Early Risers.

[Torr Giffard LSWR 1951-71]

Mornin' all,

 

Best regards to those that ail.

 

Eyeball searing frosty good to be alive start in The Moorlands. Heavily punctuated circuit of the weekend constitutional route......

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Feathered ones provided for.

 

Church duties beckon.

 

Enjoy what you do.

 

Dave

Edited April 10, 2016 by Torr Giffard LSWR 1951-71

[trisonic]

Plenty of Chinese in town but they dont have the same ability to sniff incoming rain at 4 miles.

 

Pete, its a pretty sanitised World these days. No mother in law jokes allowed, no Jokes about the Taffs, french jokes about the belgians, US jokes about the Cannucks or Polaks etc etc If we cant laugh at Johhny Foreigner who can we laugh at? If we lose the ability to laugh at ourselves where are we. I laugh equally at the English Tommy.

Venice is great, so much to see and do and the travel is so cheap. Only cost us €100 for 3 days! Fortunately I guess the local citizen pays a fraction of that travel cost.

Ciao

 

New York is full up with Chinese - who appear to be the only ones actually buying property.

 

I miss the Brit tourists here - seems to be plenty of British Bankers hanging out in their uniforms, however. Maybe it’ll change during the School Holidays this Summer. Come over!

 

Best, Pete.

[Purley Oaks]

Youngest son is making tea for us tonight - chicken fajitas, I think. This is in recompense for his failing to make the Easter roast (which he said he would do) due to bad hangover. Amazing to think that just a couple of years ago he ran six marathons in six months for NSPCC. Maybe he should sponsor his marathon hangovers, too.

 

Energy levels starting to creep up now - managed a walk to the bookies (I'm not a big betting man) yesterday and bagged 2,3 & 5 in National on small each way bets - made around 33% on the bets, so enough for a Blue Moon or two if Gabe offers to walk with me to the pub later.

 

Thinking of Jock, and thinking of everyone with health problems. Sherry - hope you feel better very soon.

 

Mal

[AndyB]

Lightengine, I do hope you've got a sandals and white sock combo on.   

[trisonic]

Lightengine, I do hope you've got a sandals and white sock combo on.   

 

Over here my Wife says the English wear Brown Sandals with black or grey socks...........(she’s Italian).  Of course it’s de rigueur to have pearly white (but hairy) legs too with khaki shorts (and that’s just the women)......

 

Best, Pete..

Edited April 10, 2016 by trisonic

[Happy Hippo]

Mawnin' awl. Managed to sleep in for a bit and looking forward to what I hope will be a calm Sunday shift, after having witnessed a fair share of lunacy last night. 

 

 

 

 

 

At Paunsdorf, I saw this Tatra motor bogie set aside for servicing. Note the longitudinally mounted traction motors, each acting on the opposite wheelset.

Dom,

 

As a matter of interest, this is a very similar arrangement to most 'ride on' (5", 7.25" gauge)power bogies, or 0-4-0 Battery electric or petrol/diesel electric locos.

 

Where the final drive is by chains and sprocket, you get a layshaft which drives two chains on to each axle, on opposite ends of the layshaft.

 

It equals out the driving forces so that the bogie is powered from opposite corners rather than all the force being concentrated down one side.

 

All this talk of sprockets takes me back to track tensioning and changing on Chieftain.  Not a job for the faint hearted, when it's on a tank park in the middle of a German winter.

 

 

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Meanwhile the land of Telf is bathed in sunshine, with a faint breeze in the air.

 

I shall once more engage in more track duties, but this time of a railway nature.

 

Being a director of a tramway company as well as being the CME and the Head Navvy and the plate laying team is such a chore, but is a fact of life when you have a railway that sits on the ground.

 

I am minded to bit the bullet and build something I can ride on................................ my neighbour has a defunct tractor mower which is likely to will come my way, if  when the PH and I sort out his back hedge.

 

The Obergrumpenfuhrer is out to lunch today, so the PH and I have been ordered invited to eat various old, but not yet mouldy, scraps from the refrigerator.

 

This afternoon will see me depart for Woodseaves to give my 7/8ths locos (well the regaugeable ones) a romp on the 32mm gauge line they have around the plant centre.

 

I must remember to dig out my small fleet of permanently gauged 32mm gauge wagons, as the 45mm gauge stuff does not look pretty bouncing around on the sleepers.

[Happy Hippo]

Plenty of Chinese in town but they dont have the same ability to sniff incoming rain at 4 miles.

