Gwiwer

They are not ignoring anything and are well aware of these potential markets. This is the trial service. Not just to test the demand but to assess the costs and the interface with NR. Swanage Railway has stated (somewhere I cannot locate quickly on the phone) that to offer early morning commuter services will involve them in significantly increased costs. Another whole shift has to be staffed for train crew, station and signalling staff and access charges paid to NR. The same may apply for evening returns notwithstanding the existing evening service to Norden. While some staff are volunteers that should not be mistaken for free labour. Not everyone is willing to hop out of bed at 5am to prep a train, drive a shift and go home with no more than thanks. If the trial succeeds - and we all hope it does - then commuter services may follow in 2018 or 2019.

Cock pheasant?

A very slight improvement in mobility by tonight. I still have a rugby-ball shaped object where my foot should be but pain has dropped below the lip-biting or screaming-in-agony level. Virgin Australia flies a couple of Embraers in a fairly standardised 787 fleet. They have a specific diagram which includes a couple of Melbourne - Hobart trips. That is where I encountered them. Superb and very comfortable aircraft beating the pants off the Boeings. Their smaller dimensions dictate 2+2 seating against 3+3 but with generous seat sizing and pitch.

Same here, as per yesterday. Starboard foot resembles a rugby football though treks to the facility have been a little less painful today. 11pm last night I developed shivering with hot sweats. Apparently there is a fever linked to this embuggerance. So it's another day of bed, water and Panadol instead of the gout prescription pills. Four different deliveries due tomorrow. Pasties from Hayle, an office chair from a warehouse somewhere, the weekly supermarket delivery and an order of clothing for herself. I wasn't going far anyway!

Five past seventeen o'clock. Finally made it from bed to chair. Starboard foot twice its customary size and throbbing like a Sulzer power unit. It fixes itself over a few days. One of those things medical science still hasn't conquered. The medication offers minimal pain relief when it's this bad and induces blurred vision and lack of co-ordination. Won't be walking anywhere yet awhile except for a slow painful hobble to the facilities when required. Hopefully with enough warning!!!

For the example given a class 66 loss of brake pipe pressure should bring both parts of the train quickly to a stand. The driver might also notice an apparent surge in power at the moment of parting as the loco would - momentarily until the brakes went on - be exerting the same power but pulling a reduced load. The same would be true of any train where continuous brakes are active. For unfitted trains or in the case that an unfitted "tail" breaks away from a fitted "head" then the guard should screw down the brake in the van hoping to bring the runaway to a stop. The loco crew might be aware of the sudden lightening of load or might not be aware until they looked back as a check or were brought to a stand at a signal for "Stop and Examine Train". When unfitted trains ran there were still traditional sigbalboxes everywhere so anything passing incomplete (without a red lamp) would quickly be stopped either by a swift throw-back of a section signal in front of the train or by bell code to the box ahead to stop and examine. The runaway portion would be signalled by one of two bell codes; train running away in right / wrong direction; according to which way it was moving.

Morning all. Little sleep. Severe gout. That is all. Please enjoy Sunday for me.

Evening all. I missed the morning. The need for sleep finally caught up with me. Managed a slow stroll to the garden shop and returned with a quartet of pots, some sort of bagged dirt and two each lavendar and tomato plants. The doorstep garden has begun. The rest of the day has been a near-total loss thanks to an attack of gout in the starboard foot. I'm back in bed early with extreme pain and the fidgets. Sleep may be a luxury. Good night all.

But is it the same RM706? As any afficianado of London buses will tell you thanks to the Aldenham identity-swap overhaul process the only way to tell is to check the body number plate.

