Jock67B

Brian, You've no idea just how much I've missed it, and I am very impressed how far your layout has come since I last saw it! - a lot of weathering to be accomplished I assume? How are the electrics working by the way - because I have such a small number of points, I am considering following Pete(Burscough Curves) of this parish method of 'wire in tube' control! Keep up the great work, even as a steam lover, your multiple unit looks spot on! Kind regards, Jock.

Interesting bit of trivia on 'Yesterday' channel last night - the surface area of Russia is larger than that of Pluto! I do agree about the 'wobble' though, my old Tasco telescope would never have picked that out! Kind regards, Jock.

Smelling good though Jeff, Look forward to the next set! Kind regards, Jock..

Pete, I love the point control set up, could you tell me if the operating switches (which presumably handle the frog polarity switching?) and the angles, tubes etc all come from the same company so I can cost this up, as I certainly don't need that many points in the first coaling stage/turntable module, even with the ash pits and water cranes included! Thanks for the inspiration my friend, Kind regards, Jock.

Pete,That would be Stapleford Tawney, one of the back up strips for North Weald in case it was badly bombed while the force was off fighting - I've been on and off both in a 'Moth' and a Cessna 152! It is a very steep uphill slope. Kind regards, Jock.

Evening/Morning all, Short post tonight as I'm absolutely 'cream crackered! Dave(TG), great idea to take 'Is' away for a break in April, the pain should ease with time and somewhere nice to distract her! Mike(SM), funny how such arguments develop, especially in households such as ours which include couples with reasonable length time together. Our 'discussion' was about the water leak which couldn't be from our pavement outside the kitchen as it was too far away. How come they arrived with all the machinery, ran a trench back to our house and left a bright patch of new Tarmac where they had been? Not worth labouring the point that the water now appears to have stopped escaping. John(KB), another fantastic image of the sunset my friend, if anything, probably better than the last one! Mick(NB), worth a look into the 'Kernow Today' thread as you'll see one of your favourite yellow trains, appearing with a massive field of daffodils above one of Cornwall's" finest viaducts, another of Craig's fine efforts with the camera. Ian(RH), that is a superb shot of the GB Railfreight 73, I notice you didn't mention the rest of the journey however? Andy(leopard), the Watermill Inn and Brewery look interested in the clients and so it all hinges on how lucky you are in the weather stakes. Glad to see you posting, I just hope you are able to keep the pain under control now. Dom, what a nuisance that you have contracted a respiratory tract infection again - hopefully it will be gone as quickly as it arrived. I asked about experience of building the Dapol Carmine suburban coach kits last night, and a post in the relevant area of the forum index has already brought some answers, all I need now is for a fairy godmother to get me the funds for a nice 2P locomotive to make up a simple suburban at less than the price of the original locomotive! There are some issues mentioned by cleverer modellers than me, but I might just invoke 'rule 1' as it is as as I said before, the smell and feel I'm going for rather than extreme accuracy ( we will see!). That and the building which might start soon should see me get underway. Hope all that ail are on the mend, and I shall look in in the morning, Kind regards, Jock. G'night Pete!, G'night insomniacs! PS I should add that Rowsley17D added some very useful help from his thread!

I wondered if anyone had tried building the Dapol kit non corridor 57ft Stanier carmine coaches as they were the type that the 2Ps pulled, brake and composite, on the Darvel branch which ran by Hurlford shed in Ayrshire in the fifties - all I've got to hope for then is to find a cheap one on eBay to make my day complete then! Were there any special problems to look out for? Any suggestions would be most useful and so I thank you in advance. Kind regards, Jock.

