Early Risers.

[gordon s]

Morning all…Sat and watched Darryl Hall and John Oates on Sky Arts last night.  Hadn't seen them since the 80's in London and they were very much part of my 30's.  For some strange reason I was sure one of them had died recently, so I was pleased to see both are still going strong this morning...

 

Enjoy the weekend whatever your plans.  Feels like Autumn is well and truly here this morning…. 

[Gwiwer]

Morning All.  How many pages have we added in the last few hours?  I've had to skim-read so apologies if I've missed anything of Earth-shattering importance.  All I have been able to get for some time has been a strange "Guru Meditation" error 503 message.  

 

First and foremost the news you've all been waiting for from Mrs. Mal (Gabe) on behalf of Mal:

 

 

 

 

Fraid I can't access the RM web right now but Just a wee note to let you know, Malcolm got through the op OK yesterday

When I saw him last night He looked well considering what he had gone through. Sipping water and describing himself as "RAF" or "Rough as F***". Tired, occasionally in some pain (but he has a morphine clicker to help that), obviously in loads of discomfort, but he was quipping jokes (albeit a bit wearily) and making sense (astonishingly). my gut feeling is that he looks like he will make a good recovery.

 

I will be back on the ward this Morning today to get a more full in depth analysis from how the op went from the surgeon's point of view, but just wanted you to know ASAP that he has jumped well over the first hurdle!

 

So that's good then. {quote ends - code is not working correctly right now}

 

 

Jaywick

 

When my paternal grandparents were alive we holidayed there as a family for a few years as they had retired from Watford to Clacton.  My aunt (who is still with us aged well into her 90s) and late uncle moved in nearby.  It seemed as though the caravan sites at Jaywick were a booming shanty town but of course this was school holidays so everything was ( a ) open, ( b ) busy and ( c ) sleazy.  I loathed it.  It was a slum then and it's gone downhill in the 40 years since.  The only good thing was the occasional appearance of an elderly Bristol KSW open-top bus on the Jaywick Sands route though we found that the less frequent bus to St. Osyth Beach left us a little closer to our particular van.  I haven't been to Clacton since 2003 when my wife was introduced to my aunt shortly before she was hospitalised with a condition very similar to Mal's.  She has never left the care home she ended up following a short hospital visit ("advanced" diagnosis, placed on palliative only) and has without treatment gone into complete remission.  

 

 

 

Blackpool

 

 

I too found it closed.  Only ever made the one trip, hoping to grab a tram ride to Fleetwood among other things.  That was most definitely closed.  There was track work taking place and the only service was two Balloon cars running a short Promenade shuttle. I did score good look inside Rigby Road depot however.

 

 

Industrial action

 

Jock - it's hard to know what the consequences might be of yesterday's action but it did result in the first total shut-down of the network in 18 years for over four hours.  Deliberately timed to have minimal impacts on peak-hour travel as our argument is not with the travelling public.  A large proportion of daily users would have been unaffected.  Management were jumping.  The media are reporting this as a "driver's pay dispute" when it is all staff - perhaps surprisingly including Station Masters - and is more about attrition of conditions leading to a lessening of safety standards.  There is a modest (and incorrectly reported) pay claim but life is about much more than a few dollars in your pocket.  We want the safest possible railway and a fair and reasonable Enterprise Agreement to work under.  The turnout for our march and rally surpassed our expectations and almost caught the police on the hop so great was the support from our membership, many other unions and the general public it seemed.

 

Of more than passing interest is the news that one Andrew Lezala (late of GNER, late of Metronet) has been formally dismissed by the administrators of the latter in liquidation.  Where is Mr. Lezala today?  Chief Executive Officer of Metro Trains Melbourne.   We are questioning whether events in London will render him unable to lawfully retain his position here.

 

Have a safe and fulfilling weekend.  I'll be back soon; sooner than that if there's anything to post from Mal.

Edited September 5, 2015 by Gwiwer

[gordon s]

Jaywick? That brings back fond memories, Rick.  

 

We lived in North London and probably the first holiday I can recall was a week spent in a caravan at Jaywick.  I remember my dear old Dad taking me across a wind swept field with a kite.  His instruction about holding onto the string must have passed me by as we spent some time chasing our kite across the field until it came down in someone's garden.  

 

It was probably only a few minutes and a few hundred yards, but as a tiny tot, time and distance is magnified greatly.  I would guess I must have been around three at the time.

[BoD]

Thanks for the update re Mal, Rick.

Sounds promising, thankfully.

[emt_911]

Morning all. Extremely tired after a very late night.

 

My mother went into hospital for keyhole surgery on her heart yesterday morning which in normal circumstances means discharge the same day. Unfortunately things didn't go according to plan. About 4 hours after, she became quite unwell and had to be rushed to theatre to deal with an unexpected bleed. This is a known possible although very rare complication. She's now on ICU and very heavily sedated so the next couple of days will tell how she's going to recover.

