DaveF

I live near the edge of a Northumberland town. In the house near the windows I can sometimes get 4G or 5G. Most people near me go outside to use a mobile so we do not look forward to Digital Voice if there is a power cut. At the moment my current provider (Talktalk) locally offer either traditonal phone plus up to about 60mbps or full fibre and no landline. The last power cut near me was a problematic cable fault, after about a day the power company brought in a generator for over a week while they sorted it out. In many parts of the county long power cuts (several days) in very bad weather are common so many people, but not all, have generators. Then are are still several hundred houses with no mains power at all, at the moment they can have a standard phone line, what happens to them? I can understand the problems of old technology but I get the feeling that once again it is the easiest, cheapest solution probably thought up by people living in London and who have a really reliable mobile signal and no overhead power cables to get damaged in bad weather. The rest of us simply do not matter. David

This is really just a trial. I'm scanning a batch of Dad's photos from an album I've found of whole plate (8"x6") prints to see how it works. They are quite different in many ways from the postcard prints I've scanned from his main albums and put on here. Many of them are sepia toned and they all have his notes handwritten on the black album pages. David

The first job is to work out what each card means. For example it may be as simple as black cards leave on the train, red cards stay in the goods yard. Then shuffle the cards, deal one for each wagon and make a note of what is to happen. You can then refine it as needed. You can also deal cards for the incoming wagons as to whether they go into the goods yard or are bound for elsewhere. Mine ended up as : Outgoing wagons to leave the station and factory : all suits 2,3,4,5,6,7,8 Ace, Joker Incoming wagons to go to the station: all suits: 8, hearts and diamonds 9 Incoming wagons to go to the factory siding: clubs and spades 9 This may seem odd but being a small 0 gauge terminus and with far more stock than I need I want to have about 8 wagons a day arriving and leaving. There are usually 12 -14 wagons in the goods yard and factory siding. On the stock shelves there are about 65 more wagons from to make up goods trains to go to the station. So I simply deal a card for each wagon in the order they happen to be on the layout or the stock shelves and make a note of those wagons which will move. Then I make up the incoming freight train from the wagons on the stock shelves which the cards tell me are to move. Then run the train into the station and shunt the train and yard making sure the right wagons leave and the rest are in sensible places in the goods yard. Over a period of time that means 8 to 9 wagons to come to the station and about the same to leave. You can adjust what the cards mean with experience. There are other ways of doing it but mine works for me and all I need is a pack of cards, a notecard on which to write down which wagons are to move and a pencil. David

I almost always run my O gauge branch line terminus to a timetable worked out from the times of real trains at what would have been the junction if the line existed. Otherwise it can get boring. The wagons movements are organised using playing cards. I do have a timetable for my Swiss n gauge layout but as that has a continuous run I sometimes just run each train in turn from the hidden loops/sidings, depending on how much time I have. In both cases derailments etc are quite rare. David

It was dry when I got up, by the time I'd finished breakfst it was starting to rain, it rapidly became much heavier. It is supposed to stop by teatime. I've had the usual trip to church, the fingers on one hand are not working well today because of arthritis so I dropped one of the jugs used in the communion service. Fortunately it was as I was taking them to wash after the servce and it was the one containing water not the wine. I think it may have gained another small dent. I am hoping I will be forgiven. I've done the usual e mails and phone calls and am just going to get a simple lunch - i.e. I'll use up a ready meal from the freezer. David

Some photos at Trent for this morning, one from 1975, the rest from 1983. Trent Class 25 vans to heading to Nottingham from Derby Oct 75 C2503 Trent Class 254 HST up Aug 83 C6132 Trent Class 120 Crewe to Lincoln Aug 83 C6133 Trent 47347 up coal Aug 83 C6136 Trent Class 47 up coal Aug 83 C6138 from the Erewash Valley line David

My original plan was to have the loft emptied by this Easter but a bad chest infection last autumn followed by the hernia surgery this year is delaying things. I do know what is up there and where it is going when I can get on with it, hopefully towards the end of this summer.. David

