chrisf

Before you commission etches for the B set talk to Paul Willis [Flymo] with his 5522 Models hat on. The previous owner of 5522 issued an etch for the E140/E145 ... Chris

Good morning one and all Lunch yesterday was very good. My friend and I both enjoyed fish and chips at the Blue Bell, Helpston, a pub not unknown to at least one RMwebber who I don't think is an ER. Just before I left home I grabbed a handful of CDs from the hessian bag to aid the road trip. The one that made it to the CD player was a lucky choice, being the first by the Flemish band Trio Dhoore. At this precise moment I cannot recall the title and forgive me but I'm not going outside in just a dressing gown to check. One of the tracks is a jaunty little polka and it became an instant earworm. I played it four times. Last evening I ordered the band's latest, a snip at 18 euros for sadly it is not released in the UK yet. I then ordered a signed EP by Jack Carty to be sent from Oz and cannot help wishing that he had announced his Christmas sale complete with discount code just a bit earlier, ie before I placed the order! Oh well. A third order will be placed before I leave for Stevenage this morning. This involves sending a cheque to an address in Stourbridge so that the excellent youth choir Stream of Sound can send me their new seasonal CD. Today I will cook prawns in Szechuan sauce for Poorly Pal, do a bit of m*d*ll*ng and attend the Stevenage Locomotive Society. My forgettery is on top form today for I cannot recall who is giving the talk. Tomorrow night I will be seeing the Demon Barbers at The Stables. My appointment with Professor Oncologist is nominally at 12 noon tomorrow. Until a few days ago I was quite relaxed about it but now I'm not, despite the kind thoughts and wishes from several in the ER community which I appreciate greatly. That said, there are others in trouble a lot worse than me. Warm thoughts to them all. Chris

Good morning one and all AndyRam, good luck with the job application! Lunch today with a friend near Peterborough. It will be my third visit to the Blue Bell in Helpston. The route there and back includes the level crossing so I had better allow plenty of time. Before hitting that particular road I need to whip into town to collect my Swiss francs and to drop some surplus books into Oxfam now that a carrier bag large and strong enough to accommodate them has become available. Thry include that most unwelcome of raffle prizes, a railway coffee table book, lavishly illustrated but with tosh where the text should be. Good riddance. Meanwhile the car is loaded ready for tomorrow's visit to Poorly Pal, except for the food which of necessity is still in the fridge. The beef stew or rather what is left of it is in a Le Creuset pan on the cooker because there is no way of fitting it into the fridge. I can think of no better incentive to eat the rest of it. My oat cuisine calls. Best wishes, then, to all travellers, to the lonely and depressed and to the ailing, supporting, recovering, grieving and missing. Of all of these bar the travellers there are too many. Chris

I was on a railtour to Inverness with a pair of 33s. 31st March/1st April 1995. Chris.

Good morning one and all The list for the fodder run is suspiciously short this morning. Time will tell what I have forgotten to include. Whatever it is, I need to remember it PDQ as another chore awaits. Yes, folks, it's the ironing. This afternoon I need to load the car for Thursday's visit because it is in the best place for being loaded. Tonight there is a talk on engine sheds. It is the seventh in the series and we are about halfway through the alphabet. I will write my report of it tomorrow once I have returned from lunch near Peterborough. Much of this guff is to try and take my mind off an appointment on Friday. At or after 12 noon on said day Professor Oncologist will tell me whether I am well. He has the results of blood tests to guide his opinion. I have no reason apart from fear to suppose that anything is amiss. In any case there are some Swiss francs at the bank awaiting collection before then and a gig to enjoy on Friday night. Too many of our inmates are affected by maladies in themselves and their loved ones. Kind thoughts to them all. Chris

