The Night Mail

[simontaylor484]

On moving house we have moved 3 times the first time we used a luton bodied transit with taillift I hired for 3 days. 

Our second move some of our stuff had to go in to storage as the house had been a rental property and needed gutting so we used professionals.

 

We used the same firm to move to our current home

 

 

I cant afford to move again due to having the early retirement on mmedical grounds so it will likely be in a box I leave here.

 

 

[polybear]

4 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

Oops...

https://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/news/local-news/couples-toyota-yaris-flips-over-5956514

 

I'll see you.....

https://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/news/local-news/mission-impossible-carriage-accidentally-crashes-5960260

[Northmoor]

To anyone who is moving (especially if not a great distance), I can highly recommend using self-storage as a "buffer".  When you are selling a house, you want to tidy away as much as possible anyway and its easy to do this with things you don't need every day.  Just keep the essentials in the house and yes, box up all the model railway stuff while the sale process completes.

Then on moving day, as you only move your furniture and the essentials, you will move out of home A much quicker (which should be reflected in the moving company's quote) and your new home B isn't over-run with boxes for weeks afterwards.  You will have to make multiple car journeys to the self-storage company to collect your stuff, but you've never more than a carload of boxes to be put away in your house at any time.  As your storage requirement shrinks, you can usually transfer to a smaller unit to save money each month, plus the monthly bill focusses the mind on getting it into the house and put away.  Most companies offer very cheap deals for the first couple of months to get you through the door, so if you're disciplined, it doesn't work out expensive and should save a lot of stress on moving day and for the weeks afterwards.

I have to say I've not actually moved in over 20 years, but did use self-storage this way when we had our kitchen rebuilt a few years ago and it was a godsend.

[polybear]

1 hour ago, Northmoor said:

............but did use self-storage this way when we had our kitchen rebuilt a few years ago and it was a godsend.

 

Whilst Bear didn't - and lived in chaos for 9 months......

[Happy Hippo]

38 minutes ago, polybear said:

 

Whilst Bear didn't - and lived in chaos for 9 months......

I think my military career prior to marriage was living out of a suitcase and a Bergen rucksack.

 

Post marriage, the first move of Nyda's stuff from Antwerp was done in a vehicle that was being sent from the Depot I was leaving to the battalion I was joining.

 

Moving back to the UK was achieved with 22 MFO tri-wall containers (military cardboard boxes 1.0m x 0.5 m x 0.5m) plus two cars full of essentials.

 

Our last move when I was made redundant (voluntary I hasten to add) had to be made at my own expense.  Fortunately  the house is in a local village to where I was stationed, so I was able to hire ( for beer) a burly Lcpl who worked with me to shift some of the heavy stuff: a van was hired for the weekend, and I also managed to borrow a trailer. 

 

As we were in the process of shifting all this stuff, the RAEC Educator asked if we wanted a 6' x 4' shed which he no longer needed.  So that got put onto the trailer without having to dismantle it, and it caused quite a bit of amusement as we drove out of camp past the guardroom.

 

[Dave Hunt]

As HH and the Q know, in the forces moving houses and countries becomes almost second nature. When I tot up our moves, it adds up to twelve in our first 35 years of marriage in five different countries (six if you count Wales). That doesn't include countless detachments when I could be away anywhere from a few weeks to six months. We've now lived in our present abode nearly twenty years, which still feels a bit odd as every few years I start feeling that we really should be moving on. You do get quite good at packing and unpacking though. 

 

Dave

[AndyID]

The movers in the US will put your cars in the van along with all your other stuff   We've done a couple of trans-continemtal flittings over the years which, believe it or not, reminds me of a story (Gordon Bennet! Here he goes again.)

 

When was a tech at Strathclyde Uni. I told the department Prof (he was English) that I'd have to take the next day off because I was flitting. He hadn't the faintest idea what I was talking about

[AndyID]

When we relocated from Paisley, Scotland to Mesa, Arizona the company that hired me moved all our stuff in a container. By then we had three small children and a LOT of stuff. It did take a little while to arrive

 

The geographers of this esteemed community will have noted that there are significant climatic differences between Mesa, Arizona and Paisley, Scotland and it didn't take long for the furniture to detect those differences too.

 

 

 

[Happy Hippo]

6 hours ago, AndyID said:

When we relocated from Paisley, Scotland to Mesa, Arizona the company that hired me moved all our stuff in a container. By then we had three small children and a LOT of stuff. It did take a little while to arrive

 

The geographers of this esteemed community will have noted that there are significant climatic differences between Mesa, Arizona and Paisley, Scotland and it didn't take long for the furniture to detect those differences too.

 

 

 

Honey, I shrunk the sofa!

 

We went out last night:  "Just come around for a few drinks they said..."

 

It was over five hours later that we we were staggering back down the road.

 

Only a week to go before the Telford MRG show.

 

I need to get my point building kit sorted out (That really means find it).

