andyram

Evening all. It’s been a while! Nothing sinister, just very busy. The positive news is that the Sky money has arrived and deposited in my account, arriving on the same day as the takeover of my beloved football club was completed. Tomorrow I can consider renewing my season ticket and can look forward to many more Saturday socials. Further good news is the gradual improvement in the business and sales are starting to flow a little better. Perhaps it was that traditional June dip after all. I will ignore the weekend at Buxton Railex at this point. A nice show, good range of layouts and a cracking venue. Perhaps the location on the stage, which was poorly sign posted, did not help make the event a profitable one for me. In fact it was my poorest two day event by some margin. It was the inaugural event though so I will not moan (at least not too much). That was my last show outing for a few months with nothing now booked until early October. Perhaps by then the missing modelling mojo may have been discovered. Andy

Glad the class 37 arrived ok Andy. Shame no pics or videos before the removal of the chip (unless it is in a video I have not yet seen). Layout continues to develop nicely.

I for one enjoy the pics you post Andy and I hope that you will continue to share your next project on YouTube. I will be watching. I have your latest videos on my watch list but have not yet had the time to view them. You have your reasons for not wanting to share them and, whilst I am not party to these, I do not think it is appropriate for others to speculate on what they might be. You are a very talented modeller Andy and I look forward to seeing more of your efforts.

Sid, the long serving stationmaster at Skaleby West, is a stickler for punctuality. He is also a staunch steam man and was less than impressed by the blue invasion at the weekend. I am sure he was having palpitations at the sight of today's visitor. The Harry Needle Railroad liveried Class 20 is a further step forward in era. It was deployed on a maintenance train and a filming contract prior to the planned return of summer preserved steam services.

@Dave Hunt my condolences to you and your family.

Evening all. Today has been a busy one. Breakfast was enjoyed whilst watching the latest video from @Andrew P. Then the Grosmont webcam was selected and formed a peaceful backdrop to the morning. If I can’t go to North Yorkshire, then I may as well bring a slice of it to me. Although not the hottest day, things seemed to catch up with me. My first bought of hay fever this year accompanied by extreme tiredness plagued the end of afternoon and into the evening. With that in mind, my bed is calling. Night all Andy

Evening all and supportive thoughts to @Dave Hunt. I hope things improve for your father. @Erichill16 I did not realise you were acquainted with Mr Botham. The shop on Skinner Street is always our first, and last, port of call during our visits to Whitby, making sure we stock up on cakes, biscuits and lemon buns to keep us in treats for several weeks. As many of you know, Whitby is my favourite place and I enjoyed tonight’s Countryfile. I have found a piece of Whitby Jet on a visit and carry it with me everywhere. It often gets held in the hand during times of stress. In the recent years when I have had to battle the black dog, I often find that, in Whitby, I feel immune from the beast. There is a spot on the Moors road, just prior to the turn off for Grosmont, where you crest the hill and see the town, the sea and the Abbey for the first time. No matter how bad I am feeling, the moment I reach that location, and see that first view, I feel my shoulders relax and the stress ebb away. I have often thought about the benefits of moving up there and with the problems of late, it has crossed my mind again. If only I could afford that dream home. One day maybe. Night all. Andy

This week has seen some work on the layout with track cleaning having taken place and I am pleased to say it has had the desired effect. The WD Jinty was able to complete several shuttles in and out of the station without requiring assistance from the giant hand in the sky. Sadly the camera did not capture any of these trips. Today saw something a little different arrive at the station. The BR blue liveried class 24 and 25 are not usual visitors to Skaleby West and do not represent a change of interest or era. Both locos are heading for a well known auction site and were posed on the layout for some suitable photographs.

If anybody fancies wasting 15 minutes of their day, my latest shop update video is due to premier shortly after 3.35pm today.

The next shop update video is due to premier shortly after 3.35pm today.

