SM42

A rare treat indeed to have route knowledge via a diversionary route. Kingsbury, Whitacre, Water Orton can be a struggle so via ST is doing well. Andy

Heavy snowfall is guaranteed across the country this week as I have just changed back onto my summer tyres. Andy

At the roundabout near SM42 Towers, a lot of work went on to reduce congestion by installing traffic lights ( didn't work obviously) Part of this project involved cycling provision. The last 100yds or so leading into the roundabout now have a cycle& pedestrian path, turn left and it ends 20 yds later. The other side of the left turn is another shared use path that goes round the corner and then dumps thr cyclist onto the dual carriageway exit for about 400yds, where after a set of lights there is another shared path for left turners on the right hand side Going straight on you have to fight it out where the two lanes of the road become one. There is a cycle track on the right hand side but no provision to cross to it till you've passed to the far side of the traffic lights. TGoing in the opposite direction that path again runs out at the roundabout should you wish to not turn left The path to the left ends after 200yds at a pedestrian crossing. Meanwhile those who wish to catch one of the rare buses, have to walk the last 50 yards to the stop on the grass verge and stand in the mud, as extending the footpath was too hard. It really is a half hearted solution that could have been much better with some thought. Andy

We have somee lovely, well maintained and sensible cycle routes round here. What do the majority prefer to use? The 70nph, single lane, dual carriageway rather than cycle way next to it. You do wonder sometimes. However like most cycling provision in the UK just as it gets to the hazardous junctiony or roundabouty bit, it says " cyclists rejoin main carriageway " Suppose the £50 budget ran out around about there. Annoying really a there is often a simple, safe and obvious option. Andy

The only livery issues I have is where there is an obvious historical anomaly, such as GWR and Railfreight Petroleum sector locos running together. More subtle things I can let pass. If the overall look of the locos, carriages and wagons looks right together in the context of the layout, it's good enough for me. Like HH definitely have too many locos for needs and probably too many wagons as well. Andy

SM42 Towers is slowly drifting back into peace and quiet. The final day of birthday celebrations is drawing to a close. We ent out with friends for a pub lunch, followed by nibbles, drinks and cake at the Towers. Guest included a 4 and a 2 year old. The furniture is back where it should be, we are still finding sticky patches where fruit juice has been dropped, there are handprints on the TV and we are wondering what other destruction we may happen across. Lord knows what the kids did. Alcohol helped us through. Perhaps we should have given to the kids. Andy

What pleasant day today made all the better by the the weather. First stop, drop Mrs SM42 in Calne Town centre and then head to the exhibition. Not too big a show ( so not there for long to give more time for other stuff) but some good layouts there and it was especially nice to re acquaint myself with Oldshaw. I first saw this layout in Cheltenham ( I think on its debut) and had to have it at our show the following year. Still looks as good as the day I first saw it. Next it was collect Mrs SM42 and then to Devizes for a couple of hours to mooch round the town, then head off to find a white horse en route to Marlborough for another mooch about. Finally dinner at a pub outside Worcester and now we are home and cake is about to be served. Can it get any better? Andy

Mrs SM42 has left a pair of scissors on a chair. To make the situation safe she has moved them to the sofa. 🤔 Andy

They're called Snickers nowadays. Andy

Mrs SM42 celebrates another lap of the sun tomorrow and by way of a treat I will be taking her on a trip on Saturday. We shall be heading to Calne for a look around What? There's an exhibition on? Andy

Cadent and their works on the A456 have reached a new low in weird A two lane road with a wide central chevron area that used to be a third lane Temporary traffic lights installed. Plenty of room for two lanes of traffic and the works on the pavement / kerb line. And they wonder why drivers get frustrated. This mornings trip into work was very blue light service heavy. Five police cars and three ambulances in total The first police car overtook me just after the above roadworks. A mile further on it joined two unmarked cars on the dual carriageway, blocking the road. Looked like I would be late till it moved into the right hand lane in front of the other two cars to let the traffic through. Meanwhile the truck driver behind me was getting a little frustrated as I have left a whole car length between me and the car in front whilst we waited. A colleague told the three police cars were still there an hour later when he went past. Very odd Another two unmarked cars were parked on the roundabout ( blocking one lane, blue lights on) at the M5 junction. Again an odd place to park. It's not like you could see the motorway from there. Even on the way home there were a few unmarked cars tazzing about on the blues. I don't think I've seen so many police cars in one day ( except perhaps the day I was rammed by a getaway car) Its not like HH had even left Telfland. Andy

