Gwiwer

Meanwhile on the main line more action from those bulbous and arguably ugly Warships as D865 "Zealous" was rostered the china clay duty Down at Ponsangwyn (where the hastily-renovated sky described above can be seen) a trio of hydraulics was found on shed with the duty shunter tucked away in the clay sidings headshunt all beneath the brooding ruins of Wheal Julia mine. D838 "Rapid" is hoping to live up to its name while a pair of class 22s await their next duties D6315 receives some attention A different angle on the headshunt showing the shunter with a single clay wagon alongside the stone pier and with a small sandy beach beyond. Those enamel signs on the goods shed have faded nicely under natural light since first being applied a few years ago. Something must have been moving because a cut of vans has appeared alongside the goods shed. There's more to come from Penhayle Bay despite having only 88 days to go until complete closure. Anyone coming for the open-house on Saturday 4th February?

Despite suggesting to myself that I wasn't going to do anything over and above keeping the layout running until April fate played its hand. I managed to burn out a point motor without even trying and as luck would have it it is the facing point directing trains to the Down Main or Down Loop platforms at Treheligan so not a hardly-used yard connection I could abandon. The motor is tight under the board and above the control panel area so was a very tight fit but luckily I had one spare in stock and the connections were push-fitted not soldered making swapping easier than it otherwise might have been. That being done I strolled down to the far end of the layout where the sky-coloured panels have become dislodged over time through natural movement and found one was completely adrift. So a few screws and a lot of filler later it went back to its original position - in fact slightly better than that - and the whole thing has a coat of new blue paint. By 4th February's open day it might even have some clouds! All in all a fair amount of work I hadn't intended over a few days. While I was at it I added some green weathering powders to the clay dries roof at Carreglyp; the end wall has always had moss and lichen represented but not the roof until now. I cleaned and tidied up some of the smaller scenes in order to record them in their final condition for posterity including the hay field St. Teccan's Well and ruined chapel The road accident where a van driver has come down the hill too fast and missed the bend at the bottom striking the railway boundary wall The coastal path including a typical set of steps to gain height over the clifftops An area of Cornish heathland with gorse, a distant mine engine house and even a kangaroo in the scrub as a nod to the layout being located in Australia Men Tor rises high above Penhayle Bay. The lower slopes are grazed by sheep but the higher rough pastures are inhabited only by the occasional walkers She doesn't like being photographed so this is a very rare view of Penhayle Bay's resident mermaid.

Not any more. They broke the all-steam "thing" years ago with their own and hired motive power used to shunt stock and clear Imberhorne Tip. I understand the convenience and cost factor for shunting with an 09 and needs must if they hadn't used diesel traction to run waste trains they might not have reached East Grinstead or would have incurred prohibitive additional costs in doing so. The last "Deltic-only" event saw a steam-hauled wedding charter operating and while that wasn't available to the general public it did run on a "diesel-only" operating day. If the Bluebell sees fit to run so many diesels in order to attract sufficient revenue to maintain its steam fleet that is their commercial decision. My views and experience of Deltic operation there have been made known before and I shall enjoy alternative options instead. I, and no doubt many other enthusiasts who can find working diesels including Deltics in many other places, could wish the Bluebell had remained all-steam (shunting and tip-clearance excepted) but they don't see it that way.

I believe Samantha was once seen Epping on the Preston Road. With attire somewhat above thigh level she was asked what on earth she was showing and replied That'll be my NEASDEN

Spot on. An insurer may make an offer to part or fully settle any claim "without prejudice" to their own position on the matter including but not limited to a determination of liability.

