New Haven Neil

Speechless. Best wishes and hopes.

Another vote for Stubby The Helpful! May your, er, stubbs never be too short!

Just a quick check in. Yesterday was quite hard work, the ashes scattering etc, some complicated relationships to work around. All well today except the bit where we went to ride the train - which currently doesn't run on Thursdays. #sigh# ended up driving all about the rock, and having lunch at Niarbyl, where the geological types on here would enjoy looking at the fault line, and the film buffs to note this is where 'Waking Ned' was filmed. Good laugh if you haven't seen it. Bike club in the morning, all the way south to Port Erin is the plan. We'll see.....

Next to the 'how much - swoon' button! After I posted the same photo on the old G Scale Mad forum at the time, a gent approached me to try to buy it - he was into 5 figures.....but it was not for sale, its not mine anyway! One can wish though.

I was unfortunate enough to have to help pick the bits up after a huge roll of newsprint fell on a docker during discharge in Shanghai many years ago. And yep I did chuck my cookies afterwards. The Chinese dockers were working the cargo, not us, but there was a big bang and they disappeared - leaving us to sort it out. His hard hat didn't have much chance of protecting him. It was all our fault of course, according to the Chinese police - that's how it goes in places like that, or it did in the 70's. Took me years to not have unpleasant dreams about it.

Found them! 2006 - time flies.

A (well-known) visitor once brought a G1 LNER 2-8-0+0-8-2 live steam Garratt to run on my line as he had been told it was G1 not G scale. I hate to think how much it was worth, despite casting envious glances, Mrs NHN made sure its owner took it away with him when he left! It was actually a pilot model made for Aster to gauge response, but was never put into production. It was.....stunning. Must have a dig to find a photo of it, it was a long time ago.

A'noon, and a happy birthday to Phil. A difficult day, scattering the ashes of Trackshack Johns late wife. It has taken over a year to get to this point as he wanted family members of both sides to be there, and of course they were in the UK. Very moving. @Pacific231G Your memory chip is failing I'm afraid, the goliath carne wasn't scrapped until the mid 70's. A pal actually tendered for it, but didn't get the gig. There's the wee Ruston again! A steal from the interweb, this view often pops up. The rails are indeed still in place, but totally rotted and delaminating, I wouldn't trust them to support very much at all. As Baz said, the line dumpers were at Blackhall, some 14 miles or so south.

The garden railway is playing trains, nothing more. No modelling really, but it is fun, and a very social branch of our hobby. The HO and O are modelling - not very good, but modelling! Boing time - g'night all.

Oh, water. Rock hard on Tyneside, except the water that used to go into Scottish & Newcastle Brewery for Newcastle Brown Ale, which came from a different place, piped separately into the brewery. This is no longer the case, beer brewed elsewhere, does not taste the same. I don't actually like it much, but even I can taste the difference. The water here is soft and fluffy, which resulted in enough suds to fill a shower cabinet first time using shower gel, after Tyneside! Used to it now, I use it directly in the loco boilers and you can put it straight into batteries, except they're all AGM technology now and don't need to be topped up!

@Pacific231G It is a shed on the wagon, the crane is actually a goliath crane a long way behind it on the pier, sadly about to be scrapped at the time of the photo. Unfortunately I didn't hang around to watch the shunt, as I was in the company of a young lady at the time who was fully taking my attention. Not the current Mrs NHN, but a pleasant memory just the same. Very. Happy belated birthday to Andrew ( I think I did this elsewhere), a happy birthday to Pete, and a happy one tomorrow to Phil in case I forget! Today was lunch out with friends out west in Peel, most pleasant, and a chat with some....tourists! Our borders only opened last week, and we seem to have a LOT of visitors. Many locals see them as harbingers of doom, bringing their covids here to kill us all, equally many see them as the saviours of many businesses. I'm in the latter group, we need them to come, but I am worried many will be put off returning by the attitude of some locals. I'm with Rick, we need to get on with it, if you need to isolate/mask/whatever then that's fine, it is a personal choice, but we need to move on before every business goes bust. Not just mine.....which did a year ago as many will be aware.

Well, I'm 'on a break' from US modelling at the moment, the UK O Gauge that occasionally features here is on the same baseboards in the garage, but the US stock is all tucked away safely. There's rather much too much of it though so some may come up for sale.....one day!

A Geep you say? Model you say? Well here's a nicer one..... Even has my initials on the side.

