lezz01

I grew up in Newton Longville just to the west of Bletchley. Aylesbury had the closest hospital at around 16-18 miles away. My eldest was born in the Royal Bucks maternity hospital. Back then NL was a small village on the top of a hill just past the brickworks, now it's just another part of Milton Keynes. I don't mind Milton Keynes but we never did get the monorail they promised us just the roads. I live in London now but I would change it for Milton Keynes in a heartbeat except for 2 things, my first wife and my children live there.......my third wife hates my first wife and I don't get on with my children...God knows I've tried but they are what their mother made them. Regards Lez.

Funnily enough I feel the exact opposite. I found the Lord of the Rings a little tedious and the Hobbit more entertaining. I do like them both enough to have watched them all many times. For some reason the Shire makes me more than a little homesick for rural Buckinghamshire to the point that I get quite emotional. Regards Lez.

I can let you have a track template for track panels if you would like one. It'll be EM or P4 take your pick and I'll scan it and send it to you in a PM. I also have 5 yards of SMP bullhead in 00, if you'd like it we can sort something out by way of getting it to you. It was supposed to be EM gauge when I brought it but it turned out to be 00 and by that time the vendor had vanished into thin air so I have 5 yards of 00 gauge track that I'm not going to use so if have a use for it you're very welcome to it. Regards Lez

So it'll be track laying time soon then. What are you going to use Bullhead or flat bottom? Peco or hand built? Looking forward to seeing track down mate. Regards Lez.

I don't remember a Tiger in B o B. There was a Jagdpanther and a Panzer IV. I think you are referring to Saving Privet Ryan where the Tiger didn't have the right wheels. It really looked the part and had me fooled right up until the sticky bomb scene when it was revealed that it didn't have overlapping road wheels. Fury used a real Tiger and a fake Tiger and they CGI'd the real one on to the fake one for the combat scene as the real one is far to valuable to risk being damaged for a film. There's a doco about it. I believe that it's the only working Tiger in the world right now but Crompton has at least one in the works and the parts for a couple more. Regards Lez.

I have to agree. The Jeff Wane musical version of W o t W is fabulous I have both the original vinyl and the CD version, although the CD version is not in the correct order, I also have the latest video version saved on my TiVo box. I have the musical score as well and can even play some of it on guitar. Regards Lez.

Personally I thought Dunkirk was dreadful. The plot was poor the acting was worse, the old one was much better. In fact the recent docudrama with Benedict Cumberbatch was far better than the latest film. Another film that's always a let down is War of the Worlds. None of Hollywood's efforts have done justice to the book, even the most recent TV effort on the Beeb was messed with so much it became nonsense. Why mess with perfection? Wells' book is a masterpiece why alter it? Regards Lez.

I have a Samsung TV with a TEVIO box and have the same problem. I also run the sound via a sound bar and sub woofer yet I have to push up the volume on anything that's recorded. In fairness to films it would have been much better had I turned the sound bar to movie mode but then it was after midnight when I watched it and the rest of the house was asleep and it would have been far too loud as the sub can make the whole block shake never mind our flat. I do agree with others that modern film actors seem to mumble. I recently watched Henry IV on tv and had no such problems as it was with proper actors on a proper stage. I'm hoping to see Henry IV, both parts, with Sir Ian McKellen when it opens in the smoke. I suspect that there will be zero mumbling in that. Regards Lez.

Guilty as charged. You can scoff but had the balloon really gone up you'd have been damn glad we were there. Regards Lez.

Having been involved with nuclear weapons in the army I was looking forward to watching Oppenheimer with great anticipation. I finally did so last night and I'm sorry to say I was very disappointed. I found the film tedious to say the least. There are documentaries I've seen about him that were far more entertaining than the film. The factual accuracy left quite a bit to be desired as well. Given all the hype and awards I expected much more. The sound, as mentioned by others, was also an issue, so much so that I turned on the subtitles after 10 minuets or so. Hollywood never fails to disappoint it seems. Regards Lez.

Peters' spares do replacement axle centres for that type of split axle loco. There are EM gauge options on eBay as well. Regards Lez.

Very nice Philip. I's coming on a treat mate. Regards Lez.

I also like to use copper clad for adding pickups to Bachmann tenders. As I'm using Gibson wheels I don't need to worry about scraping paint off the back of them. Regards Lez.

Well you could drive the axle on the outside of the crank via spur gears like a deiseal bogie gear tower. You could even have it drive on the outside of both of the cranks via a layshaft with two sets of spur gears onto the drive axle. It would all depend on how much room you have and how good an engineer you are but it could be made to work. The easy answer is of course to fit a tender drive. Or drive the rear axle and transfer the drive to the driven axle as well using spur gears but you need to work out the ratios so that your driving correctly on both axles. The NRM single I think it's the GN one has this system and it seems to work very well. Regards Lez.

I'll have to call you then with Live Aid right in front of the stage around 15-20' back from the barrier although Jimmy Page was a good shout. I also have a backup of Queen 4 times, Hammersmith, Wembley twice (including Live Aid) and Knebworth. Regards Lez.

Sadly yes.......like I said we don't talk about Chesney........mind you he can still fill a venue even if it's just Butlins or Pontins...we have no idea why but he can. Justin had the talent Chesney rode the coat tails. Regards Lez.

Err my wife's cousins include.....Justin and Chesney Hawkes. I kid you not although we don't talk about Chesney............ Regards Lez.

Personally I haven't built any outside valve gear as there is very little with it on the Midland although I do have some in stock to build at some point, Stanier 8Fs and a couple of S&D 7Fs. I do have some inside motion kits that I intend to fit at some point. I wouldn't say that I'm frightened of them but I am a little apprehensive as I've not done them before although I have done an inside motion as a separate unit that worked quite well. I would like to do the rail motor and the Deeley dock tank, the problem with those isn't that they have outside valve gear it's that the valve gear is so small and the old mince pies ain't what they used to be. Regards Lez.

You've gotta love the old improbability drive eh?! Regards Lez.

That would be Crofty. Personally I think he's an idiot but then how do you step into Murry Walkers shoes without looking like an idiot? Regards Lez.

There is a lot to dislike about modern rugby but I do like the 50-22 rule. I wish it had been around when I played. Regards Lez.

Very Flash Gordon. Regards Lez.

The problem with AF is that it's 90% set plays and it structured for TV. I find it very tedious to watch and feel the same about baseball. They do have a cricket team but it's made up of Asians and South Africans. The only American sport worth watching IMO is Ice Hockey now that is exciting. Even motorsport in the states is all whizz and no bang. It's all about the show and not about the sport although I quite like red neck taxi racing (NASCAR). The two road races they run are good fun to watch. They also have two of the best race tracks in the world Laguna Seka and Road America, I'd love to see WEC and F1 around both of them. Regards Lez.

Well Clive it's something my old dad set up back in the 70s before we got 3 phase in for the Colchester lathe. I have a Unimat so it's not something I do now. I can draw you a sketch if you like though. Regards Lez.

If you do this with a dremel and have a dremel workstation you can turn the dremel through 90 deg and lock it in place. Regards Lez.