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Dull, wet and windy in North Somerset. Quite appropriate really as Dad passed away overnight, just two weeks short of his 98th birthday. I don't think it has quite sunk in yet, but have lots of phone calls to make. Back later.

An Dukedog arrives with a local passenger service.

With regard to white metal loco bodies on RTR chassis, I’ve done lots. I still find creating a smooth running chassis the most difficult part of a kit build and although I’ve had some success recently, for years I relied on RTR chassis to get my kits to run. I think things have moved on from the days when provided it had the same wheel arrangement, it was fine. There’s such a wide range of RTR out there that a suitable chassis is normally available. I generally have no major problems. The key things are that you will probably have to remove some metal on the body or chassis to get them to fit and you need to insulate the inside of the body. Here are some examples. Wills A3 on Hornby chassis. The body is no improvement on the Hornby one but the extra weight is useful. While a weighted Hornby one will pull nearly all my trains (up to 14 bogies with a smattering of metal coaches), this will pull more and I use it on a heavy/ stiff sleeper. N8 built in my teenage years on a Triang 0-6-0 chassis but later upgraded to a Bachmann E4. It needs a dust! Wills A4 on Hornby chassis. Again haulage is the main benefit. KX J50 on Bachmann pannier chassis. The weight of the body allowed space for a good DCC sound fitment. Done before Hornby one was available. Wills K3 body bought from ‘sir’ for a pittance and put on a Bachmann K3 chassis which had been dropped and the body smashed. Ks J3 on a Bachmann pannier chassis. Cotswold F1 upgraded with SE Finecast parts and converted to F2 running on Bachmann LYR 2-4-2 chassis. Any questions, please ask. Andy

Morning. Haven't been on for a few weeks as I had some self-reflection time, then a little holiday. Had a tough time at work recently as it seems standards are all different so whatever I do, people don't like it and thus don't like me. But it'll all come out in the wash as they say.

When I signed on with my present doctor I was invited to go for blood tests etc as I think I had only been to my old one once in the previous ten years. The nurse was going through the tests routine and said "Your blood pressure is a bit high". I said that I wasn't surprised, I had intended to go home for a shower and wind down after a morning meeting at work but instead had spent two hours stuck behind an accident on the motorway and only arrived at the surgery just in time for the appointment.

Thankyou all, for your sympathetic comments. They are much appreciated. While I can't say that Dad's passing came as a shock, it is strange to think that he is not here any more. He did well really, almost 98 and outlived both his wives (one after the other, you understand). Mum died in 1994 aged only 70, and so he lived 27 years after her death, married a second time but stepmum died in 2007 aged 82. He retired at 60 in 1983, so he certainly had his moneys' worth from the state. Now, I have to sort out his chaotic finances, as in later life he bought a shredder and with failing eyesight he shredded lots of documents he ought to have kept.

Today we visit the ECML between York and Northallerton at Pilmoor in 1967. Pilmoor A3 4472 Flying Scotsman down Hadrian Flyer June 67 J928 Pilmoor A4 4498 Sir Nigel Gresley special A4 loco society Kings X to Newcastle July 67 J970 Pilmoor Castle Class 7029 Clun Castle special Kings X to Newcastle Sept 67 J1121 Pilmoor Feb 67 J774 Scan-131129-0008 Pilmoor Class 55 D9018 Ballymoss down ex pass September 1967 Scan-131129-0010 Pilmoor Class 47 D1519 up ex pass September 1967 David

An old lady at rest. We are sadly aware that Olly will quite likely to have moved on to a higher plane of existence before this year’s end. All we can do and are doing, is to make her life as comfortable and stress-free as possible and hope it helps. steve

