southern42

Hello all. Glad you could join us for lunch. DAY 2 Part 2 - The Engine House Friday 4 August 2023 Highley to Kidderminster Severn Valley Railway Companions Tender and Southern42 To give you a feel for the place: the Map We decide to eat outside on the balcony... so we can do some more trainspotting. At 11.51 Clayton BR Class 17 Bo-Bo D8568 is the first to arrive, hauling the Diesel train to Bridgnorth. At 12.02, BR Class 33 Bo-Bo 33108 heads towards Kidderminster and reverses back to the left before disappearing out of sight. I guess there are not many cafe's around with views like these. It is soon time for us to leave, and as we do so, we pass the 2 door Morris Minor saloon, bringing back memories of the car for all of us. And it is back to the station to catch the train: Highley Timetable A RETURN : Depart Highley 12.27 Arrive Kidderminster 1.10 Riddles' BR Standard 4MT 75069* Collett GWR 7714 Pannier Tank * BR Standard 4MT 75069 is seen on the track after it was refilled with water. Down on the track, the signalman is ready to exchange tokens. Not very much of the loco on show. That's better! Now we can see a bit more of her. Back at Kidderminster, I am invited onto 7714. Thanks, mate. That has made my day! 7714 in all her shining glory while Tender has a leisurely chat with the crew. And the final pic of the day. Where do you want to go? ;) The G logo with Volcano image on the sweatshirt is that of the "Reykjavik Grapevine," the latest on culture, music and life in Iceland and published in English. The most recent eruption near Litli-Hrútur, which started July 10, has just ended. But back to railways, so: What happened to the trains in Iceland? Back soon, with more big and small engines. Regards, Edwin

Hello all, from Kidderminster. After a good night's sleep, we are ready to have another day on the rails. DAY 2 - Off to the Engine House Friday 4 August 2023 Kidderminster to Highley Severn Valley Railway Companions Tender and Southern42 Kidderminster Timetable A OUTWARD : Depart Kidderminster 10.00 Arrive Highley 10.42 Highley for I hour 45 minutes RETURN : Depart Highly 12.27 Arrive Kidderminster 1.10 Riddles' BR Standard 4MT 75069 Arriving in plenty of time for the train - as I noted on Day 1, we spent the night just round the corner -we easily get a space in the carpark. In the platform, opposite our train, I see an intriguing poster and no engine in sight. Time is getting on so, I will leave it to yourselves to find out what it is all about. I would be delighted to know. Hang on a minute, though. Where is our loco? Ummm...It appears it has a problem... Ummm...Not to worry, the replacement has just arrived from Bewdley and is at the water column in front of Teddy Bear, BR Class 14 D9551 - Nice and shiny, isn't it? No more time to waste. We depart 25 minutes late cutting down our time at Highley. Small as she is, 7714 makes good time and we are only 10 minutes late, after all. Well done good lady. After a speedy ride, we are off to the Engine House and I stop by to say, "Hello," to Gordon and ask after Thomas the Tank Engine - He is doing well, I am told, and I should give his regards to Ivor. So, we wander up and down the rows of engines, large and small... inspect the rail bike, size up a model of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway's ‘Lion’... and squeeze past Deck Chair Corner - "Oh, I do like to be beside the seaside railway..." Now, if you really want to play trains... this is what I call a really good idea. until we finally come to Collett's GWR 7819 Hinton Manor and are allowed to step onto the footplate. Suvvern is quite excited as she is expecting a model of this one. Our time in the cab is cut short by a lively invasion of a couple of juniors so we are wandering off to the cafe for lunch. Back soon, Edwin

' night all and nos.

I forgot to add that I thought @polybear might like this one. Preview from Day 2, yet to be uploaded.

Hello all. I have just popped in to say, if you would like to see some tr**n (Things that run on parallel bits of metal, I'm told) pics, my Personal Assistant, namely Suvvern on this occasion, has just uploaded the beginning of this year's Summer Holiday Adventures on my Great British Railways thread. Regards, Edwin

