Liam

1 hour ago, mevaman1 said:

I have a poor immune system in remission from Leukaemia and seriously at risk.

 

I am really scared.

 

I ask those who are unhappy about the measures proposed to think of millions of people like me.  Please consider making severe sacrifices for mine and others benefit.

 

Andrew

I’m scared too - not so much about me, as I’m lucky enough not to be in the ‘at risk’ groups, but I am very worried about my elderly relatives if they were to get the virus; one of whom has chest problems as the result of living in a tenement during her childhood with parents and siblings who were always smoking. If she was to get it then there could be very serious consequences.

23rd February 2017 was the day I joined RMweb. It’s fair to say that having never been part of an online forum before, the site took a bit of getting used to regarding different locations for posts and what should/shouldn’t be posted. But after a while I got the gist of how RMweb worked and haven’t really looked back since. As someone who is used to being told what to do on a daily basis, I soon became acquainted with the format and rules of the site. 

Although occasionally I would ‘lurk’ long before I joined I must thank @Phil Bullock for encouraging me to join. It all started when I was doing a shift on the on-train buffet on the SVR. He was having a day out with his wife Teri and when I first noticed him I thought, ‘He’s the man who owns that fantastic model of Abbotswood Junction.’ having served them some refreshments, I asked Phil, ‘You’re not into the world of model railways are you at all?’ After a chat, he mentioned RMweb, and the rest is history. Living ‘reasonably’ close to me, it was a privilege to invite him and his brother-in-law along to a Burns Night we held back in January, as we often communicate away from RMweb. Thanks once again for everything Phil!

Although I don’t regularly attend exhibitions, gradually I have put a few names to faces, such as Ian (@RedgateModels) who most kindly gave my class 20 a once over at Warley last year, @Phil Parker who I also met at Warley, Chris (@Gilbert) who I saw at Cheltenham a few years ago with his layout ‘Dock Street Sidings’ and I seem to recall was very informative about building small layouts and Drew Fermor (@Castle) who leads the annual tours of Didcot Railway Centre. 

And there are those who I haven’t met in person but have been very friendly and encouraging, such as those who commented on my cakebox entry back in 2017-18, and many other members who have also been friendly when discussing a myriad of different topics. But a big thank you must go to Andy Y who gives up practically all his time to keeping this site running. 

There have been so many significant memories of this site, but if I had to pick one it would probably being the site’s ‘drone correspondent’ when I was the unlucky member who was caught up in the disruption at Gatwick in December 2018, while on my way out to The Gambia. I remember posting photos of the departure screen showing everything as ‘cancelled’, and sending a quick missive to @Ben A, our resident BBC journalist, offering my services for an interview. 

Here’s to another 15 years!

23 hours ago, AY Mod said:

 

If you can find out who the right member is Liam let me know their RMweb username.

I sent a text to our secretary Guy Craddock last night. Not sure if he’s on here but the club account on here is Reddibus.

33 minutes ago, Gwiwer said:

 

In the short term the winners seem to be the supermarkets whose tills are ringing furiously.  Today's visit to Waitrose found nothing lacking from my list but shelves stripped bare in many areas including canned vegetables, pasta, rice, medications, sanitary products, tissues (but not toilet rolls), store-baked bread and cat food (why cat food???).  I suspect the flip side will be a sharp downturn in business when everyone realises their garages and spare rooms are full of items they won't need in this lifetime.  And maybe then those will be donated to homeless shelters, who knows?   

 

The losers seem to be the population at large who are still seeing hysterical newspaper headlines suggesting we will all be confined to home, that all public gatherings are to be outlawed and - by misinterpretation - that there is an urgent need to hoard.  I am still waiting to see the Press report Mr. Mophead as saying that if we keep calm and carry on all will be well in almost all cases and there really is no need for hype, panic or hoarding.  I am wondering who, if anyone, is in control here and what - apart from sales - might be the media's agenda.  

But that’s down south - in the North people just stick a jumper on and make a cup of tea. 

4 minutes ago, AY Mod said:

Sound familiar?

 

 

Very! A bit like when you make it clear that you want to go to a certain event, but others book a holiday or make other arrangements for that time, and when the time of the event reaches you get a reply of ‘Oh why didn’t you tell me about that?’ 

I do find that the Matt cartoons of the Daily Telegraph help lighten things up a bit. Here’s the one for tomorrow: 

https://mobile.twitter.com/MattCartoonist/status/1238527628396691457

Hi Andy, is @Reddibus a member? I can’t remember which of us has control of the account but whoever does is in control of the official Redditch MRC account on here. Could you send them an invite please? Thanks, Liam. 

Just seen on BBC that UEFA have postponed all international fixtures (ie Champions League and Europa League). 

57 minutes ago, The Lurker said:

Rumours have it that the D of E asked heads to prepare to close 2 weeks before the start of the Easter holiday, which by my reckoning would put it at a week tomorrow.

 

Interesting to see how it effects the preparations of those doing GCSE and A Levels - Elder Lurker does not need any more excuses!

That’ll include me - my first A level exam is scheduled for Wednesday 11th May. I’ve been told to make sure I have all my resources as there is a reasonable chance my return here will be delayed. 

18 hours ago, NHY 581 said:

More....

Very good weathering Rob, not just the track but also the 16T mineral wagon. Looks incredibly realistic. 

Looks like the government are going to move to the next stage: 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-51845861

Although whether or not that involves stuff like school closures I’m not sure. 

I also saw that Tom Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson have tested positive for coronavirus. 

