Michael Hodgson

I really will have to make another visit to this branch. Love the lift bridge.

and the Clayton and the Shay. I suspect the Shay will be the next.

That loco's running the wrong way.

When I worked for a clearing bank, there was a visible pattern to cash flow. On Friday afternoon the pubs would come in and want large quuantites of coin, to issue as change over the weekend. On Monday morning they'd come in again with a large sum in banknotes. The Vicar would also come in on Monday, with a large quantity of coin (although nowhere near what the pubs had taken out) Some branches had a net inflow of notes and outflow of coin. Other branches were the reverse. The bullion van came round to rebalance it allon a pre-planned basis. This was at irregular intervals to minimise risk of a raid, and the route varied on a carefully pre-planned basis to avoid it building up very large sums part-way round its trip. Regional cash centre collected all the grotty notes unfit for reissue, and the Scotch & Irish Notes, and would supply new notes - which were usually used in the ATMs as they were rather picky about the paper quality. They, with the BofE, dealt with inter-bank imbalances of distribution of cash in circulation.

... as seen in the Bristol Harbour example in the previous posting.

With volunteer organisations it is often the case that the volunteers have a reasonable idea of what they're doing, but no formal qualifications, or training and limited practical experience. The better run outfits tend to have somebody they can consult but whose day job is on the big railway and can only provide them with limited time. They really have to take the role of the old style foreman who insisted that workshops were kept clean and tidy, tools were put away, and things were done the "right" way. A bit like Matrons in a hospital having to be bossy to keep the nurses in order.

Must be a hot day - or maybe the Western Region just decided to issue hi-vis underpants!

Indeed, and PC Plod got one that could show blue - unfortunately it didn't flash so it was no good putting it on his bike!

Hand-lamps would originally have been paraffin. In later years, a Bardic (battery torch) capable of hand-signalling red/green/white. Also capable of being clipped onto a bracket to act as a tail lamp in emergency. Lamps were important for safety. He also had to carry a tail lamp on the rear of the van, and side lamps which had to display a red or white light to the rear depending on whether he was on a main line, relief line or be removed if he was off the running lines in a siding. This was so that an overtaking train could see whether it was on the same line as the goods! Side lamps should also be visible forward so the driver can look back and confirm that the train hasn't divided

I seem to recall the problem at Great Heck being a car that didn't manage to hit the parapet.

And it's the lorry driver's licence that's at risk if it's not checked or not done correctly.

I thought we'd already learned to take KR's delivery dates as wishful thinking. Perhaps there will be peace in the Middle East and the Suez Canal will be back in favour by the time they ready are to ship, Who knows?

I've heard of Blue Asbestos, also White and Brown - I didn't there was also Green lined Yellow Asbestos too!

You're probably right about listing, it's a local landmark, though I don't see it as unusual or having any particular architectural merit. It seems the road bridge is an even tighter fit. Ships using the canal tended to be regulars so "know" they have clearance; that ship is clearly very high in the water - I suppose usual practice would have been to take on enough ballast to ensure you have clearance. She wouldn't be at risk of grounding as the canal is 28' deep above Ince.

I doubt they could extradite you from SIngapore for that!

When the "Bedpan" line was electrified, there was an electric Widened Lines service through to Moorgate. Thameslink trains ran across London off-peak initially but during rush hours they terminated at Moorgate (or stayed on the Southern Region). I understood this to be a deliberate policy to ensure that late running on one side of the river didn't infect rush hour traffic on the other side. They were limited to 8 coaches by platform lengths, but because they wanted to run 12 cars, the platform at Farringdon had to be extended, and this was done by cutting off the junction to Moorgate. https://www.standard.co.uk/hp/front/thameslink-to-close-its-moorgate-branch-line-6878717.html For a while there was a ticketing anomaly in that Undergrond tickets (one class only) could be used on the Thameslink trains in the central area, but those trains had first class accommodation. Ticket inspectors coudn't charge excess fares for travelling in first because there was no fare for such travel ! Not they they could move about these trains to inspect tickets in the rush hour anyway.

