Early Risers.

[BSW01]

Great sunset again this evening.

 

Off to the UK again in the morning, so off line for nine days.

 

02 Fintra 02.jpg

WOW,

[The Stationmaster]

 

The mention of exploratory explorations is probably a totally accurate description of some of what took place in that as we explored the site (i.e. embarked on exploration) certain exploratory processes involving procedures like looking into and underneath objects and using a tape measure or cameras  took place.

Edited October 24, 2016 by The Stationmaster

[Coombe Barton]

The mention of exploratory explorations is probably a totally accurate description of some of what took place in that as we explored the site (i.e. embarked on exploration) certain exploratory processes involving procedures like looking into and underneath objects and using a tape measure or cameras  took place.

 

Were you on the writing team for Sir Humphrey Appleby in "Yes Minister"?

[andyram]

Good evening all. I have finally made it back onto these pages after what must be about 7 weeks away. I am sure I have missed so much so my humble apologies. I have noticed, via Facebook, of the passing of Ian OD's brother and repeat my wishes to him that I passed on via that other form of social media. I would like to send generic good wishes and support to you all.

I have not been totally away from RMWeb for the period of my absence from here, I have popped into other threads from time to time. However I have been unable to spend much time on here, and certainly not the time to properly digest the happenings of other people's lives. I have also not wanted to share much about my life either. The last few weeks have been a struggle. I did not look after myself during the latter part of the summer break. On a personal, and family level, we packed so much into that time. Day trips to Llangollen, North York Moors, Severn Valley, Cleethorpes, Yorkshire Wildlife Park, Alton Towers etc etc were all great fun and provided good memories - but I did not drink enough of the right stuff frequently enough. This left me with dehydration and some bladder trouble to start the new school year. The old health anxieties and phobias that have plagued me for years resurfaced too and I started the school year battling my personal demons. This was followed by a particularly difficult term at school where a lack of support, and issues beyond my control, hampered my teaching. It also resulted in my poorest teaching grade in the whole of my 18 year career. Not what I needed on top of everything else. I have pretty much crawled to the end of the half time and stumbled into the break.

Right now things do seem to be on the upturn. I have sorted some of the unsupportive people so work is moving upwards. The health situation does seem to be getting better as I learn to drink more of the right stuff - less strong coffees more glasses of water and cranberry juice! This is helping to suppress, if not completely vanquish, those demons. Time will tell if it is a temporary reprieve.

Time for modelling, and the modelling mojo, has been at an all time low. The layout I had planned to build for this year's show has failed to develop beyond the early stages. It looks like I will be aiming to repair the original layout and drag it out again. Time is short however.

My longed for coastal terminus layout had been placed on hold earlier in the year in order to work on other projects. It is this that is now threatening to ignite the creative spark. A redeveloped plan will require new baseboards. Sarah has suggested I build them this week. Time will tell whether they will get done. Hopefully I can keep you all up to date.

[Coombe Barton]

Today has been a day of snuffles. First day off sick, excepting when I was recovering post-op, for a long time, a cold of the stinking variety. However some work done from home.

 

Back to it tomorrow, I hope.

[AndyID]

As of today neither of the checks we sent to the Soc. Sec. Admin. on October 4th have been tendered to our bank. I talked to a gent at out local SSA office today and he didn't seem at all surprised. Then he really got my attention when he told me they would likely withhold our monthly payments to make up what we owed then eventually refund us when they finally cashed our checks.

 

You couldn't make this sh!t up!

 

So why don't they simply apply the checks to our accounts as soon as they receive them? Well, I suspect it's because of some insane performance metric where departments are required to report the time it takes to process a communication. To get the best report you simply do nothing with the envelope when it arrives and pretend it has not arrived. If you cashed the check it would rather give the game away. Oh, and in this instance we are talking about more than $4,000 that the SSA is not taking advantage of.

 

I have sent a message to Pres. Obama suggesting he might want to have someone investigate this insanity. Not sure it will do any good of course, but you never know.

 

Oh, and just to add insult to injury, Lorna received a revised demand on Saturday from the SSA demanding more money "because of an error", and, naturally, no mention of the funds she had already sent them. Sheesh!

[Purley Oaks]

Good to see you back, Andy, and hope that things progress satisfactorily.

 

Just remembered that I took a DC10 sometime in the 80s, and managed a couple of Chipmonk and glider flights in the ATC from Kenley. On my last Chipmonk flight the engine packed in and the pilot said, "Oh, not again" as we glided above the trees before he managed to get it started.

 

Worst landing was at night in Edinburgh a few years ago; it was quite windy and we'd just about touched down when the pilot suddenly cranked up the power and we took off again and banked around for another landing slot finally touching down for the second time about 20 minutes later. The captain smoothly mentioned that we'd "had a spot of bother" and that was that.

 

Mal

Edited October 24, 2016 by Purley Oaks

[newbryford]

Long day mostly in the left seat. Brain fade by the end of the day which isn't good for driving, never mind supervising the less experienced......

