Gwiwer

Morning all Good to see Debs making a pointed comment. Awl-ways to the point, our Debs. A better night, though woken by feline perambulations at 4am and again by the bin men at 5.45am. Nothing much on today's agenda other than intermittent coffee and the ongoing need to sort out this shoe-box and empty the last of the shipping boxes. As it's Fry Day the pan may emerge at lunchtime along with some bacon'n'eggs. It's end-of-term here too so let's see what that means for the peace and quiet which has thus far reigned upon the Hill through the daytimes. Grey and damp for now but the forecast is for a glowy yellow orb to appear later. Best wishes to all. See you around wine o'clock.

Oh dear. Dapol's quality control seems to have struck again.

Beware those which proclaim "Free cash" or "Free to use". I find my account is always down by the amount of money they spit out.

It might be possible. I don't like the supplied stick-on labels. I broke in and fitted my headcodes inside the glazing. It's a bit fussy but I got there. Having done one the technique was learned for the rest. You do have to be caeful prising the cab assembly away as most of them are well glued in place. then you have to be very careful to not damage the assembly which holds the headcode panels and which is basically sticky pads holding each other in place. I slipped the required numerals inside the glazing having prised the sticky stuff away and found it necessary to also use a tiny piece of scrap material as packing to keep the numerals in place and hard against the glazing.

Cross-country headcodes would be in the series 1V__ towards the Western Region from another region, or when leaving the WR they would be 1E__ for a desintation in the Eastern Region, 1M__ for LMR and 1S__ for a train through to Scotland. Not many trains would run to the Southern Region but any which did would be 1O__ taking the second letter of Southern as S was already in use for Scottish. Internal Western Region codes would be 1A__ for a destination in the London division, 1B__ for West of England division and 1C__ for South Wales division. Replace the 1 with a 2 for local stopping trains. The Dapol Westerns have been generally very good models. A few have been reported as noisy, generally audible gear noise, but it hasn't affected performance. I have one noisy one which hasn't faltered after several years and many hours in service. Watch out though if you apply the detail packs since the cab steps can foul the bogie swing as can the front valence if fitted. I overcame those problems by removing the entire coupler shank behind the valence and by fixing the cab steps slightly out of line. I also found i necessary to rub the suspension mouldings very lightly with wet and dry to eliminate occasional contact between bogie- and body-mounted parts which led to derailments. With ten of them now in the fleet I'm pretty happy overall. I don't buy that sort of quantity if they are lemons.

I'm happy to run with it being a United Auto Bristol MW though my first reaction was "It's an LS". Bristol products were a myriad of variety within standardisation; many of the Tilling Group companies they were supplied to specified unique variations. Rear destinations were not that common but were by no means unique to United, however they were not the most common version of that bodywork. Western National had a number of LS vehicles with the split rear screen and rear dome numeral and destination arrangement.

Scottish bank notes are legal tender in England and Wales and should be accepted without question. Just as the English and Welsh £1 / £2 coins are legal tender and universally accepted in Scotland. My experience is that the farther from Scotland one is the greater the likelihood of meeting resistance in getting them accepted. Generally I have had no problems at all (other than one or two individuals who could be termed something not safe for work) as far south as the "northern" industrial towns in a line roughly drawn between Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield and the east coast. From there down to London and the south coast I have encountered some resistance to their acceptance and in the south west, particularly in Devon and Cornwall, it can indeed be hard to have Scottish notes accepted. Any English bank branch will exchange them for £1 / £2 coins or English notes upon request however. And in Scotland any bank branch should likewise exchange English £1 or £2 coins and higher value notes for Scottish if you so request. Irish currency however is not legal tender in England, Wales or Scotland though some outlets will readily accept Euros but give change in Sterling.

You're welcome, Dave, and from here at least that support will always be offered freely and without limit.

As the layout will be set in the 1960s perhaps I need a silver-pained tool shop somewhere in the scene under the name of "Maxwell's Hammer Emporium" Music fans of a certain age might appreciate the humour.