Hello all, from the top left hand corner of Wales. I'm on holiday and off for a Short Summer Staycation with my companions. Oh! Don't worry about Ivor. I took him to Pontypool for a makeover. He will be well looked after. They are very good down there in the bottom right hand corner of Wales. DAY 1 - A bit of trainspotting Thursday 3 August 2023 Kidderminster to Bridgnorth Severn Valley Railway Companions Tender and Southern42 First stop - Carrog, Llangollen Railway OUTWARD Timetable A : Depart Carrog 11.01 Arrive back from Corwen 11.57 Diesel Multiple Unit We arrive in the carpark at Carrog Station for a coffee break, only to find the platform cafe is there no longer. We are too late to see the train arrive due to a bit of slow moving traffic along the A5 holding us up. Having lost so much time, we make our way to Oswestry and the celestial $tar buck$ coffee house... and their new size...ummm...lunar lander. OK, you can...ummm...stop sniggering. It is time to make our way to our next stop. Kidderminster OUTWARD Timetable A : Depart 2.15 Arrive Bridgnorth 3.25 Riddles' BR Standard 4MT 75069 We arrive just in time, sit back and enjoy the scenery to Bridgnorth where we have a look round before heading back. Bridgnorth RETURN in 45 minutes. Timetable A : Depart 4.10 Arrive Kidderminster 5.20 Riddles' BR Standard 4MT 75069 At Bridgnorth waiting for our loco... There she is - on shed getting coaled up, far right... and here she comes in all her splendour. Suvvern sees the yellow coal shifter, far right by the coal stack, which was filling up the 4MT's tender when we arrived, and identifies it as a JCB Telehandler which is available in 1:76 form it seems but with forks and no (coal) bucket. She is a tad disappointed. 👈 London145 miles : Shrewsbury 27 miles 👉 We pass Clayton Class 17 BO-BO D8568 A photoshoot back at Kidderminster before the 4MT disappears to the other end of the train. Then it is off for a fish n chippy dinner across the road, dining outside in the sunshine, before heading to our overnight accommodation just around the corner. More to come with a trip to the Engine House at Highley. Regards, Edwin.

' afternoon all from red dragon land. Chuckinitdarn this morning. Hopefully, now that it has stopped, it will stay that way as a visitor left the porch door open and let the rain in leaving a large puddle and wet doormat to deal with. Not often the rain comes from the NE! Time for a mugadecaf, now, methinks.

I mentioned earlier, I might go out to look at the hibiscus - I did have a mind to do some of the W word. Well, I did get out but only to be blown straight back inside again, although I did bring the washing in later. The sun came out too but time was getting on by then. Sun has gone down, now, after an orange to red sunset, the sun still lighting a horizontal bit of sky between the banks of cloud along the horizon. In other words, it has gone dark. A longish toot on the flute this afternoon produced some new twiddly bits which will need some work to string them together. More fun ahead... Time to clear up before bed. So here's an early 'night all and nos da.

' afternoon all from red dragon land. Cloudy though the pinecone pundits promise sunshine after lunch. That will speed up the drying of the washing outside, I hope. I may pop out, later, to have a look at the hibiscus which has done very well this year with no plague of things that bust out of tiddly eggs and gobble it all up before flowering. Toot on the flute picking up again after our few days away over in the east country. Amazingly, I can detect hints of improvement in my playing which is reassuring. There is nothing like a bad day to knock me back. After much repetition, the current twiddly bit has been worked into the finger memory and just needs to be linked to the previous line a bit more reliably before I carry on to the next bit. Other than that, I have been PA to Jones the Steam to recount his Summer Adventures on his Great British Railways thread. It has been a bit of slog this time and it is all to do with the iPhone photos. The RMweb editor does not like me importing images from the iCloud that have been edited on the camera (cropping, colour, contrast, etc). Some seem to have a different extension so, jpeg becomes HEIC or jpeg.somethingelse. Thus, I have been slowed down by reverting images to the original and re-editing them in a separate folder on a usb stick. I think I have it sussed, now, so, hopefully, the process will now be quicker. Other news...Moments before we went off to the east country, the wall clock fell off the wall. It has done this before but was soon rectified. This time the hands came loose, so needed fixing. It got left until we got back. This morning, Mr Suvvern fixed the hands. I guess he will get it stuck back on the wall when he comes in now that I have found the hook! The clock mounted on a hanging strip. Strip on the wall, clock hook adrift of its mount on the floor. As can be seen by the face-looking lines on the wall strip, the clock hook only has thin edges on the back with which to grip the strip. I shall have a go at giving it a card backing - if I can get it to stick on, that is! Time I got myself some lunch. Back soon...? Take care. Be good. Have an answer for everything. Polly

Oh! I don't know...

Just looking through my 'phone pics and I have come across this photo in which I was trying out some local moss stuck on a piece of card to create a distant wooded mountainside for another scene up the valley. Interesting how it has changed the depth of view, and the land on the horizon into a river flowing out to sea! These things never cease to amaze me. The fisherman's rod came off - probably when I put the capping stones onto the top of the walls - but I did get it fitted back into his hand. You can find very ingenious ways of doing things in this game, I find!

Not only does music played over conversation annoy me, but the most important bits of conversation turned into whispering so you can't hear whodunnit or how or where or with what or why. Did you get that?

