The Night Mail

[Tony_S]

1 minute ago, tetsudofan said:

 

But life's not like that. All I know is that I've taken all the necessary steps to make sure that whoever has to sort out my affairs will be able to do so without encountering any problems.

Aditi’s Dad was very organised and although he certainly didn’t expect to pass away when he did (sudden unexpected illness rather than gradual decline) all his paperwork was immaculate. What did happen was a problem with a will. Basically everything was supposed to go to Aditi’s mother.  However something didn’t quite fit into one of the categories listed in the will. The solicitor said it was an error made by the solicitor (also deceased) who had drawn up the will. The result of this was a sum would have gone to Aditi and her siblings. They all agreed this would not have been their father’s intention and had a Deed of Variation to sort out what they felt he intended.  
Tony

[Happy Hippo]

This battery organiser arrived yesterday. (Actually due on 03 Mar, so really early.) I'm now accused of being a little OCD. 

[coastalview]

10 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

 I'm now accused of being a little OCD. 

 

Surely not 

 

Edited February 25, 2021 by coastalview

[Tony_S]

40 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

This battery organiser arrived yesterday. (Actually due on 03 Mar, so really early.) I'm now accused of being a little OCD. 

It is very neat. However I suspect it would be a good way for me to lose all my batteries at once. Aditi knows this so she has a stash of batteries (in their original packing) in a former biscuit tin in a kitchen drawer. 

[simontaylor484]

1 hour ago, PhilJ W said:

I'm also needle phobic, but I'm also phobic about catching covid so I've had the jab. I was pleasantly surprised how the needle was barely noticeable. 

Snap

 

Its not much of a needle blood tests are a lot worse

[Happy Hippo]

Great news, I received two letters from HMRC this morning.

 

The first told me that I no longer had to complete a self assessment form for  income tax unless my circumstances change (Which I will ensure doesn't happen.)

 

The second was a repayment of excess tax paid.

 

Now can anyone suggest what I can do with £12.96?

 

Apart from buying a very small cake from Georgie!

[simontaylor484]

Dont spend it all at once

[Winslow Boy]

38 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

Great news, I received two letters from HMRC this morning.

 

The first told me that I no longer had to complete a self assessment form for  income tax unless my circumstances change (Which I will ensure doesn't happen.)

 

The second was a repayment of excess tax paid.

 

Now can anyone suggest what I can do with £12.96?

 

Apart from buying a very small cake from Georgie!

Deposit on a new grave plot when Nadya finds out that you've offered the surgery receptionist a place in the currant one?

[Happy Hippo]

1 minute ago, Winslow Boy said:

Deposit on a new grave plot when Nadya finds out that you've offered the surgery receptionist a place in the currant one?

From now on, you will be referred to as Wibo. (Nyda told me to say that)

[Tony_S]

I know this isn’t exactly super model engineering but I have been servicing some old Triang Hornby locos for Aditi’s brother. One of them is the 0 4 0 Continental Tank. I asked if he had the screw that went down the chimney to fix the body to the chassis. He said he hadn’t so I got some 8BA screws but the chimney did not line up with the hole in the chassis. So it can never have been properly attached. So I then looked for 8BA taps and had other taps but not 8BA.  I also found I didn’t have a 1.8mm drill. I do now, so repairs can continue. 
Tony

[Happy Hippo]

46 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

I know this isn’t exactly super model engineering but I have been servicing some old Triang Hornby locos for Aditi’s brother. One of them is the 0 4 0 Continental Tank. I asked if he had the screw that went down the chimney to fix the body to the chassis. He said he hadn’t so I got some 8BA screws but the chimney did not line up with the hole in the chassis. So it can never have been properly attached. So I then looked for 8BA taps and had other taps but not 8BA.  I also found I didn’t have a 1.8mm drill. I do now, so repairs can continue. 
Tony

I found that I used 6BA down to 14BA, but I baulked at using 16 BA which was where I was heading when I was doing EM and P4.

 

I used the 14 BA as pivots for Dingham couplings and 6BA for chassis construction in 16 mm and 7/8ths scales , although I now tend to use 8BA.

 

If I didn't have such a large stock of various BA nuts and bolts, I'd have gone over to Metric threads as the nuts and bolts are much cheaper to buy in bulk.

 

Roundhouse Engineering made considerable savings in production costs when they went from 6BA to M3 some years back.

 

you need to be careful when restoring or servicing their locos to make sure you know which series of nuts and bolts they used.  Really important if you are replacing the bolts that hold the valve chest to the cylinder block, as you really don't want a crossed thread there.

 

 

[rockershovel]

I’ve had a letter by which, supposedly, my GP practice will contact me. However my good wife had the same letter some weeks ago, she found a local pharmacy doing the jabs by word of mouth and booked in there. The NHS site wouldn’t allow her on, and in the event that the GP ever trouble themselves to contact her I suppose we’ll just have to give them the bad news. 