Modelling has been a bit slow lately and what there's been has mainly been making brass coaches for other people. Anyway by way of some light relief, I thought I'd make a Ratio GWR Open High kit. It must be about 40 years since I made one of these and I'd forgotten what a good kit it is; this must be one wagon kit that it's impossible to put together unsquare! But as usual, I couldn't resist a few tweaks. I've recently taken to replacing plastic brake levers with the nice etched bits from Wizard Models under the 51L banner. I think metal ones look better than plastic (although the Ratio ones aren't bad), and are also stronger. So I've used the 51L parts for the brake levers, brake lever racks and V hangers. As the GWR used a ratchet type brake lever rack I filled the etched holes for the pin down type with solder, but couldn't think of a way to represent the actual ratchet. I kept the plastic brake shoe / push rod mouldings from the kit, but replaced the safety loops with brass ones from the same etch. A piece which most kits omit, and so did I until recently is the stay that ties the bottom of the brake lever rack to the axleguard. It's fiddly to do, but as well as looking better it seems to make the whole thing a lot more robust. I drilled a hole in the end of a piece of strip and soldered a peg of 0.45mm wire into it; this goes into a hole drilled in the axleguard. The strip is then bent so that it sits behind the bottom of the brake lever rack. Then taking a sharp intake of breath and with the steadiest hands possible, very quickly soldered to the back of the lever rack. Holding it with tweezers between the rack and the peg helps provide a bit of a heat sink, but you don't want to hang around with the iron! Then finally cut off the strip flush with the edge of the brake lever rack. The Ratio buffers always seem a bit flimsy, so I got some suitable metal replacements from Lanarkshire Model Supplies. The holes in the headstocks need to be opened out to take these and there isn't much 'meat' below the buffers so I was aiming for a push fit; unfortunately one of them needed a bit too much 'push' and I managed to snap off the buffer head whilst pushing! Despite rummaging around in my Stores (and bearing in mind that wagons with odd buffers weren't unheard of) I couldn't find a suitable replacement but I did find a packet with four steel buffer heads in. So I snapped the heads off the other three buffers, and drilled them all out to take the steel heads. I wouldn't normally have bothered, but I think they do look better for it. I replaced the plastic 'door bangers' with ones made from 1mm brass strip, bent to sit in the web of the solebars and at the top to pass through a hole in the solebars, to make a strong fixing with glue on the inside. The drawhooks are also metal, this time from an Ambis fret as it happens. Here's a couple of pictures of the unpainted model, showing all the additions. The buffer nearest the camera in the second picture got sorted out later! I painted the wagon with a Humbrol No. 64 from a rattle can, then picked out random planks in different shades of grey and weathered over that. The inside was painted similarly but first painted with a base coat of 'wood colour' mixed up from Humbrol 29 / 121/ 67. The kit was a new Peco / Parkside one that includes transfers, but unfortunately only for GWR livery; luckily I found a suitable number for this kind of wagon on a Model Masters sheet. So here's the finished thing; a nice simple project spread over a few days. And a gratuitous extra shot taken in the Loco Yard, just because the Peco Bull Head rail looks so much better than the old FB Streamline!

Mooring Awl, Inner Temple Hare, Another poor night of trying to find a comfortable sleeping position.. We have soggyness, 'tis bucketing down 100% cloud cover so the MS symbols down in the corner say partly cloudy.. Well, we went house clearing yesterday.. Many small book cases,a couple of display cabinets, a wardrobe and a chest of drawers.. Mostly unfortunately of MFI quality which didn't need much help to return into flat pack format.. There are a couple of pieces which are solid wood which may gain use in the house, the rest will be used to provide shelving in the alleyway where they can be screwed to the wall to gain some strength.. The daughter of the house is clearing the family house and her brothers house at the same time, both have gone into nursing homes. Her father was an avid collector of stuff, coins , stamps, (several of each penny Blacks, Reds and Blues in good condition) plus many more stamps still being catalogued, original Vinyl records etc.. I also gained several books.. one of which is important to me... Coot Club, not an early edition unfortunately, but still important, many years ago having read the books aged about 10, I had to put my choices of RAF station to go to leaving training, now the chances of actually getting it are rare, but I did get it.. There were 7 stations for me to choose from, RAF Saxa Vord ... The Shetlands. RAF Buchan... Aberdeen, RAF Benbecula.. The Outer Hebridies.. I'd been there so I didn't want to go back, but they sent me there later anyway... RAF Boulmer 40 miles north of Newcastle actually my last station, RAF Staxton Wold near Scarborough, spent a while there at some point RAF Neatishead, which is on the Norfolk broad, walking distance from Horning the site of some of the Coot Club story RAF West Drayton in London. Most got sent there what ever they put.. So I put RAF Neatishead, because of the books and got it. The year after arriving the RAF Sailing Association held a sailing course at Horning SC as they did almost every summer, I learnt to sail, loved sailing and the Broads.. So now I live here, tomorrow is the Start of Regatta week and I spend a week on rescue boat duties all because of a childrens book... The Boss is having a day off today.. I'm measuring 21, 1 Giga ohm shunts that will keep me occupied.. lots of waiting time between measurements where I can't make major movements.. Time to.. surf RM web and the rest of the net..