Afternoon all and a belated Happy Anniversary to Tony and Aditi. I did not get to pop onto ER's yesterday. Straight after arriving home from the shop I was back out to my parent's Golden Wedding Anniversary celebration. It was nice to catch up with old family and friends and it was our first proper family get together since before the pandemic. Following the party I dropped wife and daughter off at Sarah's parent's for an overnight stop so that they could spend Father's Day with her stepfather whilst I am in the shop. I will join them later for a meal. I spoke to Amber briefly this morning but she could not even be bothered to wish me a happy Father's Day. I will try not to be too offended! Enjoy the rest of the day. Andy

Sorry to see this going Andy. Was enjoying the build but you have clearly lost the motivation and it’s your decision. Looking forward to future projects.

Evening all. Thanks to @BSW01 for the opinion on the sculptures. Sadly my friend is now busy so the trip is off for the time being. Thanks also for the comments on Sarah’s situation. The nursery have taken advice from the Early Learning Alliance who have said that the school are within their rights remove the nursery from the building if they are planning to use the space for a different purpose. However, since they are planning on replacing them with a nursery of their own it may be illegal. Time will tell, but the nursery are determined to fight it. Interestingly, the headteacher claimed it was a governing body decision. One of the governors is our neighbour so that could make things awkward. The scorching day proved to be too hot for customers and things were quiet again. It did give me time to finish off for outstanding jobs for the college and all timed jobs have been polished off ahead of their various deadlines. Today is my parent’s golden wedding anniversary. I am off to visit them for a celebration tomorrow. Night lol. Andy

Good evening all and many happy returns to @zarniwhoop. I am also pleased to hear that @BSW01enjoyed the day at Chatsworth. I would be interested to know thoughts on the giant sculpture display currently located in the grounds. I have a tentative arrangement to visit on Monday with a friend of mine. Today has not been great. Weather was beautiful but I was stuck inside the shop staring at the computer screen all day dealing with grade profile statistics for the college. Sadly there were precious few customers to distract me. The month of June continues to be a poor showing, just as it has been for all but last year. I expected it, especially with the current economic climate, and hope that the usual upturn through July and August will also be repeated. Further bad news from Sarah’s work. The nursery has always been a separate entity to the school, renting the room but being independently managed, despite sending all the children onwards into the school. It has been an arrangement that has been maintained for as long as the school has been open which amounts to 36 years. Today the school served notice that they want to replace the nursery with one of their own and, in 14 months, they will need to vacate. This will lead to redundancies although one or two staff may be kept on in the new provision. A lot of anger and upset is present right now. I am beginning to wonder if we will ever catch a positive break again. Night all. Andy

Glad to see you back posting Andy. I definitely love this layout. Now you are adding a harbour, perhaps an excuse to extend the track onto the quayside for fish wagons 😉

Evening all and generic greetings. I hope that @BSW01 enjoyed the visit to Chatsworth, you certainly had decent weather. The Chatsworth Estate is not too far away from my shop although I am closed on a Wednesday. I did venture up this afternoon to check on the water issues and I am pleased to report there were no ill effects from yesterday’s incident and all seems to have been fixed. This morning was a busy day of online college meetings and late afternoon was full of data compiling jobs for the final awards board later this month. There will be plenty more to occupy me tomorrow although I do hope that there will be some customers too. This evening was spent in a friend’s garden having a much needed catch up over a coffee. It was a relaxing hour or so away from the stresses and strains. Night all. Andy

A great pic Andy. I am looking forward to the new video. Any reason why you are mainly focusing on YouTube?

“And about time too” the stationmaster may have been heard to utter after a train is finally seen in Skaleby West platform. The Jinty may be familiar to some after its starring role on the Titfield Thunderbolts’ Great Model Railway Challenge layout. The gentle run over the stream and into this quiet country station may be somewhat different to its journey around the active volcano enroute to the dockside whilst carrying the intrepid explorers to safety. The loco is still carrying the scars from its time in the jungle as can be seen from the marks on the tank side. There were no derailments this time. The track around Skaleby West is much more carefully laid than on the tv layout. Then again I did not lay any of the track on the Titfield layout with my work focusing on the scenery. One thing today’s arrival did have in common was several interventions from the giant hand in the sky providing further memories of that fateful performance for the likes of Mr Flint. In reality, this was a test train from today. With the DCC controller still missing in action, I decided to rig up a temporary arrangement using a Hornby trainset controller. The idea was to see how much work is needed to get the layout back into action. The answer is quite a lot! The Jinty managed very little of the journey without assistance and it is clear some major track cleaning will be needed. Perhaps then a more regular service can resume..