In addition to this, items that come in one specific size can also vary enormously depending on the manufacturer. Thus, just using figures sold as 00/1:76 with the "smaller" versions at the back, the "larger" version at the front, and "suitable" versions for the 1:34 campervan helped to force the perspective needed to aid the disappearing landscape in the 8"x8" scene below, the footpath, road and trackway foreshortened (narrowed). Then, just using the iPhone camera (nothing elaborate) to give a more realistic view of the landscape from different angles. Public footpath alongside the meandering river, the campervan on the road peeking out from behind the tree. In reality, you would need to be in a boat or have a drone for this picture! (Capping stones were not added to the walls until after the photo shoot.) Low tide in the estuary (you definitely need a drone to get this view!): The stone blocks are from a pot plant's gravel mix in decreasing size to give a sense of depth, and painted to look like granite. The estuary scene of salt marsh and sand, and distant land, is painted sculptamold with flocking. All just sheer disguise and deception! Looking back to childhood, perspective seems to have been a fundamental part of my artwork from an early age, so nothing new, though the challenges may become more demanding with the need to be more inventive. Seeing how others use and create it can be both beneficial and inspirational. But in the end, it is just an illusion.

and ' night all and nos da from me.

I guess it will soon be, "I might as well get out and walk..."

Woah! That U-boat! Amazing! And I thought our visit to the Prickwillow Drainage Engine Museum in fenland near Ely, Cambridgeshire, on Monday, was interesting! The River Lark and Prickwillow Bridge (built 1962) opposite the museum across the green. The largest engine in the museum was the five cylinder Mirrlees, Bickerton and Day blast injection diesel, operational 1924-1958, on standby until 1981. Showing the lubrication system. Cam shaft and valve rockers are on the other side. I will let the info boards do the talking! Outside, where we had some light refreshment. The pumping station is on the other side of the fence. WW2 trench draining pump on far left. I had to split the view, below, to get the full length of the system. This was taken left of the above photo outside the entrance to the museum. Whichever angle I tried, the tree on the right got in the way of something big time! Well worth the visit, especially since all I was taught at school about water management on the fens was the occurrence of dykes.

Not digging the roads...Painting! On our way home from the east country, via the M6 Toll Road, it was a toss-up between a speedier but 30 mile longer trip home via the A55 North Wales coast road (expressway) or a slower but shorter trip along the A5 through Llangollen and stopping at the you know what 🚂 for afternoon tea with cake in the cafe.* As Mr Suvvern was doing the driving, I insisted He made the choice...and, as everyone on here will work out, I would not be the one at fault if it all went wrong :-D Decision made. The A5 it is. We come into Llangollen and <<yes, you've guessed!>> HOLD UP by the man with the 🔴 lollipop! On the ground, a road gang were painting the number: 20 as in 20 miles per hour - the new thing for Wales which is not going down very well: 20mph speed limit: Drivers tie red ribbons to cars in protest It did not take any time at all for us to start commenting on it. First consideration: We will not be coming this way again - in either direction - on a through trip or, possibly, even as far as Llangollen - this issue could lead to less visitors to the r**lway and affect its recovery/existence. Second consideration: This will not only hurt the car and our pocket, it will also hurt the economy of the places we and others, including lorries taking a short cut for the Ferry from Holyhead, frequent on the way (town facilities as well as roadside cafes, etc.). The 20mph speed limit will slow it down even more - Llangollen, with its traffic lights, is slow enough as it is - but to be slowed down through all the other towns, as well, will make the journey horrendously slow and, probably, stressful. As I said above, the longer route is actually quicker - but will it remain so? Third consideration: If others also transfer to the A55 coast road, it may well make it much busier; the congested areas even more congested; the tailbacks longer; and the journey longer. That does not sound good either! Fourth consideration: Will the road be any safer, or less so? This is the A5 Trunk Road from London through North Wales to Holyhead... and was voted in the Top 5 Best Roads by AO Drivers - but, I wonder, for how long? Quote: A9 – Perth to Inverness, Scotland A39 – The Atlantic Highway, Cornwall, England A55 – North Wales Expressway, Wales A38 – Devon Expressway, England A5 – London to Holyhead Trunk Road, England/Wales * As it happened, being schools summer holiday, the public carpark was full and so were the pavements so we went on to our favourite roadside cafe (former garage) near one of the mountain centres, instead.** **Even this makes you wonder if people from across the border will still come this far into Wales or head for the Lakes, the Peaks, the Dales, Scotland, the Downs, Dartmoor, anywhere else. Lots of issues being raised on the 20mph matter, I gather. This is just one. Best be off - I am defrosting the freezer while food stuff is low and I hear some ice falling into the trays.