Brian, It really is coming along at a great rate mate, most impressive! Kind regards, Jock

Morning all, Crashed last night and literally just finished catching up at 8.10am! Yesterday was a lovely day to have so many of my family here, but extremely tiring - I have got the usual two carers visiting early and late, and the district nurse is due to check me over before taking my bloods here for Thusday's oncology appointment, otherwise it will hopefully be a quiet day. Mike(SM), I've always been lucky when it comes to getting jobs, quite a few because of 'who you know'. The first significant big paying one came from an encounter during a darts match in a pub in Hertfordshire - I had bumped into Lesterr Simms, the then importer of NGK spark plugs to the UK who supplied the ones for my racing motorcycle and gave a little sponsorship for badges and stickers on the bike and I. In conversation I happened to mention that I was unhappy about the work that was expected of me after years of study whereupon I was offered the task of race engineer, as he was getting too busy running the fast growing company. This involved a company car and visiting all the race tracks with sponsorship deals, as well as selling branded merchandise from the boot. Topped with a decent salary, and the chance to still do the occasional race I said yes instantly! From there the job with Yamaha that took me back to live near Edinburgh was a simple poaching job, but with a massive salary lift and (due to high mileage!) two new company cars per annum. This was followed by my 'Ill fated' move to Cornwall by father in law one and so the hamster's cage rolled on..........., AndyP, having, like yourself spent many years in the car business. Rising to dealer principal/Managing Director at a couple, I can agree how ridiculous the systems imposed on dealers by the manufacturers must seem to outsiders. I ran two Renault franchises before settling with Citroën for the last sixteen years before the cancer snared me. It is hard to believe that Ford used to impose rules on dealers about how interviews should be conducted, even interfering at showroom floor level where they tried to make all salesmen approach prospective customers in the same way. I remember doing a 'mystery shop' on one at their request - the young salesman opened with the unfortunate question 'can I help you sir'? I simply said NO and carried on walking which left him nowhere to go! Why do car makers always assume that each individual car buyer has the same needs, circumstances and indeed funding?? They actually always insist that an attempt is made to sell a 'PCP', even if their wallet is over stuffed! Dave(TG), what a lovely set of images as usual, and the topography would suggest that it really does represent a thorough work-out. Hope 'Is' can now relax a bit, and that the pain is lessening by the day. John(KB), another sun-set for your 'professional portfolio' I would imagine - beautiful. Andy(leopard), great news on the outcome of the operation mate - might be a good idea to look back at Flavio(iD)'s pain advice from some posts gone by if it still hurts. AndyP, I shall have to look in on the 'North Road' thread later to see what track has gone down, especially at the speed you are known to work at I returned to home to discover that a couple of people had purchased items on e-Bay in my absence, and consequently my PayPal account had swelled accordingly, so I spent some of it! I wondered if anyone else on here would have attempted to build the Dapol 57ft non corridor suburbans in carmine red, which paired with a 2P (hoping to find one on e-bay!) made up the most common trains running up the Darvel branch line? Anything to keep my interest up, and I'm being encouraged by Joanna at the minute which can't be bad. Now, with the usual generic greetings - I send commiserations/congratulations as necessary, and I shall try to lurk and post later. Kind regards, Jock.

Evening all, Had a visit from Son Stuart on his way back from his week in the West Country. All of the family who could came to visit him and We had a lovely lunch prepared by Joanna. Nett result is a Jock who is completely drained and so I intend to play catch - up in the morning and then post something meaningful! Apologies if I've missed anything important and I hope Andy the leopard got through his op without drama. I will be back in the morning and so it is goodnight for now, Kind regards, Jock. G'night Pete! G'night everyone else still awake!

Mike, Fantastic set of images, but I have to confess that I was so busy staring at 'Bermuda' and the 'Guardsman', drooling over what are possibly my two favourite steam loco classes which often stopped for water at the end of Kilmarnock platform after flogging up past your very realistic rendition of Dent and surroundings. Cracking propulsion method now, well done to you, and refreshments. Thanks for sharing the inspiration with us, I 'll be back for more in the morning, Kind regards, Jock.

Andy, George et al, It looks like you chaps certainly enjoyed you big day out in exalted company, and thanks for the images mate, Kind regards, Jock.

