SM42

Conspiracy theories often fail the which is more likely test. 

For me UFOs the jury is out.

Yes there are flying objects that can't be explained till they can.

Maybe it's a secret project, maybe it isn't.

Is there a cover up of real aliens. Unlikely.

Other life out there.? Possibly 

Is it likely that it has developed interstellar travel and can change the laws of physics

Unlikely.

Why do they always look a bit like us? 

Another example.

Did man land on the moon? 

Which is more likely? 

They did

Or

Thousands of people involved kept it secret all these years and more importantly the Russians are in on it and have kept the secret too. 

Any conspiracy can be put to the same test. 

 The test is really courtesy of Scott Adams under the title " Great Lies of Management" but it has many other uses in life.

Andy

4 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

We were in France and I had an inflamed gum so we went into a pharmacy to get some medication. As she reached the counter, Aditi had a forgetful moment and couldn’t recall the French word for gum, at least not the mouth part gum. Instead of pointing , she said she knew what it was in Latin and said so and the pharmacist laughed and said it was more or less the same. They both then had a chat about how useful Latin was even in modern times. I had no idea what was going on but did get some ointment. 

I know someone who used O level  Latin in Italy to ask about car parking and directions to same.

Parking cars. 

It was a major problem 2000 years ago too. 

I do try and learn at least thank you in the language of any country I visit. 

If I'm feeling brave maybe some numbers. 

Other useful terms, such as cake and beer, I pick up as I go

Andy

Its 18C and climbing here in sunny Poznan 

Mrs SM42 has suggested going cycling later. 

I may have melted by this evening. 

Andy

6 hours ago, BR60103 said:

I classify songs by the mode of transportation

 

Cars means it's rocky roll.

Trucks are country.

Horses are western.

Trains are folk.

 

 

The car was definitely rocky roll yesterday.

I thought my eyes had gone funny till I realised it was the road. 

Who needs Millbrook. Just bring a new car out here and drive around. 

As for music, I have a broad tastes, a sort of like what I know and know what I like. 

Opera not so much, the chorus parts more than the soloist parts I find more appealing. 

Classical I enjoy generally

My appreciation has grown since one of our neighbours started a professional orchestra. 

Although  I don't recognise a particular piece or know where it finishes I love both the aural and visible spectacle of music being played by an orchestra. 

I grew up with the music of the 70s and mainly 80s with  the 1940s thrown in ( thanks dad) and the bits in the middle  have filled themselves in 

There's not much between  1987 and the now on my playlist in comparison bit probably more than I appreciate. 

Polish rocky poppy is also something I've come to appreciate (can't think why)  but Disco Polo definitely in small doses or with lots of vodka, good company and a dance floor. 

Good music is good music regardless of what genre it fits

Things aren't always the genre I think and I have no idea what some genres are.

Techno garage handbag anyone?

Andy

Well my day out was a mixed bag. 

Pila was full of wagons, one ET22 hanging about, but absolutely no where to park nearby. 

I did try another street I'd scoped out on line, but chickened out when I got to the succession of  potholes that you could lose a 44 tonner in. 

The SM42 mobile isn't designed for off roading, even if it was a road. 

I moved on to Znin. The railway was closed and there was not much sitting around apart from a few wagons. 

The museum at Wenecja was, as now expected, closed too. 

Did take the odd over the fence shot. 

I ended the day at my favourite spot in Inowroclaw and wasn't disappointed.

A few locos dotted about, refurbished SM42 shunting in the yard and several freight trains passing through 

Andy

Poznan has indeed changed a lot.  I'm in Poznan as I type. 

My first visit was 2006. 

The old station building is still there The new is next door and on the road bridge ( Most Dworcowy) that goes over the station access road, and  links directly into Poznan City Centre shopping centre. 

There is also a bus terminal underneath. Very joined up thinking. 

The tank isn't there now. The location  is outside the castle, ( I don't remember seeing it) on Swiety Marcin. Not far from the  station road entrance.

Perhaps it was there temporarily in connection with the 50th anniversary of the 1956 Ciegelski workers strike. It is not far from the monument to the victims of that event

The Ty45 is still at Kluczbork, ( Mrs SM42's home town)  but is looking a little bit tattier nowadays. 

Yes you should have gone for the SM42 haulage. 

But then I'm biased.

I did have a similar experience last August with this steam hauled service from Wolsztyn 

Didn't go down well with some of those who came to see a visiting steam loco ( Belgian I think)

It was in the local press so there was quite a crowd. 