Yes, the form you sign is a tax declaration, to the effect that you pay enough income tax to cover the gift aid, so in law they are guilty of making a false tax declaration. People don't read the form, they just sign it. Prosecuting people who don't have enough to live on for a few quid is not very productive - fining them only makes matters worse and of course the state would have to bear the cost if they were imprisoned for the offence. The Revenue tends to be pragmatic and prefers to go after bigger fish, though they usually have very complex arrangments that are difficult to disentangle. As a pensioner I am a tax payer, but that's ony because I have private pensions as well as full state pension. If I had to rely on only the state I wouldn't be able to afford discretionary luxuries like buying a NYMR season ticket.

I rather think the railway has to be operated by whatever orgnisation has approval from the regulators. Preserved lines generally have an operating company set up in accordance with company law to limit the liability of directors etc, and a supporters body usually establlished as a charitable trust. They wouldn't all do it this way unless there were sound legal/taxation reasons for the split, as apart from anything else, having two bodies involved just causes confusion, indeed on a number of lines has been the source of friction between enthisiasts (the supporters) and the operators (the company).

Gift aid in theory is the Government adding your income tax (but only at at basic rate) to your charitable donation. They can't make it compulsory because if you are not a taxpayer you can't legally use gift aid. And even as a taxpayer you not allowed to do more gift aid than your total tax - so your tax could already be fully utilised through other donations. I don't think the authorities actually check on any of this, but the Revenue can't be losing much through such "abuse", as obviously people who are non taxpayers are unlikely to have enough money to be generous to charities

Yes, the height of the load has been reduced !

We use the vets who used to be opposite the box, he relocated there from Cambourne. I'm not looking forward to a trip to Littleport this afternoon, as one of our dogs was diagnosed with a kidney disorder last week but the vet now thinks she may have additional problems.

Surely even small arms fire would be quite likely had the enemy invaded as was widely expected at the time.

I remember the withdrawal of passenger services over Latchford Viaduct as I went to school nearby. The MSC track was still in situ at the time, though I never saw anything on it even though trains would have been visible from my primary school classroom. The LNWR line later closed altogether, and to be honest I'm surprised to learn it's still standing, as there's a lot of metal there to recover. Latchford Locks can be seen in the background beyond the viaduct. Keeping this on topic, I also remember reports in the Warrington Guardian of a bridge strike on Latchford High Level Bridge (the next bridge along, just out of view in the foreground). It was struck by a ship apparently because there was slightly higher water than usual in the canal at that point (although in retrospect it seems more likely that the vessel was riding higher than usual in the water). Damage to the vessel was minor - radar aerial or similar, and the road bridge was OK.

Yes all sellers can see the number of views, the number watching and the number of bids on each item. I don't know whether the number of views is the number of different viewers or the number of times it's been viewed (perhaps even including the vendor), but even if one person has seen it several times, it suggests he's interested in it.

The big problem with a loft is heat. Far too hot in summer, too cold and difficult to heat adequately in winter. Especially if it has the now recommended insulation just above the ceiling. If you have a skylight that you can open, then at least it allows the hot air trapped under the roof to dissipate. If access is via a loft ladder into an operating well, you have the risk of falling down it unless you resort to the hassle of retracting it from above; however you can mitigate the risk while leaving the loft ladder in place by folding down a safety flap to cover over the hole (a sort of second loft hatch fitted to floor level). Obviously much better if the loft can be properly converted to room to building regs standards, but that a different order of magnitude on the costs. The range of temperature in a loft doesn't just impact on the comfort of anybody up there. It is generally much greater than in a normal room, and this can cause problems with trackwork, causing rails to expand and buckle. I have a friend whose layout has a potential issue in case of fire, because of the need to crawl through a low passageway from one set of eaves to another - the solution to that is an area not boarded out, where in extremis you could jump through the lath and plaster ceiling and land on the bed in the room below! I somehow doubt that would meet with modern H&S requirements!