Morning all, Don't know why last night's post should appear as a reply to one from 'Railsquid'? Anyway, it was nice to hear from Ian and little Leo. Andy((leopardml2341), what a good idea to start your day with a bacon and egg butty - it fair set my digestive juices running, but how impressed Joanna might be when I mention it may be another matter! Does your coach have a pre-select gearbox perchance? Thinking ahead to ease of driving. Both of us will think of you this morning, and don't forget that several members have recently had this operation and can doubtless help with advice if needed. Rick, I'm afraid that being of the 'boring old f*rt' school (hence steam v. Diesel), I much prefer the Karelia Suite as Jean Sibelius wrote it, although it was certainly interesting to hear this version! If you like the classical one, I wonder if you've heard his beautiful haunting tone poem 'The Swan of Tuonela'? How strange that I find myself being introduced to a new (to me at least) artist like Stenberg at my age, and one that exhibits such a difference in style and technique in only four images. The palette cries out with the strong deep colours very much like an impressionist's, and I like the fourth image best. As a matter of interest, our very own 'Man in NY', Pete(trisonic) is no mean artist and well worth a look - I'm sure he'll oblige if you PM him. I am afraid that Joanna is still waiting for the couple of watercolours of Porthleven I promised her (don't forget that I spent a year at Art College!). Hope the trouble makers have now crawled back in to a pit somewhere like the one they crept from when leaving Africa! Andy(ram), I hope your return to work heralds the imminent departure of the nasty bug that has been plaguing your immediate family for quite a time now? I've no doubt that you'll soon resolve any outstanding issues when you set to them. My strategy, when I was Mr MD was to single out the person who had made the error or caused the problem in my absence, was quietly shown how and why they erred and then they themselves were made to clear it up, with helpful advice if needed! Seemed to work for me, and was one of the features of a Renault management course I went on that I could actually remember! Spent a couple of hours yesterday, drawing up a fairly luxurious building/bothy which I scaled from a photograph of Hurlford in John Strettons Engine Shed book. Checked the measurements from an adjacent 2-6-0 Class 3 Standard parked alongside on the ash pits. It appears to be both a shelter for the poor souls who operated the turntable (60 and then 70 ft diameter) as well as those who disposed of the ash. There was a toilet and a nice range to dry off next to, as well as hand washing facilities, and probably in my fiction, some way of recording turns of the table, and wagon loads sent off back in the days when they could charge for their services. Going to do this as the first module before starting on the coaling stage. It will be difficult, made as it is with brown bricks which have been heavily stained by the white ash under a similarly coated slate roof! I'll lurk again later, although it does seem like a busy one ahead. Keep on fighting troops, Kind regards, Jock.

Evening all, Very weary again tonight as all the medications were finally consumed! I did remember one accident at work which concerned Jock Sr. whilst he was a driver - for some unaccountable reason, the fireman decided to operate the wash down lever, just as dad was stepping off the left hand rear step of what I remember was a Black5. What I can't remember if I've mentioned the incident before, as it left him in hospital with an ankle sock welded to his flesh, and no Archie McIndoe nearby to sort it out. Luckily they were both very good friends and nothing much happened as a result Neil,(NHN), I am sorry to hear that you still can't manage to beat the pain, but you must be uplifted a bit to watch Jayne's recent performance. The first steps are always the most difficult, and if the dog situation had gone the wrong way, the story could be very different as we all know. The fact that she also rides a bike doesn't really help. All we can do is keep her focussed in our minds and hope she will eventually pull free, despite the unfortunate change in her work pattern. We will be thinking of you Andy, and hoping that your hip operation goes well tomorrow! Now then, what is there to say of the photograph of some of RMweb's finest - set loose amongst the bacon before the show opening time. I guess someone was watching over them! I really do hope that you all enjoyed the show, and came away with the Rick, I do hope that you've got a quieter shift than last nights which I have to admit sounded like a shocking and unusual occurrence in such a nice place, although when you look around at cities the world over, there is very often a no-go area like Boston's 'Combat Zone' and many others that I would avoid from choice. I'm afraid that I simply have to go and examine the inside of my eyelids now as tomorrow needs a visit to the good count's daughter to give blood samples ahead of Thursday's oncology consultation. Might just check first whether or not the District Nurse could provide this service on her promised mid-morning visit to save me actually going out in the morning chill, and I've got son Stuart visiting just after lunch after his West Country break! Hope all our ailing band continue to mend, and I look forward to waking early tomorrow to, hopefully, mainly good news! Thank you again for the many kind words, including a quick glance at 'railsquid'. Kind regards, Jock. G'night Pete! G'night one and and all! PS Neil, sincere apologies for missing your anniversary, even though you appear to have kept it low-key for the best of reasons. And Duncan, good luck with your interviewing. J.