Morning all. Later than intended on deck owing to a poor night's attempt at sleep which instead became, by turns, a leg-jiggling marathon, a self-baking session (quite how I managed to roll myself up in the duvet still defies my comprehension) and multiple trips to the bathroom. Also interrupted by a 6am alarm call which SWMBO had requested due to her need for an early start. I never miss an alarm no matter what hour it is set for and am, she tells me, far more reliable than her own alarm at waking her. The mouse needs new batteries which will require a walk to somewhere more distant than the corner shop. Mrs. Corner-shop doesn't stock that size. I'll probably grab a coffee and harvest some vegetables for tonight's meal while I'm there. It's wet and humid outside. Intermittent heavy showers are occurring. The Seaweed-wranglers have sent a Yellow Warning of Rain yet again which is, yet again, being treated with a degree of "yeah, right" as previous warnings have proved largely unreliable. Unless, of course, you live in areas which have actually had some yellow rain. Happy Thursday one and all. Almost over Andy - chin up lad as you know who ends up the better man out of all this.

No track plans just yet Andy but I hope to have something sketched out very soon. What I end up with will of course be dictated by exactly how the boards fit the room. Measuring up is one thing. Persuading them to fit when clearances are down to a single millimetre is another.

In fairness to Romford crews and LCBS the rot had set in much earlier than the Leyland Nationals arriving. Chronic traffic congestion and the surge in private motoring in the 1960s did the damage. The 722 Aldgate - Upminster had been withdrawn already allowing the cascade of RCL coaches to Grays where they took over the 370 - the only "green" bus route to serve Romford but never worked from that end. Others went south, once the RPs arrived, to Reigate, Crawley and Dorking where they became popular performers on the lengthy 405 and 414 plus peak-hour 405B. The remaining Romford duties on the 721 were suffering from worsening traffic congestion and late running though with a 15-minute headway it wasn't always possible to tell which trip one was actually on. Then came the Leyland Nationals and the rot became terminal. The headway was cut to 30 minutes. Cancellations became rife due to staff and vehicle shortages. Short-distance passengers settled for the much more frequent 25 and 86 red buses along the Romford Road which charged cheaper fares. Eastern National were offering a 10 - 15 minute headway Romford - Brentwood which had already seen off red bus 287 and became the replacement for the 721 as well. The closure of RE was inevitable. The remaining 724 duties, operated by RP-class Reliances to the end, were transferred to Harlow and that route was then truncated there, ceasing to serve Romford altogether. It was thus no longer possible to travel right around London on "green" buses and Green Line coaches. There was a gap between Romford and Brentwood and later between Epping, Ongar and Brentwood as well.

Ladies and gents From the builder of the late Penhayle Bay - Cornwall in Australia - comes a new layout to fit into the new much smaller home in London. For some time my signature has suggested I am "Furtling in the Waddlemarsh" and now I shall be doing just that. The concept: a backwater SR route in outer SW London, electrified but with rather sparse traffic, passes beside a small freight transfer yard which handles a little cross-London traffic that Feltham can't cope with. The time period: mid 1960s which allows a mix of green and some blue electric stock, green and blue diesels (plus some maroon WR types) and a few late SR steam survivors. With cross-London traffic the diesel traction will be drawn from all regions and will sometimes include types more commonly associated with Scotland. The inspiration: drawn from somewhere between Morden milk depot, Waddon Marsh Halt and Tolworth coal yard. The state of play: All the rolling stock from the Penhayle Bay collection has safely arrived in London in good condition. I shall need only a tiny fraction of that and have already acquired some ER and LMR locos of the required era. Having an electric line also allows operation of the SR EMU types I collected in Australia but never had a real use for. The two boards intended for the Beer & Branscombe project, which are fully track-laid and operable with pint motors fitted, will now form the basis of Waddlemarsh though with a little adaptation to the track plan. It is intended that this shall be built as a portable layout able to be offered for exhibition. It has however got to share a rather modest London bedroom with the rest of my life so shoe-horning it in is going to be the first big challenge. I can't quite get the two boards end to end. The home version will therefore be an L-shape which will use a new centre section between the existing boards while the exhibition version would have a different centre section to permit a straight run. I don't want a show layout with the viewing side being an L-shape inside corner hence the potential for two versions. A small sector plate yard will be constructed off-scene at one end; the other will be a terminal with a short concealed section to hide an EMU as though it were on a through line. It might not have the charisma of a Cornish seaside but I have learned a few things from Penhayle Bay and hope to improve on the presentation with Waddlemarsh. First steps will be slow as everything from our shipping container is squeezed into the new home but I hope to have some plans and a few "statement of intent" pictures up soon. Watch this space.

