Early Risers.

[Tony_S]

Morning.

As I had cleared so much in the garage recently and my ON30 layout was revealed I thought I would have a play with it yesterday. All went well until a train got stuck in a place where I will need to do more tidying to rescue. So today will be tidying. I had been intending to but...

Aditi wants to visit the recycling centre today so perhaps I should start tidying straight after breakfast.

Tony

[TheQ]

Good morning everyone

 

Well, surprise, surprise it's not raining.

 

Today I'm off to a site that we have called Altham "Pig Trap". Yes it really does trap pigs, P.I.G. (Pipeline Inspection Gauge) that is. This is a £multi-million piece of kit that is pushed into and along the pipeline at one end and then emerges at another, the PIG trap. I'm just checking the electrics today.

 

Back later

And B*****y messy things things they can be, if they've come from offshore, as can the giant balls (also often called pigs) they send down just to  clear the carp that settles out in the bottom of the pipelines, thick, gooey, smelly black / brown gunge....sometimes requiring full protective gear if it's a sour gas line....  

[PeterBB]

I must be up too early because I could have sworn I just saw London Undergrpund stock being hauled out of Birmingham New Street by a quad of class 20s.

 

Presumably on their way to Derby

 

London Underground pulled by a quad of class 20's happens on a regular basis but generally towards London.

Edited March 2, 2017 by PeterBB

[Oldddudders]

Four weeks on from her op, Sherry is allowed to sleep in a slightly more comfy position at last. A better night has resulted, although we still shared tea @ 5, before sleeping again.

 

Bright and sunny, and Sherry has found she can also drive, too. The left hip isn't much involved when your car is automatic. So we may make Lidl later.

[45156]

 

Ladies and gents.

 

Reports are not encouraging. Father seems to be slipping very slowly away with a good day followed by two bad ones; he has not been released from hospital and may not be. Mother is tired and unwell but pleased to have no caring duties at least for now. She has a daily home help plus family support.

 

 

 

Not the best homecoming, RIck.  However, you are a lot closer than you were if your presence is needed at short notice.

Hope that you find a decent abode soon.

[Oldddudders]

And B*****y messy things things they can be, if they've come from offshore, as can the giant balls (also often called pigs) they send down just to  clear the carp that settles out in the bottom of the pipelines, thick, gooey, smelly black / brown gunge....sometimes requiring full protective gear if it's a sour gas line....

 

Sounds rather like the principle employed in cleansing the tubes used for pumping concrete. A ball of barbed wire is inserted into the chamber, the pressure is maximised, open the chamber and whammo! A former boss, now railway author, described watching this at Neasden. He thought the cleansing ball was last seen at altitude heading towards Wembley Stadium....

[AndyB]

Ladies and gents.

 

We arrived safely in London on Monday morning after an easy and comfortable trip around the planet. ....

 

Did you see the huge ER welcoming committee at the airport?  

We were all lined up at "arrivals" for the best part of 12 hours waiting for you.   

We can all highly recommend the catering facilities at London Luton Airport.  

[jamie92208]

Morning all from a bright and sunny village.   The streeta are well aired and in 15 minutes the traffic past our house will die away as the road works further along start fro the day.  We were both up betimes and managed to watch some catch up TV over breakfast.   Beth is now busy baking and I have taken the packed boxes etc out to the car.  The container is to be delivered at lunchtime so I'm taking the first load of stuff with me.  I'm also taking some masking tape to mark out the dimensions of the trailer on the floor so that I can assemble a trailer load of stuff accurately.   The next job is to go to the post office with some ebay parcels and the bottle bank.   Then I'm off upstairs to pack magazines into boxes ready for for shifting to the container in due course.   Happy days.   Hopefully a bit of modelling will get done in between other jobs.

 

Rick, very glad that you have both arrived safely and hope that things are not too stressful regarding your parents.

 

Brian, interesting about the P.I.G trap, I think we have one in the fields near us on the footpath the Tong Village.   There is a large pipe that comes out of the ground at an angle then goes through various valves before ending in mid air with a bolted flange over a hard standing.  

 

To all others I send my regards wherever you are currently in life's great unfolding pattern.

 

Jamie

[Andrew P]

London Underground pulled by a quad of class 20's happens on a regular basis but generally towards London.

Marcus / Marcus37 on here brings them up from London and takes them back again after refurbishment at Derby, generally via the Coalville Line through Gresley, with a quad of DRS 20's.

 

EDIT = That may be GBRF, I cant remember now.

Edited March 2, 2017 by Andrew P

[lightengine]

So we may make Lidl later.

I am fascinated by that tower like structure next to Torquay Lidl. I wonder if it is railway related.

 

Dry day in sunny Teignmouth today at present.

[Gwiwer]

Did you see the huge ER welcoming committee at the airport?  