Morning all, That 'early night' certainly did me some good as I feel almost refreshed as I start to look in at 6.05am! Pete(trisonic), I apologise for missing your friend's awful news - as you said, some weeks.......! No doubt you have offered a broad shoulder. Thanks for the Wishbone Ash, and I do have an album somewhere in my collection But it probably dates from the time that we used to buy and keep the latest LP in much the way that kids buy phones these days (I can think right away of the once played King Crimson for instance) but your prompt has made me consider yet again and they certainly look worth a visit. Rick, there was I thinking of you this morning (As well as 'Penlan of this parish who actually lives there!) as my son e-mailed me lots of images from Cornwall over-night. He and his delightful partner have been visiting Cornwall for the last week, taking in lots of sites that I recommended before they went, and ranging from 'Pengenna Pasties' in High Street, St Ives, to the ancient Romano/Iron Age village of Chysauster. Obviously, a visit to Mousehole was a must, and yes they sent pics of them under the famous shop sign, and lunched at the Old Coastguard Hotel, one time haunt of some of the lost souls from the Penlee disaster. Strange co-incidence to then find a post from you when I first looked in. I do hope you can avoid total war on your shift tonight as the news excerpts here would suggest it could flare up again - keep your head below the trenches! I am now going to take a break, and get all my medications counted out ready to take, and a I've then got the imminent arrival of my morning carer. Have a great Sunday everybody, and I would really wish that the pain that many like Neil appear to have been suffering for far too long would disappear. I don't know about different areas, but in Essex, and based on Colchester General that I have to attend, they have an excellent Pain Control Unit, and they have kept me trouble free of late. I will be re-assessed on Thursday when I take my A4 list in to the oncology consultation that day. Hope you are avoiding knives today Mr Ian Abel? Thank you once again for the kind comments sent in my direction, and I hope to lurk a bit later, and maybe post some more, Kind regards, Jock.

Shaun, You certainly haven't lost your touch mate. Thanks again for the inspiration, Kind regards, Jock.

Evening all, I'm afraid the deep weariness is now washing over me and so it won't be long before I crash out, hopefully not to wake at silly o'clock in the morning - at least I will have someone nice to talk to! Lovely to hear the memories of gigs that people have attended in the past, although I tend to remember my classical events more readily, the visit to the Town Hall at Bow Flyover stands out with the Blues Breakers - EC breaking a string, and John McVie helping to fix it while John Mayall gave an amazing rendition of 'Parchman Farm', one hand on the Organ, the other playing and vamping the Harmonica whilst bursting in to song at intervals - damned clever! Hope Sunday pans out to be a good day for us all, (Bob, just don't touch anything mate!) health wise and that those that visited shows today and tomorrow thoroughly enjoy themselves. Health wise too, it would be nice to see some improvements once more. Kind regards, Jock. G'night Pete! G'night everybody else!

