Not Jeremy

The books have arrived and are now being distributed to all businesses and people that have ordered them. I am happy to say that Parksons (the printers) have done all Andrew's work full justice and we are both very pleased with the resulting book. It will now take a few days to get all of the orders out to everybody, thank you all for your patience. If you want to actually see a copy then Book Law should today have stocks and Bill Hudson books should get theirs tomorrow, James (Bill Hudson Books) is attending the Burton Railway Collectors Fair this weekend and will have the book with him. My wholesaler's copies went out today so many other booksellers will also have copies very shortly. Simon

Kevin, your copies are all packed and are now booked for collection tomorrow for delivery to your warehouse this coming Monday 8th November. Many thanks! Simon

I'm off to an 80th birthday party thing in Gosport (no, really...) and so won't be able to come down, but I hope you all get lots of visitors and have a really good time, I'm sure you will! Great to see things starting up again, let's hope this is the beginning of the end, or something like that.... Simon

Blimey, demoted already - and it's by one of our very finest "boys in blue".....

It would now appear that the books will be delivered to me in Bath by the end of next week, the packaging is ready.... Thank you to everyone for your patience, not much longer to wait now.

I'd be more concerned to keep it correct, but then I'm just a simple soul...

Your statistical "analysis" of risk. Probabilities don't work as you have described them. It is more complicated than that, which comment could be applied to much of this thread. Which is not political.

Quite alright Tim, it was a great picture. I have that last picture, but very nice too see it again though. Funnily enough, the "Lark Ascending" was on the radiogram earlier, which reminded me of a weekend during which I waited a very long time for CK. As ever, not content with the "standard fare" that us plebs had gone for, he had ordered something challenging in a take-away in Folkestone in 1999, the "Lark Ascending" being listened to in full on the van radio while he was specifying kebabs or whatever. What has this got to do with anything I hear you ask? Well, it's a culinary connection, having consumed whatever he'd got them to concoct (and it wasn't rice pudding) CK thereafter came down with some dreadful ague which involved groaning, a lack of breakfast, an inability to run any trains and finally (very unwisely we all felt) giving himself up to the tender mercies of the St John Ambulance. What larks. He recovered in time to go home, but only after we had operated all his ruddy trains, including packing them all away and dismantling and readying for transit the fabled "Engine Wood". He was at least good enough to acknowledge that we had managed to pack it up very well, which was nice of him.... We had a jolly run home thereafter though, calling in at the KESR and stopping in Winchester where CK performed his other trick of "proxy retail therapy" in persuading me to buy one of those new fangled and highly priced Lima railcars! Happy daze...

Well, let's just say it was a very close call

Actually, I'd like to register a complaint. The excessive distraction caused by that photograph and my need to acknowledge it, caused a distraction which led to my rice pudding catching on the bottom of the pan. Luckily the generous application of blackberry splodge has somewhat ameliorated the ensuing ghastliness. Please be more careful next time...

Wow! It took me a while to see where that was - helluva mill!

Assuming that the Western World, Eastern Bath or even West Wiltshire doesn't get devoured by plagues of locusts, cease to function, fall off the edge of the planet or do anything else catastrophic or silly before the event, (and as previously trailed by Jerry) Larkrail is "go"! In a slight change to the previous announcement, the date for next year's show is now confirmed as being; Saturday the 23rd July 2022 Opening hours from 10.00am to 4.30pm The hall has been booked. The venue is the same, The very nice New Oriel Hall in Larkhall, on the eastern side of Bath. Jerry and I have a number of fantastically exciting new innovations that we will even reveal to you all before the event. Part of our cunning plan is a possible degree of multi site-ery, which opens up the wonderful thought of Larkrail becoming the show that is all over the place.... I am sure Jerry will be sorting out some spiffing artwork shortly, I won't put the original artwork with the previously trailed date here because it will confuse the Hell out of me... Watch this space, as they say....

Biggles flies undone. Just a thought. Might give the prog a watch myself, thought part one was pretty good - lots of Merchant Navies! Mind you, those adverts kept popping up

Only my concern for your thread, which is not so much "drifting" as thrusting off into unknown waters of dubious provenance So, to pull it back a bit, I picked up my new baseboard materials with Dave yesterday...