Good evening everyone It has been a lot cooler here today, but then again, I have not spent much time outside so I have not really noticed, although I have had the cellar doors open all day. Much cleaning up has been done in the cellar, the floor was mopped and the bucket of water was like thin mud when I poured it down the drain. I then got a fresh bucket of water and then cleaned down the doors, door frame, window and window frame. I also cleaned off the gas main that runs across the ceiling and the armoured cable that also runs across the ceiling. Again the water was very much like thin mud when that was poured down the drain. I then gave the floor a second clean and this time it was not too bad, the water was still mucky, but nowhere near as bad as the previous bucket full. After dinner, I measured up for the skirting boards and architrave needed to finish along the floor and off round the doors. An order has been placed this evening and they should arrive next week. They will then be stored in the new storage area until needed, as I want the room to dry off fully first, before I paint it and then lay the laminate flooring. The architrave and skirtings will be the last things to be fitted. This is the last ‘BIG’ outlay to be made to finish the job, leaving just the paint to buy. As I have done most of the work myself, it has kept costs down significantly, the final cost of doing the both cellar rooms and the two storage areas comes to just under £2000. Considering that Vickie and Ian were quoted £10,000 just over 6 years ago for “each” Of there 2 rooms, which are of a similar size to this one and I would imagine that the price has increased quite a bit since then too. So, all things considered, I don’t think I’ve done so bad really. Of course, I still need to purchase all the wood required for the l@y0ut itself and I also want to put a few bookshelves up for my extensive railway library as well, but with the amount I have saved doing it myself, there are plenty of model tokens left for that!

Today I started to convert the mocked-up track alignment for the single line and Treloggan Junction into real plywood track bases. First, I fixed the second Polperran baseboard to the secondary joists and added a couple of cross-joists to support it and the Polperran - St Enodoc (loop) line trackbase, then added a further piece of trackbase at the St Enodoc end of the triangle. These are all joined by ply fishplates underneath and supported temporarily by various random pieces of 42mm x 19mm. The large triangular piece of ply might be big enough to form the Polperran - Pentowan (branch) trackbase and also support Treloggan Junction signal box, which will face the Pentowan - St Enodoc (main) line. I then moved to the St Enodoc end of the single line and added the trackbase for the rest of the transition curve and the start of the 12000mm radius curve. The missing link is just under 2m long and I should have enough odd pieces of ply to complete the trackbase for that. Once the horizontal alignment is fixed, I will sort out the continuation of the 1/100 gradient to Treloggan Junction, where it levels out. Then I can trim and fair in the edges of the trackbase before laying the cork and foam trackbed itself. My current target is to be able to run the long china-clay train all the way to Polperran in time for our September running session (if we are allowed to hold it...).

Good moaning. No wind and rain here but plenty of cloud. The ironing took a largevpart of the morning. The dentist was visited. He replaced the missing filling but tried, quite firecfuly to persaude me to have another crown. As the relevant tooth, upper left 1, is not giving me any trouble. I declined. I may start looking for another dentist. Today the first task is to muck out the chickens then various assorted tasks before lunch. After lunch it's trainspotting time. Not a bad day in prospect. Dave H, that op on your hooter doesn't sound good. I must ask, has it altered the tone, is it a proper Stanier one or now a Bulied middle C. Chrisf, hope thst you have a great week. Flavio, your absence was thought about at least. Regards to all. Jamie

4am. Wind has veered more westerly and now somewhat in the shelter of the main campsite building. However another six hours to go, according to the forecast. Caravan hasn't moved for a while so the buffeting is decreasing.