 

 I’ve booked into the NHS site and been offered bookings between forty and seventy miles away, which I am ignoring.  Expectations of the GP aren’t high, under the circumstances. Right now I’ve concentrated on a much-delayed dental appointment to fix a broken tooth, which finally happened today...

[Happy Hippo]

I have just watched a You tube video where the maker was building a batch of PD Grampus wagons.

 

After spraying, to accelerate the drying process,  he put the plastic wagons on a low heat in the oven.

 

Better waves than a RNVR subbie.

 

I did that once with a brass loco body and still had it dismantle itself.  

 

Kits go to dry and harden on a shelf in the airing cupboard.

[Tony_S]

16 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

 

After spraying, to accelerate the drying process,  he put the plastic wagons on a low heat in the oven.

I often put things I have sprayed in the oven at 40C. This includes metal, resin and plastic. I haven’t had any wrinkly models. However I only spray with acrylics. I often put something I have glued with epoxy resins in the oven too. I definitely do not heat  anything I have used super glue on though. 

Edited February 25, 2021 by Tony_S

[br2975]

1 hour ago, Happy Hippo said:

I have just watched a You tube video where the maker was building a batch of PD Grampus wagons.

 

After spraying, to accelerate the drying process,  he put the plastic wagons on a low heat in the oven.

 

I saw that gentleman's efforts, after they came out of the oven.

.

The result made up my mind for me, (i) don't put kits in the oven, and (ii) watch something constructive on YouTube instead.

[br2975]

The "third"  roofer came today.

.

It appears the roof of the 'man cave' is not in as bad a state as I had thought............... despite the earlier efforts of the (i) builder - me, and (ii) the 'first' roofer who disappeared, luckily without me paying him.

.

I await his quote ,, but will take my amlodipine tablet first ! 

.

Once the roof is cured, The BR (WR) Efflew Valley branch Aberflyarff to Cwmbyhere via Twll Cach, will hopefully advance from its' current embryonic stage.

.

Brian R

[Happy Hippo]

4 minutes ago, br2975 said:

The "third"  roofer came today.

.

It appears the roof of the 'man cave' is not in as bad a state as I had thought............... despite the earlier efforts of the (i) builder - me, and (ii) the 'first' roofer who disappeared, luckily without me paying him.

.

I await his quote ,, but will take my amlodipine tablet first ! 

.

Once the roof is cured, The BR (WR) Efflew Valley branch Aberflyarff to Cwmbyhere via Twll Cach, will hopefully advance from its' current embryonic stage.

.

Brian R

That is good news, I shall eagerly await further reports and bulletins.

 

I was a bit worried the track plan I'd sent you was treated with the same distain as something dog related you'd trodden in!

 

As we seem to be slowly climbing out of the pit of Covid, are you considering a small Cardiff Show for 2022?

[br2975]

2 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

(i)

That is good news, I shall eagerly await further reports and bulletins.

(ii)

I was a bit worried the track plan I'd sent you was treated with the same distain as something dog related you'd trodden in!

(iii)

As we seem to be slowly climbing out of the pit of Covid, are you considering a small Cardiff Show for 2022?

 

Well Rich, taking one topic at a time;

.

(i) - further reports and bulletins will be forthcoming, I've settled on a concept arising out of 'Bishops Yaxford' as previously discussed, with the branch exchange sidings, just off the mainline - but there's a twist.

.

(ii) - Your plans are never treated with disdain, as  despite being a 'stick in the mud' I am a firm believer in "two heads are better than one"..............

.

(iii) - Paul and I have yet to discuss the matter in depth. I did chat with Peter (Lord) immediately prior to the most recent 'lockdown' and we agreed that at that time, there were too many issues to overcome for such a small show. I think we'd need to sit back and see how other social functions (not just the important ones, railway related) develop over the next few months, and take it from there.

.

Watch this space.

.

Brian R

[BR60103]

I have a little tool that one of our shops was selling cheap due to its being less than perfect (I think the finish was off but I can't tell).

It's a thread gauge. There are 3 rows of drilled and tapped holes.  Each has an approx. 1/4" rod that has been taken down to a size to be threaded in the hole and knurled on the top.

On mine the holes are Metric, National Coarse, and National Fine. I can unscrew the one part to check tapped holes/nuts or use the base to check bolts.

Photo available if interested.

I think it might make a useful shop project for school.

 

[Mike Bellamy]

On 24/02/2021 at 23:55, Happy Hippo said:

The first in the queue for payment is always HMRC!

 

. . . . . and the Undertaker. When I worked for Lloyds, we couldn't release any money from the deceased's account until we had seen a receipt for the funeral account - or we would pay the bill on behalf of the executor(s)/administrator(s).

 

19 hours ago, tetsudofan said:

 

Take on all what you say but my brother has made it perfectly clear that he does not want to be named as the Executor. He is well aware that using a Solicitor will cost money but he certainly does not want to waste his time coming down from Lincolnshire to sort out my bits and pieces (and there are boxes and boxes and boxes of them!!) to save a few pounds.