In a moment of general boredom, I've just reached for my copy of Air Braked Wagons in Colour by D Ratcliffe and what page should i open it at? Page 94. Upon that page there are two photos of the wagoms One in action near Kennett and the second of the partly loaded train with a useful view from above In use on the Eastern from 1981 till withdrawal in 1995. Used with a ballast cleaner, 22 wagons in total, if the caption is to be believed, numbers DB997801 - 977822 Andy

Oh my god! He gets everywhere. Now he's appeared on my desktop Andy

The air bags were probably quite cheap to replace and a job that takes minutes ( mine were once replaced on a recall, on the drive at home in about 20 minutes) It's the big hole in the dashboard that the passenger one left that was probably the prohibitively expensive bit. Stealing an interior and then buying the write off cheaply ( or selling the interior back to the owner) was once quite a popular criminal wheeze. Andy

Note the warning top right 😁 Andy

Our weekend guest has bought me these Cheeky mare Andy

That is a person is promoted to the maximum of their inefficiency The Dilbert Pronciple is slightly different The least effective workers are systematically moved to where they can do least damage; mamagement Not sure that works for an MP Andy

The Dilbert principle. Unfortunately it doesn't quite work with MPs and they can do a lot of damage Andy

Ttt tttt ttttt tttttt tt ttt! Andy

Sticking with tradition, Mrs SM42 has decided that cooking needs doing ready for tomorrow, so it looks like I won't be doing the kitchen. Like her mother I tell yer, always bring where you need to be. Andy

The West wing is exempt from cleaning at present. No point if you are going to make more mess. Just the kitchen to do now. But first, lunch Andy

It is a time of perturbation at SM42 Towers. Tidying for the arrival of a weekend guests onetime tomorrow is in full swing. Mrs SM42 is doing the wet stuff, I'm dusting and hoovering. "Would you like a drink?" she asked "that would be nice thanks " A few minutes later it arrives. The coaster is far too obvious a place to put it. No that book will look a lot better with a ring on the cover ☹️ I am about to fire up the vacuum cleaner and start the laborious task of doing the entire mansion. This could take a while. Andy

Meanwhile there are some out there that think the law hasn't changed since AD 1215. They're funny. Andy

We may be getting more rain than before but it is not all arriving in one big dollop as a rule Drainage generally seems to work where it has been maintained, mainly why rivers are getting overful, I suspect and the country is not disappearing under flood waters except where one would expect it to when a river is in flood. Not maintaining drains is what causes water to back up and go / stay where it's not wanted. Steady and persistent rainfall should be easily dealt with. Those at the bottom of the system ( hill) may however have problems as a result Huge convective rainfall events that dump 10s of mm in a few minutes do not happen everyday. Yes there is more rain, but it should not be overwhelming a drainage system in the amounts it is currently falling. For instance. Our patio ( around 30 sq m ) drains towards the lawn. At the edge is a land drain that runs to a soakaway at the bottom of the garden. The going is soft on the lawn in general, but where the drain runs it is significantly drier, to the extent that the grass struggles to grow. If that small system can cope then a properly planned, ( we made it up as we went) engineered and maintained system should do so. Yes rainfall amounts have increased, but the fundamentals of water management remain the same. Hear that? It's the chickens coming home Andy

Ti's one of those things that doesn't happen so much now. As a youngster, going down the local cattle market on Tuesday during school holidays to look around and generally entertain ourselves as 8 to 10 years old did, was the thing. One of our number however took more of an interest and before long was helping load and un load trucks and generally helping out around the place. Doing so he probably made a few bob, but also became a regular at the auction ring and by the time he left school had a boltx on career as an auctioneer. The rest of us drifted into various careers in a less gradual manner. Andy