FarrMan

Now that my wife is up and come round a bit, (She sleeps better when I am not in bed with her, so I go to bed and get up early, and she goes to bed and gets up late! It may be the CPAP that I use for sleep apnoea that disturbs her), the one she uses is Auction Sniper.

Lloyd

12 hours ago, paul.anderson@poptel.org said:

I'm late to the latest eBay conversation, but I'm surprised that no one has mentioned the best way to pick up bargains on eBay -- which is to use a sniping app such as Gixen, which essentially makes your bid automatically for you (unseen by anyone else and undeclared on eBay) seconds before an auction ends. Some people say it's cheating, but it's a very easy way to avoid bidding wars. You put what you are prepared to pay into the sniping app well before the eBay auction ends and leave it. If you win, you win at a price you can afford; if someone else has sniped a bigger bid or lodged one directly, you lose. Rule of thumb: never bid more on a sniping app than Honest Tone would sell for to raise money for CRUK!

 

My wife often uses this or something similar for non-model railway stuff, and has always found it good. It sets a maximum price so that you do not get carried away with bidding, but you only get charged just above the second highest bid, so don't spend more than you would anyway. I think that was how she got my last suit a few years ago - for £10.

Lloyd

1 hour ago, Tony Wright said:

Good morning Lloyd,

 

Our cat (Jilly) is hopeless at 'discouraging' anything in the garden (rabbits included).

 

 

 

 

These are her usual postures. She sees her role as a 'meeter & greeter', regarding our many visitors as more servants to pet her, stroke her, fuss her, provide a comfy lap and issue treats. Even those who profess not to be too fond of cats, love her; she's so friendly. 

 

Actually, I'm very glad she's useless at 'cat-like' things such as hunting. She goes through all the postures - crouching, crawling and pouncing, but never catches anything (apart from two voles one day, which she released inside, only for them to scoot into hiding, meaning that visiting mates had to move loads of furniture). She likes the 'great outdoors', but only if the sun is shining; the merest hint of rain or gusty weather and she's back indoors. As for frost and snow - such extreme conditions are my fault! I'll open the door, and she looks at me with contempt, in a way only cats can. 

 

Regards,

 

Tony.  

 

 

 

 

What a lovely looking cat. Our two, named Lion and Tiger, were good hunters. While they were still kittens, they caught and ate 4 fully grown rabbits in 24 hours - they had to be lifted onto the bed afterwards! First time they brought a dead rabbit into the utility room (they could not get into the rest of the house without being let in), my wife put it out, and then watched them bringing it back in through the cat flap. They both dragged it to the cat flap, put its head into the cat flap, then one went behind it and took a leap through the cat flap so that it could pull the rabbit while the other pushed! Lion lived until he was 23 years old.

Lloyd

Just been watching Geoff Marshall's latest Youtube video -End of the line, Walthamstow. Included are a few shots of the model railway in the Walthamstow Pumphouse Museum, and one of the volunteers there saying that more volunteers are needed to help build the model. It is based on the Liverpool St to Chingford line in the 1950's. I hope Tony will not mind me extending the plea for volunteers on here. As I am 570 miles away, and my modelling skills are minimal and directed to better companies than LNER (wait for the attack!), I will sit this one out.

Lloyd

13 hours ago, Tony Wright said:

Living now in rural Lincolnshire, I'm frequently asked if I miss dwelling in the West Midlands (which Mo and I did for over 30 years).

 

I do miss my teacher friends, my cricketing friends and a few friends I hardly speak to now after nearly 20 years 'out-east' (I still regularly keep in touch with my model railway club mates).

 

However, this morning I was graphically reminded why we love living 'out in the sticks'.....................

 

 

 

We never had a wild deer in our Wolverhampton garden; especially one with only three legs. 

 

She's a regular visitor (nibbling some of Mo's plants), along with some of her herd. Being 'tripodic' doesn't seem to hinder her at all.

 

 

 

One of her companions as well. 

 

What a privilege! 

 

 

 

Tony

Be thankful that they only nibble. When we lived in Applecross (on the mainland, opposite Skye), we had their red brothers regularly visiting. One year we had one cabbage left in the garden. They had got the other 52! Rabbits were also a problem, and seals could be seen from the house. The cats (they had wild cat blood in them) were fairly good with 'discouraging' the rabbits, not so good with the sheep, and no use at all with the stags! The stags would also dig up potatoes to eat.