 

Pete, its a pretty sanitised World these days. No mother in law jokes allowed, no Jokes about the Taffs,

Don't forget the black, disabled, ginger, gay person. They get a real strop on if they are not included!

Edited April 10, 2016 by Happy Hippo

[Happy Hippo]

Lightengine, I do hope you've got a sandals and white sock combo on.   

Ah yes white socks.

 

When I was in NI, we had reason to request half a dozen 'undercover' soldiers as back up for a rather delicate delicate task.

 

The Paras supplied 6 men who were all dressed as follows.

 

Green bomber jacket and sweatshirt (yes maroon ones), blue jeans, black slip on shoes and white socks.

 

They also wore the standard long hair, and massive moustaches and side burns.

 

Discretion not being their strong point they all stood in a menacing looking group on a street corner, smoking, surrounded by rather large, and undoubtedly heavy sports bags.

 

Talk about bullet magnets.

 

The local populace were so intrigued by this carbuncle on the their corner, they were totally oblivious to what we were doing half way down the street.

[grandadbob]

Good morning all,

Sunshine and blue sky here at the moment. Long may it last although the forecasters don't seem to think so.

Sorry to hear the news about your brother Ian.

Congratulations to Sherry on the birth of your grandson and I hope you are now on the road to recovery.

I'm sure if Jock were to post he would say echo Churchill and say to everyone KBO.

Gardening has not been mentioned today (yet) but against my better judgement I am going to venture in to the marshland outside and see what needs to be done. That doesn't necessarily mean that anything will be done but at least it's a start.

In other news after yesterday's "test packing"  a major problem has occurred. So much so that I'm seriously thinking of cancelling the cruise. It has transpired that there will not be room in our cases for my APT-E.

Quelle dommage, in fact quelle horreur!  After that bombshell I may well murder some weeds.

 

Disappointed of Sutton.

[The Stationmaster]

Morning all,

 

Sun is shining and laddo duly delivered to Twyford in order to catch a train to get him to London thence to Stansted whence he will partake of an aeroplane trip to Ljubljana in order to get to Slovenia - return will be overland via I'm not quite sure where but including Vienna, Berlin (I think) and Hamsterjam.  And while he travels about Europe I am tasked to deliver his car for an MoT later in the week.

 

Meanwhile as the sun is shining Mrs Stationmaster is ignoring the G word and talking about 'going out' - I await translation of that expression into a destination.

 

Have a good day everybody.

 

Edit to correct auto-babble (how does it make 'him' into 'home' I wonder?

Edited April 10, 2016 by The Stationmaster

[newbryford]

Sunny in Rotherham partaking of a McD breakfast. (I did say it would be convenience food weekend ).

Off to Doncaster for an hour or two trainspotting despite the protests from junior NB. Game on at 2pm and the big one at 5pm.

 

Cheers

Mick

Edited April 10, 2016 by newbryford

[jamie92208]

Sunny in Rotherham partaking of a McD breakfast. (I did say it would be convenience food weekend ).

Off to Doncaster for an hour or two trainspotting despite the protests from junior NB. Game on at 2pm and the big one at 5pm.

 

Cheers

Mick

 

You mean you managed to ignore that special pleading voice saying 'Daaaaaddy' that all daughter use on their dads particularly when they want money or their own way.

 

Jamie

[edcayton]

Good morning all,

 

Can somebody tell me what is supposed to be wrong with socks-and-sandals? If I don't wear socks my sweaty feet stick to the sandal. Most of my current fleet of socks is brown-ish. What colour sandals would the fashion police suggest for the forthcoming summer?

 

Ed

[Ashcombe]

Morning all

 

.........Sherry is a grandmother again. And may be feeling a bit better, too, judging by the chat we have just had. So her new grandson was born @ 2.21, not very big, and has minor breathing difficulties, which the hospital declares not to be serious, but enough to keep him and new mum in for a few days. Since new mum declined ante-natal classes we think this might just be a good thing. ........................I hope Sunday is restful for you and yours.

Here is Charlie Stephen:-

 

 

And other grandchildren or step grandchildren:-

 

 

I have another grandson in Australia:-

 

 

Now you have the full set!

Edited April 10, 2016 by Ashcombe

[trisonic]

Ah yes white socks.

 

When I was in NI, we had reason to request half a dozen 'undercover' soldiers as back up for a rather delicate delicate task.