Wildfire smoke this morning at a dam on the Canadian stretch of the Columbia River: The nearest active fire is more than 50km away (though it is in the valley of that river, and smoke tends to lie in the valleys).

Annnnnnd we're back. Actually we were back yesterday afternoon. We were both more than somewhat tired for different reasons, deferred anything which could wait and after kebabs and drinks we retired very early to our own beds. We both found the bed in our Airbnb to be rather and a little lumpy hard for our liking. The difference, no doubt, between a cheap one which can be replaced at modest cost if needs be in holiday accommodation and our own investment in good quality near-top-of-range goods. Dr. SWMBO, who had asked that we visit a number of places, also decided that it was too much driving around for her (and her slightly suspect back) and on reflection she would have enjoyed it more had we just "sat somewhere green". Her all, I say, and I felt darned if I do and darned if I don't. After all it was me who drove a total of 400 miles with bursitis in the right knee. That made movement, in particular entering and exiting the car and anything else requiring a change of knee angle extremely painful. Try sitting on the "throne" when you can't bend your knee. Or even putting on/taking off footwear ..... Today we have received the tail-end of the storm lashing the West Country. Wind and rain in abundance. A distinct absence of temperature. It is laundry day and delivery day with the supermarket and butcher both fulfilling the orders and the Gwiwer dealing with the dirties and wondering where to dry anything. Not just our holiday clothes but the sheets and towels used by my sister and BiL during their cat-feeding and (going by their photos) restaurant-visiting stay. Back later. It's time to add medication and rest the knee for another hour or two.

I was having trouble like that at work mainly from blow-ins at Railtrack. At a meeting one day when I had passed the point where I could take early retirement I told them that my assets were larger than my mortgage and so I was only there because I wanted to be. Much more of their rubbish and I would not be there any longer. A few weeks later one of them was being awkward again, wanting a meeting 100 miles away at three hours notice. My boss told him that if he wanted my assistance he had to request an audience with me and attend at the place and time appointed. As it happened we were waiting on answers to about a dozen questions from the said Railtrack gent so I called a meeting for 1pm on the Friday afternoon at Euston station, the agenda being our questions followed by what we did to the project program and delay penalty payable if no answers. Then we would discuss his request. My assistant did the minutes in real time and we had all answers down in writing in time to get the 3pm train home.

Ey up! @chrisfsafe journey and enjoy the Festival! Raining here this morning. Pah! Our umpires meeting was chaos. One or two of the more recent umpires know it all. They advocate walking out to the middle with a large club.. before the game starts! One of them is as much use as a chocolate fire guard in real life situations. I may end up umpiring at school, in older age group cricket and Eomens and Girls cricket next year.. it would be better for my blood pressure. Today I need to do a lot of catching up.. weeds need sorting, a bit of muddling to do and a perambulation to the butchers for supplies must be made.. and Beastie needs a wash. But first, mugatea to be drunk! Positive thoughts to all ERs! Baz

For the last time in the present series, greetings one and all! If all goes well this morning I should be on the road to the West Country by 9 am. Not yet planned is where I shall have breakfast but I do know that dinner will be served in the hotel at 6 pm. A couple of days ago the hotel asked me to check in on line. I did, but I was left wondering how to get my room key. Go to reception is the obvious answer, I suppose, but could I not have checked in at the same time? It is so much simpler to stay in a tent. I remembered to put my camping chair in the car. I shall need it for watching the concerts. The alternative is sitting on the grass. Something other than the weather forecast tells me that my journey will be wet. I am due to visit my aunt in her care home at Shirehampton at about 2 pm. This will be a good way of punctuating the journey and spare me a few minutes on the M5. Although I have packed my portable radio, I hope that I will spend the next week or so quite unaware of what is going on in the outside world. After all, I will be on holiday. I’m sure that those who have been making fun of me over the past few days are glad to know that! Best wishes to all Chris

Talk of Mums and Dads. My Dad died aged 72 in 1988, and is still missed daily, I have several pics of him, and with Mum in my Bedroom, and also one of him in my POD, to remind me what a good carpenter he was, and how I should do things, so I still look up and ask for advice when cutting wood. Likewise with Mum, died at 95 in 2019, a great woman and thoroughly respected. again I have the pics, and thank them both daily for a great up bringing. Never saw them drunk. Never saw argue. Never heard them swear. RIP, Mum and Dad.

