Budgie

A lot of tilting on my part, as after my operation I'm not allowed to lie on my back

That's a shame.

Watch out for "Blwyddyn Newydd Dda" next week, then.

This information is out-of-date. Go to http://www.kadee.com/htmbord/coupler.htm and scroll down a bit and you will see a list of all the couplers Kadee supply in bulk packs. Incidentally, there is a "whisker" equivalent of the No.5; it is the No.148, and is available in a bulk pack of 50 pairs. The "whiskers" are attached to the coupler and replace the copper spring that the No.5 requires to centre it.

A young man named John received a parrot as a gift. The parrot had a bad attitude and an even worse vocabulary. Every word out of the bird's mouth was rude, obnoxious and laced with profanity. John tried and tried to change the bird's attitude by consistently saying only polite words, playing soft music and anything else he could think of to 'clean up' the bird's vocabulary. Finally, John was fed up and he yelled at the parrot. The parrot yelled back. John shook the parrot and the parrot got angrier and even more rude. John, in desperation, threw up his hand, grabbed the bird and put him in the freezer. For a few minutes the parrot squawked and kicked and screamed. Then suddenly there was total quiet. Not a peep was heard for over a minute. Fearing that he'd hurt the parrot, John quickly opened the door to the freezer. The parrot calmly stepped out onto John's outstretched arms and said "I believe I may have offended you with my rude language and actions. I'm sincerely remorseful for my inappropriate transgressions and I fully intend to do everything I can to correct my rude and unforgivable behavior." John was stunned at the change in the bird's attitude. As he was about to ask the parrot what had made such a dramatic change in his behavior, the bird spoke-up, very softly, "May I ask what the turkey did?"

I went to the Bluebell Deltic gala with my partner, and we had no trouble with the type of person mentioned above. But then we did have reservations in the GN Directors' Saloon.

I'm not so sure you can say that about an EMU like the 4VEP, where all the coaches were constructed at the same time. Wasn't the middle coach in that DEMU inserted at a later date?

I wish Bachmann would make it easier for us to use those pickups to connect all the items in a train electrically. They do have electrically conducting NEM pockets that they could use; they use them on their 4CEP models. It shouldn't be difficult to connect coaches to each other and to the locomotive using conducting drawbars similar to those used in the 4CEP. And the more pickups the loco can rely on, the better it will run.

You're probably right. I've deleted it.

If you want to scratch-build (or partially scratch-build using parts from other sources) a fairly modern locomotive that nobody is going to bring out RTR, I suggest the Fell 4-8-4 (or 4-4-4-4) diesel-mechanical locomotive.

The four-coach autotrain I mentioned a few days ago:

It looks as though it could use a Collett cab.

Went to Invicta today and bought a crimson autocoach to go with the lined maroon one I ordered when they were first announced and which arrived a few days ago. Actually, "crimson" is a misnomer, because the colour is not all that different than the maroon. Dug out my old Hornby autocoaches and ran a four-coach autotrain. Wonderful.

The Price of Barbie Dolls One day a father on his way home from work suddenly remembers that it's his daughter's birthday. He stops at a toy store, goes in, and asks the sales person, 'How much for one of those Barbies in the display window?' The salesperson answers, 'Which one do you mean, Sir? We have: Work Out Barbie for $19.95, Shopping Barbie for $19.95, Beach Barbie for $19.95, Disco Barbie for $19.95, Astronaut Barbie for $19.95, Skater Barbie for $19.95, and Divorced Barbie for $265.95.' The amazed father asks, 'It's what? Why is the Divorced Barbie $265.95 and the others only $19.95?' The slightly miffed salesgirl rolls her eyes, sighs, and answers, 'Sir, Divorced Barbie comes with Ken's Truck, Ken's House, Ken's Fishing Boat, Ken's Furniture, Ken's Dog, Ken's Computer, one of Ken's Friends, and an automobile mirror ornament made from Ken's testicles.'

Or you could buy a set of 2-pole electric couplings (Viessmann 5048). Gaugemaster are selling these for £13 a pair, Conrad electronic has them for £11. I bought several sets several years ago for £6.85. Maybe at last I'll get to use them.

I had an enjoyable time yesterday running my newly-acquired lined maroon autocoach around my new layout. I was pushing it with one of my 64xx panniers, and to ensure there were no problems I coupled it to the loco using one of Bachmann's couplings that look like brake pipe hoses. One thing I noticed and can't remember having seen on here is that the coach has all-wheel pickup. This should make fitting lights easy. I was also wondering if it is possible to fit a sound decoder into the coach, given that the space for such things in the loco is very limited.

Not if you had some photographs there to show the doubting so-and-sos.

That's an interesting train, with an ex-LNWR 0-8-0 (is it a G2A?) on the front. I assume it is going back to the Sirhowy Valley.

After the line was closed to passengers we used to get there and back by Red and White bus, route 175. Apparently, Base Toys are bringing out a model of a Bristol MW6G bus in R&W livery on this route, together with one on route 171 from Pontypridd to Aberdare.

Well, she knew where you were. All those pictures of Radyr remind me of when I was young, and we used to go that way to visit my grandparents in Aberaman (change at Abercynon).

Maybe he wanted the foreskins to make a wallet out of, that turned into a briefcase when he rubbed it. I'll get my coat.

No, because the sets are double-motored already.

.

You buy a blue one and weather it yourself. That way, if they do produce a weathered blue one yours is different from everyone else's. And if they don't, yours is definitely different from everyone else's.

I think most of them would be left in the box unused.