Evening all. It never rains, but it pours - literally! This was the shop counter at 3pm this afternoon. Water from the holiday flat above the shop had dripped through the ceiling tiles at a steady rate. Fortunately no obvious damage done and the landlord had a maintenance team there within 20 minutes of me reporting it. The culprit, a leaking shower that had not been fully switched off. All sealed now and the leak had stopped by the time I locked up at 5pm. I may have to go and check things tomorrow (I have left my laptop power cable behind and will need it for a meeting). This, along with a few telephone calls and some college deadlines to hit meant little time for completing the CISAS forms. I do have email evidence but not telephone records sadly. A busy week may limit time to get this form done but I need to make sure I find time to complete. Night all. Andy

Evening all and I will add my congratulations to @grandad bob and many happy returns to Gemma. Today has been spent stuck in front of the computer at home clearing more marking and dealing with countless messages including learner enquires and a case of persistent plagiarism. The learner may have trotted our plenty of excuses but has used up almost all of her warnings across multiple assignments. She is very much in the last chance saloon. This afternoon saw a call from Sky with the promise to send out a replacement cheque by Wednesday. I will not hold my breath. I followed this up with a call to CISAS who act as the regulator for broadband providers. A claims form has now been sent to open a case against Sky. I have nothing to lose so I will fill it out and send it off when I find some time later in the week. Meanwhile, at Pride Park, the American chancer has proven to be a total timewaster and has walked away. The uncertainty and worry grows again. Night. Andy

I finally caught up with video 12 this morning over breakfast (still not watched 11 yet). Great to see the progress continuing. I hope that you have rid yourself of the cold.

Evening all and I hope that this post finds you well. Today has been ok. I was up early to drive over to Matlock Bath for a 10am opening. Sarah has often questioned my reasoning behind having my earliest start on a Sunday. It owes much to my earlier days, rising early to play 5 a side football. I am used to early Sunday starts. In addition I like to offer the early opening to modellers so they can come to the shop before the place gets busy with tourists and motorbikes. The local cafe is always open for breakfast too! Having said all of the above, I was starting to question the early opening too. Very few had taken advantage of this opportunity since I restarted Sunday opening in April. On the drive over I contemplated the pros and cons of opening a little later. On arrival,I found a customer on the doorstep. It just goes to show you can never predict anything! The day was busy and I was late closing with customers still coming in sometime the planned 4pm closure resulting an acceptable day. Further good news is that some of held funds from EBay have been released. Not before time. Tomorrow will be a call to the regulator about the issues with Sky. Their complaints team are due to call by Tuesday to give me an update. When they call, they will also be asked why I was not offered the three months free I am due as i domestic customer of 19 years standing. I will be interested by their excuse. Night all. Andy

The summer holidays will come after the game on Tuesday come what may. There are two more games later in the year against Italy and the Germans. I agree that the timing of the tournament is dreadful but is a victim of the stupid decision to take the World Cup to Qatar and hold it in the winter. The scheduling also owes something to lost dates due to Covid! Perhaps it should have been abandoned this time around. As to whether the Nations League is a complete waste of time I would actually disagree to the extent that the jury remains out on it. The plan was to use it instead of meaningless friendlies and, in that sense, it is a good idea. Sadly, I think it has suffered due to the points raised above.

Is that the new roundy round layout suspended from the ceiling?

After a couple of years in store, Skaleby West is finally back on display in my A2B Model Railways shop. The layout was removed for safe keeping on the night Boris announced the very first Covid lockdown and has been left in the back of my garage ever since. Finally, I have found the time to remove it and bring it back up to the shop to act as a display piece and a test track. All its quiet under the spotlights at the moment. In the distance George is checking the bee hive in the cottage garden accompanied by the sound of the woodcutter attending to a dead tree. The stationmaster checks his watch wondering where the next arrival is. Little does he know that it has been delayed. The layout may be connected up, but the track will need a good clean. There also remains another slight problem. When I took the layout away, I also stored the DCC controller in a safe place. So safe that I cannot find it!