Morning All Currently awaiting the arrival of Peter the builder who is needed because our front door is sticking again - he said around 11 - I'll expect him about 12. Jonny - please acceot ny condolences on the loss of your dad - I really wish that mine had lived so long - but as a professional musician and also a heavy smoker and drinker, he was lucky to make 62. And of course, generic greetings are in offer to all fellow ERs. Regards to All Stewart

Condolences and thoughts to @jonny777. Not easy, even after 27 and 17 years I still think of mine most days. AnywY the good news is that after 2 years and 5 months Beth now has a full French driving licence, valid for life. Jamie

@jonny777 Our deepest condolences. Supportive thoughts for the process from here on. Been there....

Morning, drizzle but still here, outside much the same. Anyone seen iD? Oh..... Flavio, I think we're used to you having a few days of silence on here, due to workload on occasion. Chris, have a great break, and supportive thoughts to those undergoing times of stress and/or loss. Been there. Old Farts bike club day run out ruined due to said drizzle, so its the cafe in the bright lights of Royal Ramsey for brunch and bullsh!t.

Morning all, I was sorry to read of Jonny777's news and wish his family the very best. In my own case I'm trying to resolve as many financial loose ends before my mum slips away as possibke. Not always easy. Having spent the best part of a day last summer filling out paperwork in one branch of a bank to take control of a set of accounts I now find that another branch of the same bank require me to repeat the process. Joined up? Not! Share holdings are my particular "bete noir" with more hoops than an Olympic logo. I've set the autumn aside to revisit that task. I can see why allegedly so many shareholdings in deceased peoples' names simply go unclaimed.

Neighbours across campsite who didn't take the advice to take awnings down have just moved their car to try to protect the awning. We have another 10-11 hours of this to come.

Afternoon Firstly my sympathy and condolences to @jonny777. It seems we have been sending sympathies a lot recently lately. Rained off again but i have had some administrative jobs to do. Sir TH i feel your pain i have had that before it was partially responsible for my first breakdown coupled with Ptsd. Then the job was going well you never got a thanks or a well done. When work dropped off suddenly due to the credit crunch everything was picked and poked over and no matter what you did higher ups were never satisfied

Hi everyone, Well the update was too big for the milkfloat, so it's now on our blog! Finally, an all new Mark 5 update including decorated samples. Check out what's been going on with both the Caledonian Sleepers and the TPE Mark 5s with lots more images and the full news story in our latest blog: https://accurascale.co.uk/blogs/news/sweet-dreams-are-made-of-these-decorated-mark-5s (Please read the blog, it has all the info and took me ages to write it!) Cheers, Fran

Flavio, will such a scar improve my chances of joining Captain Cynical's team? Since the op was performed at a clinic in Shrewsbury and hence on the normal running in turn from Crewe Works the Stanier pattern was available as standard. Dave Just seen jonny777's sad news. Having lost my Mum I can appreciate your pain. You have my sincere sympathy.

A rather poor photo, but at least taken from a place of safety. followed by something much more sensible.

Sounds familiar ... Chris

Very wild weather down here. Caravan being buffeted around.

Another busy day on the railway: I concluded work on The Earl 4-4-0: it’s had it’s post war logo removed and replaced with the shirtbutton logo. The old logos didn’t come off that easily, so the tender was resprayed and is a slightly different shade to the loco. I also started to paint The Turntable: it still doesn’t work… I’m still waiting for the cable… In order to get GWR dark stone, I had to mix some Vallejo paints and the result is quite pleasing. It’s slightly different to the station building, but I’m working on the basis that the loco dept having different stock of GWR paint! To be continued…

Oh b*gger, for a whole host of reasons. Stay well all and weather the storms; emotional, physical and metaphorical.

