Bernard Lamb

I just have two identical watches and swap them over every spring and autumn. Been going for at least ten years. The same procedure when I travel to other countries in Europe. Any further afield I have third watch and this one does get adjusted. Bernard

Never mind the trains. What about the poor drivers and other staff who had to put in an extra hour on their shift last night. On the very odd time that it happened to me at work I did get paid extra for it. The same procedure the other way round, where you went home an hour early. Bernard

Just caught up with the second episode. Fascinating and far more of a personal interest than I new before watching it. A great uncle worked for Trinity House from around 1901 and was employed working on the sluice at Bexhill. Long ago, when looking into family history, my mother and her sister told me about a visit to see him and his family at the coastguard cottage where he lived. This account included a section about being locked in the train for the journey back to London. Talking with my sister we worked out that this must have been around 1916 or 17 and of course during the previous war to the one in which the layout is set. Bernard

I tend to remember his comments on places like Watford and Slough rather than the praise of the chocolate box landscapes. Bernard

I used to live about 200 yards to the right of this place in Hemel. The pub is still there, but the station is long gone. As for passenger services, a very distant memory. It tries to go up market now and again by calling itself a hotel but after a while goes back to what local people call it:- The Midland. Bernard

Well spotted Tony. I only had a few minutes tio spare this morning as I had a hospital appoitment. To get a similar view point to roughly simulate your photograph I reversed it through a point that was set the wrong way. Of course the other shots in the batch show all wheels on the track but not the angle of view that I was trying to copy. It actually runs rather well. Bernard

Tony recently mentioned Hornby locomotives that had passed through his hands. This one looks familiar. Still giving good service. Bernard

At that time the idea of providing walking and cycling facilities was to get these people off the road........ so that motor traffic could drive at 40mph plus in an urban environment. A similar situation was started around the Barbican in London, with high level walkways and wide roads such as London Wall. That did not last long. Bernard

That will require fantastic acceleration and good brakes and seat belts for the passengers, given the short distance between stations. Bernard

I felt like that. However at the last local council election there was a very active Lib Dem candidate in our ward. SWMBO, who takes little interest in politics thought he talked a good talk and several people in the road thought the same. There was no chance of winning the council, but there might be chance of getting one local councillor if we joined in the campaign. We got him elected and theidea spread and we won a majority on the district council. The local Conservative MP is standing down and the new candidate must be very worried. It only takes a few people to change things if they concentrate there efforts. It might not work in all cases, but it might just be enough to moderate the extremists on either side. On the other hand it might not. I live in a 20mph area that was et up by a Conservative councillor with a vast majority of local people in favour. Almost all traffic keeps to the limit. Until recently when such schemes became maintstream news. To be politically neutral there are areas where a vote for Reform might have a similar effect. Benard Bernard

That's where the fun starts. Let us take a nice detached house at around £1m 2020 market value. HS2 buy it for £1.25m. The going rate of compensation according to informed sources. The house is still there but the land is no longer required. HS2 sell it in late 2023 as ordered by Rishi. What is it worth? £700k ? It is subject to planning blight. If the original owners have the cash they can buy it back. But it would be very difficult to get a mortgage. If you have the cash and want to speculate then there are potentially bargains to be had. Providing that legislation is brought in to remove the threat of the railway being reborn, the house becomes worth around £950k. Figures will vary in different parts of the country and at different times. However it is the same old story, money makes money, while the ret of us get shafted. Bernard Bernard

Sorry can't help. I do find the area interesting. so thanks for bringing up the subject. Just realized that ' 44 Scotland Street ' is almost 20 years old. I was in Edinburgh around that time and looked forward to reading each episode as it was published. Bernard

But at what price? With the enabling legislation still in place the land, or more particularly the buildings, are worth far less than they would be, if the planning blight on them had been removed by primary legisation. Far more attractive at the moment to local authorities, other government agencies or hedge funds, rather than to individuals. Bernard

If you are lucky. Quie often 4 car 319s recently. I had a note yesterday that 6 car 730s are on the way. Things can only get better. But some 319s are to be withdrawn before the 730s arrive, so it will get worse for a short time. Were will the surplus 350s go? Bernard