With the need to form partnerships apparent I shall venture the Crosstown Diagonal and take us to Harrow & Wealdstone

A previous employer shied away from the term "smart casual" and described the permitted attire on Fridays as "business casual". According to our internal memorandum on acceptable presentation this meant: Shirts (which may be neat, clean T-shirts without logo or slogan or offensive image Jumpers, cardigans and other similar knitwear without slogan Trousers, skirts (for female staff) or tailored shorts. Clean, tidy full-length jeans may be worn Closed shoes, clean and tidy trainers or fully enclosed sandals and a maximum heel height of 2.5cms Explicitly prohibited were: Any clothing which renders undergarments to be visible through, above, beneath or inside it. Any sportswear or any shirts, shorts or other items bearing logos or slogans of any kind or images which might be considered offensive Any combination of clothing which exposes legs above knee height, arms above mid-upper height, any part of the torso below the neck including female cleavage Open-toe or sling-back style footwear; thongs (flipflops) Cotton or other non-tailored shorts. Swimwear. Cut off, torn or "designer ripped/frayed" jeans Any stained clothing or anything coloured or dyed otherwise than as sold. The possibility of a kilt-wearing male with or without male cleavagep was apparently not catered for. "Smart Casual" in a wedding or other social context may indeed include clean pressed T-shirt and jeans for the chaps but implies the wearing of a suitable jacket over the top. For the ladies it most commonly seems to involve a better shirt (somewhere between casual and best) with nice pants or a longer skirt. And sometimes with a jacket.

Andy. Thanks for the reminder re. Woking. A delegation from Camborne is coming so I'd better make the effort

Elections generally are not so characterful as they once were. The raising of both the deposit and the proportion of votes cast to retain it has seen off almost all of the more colourful individuals and minority parties. If one took the trouble to read the Official Monster Raving Loony Party manfesto much of it made good down to earth common sense. They even managed to get (at least) one local councillor elected at some point. The charisma and personal wealth of David "Lord" Sutch basically under-wrote the whole operation and since his passing they have struggled. Full marks for pressing on however. They had my vote more than once. Vote being an anagram of veto I shall have to don suitable footwear and venture forth shortly in order to veto the local member whose political idealogy I do not concur with. A task made slightly harder by the onset of gout last night. The starboard foot is rather larger than standard and mobility is painful. It typically takes a week or so to ease again whether or not I bother with the medication. In other news the student neighbours are departing today and won't be back until late August. They're a good bunch though I won't miss knowing when one in particular is studying baby-making Best wishes one and all. Doesn't matter who you vote for because the government always wins.

The siege in Sydney took how long to end? And lives were ultimately lost there too. A major incident with multiple crime scenes late on Saturday night in London was dealt with so quickly and thoroughly that 30 hours later the area was open (with the exception of the market) and from 5am Monday the morning rush into the City took place as normal.

All very well Tony but from Strawberry Hill our nearest Tesco means going all the way to Ivybridge . OK it's not the Ivybridge atop a famous railway gradient in Devon but a recently-named locality just north of Twickenham. Tesco has occupied some previously-used land an inconvenient distance from anywhere without a car. The only buses passing by do not serve Twickenham but wander around the by-ways of Whitton. It's far easier to get Tesco to deliver. As indeed we do with Sainsburys and Waitrose. They do have Tribute listed but not always in stock but not HSD. It's also cheaper direct from the brewery. Hic! 'scuse me.

Not a good night at London Bridge but full marks all round for all who stood against the nutters. From drinkers armed with bar stools and a BTP officer who took on all three with just a truncheon for self defence. Police took just 90 seconds to arrive and 8 minutes to locate and "neutralise" (their word) the idiots. I'm not sure the Vic Police would have been so quick and decisive at Brighton. All's well here. Just the occasional random armed plod where you don't expect to see one. Teddington station at school time this afternoon fir instance. Or patrolling the aisles in Waitrose.

FedEx has delivered the beer. 12 bottles each of St. Austell's Tribute and HSD. I may be some time ...........

Hi Peter. We should have had this conversation a few weeks back as I have a Bachy modern shed surplus to my needs and currently at sea off Colombo headed to London. Ah well. I always thought of Llanbourne as having once had a shed which had been demolished with just the fuelling point left as a reminder of what used to be there.

