Leaderboard

I filled the bigger gaps on the signal box structure this morning with Humbrol Body Filler (the small gaps will be covered by the paint) and cleaned them up when the filler had dried. I then fitted the operating floor windows and the roof, temporarily, to see how it all looked. The platform will hide the Down side brickwork up to the bottom of the locking room windows so it doesn't matter that it's a bit rough. The Up end will, however, be quite visible. The Up side, the back of the box, will also be seen easily... ...while the Down end will also be largely out of sight. The right-hand side of the brickwork here will also be covered by the platform so the missing piece will be hidden too. The windows are not glued yet, just held in by friction, and I couldn't get the locking room windows to stay in place on their own at all. Nevertheless, for the first time I have a full impression of the complete box. Though I say so myself, I'm quite pleased with it. I'll paint the inside and then switch to making up the interior fittings before adding a chimney, ventilators, drain pipes, etc. and painting the outside. I'll add the steps up to the door after I've made and fitted the platform. The final job will be to add the nameboards - watch this space for more information about those.

Dean Goods heading down the branch line....

Ready for painting. Dean Goods 2322 with her new tender chassis, as one of my static models decided to use glue as I’m not to confident my electrical soldering iron was up to the job….. Tender body just loosely fitted until chassis painted then the two will be glued together . Tons better than the old motorised one, can see through the wheels for a start…..! Used the original rear buffer beam and fittings so it matches the front for style, held in place at the moment with a tiny piece of blu tac.

Morning all. A bit late, as I had a very rare lie in. I've been suffering with back and shoulder problems for a while, and so have not had much sleep, but my brilliant Osteopath sorted things yesterday, so what with sleep deficit and more comfort, I had a much better night. Now though, I'm told not to overdo things, so no four mile power walks. At PN, the W1 now appears on its regular afternoon duty.

All set for weathering. 1940s and 1950s/60s branding.

Trains at Haltwhistle on the Newcastle to Carlisle line today. A bit later than usual today as I have been to look at the beach. Haltwhistle was the junction for the branch to Alston. They were all taken on 15th March 2007 with a Nikon D80 dSLR with a Nikon 18-135 mm lens. Haltwhistle Northern 156443 Newcastle to Carlisle 15th March 07 DSC_0282 Haltwhistle EWS 66180 down empties Redcar to Hardendale 15th March 07 DSC_0284 Haltwhistle Northern 156469 Carlisle to Newcastle 15th March 07 DSC_0286 Haltwhistle EWS 66188 up coal 15th March 07 DSC_0289 Haltwhistle Northern 156483 Newcastle to Whitehaven 15th March 07 DSC_0291 The Alston branch platform face can be seen on the right. David

Back in the railway room this afternoon, I started to clean up the ballast on the Branch. First I scrubbed away all the loose stuff with a stiff brush, then cleared the flangeways with the end of a coffee stirrer and a screwdriver for the more stubborn bits. Finally I touched up the brown paint where it had come away during that work. Tomorrow I'll go round and fill any gaps in the ballast, followed by a good clean-up of the rail heads. After I'd done the painting I carried on with the sequence. By missing out all the china-clay trains and railbus movements I got to the end of Friday with no mishaps. No problems with the DCC side of things today either. I took a couple of photos during the session: D6306 and D6307 on the 1220 Penzance - Kensington milk. The leading coach works a two-day diagram between Penzance and Cardiff (no, I've no idea why either). Its counterpart worked down earlier on the 2218 Paddington - Penzance parcels. On the model, of course, it is the same coach, a Bachmann BR standard S. In time it will be replaced by a BSL, Westdale or Comet kit. 4099 is heading the 0530 Penzance - Paddington class A. Four Hornby coaches (three Hawksworths and a Collett) with an ancient Tri-ang/Roxey van bringing up the rear. The Porthmellyn Road bobby didn't waste any time putting no 2 signal (the Down Outer Home) back, did he?