Lloyd

1 hour ago, Tony Wright said:

I don't know about 'fame', Al.

 

However, a lady friend of a friend once wanted to buy him something model railway related because of all the help he'd given her with her business. She wanted it to be a surprise, but couldn't think of a way of getting something (a loco kit) which would be suitable without his knowing. He must have mentioned me to her (with regard to DVDs, videos, articles, books and so on with regard to Little Bytham). So, she wrote to me, but didn't have my address, simply putting on the envelope 'Tony Wright', the model railway bloke, somewhere near Grantham'. Can you believe I received it, complete with blank cheque?  I bought a suitable kit, she was delighted and so was he! 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

I used to live on the Isle of Skye (population at the time 7000, area app 1% of area of UK). I once received a letter addressed simply to 'Roberts, Isle of Skye'. When I opened it, it was for someone else who lived 30 odd miles away on Skye! What made it more interesting was that it was from the GPO! My only regret was that it was not stamped with the slogan 'please use full postal address'.

Lloyd

8 minutes ago, St Enodoc said:

https://landofthebigs.com/big-chook-mount-vernon-nsw/

Can we keep horror pictures off here please!

Lloyd

On 09/04/2023 at 11:06, gwrrob said:

Resurrected from last year 😇, we see an eggcellent Mogul taking some cracking products west .

 

 

 

If that is the size of egg in 1:76 scale, how big are the actual ones? I would not like to be the (chocolate) hen that laid them!

Lloyd

17 hours ago, great northern said:

Unhinged, perhaps?

Sounds like me!

Lloyd

21 hours ago, Bloodnok said:

Definitely agreed when changes are concerned. I need to travel a point-to-point distance of 45 miles this weekend. I have a variety of ways to do it including using a train that can travel at up to 140mph. But no realistic option gives me a travel time of less than 2 hours -- because there is always a minimum of three changes.

i used to live in Applecross and rent out a house on Portree. Only possible train use would be Strathcarron to Kyle, but that would involve three buses as well, and I would have to stay overnight. As the crow flies, distance is about 10 miles. By road, about 110 miles plus ferry at that time, and about 2 hours if the going was good. Portree is west of Applecross, but I would start off going East, the South, then West, then North!

Lloyd

18 minutes ago, great northern said:

Only one image again, as I forgot to process any more, and I have visitors this morning. We've had locals from the East and the M&GN, and now we have one from Grimsby Town, which left there at 5.49am. Can you imagine anyone contemplating taking three hours for a journey of 78 miles these days?

Try Inverness to Kyle, though the scenery on that is a wee bit better. Locals would normally use the bus, which is not much more than half that time.

Lloyd

19 minutes ago, gr.king said:

After O-Levels, A-Levels, a BSc degree (all with good outcomes) and then professional registration exams (involving a second attempt in some sections), I still used to start to wake occasionally in the night, in the early months of the year, worrying desperately about whether I had done enough revision, until I was fully awake and realised that there were no exams to face in following Summer.  I'm glad that tendency disappeared after two to three years.  That should make it obvious why I chose not to attempt any qualifications at a higher level still...

I once woke up in the middle of the night trying to remember if I had locked the garage door. While still half asleep, I woke up my wife to ask her, then remembered that we had not built the garage - it was still in pieces in the front garden! So when she asked what I was on about, I just told her to shut up and go back to sleep. Over 40 years later, we are still married!

Lloyd

19 minutes ago, MJI said:

 

My sympathies, 01:00 to 04:30 with the effects of LC last night.

Who is Elsie?

Lloyd

19 hours ago, lmsforever said:

Glasgow to Colchester thats a journey wonder if many did the full journey suppose some of people were military personnel but still long journey.

Interesting. I once caught the northbound train at Peterborough going to a Boys Brigade camp in Largs (coach from Glasgow). I think one or two coaches were prebooked for the whole party. It was probably about 1964. I did not get much sleep that night!

9 hours ago, St Enodoc said:

My late Dad spent the last third of his career with The Distillers Company (hence our family move to Edinburgh in 1972). There was, therefore, never a shortage of the Water of Life in our house - which led to my continuing love of the peaty single malts from the islands, especially Islay.