Oh dear indeed....

I very much fear not Brian. Here is some more information on this service and what it does. Bristol to Waterloo service I take your point Hal, but like to think that my protestations here do not fall into the "shouting loudest" category. That said, I have a great deal of sympathy with your final statement, for myself it will be a train set in my garden. From where I will miss hearing the lonesome whistle of the lost Waterloo 159s.... (sorry) Simon

No, I was free to wander at will back in those balmy days.... Anyway, it woz Colin wot dunnit

Very succinctly put Hal old boy, it would now be interesting to know what you thought of the proposed change. Perhaps you think it a good idea? Do feel free to disagree with me or my contention, I am very frequently wrong! Simon

Ron Let's not get hung up on the detail, we can I hope agree that we are not a poor country and that we and (more relevantly in this case) our Government have many choices and options open to them. Our Government has absolutely no "need" to behave badly. I believe that in this one instance behaving badly is precisely what they are doing. I am not saying that it is the "end of the world" if it goes ahead, merely that is a poorly thought out depressing course of action for all of the reasons that are outlined above and elsewhere. If similar things are happening elsewhere and people care about them then they should protest. This change absolutely does change things for the worse for people and businesses in this area and I do feel that it is a wrong headed decision, notwithstanding cost constraints etc. Simon

Phil I agree with you, but in the case of these Waterloo services that is not what is going on. This is a structural change to a timetabled service which, although set up for a purpose which it doesn't strictly fulfil, has over the last 25 odd years built up a solid ridership and established a very useful and popular route into London. If they were saying that this was a short term cost saving measure and that it "would be reinstated when the current pressure is eased" or words to that effect then OK, maybe. But they are not, they are cutting it out with no prospect or discussion of any future for the service. This is not acceptable behaviour surely? Without getting political, I absolutely hate the way in which this Country of ours seems to judge absolutely everything on a crude analysis of what it costs. Moronic. What are we - the third richest country on the Planet? Whatever, this country can spend shedloads of money when it wants to and we are not so strapped for cash that we have to make each others lives worse than they were, however you look at it and whatever anyone tells you. Simon

More information on this change can be read here. This service really is something a bit "different" and users deserve better from the Government. The cut is being made very quickly, really the whole thing stinks to high heaven. Simon

First Group, in their guise as South West Trains, have announced that they will be dropping all of the through trains from Bristol to Waterloo from the timetable later this year. It will be a real shame if these through trains are lost, I, my family and friends have used them a lot and they are not trains that ever run empty, they are generally well patronised I think. Waterloo is a great pedestrian destination for the capital offering a pollution free and fabulous walk across the Hungerford Bridge into the heart of the City. Paddington must be somewhere near capacity already, losing this train will surely make things a little bit worse for everybody there too. It is depressing that there is apparently a need to cut these trains out, especially now with all of us being urged to use public transport more. They have been running for 25 years plus now and provide great connectivity to the Capital for Bradford on Avon, Trowbridge and Warmister to London. I don't know whether their initial introduction related to the use of Waterloo for the Channel Tunnel service, and would be interested to hear more from folk on here that know more than I do on this subject. With Andy's permission I am including a link to a petition that you can sign that protests against this planned curtailment of a wonderful and popular service. Petition to save the Bristol to Waterloo service It would be good if you could sign this petition if you feel the service ought to continue. Apologies if I have got any of the details of this service wrong, it would be good if others could correct me or add more information on the subject to give a full and balanced view of the situation. Simon

Well, I believe we have all the stock, most of the pointwork, a signal box, station building, - why not? A bit of small scale therapy, not a bad idea.. And there are at least two Hymeks ready to roll.... Sorry, got to go and roll the pastry out now

Oh really, you know perfectly well what that is - a plan for another colliery more detailed than the last!

Actually, looking at CK's superb modelling, am I the only one to think he's done an absolutely stonking job in making look P4 track look just like OO? The genius of Kernow. OK I'm sorry - at least its on topic though