 

I, for one, can't complain about the treatment that she's received or the speed of diagnosis and rectifying the problem.

 

Have a good day everyone

[Tony_S]

Morning all.

Dull here and by the time it is forecast to improve we will be round at MiL's.

Aditi is having her hair cut in Brentwood so we thought we would continue round the M25 afterwards. The hairdressers is next to the station so I can either watch trains for an hour or sit in the hairdressers reading fashion magazines, drinking coffee and listening to young people's music. I have usually watched the trains on previous occasions. There could be something really exciting like a class 66.

Tony

Edit

Just seen Duncan's post. Thinking of you.

Edited September 5, 2015 by Tony_S

[Barry O]

Morning all! Cricket starts at 11:30 for me today so I need to be in Castleford by 10:15. A quick breakfast then I am off.

 

I did go to Albuquerque once...the onechorse had died before I got there!

 

Best flying display?

 

A Victor bomber being barrel rolled?

A belvedere going backwards down the runway?

 

No must be a Lightning v Harrier take off and see who gets to 30,000 feet first. Can't remember who won but wow!

 

Baz

[grandadbob]

Good morning all,

Dull start here and there may be some light rain and possibly some sunshine later.

Sorry to hear about your mother Duncan and I hope she makes a speedy recovery.

We visited Jaywick a couple of times in the 50s with grandparents. I can remember cutting my feet to shreds on lumps of concrete broken from the sea wall and fishing for crabs from the same wall.

A  visit to the dump is scheduled for today then this evening we've been invited to a farewell do next door as our friend's daughter is off to university next week.

Have a good one,

Bob.

Edited September 5, 2015 by grandadbob

[DDolfelin]

Best wishes, Duncan.

[trisonic]

Morning all! Cricket starts at 11:30 for me today so I need to be in Castleford by 10:15. A quick breakfast then I am off.

 

I did go to Albuquerque once...the onechorse had died before I got there!

 

 

No must be a Lightning v Harrier take off and see who gets to 30,000 feet first. Can't remember who won but wow!

 

Baz

I would’ve thought the Lightning would have won but 5 minutes later would need to re-fuel.

 

Albuquerque is a “brown” town - a town to drive straight through or bypass enroute to Santa Fe. Not as pleasant as Phoenix - which is similar but bigger......  The best thing about Albuquerque is saying it’s name.

 

Best, Pete.

Edited September 5, 2015 by trisonic

[DDolfelin]

Jaywick: Like Gordon I was taken there by my grandmother when a toddler.

Don't remember where (or if) we stayed.

Not been back since.

 

Blackpool: Had various business associations there.

One extraordinary experience with the biggest 'amusements'.

Was commissioned to design publicity for certain innovations.

There was a change of direction after I'd done roughs.

They insisted on paying the full fee!

[lightengine]

Never been to Albuquerque but have been to Folkestone! Enough said although there was that joke about "if England ever needs an enema the pipe will go in at Folkestone".

[lightengine]

We visited Jaywick a couple of times in the 50s with grandparents. I can remember cutting my feet to shreds on lumps of concrete broken from the sea wall and fishing for crabs from the same wall.

A  visit to the dump is scheduled for today then this evening we've been invited to a farewell do next door as our friend's daughter is off to university next week.

Have a good one,

Bob.

For a minute there I thought your "a visit to the dump" meant you were going to Jaywick.

[The Stationmaster]

Morning all,

 

I've never even heard of Jaywick and haven't been to Alberquerque (name sounds nice, like samarkand sounds nice but I'm told the best thing about the latter is the tram network).

 

Rick's Mr Lezala sonds like a bit of a chancer - his CV on Linked In makes 'interesting' reading and he clearly has quite an opinion of himself although his financial management skills seem to be rather lacking while he seems to have no background at all in railway operations so is spouting considerable nonsense about punctuality improvements in Melbourne with, frankly, unbelievable figures of improvement being spouted  (and having been involved in train planning risk assessment, and building punctuality improvements into a major suburban network in NSW I get the impression that he's starting from the back of an envelope.  And knowing from many years of involvement in punctuality in Britain just how difficult it is to get a couple of percentage points better, let alone the figures he's rabbiting on about).  BTW I can't find any record of him working for GNER so if he did it would seem to have been in a role which it doesn't suit him to have known - I certainly never heard anything of him and he very definitely wasn't the driving force behind their operational performance or indeed what went on at Bounds Green  where I knew the Depot Manager.

 

And Jock - tell the boss that spending time on teh 'net RMweb is good for you as it keeps your interest level up and gives you targets to aim for, apart from getting involved with ERs and its friendly nutters.  

 

I understand 'garden work' is being listed here for today.

 

Have a good day one & all.