 

Home to the news that "my" ice hockey team has parted company with the head coach after a poor run of results. And that the planned game I was going to watch in that there big Lundun town with Junior NB in a few weeks is cancelled because one of the teams has ceased playing. So not good, but hopefully will be compensated for by watching a ECHL game in a few weeks in the USoA....

 

As for flying. I was a late starter with a Dan Air 727 from Manchester to Fuerteventura about 1990. It had to refuel at Faro on the way back as the runway is short at FV and the headwind meant that the fuel safety margin may be compromised.

Since then I travelled regularly for work with my first transatlantic on a AA DC10. I remember the flight for the wrong reasons. My work companion and I were endlessly supplied with alcohol all the way there, with the stewardess simply replacing our empty glasses every time she passed without us asking........ Luckily we had three hours to sober up at Boston until our US sales rep flew in to meet us.

 

Trickiest landing was in a Fokker 27 at Jersey. I recall looking along the runway as we came in sideways. I still have the scars on my arm where the then future Mrs NB was grabbing hold of me in fear........... I thought it was a brilliant bit of flying

 

Worst landing -  into Faro (Easyjet or Ryanair) with a particularly heavy landing. The cabin crew announced in a sarcastic voice that "we had..........landed.........at Faro".

 

Interesting landing - Kai Tak at Hong Kong in a BA 747. The last turn over the city before landing is quite spectacular. I blagged a trip into the cockpit on the HK-Beijing leg.

 

Interesting flight - a Short Skyvan into JFK when there was no seating allocation apart from the crew member making sure that we balanced the plane by sitting on alternate sides.

Second most interesting flight - a regional hop from Zengzhou to Beijing in a reverse engineered Chines built copy of a Russian twin turboprop..... The seats were akin to fold down picnic chairs. My adjacent passenger was an ex-Chinese air force bomber navigator who was re-training as a civilian on Boeing 737s. The conversation mostly consisted of the use of the words "could" and "should" in the international language of flying. The same airline had flown a 737 into a mountain the week before.

 

Best flight(s). Manchester-Chicago-Portland,WA. Upgraded all the way there and back as I'd just received my AA gold flyers card the week before!

 

Worst flight. Globespan B737-800 configured for Canaries duty (carp legroom) but flying Liverpool-New York as the allocated B767 was poorly. Stopped at Shannon and Keflavik to refuel. The flight was actually a day late and the return journey was cancelled over two consecutive days, so they had three days worth of passengers for one plane.. We bailed and flew home via Gatwick - we were duly compensated.

The 767 was actually on the apron at JFK awaiting parts and a few weeks later Globespan had their transatlantic licence revoked due to maintenance "issues"...... (Twin engine planes on transatlantic are subject to a higher maintenance regime that flights over shorter sea crossings). A few months later., Globespan went bust.

 

Commute to my new workbench tomorrow and log in to my new PC.....

 

Have a good week folks.

 

Cheers,

Mick

[laurenceb]

Keep fighting on Andy

Night all

[emt_911]

Andy. I really hope that things are improving. Please don't forget that we are here if needed.

 

Another ER tomorrow for what could be a long day

 

Night all

[The Stationmaster]

G'night all

[Horsetan]

Meanwhile, at the monthly meeting of the North London Group....

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all.

[BSW01]

Good evening everyone

 

All the little tasks I'd set out for myself today, plus a few others have been accomplished, so I expect I'll have bu99er all to do tomorrow.

 

After tea we had a surprise visit from No 2 son, he'd just been round to his sisters to drop off her partners birthday card off, so decided to drop in to see how I was doing. He stayed for about 45 minutes or so and it was really nice to see him.

 

Time for bed now, goodnight all.

[southern42]

Some weathering and a tiny bit of modelling accomplished today ahead of Hazel Grove. 

That's it.  Not a lot.

 

' Night all and nos da for now.

[BR60103]

Ian:

Peter's business site is

http://www.hornbydubloemporium.com/

 

 

Ian A. May I suggest contacting the Platelayers in Ontario http://www.theplatelayers.org/ and get in touch with Peter Scrimshaw. He is one of, if not the most knowledgeable persons with regards to Wrenn in North America. He should be able to tell you if its worthwhile carrying them or not. I had a mint 8f that I tried to sell at an exhibition bring & buy stall a few years back. Couldn't shift it even for half of what an identical one on eBay went for the week before. Although with the resurrected Wrenn and collectors club folding last year, prices may have started to climb again.

 

Have a great day everyone.

[emt_911]

Morning all. A brilliant nights sleep and I feel like I haven't been to bed. Just what I need with the day ahead.

 

More surveys today which although they aren't the most challenging of jobs, some of the clients ideas prove interesting

 

Lots of caffeine to consume before hitting the road.