Morning all. Cynical or not insurance companies are obliged to offer the cover stated in the policy provided payment is up to date. If you pay by the month and your vehicle is declared a total loss be aware that any outstanding premium will be deducted before a settlement is paid. As will any applicable excess in all cases. There are situations in which this can result in you owing the insurer money. This would arise for a low-value car declared a total loss with a large proportion of premium outstanding. The premium can exceed the value of the car particularly for young drivers who can often only afford the cheapest cars available. If your policy includes a hire car for the event then one must be offered. Most policies offer it as standard for theft but only as an option for other events. The insurer might have a fixed price deal with the hirer (they usually use one of the international big boys at mates rates) which might involve a small additional fee being paid by the insured party to "rent" it here, leave it there as the business deal doesn't include that. But the one-way fee is often less than a train fare from A to B to recover your own vehicle. Some insurers / roadside service providers also offer additional cover if your vehicle was disabled more than a specified distance from home. In Australia that is over 100kms; it may be worth checking what is covered in the UK. Point of order re: collisions with creatures. If you and an animal or bird are in collision and the latter dies you are not permitted to claim it for yourself as roadkill; that constitutes poaching under UK law. Anyone else following along can take it however so if you're after a brace of pheasant go out in two cars. One to knock the birds senseless as they fly up and the other to retrieve and bag them! It's been a day. Some wash-up from Friday's events. The Bourke Street mall has reopened and is a sea of floral tributes with an official public memorial established at the General Post Office building. A vigil is to be held led by the State premier, Daniel Andrews, who is already copping a good deal of backlash. Anger is natural arising from shock and grief. But serious questions are being asked of our justice and policing systems which are all under the Premier's ultimate control. Why was a known dangerous man allowed to run when he could have been more safely taken out at home in the suburbs on existing warrants? Why was a massive police chase into and through the city allowed to continue instead of being called off as too dangerous? Why was this chap even on bail given his violent past and criminal record????? In more trivial matters tonight's supermarket run was briefly interrupted by driving normally but with hazard lights flashing. The reason for the hazards became clear when said cockerel womble turned right onto then left from a main road without adjusting the signals nearly causing a multiple-vehicle incident. Instead the driver continued before stopping astride the white centre lines and exiting the vehicle to go shopping I understand that the ossifers of the lore have been called for.

And with the Notting Hill Gate wide open we can all escape to the forest EPPING!!!

Chris Sorry to hear of your woes. First things first are you yourself OK or do you need repairs as well as the car? If the panel-beater can identify the species of beast which collided with your car it might make a difference. Not if it proves to be a deer, though, as most would be considered wild and the condition for taking a claim for costs and damages relies upon the beast having an owner and being found liable. It happens sometimes. A horse, dog, cow or pig is considered domestic and must be confined adequately so as not to be able to wander onto public roads. A deer - you would need to prove it came from an estate but even so they are not considered domestic and they can (and often do) jump fences. It happened to me just outside Lyme Regis. On that occasion I luckily had both a lightning fast reaction and little more space so the beast was avoided by about the width of its tail. Now - ERs are a reasonably friendly and accommodating bunch. You are without a car for who knows what duration. Who is willing and able to step up and offer transport for Poorly Pal's meals? Let's hope there is some help forthcoming. If your insurer is willing and able to furnish a hire car (which usually comes in the form of a policy option for which additional premium is payable) then all is well. But in case it is not well ......... When it comes to recovering your car this assumes in the first instance that it can be repaired. If not then the need to recover is removed but the need to replace is urgent. Collisions with animals in my motor insurance industry experience do not always result in the outcome hoped for. Any costs involved in travelling back to Swindon again cannot be recovered through insurance unless an animal owner is proven liable and pursued by your insurer. But if using a hired car ask if you can leave it at their Swindon depot when you pick your own up rather than taking it back to where it was hired from and forking out for another train fare. All the best. Keep us posted on progress. In other news it's been a beautiful sunny day which I have been unable to take much advantage of. Cleaning up from last night's dinner party continued once the overnight guests had left around mid-day. That also required cleaning up from breakfast and cleaning of the guest suite as well of course. Six loads of laundry have been dealt with. A lunch date has been arranged with a friend not seen since she left our previous employer some five years ago. Despite keeping in regular contact we haven't managed to coincide since. That situation will change but not until 2nd April. With a family of five that's how far ahead her diary books!

