figworthy

I renewed a couple of weeks back, and it was relatively painless. Logged into their website, then downloaded and installed the software. It looks as though you've got to do that, even though you've already got it installed. Then you get the "Welcome to Fusion" email. They suggest that you might have to wait a short while before you can use it, but I think I got in straight away. Adrian

Looking good, but. At the risk of dropping a large container of spanners into the works, I might have spotted another problem (assuming that you are trying to be accurate). Going back to the bridge and looking at the above, the towpath is on the top side of the canal. Having the wharf on that side means that any boat coming past would have to negotiate the tow line past any thing tied up on the wharf, and the crane that close to the bank could make it difficult to get past, so is best avoided. Unless of course it is the end of the canal (a branch line terminus if you like). The other problem would be security at the wharf, although (as previously discussed) the canal would be private property, having the towpath run through the wharf makes it more difficult to secure, almost all cargos have a value, would you have a railway goods yard that was wide open ? Adrian

When I were a lad, our local greengrocer had the plain van version, complete with a single wheeled trailer (anyone remember those ?). Adrian

IMDB may be of help : https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0031828/locations?ref_=ttfc_sa_4 Suggests that Silverdale Colliery, Neath and the Rhondda were used, but that might not be exhaustive. Adrian

That bend at the right hand end looks tight. Depending on where you are situated, the vessels using the canal are likely to be in the region of 55-70 ft long, and 7-14ft wide. Would something of those dimensions be able to get around the corner ? I've seen a few layouts with canals on, and the narrow boats that they have put on them wouldn't be able to get around the corners. The green tide mark looks OK. I've got a couple of bits of water on Figworthy, for those, I painted the surface in a suitable colour, then went over the top with several coats of varnish. That gives it some depth, but you end up with dead flat surface (e.g. a windless day). Neither is finished yet, so no tidemarks as yet. Adrian

Thanks again for the pictures and the explanations to go with. Ready and waiting whenever it is convenient. Adrian

I know people who have lives. They seem very complicated and far too time consuming. For the time being, I'll stick to having an existence. Adrian

Upminister. End of the line, way past Barking. Adrian

Given the attention to detail that you've shown elsewhere, it would be a shame to not carry it on with the non-railway bits. From Leek, you aren't that far from several canals, so a field visit ought to be relatively easy. Adrian

I used to have a lady friend who lived nearby. It was usually referred to as "Kingston Bagpipes" Adrian

I think I've only had two parcels go missing. Firstly ~1987/8, it turned up several weeks late, looking like someone had opened it to see if it was worth having, and having decided it wasn't, stuck it through my letter box. I was in a flat at the time with some interesting neighbours. Second was a few years back. I got home from work to find a Royal Mail card, so a couple of days later I called in at the sorting office to collect it. They couldn't find it. Adrian

Probably. Canals (like railways) were usually built as cheaply as they could, fancy bits were only put where prestige (or the landed gentry) demanded it. Laying cobbles would have cost money, so surfaces only tended to be paved where they needed to be. Under the bridge, around locks and wharf sides (but even then not always - we used to have canal side premises, and the only paving was where the crane had been, and in the door ways). Late twentieth and early twenty first centuries saw the canals developing as places of leisure, so tow path surfaces started to get improved. Adrian

Have a look at the Wizard Models site, they do the wire and tube. https://www.wizardmodels.ltd/shop/signals/wire-tube-control-pack-sm4/ Adrian

Slightly ? Before I emigrated, I was working in Rotherham, and we had a couple of lads working with us who were from Barnsley. Not so much a different accent, more a different language. Likewise Hull was always very distinctive. We had a customer who was born, bred and lived a few miles north of Hull, and he sounded nothing like the Hull accent. Adrian

Check the picture in : which shows the tide mark just above the water. Adrian

Looking good. For various reasons, canal water levels do vary a bit over time, so when you come to paint it, you _might_ want to consider a green "tide" line just above the water level, suggesting that the level is down slightly. Adrian

Another two that spring to mind, rather different though. Firstly Follyfoot, kids programme set around a stables (early 70s), and secondly Travelling Man, an ex-policeman on a narrowboat (mid 80s). Adrian

If that is the one that I think it is (if it is, I think I saw it working once), then the wagons would have arrived and left on an elevated section, running across the brick arch, rather than using the rails visible at ground level. Adrian

It might be worth having a read through the Black Country Blues thread, that has quite a bit of very well built canal in it (the rest of it was rather good too). Adrian

I've also seen a lawn mower included in the suggested list. However : Adrian

Reminds me of a pub I visited in Nottinghamshire many years ago. Pud was apple pie and custard. I turned the custard jug upside down, and nothing happened. The custard had to be dragged out of the jug with the spoon. Proper custard. Back to muddling. Adrian

A new series starts this coming Friday (27/11) on Channel 5 at 8PM First programme cover North Devon (Barnstaple & Ilfracombe and Lynton & Barnstaple) Adrian

Many years ago, I had a fresh faced graduate inflicted upon me at work. He would regularly respond to an idea as "cool". I never succeeded in stopping him from doing so, but asking him to describe how the idea had a temperature did reduce the frequency. Adrian

On the other hand, you have my maternal grandmother, who was very good at picking up languages. My uncle had a German visiting him on business, and for some reason or other, they called in on my grandmother. she took the opportunity to speak to him in German, and whilst he complimented her on her grasp of the language, was rather puzzled on the way she spoke, which it transpired was anything but refined. She explained that she had picked it up whilst working for one of the big shipping companies in the 1920s. At the time, there was a great deal of emigration from Europe to the US, and if someone turned up in the states unwell, then they were put straight back on the boat, at the shipping companies expense. So the companies were screening would be emigrants before they boarded, which as a qualified nurse, is where she came in. Adrian

Canal companies didn't usually provide access to towpaths from roads. The canal would be private property, so the public would have no need for access. Would such an access be provided for a railway (outside of a station platform) in days gone by ? That wouldn't stop the locals making a hole in the fence/hedge though. These days, the situation is different. Adrian