petethemole

But which loco of which railroad was it?  Some roads fitted the  early diesels with air whistles instead of horns.  Sheldon may have been referencing that.

1 hour ago, Gwiwer said:

On the other hand I do consider that Dr. SWMBO has a level of mobility impairment that merits being awarded a "blue badge" for the Little Red Driving Box.  The Powers That Be do not agree.  Which means I cannot drop / collect her at the point of need sometimes, cannot take her to some places we would like to visit (because she cannot walk / cannot comfortably walk from car park to location) and I have to book assistance for her weekly travels by train as she is not accompanied by a helpful husband able to get her on and off the train and deal with her bags.  

 

That, to my mind, is a disability but it is not being recognised as such officially.  

I assume from this that Dr. Sharon has applied for PIP mobility component at the higher rate, which allow one to get Blue Badge, and been turned down.  If so, she should appeal the decision; a lot of appeals are successful.  Mrs mole went to tribunal and won, partly because the initial assessor had lied, which we were able to prove.

13 hours ago, roythebus1 said:

But the other hidden postage cost is the padded jiffy bags or boxes, over £1 each in WH Smith and "postage boxes" up to £5 each!! There must be a cheaper place to buy them.

On eBay of course; I buy jiffy bags and card-backed envelopes by the hundred, the saving over single ones is enormous.  I also benefit from the fact that SWMBO is a an frequent on-line shopper so I have a continuous supply of jiffy bags, card packets, bubble wrap and boxes for re-use.. I need a lot because I am steadily selling the results of a life of hoarding collecting stuff

15 hours ago, KeithMacdonald said:

Pedants Alert!!!

 

 

 

There's a desk shop in Southampton that for many years advertised "Bureaux's".

47 minutes ago, Steamport Southport said:

 

Where's the snooker table, Smeg fridge for beer, jukebox and games machine?

 

 

Cold beers if necessary in fridge in kitchen, bottled ales in crates under layout, cask ale on stillage under layout, wall-mounted jukebox, sorted.  Any urge to play games instead of trains gives you an excuse to go out "for some exercise".

We still get milk delivered (we never stopped), along with eggs.  Not cheap but that's two things less to cart home.

Happy Birthday Rick!

2 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

Quite a few of the stone built houses also have brick chimneys!

Depending on the type of stone available locally, brick was commonly used for chimneys as it resisted heat better. This would be the entire flue, not just the chimney stack.

It's also probably quicker and cheaper to move a boat by road than by water. 

Definitely, if it's from an inland boat builder.  From coastal locations it's possibly cheaper to sail/motor, depending on distance.  There are professional crews available if you haven't got any sailing friends. 

Romsey again today:

https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/24295723.romsey-lorry-crashes-unto-greatbridge-road-bridge/

17 minutes ago, rockershovel said:

the artillery appeared to be on both sides simultaneously. 

That's almost prototypical.  Professional gunners of that period were highly skilled professionals plying a trade.  If they turned up at a battle they could be persuaded to change sides for more pay.

For all the faffing about with touchscreens, it's an improvement on SWMBO's previous method of selecting in-car entertainment while driving, namely changing CDs (not too bad) and then reading the tracklist on the case.  I tried to cure her of the latter part but not very successfully as I'm not in her car very often.  Fortunately her previous and current cars don't have players.

2 hours ago, PupCam said:

4 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

There's a Revell kit for £50.

 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/315303601403? same kit?

 

Don't know.  Same scale so maybe?

This is the one I found https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/276425494804?chn=ps&_ul=GB

Also, Revell marketed Italeri kits for several years so that would be the same kit.

24 minutes ago, PupCam said:

Looks like if I want a model of a Manx Norton I'll have to scratch build it.   

Try eBay.  Omit "Italeri".

"spirit-level app".  Well, you learn something new everyday.  No use on my dumbphone though!  Fortunately I have several of various sizes, and more usefully I know where at least one of them is.

11 hours ago, Michael Hodgson said:

Captioned "This is the age of the train".

ISTR a graffito in a carriage that made the trivia news, "This is the Age of the Train, ours is 106".

8 hours ago, Tumut said:

he ongoing problem of co ordinating a Blitzkrieg type offensive, even late in WW2, was the actual inadequacy of communications between various formations. The theory and actuality of continuous radio contact  being an ongoing problem,

The Germans got round this problem by using national flags.  All the leading vehicles of the attacking formations had the flag draped over the engine deck, bonnet or roof. Red with a white centre, they were highly visible from above and the Luftwaffe was clear to attack anything in front of the lead vehicles.  Thus when communications failed or the artillery couldn't keep up (being almost all horse-drawn in the "Blitzkrieg" period) the Air support was still available.  This did require achieving air superiority first.

3 minutes ago, Hroth said:

 

*sigh*

 

People whinge that the Royals spend too much money, then whinge if like all of us, they wear something more than once...

 

I am struggling with the fact that there are people* whose job it is to monitor daily what various Royal women are wearing and refer back to earlier records of what was worn when and where, and then write about the results.  Not only do they apparently get paid for this but get into various prestige events to do it.   I am aware there is an audience for this stuff, but would they notice or care if the content was never generated in the first place?

*Apparently more than one.

SWMBO (60), already mobility impaired, had a nasty fall resulting in a hip replacement. She was unable to drive for several months and had to change her Motability car for one with higher ground clearance, a Qashqai.  She realised she had developed some bad habits and also was lacking confidence and becoming nervous in certain urban traffic situations. She took a series of refresher lessons with a instuctor who targeted her particular concerns.  She's now much happier and confident.

18 minutes ago, The Stationmaster said:

Great idea if. like Switzerland, you've got the luxury of plenty of infrastructure to ensure a train is always platformed with its doors 'on the usual side' - that simply wouldn't work at many larger stations in Britain. Aand of course - as can often be seen running into Reading - even when a train is arriving at its booked platform that will be on the opposite side to the ones at which many passengers joined and they are already crowding towards the door on the 'wrong side'.

At Eastleigh, trains onto and off the Fareham line and down stopping trains for Southampton use either side of the island platform as required, often changing at a few minutes notice.  Passengers on the train don't know which side will be platformed until the train pulls in.  No doubt this happens elsewhere.    Charter trains use this platform.

5 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

Once it has been erected, I will be able to add what I see as a number of cosmetic add ons.

Bridge number plate, Restricted Clearance Sign....

Just answer "Security" and they hang up.  Works every time. 

3 hours ago, Compound2632 said:

 

Some dog walkers behave in just the same entitled way as some cyclists. The paths in our local nature reserve are clearly signed "dogs must be kept on a lead" (also "no cycling") but, setting aside the possibility of a high rate of illiteracy, it is evident that many of these people take it for granted that rules don't apply to them or their dogs. Would you offer employment to someone with such a mindset?

 

[In the interests of full disclosure, I'm a cat person not a dog person.]

There is a park near here, with a main tarmac path along it that is also part of a National Cycle Route, which I used to use as part of my cycle commute.  A gaggle of female dog walkers used to stand on it, some with dogs loose, some on leads.  I used to ride up to them, then pointedly swerve round them on the grass.  On day a loose dog started to jump up at me.  Being careful not to swear I shouted something like "Get down you stupid animal!", to which the owners reply was "He's not an animal, he's a dog."