A quick clarification - of the 75,000 slide scans only about 48,000 are railway, the rest are landscpaes and family - but quite a few have a bit of railway somewhere in them! As for how there are so many, photography is my main hobby after natural history and model making, When I used to go to Europe in the late 80s and 90s in the summer I would expect to use 50 to 60 slide films in about 4 weeks - i.e. about 1,800 - 2,100slides. In the earlier years I took around 400 slides a year, in later years obviously a lot more. Dad and Mum were much the same, they were both very keen photographers, at one time Dad did some professional photography, but not of railways - mainly weddings and such like. By the way, no association with any museums or anything except for camera clubs over the years. David Edit. I am sure there are many others with large collections, some appear on flickr which is well worth looking at (some of mine are there as well). D

As far as I can work out Dad first used colour slide film in October 1950 with railway photos at Lewes and family photos at Brighton. I think his last black and white photos were about 1960, but he used colour most of the time from about 1953ish. I used black and white film first with a Brownie 127 and then a Yashica 35mm camera from 1960 until June 1969 when I changed to colour slide film apart from a few times for specific reasons. Mum did much the same as Dad with her photography. Fortunately most of their (and my) photos are catalogued and dated. I have at least 75,000 colour slide scans of photos taken by us plus thousands of scans of black and white photos. Then there are many thousands of digital photos as well! David

Thinking of sheds I don't have one... but I do have a greenhouse which is very full of plants, under the staging are more plants and useful garden things. The garage is full of important things and treasures, none of which can be thrown away even though they don't get used. The house has just enough space for model things, computers, far too many books - and me. The loft is less full than it was, when I can get up there again I know there are some things which must go - or be put in the garage. David

During the rest of the morning I looked at the recently scanned photos on the TV screen and sorted out where a lot were taken, fortunately many were of seaside places which have not changed much over the years with one exception - Sandilands in Lincolnshire which was devastaed by the 1953 floods so the beach huts all went. I had a quick walk along local roads, the council seem to be adopting no mow May, there are some nice dandelions and daisies along with a lot of blossom on the trees most of which are flowering cherries plus a couple of crab apples. Then it was time for lunch followed by a read and an accidental nap. Later on I had a look in the garden and found a few more plants are starting to grow which I thought had died in the wet weather. Even the sad looking lavenders are showing signs of life. The plants in the greenhouse are settling well and enjoying the bright sunlight today. It doesn't sound much but it has been a very pleasant day. Shortly there will be cheese sandwiches to eat, then a bit of TV and more reading. At the moment I tend to prefer reading, the list of things I do not watch gets ever longer. David

Five places beginning with "S" this time, though one is not a real railway. Sandilands Lincs pull along train Aug 52 J1679 I think this was my first train, aged 3 (just)! The photo was taken on my birthday Sandy Class 31 down freight Apr 74 J3646 Sandy Class 46 10.15 Kings X to Leeds Apr 74 J3645 Saxby Class 105 etc Norwich to Birmingham going away Sept 70 J2381 Scarrington Lane crossing Aslockton Class 114 Nottingham to Grantham Sept 75 J4930 Scremerston Class 254 up Aug 81 C5482 David

According to my notes I made at the time it was a 4 wheel self propelled trolley. It may beBagguley/Drewry 4WDM 425483, built in 1938 which is listed as being at Embsay in the ARPS year book "Steam 74". I don't have a copy for 1972 so that is the best I can do. David