Morning all, Crashed out after posting last night as I was completely exhausted, but just come-to refreshed having slept really well. This may seem like one-upmanship, but I've often mentioned that my university course included a couple of periods in industry, getting our hands dirty as it were. These also took up a fair chunk of our holiday time as well, and as my parents next door neighbour was foreman in charge of the large Plant, Repair and Servicing Depot of W. C. French & Co. (Still going as 'French Kier') and it was based near their house in Harlow so a word in the right ear saw me working through the various shops where skills already learnt at my father's motorcycle racing shop came in handy straight away as anyone who ever worked on a side valve Villiers engine from small plant (pump, mixer, etc.) would realise how easy a complete overhaul on these simple devices could be! I loved the time there, working on such ancient engines as those in the Ruston Cranes and Excavators (which doubtless Neil (NHN) will confirm had nautical roots and came apart one cylinder at a time, all the way up to the highly sophisticated Caterpillar, Straight Six or V-Eight engines with their twin overhead camshaft, four valve per cylinder, modernity, carrying their own 'donkey engine' for starting and powered the familiar vehicles seen on motorway and major road works at either end of those massive earth movers. The six cylinder ones powered the most common bull-dozer used there and it was in this shop that the awful accident I alluded to last night occurred, luckily when I was away on site elsewhere. The 'CAT shop' as it was known was run by a very experienced and strong man who had worked his way up from the shop floor, but on this particular day, he made what transpired to be a fatal error - the routine on these machines, which were operated by strong hydraulic pumps and pipes, was to raise all the parts you wanted to gain access to, and when happy, switch off the engine and start to dismantle after having strategically placed heavy wooden blocks under all heavy and elevated parts. For some unaccountable reason, (and this is where earlier posts about being cut, losing bits of finger etc brought back the memory to me) this chap omitted one block under the raised massive blade that normally scraped the ground, and when he reached through and uncoupled the hydraulic power line, the blade dropped and de-capitated him!! That was the horror I promised you, and the lesson from it has stuck with me most of my life. To turn back to the sad subject of our lost loved animals, Joanna and I feel almost guilty that tomorrow sees our Archie the Westie achieve the ripe old age of 9 (63 human years equivalent someone tells me!) and even after that comparatively short time, we would be completely devastated to lose him, and that from him that didn't ever want a pet. He has certainly warmed is way in to my heart and I really wish I had the words for those lovely human-beings like Debs who have shown such love and devotion over so many years. Pete(trisonic), I hadn't read the 'gunshot wound' bit over here, perhaps Beeb24 will have caught up by now, thank you. Can't say as I liked the Nice at all, although I do remember Robert Palmer's song where he is backed by several rather under-clad young ladies for some reason. Oops, the door bell heralds this morning's carer, so I best go and get ready for the day! I shall lurk and try to post later and ask that you accept commiserations/congratulations as deserved until then - keep taking the pills, Kind regards, Jock.

Evening all, I've just spent an age trying to get a post loaded with a picture of Jock Sr. Visiting the 'Big Boy' without success for the second time today so I will throw in the towel until tomorrow! I do want to share with everyone else in commiserating with Debs, so long has the depth of her love of the collies shone from these pages! Adding any others to the list at the same time, and I will now wait until morning 'carer crow' to add more, including a very horrific accident at work! Meanwhile, can we all hope to stay in one piece until then? Kind regards, Jock. G'night Pete! G'night to everyone else and RIP to Keith Emerson of ELP who has passed away at only 71!

Morning all, Brief visit to say that I did sleep well, and have just prepared for the morning visit of the caring team - nuisance is that they can't give us an exact time so I'm just slowly wading through my twenty medications of the morning. Having caught up on here, and I shall attempt to post something useful ('?) later. Keep fighting whatever stands in your way, Kind regards, Jock.

Morning all, A brief visit this evening as I am now very weary indeed. My visit to Colchester General was very efficiently handled by two very nice ladies who proved most helpful and tipped me off on how to get more from next Thursday's visit which is to be followed straight after by an oncology appointment! Superb post from Flávio as one would expect from someone so knowledgable and erudite, and I think the pain control advice was superb! IanA, I'm so sorry to read that your young family member has finally been switched off, not a decision I would have liked to take, but obviously a very necessary one. Our hearts go out to you and your family! I regret that I am. Now just too weary to continue so I'll beg your forgiveness and try to look in early tomorrow dependant on when the care team decide to start work. Good luck to those who need it and capture the 'E' if you can, Kind regards, Jock.

Thank you Mike, I will take you up on that kind offer, especially if there might be one that has some photographs available! The 'catcher' box shouldn't represent a major re-modelling if you chose one so fitted, and I think all the plumbing will be easy enough to represent with wires etc. at both ends. Thank you for your help once more, and try not to work too hard - I'm off to get ready for our trip to Colchester! Kind regards, Jock.

Morning Dick, I've got the carer here at 7am to get me ready for an early appointment at Colchester General to have my neck brace adjusted and the liner changed , but I just wanted to wish you both a speedy recovery before I go. Such illness is far from trivial, so try not to let it get worse. I'll be back later hopefully, Kind regards, Jock.

Morning Mick, Just caught sight of your new layout thread in ERs this morning, and although I'm an old f*rt steam fan, I still appreciate good modelling when I see it! I have a carer arriving at 7am to help get me ready for a n early appointment at Colchester General where they will check and adjust my recently acquired neck collar - yes, I'm afraid the bone cancer thought it a good idea to creep up my spine and crack up my C1 vertebra, hence my disappearing act on the 16th February when I was instructed to dial 999 and get blue-light transport in a head and neck restraint. Not going to give in though! I'll catch up later with this thread as I really did enjoy your previous efforts so don't be surprised to see a few ratings applied! Hope you, the boss and our Colchester undergrad are all as well as your ice hockey team, Kind regards, Jock.

