The Night Mail

[Dave Hunt]

Christmas greetings to all and even sundry. I haven't been visiting TNMs for a couple of weeks now due to unforeseen circumstances that threatened to let the black dog get out of his kennel but fortunately all is now well and I am back to normal (yes, I know that isn't much to write home about but it's the best I can do). I won't bore you with the details but once Christmas is out of the way I should be back to darkening the doors of TNM again. In the meantime, have a happy Christmas and a peaceful and prosperous new year.

 

Dave

 

PS, I haven't read all the posts from the last couple of weeks so if there's anything I should know about, let me know. 

[J. S. Bach]

Merry Christmas from the Piedmont

[jamie92208]

And Joyeux Noel from Allerton Bywater. 

 

Jamie

[Hroth]

A merry christmas to all.

 

I'm off to bed to read Stave 4, The Third of the Three Spirits in A Christmas Carol.  Then to sleep.

 

Hope you all have fun!

 

 

[AndyID]

A while back what is now our street was the main (singe track gravel) road. A new main road was built and the County abandoned the part of the road that is now our street. At one time our street made a loop that was connected at both ends to the main road but one end has been sealed off-for many years and that part of our street has completely disappeared.

 

Unfortunately Google Maps was showing both ends connected and drivers of big trucks would assume they could reconnect with the main road, but they could not and there was nowhere for them to turn. I tried to edit the Google map but it would not allow that change but it's possible to report an error so I did that and they have fixed it 😄

 

[Northmoor]

Mrs Northmoor has spent the day wrapping, I've been doing odds-n-ends of tidying up, buying the last few provisions missed at the big shop yesterday - it looked like a quarter ton of loaves at 20p each in Sainsburys*, most probably heading for the food waste - when as always, some people are obviously catering for ten people and the shops are shut for a fortnight.  Looking forward to another week of as little stress as possible but get some little jobs out of the way.  Maybe even a little modelling by next weekend.

 

Best wishes to all TNM'rs for Christmas.  I will do my best to keep off the 'puter and have a RMWeb "fast" for a day.

 

*Where I scanned the magazines as always and noted that the latest "Aeroplane" contains an article on RAF Phantom operations in Germany in the 70s-80s, which may be of interest to the Squadron Leader.

[Adam88]

Happy Christmas to all Night Mailers too.

 

Regarding book collections I spent some time recently cataloguing my collection using an on-line database called LibraryThing.  From my railway and railroad collection I see that I have nearly 400 of the wretched things, nearly a quarter of my books so far, and that's before I start on the reserve collection.  Life isn't helped by the fact that there are two very good s/h bookshops within ten minutes' walk of my house (neither of them are charity shops) and that my sister lives but a short drive from the notorious Welsh book town of Hay-on-Wye.  I find LibraryThing very helpful in many ways, it does a lot of what I want except actually reading the books for me.  Here's a small subset.

 

[SM42]

Just a quick note before I go out of WiFi range at the in laws, to say Merry Christmas to all TNMers and indeed the wider RMWeb community who may occasionally drop by. 

 

Christmas English style at SM42 Villas later today. 

 

To welcome the day, it is now chucking it down and blowing a gale again. 

 

Could be worse. Could be snowing. 

 

Night all and Merry Christmas

 

Andy

[skipepsi]

3 hours ago, jamie92208 said:

And Joyeux Noel from Allerton Bywater. 

 

Jamie

Last time I went to Allerton Bywater the NCB was still working, I went to check on a dump truck for a wrecked turbo, The driver floored the throttle and hid most of Castleford. I hadn't seen so much black smoke since the old Ark Royal left Plymouth for her last trip, A strange side line in AB was the bribe for allowing such wrecks on site was two 5 gallon cans of hydraulic oil per week...

[AndyID]

Should any TNM'rs want to try their hand at a layout proposal for Flavio please message me and I'll email you the Templot .BOX file for the very preliminary version I posted the other day.

 

I would attach the file here but .BOX files are not supported.

 

Oh, and Merry Christmas! It's still seven hours away here.

