ardbealach

Writing as a satisfied customer we have had many European rail trips using Ffestiniog Travel. Not part of a party but personally customised for our requirements.  You tell them where you want to go and for how long a trip you want and they sort out hotels and rail tickets.  That Includes Eurostar and usually Eurorail pass.   For example we wanted a railway holiday trip by rail  from Chester to Bergen in Norway via Germany Denmark Sweden and into Norway and they book us everything incl hotels.   I used the DB rail website for drafting the train times as the starting point for the trip.

As I say no connection with them, only a satisfied customer.  I recall they even sorted tickets for Miniature Wonderworld in Hamburg.  (Alisdair)  

Sorry missed that.  Will try to keep up.  (Alisdair)

What about the Superquick range of cardboard buildings - early Sixties - and still available.  (Alisdair)

I recall how effortlessly the 79xxx tackled the climb up Cowlairs Incline compared with the steady slog of a steam engine and banker.  (Alisdair)

You are quite a SAGE  PhilJ W (Alisdair)

I can recall regularly travelling on the 79xxx dmus back in the Sixties.  They certainly could shift when wound up.  The evening trains always seemed to have the train heating turned up full blast.  It certainly helped you sleep on the train after a few pints+ in Rose St in Edinburgh and made for a quiet journey home.  (Alisdair)

I read somewhere that Glasgow translated into Welsh as 'a green place' and Clyde was the same derivative  as Clywd in Wales.  And Aber in both countries means 'the mouth of a river' in a place name.  Aberdeen at the mouth of the River Dee and Aberdyfi at the mouth of the Dyfi river. (Alisdair)

RMweb - an island of sanity in a sea of madness.  Thanks Andy.  (Alisdair)

9 hours ago, ardbealach said:

Hi Hexagon  Can't disagree with you between the U and the A.  I was trying to correct those who pronounce it "Poll Maddy. (Alisdair)

As they say in Craiglang - you're weclome! (Alisdair)

Hi Hexagon  Can't disagree with you between the U and the A.  I was trying to correct those who pronounce it "Poll Maddy. (Alisdair)

And just for the record 66A is pronounced Poll-mad-dee. (Alisdair)

29 minutes ago, Nearholmer said:

It’s “Betrayer FC”

 

The man who sold Father Christmas.

Thank you Nearholmer for getting out of that one! (Alisdair)

Is tutting allowed?  Or is that only gifted to the more senior member?  (Alisdair)

5 hours ago, Hroth said:

 

It was even included in his Model Railway Encyclopedia of 1950, but had been removed in the 1956 Third (revised) edition...

 

Suspicious, I'd say!

 

 

Hmmmm...... Anagram of "BY E F Carter" and  you get "Betrayer F".  Makes you think.....  [Alisdair]   

3 minutes ago, montyburns56 said:

Fourstones Paper MIll

 

 

Interesting to see the catch / trap point in the middle of the main point. (Alisdair)

15 minutes ago, Eaton said:

Now that the dust has settled and after due reflection we have come to the decision that Wigan 2022 will be our last exhibition and as a consequence there will be no October show in 2023. This has not been a hasty decision but one that we have been considering for some time given that we are no longer the spring chickens we once were.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank all the layout teams and traders who have attended Wigan over the years as without their support we would not have been able to make Wigan the show it was.

We would also like to thank the loyal team who helped us with the logistics of presenting such a large undertaking as without you we would have been unable to survive for so long.

 

THANK YOU ALL!! 

Very sad to read.  Wigan for me has always been - for a very long time - a premier show with an excellent choice of layouts every year.  Many thanks for all the efforts by the organisers. (Alisdair)

In the vein of all our reflective thoughts and memories on this Remembrance Sunday I would strongly recommend the paperback book 'Prisoners of Geography' by Tim Marshall  ISBN : 1-78396-243-3.   It is an easy read and sets out factually how our world geography has an impact on our world history and why wars happen.  He has also produced a similar second book 'The Power of Geography'.   (Alisdair)

21 minutes ago, whart57 said:

Thanks for the responses. What I would say is that you have given good reasons for retaining the services and commemorations such as tomorrow morning's. I don't disagree with that, and I've been a Last Post bugler at enough of those over the years and happy to be so. However I don't understand why the whole thing is spilling over into the weeks before when the Sunday event was quite enough for those who actually lived through the wars. A fair number of those didn't actually want to remember too much anyway.

 

I really think that we are in danger of creating memories when we have children told to research their family histories for distant relatives who were in the trenches, as many schools were instructed to do in 2014. The otherwise excellent BBC series Who Do You Think You Are went through a period where it was de rigeur to research a WW1 serving ancestor even when other branches of the family were far more interesting. This is a railway enthusiasts' forum, but how often do we pay tribute to the thousands who died building our railways. Accidents killed and maimed navvies in close on every tunnel, cutting or embankment constructed, yet we rarely consider that. Construction is still one of the most dangerous industries to be in.

 

So "what is going on here" is the question I try to ask.

I would agree that many were killed and injured in the construction of our railways, and many were killed and injured in the early days of the free for all in the running of the railways.  Similarly I agree about the death and injury in the construction industry.

But in both these industries thanks to legislation, trade unions and understanding by managers those great number of deaths are thankfully very much  a thing of the past.

Our military and those who served in the past wars defended (and continue to defend) our freedom and they have given us what we have today.  Outside aggressors have to be challenged all the time which requires the fortitude of our military.  Unlike the improvement in standards which reduced death and injury in our railways and construction industries our military continue to be faced with those dangers. (Alisdair) 

9 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

Reminds me of the joke of the pub menu board.  'A pie a pint and a woman £1.00'.  Customer says to barman.  "Who's pies are they?" (Alisdair)

1 hour ago, whart57 said:

 

You have to wonder why there is that steady growth now that there are no WW1 veterans left and very few WW2 veterans. Is it still "remembrance" when there is no-one left who can remember?

My son in law, who is in his thirties, and a Royal Marine Colour Sergeant, lost colleagues in his group in Afghanistan.  As long as there are lives lost in conflicts we will remember them. (Alisdair,) 

1 hour ago, TheQ said:

I've worn a kilt for the two times "Tiree" has been shown in its uncompleted state.. complete sporran and club polo shirt.

I have never seen a layout with its own sporran and club polo shirt.  Is that not taking the dress code a bit too far?  [Alisdair]

2 hours ago, Oldddudders said:

I note that Mr R-M has his right hand in a position of imminent percussive maintenance, implying that things needed perfecting. 

But what is his left hand doing?   Apologies - just read Loch Gorm's comment above. (Alisdair)

38 minutes ago, boxbrownie said:

It’s not un-ballasted track, it’s pre-ballasted 😅

 

Discuss………you know somebody will…..

You are uptight about the track ballast.  I more concerned about what the two gentlemen are doing bending over in the background! (Alisdair)

A backscene can cover many  inadequacies. [Alisdair]