And legal in many parts of Australia which is where I learned to share the roads with them. In many outback areas the "road" is a single strip of bitumen, usually with a white line down the middle but only wide enough for one vehicle, and with hard-packed dirt (gravel, usually) shoulders. The passing technique is to approach head-on then deviate when close so that each vehicle has its nearside wheels in the dirt. That way no stones should (should!) be flung against the other vehicle but beware the sudden drag of having one side of your vehicle on bitumen and the other on dirt. Road trains are long. A tractor unit with three or four trailers swaying along behind and taking no prisoners. They stop for no-one and they give way to no-one. You can tell a road train at a distance because of he much larger cloud of dust in its wake. The safest option is to pull right over to the left and allow RT the run of the bitumen strip. If they have to use the dirt the trailers might destabilise or at least swing badly in your direction. Overtaking is another art-form. The RT driver will know you are there unless you hog the blind spot. If they aren't managing the same speed as you - which happens on a long gentle grade - then when it's clear up ahead you will see RT flash his left indicator twice. He's not pulling in and he's probably not even slowing down - he's telling you it's OK to overtake a vehicle of around 80 metres or more travelling at (or above) 100mph / 160kmh. That takes nerves the first few times. After that you're an expert and simply cross your fingers that a camel doesn't run in front of either of you as you gun it and "go through" on the dirt to his right. And at something approaching the speed of an HST in full flight which is perfectly legal in parts of the outback. Today has been a grey damp one outside. More boxes have been opened indoors in consequence. We are almost there. My room is substantially clearer and I am pleased to report all the small trains have turned up and - so far as can be determined - in as good a condition as they left Oz. Have a good evening and sleep well. See you tomorrow.

Many outlets, shops or otherwise, will no longer accept a non-chip card. But a lot will and you simply sign the slip though you might also be asked for photo ID. There doesn't seem to be any rule of thumb.

The 159s are middle-aged by current standards and are not in need of replacement. They should be good for 10 - 15 years yet. Who knows what would replace them at that time? We might have electrification to Salisbury (though by which system is a moot point) though I doubt it. We should hopefully have a faster route west of Salisbury with perhaps another dynamic loop allowing higher speeds, shorter journey times and more trains to be run. First are under the eye of the Competition mob as they already run the GWR London - Exeter and the "other" Yeovil and Weymouth trains and will have to offer watertight assurances that also running the LSWR main line will not diminish competition nor disadvantage customers through higher fares or the withdrawal of discounts.

Almost everywhere. £30 limit on contactless transactions. That's lower than some other countries; for example it took me a couple of days to adapt from the Australian $100 limit which is around £60. Most bus operators don't take card payments on the bus though many will have a smartphone app which can set you up with a day or longer-period pass. London is an exception and also doesn't take cash on the bus - you have to use Oyster or a UK-issued chip-and-PIN bank card. Only last week I watched several hapless Japanese folks trying to board the Land's End bus in Cornwall offering payment cards. No good. Cash only. And the nearest ATM? A good ten minutes' walk away meaning a missed bus through lack of forward planning. Carry no more than £50 cash at a time unless you know you will need a larger amount. And carry it in smaller notes as £5 or £10 are needed for many transactions anyway but £20 and £50 still attract the comment "Can't change that mate - got any smaller?". Many shops won't accept £50 notes and have a notice saying so. Allegedly due to the number of forgeries but probably also because they are sick of giving out £45 in change all the time.