Couplings. The corridor connectors are not attached to the ends of the cars. They sit on a cam which has quite a large degree of movement. On the power car there is a plug, see the white bit at the bottom of the connector. On the trailer car there are lugs at top and bottom of the connector. These engage inside the connector on the power car. There is also a socket and the plug on the power car fits into this socket when the two cars are pushed together. Do this and continue down the train to complete. I think it is rather clever. Oh, that Hornby had done this between locomotives and tenders instead of the arrangement they made with their plug and socket. A short straight connector could have been supplied to cater for trainset curves, to avoid the need for a cam mechanism. Bernard. Power car Trailer car

I thought that was the DB equivalent, can't remember the class number. Roco made a model at one time. Bernard

Just caught up with it. I found it excellent, with the enthusiasm coming across rather well. The social history was unobtrusive to me, but I like that sort of thing, it might have come across as excessive to others. It used train set type curves, but the running was faultless, far better than certain finescale layouts that I have seen. The research into the buildings fascinated me, especially parts of London and Berlin that appeared to look real, even though mixed up as to actual location. The Pendonesque idea of plug in complete buildings, shown by removing a scene, gave an insight as to how the layout was built. The Euston arch, depicted very near the end, rather than in it's glory days. Looking forward to the next programme. Bernard

There is no 'best'. It depends what you want to make. Slaters is good, but needs to be applied to a structure as it is quite thin. Wills, Peco or whatever can be used as a building material as it is thicker. Then, if you want to model my garden wall built circa 1720, with hand made non standard bricks, laid on edge, you will need to scibe them. Bernard

Best not to go on holiday. If you do you might find that they have moved in when you get back. Bernard

This is H0 Ian. Confusing when Kato are usually associated with N. They have done several models in tie ups with German firms. I will take a close up of the inter coach coupling. It is an idea that I have not seen before and gives very neat close coupling and electrical connections. Bernard

Just in time for Halloween. Is there an emoji for wanting to hide under the duvet? I would not like to come across that at any time. Let alone on a dark and stormy night. Bernard

I have cleared a space in the garage to make room for the new locomotive depot. I will build this off site. I have for the short term put in place a narrow plank with a run of track, just to allow some of my main line stock to have a run. Quite a few locos need some serious wheel cleaning. To provide some relief from this work I dug this out of storage and with a 6m plus length of straight track let her have a gallop. Kato made these a long time ago and they seem to have recently made another run, at a heck of an increased price. Originally VT 18 16 but known by various other designations at later dates. Mine is in the VT 175 series. The prototype emerged from Gorlitz in 1963, with a production run of, I think, 8 four car sets between 1965 and 1968. There were extra coches for some services and a reduced number of coaches on the service that used the train ferry to Scandinavia. They could be seen, on selected routes, anywhere between Copenhagen and Vienna. I never rode on one but saw them in Leipzig during the fair, where they were used on a service from Berlin, back in the early 1980s from memory. I also saw the preserved example at Rummelsberg much later, where it was stored for several years. I still have friends who live in Kopenick. After various moves the last I heard, was that it was at Halberstadt for a refurbishment. There is also a set at Lichtenberg but I have not seen that one. Bernard

Best post this week. Thanks for taking my mind off of all the other crap that is going on. Bernard

Back in my yooth exhibitions were either local, school hall or fire station near the town centre, or national or local area. Paddington, City University or Westminster, or a school or local arena. All easy to get to by public transport, or walking and at most a short local bus ride. EM moved to Bracknell, via Letherhead. A short walk from the station became a much more complicated trip. Tring went from Berko to Wing, again more difficult to get to. St Albans went to Stevemage, A much more complicated or longer journey for me. While I would prefer to go by public transport it has become more and more difficult. I uppose Stoke Mandeville is about the longest running show at a fairly convienient locstion. Even High Wycombe has changed locstion and is now more difficult to reach by public transport for me. The general changes in sociey seem to have worked against me. I understand why. But I don't see it as an improvement in my quality of life, let alone being friendly to the environment. Bernard