 

DH kindly swapped some made up some 1 in 7 crossing noses for a load of embossed brick plasticard.

 

Of course, I can't use these finely crafted parts as they are made up from bullhead rail, and I'm doing the demo using flat bottomed stuff.

 

 

[Canal Digger]

Our last move was from No 5 to No 9 within the same road, sounds easy? NO!

• Despite endless help from friends and neighbours it took for ever as we didn't get a van, just used sack trucks, cars and car trailers.
• We had the cream, fluffy carpet in new house cleaned the previous day, onto which we 'parked' our darling 3 year old daughters (plus toys) for a few minutes in an otherwise empty room. Fine, until our return after a couple of minutes, empty except for the artificial coal fire which they had taken apart and laid out across the now not cream carpet. They looked as we had just used them to sweep the chimney.
• Convincing various organisations that we had moved and all they had to do was just change the digit.
• Convincing various people that we had not split up and one of us was now living with a neighbour

[jamie92208]

2 hours ago, Canal Digger said:

Our last move was from No 5 to No 9 within the same road, sounds easy? NO!

• Despite endless help from friends and neighbours it took for ever as we didn't get a van, just used sack trucks, cars and car trailers.
• We had the cream, fluffy carpet in new house cleaned the previous day, onto which we 'parked' our darling 3 year old daughters (plus toys) for a few minutes in an otherwise empty room. Fine, until our return after a couple of minutes, empty except for the artificial coal fire which they had taken apart and laid out across the now not cream carpet. They looked as we had just used them to sweep the chimney.
• Convincing various organisations that we had moved and all they had to do was just change the digit.
• Convincing various people that we had not split up and one of us was now living with a neighbour

At least you won't get what we got. The house is No 6 and the shed No 8. After 2 years I was able to get them to send me a combined local tax demand.  It arrived addressed to me and a Miss Irene Fanstone.  That turned out to be the maiden name of the previous owner.  Beth accused me of having another woman in the shed.  My reply that my layout was my mistress was not appreciated.

 

Jamie

Edited September 25, 2021 by jamie92208

[Happy Hippo]

The door frame rebuild is ongoing albeit a bit slow....

 

Because I'm being very careful. The mantra of Measure twice and cut once is holding well.

 

The idea to use woodscrews and small blocks/strips of wood as packing where required to ensure perfect alignment is going well so far.

 

Using wood screws in deep countersunk holes (to be filled and smoothed over before painting) giving much finer control than banging in four inch nails with a two pound hammer.

 

Slicing up various planks to make the surround has had an accidental, but very useful by product:

 

Timber strip suitable for wooden sleepers for the point building demo a week today.

 

Some clouds have a silver lining.

 

The other advantage of screwing the frame into place means that I can put the door into the frame and mark the hinge slots, then undo the screws, take the side out to the garage and route the slots.

 

A much easier option than having to try and chisel them out  in situ.

 

One thing is certain:

 

I'll not get a job as a carpenter on a building site

[Dave Hunt]

With your expertise at door frame building and mine with curtain poles, HH, we could go into business, errr......... cake making?

 

Dave

[Tony_S]

6 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

I'll not get a job as a carpenter on a building site

My uncle was a building site carpenter. He was told not to use proper joints on anything that didn’t show. He left that job and went to work for a very small firm that built individual houses rather than housing estates. Years later the tiny firm took over the remains of the firm my uncle had once worked at. By then my uncle was their senior foreman and ended up being site agent for a number of developments. 

[Happy Hippo]

12 minutes ago, Dave Hunt said:

With your expertise at door frame building and mine with curtain poles, HH, we could go into business, errr......... cake making?

 

Dave

Perhaps it would be better if we built an Irish monorail. 

[Tony_S]

13 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

I need to get my point building kit sorted out

When Matthew was quite young and still interested in trains we used to go to quite a few of the local model railway exhibitions. One of the track standard societies had a track making demo. I do recall Matthew remarking that they seemed to be making the same bit of track as last time he had seen them. Fortunately he didn’t ask them where the rest of the layout was. They seemed very serious. 

[jamie92208]

16 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

Perhaps it would be better if we built an Irish monorail. 

I've got the Hunslet plans for an 0-3-0 and I'm sure we could get the A frames cast or 3D printed and with only one rail, no problems moxi g S7 and 7mm FS on the same layout.

 

Jamie

[pH]

7 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

One thing is certain:

 

I'll not get a job as a carpenter on a building site

There are basically two types of carpenters on building sites - framing/shuttering carpenters (outside) and finishing carpenters (inside). Outside carpenters can, and do, work to about the nearest inch. Carpenters could work outside in summer, then inside on the same site in winter. Making the change from outside to inside apparently required a major change in thinking.

[Winslow Boy]

2 hours ago, Dave Hunt said:

With your expertise at door frame building and mine with curtain poles, HH, we could go into business, errr......... cake making?

 

Dave

 

A pole dancing carpenter?