Good morning one and all and apologies for tardiness on parade. Much of the delay can be booked to trying to find a favourite sweater which I am now sporting. As many good souls do, it proclaims "Bah Humbug". I rather enjoyed the beef stew that I made yesterday, especially the dumplings. Fortunately there is plenty left despite my succumbing to the desire for seconds. Today some sausage casserole awaits my pleasure. The sauce is out of a jar but very tasty. The real haute cuisine comes on Thursday when I will be cooking prawns in kung po sauce for Poorly Pal and myself. Today I need to venture out to post a couple of letters - payment of bills, how nice - and once again collect yesterday's local rag as the delivery brat has defaulted again. Tomorrow sees the fodder run and the purchase of the double edition of the Radio Times so I can reassure myself that I am doing the right thing by leaving the country over the festive season. Dom's gorgeous pics of trams at night make me even keener to ride on such things in Bern, Basel and Zurich in just a few weeks' time. On Wednesday I am to have lunch with a friend at a gastro pub near Peterborough. It's all go and so it should be. Before I go for my oat cuisine, porridge, it is time for the benedictine. Best wishes to all travellers, including those RMwebbers on seasonal migration, to the lonely and depressed and to the ailing, recovering, supporting, grieving and missing. I should have singled out BBC weather presenter Tomasz Schafernaker for good wishes yesterday. He was clearly in some distress reading the shipping forecast just before 5.30 yesterday morning. Fortunately newsreader Chris Aldridge had a copy of the script and was able to step in. How fortunate that the BBC leaves nothing to chance. Chris

Good morning one and all Yesterday was not the finest hour of Virgin Trains. The 8.50 am from MK came in full and standing, with reservations not honoured, first class declassified and two train loads of punters spread unevenly through 11 coaches. It seems that the preceding Euston - Manchester had been cancelled for "operational reasons", which could cover a multitude of sins. Fortunately, as it turned out, I did not have to stand, or slump, the whole way to Manchester. Two kind young people, on their way to Huddersfield to visit friends, took it in turns to give up their seats for this ageing crock and I cannot thank them enough. The return journey on the 18.15 out of Piccadilly managed to squander five minutes by ill-timed trundling somewhere so my five minute bus connection dematerialised. For once the eastbound X5 had been punctual. When I did get home it was straight to bed, pausing only to whip up a large mug of Horlicks. This morning my inbox contained a request from Virgin Trains for feedback. Gentle reader, you will not be surprised to learn that the link to the VT webshite did not work. Between these troughs was the peak of a good show. TheSignalEngineer introduced himself to me. Later CorneliusLundie and I took afternoon tea together. I know that other notables were present but our paths did not knowingly cross. 'Twas ever thus. Today I plan to make a good old-fashioned beef stew, with dumplings and myriad vegetables. This is why I had chicken and mushroom pie for lunch yesterday instead of - er - beef stew. The filled rolls that I had prepared were duly munched on the concourse of Man Picc while I trained one eye on the departures board. Best wishes today to everyone except Virgin Trains Chris

Good morning one and all This is a flying visit before I have breakfast and set off for Manchester. Wish you what you wish yourselves. Chris

I think you mean Harrow and Wealdstone! Chris

Good morning one and all Another fodder run today, including rolls and cold meat to see me through tomorrow's expedition to Manchester for the show. Getting there will entail being on quite an early bus from Bedford to Milton Keynes, preceded by a brisk walk from the hovel to the bus station at an hour when few souls of right mind will be abroad. In turn this means a relatively early night tonight. What is that old saying? Ah, I have it: Late to bed, early to rise leads to bags under the eyes. The travel documents for Switzerland duly arrived yesterday. If everyone listed turns up there will be 33 of us, which is the most for some time. We have a new [to me] tour leader so I hope the period of induction will not be too prolonged. Also delivered yesterday was my first C*****mas card. Like any others that I may receive, it will be affixed to the wall with blu tack in lieu of dangly decorations. Oh dear, I just remembered. There is a pile of ironing to do. Deep joy. Best wishes to all travellers, to the lonely and depressed and to the ailing, recovering, supporting, grieving and missing Chris