Morning Mike, I am sorry to say that I'm just catching up having been ordered to hospital in an ambulance with neck and head restraint by an emergency phone call from the radiotherapy doctors late on the 16th of February, just as I had got you and that well known character from Essex, Clive, attempting to answer my query about the possibility of a Class 25 appearing at Hurlford, particularly towards the end of the fifties. The storage of servicing materials for diesels is very simple, and if I recall, a space was found for such facility by the 'Kilmarnock' end of the shed, in the corner formed by the engineering workshops. Why would I remember? Well my own father was selected by BR for training in diesel usage, particularly the shunting types that were being tested for use in the mineral sidings next to the shed. A lot of these were home built (Barclay's diesel factory a couple of miles up the track at Kilmarnock). We had some odd looking objects there as well! My father was well liked and got on well with the engineers as he was already running his own workshop as I've mentioned before in a ruddy great shed that took up his railway allotment space and was constructed principally of dismantled wooden wagon sides which were to be scrapped! (He even got away with tapping in to the coaling stage electricity and water supplies, I think paying the shed boss by keeping his motorcycle in shape for free). A terrible financial error in my past, which I won't elaborate on here, but is all my responsibility, has left things rather awkward for Joanna when I do shrug off this mortal coil. For this reason alone, I will somehow use the 25 that I have, perhaps with a detailing kit, as I can hardly ignore the fact I have the basic unit to hand. This goes for the standard ex Airfix (GMR) 4F which has yet to sit on track despite being close to forty years old! We of course have plenty of photographs of that and several others doing local duty. I am determined, even if it is unlikely, to use the 25 and so it may come down to 'unlikely story' time, although there is plenty of evidence to show that both late steam and early diesel traction used the section of the G&SWR from Carlisle to Kilmarnock and back as a test track back then. I had just hoped that a particular loco, or batch would have suggested itself to you, before my medical problem struck, and I apologise that I'm only now getting back to catching up where medical interruption caused me to, as it were, lose the thread since you kindly tried to help originally, back on the 16th February 2016. I am in no hurry, as I intend to start on a couple of small modular sections of the greater plan, possibly practising on the bothy/shelter between the coaling stage and ash pits, and following this with the coaling stage area itself. I can't get an accurate prognosis on the latest advance in my secondary bone cancer which seems to have advanced up the spine and destroyed C1 vertebra and so I wish to work, small module by module, slowly building these on to a single framework, although considerably lighter and smaller than Jeff's KL, as well as the superb creation of yours. I simply don't feel up to, nor indeed do I have the courage to attempt to, make a fine example of a prototype like your creation at Dent where once again catching up with all the photographs has been an absolute pleasure!! Please forgive me for opening up on your thread, and at the same time for disappearing in to a modern hospital devoid of a usable Internet facility just when you were trying to help me. I will set my mind to your 'big teaser' as and when I can, and meanwhile - where did I put that book that shows me how to scale a building fro the bricks in it as you might guess that there is only one picture of the bothy I referred to earlier, and that is showing one proper gable end and chimney so should be easy?? At least it is next to a Std Class 4 2-6-0 loco to check the scale and I will begin by explaining that I seek only to recreate the feel and smells that I enjoyed whilst running about the whole facility. (I think that I must have been around fourteen or so when dad moved us to Clive's patch, and I know I was not quite five when we moved from Dad's previous base at Dumfries shed where I was born, in to one of the very basic dwellings known as 1A Block Maisonettes, Barleith, Hurlford, Ayrshire, not realising that despite all the wonderful experiences I have had in life are to be overshadowed by those few wonderful years). It was the one closest to the shed! Thank you for putting up with the dreams of an old fellow, I woke early to them this morning as the carer is due to get here at 7am to get me ready to go to hospital in Colchester for a change of neck brace lining. I will leave you to your grand design now, but would be happy if you, or one of your many followers, could suggest, even at random, what 25 to use Thank you very much, and kind regards, Jock.