 

There are ways to get around the bother of clearing the house - but only if you are sure there is nothing there that the family might want. When Dad moved into sheltered accommodation after Mum died, we decided what was going with him, and their paperwork was all in order as Mum was very tidy and organised. As a result, It only took us one day to move Dad's stuff to his bungalow and to decide what we were keeping.

 

Then we got an auctioneer to organise a complete house clearance of everything that was left. I'm not sure of the financial arrangements as my Brother organised that but I think they set a fee based on the size of the house and offset that against the income they received by selling off anything of value - in the end it hardly cost us anything and they left us with an empty house to sell.

.

 

[rockershovel]

I was left with the job of clearing my late mother’s house and used a local auctioneer as contractor for the job. I made sure I had removed anything I wanted (not much, by then) and gave the family  a final date to collect anything THEY wanted. There wasn’t much of value in the house, although a lot of stuff probably went for shillings thirty-five years ago that are now worth tens, or hundreds of pounds, but so it goes. 

 

 

Edited February 26, 2021 by rockershovel

[Happy Hippo]

4 minutes ago, rockershovel said:

I was left with the job of clearing my late mother’s house and used a local auctioneer as contractor for the job. I made sure I had removed anything I wanted (not much, by then) and gave the family  a final date to collect anything THEY wanted. There wasn’t much of value in the house, although a lot of stuff probably went for shillings thirty-five years ago that are now worth tens, or hundreds of pounds, but so it goes. 

It also goes the other way.

 

Sets of high quality china and crockery (unused) that had sat in a cabinet from the day it was bought, and valued  at hundreds of pounds being sold at auction for what was the equivalent of peanuts.  Yet a book of autographs, which the valuer from the auction house told us was worthless went for a three figure sum on that well known  on line auction site.

 

One of the problems with auctions is you can get days when nobody really wants to pay much, yet on others, they seem to go into a spending frenzy.

 

 

 

 

 

[Happy Hippo]

Things are looking up this morning:  It's bright and sunny in this part of Telfland.

 

There is a trip out for groceries which is  a click and collect at the local Morrisons at Wellington.

 

The box of paint and other goodies has just arrived from Howes, so I am able to get on with painting all the red bits on the Ixion Fowler.

 

The Pfizer jab I had yesterday seems to have caused no side effects apart from a bit of tenderness around the entry point.

 

 

Edited February 26, 2021 by Happy Hippo

[polybear]

1 hour ago, Mike Bellamy said:

 

There are ways to get around the bother of clearing the house - but only if you are sure there is nothing there that the family might want. When Dad moved into sheltered accommodation after Mum died, we decided what was going with him, and their paperwork was all in order as Mum was very tidy and organised. As a result, It only took us one day to move Dad's stuff to his bungalow and to decide what we were keeping.

 

Then we got an auctioneer to organise a complete house clearance of everything that was left. I'm not sure of the financial arrangements as my Brother organised that but I think they set a fee based on the size of the house and offset that against the income they received by selling off anything of value - in the end it hardly cost us anything and they left us with an empty house to sell.

.

 

 

A friend worked for an antiques dealer/restorer/house clearance shop; he was on one clearance job where he lifted the mattress and there was many hundreds of ££ underneath, all of which went to the boss....

[br2975]

1 hour ago, Happy Hippo said:

Things are looking up this morning:  It's bright and sunny in this part of Telfland.

 

There is a trip out for groceries which is  a click and collect at the local Morrisons at Wellington.

 

The box of paint and other goodies has just arrived from Howes, so I am able to get on with painting all the red bits on the Ixion Fowler.

 

The Pfizer jab I had yesterday seems to have caused no side effects apart from a bit of tenderness around the entry point.

 

Snap Rich......

.

Bright and sunny here to the south of The Principality.

.

No grocery shopping today, "Ronnie & Reggie" are staying tonight and tomorrow, parents  working  conflicting shifts, so the 'care bubble' comes into play ....and a  Eurostar will trundle around their 6x4 empire in our roof this weekend. .

.

Paints at this house will soon be stowed away, as the two Spitfires, built as a commission for Daniel (the younger twin)  are all but finished. 

I hope and pray he doesn't ask ..."Bampy, when will HMS Belfast be finished ?..."

.

Good to hear the Pfizer jab has had no apparent effects.

Mrs. R and I had the Astra-Zeneca version.......Mrs R was as rough as 'ten bears' whereas I was fine, but felt a little faint some 24hrs after the vaccination.

.

As of yet, I've had no contact from Bill Gates, Microsoft, the CIA, QAnon or any Vulcans, Timelords,  Klingons UNCLE or UNIT to suggest that post vaccine, my life is no longer my own (if it ever was ?).

.

However, I have grown extra fingers, a third eye, a tail and now breath fire

Edited February 26, 2021 by br2975