Robert

Morning All, The temperature got up to around 33°C yesterday afternoon - and it looks set to be even warmer today. There was also a fairly heavy electrical storm overnight. Strange weather! Have a good day everyone...

Morning All, It is a nice bright morning here. The temperature is due to rise later on - but hopefully we won't have the thunderstorms that we did yesterday afternoon. The rain was pretty torrential. Have a good day everyone...

Morning All, Much too hot is probably the best way to describe the weather at the moment! The temperature climbled to 32°C yesterday afternoon. I am back in the office this morning after a quiet weekend. I did some work on my new layout - so I think I will probably start a new thread shortly. Have a good day everyone...

Morning All, It is a nice bright morning in this part of the world. Still on the cool side, but long may that last! The forecast seems to suggest the temperature may climb to 30°C by Sunday. Sorry to hear your news Ian. Have a good day everyone...

Morning All, It is another somewhat damp morning. There was some fairly heavy rain overnight, and everywhere looks very damp. The rain is obviously doing the vegetation good as everything looks very green, but of course the downside means that the hedge is growing again already - I think it is probably going to need cutting twice this year. Time for a coffee! Have a good day everyone...

Morning All, The weather started off fairly reasonably this morning, but a fine drizzle has now started. The weekend was quiet and consequently there isn't a lot else to report. Have a good day everyone...

My planning is still ongoing, but rather interestingly Andy Tidy (a.k.a Captain Ahab) has posted some very recent pictures of Chillington Wharf in his blog this month. http://captainahabswaterytales.blogspot.com/2019/04/chillington-wharf-backstage-pass.html He also mentions that it is the best preserved interchange basin on the BCN.

Morning All, It's quite a nice morning today. Fairly mild, and with temperatures due to climb into the mid 20s later on. Time for a coffee! Have a good day everyone...

I did some research on this a few years ago. To be honest, I am not sure that this thread is the place to discuss it given the stories of the people involved and the loss of life, which would be in danger of being trivialised by "strange stories" - but I will go as far as saying the following. At the end, I came to the conclusion that "Die Glocke" is probably little more than an urban legend. Although it must be said that there is some tantalising circumstantial evidence. I say circumstantial because if you connect a group of possibly unrelated events together you can come up with a great story - but it doesn't mean it is true. There is also a danger of interpreting the "evidence" to fit the story. Also, Unfortunately, many of the ideas seem to have been propagated by a very small collection of people - some of whom are never far away from, shall we say, right leaning narritives. The various different narritives don't even agree on the aim of the device and consequently I came to the conclusion that on the balance of probabilities it didn't exist.

Morning All, It looks as if it may get quite warm later on. However, at the moment it is mild, with a light mist. There isn't a lot else to report, so I guess it is time for a coffee! Have a good day everyone...

Morning All, Great news from Sandy and John, and good to hear from Debs. It is a rather grey morning in this part of the world. It was raining earlier, but seems to have stopped. The forecast is for brighter weather as the week goes on. Time for a coffee! Have a good day everyone...

Morning All, I didn't manage to drop in yesterday - Thomas went off on a school trip sailing in the Netherlands and the coach left the school at 04:00 yesterday morning. So we got up at 02:45 and I dropped him off at the school. In light of that, I decided to take the day off and did a few jobs around the house including finishing off my new baseboard. It is absolutely chucking it down this morning! Once again, we need the rain but it is certainly not a nice morning to be outside! Have a good day everyone...

Morning All, It is a rather damp morning today. We have had rain overnight, and it is still raining on and off. The forecast suggests that it will brighten up later - which I hope is the case because I need to cut our garden hedge. Beware the midges! Have a good day everyone...

Morning All, It is a little overcast, and somewhat chilly this morning. I have quite a busy day ahead, so I guess I had better get on! Have a good day everyone...

