bigwordsmith

Sorry to be a damper folks but FYI I’m in hospital with Covid - don’t recommend it!

The perils of buying on eBay Although the price was good, I wonder if I should have been more suspicious of the delivery costs. Now how the blazes am I going to get that in my loft?

That cloud be anywhere in the UK - remember what they say - One day - Four Seasons!

Gordon For all the criticism of Social media - much of which is justified - I do believe it can be a power for good. I'm a member of several groups on Facebook. each of which provides a wealth of support to the members, many of whom feel like a large extended family. Three of these are around my lung disease one is a pet rehoming charity, several are for bikers, and one is for ex servicemen who also ride bikes. IN the last one we know we have prevented several suicides and been the catalyst for helping many get help. Here, we're a band of (mostly) old codgers who share an interest as well as a ton of life experience, and if you can't turn to mates like that, then who can you share it with? As they say int he biker groups - "we've got your back 'Bro"

I heard he was one of the good guys. Sorry to hear that news.

David I love your fishplates - I have to admit I've forgotten which track you are using, but low down and close up it's damned impressive! May I take this chance to wish you all the very best for Christmas and the New Year. ATB Peter

Hi Gordon - well that's a curve ball, I've been on immunosuppressants for the last 15 years die to a progressive lung condition which is becoming a bit of an embuggerabce, so I have a lt of sympathy for your position. I also have a lot of hope for you and will keep you in my prayers.

All looking really good David, an inspiration to us all. in seasonal more, may I reciprocate by your seasonal greetings? ATC&NYB peter

Round about that time, that probably would have been Liz - so there you were Phil you can honestly say you knew her before she was famous!

in April 2017 number 103 visited the Bluebell where in a very notable first she was crewed at one part of the weekend by an all female crew. Not only was this a first, but crew rostering brought three members of the same family to the footplate of "Flying Scotsman" on the final day of the Bluebell Railway's Flying Scotsman Gala Event. Liz Groome, Clive’s eldest daughter, was driving, supported by her sisters Ruth and Rebecca, acting as fireman and cleaner respectively. Meanwhile Clive was also on duty, driving S15 No. 847. A few months ago, through work, I met Gordon Owen who was GM of the railway at the time of Scotsman’s visit. It was he who also introduced the incredibly successful Deltic weekend I asked him how on Earth they managed to miss out on one of the most easily sold publicity coups of the century by not having the girls pictures blasted over the National Press. apparently they ‘didn’t want to make a fuss’ what an amazing hobby that sees driving 103 with your family as just another day in the (unpaid) Office!

I have a feeling that quoting from Clive's book could lead to some copyright issues, especially as it is only a couple years old. To ensure Gilbert isn't on the wrong side of tetchy letters from his learned friends, could I heartily recommend that everyone here buys it, if they haven't already? It's only £4.50 on Amazon and you can get your own copy from the link below. I thoroughly enjoyed it. https://www.amazon.co.uk/British-Steam-Final-Years-Extracts/dp/1522010343/ref=asc_df_1522010343/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=310943444083&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=15726968325167394418&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9045843&hvtargid=pla-585972856259&psc=1&th=1&psc=1

Thanks Andy - I've been gnawing at the question as I have about 200 locos so at £20 a pop DCC would not be a cheap option!

Serious question - do DCC controlled locos do a much better job of slow speed running than analogue, or is it just down the analogy operators being more 'progressive'?

Looks like a black refuse sack to me - talk about attention to detail!

Was that Deltic era or HST arrival? I Know they're not steam but I have a very soft spot for both!

Not sure the warmer water ever got that much further! I do recall one of my mothers many brothers telling a tale of having gone swimming at the beach and Remarking to one of the others “did you notice how that big wummun’ going past left the water behind her a lot warmer?” yet another reason for not swimming in the sea! what were you going st Craigentinny?

As I was only born in 1955 my memories of steam are somewhat blurry. I do recall that when I was nobbut a bairn my parents lived at 18 Brunstane Road, Joppa, a suburb of Edinburgh. The house was directly over the road from Joppa Station from which my father committed each day to Glasgow, via Waverley. Of course as those of you who venture north of Grantham know, Joppa is on the ECML, it also used to be the site of the LNER laundry services the Scottish region, together with a small goods yard, so from our back window I had an excellent view of a collection of steam engines bumping various trucks around, along with much 'conversation' between the various folk involved. Being just five when we moved south so my father could get a promotion, I have little real memory of what happened, it was all just part of the scenery. if only I'd been a few years older and could enjoy what I missed. It has been however a source of great amusement to be able to claim that my father was an economic migrant right back in 1960! I do however have a lifelong memory of being dragged down to the nearby Portobello Beach in the 'Summer' and swimming in the Firth of Forth. As anyone who has ever done that in the peak of the Scottish Summer will recall, the North Sea never gets the memo about weather and remains stubbornly at about 4 degrees, so all photos of self at that time show a distinctly blue-is skin tone! The picture shows the entrance to the old station on the left - now long gone, and our house opposite, it's the one just beyond the 20 mph sign - talk about a short walk to the station! This one shows Joppa with a southbound Local - probably around the time Dad was commuting

If you look at an older slate roof you'll see the slates are very irregular - its the best way to tell a fake slate roof from a real one - the fake ones are all uniform

I always got the feeling that while Fiennes disapproved of Hoole's attitude to Management, he had a lot of respect for his ability to get trains to arrive on time!

Not sure if their majesties would have looked at the sharp end of the loco, but the lamps are a bit awry! Otherwise a lovely train!

I've also got a Bachmann Bittern if you're desperate!

If you're looking for a Hornby A4 with corridor tender, I've got a very old Hornby one ( tender Drive) which doesn't like my heavily ballasted code 75 track. Otherwise it pulls like a trailern ( ha ha) and used to rattle round my code100 layout with 9 Wren pullmans astern. It's incorrectly named as Sea Eagle - should be Walter K Whigham, but it's out of a job with me I did repaint and reline it a few years ago, can't even remember what colour it was!

Unfortunately, having collected many over the years I lost track of what's in the store. It seems that I should have done a count before dropping into Froude & Hext on a visit to Swindon a couple of years ago - they had just discovered a load of new, boxed mainline trucks that had been in their store for around 20 years and they were selling them for £4.50 a piece. I bought a hundred and ended up getting a very good deal. However, at the time I had a 37' x 12' railway loft!

I always used to hate trucks, but since moving away from those old plastic wheeled Hornby horrors I've grown to appreciate them. Your Scotch Goods looks smashing!

I thought it was bad luck to run 13 bogies - or does the triplet only count as 2 and 1/2?