We were all lined up at "arrivals" for the best part of 12 hours waiting for you.   

We can all highly recommend the catering facilities at London Luton Airport.

 

I'm afraid we missed the lot of you due to arriving at London Heathrow.

[lightengine]

I'm afraid we missed the lot of you due to arriving at London Heathrow.

I thought that was what Andy implied ;-)

 

Welcome back to Blighty Rick. If you are on FB, Worthing Past And Present is sometimes an interesting and useful page.

Edited March 2, 2017 by lightengine

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. I see its Ians birthday today, many happy returns Ian.

 

Morning all !

 

Off to the Holy City - where they store our Council Tax - today to hopefully return with working windscreen washers on Daughter's car !

 

I guess many here will have noticed that the extra little tablet is working quite well since I am clearly 'high as a kite', for which I apologise. At the risk of starting a medical thread, we found out recently from a well-known chemist that Cold & Flu Tablets are a distinct 'no no' for those on blood pressure medication as they simply negate the effect of medications such as Ramipril.

 

Go carefully, please and thanks

Not all Cold & Flu tablets are a no-no if you are taking blood pressure medication, only those containing aspirin. Those with paracetamol are perfectly safe to use. The reason is that blood pressure medicines work by thickening the blood, aspirin as is well known thins the blood. Before my hypertension was diagnosed I was taking anti-inflamatories for my arthritis, I had to stop taking them as they consisted largely of aspirin. A good substitute I can use however is co-codamol.

[Oldddudders]

I am fascinated by that tower like structure next to Torquay Lidl. I wonder if it is railway related.

Dry day in sunny Teignmouth today at present.

Sherry thinks it might be the fire station. Diamond geezer John, former Divisional Commander, said that the rich selection of appliances available to firefighters meant LFB was sometimes taken to mean London's Finest Burglars! The criminal community were obviously envious.

[45156]

Morning All

 

AWOL for the last few days, and had to miss about 14 pages, so I hope I haven't missed too much along the way.  If I have, then apologies, and otherwise, generic greetings are on offer to the ailing, celebrating, etc....

 

A few days away are looming, and I just hope that I have no problems with the weather, though the seaweed inspectors are saying that there is nothing too sinister due between here and Newbury,  Should be back Monday, so probably will need to miss a few more pages as I will not be taking the laptop with me.  A start onto the M6 by 05.00 tomorrow morning will hopefully mean that much of the usual traffic problems between here and the A49 are going to start later in the day.

 

Not a great deal to report here otherwise, but jobs domestic, a trip to kennels,once the washing machine is finshed.

 

Back sometime soon.

 

Regards to All

Stewart

[lightengine]

Sherry thinks it might be the fire station. Diamond geezer John, former Divisional Commander, said that the rich selection of appliances available to firefighters meant LFB was sometimes taken to mean London's Finest Burglars! The criminal community were obviously envious.

Does Torquay have 2 Lidl? If so it's the Newton Rd one I meant. Only Lidl and car showrooms nearby.

[BSW01]

A bit more info on the PIG trap I mentioned earlier.

 

Unlike a lot of sites, this site does not have any permanent PIG traps, but there are 3 different entry/exit points here, all with differing diameter pipe work. The traps are brought to site and fastened to the pipe work once the section has been isolated and the flange has been removed.

 

 

The cradle in the foreground supports the weight of the rear of the trap. The small piece of pipe work that just visible on the right, close to the fence is attached to the smaller flange above the valve and connects to the rear of PIG trap, this allows gas pressure to be applied to the rear of the PIG. When the operation is about to start, the gas pressure in front of the PIG is reduced whilst the pressure behind it increased, this pressure differential assists the PIG on it travels. They can travel quite quickly once they get going, I've known them move 5 miles in just under a minute.

 

The shallow angle in the photo below allows the PIG to enter the system, they don't go round 90 degree bends very well!

Edited March 2, 2017 by BSW01

[trisonic]

We had a 2 hour delay a few years ago on a Virgin flight from Heathrow to LAX due to a crash on the M1 delaying the flight crew.

 

However I do tend to prefer Virgin over BA partly due to their website works and BA's often doesn't when I try to book flights and BA only having the fish dish left when they get to us with the meal.

 

I think Virgin gave me a fiver for a meal... I bought a five pound amount of Scotch instead.

When I was going back and forth to London every other week I only appreciated being on time.

 

Best, Pete.