Morning, from an unexpectedly dry rock, rain seems to have dodged around us. 18c too. @Pacific231G As I lived in Shields I got sent to Riversdale! Got as far as Class 4 combined and of course Class 2 Part A from the phase 3. Degree came later in life in a totally different subject - HR! I have a photo somewhere of the little Ruston actually moving along the pier railway, just before it was sold. I later saw it at the Yorkshire Dales railway, not sure if it is still there. Aha found them. Taking a risk on here.....

At the Tech? Doing tickets? As for the railways - NHN was born and grew up in one of those houses!

Laxey rectification in action - last day in service. Turns out a 'couple of years ago' was 2011. This is Manx Time in action! When we say its 1958 here, we don't mean the time , but the year.... I can't find my slides of the ones at the Harton Electric Railway in South Shields, not sure where they are.

Apologies for both sullying your thread with matters Italian, and referring to history of several pages ago, but Mrs NHN is on leave and my life is not my own currently.....but on the subject of emissions, this narrow gauge railway in Italy (Domodosola, 'Centovalli - Hundred Valleys' line), is of note.....

Evening orl. I have to agree with the current state of UK TV, but they are making a new series of Vera, as several places I used to frequent are featured - together with some friends as extras. The archery turned to crepe, typical! Mrs NHN was off her mettle, tired after a bad night (Thai last night, possibly a bit dodgy) and after a good start trailed rather into 4th - however there was recompense, the PIA person was beaten by the young'un (he's 40 - LOL) of the club, and therefore was in a grump as he is a poor sportsman. He also tried to call a shot of the guy that beat him wrongly despite being corrected by three people. Naughty.

No unfortunately, taken out of service a couple of years ago - I posted somewhere recently about them. We had a look around the last weekend they were in...err...arc. All new solid state rectifier building in Laxey next door to where they were now. A damp start here after gentle rain, but looking as if it will stay dry for archery at noon. SOme new targets to shoot at which always stirs up the order, as some of the older types are 'too used' to some targets and find them easy to shoot - new things and moving the bosses around reveals the true skilled intuitive archers. One old boy in particular (who regularly is known to, er, bend the rules) is heading for a fall today we think. Last week he was complaining there was 'no competition' when he actually was being beaten until the last target by Mrs NHN who scored a PB - he's a terrible sexist - so she is after his scalp today!

The rain has departed here anyway, the train ride and lunch was OK, 'Tunnel Cars' 6 and 7 (1894) were today's ozone laden transport. Had a nice chat on the train with a couple of visitors from the UK, this being the first week of our borders being open. They were 'a little' surprised to find the MER isn't a preserved railway using 'tramcars' from elsewhere, but a still-operating artifact of the rock's past with original equipment still in use. Not sure what orders are to be given for this afternoon's remainder, we're off out to friend Jayne's for a Thai meal this evening.

Morning from a wet 16c rock. Pah. Train ride day too. I see Brian is picking me up on my use of English langwidge grammar.....well it is my second language, being a Geordie! One wonders what people are trying the achieve by injecting botox into their man-pods, or perhaps it is better not to wonder...most odd. Today is supposed to be a bus ride to the Big City to get a train back-over (the first from this end isn't until 11.10, too late) to the railway hub of Laxey for lunch and completing the ride back to the Bright Lights of Ramsey. Pleut may have changed this as there is a fair walk at the far end, orders have not as yet been issued. It's all go you know.

Ha - we got a bye - the opposing team forgot to book the lanes at the bowling alley. Just as well, they would have thrashed us! Went for a drink at a new gin place (distill their own) instead, quite nice but it is a bit like drinking perfume. Expensive way to drink, enjoyed it I suppose but won't bother again.

And I'm back in the room ....err.....thread. 85 miles ride was really nice, a touch misty in places but not enough to wet the humans. Knackered now. Which is an issue as we're 10 pin bowling in an hour....oh-oh. The opposition team weren't on the ride...pah!

Morning, rather warm but misty out - odd. Old farts bike club morning, we're off out all the way to Port Erin, right down the 'other end'. What's the betting someone will get lost. We had local elections here this week, the 'not old' old fart (member's son so allowed associate membership) finds himself as a Commissioner (= Councillor in the UK) in Ramsey (the bright lights), he's a really nice and switched on guy, so we hope he can dislodge some of the entrenched thinking in town. He's a successful media guy, makes documentaries (Director) and also is involved in video game production for a well known brand, very clever lad. Yet he hangs out with us.....LOL.

Still in force here, so any beer that is brewed in Man is 'pure'. So Okells and Bushy's basically, although the odd micro brewery pops up now and again - and disappears just as quickly, usually.