave it be for the time being.

Dr Eldest Herbert has finished his dissertation marking. He is now doing the final editing of his book as he needs to send it off next week. I will be glad , for his sake as well as our worries, when it is accepted. Stopped chuckinitdarn, garden awash, next doors garden is now a lake.. perhaps he shouldn't have cut the trees down and fitted plants in pots Awaiting two visitors. I have, as instructed by her indoors, baked 3 apple scones for the visit. @Ozexpatriate..if you send a tanker I can supply loads of rain water free of charge! baz

Thank you Tim, alas the layout is no more, as I'm now continuing with the same theme in 7mm scale. 7719 takes a break from shunting at Bleddfa Road....... So nice to see Bleakhouse Road again, one of my all time favourite layouts. Geoff

Either they have isolation valves or are immediately after an isolation valve. Over the years a number of isolation valves have been added to the original plumbing in this house. When we moved in the only isolation valve was on the main bathroom lavatory. We found out why as when we turned it on, the loo sprayed water. Rather than fix it, the builders had fitted an isolation valve. They claimed it was something they had intended to sort out and had forgotten. The full extent of their “sorting out” finally revealed itself earlier this year when the pipe to cistern fitting failed. They had bodged it with putty or mastic and it eventually dried out. Tony

Despite all the planning beforehand. It's only at this stage you find out if it's all gonna work. The platform is loosely laid. Still waiting on tarmac and pavers.

Blustery, cold, occasionally more than damp. Bum on sofa marking dissertations.

Morning all. It is quite blustery here. Occasional showers too. Nothing seems to have blown away or been knocked over in the garden. Next door’s trampoline is still next door. I don’t think we are venturing out until the wind subsides. Various computer peripherals arrived yesterday. The new pc has departed Łódź and should arrive next week. The toy car is somewhere between the US and Hermes world. Yesterday’s food delivery arrived without any substitutions, a couple of fruit/veg items “not available”. Aditi has moved next weeks order not to be on Thursday as that is the day she is planning to see her Mum, assuming restrictions for Covid stay as they are now. Tony

Bear's Thought for the Day: Would @chrisf have been a Tail Gunner in the War? Miraculously every day Bear scoffs his (home-made) Sultana Bran whilst catching up on the exploits of fellow ER'ers; somehow it seems that Chris manages to get "the last say" in the latest news, so to speak. Weird. Bear's Plan for the Day: Do a double-check of measurements before the planned swapping over of kitchen corner base units takes place. It'd be really useful if buddy next door is available to give me a lift with them, however I suspect that he may be helping out his nephew this week; I spoke to him a few days ago and he was working over at the new Everest Double Glazing Place in WGC - the company went into administration in 2020 (not surprised at their prices) and was bought back by the previous owners. Pity those that had purchased DG from them at top dollar cos' their warranties went flying out the window in the process. Bear's Hope for the Day: That it turns out to be a Rant-Free Day, with no unexpected curve balls thrown in Bear's direction during the Kitchen refurb - or anything else for that matter.....