StuAllen

Plenty of bluebells at the Bluebell today…

South Devon https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a821a4aed915d74e6235cc3/180130_R022018_South_Devon_Railway.pdf. Were they just highlighting there’s no retention tanks? 😜

Casual observation from my train journey today - we’re currently spending a week in Devon so travelled on the Dartmouth Steam Railway today, the train was all Mk1 coaches, none had CDL or stewards at the doors - I know it’s a heritage line so different rules. When coming into the station at either end of the line there was an announcement reminding passengers not to open the doors until the train had stopped, there was also an announcement when we stopped outside the station just before the level crossing warning that we’re not at a station so don’t open the door. That said, being flippant I don’t think the warnings were necessary - no-one seemed capable of being able to open the doors anyway, I think I opened 3 doors from the outside where people on the inside looked confused, I’m not quite 50 and live in Sussex so grew up with Mk1 EMUs so working the doors was 2nd nature, the people struggling were older and slightly younger - one group were trying to pull the lip at the bottom of the window and another were just pointing at the blanking plate on the back of the handle, it didn’t seem to occur to them that they needed to open the window and reach out to use the handle. I’m not using this to defend WCR, as I think the case is clear, but it is a good example to show not everyone knows how to use the doors properly so a good reason to improve the safety of them.

Aside from the RedBulls I thought that was a good race

I was watching Boys in the Boat (George Clooney directing the story of the University of Washington’s rowing teams journey to the 1936 Berlin Olympics) I was surprised to see their rail journey to Poughkeepsie started on MK1 coaches from Kings Cross. Turns out was all filmed in the UK

And one on the Brighton line as well this morning https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/service-disruptions/haywards-heath-20240406/

TBH I don’t think most passengers on the Jacobite travel on the line because it’s the West Highland Line and the spectacular views - they aren’t enthusiasts, they travel on it because of the Harry Potter connection, they want steam and coaches that look similar to those in the film (don’t forget in some of the scenes they were on open carriages it wasn’t all corridor stock. I was booked on the Jacobite a couple of years ago but the journey was cancelled due to a strike, and didn’t we have time during the few days we stayed at Fort William to do the journey using Scotrail instead due to other planned activities. A few pictures from our trip to Glenfinnan Viaduct the day after the strike day shows that people only care about steam. The Jacobite has 7 full coaches, there were 100s of people on the hillside to take photos, but none waited around for the pair of 156’s the arrived not long after - barely half full. There were 4 Jacobites services cancelled that week so if people wanted to travel the line then I would have expected to see the Scotrail service to have been full.

Hayward Heath just now

There’s a West Hill wagon works section in smaller suppliers -

Same here, but I checked my bank and no payment taken, checked with Patrick on support who said there was an error with Partial.ly and they were working to fix it.

Made me think of these - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montech_water_slope#/media/File:France_-_Montech_-_Automotrices_de_la_pente_d'eau_-_2005-01-15.JPG

Looking at the project status page, still showing as in production https://www.accurascale.com/pages/projects

Lights out, and away we go!

So it’s been a while since I originally started this post, baseboards are all complete and I’ve pinned a trackplan to the surface ready to start laying track, m pleased with progress so far, but quite slow going. Thought I’d share some photos I’ve taken along the way. I’m building the viaduct from Key Model World, I’ve actually made 2 as I’m trying to join them to make a 4 road viaduct.

Tonbridge today

Went to Tonbridge MRC exhibition today, rude not to check out what was at the GBRf yard…

They’re digging up and replacing track at Wivelsfield…

Like the new status page (this is where someone tells me it changed months ago)

Little announcement - could it be N gauge related?

Finally managed to have a proper look at my 2, they are excellent! I nearly managed to start laying track today, but got distracted may be next weekend. Need to get a move on as need to see these in action.

Ok, my wallet starts getting worried when you post pictures like that, but it’s fine I have a plan - just bought a ticket for tonight’s Euro lottery.😜

This is exactly my problem - tempted to get a smart plug just so I can ask Alexa to turn it off and on again

Our TV does that as well - Sony Bravia - it’s Android based for all the apps etc. none of which I use as it’s just a monitor for Sky Q/Apple TV devices. Still annoying though, also the TV has got a habit of rebooting itself, or just not talking to the Amp/Sky so everything needs to be reset at the wall. I’m assuming it’s because the handshakes between the devices haven’t quite happened in the right order - spent many hours on the various help desks and they all blame each other.

Part of me wants to fast forward 100 years to see how things like HS2 end up (although that may be depressing) - going back in time I would go back to the early eighties- had some great days out with Mum and Dad from Brighton by train - destinations that stand out were York, Penzance and Aberystwyth. I loved the sound and smell of 125’s at Paddington or Kings Cross - much better than the slam mk1 emus that took us to London. I was too young to appreciate it back then, but I’d love to go back.

What’s everyone’s predictions this year? Will Red Bull (Max) be dominant again or will it be closer?