I suspect that you are right Q - Not wanting to be overly negative, but I think we are heading for a very rocky period worldwide. We haven't really recovered from the last economic crash, and the usual method during times of economic downturn is to decrease interest rates. That's effectively no longer possible without going into negative territory which will encourage people to be even less fiscally responsible. Not a good combination if you ask me.

Morning All, It is a nice bright morning in this part of the world. Sunny, but still very cold. It was down to 4°C this morning - which isn't unusual, but we haven't seen it in the last few years. Time for a coffee! Have a good day everyone...

Morning All, I am slightly later on parade this morning, having waited at home for the company who maintain our central heating. They phoned me up yesterday afternoon to remind me that the yearly service was due, and that they had an appointment free this morning at 8am. As the morning was meeting free, it was a good opportunity to get it done. The boiler is in fine fettle - not that it's that old, so I would expect it to be. However, we need to have the gas pipe replaced from the stop-cock to the meter. There is a valve on the meter inlet which is no longer allowed. Not for safety reasons, but apparently because it is easy to manipulate. It didn't used to be a problem on existing installations (only new installations) but as of 2019 the Town bylaws have changed and all installations require modification. Now that he's seen it, he needs to do something about it. It's only about five meters of pipe, so shouldn't be a huge cost but it's still an unnecessary one! Have a good day everyone...

May all your cuts be straight, and only where you want them to be!

Morning All, It is a nice bright morning in this part of the world. After several days of rain (which admittedly we needed) it is nice to see the sun. I spent most of yesterday afternoon constructing a baseboard, and finding out once again that I can't saw straight! Natalie, sorry to hear about your problems. Caring for elderly relatives can be a huge strain, particularly when they won't admit (or don't think) that they need help. In your Mother's defence - the generation that we are talking about are fiercely independent and reluctant to admit that they need help. My ex-wife's great aunt has now died, but when she was in her late 90s she fractured her hip carrying a tray down the stairs for the "old lady who lived in the flat below". We thought this woman must have been positively ancient, but it turns out she was in her 60s! There is no way she should have been carrying a tray anywhere - let alone down a flight of stairs, and certainly not for a woman 30 years younger than she was - but try telling them that! However, that doesn't make it any easier for you. Your use of medical acronyms suggests that you may have a medical background - and to be honest when it is your own family, that can often place additional strain on you. If you are not one for support groups (which is perfectly Ok) have you thought about calling the Samaritans? They are there for anyone who is in emotional distress or struggling to cope, and may well know how to help further. One of the great things about the UK is that there is a fantastic network of support - you just need to know where and/or who to ask. Have a good day everyone...

Morning All, As soon as Buzzwords like "drive the business forward" start to appear, it is usually a sign that the decision is the wrong one. It is a nice bright morning today. However, the low sun was a bit of a pain on the drive to work. Although, I shouldn't complain about the sun after two days of almost continuous rain! Time for a coffee. Have a good day everyone...

Morning All, It is a rather pleasant morning in this part of the world. A little warmer than it has been, and dry but with a certain amount of cloud - particularly over the hills. I can understand that Andy. We are all the product of our experiences, and we all have times when we wish we had handled or done things differently. However, we are all human and although we sometimes make mistakes, some things are just out of our control. This isn't always easy to accept! Have a good day everyone...

Thank you for that David. Food for thought. I now need some time to do some more sketching and planning!

Scale and Era are unchanged Simon. Still OO gauge, and still green/blue diesels, so probably late 1960s to early 1970s. I realise that the track layout probably isn't that prototypical for the time, but I am prepared to be flexible. I'd rather build something I like, and will maintain interest rather than worry too much about whether it's 100% prototypical. Interestingly enough, Easington Lane is one of the layouts that I was looking at for inspiration the other day. I doubt that I will be able to come up with something that looks half as good, but you have to start somewhere! Actually, that's not a bad idea. Concerning the traverser, to be honest, I'm not too bothered about it being exposed.

You're right! I have also done some playing around with Xtrkcad and I think I can get the track plan to fit. However, my first and second drafts were far too optimistic!