9 hours ago, Legend said:

i think that the govt should be advising people against unnecessary travel (like holidays) to try and shut this down . Look at the number of people coming back from Northern Italy that are now infecting others. Two people in Shetland are infected because they were in Northern Italy . How did they get back to Shetland . There are no direct flights , so who were they in contact with , how many did they unwittingly infect on the way?  I understand you can still fly in from Italy without any temp checks . Seems mad to me .  Next step from Heathrow, get on the Piccadily line into the centre of London , or on a domestic flight north. No checks - really? 

My dad was doing some inter-railing last week, and last Tuesday he travelled through the category 2 zone (the part of Italy above the line that goes across from Pisa to Rimini). I was scheduled to see him this weekend but that’s now been cancelled as a precaution, though this week he’s off on the trains to Finland via Amsterdam, Hamburg and Stockholm. 

What concerns me is that on Good Friday I’m meant to be flying from Heathrow to Amsterdam Schipol. I should think one way or another we will have more certainty over COVID-19 by that point but they’re two very busy airports with flights to virtually every corner of the globe, so there is a significant risk involved. 

3 minutes ago, toboldlygo said:

Just for fun - in case of a Zombie Apocalypse caused by Corona Virus, whatever is closest to your left-hand when you read this - is your weapon to defend yourself...

In my case a hammer (I wonder how many of you, will say a toilet roll or hand sanitizer ?)

iPad?

16 minutes ago, jonny777 said:

But surely, if you had the virus, singing while you washed you hands would simply risk transmitting it out of your mouth back onto the surfaces you were trying to clean?

 

Or have I missed something here?

If you had the virus then it probably wouldn’t make much difference if it transmitted on to the surfaces of your hands because you have it anyway. And if they did then hot water and soap would wash them away. But generally those of us who are singing while hand washing are trying to prevent the virus reaching us, rather than trying to contain the virus to ourselves from other people. 

Just as an aside, what’s everyone been singing for 20 seconds while they wash their hands? 
 

Most of the time for me it’s the chorus of Take on Me by a-ha. 
 

But sometimes I use 500 Miles, with the extended ‘da da da da’ after the chorus. 
 

8 minutes ago, tomparryharry said:

 

You're all wrong. That's Johnster buying Bachmann 94s......

Really? I thought it was a training exercise for the invasion of the Bachmann sales stand at Warley...

I’m entering this thread very carefully due to the nature of how the virus is affecting many people. The new Bond film has been put back to November, and Crufts is going ahead but with two major sponsors withdrawing from the event. 

It’s certainly a worry for many, especially those with relatives in affected areas such as China and northern Italy. Regarding the latter, is it advisable to self-isolate if you simply pass through the category two zone (above the line from Pisa to Rimini) on your way to somewhere else?

As we approach horse racing season, with Cheltenham coming up next week and then the Grand National in mid April, I do wonder if these will be in special measures considering all of them attract thousands of visitors from all around the world. 

10 hours ago, Stubby47 said:

Mind you, Holyhead town centre makes Wrexham look good...

Completely agree. My dad spent his teenage years there - he couldn’t wait to leave the place for good. Sadly, these days the high street is full of charity shops. 

Very nice. If I end up getting one I’ll have it renamed to Erlestoke Manor (the loco of my avatar). 

21 hours ago, spamcan61 said:

Smiths and Boots are top of my 'how are they still going ' list, neither seem to have a real selling point in the 21st century.

Jessops, too - these days all smartphones are fitted with cameras and not many people, other than those who do photography professionally or have a firm interest in it, buy and use cameras, and especially my generation these days don’t tend to bother with printed photos when they can put their photos on Instagram/Snapchat/Twitter etc. 

21 hours ago, jchinuk said:

 

 Yet the branches at main stations in London rarely stock much in the way of modelling magazines, of any sort.

Have you been to the one at the buffers at Euston? I’ve bought Hornby Magazine from there in the past, and away from London I’m pretty sure that I’ve seen the ‘big four’ (Hornby, BRM, Model Rail and Railway Modeller) on sale at the one in Birmingham New Street. 

3 minutes ago, 43110andyb said:

After another hard fought 5-a-side game (seems every game is as I get older) from the Saltaire brewery- Saltaire Best 4.4% bitter for tonight’s post match beers. Very nice!

I’ll look out for that one, had their Blonde recently. Where did you get this one from?

1 hour ago, Phil Bullock said:

Absolutely! Although Parkway will be immediately off scene behInd the rail over rail bridge...

 

Mind you the opening of the new layout will be on about the same time scale as Parkway......!

Parkway was first mooted in the 70s, so strictly speaking I think you’ll beat 40 years Phil! 

2 minutes ago, Phil Bullock said:

Postie delivered this yesterday. Many thanks to Andy Pearce at Rail Models who has re-worked an existing model to get the correct layout for Norton Junction box. Etched box plates are ready and waiting, can’t wait to get started on build....

Looking forward to seeing it progress! When you take Abbotswood Mk 2 to an exhibition in the future I suspect people will instantly go, ‘Ah, Worcestershire Parkway!’ The site has changed massively now. 

4 hours ago, Anoraks anonymous Sophie said:

Sorry for opening up a very old thread, but I have just stumbled across this post. Is there anything I can help with SVRlad or have I missed the boat? 

You have I’m afraid, but thank you for checking anyway. I managed to successfully get through to you on the phone asking if you had a particular product but sadly you didn’t. Must admit the mojo has almost completely vanished since then!