Perhaps a polite snottogram to Head Office may work - followed by suggesting that you'll change banks if they don't get all their ducks in a row..... Bear loves you** - I had in fact thought that you hadn't posted for a few days but assumed that either work or perhaps an unannounced trip somewhere may be taking place (Bear would never mention a trip on a forum for security reasons, until after it had happened. Marauding Hippo's may take advantage....) (**On receipt of cake.... )

Really sorry to read that, please accept my condolences, loosing a parent is dreadful.

Pack less? If you omit the morning dress and the dinner jacket (and bowtie), you should be able to pack enough for 2 weeks in a small suitcase (it can be done, I speak from experience) It’s things like this that make you exclaim “Yes! There IS a god” Oh well, at least you could be a James Bond villain - much more fun TBH (glad to hear that all went well and you are recovering nicely) Quite probably had the GP been trained in somewhere like Ouagadougou they would probably be quite good - as such medical schools in these countries tend to eschew the PC b0ll0cks that are imposed in the curricula of many western medical schools nowadays and ultimately affect clinical care (at least according to my friend, the retired GP). I am a bit feeling a bit unloved, curmudgeonly and antisocial today, because I read through the ER posts of the last week (having been absent due to a lot of work) and I noted that my absence from ER was not noticed, let alone remarked upon. Therefore, I will fail to wish anyone a great POETS day today. Grumpily, iD

Shopping trip to Eastleigh accomplished, no rain so I got a bit warm in my showerproof jacket. I missed the bus home; i was walking to the bus stop by the station and was a few yards away when my bus sailed past, two minutes before it should have left the bus station. Not a happy mole, I had to take a different service which gave me a 20 minute walk home with heavy bags instead of about three. However I did see a DeLorean go past, not something you see every day.

Evening Awl, Landrover unloaded of flat pack shelving and a couple of intact good wood units. Plus two ammo boxes, 1, for 7.62mm in standard military green and the other is somewhat larger but it's been repainted so I don't know what size leathality it carried. No go on the boat..and that's the problem it has, reverse but not forward, so it's not ready, therefore a mattress got loaded into the landrover. Along with everything needed for the week, except the wash kit, a couple of books and an extra pair of deck shoes i didn't find until it started bucketing down. Tomorrow I'll leave here about 09:00 via the tes and cos for money and a big bottle of sugar free pop.. Then to the club.

Evening all Jonny. I'm really sorry to hear about your dad. Mine passed away in his seventies (and not from C) but Mum lived to be 101 (just) and I remember what it felt like to no longer have either parent. I hope the executor stuff isn't too stressful but I recall that having so much to deal with at that time helped. Today has been gusting winds and very heavy showers so I've not been out at all today but I had plenty of editorial work to keep me occupied. It's much calmer now but also dinner time so I think the daily walk can be missed for one day. I'll just have fewer chips with my fish!

We have the Resident’s Assassination here receiving the same complaint. The new owners of a local outdoor café in the park started an “Australian experience bbq night” last Friday. The smoke drifted across the road into a few homes. In tonight’s much stronger wind the smoke is being driven into those same homes several of which have lodged complaints that in order to achieve peace and quiet they have had to isolate their alarms. We visited last week. Australian it was not. Sure they were cooking on gas (large and unsecured propane cylinders) outside. But the food was the most tasteless and oily we have had in years. And at £10 a burger (and oily “chips” which were skinny fries at £3 extra) it was expensive too. My burger contained one strip of lettuce by way of the advertised “fresh salad” and no tomato despite them being advertised specifically as “local plum tomatoes” in the included items. No Aussie bbq I ever attended or hosted offered such bland nor oily food. And those for which payment was required typically asked only $5 (about £3) for a burger “w/lot” - with the lot - usually meaning bacon, onions, lettuce, pickle, cheese, tomato, egg and beetroot - mandatory on any Aussie burger. And seldom served in a sweet brioche bun, normally a plain but toasted “burger bun”, as seems to be the British standard. Rant over. Friday drinks in progress with a glass raised to @jonny777 The yellow thing has returned to decorate the sky. The wind has eased. The evening is yet young and if I wasn’t a little the wrong side of 50, living through a panemic and dealing with bursitis there could have been mischief made later