Morning all. Awaiting delivery of ales from St. Austell and pasties from Hayle. Otherwise all is well. Best wishes to all.

I would call myself a runner rather than a collector but have amassed a collection which has been described as quite substantial. Every box has been dutifully kept. When they began to overflow the workroom they went into plastic crates in the loft. What I never did was to keep track of what was where so when a few items were sold on the boxes could not readily be found. Life moves on and early this year I was obliged to make some hard decisions. Seventeen years in Australia was about to end and I had to dispose of or ship all the stock. Not even boxed British stock sells easily there: the marketplace is too small and the cost of mailing prohibitive. Aside from a few more items which I sold to friends everything was packed for shipping. The need to minimise volume for the container and the potential time required to re-box everything means that I had to make the decision to dispose of the coaching stock and wagon boxes. Only locomotives, multiple units and limited-edition commission wagons were boxed. While that potentially devalues the stock I continue to be a runner rather than a collector and resale value is of minimal importance to me.

Morning all Domestic Engineering complete. Wind is troubling the birds more than me (nothing to do with last night's lamb roast) and the extreme wetness seems imminent. Friend in Cornwall suggested she might need to don the wetsuit for the afternoon school run. Mike's comments from not-far-away duly noted. A "full breakfast" requires, to my mind, toast and fried bread, fried eggs (plural), bacon (definitely plural), sausage (probably plural), cooked tomato, chat or hash-brown potatoes and hog's or white pudding. I'm open-minded on baked beans. Happy if they are present so long as they aren't the major component used to fill the plate cheaply. No mushrooms thanks. And most definitely nothing green - I endured 17 years of Australian "full English" breakfasts which always seemed to include a large serve of steamed spinach. Herself has Gumtreed a wardrobe which is due tonight so sitting home awaiting van man in foul weather is not an unreasonable impost. Must mail off my pension forms though. Shoes on - key in pocket - envelope in hand. Best wishes to all. I'll see you later unless I get drowned or blown away.

Bus upholstery was often quite vivid in that era. The East Kent pattern would sit comfortably alongside its neighbours from Maidstone & District or Southdown, Green Line coaches and many others. And with real leather trim too. It's only taken 50-odd years to realise leather seats are actually a Good Thing.

I'm guessing the location at Hayes & Harlington might have something connection with the Western class 52 which finished about then. The RF buses continued on the 218 and 219 as you say but also made rare and unofficial forays onto the 216 right up until the final day. That was done to cover defective BL type Bristol LHs. I managed a trip out to Staines on the 218 and back on the very last RF-worked 216 on their final afternoon and was surprised to find no other enthusiasts had spotted that substitution. Most were too busy wandering around Kingston bus station or were out photographing on the pretty bits around Weybridge. I eventually did manage to board the very last RF working which in traditional style performed several laps of the roundabouts and was late back due to unscheduled photo stops. It was also triplicated by two other well loaded RFs which ran the service more normally.

Morning all Alerted by my IoW-based nephew to the news as it happened last night. There are some very sad sick-minded people out there though three fewer this morning. Thoughts go to all those closely involved. Upstairs (top floor) neighbour is a paramedic. We chatted briefly as she left for a 12-hour overnight shift, her last before two weeks leave. I wished her a safe and quiet night. 15 hours later and she isn't home yet. Followed events unfolding as I was unable to sleep anyway. Mrs. Fox was outside crying for company and upstaires neighbours (middle floor) have a house-full of kids staying for half-term who might have all been playing football in the bedroom above mine until around 2am. Finally woken at 10.30am by next-door neighbour's toast alarm. New students just moved in seem a good bunch but haven't yet mastered the toaster setting. Besf wishes to all. In true London tradition Keep Calm and Carry On.

Thank you Andy. Yes we miss Jock just as those of us who have lost loved ones miss them. He was very much a part of our family here. This topic, created with the support of his family, exists to offer friendship and support to those bereaved by, suffering from, recovered from or in any way affected by cancer. You are not alone. We are free to speak here among friends.