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The Night Mail


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9 hours ago, bbishop said:

Dave, nice to have you back.  Can I suggest you have a lazy week?  Bill

 

i.e.  No low-level, aerobatics, flying under Tower Bridge (for those unaware just Google "Hunter+Tower Bridge"....) or entering war-zones (unless GWR).  Banging out is frowned upon too.

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In April 1968 I was a young Flying Officer at Chivenor doing my Hunter conversion prior to being posted out to Singapore when Al Pollock flew through Tower Bridge and well remember being in the crew room when someone came in and announced what had happened. Al was pi**ed off that the Wilson government had snubbed the RAF and not only done nothing to mark the 50th anniversary of its formation but had actually told the MoD to prevent any activities to do so. Hence he decided to show his displeasure by flying round the Houses of Parliament at low level then flying past the RAF monument and it wasn't until he saw the bridge ahead of him that he decided on the spur of the moment to fly through it. After landing back at West Raynham he was arrested but the government realised that were he to be court-martialled he would probably get public support (he already had the support of everyone in the RAF in spades) so he was declared to be mentally ill and was medically discharged instead. To say that we were incensed would be putting it mildly and not only was there open criticism of HMG within the service but a lot of people tried to resign commissions and the politicians began doing their usual flapping about, trying to wriggle out of what virtually everyone else saw as a situation of their making. Eventually the furore died down but I think we came quite close to a service mutiny before it did and Wilson & Co. were somewhat taken aback by the strength of feeling that had been unleashed. Little or nothing of this, of course, was ever reported in the press but eventually, sometime in the 80s I think, Al Pollock was officially, but quietly and without fuss, pardoned for what he did. He may have been a villain to the Wilson government but to us he was a hero. 

 

And don't worry Poly, these days the closest I get to rebellion is indulging in an old man's having a good grumble, having realised a long time ago that politicians are irredeemably ......... no, I won't go on or I'll get banned from RMW and anyway I've just managed over several days to get my blood pressure under control. 

 

Currently waiting for the doctor's rounds to see whether I can go home. Fingers crossed.

 

Have a good Sunday everyone.

 

Dave

 

 

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Am I a happy bunny? No, I bl**dy well am not! I was just about to leave hospital when it became apparent that the people here at Shrewsbury had mislaid the bit of paper from Telford saying that I'd had a TIA last week and to check with them before letting me free. The reply when they did check following me querying the prescription I was given was that I wasn't to be allowed out but am to have yet another scan tomorrow that will be examined before a decision is taken. It transpires that the colo-rectal team here were unaware that I had suffered a TIA despite the fact that the team's consultant first saw me at Telford on the stroke ward !!!

 

I'm not upset.......... I'm bl**dy furious!

 

Dave

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With poor Dave back in the dock after his failed escape attempt, I thought I would brighten his day with some of the more bizarre suggestions about what to do to SG.

 

The first was to connect the curves at each end to SWS and create a continuous run................... Not a simple task, as a set of link boards to ensure the SWS track lined up at the correct height and centre lines.

 

But wait, There's more!

 

Each of the group members could build a set of modules that could extend the layout into a square!

 

The stumbling block, which no one seems to have grasped is the sheer size of such an edifice.  My estimate, allowing for sensible sized curves at the end was around 30 feet square!

 

I had to ask the question that seemed to have passed over some of the others heads which was, where are we going to erect such and test it?  Apparently at an exhibition!

 

Now whether they were trying to wind me up at this point I wasn't sure, but what exhibition manager is going to want to get a 30 ft square  model railway into their hall?

 

I suggested that this was far too ambitious and having seen SG erected first hand, and having transported it I was pretty sure I wanted something that was a little more manageable.

 

I pointed out that the sum of the boards of SC (60 feet long) was actually more than three times what we already have for SWS, which is only 18 feet long in it's entirety.  This means we could actually build another 3 SWS on the boards we have, so perhaps they all ought to take four boards a piece and each build their own model.  

 

This did produce some interest as I pointed out that any boards left over after the planning had been completed would be up for grabs and could be used for any scale or gauge.

 

Which does mean that I could attempt to weatherproof them and use some for my new outdoor line behind the garage.

 

More later.

 

 

Edited by Happy Hippo
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8 minutes ago, Dave Hunt said:

The nurses and ward orderlies are lovely......

 

Dave

Did I ever tell you about the time I had to go to the PRH in Telford for an ultrasound on my chest?

 

Ushered in and told to take of my shirt and lie on the examination couch.

 

Then in walked not one, but two tanned blondes who looked very nordic and where dressed in  crisp white overalls, who proceeded to smear my chest with some sort of slippery goo.

 

'Does that feel ok?' one of them purred.

 

'Fffffffffine' I replied.

 

'That's good, now my colleague is just going to rub the scanner over the affected area, you might feel a little vibration'.

 

Bzzzzzzzzzzz

 

I hoped their names were Ingrid and Vilda because I forgot to ask!

 

Come to think of it I never heard any more about the ultrasound results, although the lump is still there!

 

 

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Richard, the obvious solution for SG is to buy a house with a former joinery workshop in the garden.  There is plenty of room for such a small layout in the one I bought. 