I didn't mind though and neither did most of the non enthusiasts there.

Andy

Today dawns as breezy with hazy sunshine. 

This heralds two things. 

1. The start of the Easter weekend heatwave. 17c predicted today. ( 23c tomorrow, 21c Sunday, 20c Monday and a more reasonable 12c on Tuesday)

And

2. The start of a period of no meat and alcohol and general abstinence before Sunday. 

Breakfast was egg, bread and smoked salmon ( one mustn't deprive oneself too much) and there will be a meagre diet heavy in bread, cheese and fish between now and Sunday when the equivalent of half a pig lands on  your plate for breakfast. 

Tomorrow morning, as is tradition,  we will take our little basket of food to the church and join one of the regular rugby scrums to get it blessed. 

Happy Easter everyone.

Andy 

Another surprisingly slow Pole out today. 

I know it's a 50kph limit on the slip road cos its bendy and I can accept 35 kph as being suitably cautious on the tight bendy bits, but not when you join the motorway ( limit 120kph)

Andy

13 minutes ago, pH said:

Latitude???

Either could apply 

It might be the middle of the day at some latitudinal extremities. 

One of the perils of a night shift at North Pole Depot is that it last 6 months. 

Andy

Free day tomorrow so will be heading to Pila and ending up in Inowroclaw via a couple of places en route to mooch about and a visit to the Zninska Kolej Powiatowa. ( 600mm gauge) 

I took a ride on this with Mrs SM42, probably around 14 years ago.

Be nice to re visit but no time for a ride. Instead I may visit the railway museum at Wenecja if it is open. 

Andy

4 hours ago, GMKAT7 said:

Hello Andy (SM42),

 

Duck is also usual for Derby/Derbyshire, both male and female addressed the same!

 

Or for those more fluent in other languages, mon vielle canard (me old duck) also serves 🤣

 

Cheers, Nigel.

I spent 3 years living in various towns that make up Stoke on Trent, including Stoke itself.

I got used to being called duck and also got used to words being missed from sentences. 

Conversations along the lines of 

" What did you do yesterday with your day off?"

" I went town shopping and then went pub"

Happy carefree days with class 20s on MGR workings and class 56s and 20s stabled in the up bay. 

4 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

Today, Nyda and I have decided to treat ourselves to a day out.

 

With the weather looking a bit variable, we will have to take it as it comes, but it will incorporate a visit to Eccleshall so that I can drop my smallest rifle off to it's birthplace.

 

It's going back for a full service which will see all the springs and seals replaced.

 

They will also be able to accurately set the power output on the bench using a type Chronograph that measures the speed of the pellet between two points., whereas my Chronograph has to be attached to the rifle, which is OK for testing, but adjusting is a lot more difficult. 

 

Yes, it is a job that I could do, but for the price they charge, and the time it would take me, it's not worth my while.

I once took my shotgun in to a place near King's Norton  for the firing pins be replaced and a general service. 

It was like walking into a time warp. 

Ancient oil  impregnated floor boards, green machinery with a nice oily sheen,  wracks of tools above solidly built workbenches, man in a cow gown running the place and the smell of oil and metal.

It was the sort of place you see in old sepia  photos

Andy

Well it's a cooler and cloudier Poznan today. 

14c is forecast with the chance of localised storms. 

Saturday is now forecast for 23c. 

Shopping this morning, followed by that Polish lunch time staple of coffee and cake. 

I may get some free time later, but as yesterday's cleaning was postponed I daresay it won't be much if at all. 

The level crossing on the freight line avoiding the city is a good bet if I get chance and is only a 10 minute drive away.

Andy

15 minutes ago, GMKAT7 said:

Good morning folks,

 

Q? Is "Eh up" pronounced the same as "Aye up"?

The latter is a usual form of greeting in the East Midlands, well Derbyshire anyway.

 

Usually followed by the imbibing of Bass or Pedigree, rather than Boddingtons though.

 

Cheers, Nigel.

Quite right me duck

Though I may have strayed nearer to Stoke there. 

Andy

8 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

 

 

There is, however, a much darker side to euphemism: their use to “sanitise” some truly appalling things. The Nazis were masters of this: “special actions” (Sonderaktion) carried out by a “special command unit” (Sonderkommando) are neutral terms used to describe mass murder by killing squads. Many more examples abound

Hmmmm!

Why does the term special military operation come to mind?

Andy

4 hours ago, AndyID said:

So y'all think it all went digital? It did, just not quite.