Now then, away from the fun and the frolics, there has been some hard work going on. Well, sort of ... What on earth is going on here, I hear you cry? Anyone ... Well, whatever, the crazy fool is only attacking one of his viaduct parapets with a girt big 7mm drill. Has he finally 'lost' it? There is a clue in the form of some spindly brass thingies to the top right of the drill... Aha! (possibly). The parapet now sports these rather odd appendages. The balance weight is the giveaway - there's some signalling installation going on. But such things could never just sit there looking pretty, that would never do. Here are the motors being prepared, using a Heath Robinson arrangement (I would never dignify it by use of the word 'design') that has worked (after a fashion) on the two shunt signals to the south of the station. They work on an 'over-throw' arrangement, the rather violent flick of the Peco motors being put to good use to create a longer travel than otherwise available, with the slender-looking spring arrangement holding them in position (on a good day). And now in position, under the board. The rotating drive rods from the signal heads come through the soldered-up brass tubes then bent 90 degrees to give some back and forth travel for the motors to work with, in conjunction with a brass pin soldered to the bent over drive rod. I had done some pre-wiring, but Andrew's first job on arrival Saturday morning was to link it all up to one of his motor drive units that can cope with a continuous supply from the associated relay panel even though it's only a pulse that is actually required (the detailed electronix is 'lost' on me after that point). Ladies and gents - I give you North Box lever No.24, a well-used lever in the sequence as there are many back and forth shunting moves that set back inside these signals (hence worth the effort to install), the down Nottingham effectively being the north end station shunting spur. If you think that the mounting of signals like this seems a little preposterous then nay, not so ... although we do run in to a slight historical anomaly here. Due to the fact that the layout sports the post-1942 track layout for the Nottingham services, the equivalent signals were not configured so pre-war; however, POST-war, there were indeed two shunt signals side-by-side on the parapet. So I feel that it is typical enough of the location and the steam-age era in general. If I feel so moved, then I might even get round to putting signal numbers on them ... which will have to be '24A' and '24B' as, on the model, they're operated by the same lever, using the logic from trailing crossover No.28 to determine which one actually fires. Reversing lever 24 also locks crossover 28 accordingly. If you bring your opera glasses with you, see them in action at the Leeds show!

I'm still undecided whether I should catch the ICE service at 1523 back to Leipzig, or try the IC which runs about twenty minutes behind it on Friday afternoons. The latter would most likely be one of the new(ish) IC2 double deck formations (powered by a Class 146.5 or 147.5 locomotive) which I haven't tried as of yet. I actually haven't ridden anything except suburban trains on a few occasions since we moved to Leipzig! And in fact, commuting by ICE isn't half bad, especially at the ungodly hours I need to get on my way. It's just 59 minutes for the Leipzig-Gotha section, and at these hours, ridership is usually fairly low, too. Certainly beats having to hit the motorway for two hours each way!

Something is going on at Ward Fell....all very hush hush....

Afternoon all, POETS and about to do just that! After several MORE hours sorting the mess left by "unknown actors", which included the realization that part of the system was never restarted on JANUARY 2019, following an upgrade!! Not sure whether to be more annoyed at the yahoos responsible OR the folks that SHOULD have been using that part of the BI (Business Intelligence - PAH!!) but obviously haven't even bothered to look since then, let alone TELL ME! Asshats! and every expletive @AndrewC can muster. That was enough for me so went shopping with the Mrs for the Oktoberfest spread we're providing for our travelling companions - they're off to Arizona for their winter home in a week, so we're doing a bash - authentic German bratwurst, sauerkraut, German potato salad, pretzels and German Oktoberfest brews... 16 and overcast when I started fumbling with the client MESS, same now but a high of 23 expected. Hope the weekend starts well for eveyrone - POETS, POETS, charge...

Sir - this is ER's and we are among transport professionals who are accustomed to rising at the most unearthly of hours in order to get others from bed to work ..... But yes it was dark and mizzly this morning as Autumn spreads her foggy fingers across the lands. Not as pleasant as it was a few weeks ago at the same hour. And to ice the cake the early morning train to the House of Fun failed to run owing to the absence of a member of the crew. Luckily I live on a "rounder" line with a train in each direction offering an instant Plan B most of the time. It's POETS Day. I wasn't able to celebrate though a colleague did so. Departing some 15 minutes before the rostered time, signing off (contrary to the rules) at the due time but departing on a train for home a good ten minutes before then. He may be asked questions on Moan-day as Miss Management was watching. The day was significantly quieter than the previous four probably accounted for by those who are working-from-work on selected days all selecting today to not do so The recent petrol-situation upturn in rail traffic has otherwise continued for which the accountants are probably grateful even if those squeezing aboard some trains are not. A package arrived from Padstein this morning. I use the moniker from choice as it contains "afternoon tea" for tomorrow created by the Stein Dynasty in that small Cornish town. It has also had quite a bumpy ride but everything is intact - just upside down, jostled together and with scones and sausage rolls having attempted a mating dance at some point! They were prised carefully apart and will be fine though not quite of the normally-approved shapes. It's all part of the anniversary package. Dr. SWMBO and myself would like to thank all who kindly offered their congratulations and (in some cases) messaged us off-site yesterday. It is very much appreciated.