 

My brain is going to need a severe bleaching after that. I may be sometime. Goodnight.

[PhilJ W]

1 hour ago, Tony_S said:

When Matthew was quite young and still interested in trains we used to go to quite a few of the local model railway exhibitions. One of the track standard societies had a track making demo. I do recall Matthew remarking that they seemed to be making the same bit of track as last time he had seen them. Fortunately he didn’t ask them where the rest of the layout was. They seemed very serious. 

I remember that, it appeared at several local shows (and its still not finished).

[AndyID]

14 hours ago, jamie92208 said:

At least you won't get what we got. The house is No 6 and the shed No 8. After 2 years I was able to get them to send me a combined local tax demand.  It arrived addressed to me and a Miss Irene Fanstone.  That turned out to be the maiden name of the previous owner.  Beth accused me of having another woman in the shed.  My reply that my layout was my mistress was not appreciated.

 

Jamie

 

Isn't that obligatory in France

[AndyID]

9 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

The door frame rebuild is ongoing albeit a bit slow....

 

Because I'm being very careful. The mantra of Measure twice and cut once is holding well.

 

The idea to use woodscrews and small blocks/strips of wood as packing where required to ensure perfect alignment is going well so far.

 

Using wood screws in deep countersunk holes (to be filled and smoothed over before painting) giving much finer control than banging in four inch nails with a two pound hammer.

 

 

They probably have the same thing in the UK but you can buy doors here complete with the fascias and pre-installed hinges. They probably work best for new construction when you just have to shim the door frame into the oversize framing. I wish the minkeys that built this house had used them. None of the doors downstairs (it's a semi-basement) are the same size

[BR60103]

At our last house, we decided to add a storm door to the front. (light aluminum job). SWMBO asked if I could do it. I said probably, but I might ruin 4 of them getting it right. I'd pay the money and hire someone who's already ruined 4 of them.

 

[Florence Locomotive Works]

Evening all,

 

Some big news. On Monday this week, we had our sophomore retreat, meaning we didn’t have classes for a day and instead we did various activities and listened to a speaker.

 

Said speaker was extremely good; his job is flying around to different highschools and talking on different subjects, ours was unity. This was a good thing as (in my option) we don’t have a very unified grade. He also managed to master the delicate balance of keeping a group of 84 sixteen year olds invested in his speech for 2 hours, a marvel. Afterwards he presented an open mic, which I took the opportunity to do, and offered my thoughts and congratulations to the grade in hindsight. I said hindsight because the opening lines of my “address” contained the bombshell announcement that I am transferring high schools, for reasons to varied and boring to be published here, although to dispel any suspicions they do not relate to any inter-student conflicts.

 

My speech went down better than expected with the grade, and the speaker who I spoke to afterwards was extremely impressed and we had a very good discussion on the many challenges confronting Gen Z.
 

 

So this explains my lack of posts in recent past, as the transfer process has been going on for about a month, but I don’t actually transfer for another 10 days. I am quite looking forward to it as my current situation, despite my lovely campus, is not one I have been happy with, and haven’t been since about November last year. 
 

(about my writing style, it’s certainly not typical for 15 yr old, I grew up reading dads collection of Famous Five novels and they had a heavy influence on my writing, although if anybody wants me to I can do a paragraph on “smth” using shorthand from texts )

 

Douglas

 

(sorry for the ramble)

[AndyID]

2 hours ago, Florence Locomotive Works said:

Evening all,

 

Some big news. On Monday this week, we had our sophomore retreat, meaning we didn’t have classes for a day and instead we did various activities and listened to a speaker.

 

Said speaker was extremely good; his job is flying around to different highschools and talking on different subjects, ours was unity. This was a good thing as (in my option) we don’t have a very unified grade. He also managed to master the delicate balance of keeping a group of 84 sixteen year olds invested in his speech for 2 hours, a marvel. Afterwards he presented an open mic, which I took the opportunity to do, and offered my thoughts and congratulations to the grade in hindsight. I said hindsight because the opening lines of my “address” contained the bombshell announcement that I am transferring high schools, for reasons to varied and boring to be published here, although to dispel any suspicions they do not relate to any inter-student conflicts.

 

My speech went down better than expected with the grade, and the speaker who I spoke to afterwards was extremely impressed and we had a very good discussion on the many challenges confronting Gen Z.
 

 

So this explains my lack of posts in recent past, as the transfer process has been going on for about a month, but I don’t actually transfer for another 10 days. I am quite looking forward to it as my current situation, despite my lovely campus, is not one I have been happy with, and haven’t been since about November last year. 
 

(about my writing style, it’s certainly not typical for 15 yr old, I grew up reading dads collection of Famous Five novels and they had a heavy influence on my writing, although if anybody wants me to I can do a paragraph on “smth” using shorthand from texts )

 

Douglas

 

(sorry for the ramble)

 

Good for you!

 

Unity is something we need a lot more of in the not exactly united states of America.