 

Have a good day everyone

[chrisf]

Good morning one and all

 

Somehow I bought a C*****mas present yesterday.  Whilst in town for other reasons I spotted a sale at Body Shop.  I go in once a year to procure toiletries from White Musk and have it gift wrapped, a necessary evil before I can give it to the lucky recipient in the festive spirit, or at least as much as I can muster in October.  Up to now the gift wrapping has consisted of a round or oval basket with a clingfilm topping.  This year it is a round box, which means I do not have to apply tacky wrapping paper.  I wanted to include talc in my selection but it is no longer in the range.  May the makers come to regret dropping it.

 

I have recalled two more things to say about flight.  On a trip to Ireland, of which there have been a few over the years, I was displeased to find on arrival at Rosslare that Ryanair's baggage tossers had broken my tripod.  Ryanair could not have cared less and it will be a sad day if I ever have to fly with them again.  The tale of how the tripod was mended is worthy of a separate outing.  Then there was the time when I went on official business in a helicopter. I used to deal with noise insulation in connection with trunk roads and motorways.  Anglian Windows won some of the contracts for installing secondary glazing.  One day they invited the team to visit the factory at Norwich Airport.  The boss man was flying in his private chopper from Cheltenham and was able to land at a small airfield near Bedford to pick us up.  Flying past the top of the TV mast at Sandy Heath was quite an experience.  So was working out what to say on my travel claim form.

 

Today will see ironing and the fodder run.  How mundane.

 

Best wishes to all travellers and to the ailing, recovering, supporting, grieving, missing and depressed.

 

Chris

[Robert]

Morning All,

 

We have a rather dark, autumnal morning in this part of the world.
 

Worst flight. Globespan B737-800 configured for Canaries duty (carp legroom) but flying Liverpool-New York as the allocated B767 was poorly. Stopped at Shannon and Keflavik to refuel. The flight was actually a day late and the return journey was cancelled over two consecutive days, so they had three days worth of passengers for one plane.. We bailed and flew home via Gatwick - we were duly compensated.
The 767 was actually on the apron at JFK awaiting parts and a few weeks later Globespan had their transatlantic licence revoked due to maintenance "issues"...... (Twin engine planes on transatlantic are subject to a higher maintenance regime that flights over shorter sea crossings). A few months later., Globespan went bust.

Improved engine reliability means that things have now got a lot better since the early days of ETOPS. The airlines no longer need to fly from A to B via Z!
 

Worst landing - into Faro (Easyjet or Ryanair) with a particularly heavy landing. The cabin crew announced in a sarcastic voice that "we had..........landed.........at Faro".

 
I had one of those with Ryanair into Frankfurt Hahn in the very early days when the terminal hadn't been built and passport control was in the former officers mess.  It seemed that the pilot was intent on carving his initials into the runway for posterity.

 

Interesting flight - a Short Skyvan into JFK when there was no seating allocation apart from the crew member making sure that we balanced the plane by sitting on alternate sides.

Ahh - the good old Shed. A very reliable workhorse, but certainly not good looking!

 

Time for a coffee!

 

Have a good day everyone...

[Barry O]

Morning to most, evening to Rick.

 

Layout set up for weathering duties. Traffic in Leeds great as the children are on half term. Some umpiring to do tonight...

 

Herself built the Christmas cake yesterday. The aroma hit you as you walked in. Lovely!

 

Need to take some photos of weathered things to send to the client. Hopefully he will like them.

 

I flew to Southampton once in a Jetstream 41. One engine stopped, we did manage to come to a halt at the end of the runway but it was nearly underwater change time!

 

Enjoy whatever you do today and if you are poorly get well soon.

Baz

[roundhouse]

Last night was sent fitting window frames cut from microstrip to the ground floor windows on the station building. Around 20 windows. This morning I made a start on the upper floor windows. Once the frames are in the transom and mullions to both the fixed light and the sliding sash in each window needs to be added. I can we thesecbeing dnecatvanother time but at least the windows will look far better than they did.

 

So dark outside now in the mornings.

 

Train a few minutes mites late arriving but holding our breath as a ' freight train' has broken down at East Croydon. I suspect it's an RHTT service but we shall see.

[Horsetan]

Visiting Ealing Studios this morning - another film company is being established, so more forms have to be signed in front of me. Could this be the next blockbuster, or an arthouse film that few will ever see?

[grandadbob]

Good morning all,

Dry start here and with some luck it may stay that way.

The Boss is at work and my only task today is to empty the dishwasher. I've promised to try not to break anything. (She's only really bothered about china and glass, not bones)

A bit more painting done to the track yesterday but still lots more to do. Hopefully I will finish it in the next couple of days.

Nothing else to report.

Have a good one,

Bob.

[TheQ]

On the BBC news this morning, along the bottom on the "tickertape" reader, it said, "Model trains are becoming more expensive due to the fall in the pound"

Normally a cryptic statement like this, is a sort of "invite" to read the rest of the story online, however so far I haven't found it.

[edcayton]

Morning all.

 

I dropped some talc once. I regretted it.

 

Best wishes

 

Ed