As we head our way towards the weekend, I thought I'd post the other two photos of the Dapol Railcar at Tetbury taken from the hill. Railcar getting ready to depart And making its way towards Kemble. Have a good weekend folks!

Good moaning from a still dark Charente. Woken early by the grey bin lorry. It's the same one thatvempties the yellow bin on Tuesdays. We have communal bins for each group of houses. Ours is rather conveniently right outside the gate. Not a huge amount on todays agenda but that might well change. As to old computers, we had a small Sinclair, a ZX I think. I even managed to write a little programme that helped the kids learn their times tables. If they got 10 out of 10 they got a screen telling them they could have a chocolate bar. That was about the limit of my programming we then got a QL but the natty little tape cassette drives were very unreliable. At Poly in 1973 we did some BASIC programming and dropped the handwritten programmes in a slot at the computer suite door. The next day we gotva print out and a little roll of punched tape back. The printout usually said something along the lines of. ""Failed at line 250". Jamie

Greetings Before reporting to the Corn Exchange for day 2 of the beer festival I had my hair cut. For a few days at least my hair now looks relatively neat and tidy and I shall try to remember to have it cut more frequently in future. Good luck with that, you chorus, and with good reason. The next port of call was W H Smith to buy my 2022 diary and a magazine. The latter was much easier to find than the former. Having gone to the place in the downstairs part of the shop where diaries used to be I found only Filofax refills. In the best tradition of retailing I found that the diaries were now upstairs. I wonder where they will be next year? So, then, to the beer festival. The evening meal turned out to be roast pork with all the trimmings, a pleasant surprise indeed. I learned from two lads sitting next to me that the last bus from Bedford to Rushden is at 7.24 pm and that it would cost them £30 for a taxi when the time eventually came to go home. They appeared to be in no hurry to leave and who can blame them. How glad I am that such buses as there are to my neck of the woods leave from right outside the festival venue and that I have a bus pass. Best wishes to all Chris

Good evening everyone A little more progress has been made in the cellar, the brickwork surrounding the fireplace has been cleaned down and sealed and I’ve also managed to paint the fireplace itself. It’s starting to look pretty good now, but I think I’ll give the fireplace another coat of paint. Charlie turned up after dinner, but he didn’t bring is model with him, as he’s finding it very fiddly. To be honest, when he first showed me the kit, I thought it was a bit ambitious. But he keeps making small painting mistakes which he has to rectify and I think this is what's getting him down. He’s thinking of getting another kit, but one that is a bit easier to do and leaving this one until he has gained a bit more confidence. So instead of going to the workshop, we sat in the living room and spent the time chatting. I had a phone call mid afternoon from Wythenshaw Hospital, giving me a date for my operation, 11 November and I have to be there at 7:15am! Before that, on October 22, I will have a pre-op assessment at our local hospital. This is with in walking distance of home. I also need to go there on the 8 November for a pre-op Covid test, after which we both need to self isolate until I go in for my op.

Bu99er after on hold 30 mins plus I finally got hold of inland robbing you Looks like I do owe them various expletives have been deployed at least I can pay it instalment otherwise the x**s sponduliks are going for a Burton. Looks like I will be going trick or treating, penny for the guying and Carol singing and Bob a job week to pay for it.

Afternoon all. We have had some rain this morning which was slightly unexpected. We had managed to sort out another car boot/back seat load of recycling and rubbish for the tip. I went by myself as a I had an email mentioning a pre ordered object had been dispatched yesterday by Parcelforce. No mention of whether it was Parcelforce 24 or 48 and no tracking provided. So Aditi stayed in just in case. Something else with very detailed tracking is quite interesting. I ordered a couple of large reinforced storage bags using Amazon Prime. They started their journey near Madrid, cleared Spanish customs , cleared UK customs in Derby and have now left Castle Donnington and will I suspect arrive here via Basildon on Sunday. They are to store the Christmas tree components in. They are in bin bags in the loft at present and are awkward to move and store. The surveyor who checked the loft wasn’t bothered by where they are now as they are well away from any possible areas of solar panel wiring. We haven’t used the tree for a few years but don’t want to chuck it away in case our nieces ever spend Christmas with us. Tony

Progress is very slow on this wagon but have done a small amount this morning with the end stanchions and the coupling plates. And lady luck has shined on me because on the photograph I am working from show a large oval builders plate unde the centre of the doors. Looking through my bits box I found a pair of W.H. Davies works plates from 1880. They are the same size as my photograph so with a bit of modellers license i am going to use them. No 1 rules ! I have also done a very small amount of dec.............. to keep in the good books if that's possible.