Or Crapstone?

Sad to report the death toll has risen to five and may well rise further. Being pushed off the news is a fact of life. Taking place at much the same time as events in the USA would have made it harder to justify any news time at all beyond these shores. A check-around (one of the best uses yet found for the likes of Farcebook and Tw*tter) has found none of our friends, family nor workplace colleagues were involved any more directly than watching events unfold. In the midst of a very busy weekend here with three farewell parties (including one of our own with a house-full to dinner last night and some overnight guests) to attend in two days. I hope to have more ER time as of tomorrow despite the 03.30 alarm call. Best wishes all.

And clap in Clapham Not only - but also ..... I have visited there and neighbouring Piddlehinton and also questioned Wyre Piddle. If English villages were really named with a sense of humour the next one should have been Wyre Knot, surely? You can run well in Runwell, ride in Ryde, walk in Walkergate and do what ever you feel appropriate on a hillside in Dumfries-shire by the name of Knockenshag.

As I understand it the 4TC will be fitted with NEM-style pockets and supplied with hook and loop couplers. It will be possible to fit Kadees instead and to couple to a locomotive using these will give a realistic buckeye-style look and close enough coupling for most of us. If two units are to be coupled together the same arrangement would apply and while that might create a wider gap at the gangways than between intermediate coaches it should be within the skill-set of many modellers to fit a bar coupler instead. Through power would not be achieved meaning DCC users wishing to have the lighting sound options active along the whole train would need to consist the electrically-separate units.

It being Sunday it seems appropriate to reply to that move with CANON'S PARK I claim triple points for passing Neasden on the way.

God Bless Help America And with the original narration from the "Cuthbert's Day Off" episode (note he is not listed in Captain Flack's roll-call) .....

It's not every day that you watch history unfold before your eyes. Today it was for all the wrong reasons. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIuoljymZLE http://www.news.com.au/national/victoria?gclid=CJiWq-Ht0NECFYorvQod_DoOdA You can't quite see me. I'm under the big dome watching - as we all were - in disbelief at the antics of this lunatic. It seems he has a long history with police. Today's events began in the small hours when he allegedly stabbed a family member believed to be related to a gang feud. He brazenly appeared in shot at 8am as the morning news crews filmed a police interview outside his home. Later he drove a stolen car with a hostage through suburban streets towards the city though the hostage managed to get free atop the huge Bolte Bridge. The police then pursued him towards and through the city, along Flinders Street to the corner of Swanston Street where he performed the "donuts" on the clip. Note that several of the vehicles waiting at the traffic lights are actually unmarked police cars. Having tired of circling the intersection he then drove up the tram-only Swanston Street (which has anti-car street furniture he somehow evaded) and turned left into Bourke Street mall which is our main city centre shopping strip and again is restricted to pedestrians and trams only. A car driving erratically through a packed pedestrian mall was bound to have serious consequences. So far four are dead and reports suggest the figure may reach ten. Of the dozens injured many have life-changing injuries. Police finally managed to stop him farther along Bourke Street when a shot was fired wounding the driver. Police reports state he is in custody; some civilian witnesses report police shot him dead. This is not a terrorist incident. But the loss of life, injury, trauma and distress caused to many people equate with such. Much of the city centre has been in lockdown with streets closed and requests for the public to avoid coming to the city for the evening. Tram and bus services came to a standstill. Train services were unaffected and continued to run; among other things we managed to move a large number of people from one side of the city to the other (without tickets) in order to access their parked cars as they were unable to do so by any street route. By 22.30 when I left for home some streets had re-opened. Bourke Street mall may remain closed for at least the weekend. Thank you to those ERs who made mention of events above and for the PMs received. Your support is valued. In other news - good news from DD.

