highpeakman

Social media - I suppose I should now go and wash my hands after typing that! Perhaps it should really be called unsocial media? Like so many things it can be very useful and helpful but, often, so much content ends up as illiterate, bad mouthed ranting. Like littering, we don't seem to be able to get people to stop contributing nastiness.

The web page has the same "Live" banner at the top of the page as many other "local" newspaper websites including ours in the East Midlands. In this case it says Plymouth Live. Ours has a local Live banner but often includes news items from out of area. Genuinely local newspapers just can't compete these days I am sorry to say.

I don't know the area at all so this probably has little value but the report seemed to suggest the "train", if indeed there was ever a train, was seen near Tothill park. Looking at Google maps it seems that a train could have got to that point perhaps without going down to Laira Bridge (which would have required a reversal). I have no idea though why it would do so and, I repeat, if it really did so. Could that be the case possibly? As I said, I don't know the location at all but this just piqued my curiosity. Local "Paper" reporting these days is, unfortunately, notoriously bad everywhere in the country and seems to be reported from offices situated a long way away using little local knowledge.

An article yesterday in the Plymouth Herald about "Ghost Trains" being seen on the branch. https://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/news/history/gallery/abandoned-train-track-5566096?fbclid=IwAR0hmSJPlhz4x1b1CKhKEb0HC-xOb3QQYURR_5WoIcvWIQK_q1ps1Ho8Qio Is there still some activity with just part of it still in regular/irregular use? The article mentions that a train with approximately 20 "Oil carriages" (!) was seen near Tothill Park.

Interesting experience this afternoon. I was driving south on the A46 from Caistor to Market Rasen and arrived at the crossing at Holton le Moor. The red wig-wag lights were flashing and the barriers were down. There were quite a few cars, probably a dozen, waiting. A tank train, I guess from Immingham, went through heading to Lincoln. That cleared the crossing but the lights continued to flash and the barriers stayed down. After about 30 seconds a local single unit passenger train (a 153? I'm not good with these units) went through in the opposite direction. A few seconds more and the barriers lifted - but the lights continued to flash and did not turn off. For a few moments no one moved but then traffic in both directions started to cross in spite of the lights continuing to flash. I must confess that, at first, I was thinking "Well, there can't be another train coming yet and the barriers are up - so should I go over the crossing or not?". Thinking back to what I read on this thread I decided that I would not cross (it's illegal anyway) but I could see that might possibly lead to arguments with some of the traffic queued behind. There was a small bus two vehicles in front of me and he stopped and would not cross - traffic still coming over from the opposite direction. Then a truck coming the opposite way stopped as well. So now no traffic was crossing. After about 30 seconds the barriers came down again, a further 30 seconds and they went up again and this time the lights went out. Traffic returned to normal. It was then obvious that the signalman, in Holton Box or further away (is Holton le Moor box still manned?) needed to lower and raise the barriers to reset the wig-wag light control mechanism but couldn't initially do that while the traffic was moving over the crossing. An awkward situation that was not helped by the initial rush of traffic in both directions. It does make me think that many drivers still don't understand what those lights mean.

Thank you very much for that. Just what i wanted.

I've been looking for a map/diagram showing the new track layout at KC compared to the old. Haven't located one yet (That's probably just me), is there one please?

That is pretty much what we were told as my wife does not need insulin. Her hba1c is pretty borderline so not so much of a problem.

We were told by our GP not to bother with blood sugar meters. They said it was relevant for type 1 but not for type 2. Of course, that might be different for other people but might be worth consulting with your medical adviser first.

Very interested to read about this Jim, Thank you for raising it. It is an important subject for many people and having such an open conversation is a very good thing. I believe that you raised the important tenet that it is both diet and exercise together that count, not just diet. My wife was diagnosed as diabetic and we have been trying for quite a while to get her weight down as she is 17stone (She was 19 stone) but it seems to have stuck and, at the moment, we can't seem to shift it below that point. We both eat exactly the same type and amount of good quality food (small meals, salads, lot of fresh fish, no puddings, no crisps, rare small chocolate, etc), although I am just 12 stone (the most I have ever weighed). The difference is largely in the amount of exercise we do but also connected with body metabolism. My wife suffers from severe arthritis in her knees and cannot walk more than a few yards and so gets very little exercise (She does do "sitting" exercises). She can't get "new" knees until she loses more weight but can't get rid of the weight without exercise - a vicious circle! I do virtually all the household tasks and gardening which keeps me pretty fit although I also seem to be one of the lucky ones with a metabolism that keeps me relatively thin regardless of what I eat or drink. I do try very hard though not to eat anything tempting or extra, that I know will not affect me, as I am trying to support my wife in her endeavours. I have followed, and enjoyed, your daily blog for a long time but will now also follow this thread with interest. Good luck and best wishes for your Snowdon challenge.