[BR60103]

We don't have any plans that I've been told about for Christmas. It's now 2 1/2 hours away.  Today was quiet and all we managed was 2 walks and reading 2 newspapers. Plus listening to 9 Lessons and Carols, watching the Radio City Christmas show DVD.

 

I have triple shelves all around under the train layout.  Most of them have books, although one stretch has LPs and the sound system. And some have bits of railway non-reading matter on them. (all the space below the railway is concealed behind curtains.)  Then there are loads of shelves in the next room and up on the main floor. 

Merry Christmas to all and to all a guid nicht.

 

[iL Dottore]

A Merry Christmas, One and All!
 

(or for those who can’t abide Turkey: Happy Saturnalia and may your roast pig and sausages be plump and juicy!)

[Oldddudders]

Merry Christmas from a pleasingly-mild Sarthe. 

 

I note the UK is also mild - according to the BBC yesterday was the warmest Eve since 1931, and today may be eclipsing the warmest Day, set in 1920. I do not dispute that Climate Change is real, but when the records are a century old I scratch my head a bit. 

[AndyID]

34 minutes ago, Oldddudders said:

Merry Christmas from a pleasingly-mild Sarthe. 

 

I note the UK is also mild - according to the BBC yesterday was the warmest Eve since 1931, and today may be eclipsing the warmest Day, set in 1920. I do not dispute that Climate Change is real, but when the records are a century old I scratch my head a bit. 

 

One-off events prove nothing. There could be record breaking low temperatures next year. What does matter is the trend based on averages over various time intervals. Glaciers are pretty good at doing that without any math at all.

 

https://www.climate.gov/news-features/understanding-climate/climate-change-mountain-glaciers

 

 

 

Edited December 25, 2023 by AndyID
Added link

[Happy Hippo]

Happy Christmas.

 

And with my Mr Gently Benevolent hat atop my head, I am pleased to announce that you can all take the rest of today off.

 

Apart from DH, who drew the short straw, and is currently duty pilot of the North Hipposhire QRA.

[Rugd1022]

19 hours ago, GMKAT7 said:

Good afternoon TNMers,

 

Just a brief note to wish you all a Merry Xmas and a Happy, Healthy New Year, wherever possible.

 

Thanks for all the observations on life (armed services/policing and/or general!) and the new insights into matters railway or otherwise.

My Dad used to refer to his time in the RAF (Bomber Command 1951-56) as 'The Mob', which I only later came to understand actually meant something more serious!

 

Following the previous observations on 'L' space, I believe that it also applies to reference books/bookcases as well?

Some pre-Xmas arrivals (too obvious to be wrapped up) have now added to the critical mass, as shown attached.

When critical mass is achieved (Summer 2024 probably) are there any remedies - apart from:

(1) Reduce the family members book stash? - probably dangerous/life threatening :) or

(2) Buy another bookcase?

(3) Stop buying WW2/aeroplane books and just concentrate on railways?

 

Edit: Bookcase 3 photo needs rotating 90 degrees anti-clockwise, those books are not gravity-defying 😂

 

Best festive/seasonal wishes to all.

Nigel.

 

You can never have too many books, it's the law - you are however, allowed to run out of room! My books are all over the place but once Christmas is over I'm determined to re-jig my shelf space and add some more in one of the alcoves in the back parlour. They're all mixed up at the moment just to make them fit the space I've currently got - railways, cars, music, films and TV subjects etc.

 

Happy Christmas all 😉

[jamie92208]

10 hours ago, skipepsi said:

Last time I went to Allerton Bywater the NCB was still working, I went to check on a dump truck for a wrecked turbo, The driver floored the throttle and hid most of Castleford. I hadn't seen so much black smoke since the old Ark Royal left Plymouth for her last trip, A strange side line in AB was the bribe for allowing such wrecks on site was two 5 gallon cans of hydraulic oil per week...

I'll pm you with my email address.  Happy to help once back home.