Night all. Oh. They've already gone. So there's just you and me here, then. Good to hear Mr. the BlackRat is to finally get the treatment required and I hope it proves effective and lasting Dr. Eldest Herbert should not set foot in Australia if politics are involved. You think the new President of the Yoo Essov A is a clown? Try here where at best they consider you a mug and fair game and where polly-ticks is often more like potty-licks. Australians just don't take their leaders seriously and the leaders don't seem to have any inkling of what issues concern the average Joe or Joanne (or Bruce or Sheila). Why else would Australia be investing heavily in opening up more coal mines, shipping the coal out across the dying remains of the Great Barrier Reef and take no notice of the fact that the world - and their no.1 coal customer, China, is abandoning coal for "clean" fuel faster than a vindaloo exits the rectum. Just had a call from Jet Pets. They are the business who ship animals around the planet. What a totally professional, enthusiastic and on-the-ball outfit. An unsolicited call just to ask if we had any more questions since our last contact a week or so ago. A cat from Melbourne to London? No problem sir. We've moved giraffes, pandas, snakes and elephants ..... we can do a cat All the major shippers also use them so the only question is whether we book a standalone transit ourselves or arrange it as part of the overall shipping deal. So far the prices have been identical with only one still to come. Good Morning. It's POETS Day. It's wet and windy. The seaweed-mongers claim it will become dry and sunny later.

Quite so. And while not mentioned in my post that fact was not overlooked in my mind. Neither was the fact of the Claytons also appearing on the NER (frequently) and the LMR (sometimes). Furthermore classes 26 and 33 ran side by side for a time on GN metals as the latter once worked through freights from the SR. Knowing Hattons my loco will already be somewhere in the transit system and possible even airborne as we speak.

I don't know; I suspect not. However one worked enough time to pack my order and click the button which generates the relevant email. One cheap class 26 is headed this way. A class I have always been rather fond of, possibly through association with the SR class 33 which is a favourite, but have never before taken the plunge. I have absolutely no use for a Scottish Region loco yet own a pair of Claytons. So a 26 (or McRat to some) might at least feel not entirely a stranger in the camp and I could represent some sort of Highland operation if all I am left with is space for a single track and a train shuffling along a plank.

And with an athletic transverse shuffle we can upgrade the town and go to WHITE CITY

I believe the headcode panel on all variants of the class 33 is the same width in reality and therefore should be on the models. It is only the overall body width which is slimmer on the 33/2s and this query does not concern the different grille details.

Green seems to be the one colour which gives manufacturers the most bother when scaling for models. Take a look at the various iterations of the Bachmann green BCK for example, or the Hornby Bulleids. The Bachmann 4Cep and 2EPB units are to my mind spot on but the Hornby 2Bil and 2Hal units are way off. I haven't seen the latest Hornby offerings in the flesh but the Merlin HST appeared correct though being of the Lima-style the decoration wasn't superbly executed overall. The various versions of the GWR class 57 are quite different between Heljan, Bachmann and Lima and the "matching" Mk2 Hornby coaches and Mk3 sleepers (fag packet and Merlin) are another shade again.

But known by some, in the SR style, as "4-S0D" Standing for Sliding Open Doors.

Good morning and Welcome to Thursday. Final letting appraisal within the hour which will now be followed by an arborist's inspection of the trees and an assessment of how much work is required for routine maintenance and safety before we become liable for damage to tenants. At high noon I shall reacquaint myself with the device known as "Iron" in order to present myself suitably clad at the Palace by evening peak. Back later.

If only the real things were still running ..... Remember my final trip very well. On the last public working from Barking to Ealing Broadway riding oldest car in the train Q23 car 4248 (originally 4148) for the final stretch from Hammersmith.

Actually I am surprised it isn't camels. It's not widely known that the largest population of feral camels is not in any Arabian land but in Australia. They arrived with the early Afghan cameleers to explore the remote desert outback of what is now the Northern Territory and parts of South Australia but were let loose and have behaved rather in the manner rabbits are famed for. They roam freely, effectively camouflaged against the desert sand, and take no notice of roads. With permitted road speed of 130kph (80.7mph) accidents are not uncommon and sometimes fatal for all parties.