To bring this topic to a conclusion. As many here will know we relocated back from Australia to the UK during March following my wife's appointment to a senior position at Kew Gardens in London. The shipping container with our stuff arrived just a few days ago and we are still sorting through and fitting things into a much (very much!) smaller home. Boghouses made the trip over and has thus travelled at least 15,000 miles. However the Guinness Records people did not show interest in its claim to be the farthest-travelled model railway, carefully worded to avoid a more contentious "most travelled" claim. Upon examination of the layout before packing there was distortion evident to the cork notice boards which form its two-section baseboard. Trial running showed sufficient distortion to the track to cause derailments every time. Having removed the layout from its packing today and again given it a thorough inspection it is evident that major work would have to be done - pretty much a rebuild from the boards up - to allow it to run again. The lightweight scenery, which was created very hastily for one event, is not in good shape and in some cases is beyond redemption. I have taken the decision to break up Boghouses and salvage a few reusable parts. The N-gauge rolling stock is fine and remains in my collection though has nowhere to run for now as everything else is OO. An interesting interlude in the history of model railways is thus brought to a close with thanks for the interest shown.

Typically the last Green Line departure from the "home garage" would be between 8 - 9am, after which the vehicles from the "away" garage at the other end started arriving and formed return services. RG ran out Green Line RF coaches and even the occasional LNB/SNC Leyland National (which I refuse to call a coach) in the last days of the 711. They also used RC coaches from the 727 allocation the same way. Nearby Dorking often used a Green Line RF on an early 425 or 439 short to Strood Green before it headed off towards Luton or St. Albans. Guildford (GF) ran RMC Routemaster coaches out to Burpham (436) and Ripley (415) in the early morning when demand was absolutely minimal before they took up duties on the 715 to Hertford for the day. They were replaced with RP one-man coaches which also ran the early 415 and 436 trips. The pattern was repeated across most garages which operated both local bus and Green Line coach duties. Some garages were not involved in Green Line provision and uniquely Romford (RE) was a Green Line only garage with no local bus work.

Rules? What are these things you call rules? One for them and one for us, it would seem.

And Green Line coaches most definitely did work local bus routes from RG in the early morning before going onto the 711. Including, it would seem, a 414 which was observed by a Youngerdudders.

Purely for myself I don't need to get into Waterloo. I want to know when trains are calling at Strawberry Hill to take me to and from Kingston or Richmond. No-one, from the station staff to the national journey planner, seems to have weekend tomes available for three weeks hence. If I were hoping to use the train for a summer holiday trip to the likes of Bournemouth or Weymouth how good would that experience be? It isn't just unacceptable, it is a complete disregard for the fare-paying customer and a severe own-goal for the rail industry. OK the work needs doing but given the lead times surely someone somewhere must know what trains are running when and have had all this planned for quite some time?

In days of old When knights were bold A God rode forth his filly "I'm Thor!" he cried The horse replied "You forgot the thaddle, thilly"

Morning all. Welcome to Camel Day. Camel Day? It has a hump. Those of us who endured blunderstorms through the night also have the hump. SWMBO had a particularly disturbed night with sleep only occurring fitfully between the lightning, thunder and torrential rain. As a result she has departed some two hours late for work. I told her to leave early to make up for it. I was woken several times by storm activity but dropped off again quickly. Only to be woken a short time later by the next great Flash-with-Ka-Boom. The cat, nervous at the best of times, tried to rake refuge in my armpit and discovered all of him didn't fit that space no matter how hard he pushed! Breakfast has been had. The very last jar of father's home-made marmalade is open. Coffee is now required. See you dreckly.

Shooting oneself in the commercial foot seems to be an appropriate thought. I have noticed Photobucket becoming increasingly desperate to attract funds recently by repeated emailing of new services such as print sales. That rang alarm bells with me some time back. It said "we need money and fast". Errrrr - no. Not from my wallet.