Part of that system passes close to here but is no longer in use.

Thanks for the comments. Still a few detail things I will add to the weathering - oily marks, etc - but I am always wary of overdoing it. As others have found, I find that photographs tend to shine spotlights on all the faults. One shutter already made for testing but not yet fitted.

Hi Jay. A while back we discussed using the Wolf (Modelmaster) Rub on transfers. I used them on my two Hornby J94s. That was OK but I didn't find it as easy to use the rub ons as I expected to. As always the problem is making sure that the individual numbers are in line and correctly spaced out when looking through the backing paper. I stress that I am not criticising the product and that it's probably just me as I currently have a problem affecting my hand which is making some modelling jobs, including positioning, a bit tricky. My eyesight isn't what it was either - getting old! For the NLR Tank I went back to use some (very old) HMRS Pressfix transfers that I had tucked away many, many years ago. It took a while and a couple of experiments with different sizes before I was happy. Even now I am not entirely sure if I got the size (or position) correct but have decided to live with it. I found that it was a little easier to manipulate the Pressfix numbers into place (if kept wet) whereas the rub ons were a bit trickier to see the exact position through the backing before rubbing - once rubbed they were fixed of course so I had to remove individual numbers on a couple of occasions as I hadn't got them aligned correctly. I have now bought some Microsol and Microset to try in future on adding numbers - an 8F waiting to be done at the moment. I think both types look fine - I hope - and, like all the modelling jobs we do, it is a matter of individual preference. The advantage of the Wolf transfers was that the numbers are of correct size and colour. Here are the J94s with the Wolf transfers.

I'm afraid that I have taken the easy way out and fitted my NLR Tank body to the Electrotren chassis. Not without problems though as I seem to be getting intermittent problems, probably with the DCC chip so not a modelling problem as such. It's not up to your standards of detail but it will do me (for the moment). Love the water tank. I was just considering building a model of that myself so that's given me a target of standard to aim at! Look forward to seeing more.

Thanks. That sounds feasible. Need to buy some suitable screws and nuts but that should be OK.

Thanks for info. Could I tap into it?

Thanks but I think I would be worried about taking the screw out again and doing more damage though. The loco is DCC and I have had a bit of bother with the chip and had to remove the body a couple of times already.

Thanks. Something to think about.

Thanks. I accept your point about self tappers. Will have to search the screw box and get some taps - always something missing from the toolbox!

I am modifying a model using a resin body on an RTR chassis. However, because I have had to remove the body a couple of times, I find that the resin material has not provided a resilient purchase for the screw. I've tried sticking a piece of plastic over the screw hole. That gripped the screw well but used superglue to stick it down and that has come away from the resin. I could redo that but I wonder if it would be better to fill the original screw hole in the resin and use a self tapping screw. Could anyone please suggest the most suitable filler to use? Thank you.

It's decrepit. It's derelict. There are a lot of other closed stations on this thread.

http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/h/highfield/

Justin. Have received my Wolf transfers to suit the J94 from Modelmasters. They look good to me and seem to be the size required. Next thing is to remove the old Hornby ones. Involved in some remodelling of the layout at the moment but hope to do in the next few days. Don

Thank you for asking that question but I wouldn't want anybody doing it "just to see". It was just a case of wondering if anyone has already tried it (and been successful!). I may have a look myself though because that darn "cogging" on the DJM is driving me mad!

It is good that the EFE J94 seems to have overcome the DJM "cogging" problem. My problem is that my DJM one suffers from this problem and, as I have a "Hopton" incline on the layout it has a visible problem when descending with a train and I don't like that. I am happy with the body of the DJM and it models a particular J94 that I would like to keep (68012) . I initially considered buying one of the new EFE J94s to use the chassis under this body but it is too high priced for me just to do that with it. I have two Hornby J94s and I am happy with the way they run and they can be picked up cheaply (relatively). I am already in process of renumbering and altering the bodywork on the two Hornby ones to make them into C&HPR locos but that made me think about the DJM loco. Is it possible to make the DJM body fit a Hornby/Dapol chassis? I suspect the amount of work is probably not worth it but I wondered if anyone has looked at that?