Thank you very much, I've updated the captions. David

I had a much better sleep so I feel more with it today. The photos I sent to one of my cousins, Karen, were well received, she has forwarded them to the rest of her siblings and there have been a lot of comments. Karen and her sisters are going to visit some of their Irish relatives next week so they are taking copies with them, they are a huge family so they hope to identify everyone. Some of the photos I sent were taken at their parents wedding in Dublin with all the relatives attending. I have been asked to send more photos as I scan them. I have also been sent a copy of part of a family tree one of them, Tim, has been working on. I think his is the same as my handwritten one. I shall have a look on Ancestry in a few days, I will have to find some more hours in a day I think. This morning so far has been spent sending them some more photos and answering questions from them about the friend who died and his sister who they also knew a long time ago - who I think I only met once. In a few minutes I am going to have a good look at the photos I scanned mainly to see if I can work out where they were taken. I'm not sure after that, I may just have a walk and then relax. David

Germany this morning. Most of the photos are at Assmannshausen on the Rhine taken in 1990 and 1991. Assmannshausen is on the right (east) bank of the Rhine. There is also one photo in the Harz of the Harzquerbahn near Allerbach in July 1991. Assmannshausen 140 005 northbound freight 2nd Aug 90 C14668 Assmannshausen140 582 northbound freight 2nd Aug 90 C14676 Assmannshausen 140 130 Wiesbaden to Koblenz 2nd Aug 90 C14672 Assmannshausen view north 19th Aug 91 C16518 Assmannshausen Class 140 20th Aug 91 C16529 Assmannshausen 141 145 Koblenz to Wiesbaden 20th Aug 91 C16531 Allerbach 99 7222 Wernigerode to Nordhausen 27th July 91 C15993 (1) David

When I got home this afternoon I had a look in the garden and found a small patch of pigeon feathers so I think the sparrowhawk has been back to try again. There is no dead pigeon in the garden so it has either escaped or been removed by the hawk. I wonder which? Earlier I forgot to mention that I saw a lot of house martins and a few swallows at Rocky Island all busy catching insects. David

Today has continued not going to plan. I had a quick reply from Karen, one of my cousins about Allan, the friend in Canada who died reminding me that of course she knew him, they lived next door to each other when she was young and their fathers were doctors in the same practice. She had lost touch with Allan so will be contacting his daughters to offer condolences and will also contact all seven of her siblings to let them know as she thinks most of them will remember him. She says she knew his sister better - I don't know what happened to her, Allan never mentioned her. I asked if she would like copies of the family photos, she has said yes and will pass them on to the rest of the family, so I have sent some of her Mum and Dad which I have already scanned. It turns out she didn't have copies. She then sent me some information about my Great Uncle Ernest who was killed in WW1 at Passchendaele in 1917. I have found I have some extra information which I will scan and send to her. One of my other cousins, Tim is doing some research and is constructing a family tree on Ancestry so I willl join and have a good look and see if I have any other information. I also want to investigate my mother's family more as there seems to be a Dutch connection. After all that I just went for a short ride to Seaton Sluice and had a walk on Rocky Island before going to do a little bit of non food shopping. This evening I don't intend to do much. 2 photos at Rocky Island today: Looking north Looking slightly west of north, the dark bit on the left is the wall of the harbour entrance. David

Some trains at Hathern on the Midland north of Loughborough. Hathern rear view of down ex pass Aug 72 C1042 Hathern Class 120 Nottingham to Birmingham Aug 72 J3013 HathernClass 20s 8013 & 8196 up limestone Aug 72 J3014 Hathern Class 45 84 up Sheffield to St Pancras Aug 72 J3015 Hathern Class 47 1810 down mgr Aug 72 J3016 Hathern Class 45 81 up Aug 72 J3017 David