Right, we could leave earlier due to an instructor having become ill, so I'm en route now! Definitely acquiring an autumnal feel around these parts now. I was thinking about a soup of cheese, mince and leek this weekend on account of that.

Why is Halloween starting so soon? The fireworks make my dog hide behind the Christmas tree.

I am just taking a break from domestic engineering having a coffee then back to mop wielding. I have asked for a pinny. I do actually have an NVQ level 2 in cleaning that I got with the Council It sits nicely with my other NVQ in traffic office administration As well as my other qualifications

Parcel delivered at 11:30. Sids law meant I was inside the layout in the loft. Luckily our postie is aware of how long it takes to get down to the front door. The parcel contained a new tablet.. just got to load it up with bits of apps etc. Mugadecaf now required! Baz

There are usually some chsirs outside the fitting rooms in M&S's womens underwear department. Obviously put there for mere males. You can get some very strange looks. However for me one of the most amusi g such episodes was in a haberdashery shop. I was trying to get some material with hexagonal weave to cover the rooves of my EMU's to represent chicken wire. The basement was full of soon to be brides and their strezzed out mum's choosing stuff for wedding dressex. You could feel the enom and also hear the hisxi g, whilst I explained what I wanted to the assistant. I even had a wooden roof to show. I got what I wanted, bridal veil material, 50p for a square yard. The assistant thought it was very amusi g, as did I. Jamie

There is an offshoot to Murphy's law that explains parcel arrivals. Not necessarily the latest possible time but the latest & most inconvenient time that is least expected. For example if they say between 11 and 12, it won't arrive at 11:59 but it will arrive at 11:45 if you are on the toilet or just received a phone call. It will arrive at 10:55 if you just had to pop to the shops for milk. If you sit at the door, it will finally arrive at 12:59 the next day. It is an extremely complex formula.

We got a call at work a few weeks ago from an officer who'd just been posted into a position enquiring about a computer that was in the corner of his new office. The previous guy didn't know what it was for, nor had the guy he took over from, and so on, so he called the local base IT guys who went and looked at it and suggested since it looked a bit special it must have been part of the system I support. One of our guys went over to check it out and came back with one of these I guess it had been sitting in the corner of that office since the '80's and part of the handover takeover routine for that job had obviously been "Ï don't have a clue what that is, it was here when I got here". It still works and we plan to use it to replace the PC of the next complaining user.

A somewhat less handsome locomotive arrives from Wisbech North.

My HP printer has died, so I ordered a new one (well unused and returned) as I want the same model and make, as I just bought two new ink cartridges for the present one, and I begrudge giving them away as they cost me more than a printer does- HP304 has been replaced on the current models by HP305! Anyway, got one off Ebay - estimated delivery Tuesday next. Got an email off UPS this morning, saying that my parcel was due to be delivered TODAY between 8.30 and 12.30. Good job I had gone out at 7.55 this morning then, and the email was timed at 8.20. Got home around 11.30 (30747 was at Drs for a blood test arranged yesterday, and also her pneumonia jab) and no parcel and no missed delivery card. Checked the UPS website - there is no real time tracking, and it appears that the "help" staff don't have it either, as all they said was "it's on its way". Was on the toilet at about 1.15pm when ding . Then I got an email saying my delivery had been delivered, and then after that, another advising me that the delivery had been "recheduled" to up to 7pm, And it was not a UPS operative, at least he wasn't wearing a uniform, and he was driving the inevitable white van, not a UPS liveried vehicle - I didn't know UPS sub contracted any delivery work. In other news, came down this morning to a small flood under the fish tank, so we need another one - Ebay here we go again. Still, I've sold nine rolls of William Morris wallpaper that I bought some years ago at Boundary Mill for £2.50 each for £100 plus carriage. In yet other news, our Indesit washing machine decided last night that it didn't like the balance on the load that was in it, and having spun it twice, would NOT embark on the final spin. It took a 30 minute (27 waiting and 3 of talking) to the Indesit helpdesk to get it to stop trying to spin, and then to reset itself for the next load - and I was left with a sopping wet duvet cover which luckily just went into our old spin drier bought for a fiver at a car boot sale, and which i won't get rid of as it is good for such emergencies. No musical offerings today. Generc greetings, of course are offered. Regards to All Stewart