[shortliner]

Today I plan to visit the one day show at Olney.  This quaint Buckinghamshire town in the shadow of Milton Keynes is a half-hour bus ride from Bedford and noted for two things - an annual pancake race and for being the place where the man who wrote Amazing Grace was once a curate.  

Chris

The Olney( sorry - but couldn't help it!) thing I can tell you about the place ,was, that many,many years ago I spent around six weeks there, helping to demolish an huge old country house - notable for the fact that when we had removed the roof and top floor there was the biggest lead tank I've ever seen, which was apparently designed to catch and hold rainwater run-off from the roof to supply drinking water - I imagine the lead-leachings may well have shortened a few lives of the occupants and servants. It made the job a very profitable one though for the workers in the 20th century.......

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Getting quite adept with the new computer/Windows 10. If I can manage to work with Windows 10 anybody can. The engineer who installed my computer said that Windows 10 is the best bits of 8.1 and 7 with a few bits added to make it more usable with i-pads and smart-phones. I remember visiting Jaywick as a youngster, friends of my parents had a caravan there. I was fascinated by the pill boxes and Martello towers along the shore line, often the pill boxes incorporated into the sea wall. I was even more familiar with Blackpool as an 'aunt' lived there, in fact an old friend of my mothers. The impression of Blackpool is always how cold it seemed to be, even in mid summer the temperature very rarely seemed to get higher than the high 50's. Commiserations and congratulations where necessary have a good day all.

[Tassie Tex]

Hey hey hey, good morning all where ever you maybe.
Well its evening here 19:36pm as I start typing.
Jock you must have read my mind or had a hunch not hearing from me. I have gone through some of the last pages and I see that I have missed some sad news with others ailments, illnesses etc.
Since my last instalment a lot has happened here down under. Mrs T and I are know the proud grand parents of our first grand child Sharlette. Born 25 June on the same day I had a lung function test for my emphysema, Im down to 14% lung capacity.
Yes I still have that filthy habit of the cigarettes, Dr says he won't give me oxygen tank until I give them up!
We have also moved house since from the sea side back to the country and I love it, no neighbours lush green rolling pasture with cattle and sheep all surrounded by heavily wooded bush.
Its an old timber clad farm house on five acres, no stairs to climb and on level ground, large combustion wood heater in the living area, huge country kitchen and a very large bathroom with real claw foot bath and twin shower cove.
With my illness getting worse I just couldn't handle the stairs and the step sloping grounds of the house we were in.
Finally I have that  RAILWAY ROOM .  6m X 3.6m, don't think Im going to use it all but it would be nice. I managed to paint most of my code 100 track and purches  timber for the base boards just before we decided to move.
 So, as you see I've been a busy budgie and look forward to chatting with you all again soon.

Regard, up ya kilt Tex.

 

[roundhouse]

Good to hear from you Tex.

 

Congrats re the new grand child.

 

Sounds like you have been really busy and that you have made a good move.

 

 

 

Pete - Albuquerque isn't that bad as it has two brew pubs, on only a couple of blocks from the station. However I know what you mean as Santa Fe is the place to go. It has even more brew pubs and you can get there by train these days on the rail Runner. Love the beep beep sound when the doors are closing.

[tetsudofan]

Not being able to "reply quoting posts" is still a pain but hey ho other more important things to talk about.

 

Despite living in Folkestone had never heard about the enema and the pipe entering here. The way that Folkestone has deteriorated over the years it does not surprise me though.

 

Also reminds me of what I heard about Calcutta when I was living in Bombay (when it was still Bombay!!) . The Hooghly River was the a******e of India and Calcutta was 40 miles up it. At least Folkestone is better positioned.

 

Regarding Albuquerque been there, done that, got the t-shirt. Visited the place just after 9/11 on my way to Chama for a two-day charter on the Cumbres and Toltec. Thinking back on it, was lucky to make the trip. Was in Tokyo when the towers came down with a flight booking five days later to San Francisco and Albuquerque (nearest big airport that North West Airlines flew to). Luckily flights into the US were resumed the day of my reservation so managed to get to Albuquerque on schedule.

 

Picked up a rental car (with Canadian plates) at the airport, overnighted in Albuquerque and then headed off for Chama and onto Denver after the charter. The bizarre thing was that the route from Albuquerque to Denver was via each Harley Davidson dealership so that I could get a dealer t-shirt from each of the dealerships - another of my bizarre collecting habits....... especially bearing in mind that I have never been on a Harley Davidson and the only bike I have ever owned was a Honda SS50 when I was living in Saigon.

 

Oh, and Blackpool. Been there once to attend the Tram Festival in Fleetwood. Checked in at the hotel in Blackpool (having driven from Folkestone) and then found out that the trams were not running on the day of the festival as the tram crews were going to be on strike. Managed to get to Fleetwood on festival day and park the car, saw loads of preserved buses but no trams..... Not been back again.