[The Stationmaster]

Morning all,

 

Firstly a bit of information to answer Don's question about changes to the beneficiaries if a will - relatively simple process as long as agreement is forthcoming from those who would lose out

 

https://www.gov.uk/alter-a-will-after-a-death

 

In the meanwhile the sun is shining  - oops, it was, however it is seaweedcast to spend its day peeping out from between the clouds and is once more peeping out - i shall not bore you with further updates on the passage of clouds.  In more interesting(?) news laddo announced during dinner yesterday evening that he would be leaving 'bright'n early' on Friday - which immediately prompted the Good Doctor and myself to comment that we didn't even know he was going to Brighton.  Seems he isn't and what he actually meant is that he is catching the first train from here at some hour I barely remember exists (06 something or other) as the first stage of his trip to Belgium for a long, and distinctly hydraulic, weekend - in this case the term 'hydraulic' refers to consumption of alcoholic beverages and has nothing to do with particular genres of railway motive power.

 

On a more serious note I intend to attend a public meeting of the Branch User Group (BUG - yes, really) this evening as Mark Hopwood of GWR will be addressing the packed hall - could be interesting, maybe.

 

Have a good day one and all and welcome back to England Rick - hope the two of you settle in soon and that your dad doesn't take a turn for the worse.

[PeterBB]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. I see its Ians birthday today, many happy returns Ian.

 

Not all Cold & Flu tablets are a no-no if you are taking blood pressure medication, only those containing aspirin. Those with paracetamol are perfectly safe to use. The reason is that blood pressure medicines work by thickening the blood, aspirin as is well known thins the blood. Before my hypertension was diagnosed I was taking anti-inflamatories for my arthritis, I had to stop taking them as they consisted largely of aspirin. A good substitute I can use however is co-codamol.

 

"Not all Cold & Flu tablets are a no-no if you are taking blood pressure medication, only those containing aspirin. Those with paracetamol are perfectly safe to use. The reason is that blood pressure medicines work by thickening the blood, aspirin as is well known thins the blood. Before my hypertension was diagnosed I was taking anti-inflamatories for my arthritis, I had to stop taking them as they consisted largely of aspirin. A good substitute I can use however is co-codamol."

 

Not quite physiologically or chemically correct but it is 'Dr Speak' to give the general idea.

[grandadbob]

I've just had a call from an old schoolmate who has suggested we get to the reunion a bit earlier for a quick drink or two before the er drinking starts. As I have no willpower and thought this was a good idea I have agreed.    

 

 

Diet? What diet?

 

Hic.

Edited March 2, 2017 by grandadbob

[trisonic]

Rick, Welcome y’all to London.............

 

Let’s see how long it takes for the weather to make you feel jaded.

 

Sorry to hear of your folks - it’s a cross we all literally have to bear, I was somewhat comforted that with mine they both went rather quickly. My Father dropped whilst talking to an old pal of mine who was the local community plod. He explained that there was nothing he could do as he saw the life go out of my father’s eyes before he started dropping (congestive heart failure).

It was cruel for my mother, though, as she was expecting him to return from the bank and instead opened the door to PC Carpenter and a WPC. I’m glad it was Ray Carpenter at the door.

 

Frankly, I hope I eventually go like that though.

 

Best, Pete.

Edited March 2, 2017 by trisonic

[Horsetan]

Morning All,

 

First of all, I need to clarify my "Like" rating to Horsetan.  The picture of Topsy bought a smile to my face.  ...

Er, the horse in the photo was Crosby (Topsy's son). Crosby had a weird look to him - as if he had been built, not too skilfully, from a kit. He had the body of a horse, the legs of a pony (thus technically making him a "cob"), and his head and neck were set at a very strange angle.

 

 

I was told that this was a result of an accident he had some years previously when going hell-for-leather cross-country; he and his rider took a jump, and he somersaulted on landing. When he had recovered, it looked like the base of his neck had slipped down from where it would normally be. Whilst this didn't prevent him from future work, it did make him quite heavy on his forehand and I always had the feeling when riding him that he was attempting to excavate an inclined approach down to a tunnel.

 

 

On that subject can you refuse to accept a legacy. ....

 

You can disclaim your inheritance or do a Deed of Variation. I haven't yet had anyone do either......!

Edited March 3, 2017 by Horsetan

[sixoh8sixoh]

Morning all from a sunny Scottish HQ. Happy birthday Ian!

 

A rare visit from me at the moment, seems to be a lot going on and not enough time to do it. Missed the Glasgow show this year, which was a shame as I'd have liked to see Liverpool Lime Street and the model of the Forth Bridge.

 

Went away to Romania for my 40th birthday, had a nice quiet trip away and relaxed rather than doing our usual whirlwind tour of a hundred places in 7 days.

 

Hope everyone's as well as can be expected!

[Edge]

Marcus / Marcus37 on here brings them up from London and takes them back again after refurbishment at Derby, generally via the Coalville Line through Gresley, with a quad of DRS 20's.

 

EDIT = That may be GBRF, I cant remember now.

 

Indeed, I didn't get a good look, but at least one of the 20s was in GBRF livery and was coupled to an orange/black example