 

The Paras supplied 6 men who were all dressed as follows.

 

Green bomber jacket and sweatshirt (yes maroon ones), blue jeans, black slip on shoes and white socks.

 

They also wore the standard long hair, and massive moustaches and side burns.

 

Discretion not being their strong point they all stood in a menacing looking group on a street corner, smoking, surrounded by rather large, and undoubtedly heavy sports bags.

 

Talk about bullet magnets.

 

The local populace were so intrigued by this carbuncle on the their corner, they were totally oblivious to what we were doing half way down the street.

 

Surely (at that time) blindingly white sneakers/trainers/high tops?

I’ll have to find some photos...

 

Best, Pete.

[Oldddudders]

Don't forget the black, disabled, ginger, gay person. They get a real strop on if they are not included!

 

You forgot to mention left-handed!

[Oldddudders]

Good morning all,

 

Can somebody tell me what is supposed to be wrong with socks-and-sandals? If I don't wear socks my sweaty feet stick to the sandal. Most of my current fleet of socks is brown-ish. What colour sandals would the fashion police suggest for the forthcoming summer?

 

Ed

The point about socks in sandals is they may stop your feet getting stung by nettles etc., which shoes avoid. To hell with the fashion police.

[edcayton]

You forgot to mention left-handed!

 

...and us fatties!

 

Ed

 

and Alsatians.

 

and railway modellers.

Edited April 10, 2016 by edcayton

[AndyB]

Ah yes white socks.

 

When I was in NI, we had reason to request half a dozen 'undercover' soldiers as back up for a rather delicate delicate task.

 

The Paras supplied 6 men who were all dressed as follows.

 

Green bomber jacket and sweatshirt (yes maroon ones), blue jeans, black slip on shoes and white socks.

 

They also wore the standard long hair, and massive moustaches and side burns.

 

Discretion not being their strong point they all stood in a menacing looking group on a street corner, smoking, surrounded by rather large, and undoubtedly heavy sports bags.

 

Talk about bullet magnets.

 

The local populace were so intrigued by this carbuncle on the their corner, they were totally oblivious to what we were doing half way down the street.

 

I believe that was the standard undercover uniform; I heard a similar story at a RUSI briefing about plain clothes work in Berlin. 

[Smiffy2]

Over here my Wife says the English wear Brown Sandals with black or grey socks...........(she’s Italian).  Of course it’s de rigueur to have pearly white (but hairy) legs too with khaki shorts (and that’s just the women)......

 

Best, Pete..

I worked with a Scotsman who reckoned it took him two weeks in Tenerife to get the blue off his legs...

[Ohmisterporter]

Hello all. I was looking through my collection of shadow pictures and thought this may be of interest. It isn't a train picture Debs, there just happens to be one in it. Engine number 87 on the WHR, you will note the safety valves blowing off and the shadow of it clearly defined on the platform. Also on the platform is a dark shadow of smoke from the chimney. I thought this a little unusual because there appears to be very little smoke visible from the actual chimney. A trick of the light obviously, but it goes to show how useful shadow effects can be in determining what is or isn't happening. Sympathies with those ailing, stay safe all. 

 

 

 

[grandadbob]

And GDB did sally forth unto the Fen that is his garden and he did smite it with strimming tool and hovering mower and he prevailed and it is dead. The Boss saw that it was very good and will reward him with Old Speckled Hen, Roasted Chicken & Potatoes,  A Selection of Vegetables and Red Wine.

 

And possibly leave him in peace for a while so he can get on with important stuff like watching rugby and playing with trains. 

[leopardml2341]

Sunny in Rotherham partaking of a McD breakfast. (I did say it would be convenience food weekend ).

Off to Doncaster for an hour or two trainspotting despite the protests from junior NB. Game on at 2pm and the big one at 5pm.

Cheers

Mick

You day visitor visa granted then, must be less choosy about who we let in these days.

[AndyB]

Interesting sort of power cut here.

More like a brown out, with very reduced voltage. Some lights are working but dimly, router is working. But the kettle isn't - just as I'd finished assembling an ikea cupboard and fancied a cuppa. I shall resort to a glass of wine instead and as a result of imbibation have a nap. 

[Happy Hippo]

You forgot to mention left-handed!

I did!

 

So as a disabled, left handed Welsh person, who has a gay sister and a wife(also left handed) with what was auburn hair, and a sister in law who is of Irish descent, I can just about poke fun at anyone