 

Jamie

Edited by jamie92208
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1 hour ago, Happy Hippo said:

With poor Dave back in the dock after his failed escape attempt, I thought I would brighten his day with some of the more bizarre suggestions about what to do to SG.

 

The first was to connect the curves at each end to SWS and create a continuous run................... Not a simple task, as a set of link boards to ensure the SWS track lined up at the correct height and centre lines.

 

But wait, There's more!

 

Each of the group members could build a set of modules that could extend the layout into a square!

 

The stumbling block, which no one seems to have grasped is the sheer size of such an edifice.  My estimate, allowing for sensible sized curves at the end was around 30 feet square!

 

I had to ask the question that seemed to have passed over some of the others heads which was, where are we going to erect such and test it?  Apparently at an exhibition!

 

Now whether they were trying to wind me up at this point I wasn't sure, but what exhibition manager is going to want to get a 30 ft square  model railway into their hall?

 

I suggested that this was far too ambitious and having seen SG erected first hand, and having transported it I was pretty sure I wanted something that was a little more manageable.

 

I pointed out that the sum of the boards of SC (60 feet long) was actually more than three times what we already have for SWS, which is only 18 feet long in it's entirety.  This means we could actually build another 3 SWS on the boards we have, so perhaps they all ought to take four boards a piece and each build their own model.  

 

This did produce some interest as I pointed out that any boards left over after the planning had been completed would be up for grabs and could be used for any scale or gauge.

 

Which does mean that I could attempt to weatherproof them and use some for my new outdoor line behind the garage.

 

More later.

 

 

 

Have you considered ripping up all the track, joining all the boards in an eye-catching fashion and making a model of Cardiff Central in P4?

 

Dave

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1 minute ago, jamie92208 said:

Richard, the obvious solution for SG is to buy a house with a former joinery workshop in the garden.  There is plenty of room for such a small layout in the one I bought. 

 

Jamie

 

Or he could rent one end of your shed and live there together with the layout.

 

Dave

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4 minutes ago, Dave Hunt said:

 

Or he could rent one end of your shed and live there together with the layout.

 

Dave

He could even pay the rent in cake and single malt whisky.  I wonder if Hippos can locate truffles. If they can I could rent him out to André who has the summer truffle orchard at the back of the shed.

 

Jamie

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1 minute ago, jamie92208 said:

He could even pay the rent in cake and single malt whisky.  I wonder if Hippos can locate truffles. If they can I could rent him out to André who has the summer truffle orchard at the back of the shed.

 

Jamie

Might compact the ground too much to be able to harvest the truffles.

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1 hour ago, Dave Hunt said:

 

Have you considered ripping up all the track, joining all the boards in an eye-catching fashion and making a model of Cardiff Central in P4?

 

Dave

Are you offering to pay for all the stock required?

 

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1 hour ago, Joseph_Pestell said:

Might compact the ground too much to be able to harvest the truffles.

It's not the compaction you need to be worried about,  but a rather muddy hollow which might make truffle hunting a bit more interesting, unless they float?

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3 hours ago, Dave Hunt said:

 

Have you considered ripping up all the track, joining all the boards in an eye-catching fashion and making a model of Cardiff Central in P4?

 

Dave

 

Yes please. can you include Cardiff Queen Street, Penarth Curve & Grangetown, and Cathays. Space? No problem. What are we keeping that old castle for? You've got one up the road!

 

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22 hours ago, Erichill16 said:

I read on the BBC website that a polar bear has in fact killed someone there this week. 

Glad our resident bear has been kept busy in the house recently.

Robert

 

22 hours ago, tigerburnie said:

Shame they shot the bear though

 

:cry:

Polar Bear defends his back yard, so they shoot him.  A sh1t deal in my book.

 

12 hours ago, Dave Hunt said:

In April 1968 I was a young Flying Officer at Chivenor doing my Hunter conversion prior to being posted out to Singapore when Al Pollock flew through Tower Bridge and well remember being in the crew room when someone came in and announced what had happened. Al was pi**ed off that the Wilson government had snubbed the RAF and not only done nothing to mark the 50th anniversary of its formation but had actually told the MoD to prevent any activities to do so. Hence he decided to show his displeasure by flying round the Houses of Parliament at low level then flying past the RAF monument and it wasn't until he saw the bridge ahead of him that he decided on the spur of the moment to fly through it. After landing back at West Raynham he was arrested but the government realised that were he to be court-martialled he would probably get public support (he already had the support of everyone in the RAF in spades) so he was declared to be mentally ill and was medically discharged instead. To say that we were incensed would be putting it mildly and not only was there open criticism of HMG within the service but a lot of people tried to resign commissions and the politicians began doing their usual flapping about, trying to wriggle out of what virtually everyone else saw as a situation of their making. Eventually the furore died down but I think we came quite close to a service mutiny before it did and Wilson & Co. were somewhat taken aback by the strength of feeling that had been unleashed. Little or nothing of this, of course, was ever reported in the press but eventually, sometime in the 80s I think, Al Pollock was officially, but quietly and without fuss, pardoned for what he did. He may have been a villain to the Wilson government but to us he was a hero. 