Not as bad as what you're seeing, but yesterday and today here we're getting a LOT of smoke from the Ontario wild fires, just north east of Minnesota. Air quality warnings in effect yesterday and today for all of Minnesota. Moaning all - little to report save the above. Staying inside as much as possible as it's miserable out there. In "more" excitement (liberal use of the word!!) I get to re-enroll in the health care benefits today, deadline is Monday. Having enrolled when we joined the company (the one that bought us ) it turns out, they had a plan to switch their coverage year to the calendar year this coming January. Since their coverage year at present ends August 30th., EVERYONE has to NOW enroll for a SHORT coverage period between now and the end of the year, and we have to enroll YET AGAIN in December for the coming year as they switch coverage periods. Ahhh, the joys of PAY THROUGH THE ARSE HEALTH CARE COVERAGE Jemma returns from more packing their apartment in Grand Forks today, that's about it. 17 and bo11ocks outside, hazy/smoky/carp, due to manage 28 later ZERO% chance of any precipitation which might actually help clear the smoke Hope the weekend starts well for all.

A busy weekend in prospect and plenty to shew you over the next few days. I have my finished LMS D1666 wagon and it's back from weathering and decals fitted by @toboldlygo and seen here. This was the Cambrian kit and is one of a pair I've recently built.

Almost. The last toplight addition was this all-third which runs in the North to West train along with a couple of "'ell of a mess" coaches. (I see from the pics that a grab handle needs straightening.) Built in the same batch were another third and a brake third, which have found a home in a Paddington - Plymouth formation, pictured below heading west behind Laira's King Henry V. The coach behind the toplight van third is an E73 toplight compo. I say "almost" because I still have in my small stash a body-only version of a Slater's toplight third, bought on eBay, which was marketed by that firm we aren't going to mention. My plan for this is for it to become one third of an E set alongside a D33 clerestory brake third (I have the sides, and a Hornby donor coach) and another toplight brake compo. (I'll order sides for the latter from Worsley Works.) I think I have enough PC kit bits & bobs to do this, but it won't be very soon. John C.

At least you had a long time with him, Dad only lasted 69 orbits of the Sun and Mother 81. I still remember sitting at a bar in Lost Wages, Nevada and having a Bloody Mary or two with Dad. Mother was not present as she was off trying the nickel slots. The reason that I remember that? It was the only time we ever did that.

Wind now 20 not 50+mph. No damage to me, car or van. Haven;t yet been out to see locality. Sun is out, but staying in today as I don't want to add to the problems with any cleanup should there be any.

Some very interesting locos Andy, Thanks for showing us. I can certainly vouch for your A3 being able to shift a substantial load............ It also looks good. Speaking of 'good', I'm delighted to see that old Wills K3 running again. It has a most-interesting history. A friend bought it off eBay for not a lot. Rather strangely, it was mounted on a South Easter Finecast K3 chassis (rather than the past-recommended Tri-ang 2-6-2T chassis). Though the chassis needed a tweak or two to get the running I demand, I thought I'd buy the lot from my friend to see what could be done with it. I thus bought a K3 loco body from Dave Ellis, made it and mounted it on the SEF chassis, keeping the tender. I then sold the old body to you. The result.............. After my painting/lining/lettering/numbering/weathering, a perfectly-acceptable 'layout' K3. At least, in my opinion. Regards, Tony.

Chris can't find the Hammer..... May Bear suggest caution as the presence of dampness for some weeks may well cause the new mouldings to warp and twist when stored? (MDF may well be ok). In fact new stuff that was straight when purchased often resembles a propeller by the time you get it home..... As for paint, I used the following company (next day delivery is free over £50, or six quid under): https://www.thepaintshed.com/delivery-info I couldn't find cheaper, and the discount code FORUM5 gives 5% off. HTH. And if "professionals" had done the job then the result wouldn't be anywhere near as good as you've achieved - can you imagine them talking so much trouble to scrape all the old paint off?

Sleep may be somewhat interrupted for many.