Good morning one and all I felt like a cuckoo in the nest last night. The model I took to the show and tell night - a Scammell Scarab maade form a kit purchased on Sunday at Warley - was the only one not set in pre-grouping times, or, as I sometimes think of them, prehistoric. It provoked much discussion, unlike two rakes of coaches built for railways lost in the dawn of time and more 7mm Terriers than one could imagine. It made a pleasant change from my normal stunt of bringing a box of bits from which one day will emerge a coach. The mince pies were nice too. Oh heavens, that's two taboos broken in one paragraph. I just went outside to move the car, which had been partly fouling Mrs E-C's gate again. Had the driver of the vehicle outside my house used a few more brain cells he would have moved further forward when parking instead of leaving a space equivalent to seven eighths of a Polo. This is both wasteful and cretinous but having lived in this street for close on 37 years I would expect no different. Today I am confined to the hovel until postie has been. Then will follow a merry few minutes checking the eagerly anticipated paperwork for my Swiss holiday, noting with a mixture of delight and resignation who will be in the party. If the name of the moaning old cow from Altrincham appears I will have mixed feelings, which may or may not include peace and goodwill. Best wishes to all travellers, to the lonely and depressed and to the ailing, supporting, recovering, grieving and missing. Early Risers is an equal opportunity thread. Chris

Good morning one and all I crept out around 7.30 yesterday morning with a carrier bag containing the C-----mas cards to be consigned to the mail. Some remain to be handed to the lucky recipients when I see them. That's one important job jobbed. Well, I think it's important and that is what matters in this context. Then, fortified by the porridge, toast and marmalade, I did the fodder run. At this time of year one had to be wary of new editions of the Radio Times as they come thick and fast. Another is due tomorrow but, boldly perhaps,I will not set out to buy it until Friday. When the festive season double issue arrives I will be certain that going to Switzerland for two weeks is a good idea. Tonight sees the m*d*ll*ng evening at the Bletchley area group of the HMRS. Yes, Barry O, what I show the assembled masses [!] will be what I have made from the kit that you saw on Sunday when I had just bought it. Little remains to be done save to repaint one part in a more accurate shade. Some of those who attend the group may be expecting a box of bits and a brave statement of intent because that is what they usually get. Life is full of surprises. Best wishes to all who deserve them Chris

Good morning one and all The fodder run awaits but must be preceded by a trip to the pillar box for there is a large bag full of outgoing mail to place therein. A last collection of 9 am does rather concentrate the mind. Yesterday I spent part of the day with a tray on my lap and did some m*d*ll*ng. A 50+ year old plastic kit is taking shape into a familiar object for those of a certain age. Whether the deadline for completion of tomorrow afternoon that I have set myself will be met is a good question. Why Wednesday, you ask? Because I need to take an example of my prowess to the HMRS area group meeting and both I and the other members are beginning to tire of an endless succession of boxes of bits. Wish me luck. On Thursday I must stay in until postie arrives. A packet is being consigned to me by special delivery and will contain the travel documents for my Swiss holiday, possibly gold plated given the cost. What the heck: it gets me out of the UK for C-----mas, which becomes an ever better idea as time goes by. Before I do anything strenuous today there will be porridge followed by toast and marmalade. Try getting that at Harry Ramsdens. Best wishes, comme d'habitude, to all travellers [on Saturday coming that includes me], to the lonely and depressed and to the ailing, supporting, recovering, grieving and missing. Chris

I got one in BR livery [possibly the one] from Hereford Model Centre at opening time yesterday. It looks to be good enough to warrant a little gilding of the lily. Chris

No. Read them, admire what others have done and aspire to emulate or surpass their achievements. Then get some back numbers and repeat. Chris