Reminds me of a long time ago when my son went to a dance along with most of the rest of his class, after they had received exam results. We had to go 20 or 30 miles away to collect him in the middle of the night, as he was drunk, and the lift that he had would not bring him back drunk. He was used to blended whiskeys, but not to malts. I suggested it was our fault for not giving him malts at home before! It was also a wet night, and the dead flies on my windscreen were getting quite bad, and with the rain, they washed off quite nicely. For a while after that, I would wind him up whenever the dead flies in the windscreen were getting bad, by suggesting that he had better go to another dance and get pissed! We knew that we didn't need to tell him off at all - the hangover was enough.

Lloyd

16 hours ago, The Stationmaster said:

Only if you were wearing long trousers - the horsehair wasn't so nice if you were on shorts and it was coming through the seat covering.

Reminds me of driving in Zimbabwe. Plastic covered seats heated by the sun did not go well with shorts. Sometimes had to drive standing up! But some lovely B-Gs.

Lloyd

14 hours ago, Ian Hargrave said:

Well obviously not up to scratch….

Try Anusol!

One who knows

3 hours ago, St Enodoc said:

This afternoon, however, while listening to the closing overs of the Indore Test, I came up with a version that, while not perfect, I like. If it still looks as good next weekend, I'll make a fair copy in ink for the layout.

I was not aware that they played cricket in doors, or even in Dores (nr Inverness). But I was aware that you could be in doors in Dores in Dores Inn!

Lloyd

3 hours ago, RAYTHEROCK said:

gears were indeed a strong point; I was thinking of say 12.5" angle girders which were all bowed in my experience, or the circular plate whose piercings were all off centre. Still I understand the girls are enjoying the Meccano experience - they got two E20R motors with it but no transformers,  only an old Duette giving 12v .

Even morebowing on 24.5" angle girders!

Lloyd

11 hours ago, great northern said:

Coming to Saturday's last workings now, and we have another Doncaster to Peterborough stopper, another New England V2 coming home.

Unexpected sunshine today meant that I could take some more pictures, and draw the sequence to a conclusion, so we will be going back to Friday happenings, unless its Thursday of course, or possiblty even Monday. It all depends on what excuse I need at the time.

Both of these nicely hide the end of Spittal Bridge.

Lloyd

1 hour ago, great northern said:

No, I haven't Lloyd, as I now very rarely go anywhere which stocks railway magazines, mainly because there seems to be nowhere that does.

43092 at head of three coaches. First two coaches appear to be carmine and cream, third one I think is as well, but all in shadow so I could not be certain. First coach is a brake first/second/composite, and appears to be LNER type, but my knowledge of LNER coaches is non-existent. Others are too much in shadow to even say that much. Train is at Platform 4, photo taken from platform 5/6. Carmine and cream coach in background.

Perhaps someone else who has the mag. can identify the coaches in more detail.

Lloyd

12 hours ago, great northern said:

Still up in the air, avoiding pigeons, and observing an Ivatt in the bay with the stock for the 8.30 to Melton Constable.

Gilbert

There is a platform level photo of a very similar subject in the same location dated May 1957 in March Backtrack, p. 145, from the Pendragon Collection. Have you seen it?

Lloyd

When I take a photo of my model railway, I usually notice what is missing - It is only in my head!

Lloyd

18 minutes ago, great northern said:

As usual, it wasn't till I came to shopping them that I noticed something was missing.

Lamps?

Lloyd

11 hours ago, Chas Levin said:

In the case of my 4-4-2 for instance, in reverse the front drivers are along for the ride, pulled round by the conn rods; going forwards however, the front drivers are being pushed round by the rear driven axle's wheels via the conn rods and I think that must offer greater resistance, resulting in greater backwards counterforce against the gears and the gearbox.

Surely whichever direction the wheels are turning, the con rods will be pushing for half a turn, then pulling for the other half turn. When going forwards, it will be pushing going from from in line with wheel centers to the right, over the top of the centers until in line with the left, and pulling for the bottom half of the rotation, for both sides, and vice versa for reversing, or am I going completely gaga?

Lloyd