 

Keith

[Gwiwer]

Rick's Mr Lezala sonds like a bit of a chancer - his CV on Linked In makes 'interesting' reading and he clearly has quite an opinion of himself although his financial management skills seem to be rather lacking while he seems to have no background at all in railway operations so is spouting considerable nonsense about punctuality improvements in Melbourne with, frankly, unbelievable figures of improvement being spouted  (and having been involved in train planning risk assessment, and building punctuality improvements into a major suburban network in NSW I get the impression that he's starting from the back of an envelope.  And knowing from many years of involvement in punctuality in Britain just how difficult it is to get a couple of percentage points better, let alone the figures he's rabbiting on about).  BTW I can't find any record of him working for GNER so if he did it would seem to have been in a role which it doesn't suit him to have known - I certainly never heard anything of him and he very definitely wasn't the driving force behind their operational performance or indeed what went on at Bounds Green  where I knew the Depot Manager.

 

 

 

Without in any way wishing to push any barrow political or otherwise and whilst trying to remain balanced and impartial ..... 

https://www.linkedin.com/pub/andrew-lezala/12/94/784(and what, pray, was he doing in the "missing" period between 2004-8?  Running Metronet.  Which fact has been expunged from this record.)

https://independentaustralia.net/business/business-display/sacked-metro-chief-tries-to-gag-blind-woman,4165

http://www.theceomagazine.com.au/profile/andrew-lezala

http://www.smh.com.au/national/citys-new-train-chief-ran-insolvent-rail-firm-20090626-czx6.html 

are among numerous other public-domain references.  "Due diligence" may have been used in the Melbourne appointment but the Minister at the time, Lynne Kosky (see SMH link), is no longer able to speak for herself and her decisions as she became seriously ill soon afterwards and has since passed away.

 

"Unbelievable figures of improvement" are what the travelling public and many staff are also querying.  The suburban punctuality target is more or less in line with other major Western nations namely no more than 59 seconds early and no more than 4 minutes 59 seconds late.  Usually quoted as "Within five minutes".  Trains which become delayed outbound from the city are sometimes required to skip stops to arrive on time which effectively cancels a service for some users though is invisible in statistics.  Trains near the city mostly run via a loop - the Melbourne Underground Rail Loop ("City Loop") and are frequently directed to avoid this in either inbound or outbound directions if late as this saves up to nine minutes and makes a very substantial difference to the statistics.  And to those requiring those stations no longer served which are among the network's busiest.  It is the frequent "massaging" of statistics and the loss of service to the public which Metro appears to be intent on disguising while the travelling public and staff are equally keen that the franchiser - the State of Victoria - is made aware of the extent to which this takes place.

 

Were all trains scheduled to run via the City Loop to actually do so it has been suggested that punctuality would be lower than when Metro won the franchise and falling.

 

Comments above are made as dispassionately as possible bearing in mind my employment and the present ongoing industrial action. 

 

 

[edcayton]

Hi Tex and brilliant to see you back. Congrats on the grandchild and the move, commiserations on the emphysema. My Mum suffered from it increasingly over the last 15 years of her life. She was a stubborn goat and wouldn't give up. lived halfway up a big hill but never got a taxi home. She did get an Oxygen bottle but refused to use it-"I'm all right".

 

She did give up the fags when she had a mastectomy on the grounds that if the medic's had done that much for her it was the least she could do. Still wanted one though! Any way, I'm welling up so I'll say-never give up and welcome back, we have missed you.

 

Ed

[lightengine]

Not being able to "reply quoting posts" is still a pain but hey ho other more important things to talk about.

 

Despite living in Folkestone had never heard about the enema and the pipe entering here. The way that Folkestone has deteriorated over the years it does not surprise me though.

 

Keith

I think the joke can be associated with wherever ie Bognor, Staines ................ However it was was probably because I spent time in Dover (which is almost equally bad) another transit town and because I crewed with a gobshite bosun from Folkestone!

[roundhouse]

Foggy Bottom in downtown DC is another one that tickles me!!

[NGT6 1315]

Afternoon all. First off, generic congrats and commies where appropriate, and thoughts go out to Mal and Duncan in particular. 
 
Long time no see, Tex! Best wishes for you as well. Sounds like a lot has happened in your life indeed, so may I just send some good vibrations your way as well?
 

Foggy Bottom in downtown DC is another one that tickles me!!

 
That could be easily misunderstood… 

[NGT6 1315]

Oh, and a snapshot from my shift this morning, taken at Lausen on the western end of Line 1:

 

 

Weather has definitely acquired an autumnal touch. I drove through rain showers twice, but in the cab, it was warm and dry. The shift as such was quiet, which was fine with me. For the second half, I, too, switched to Line 2.