Good morning one and all Yesterday at Warley was not totally uneventful. On the way I discovered that the selection of breakfasts at the northbound Corley services is poor - Subway and Starbucks - so a foray was made across the footbridge to the southbound for a Harry Ramsdens, expensive but essential ahead of the day's rigours. The car was parked at Birmingham International, now in the grasping empire of National Car Parks, and I was able to see the funny side of the slogan on my ticket - Get Rich Quick. The return journey began on the A45 and somehow became one on the northbound A46 due to a combination of poor new road layout and even poorer signing. Clearly I did make it home, eventually. At lunchtime I arrived in the 'Spoons queue spot on 1 pm and sat for just over an hour with three other RMwebbers and a just tolerable pint of Pedigree. That show is absolutely hopeless and frustrating for trying to see everything and meet everybody but I did complete my shopping list, modest as it was. Later I discovered from Faceache that my friends from Fleetwood were at the BBC Good Food show yesterday, also at the NEC. One ear is trained on the street outside for once again the car is parked across Mrs Electric Chair's gate, there being no other spaces available at 7pm when I got home. Once it is moved to a place of safety I will need to venture into town because the delivery brat has defaulted again and I have no local rag. Instead there is a letter from the MP, doubtless reporting smugly on what he has done for the constituency in the past year. I am surprised that it runs to more than one page. Other tasks await, including catching up on happenings elsewhere in the wide and wonderful world of RMweb. Best wishes, then, to all travellers, to the lonely and depressed, and to the ailing, supporting, recovering, grieving and missing. Chris

Good morning one and all I will be on my way to Warley shortly so can't stop and chat. See some of you there, I hope. Chris

If they were carrying cutlasses I might have said 'yes' but they are carrying firearms so no. Chris

Good morning one and all Here is a summary of yesterday's irritations. My digi box failed to record the programmes on BBC1 that I asked it to capture on Thursday afternoon and evening. Two minutes into a live programme it decided that the signal was bad or scrambled and went to a black screen, banished by retuning to Channel 4 and then to BBC1. Why does the signal not return of its own accord instead of just dying? My viewing of one of Thursday's lost programmes on i-player was punctuated by a ringing phone. "Hello? This is central technical support service, it's about your com -". "F--- off!" I roared and rang off. It sounded like the clown who rang me last week with the same spiel. "You must think I was born yesterday" I said and he rang off before I could complete the sentence, which would also have been "F--- off!". About half an hour after I had climbed into bed, admittedly not all that late by most standards, the phone rang again. This time it was a friend who wanted to pick my brains about layouts at Warley ahead of his visit today. I wonder if he is descended from King Ethelred the Unready? Now what layouts are at Warley is a subject about which I have little constructive to say. Despite this the call lasted almost 15 minutes. Now the good news from yesterday. I made pancakes for tea! They were very nice with runny honey and lemon juice, which is by nature also runny. I have more or less given up sugar since the advent of Type 2 diabetes but it struck me that honey is nature's way. Today I may venture into the throbbing metropolis that is Bedford to post the two seasonal greetings cards destined for far flung climes. I do not know how much it costs to post cards to Brussels and Canberra but none of the self-adhesive stamps in stock would come close. Taking the cards to the post office, now cunningly hidden in a newsagents, will make the most of the delay built in by the weekend. The last collection on Saturdays from my nearest pillar box is 7 am!!! That, Royal Snail, is taking the p!ss. Tomorrow I will be at Warley. Best wishes to those who stand to be trampled underfoot there today by hunters of alleged bargains. We remember in our thoughts also today all travellers, especially those using the M6 this evening. What's that, Skippy? Ah yes. Best wishes also to the ailing, recovering, supporting, lonely, depressed, grieving and missing. Was that what you were trying to say, Skippy? Phew. Thank goodness for that. Chris

Good job you mentioned that! I thought it was 1300. The lone Chrisf

Good morning one and all. As the first sentence that I typed has disappeared I will start again. Harrumph. I've just been outside to move the car, which as is so often the case was fouling Mrs Electric Chair's gate. Someone finally decided to go to work so a space became available. It's chilly out there. Yesterday was spent with Poorly Pal and while he was watching American morris dancers on YouTube [yes, really] I got on with a bit of m*d*ll*ng. This was fine until two small brass bits took a dive from the baseboard to the floor. They bounce and tend if and when found to be nowhere near where they fell. As I have mislaid my head torch and need to replace it the search will have to wait until the next visit. Grrr. Today I will do a fodder run. Move along there, nothing to see. Best wishes to all deserving of them. Chris