 

Happy Christmas to one and all.  A very excited 4 Yr old is playing with new toys. I've been involved in a jigsaw and assembling the Duplo train set which believe it or not us controlled by an app on her tablet

 

Edited December 25, 2023 by jamie92208

[New Haven Neil]

11 hours ago, Northmoor said:

most probably heading for the food waste - when as always, some people are obviously catering for ten people and the shops are shut for a fortnight.

 

The thing that really gets my goat about it all - when there are folk really struggling to afford to eat properly, or even at all. /end Christmas Rant!

[Oldddudders]

After a long lie-in - first tea had been at 5.30 - we had the usual bucks-fizz breakfast, with Britten's Ceremony of Carols. I couldn't immediately find the CD that Deb and I  - you don't have to be a believer to appreciate some religious music - had listened to since more than 30 years ago, so Sherry found it on YouTube. A Swedish choir, with a rather charming harpist accompanying. An aid to digestion!

[Winslow Boy]

28 minutes ago, New Haven Neil said:

 

The thing that really gets my goat about it all - when there are folk really struggling to afford to eat properly, or even at all. /end Christmas Rant!

 

That used to really irritate me so I did made some enquiries and found out that a lot of food is now passed to charities who run food banks so yes a lot still goes to waste but it is now composted rather simply dumped in landfill. What does annoy me though is the amount of packaging that can't be recycled simply because it's said not to be cost effective. I'd like to see the supermarkets made to collect this and I bet then it'll become cost effective.

 

One other thing is the amount of stuff that households chuck away because it's gone past it's use by date. That's scandalous.

Edited December 25, 2023 by Winslow Boy

[Oldddudders]

I'm pleased to say that supermarkets here are increasingly using card and similar recyclable materials for packaging. The roll of poly bags for fresh veg is now a pile of paper bags. And the other week there was a charity within the local small supermarket collecting food for distribution to the needy. On entering you were given an explanatory leaflet, and on leaving the checkout a lady had a trolley into which you could donate a recent purchase. I did not get the impression the French were up for much of this, as it was nearly empty when I donated.

[iL Dottore]

18 hours ago, DenysW said:

No!!!

 

Not Chablis: Entre-Deux-Mers (although, with care, you could get away with a Muscadet Sevre-et-Maine sur lie if you pick a good one), and not the fridge. The wine-fridge set to 8 deg-C. Did you consult @iL Dottore before launching on this abomination of a suggestion?

 

I thought not.

Don’t bring me into this, mate. Nothing to do with me!

 

I’m a foodie! not an oenophile.
 

As far as I’m concerned as long as the wine is of a minimum decent quality (so > £12-£15/bottle) tradition is maintained (red with most meats, white with fish and some poultry) and it is served at roughly the correct temperature, then I’m incredibly relaxed about wine.

 

Whisky, on the other hand, demands considerable care and attention!

[martin_wynne]

10 hours ago, AndyID said:

I would attach the file here but .BOX files are not supported.

 

Hi Andy,

 

You are welcome to upload BOX files to Templot Club, and then link to them here. Go to:

 

 https://85a.uk/templot/club/index.php?resources/categories/samples-and-examples.12/

 

and click Add resource.

 

cheers,

 

Martin.

[Tony_S]

Our turkey seems to cooking. The instructions suggest letting it rest for an hour after the desired temperature, as measured by probe thingy, has been achieved. All the other stuff can go in the oven then. 
We seem to have a choice of wines, screwtop or cork seems to be an option. 

[Happy Hippo]

7 minutes ago, Oldddudders said:

I'm pleased to say that supermarkets here are increasingly using card and similar recyclable materials for packaging. The roll of poly bags for fresh veg is now a pile of paper bags. And the other week there was a charity within the local small supermarket collecting food for distribution to the needy. On entering you were given an explanatory leaflet, and on leaving the checkout a lady had a trolley into which you could donate a recent purchase. I did not get the impression the French were up for much of this, as it was nearly empty when I donated.

Don't worry Ian, it will be a lot fuller by the time it's wheeled around to your front door!