 

And don't worry Poly, these days the closest I get to rebellion is indulging in an old man's having a good grumble, having realised a long time ago that politicians are irredeemably ......... no, I won't go on or I'll get banned from RMW and anyway I've just managed over several days to get my blood pressure under control. 

 

Currently waiting for the doctor's rounds to see whether I can go home. Fingers crossed.

 

Have a good Sunday everyone.

 

Dave

 

 

 

And if you fancy a memento of the event:

https://www.collectair.co.uk/tower-bridge-hunter.html

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5571423/RAF-veteran-pilot-82-relives-split-second-decision-fly-busy-Tower-Bridge.html

 

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Well I blame the patient.  I can be first on scene, take the observations, ask the questions, record the answers.  A paramedic turns up, listens to my handover, asks the same questions and gets completely different answers.  Just so long as the obs are within a gnats whisker.

 

Dave, all the best.  Bill

 

PS:- reminder to everyone, I'm at Waterloo tomorrow, plenty of gossip please.

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1 hour ago, bbishop said:

Well I blame the patient.  I can be first on scene, take the observations, ask the questions, record the answers.  A paramedic turns up, listens to my handover, asks the same questions and gets completely different answers.  Just so long as the obs are within a gnats whisker.

 

Dave, all the best.  Bill

 

PS:- reminder to everyone, I'm at Waterloo tomorrow, plenty of gossip please.

Did I ever mention the time my GP brother in law knocked over one of his elderly patients while driving to the surgery. The police officer who arrived got confused as he couldn’t understand why the GP was attending a traffic incident (the ambulance was there as well). BiL explained he was the driver. The victim's wife was adamant that BiL was in no way to blame as her “stupid husband never looked “. She also explained that they had been walking to the surgery to make an appointment to see him later on. 

Edited by Tony_S
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7 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

What were you saying about the NHS earlier on?

 

 

 

 

That his situation was "touch and go"?

 

Touch another nurse and he's going.................

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Having spent a few days of reflection, I find that I'm none too happy about the adjective 'perfidious', when described or applied to someone in the third person. 

 

Being an open forum, I know full well that there is recourse to resolve this, but I'll allow time for things like retraction and/or apologies before personal ire begets mire.   

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Alas, poor GayJoe. (Sorry Yorick).

 

The results of the G0G elections are now public and well reported elsewhere.

 

I am disappointed that none of the Reform Group made it onto the Management Committee, but that's the way that a democratic vote can take us.

 

The potential for much change in a Model Railway Organisation that has been losing money for some years and is getting less relevant in today's model railway world, has been lost.

 

I have no doubt that the Guild will continue, and will outlive me, but I think that it is a diminishing entity, and the election results will possibly see an exodus of members when their membership is comes up for renewal.

 

Where there people go is up to debate.  some time back, I flippantly suggested that a dedicated 7 mm Society  could be possible, but as Simond has pointed out elsewhere, it would struggle.  and I agree with him. There are enough people out there to make it work, but do we really need yet another scale specific society to make things work?

 

Some may say that they need the Guild for the Forum and the Gazette, but John Emerson's on line magazine 'Lineside Look' is a 7 mm specific read, that is well worth signing up for, and it's free!  JE is a former editor of BRM and a 7 mm scale modeller.

 

This link may work:

 

https://www.lynxmodels.net/uploads/3/1/1/2/31129041/autumn_lineside_look.pdf

 

Then you have the Scale 7 Society:  Now some may look at this as the high table of 7 mm scale where only the truly gifted  are served, but if you look through their stores, the observant will see that they also offer gauges for narrower minded mortals, so that would suggest that they are more than happy to boost their membership off the back of the failing G0G.

 

So that is my intended route once my current G0G membership expires.

 

Of course I have no intention of going up to 33 mm gauge.  Had I moved into the 7 mm part of the hobby 20 years ago when I was entertaining P4, then it would have been quite feasible.  Much as I would like to be of the no compromise brigade, I'm afraid I need to compromise to build a model railway (or two) that will fit the rather restricted spaces I have available.

 

As an example of this, when we ran the B set around the 'main' line on SG, where the radii of the curves in about 4 feet, the inner buffers of the coaches  were fully compressed and the coupling springs were full extended.  This merely confirmed the experiment I carried out using the inner edge of a couple of radii curves (4 ft 6 inches radius) against the outer flanges of the B set.  Which gave me full compression of the inner buffers.

 

This means that to be comfortable running my existing stock, then I need to be looking at around 5 feet radii for any main line curve.

 

Those that have followed this thread will know that the current SC boards are 'only' 10 feet wide, so to meet the  suggest minimum, which is still below the 'proper' recommended minimum, there needs to be another board inserted.  In fact because of the standard size of the boards, that is impossible to achieve without either shaped boards or some insert fillets in the corners.

 

I suppose one way would be to convert a couple of the rectangular boards to a half lozenge which would remove the unused outer part of a board with curved track, and add it to the inner side.

 

We'll see!

 

 

 


 

Edited by Happy Hippo
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