After yesterday's disappointment at Hobbycraft I set off this morning to my 'local' model shop in Whitchurch only to find that it has closed down. I was in there a couple of months ago chatting to the owner and he seemed quite upbeat about things so I assume that something untoward has happened, which is a damned shame as it was a good shop. I'm now unable to find a model shop, as opposed to a toy shop or games outlet etc., within any reasonable distance of me. Bu**er! Dave

Ey Up! Excellent meal last night with some of the Pensioners from one of my old work places. The deer were making a lot of noise in the farm around the soon to be old Company HQ. Memories were shared and further meet ups arranged. Royal Mail are delivering a parcel this morning so I need to stay in. What's the betting it turns up at the latest possible time? Off for some breakfast ..but first...a mugatea! Stay safe! Baz

Mooring Awl, Inner Temple Hare.. 5 hours sleep ish followed by... not a lot.. Ben the I don't like the dark Collie rapidly went out this morning, after topping up rainfall levels, he came to me for reassurance, a good stoke of the head many times.. Then he went back to the house.. Very very dark out there and very quiet, the mist killing all noise, except for a Deer calling not too far away. There are still user groups for The QL around the country, many have developed the QL far beyond what Sinclair did using much later proocessors in the 680XX series .. There is an Enthusiastic following in Denmark, where for some reason it did much better than the UK.. The QL's I have, were later models where they got the microdrive working much better. Sometime I'll dig the QL's out and have a play again.. Did a lot of my degree typing on a QL.. http://www.dilwyn.me.uk/ https://quanta.org.uk/ Ordered winter driving gloves, and copper paint for small objects.. it's noticeable that everything has delivery dates a few days later than a while ago.. Just finishing off this weeks second major system, it went quite well, letting it's 1 G Ohm resistor settle at the moment, then it's just product the correction files and set the cross check running.. Time to wait some more..

Morning, just getting light on a windy but dry rock that manages an air temperature of 15c. Bike club morning, I guess it will be one of the last group runs out, the oldies don't like the cold. We are starting with a full Manx breakfast before the ride so will be fortified for our expedition. That *&^%$£"! video advert thing is really getting on my errr, nerves, it flips the page down past where I want to start. It won't work as advertising for me as I ignore the images completely, having gotten bored with x-ing it closed every time.

Al (Barry Ten) and his lovely wife visited today, not only to collect many models he'd bought some time ago but also to show me some of the projects he's working on or completed. Including............ A 27XX. A 'Bird'. A 'City'. A Cambrian 2-4-0T. A Dean Goods. A 61XX. An E1. The 'Battle of Britain' he's shown on here of late. And a 'Schools'. All of the above ran superbly. Just by way of a comparison, here's my 'Schools' (rather well-painted by Ian Rathbone). Thanks for bringing these locos, Al. You can tell us all about them in due course, please.

Some from last night, first full night of RHTT, didn’t know if I was coming or going! came off the bike on the way to the depot when the tyre got caught on the edge of the tarmac on the cycle path, landed on my arm and hip, a bit achy this afternoon! kings Norton before the off 37 passing by First bit was to Coventry, waiting in international Coventry Coventry to hednesford via stetchford, aston, bescot Back to new st away to nuneaton and back to redditch Reddich to Lichfield Back to new st and eventually back to kings Norton! same again tonight but I think it goes to rugeley, it’s running earlier that much i do know got it every day next week too, going to drive to lodge near kings Norton with the bike on the roof as I don’t think I can carry a whole weeks worth of lodge gear in my backpack on Monday, just about managed 3 days worth this week!

Here are some shots on my LNWR 19" Goods with all the construction work finished. I want to add a bit more weight over the drivers as the loco seems a bit nose heavy. Then it will be ready for painting, crewing and coaling. Nigel Hunt

A very very long time ago we were in the well known department store “Bodgers of Ilford”. Aditi asked the man in the fabric department if he had plain cheesecloth. He asked what was it for and after Aditi said it was for making cheese he got very irritated and told her there was no need to be sarcastic. She patiently explained it really was for making cheese.

Bear's Quote of the Day (courtesy of some Russian Guy on the Radio): "If you have gas, you have power" All Hail, Hippo....