Funny you should say that - I have just had my mugadecaf out in the sun... or, rather, I have just spent the last hour pulling up weeds, long grass and ivy.

' morning all (just!) from red dragon land. Sun making an effort to appear between the clouds. 18.4C - very tempting to go and sit out if the sun peeks through for my mugadecaf, later. Best wishes to Mrs. Baz. Hope all goes well. Happy Anniversary wishes to Dave & Jill - enjoy. Congratulations on the move to Gwiwer and Mrs Gwiwer. I returned, yesterday, after a few days spent visiting family over in East Anglia. Since I now have loads of stuff to do around the house rather than rabbiting on, here's a taster of our weekend away.

' morning all from red dragon land. A bit of drizzle around, so washing is inside the porch, once again. Supposed to be dry til late afternoon. I will give it a try if the path dries up. Toot on the flute. I am still struggling with the timing and related finger action of the new twiddly bit but it is getting there...I think! 🤔 Henry day, today. That will be fun - so much dead grass scattered around after some grass cutting down the drive to the house, recently. Mugadecaf, first, of course. Take care. Be good. May your day be good 'un. Polly

Unusually, I had a bit of a feeling very sleepy day yesterday due to an early morning wakey wakey - dose bunged up! Apart from a few meals, notalotta stuff was done though I did make a few attempts at toot on the flute in the hope that I could get the next group of twiddly bits sorted. A bit of success came in the evening when I sat down for the third time and watched the video - at half speed...! Some success, this time. I shall probably have to play the video again to make sure I have "got it". Then it will be working on a neat transition from the previous line. That will take more than a few repetitions. I do wonder, sometimes, why things take me so long while others just seem to pick things up so quickly. But on the other hand, I do remember being asked to help others, in my time, through out my school life, even on the last music exam day at college, so I guess I should not grumble. This afternoon, I went to store to find some trousers but with a lot of difficulty. I will have to grow taller for most of 'my' size to fit. As it went, I did find one pair that fits but I doubt it will when it comes round to C*cake and C*pudding at the end of the year. Talking of which, I have some strawberries to get out of the fridge for this evening's pud... 😋

The cafe was in Blaenau Ffestiniog near a path that went up to Tan y Grisiau. I remember walking along the path and passing several buildings in the landscape in ruins with the decline in quarrying.

Change that to tr**n stuff and you will find I have recently written it out in the memory bank over and over...all the "I wants" being thrown in my direction, lately, mostly turning up in my Inbox and the new mags - hauling things that run on parallel bits of metal, things that are hauled by the hauling things that run on parallel bits of metal, things that go in the hauling things and in things that are hauled by the hauling things that run on parallel bits of metal... I have not got the room...I have not got the room........they are lovely/gorgeous/out of this world/extraordinary/brilliant/marvellous/ exquisite/just what I want....but I have not got the room........

For Facts and Figures Ffestiniog Power Station: https://www.fhc.co.uk/en/power-stations/ffestiniog-power-station/ As I remember, It was a lovely walk up to Tan y Grisiau from Blaenau Ffestiniog. At the time, a lot of decades ago, just before leaving the road in Blaenau, there was an excellent cafe that turned out a plateful, though I doubt as big as you would probably get today, (those of a delicate nature, look away now) of baked beans* and egg/cheese on toast. Dinorwig Power Station: https://www.fhc.co.uk/en/power-stations/ffestiniog-power-station/ The small, very dark blue lake at the very top is Marchlyn Bach (small), the larger lake to the right is Marchlyn Mawr (big). * In childhood Me: I want baked beans! Parent: You won't like them! Me: I will! I will! Parent gave me baked beans. I enjoyed them so much... I was up in the night returning them! Later into adulthood I stomached BB when out with others and when our kids were growing up. Now? I can't stand the things! Best get cracking on...

Then there is the power station, currently under redevelopment, in Llanberis which, until 2018 had a visitor centre which hosted guided tours down in the caverns. Yup. I did enjoy a couple of tours in my day. https://www.fhc.co.uk/en/electric-mountain-visitor-centre/ ' Evening all from red dragon land. Sunny with a fair bit of light cloud. Still a bit breezy. A couple of jobs ticked off this afternoon. Some more mags have found their way to the pile for the R.Museum. The indoor potted jasmine had a hair cut - almost, but not quite, a scalping! The G word was postponed and the washing put out to dry in the porch rather than outside, both due to alottawind out there. Today's toot on the flute was more of a confidence booster, going back to basics, but it did bear fruit for once! All too soon, it is time to do the dinner. Take care. Be good. Watch what you do with those hair trimmers! Polly