 

It's all based of "flip-flops". These are simple electronic devices that can either represent a one or a zero. That's great except there is also the "Grand Old Juke of York" flip-flop which is neither up nor down.

 

Precisely how long his state remains indeterminate is impossible to calculate. It's only a question of probabilities.

Can't you just switch it off and on again?

Andy

Had the dubious pleasure yesterday of following a car being driven at what can only be described as an average of 2kph down a one way circuit which was single Lane

It then inexplicably stopped whilst the driver was seemingly distracted by something at the side of the road. 

It didn't get any faster when we got off the one way bit, but too much oncoming  traffic and junctions to safely overtake. 

I felt I aged a bit quicker yesterday. 

Andy

I think the reason people get frustrated at road works is the apparent lack of proper planning for traffic. 

Diversions that merge into other diversions so no-one knows which route is which 

Diversion signs that give up after a couple of junctions,

Last minute beyond point of no return road closures ( happened to me on the M5 last week when I found my junction was closed when I got to it. No chance to take the short alternative route, just a lengthy drive in the wrong direction) 

Poorly planned or phased temporary lights that cause miles of traffic that could be eased with a bit more thought for peak traffic directions

Closures going in an hour or more before advertised. 

Lane closures 24/7 but no 24/7 works. 

Or my favourite, two sets of temporary lights in a short distance so one set's queue blocks the other and vice versa. 

Unfortunately it's the guys on the ground that get the anger as they are visible, not the ones who plan the mess.  

It can be very difficult to be patient sometimes. 

However that is no excuse to threaten or attack those going about their work. 

The most common I see is road closures being ignored as people think they will be able to get through anyway 

Just wish they would dig a 2 ft wide trench across the road just to make sure. 

Andy

Hornby 4 VEPs at €269.99 till 1st April from Model Bahn Union

OK you have to take off 19% German VAT, convert to pounds and pay UK VAT plus £12 admin fee to the post office ( choose DHL option it comes Deutsche Post and Royal Mail) in about 5 days or so. 

Still a good price in my opinion regardless 

https://www.modellbahnunion.com/Spur-00/Elektrotriebzug-Class-423-EMU-South-West-Trains.htm?a=article&ProdNr=Hornby-R30107&p=1063

Andy

Interesting listening to the radio on my travels today. 

Two songs containing an alternative word for manure were played at some point. 

One unedited, the other edited. 

The latter got away with being played in the UK for several months before it was edited. 

Another tune that originally contained an expletive was played in its English speaking world safe alternative version. 

You just can't tell what is going to happen nowadays. 

Andy

Grain wagons in the background destined for, or coming from, the Tyskie brewery  at Tychy. 

Also nice to see an SM31 in green. 

Anchors an era 5  date for the upcoming Piko model. 

The livery on the ET22 was getting on a bit by then too I believe. 

Great stuff. 

Andy

Currently in Poznan

We are currently in Poland and I've been out on my travels today. 

Just a couple of narrow gauge steam locos 

First up, plinthed at Pleszew Miasto

No identification to be found, but I think it might be Px48 1912. 

Another 0-8-0 was found at Zbiersk on the Kaliska Kolej Dojazdowa. 

Again no obvious ID, but it could be Px48 1726. 

Andy

7 minutes ago, GMKAT7 said:

Good evening folks,

 

Probably just as well to not mention hot boxes then?

 

Cheers, Nigel.

Oh so many railway terms would cause apoplexy 

Andy

I have had a good day out today, the temperature got up to 20c and trains were seen. 

Plesew was interesting with dual gauge track at Plesew Miasto

The train on the left is narrow gauge, standard gauge SM42s in the distance with a dual gauge shed behind. 

There were a lot of gas tanks dotted about

Quite literally parked by the side of the road. 

The dual gauge line ran all the way to Pleszew Wask Station which is about 50 yards from Pleszew Station on the main line but is in Kowalew. 

Services were being run by this SKPL 810 unit. 

The buffers at this point are just about clear of the level crossing  the narrow gauge platform is to the left. 

Narrow gauge motive power seems to be predominantly Lyd 1s.

Andy

7 minutes ago, TheQ said:

But you or the pheasant are hit by shotgun pellets...

No,  shot. 

Its only a pellet when you have to spit them out at the dinner table, normally singly. 

This is when a single projectile sealed in the barrel ( mouth) and ejected by a separate propellant provided by the gun ( you) comes into play

Andy