Is this the next unloading job?

The drive down to Tekoa is very nice, although there is nay much to see in town. I would suggest going all the way to Latah, checking out an antique store or two and then returning home. 2 1/2 hours all told. You'll almost pass within distance of being able to see the farm! The views are also quite nice. This is looking back towards Spokane. Douglas

Of the yummy variety? In other news: Bear has completed Stage One of the car cleaning mission - all the "shuts" given a super duper clean (hatchback, doors, bonnet, fuel filler flap, plus the easy bits of the engine bay); also all four alloys - outside & inside faces. For those of a sad persuasion the hatchback shuts looked like this when the light clusters were removed: - And now look like this: #GetalifeBear And finally.... It seems that Hermes are to appear "between 5pm and 7pm". Hmm, we'll see....

The review samples are now circulating and it's a stunner. I would expect it to start surfacing in a few weeks. There is a spare untyred wheelset included but as it comes out of the box I've had it pulling away and running around with 18 Mk1s. Very, very capable.

Ingrained in my conscious memory from an early age is theGWR numeric stencilled on the buffer beam and the shed code which was usually “PPLRd.” in the case of the Large Prairies on The Vale Of Neath Line. Having good practice at detailed observation atm . In Cardiac Care Unit awaiting transfer for open heart surgery to repair dodgy heart vaive . Not a lot else going on really so must keep up with details & possible livery inaccuracy

Afternoon all Its like summer here sunny not a breath of wind although the wind turbines at Hook Moor on the side of the A1 are turning very lazily. I have treat the Mrs to a chippy dinner today using the funds saved from my cancelled Morrisons cafe breakfast yesterday. The postie brought a mixed bag this morning a refurbished 64mb usb stick I ordered via a well known auction site. One of mine and the apprentices job is to download a sat nav update from Volvo. In this case I will be the apprentice. The downside of the post is a tax demand for over £500 for the last tac year so I have that to sort out on Monday by my calculation I should be owed tax back I paid tax through Paye and am taxed on my pension payments. The letter is written in gobbledygook and contradicts its self

The A1 has now gone under the knife .... and drill, saw, file .... First a picture of my buffer beam repair. I then attacked the numbers and early crests with Astonish, a mix of the paste and liquid applied with cotton bud and coffee stirer. Attention turned to the tender where the rear deck was carefully cut away to the rear of the coal space. This allowed me to cut an over-height piece of plasticard to fit between the tender sides. This was offered up to the rear of the coal space and a line scribed to copy the arc of the existing bulkhead. The Hornby bulkhead was then trimmed back to the profile of the coal load (not yet photographed) and I was left with a new bulkhead which I can position correctly further towards the rear of the tender.

Good morning everyone Well considering I’ve been up since 8:30 it has been quite a busy day so far. I hadn’t even started my breakfast when the window cleaner turned up, so I had to unlock the back gate before I’d even sat down. Once he’d finished and I’d paid him, I set off to the butchers for the weekly meat rations and a pork pie for dinner. That lot has now been put away and I’m just about to drop Sheila off to meet up with some friends for a coffee. In the meantime, I shall call and pick up my latest eBay purchase then head off to the Trafford Centre, it’s all go here isn’t it? Back later. Brian

Back in the '80s an American colleague who was a civilian electrical engineer working for the USN in San Diego was also a certified public accountant. I was in his office one day as he was opening his mail and was intrigued to see him extracting bundles of travellers' cheques that he put into a filing cabinet. Eventually curiosity got the better of me and I asked him what was going on. He said that he'd been doing a fair number of tax returns for other people (this was in March or April IIRC) and he was receiving payment. OK but why in travellers' cheques, I asked. Because neither the IRS nor his ex-wives (of which he had two) lawyers could trace them he said. Dave

Alistair Cooke's Letters From America were, in my opinion, some of the finest pieces of journalism ever produced - informative and thought provoking without being strident, opinionated or echoing the prejudices of Cooke himself or of others. His book Alistair Cooke's America is similarly presented and even now, getting on for fifty years after publication, is still a worthwhile read for anyone interested in the history and development of the USA. Oh that journalists of his stature were not so vanishingly rare today. Dave

The 117 has had the grills removed and all three cars are now in primer Another Intercity HST gas began, this one to become 43185 whilst 43102 is now finished also finished is the 4 VEP- the before pictures show the challenge after…. mans the varnish stripe…. back to normal

Moaning awl. Too frellin' early!