Good morning one and all Another early night last night may just have helped to send the wretched cold on its way, plus of course more chemicals. Today will be a long day for in addition to visiting Poorly Pal I need to nip into town beforehand. At least the cards are now done and all but two of those that will be entrusted to Royal Snail are stamped and ready to go. Other distractions may now be admitted. One that will not is spending too much time hunting for the black felt tip pen purchased last week and lost already. I will add one to the list for the fodder run tomorrow which on past form will lead to its rediscovery when least expected. Something else to be added will be some bread rolls and stuff to put in them to help me through the ordeal that is Warley on Sunday. Yum. Today's best wishes: for all travellers except the numpty who damaged Marlow bridge, to the lonely and depressed and to the ailing [snuffle], recovering, supporting, grieving and missing. Chris

Good morning one and all The cold is still very present, the ironing is up to date and good progress has been made on writing the cards. Sometime today there will be food preparation for lunch with/for Poorly Pal tomorrow. He does not know it yet but we are to feast royally on pork chow mein. I will be at Warley on Sunday. The Bachmann scrum interests me not one bit and I will not countenance attendance on Saturday through total distaste for being trampled underfoot. I am to meet my cousin 88C and his friend by the Grange and probably go for a cuppa with them. The 1 pm meet - hmm. Might we have it by Baz's demo stand, do you think? It will not be much of a meet if there are only two of us. With that thought I have a bit more to read and then answer the call of breakfast which becomes louder with every keystroke. Best wishes to all travellers, especially those faced with the inordinate expense of travelling to the NEC, to the lonely and depressed and to the ailing, supporting, recovering, grieving and missing. Chris

Good morning one and all An early night last night seems to have done a bit of good. The head is still congested and the cough lingers but if I can remember where I put my shopping list I will add some high octane cough jollop to it before I brave the elements on the fodder run. Most of what I planned to do yesterday remains undone because I felt so dozy all morning. On the good side I was able to help a couple of e-chums with information and once again realised the benefits of having a roomful of archive magazines. Will it ever stop raining? I thought St Swithun's Day was in July. I need to get out into the jungle to decommission the tomato plant and harvest any serviceable fruit, though the chances of finding any of the latter recede with every drop of rain and squall of wind. Huzzah, the shopping list has surfaced. It is short enough for the journey to the supermarket by bus to be feasible so the car can stay where it is, ready to be loaded on Wednesday evening. Unfortunately the bus shelter where I long for the bus home go appear, chronically unpunctual as always, is a shelter in name only and it is often better for staying dry to stand outside. OK, time to stop moaning and carry on. Best wishes to the ailing [did you spot the self-interest there?] as well as the recovering, supporting, lonely, depressed, grieving and missing. Today all travellers deserve a special thought because it's just not nice out there. Chris

Good morning one and all I apologise for my late arrival. It was caused by sleep interrupted by a coughing fit and consequent lateness in crawling out of bed, rescheduled bath and having to move the car [twice] to stop it fouling Mrs Electric Chair's gate. You were right, folks. I enjoyed Gervase Phinn immensely but was a tad surprised when he walked on and started telling jokes. Somehow I had imagined him reading from his books about life as a school inspector but he entertained without notes, switching effortlessly and instantly from uproarious humour to deadly serious as and when required. This last is a power given to few: the young singer-guitarist Ethan Thomas is particularly adept at it. I was stunned to see how many books Gervase had written but did not add to my collection of five which he signed for me. What does the week portend? Fodder runs tomorrow and Friday, watching the autumn statement on Wednesday, visit to Poorly Pal on Thursday and completion of the joyous task of writing the C*****mas cards prior to despatch early next week. One, I confess, has already been entrusted to its recipient as he and I happened to be in the same place at the same time. In addition I hope to be rid of my ruddy cold. Best wished to all beset with the lurgi, to all travellers, to the lonely and depressed and to the ailing not smitten with aforesaid lurgi, recovering, supporting, grieving and missing. Anyone not covered by this announcement should stand over there while we decide what to do with you. Chris