About shopping. I do my main shops online using Asda and Morrisons which enables me to get most things I want and like. I strated during lockdown when I was caring for Mum and was told to isolate as much as possible as she was very vulnerable. Afterwards I just continued. The advantage is that I don't (usually) order anything more than I need, i.e. no impulse buys, so it isn't too expensive even with annual delivery charges. It comes in very useful if foir any reason I cannot or do not want to drive. I could visit the shops, in town there are 2 Asdas , big Asda and little Asda (little Asda is about the size of a Lidl), Morisons, Aldi, Lidl, Iceland and also Herons and Farmfoods. The very local smaller shops are Teso Extra and a new Coop at the beach which will open this weekend. Ther are also various corner type shops. In town there is a butcher, baker and a greengrocer. The nearest M&S is in the next town, all of 5 miles away. Deliveries can come from Asda, Morrisons, Tesco, Sainsburys, Iceland and Waitrose - no Ocado though - they don't "do" the far north east of England. I prefer to pay at staffed checkouts but will use self service if I have very simple shopping with only a few items. Otherwise something always seems to go wrong and I have to wait for an assistant. If I need some thing extra I just go any of the local stores, all but one are within a less than 10 minute drive, big Asda takes a couple of minutes longer. Edit. All the local stores have ample free parking, Iceland and Herons are in the town car parks, the rest have their own. The new Coop might be awkward for parking on days when the beach is very busy though the shops at the beach have their own car park. All the parking is of course free, mainly for 72 hours or unlimited time, a couple are only 2 hours. David

Today is not going as planned but it can't be helped. I was awake for 2 hours in the night so didn't hurry this morning. One of my fingers seems to have seized up, just arthritis, it usually does it whe the weather is going to change. It has been geiven a coating of pain relieveing gel which is helping. After breakfast I looked at my e mails and realised I had one from a name which was not very familiar. It turned out to be from a friend's daughter who lives in Austria to let me know that her father who lived in Canada died suddenly a few days ago. He was about 10 years older than me and seems to have had a heart attack. Our families have known each other for at least three generations though when Allan went to Canada to settle and marry there we only kept in touch by mail and later e mail and I've never met his daughters. I've sent a note to one of my cousins as I think she knew him as both his and her fathers were GPs in the same practice. If she does remember him I think she will contact her siblings, if not I will in due course. I expect to scan more photos today, the next batch appear to be things powered by steam and travelling long distances, sometimes at high speed. I think I already have scans of some of them but will do them all just in case. David

Another look at the Embsay and Bolton Abbey Railway at Embsay with photos from 1972, 1975 and 1984. They are a bit late today as I have just heard that a friend in Canada has died unexpectedly. Embsay Barclay Aug 72 C1059 Embsay Hudswell Clarke Nellie Aug 72 J3028 Embsay Sentinel British Tar Co and Peckett Aug 72 J3030 Embsay Peckett Foleshill and Sentinel Ann and Hudswell Clarke Slugh Estates 5 Mar 75 J4205 Embsay 6th Aug 84 C6596 David

This morning I went to church as usual and ended up being asked to do another couple of small jobs - just making sure some things are in the right place for services. Of course that assumes I both know where they should be and that I can actually find them when they are put away in the wrong place. I had a cup of coffee and remembered to pay for my afternoon tea outing which is one day next week. On the way home afterwards I stopped at the beach and had a walk. The sun was shining brightly but the wind was bitterly cold. Back home I had a look at the remains of the heather and took out a few nearby weeds and a plant which was in the wrong place - a self seeded honesty, then while I cooked lunch I arranged for someone to come and measure the kitchen and living room windows as I am thinking of having new curtains. After lunch I just tidied the greenhouse plants and then cleared bits of heather that had fallen in the pond along with some blanket weed. I spent the rest of the afternoon scanning the old photos. The next two albums will be some of Dad's railway photos, I have digital copies of some but not all of them so will probably do them all to make sure none are missed. There's nothing else today, this evening should be a bit of reading or similar as I feel a bit sore from the gardening. A couple of photos of the usual beach this morning. It could be summer apart from the wind. Just snapshots using my phone. David

Some black and white photos taken around Trent on the Midland for this afternoon. Trent 2P 40458 up pass c1950 JVol7309 Trent 4F 43850 down coal photo taken from train c1951 JVol2262 South ofTrent crossing bridge over River Trent LMS Garratt c1949 JVol1028 Trent Fairburn 4MTT 42184 up pass c1950 JVol7311 Trent Lane Junction East Midlands Gas Board shunter c1950 JVol7335 David

Happy birthday Dave. David