DaveF

An assortment of places beginning with M and N this evening, with and without trains (and track). Moulineam crossing Class 26 Glasgow QS to Inverness Aug 73 J3278 Mucking Class 302 Fenchurch St to Shoeburyness via Tilbury June 75 C2171 Mumby Road GNR Willoughby to Mablethorpe line March 70 J2081 Munlochy Fortrose branch Aug 74 J3946 Nairn bridge over A96 Aug 74 J3913 David

I think your first sentence gives a good reason for not having old people in charge! David

It should be dry here today though with a lot of cloud and the wind about Force 5 to 6, sometimes gusting to 7/8 and about 18°C by lunchtime. I slept well and am up and thinking what to do today . I have an invitation to an event at church for coffee and lunch organised by the PCC (parochial church council). It is advertised as a chance to meet them and get to know others in the congregation. It is actually to try to get more people to be on the PCC who basically do the day to day running of the place. When I turned 70 I resigned from various society committees as I knew I was become resistant to change and didn't want to get in the way. As I am now nearly 75 I will not volunteer to join the PCC. If I did it would take me about a year to get up to speed and will I be able to do as much when I am coming up to 76? I am perfectly happy to do things, like readings and intercessions and serving at communion while I am fit enough but not to organise things. I sometimes wish other older people would "retire" and let younger fitter people who are less set in their ways take over. I may not like what new people do but I was like that once and changed a lot of things the previous generation had refused to do anything about, both at the camera club and the Literary and Scientific Society. Yesterday evening I noticed that Radio 3 is having "Friday Night is Music Night" each Friday at 7.30 now that Radio 2 have first moved it and now scrapped it. I decided to try it and it was pleasant. Some of the music was a bit different from the old days (showing my age, see above) but doubtless it will settle down. However, like a lot of music on Radio I find the sound balance is not as good as it was. Of course that has nothing to do with my age! I suspect it is actually that things have moved on since I bought my current stereo set up a long time ago, a Google nest mini gives somewhat better sound a lot of the time. David

Shildon in August 1975 during the S&D 150 Event celebrating 150 years since the Stockton and Darlington Railway opened. Note - the first one is from June 74 on a RCHS trip. I can hardly believe that it is now 49 years ago and that the 200th anniversary is next year. Shildon June 75 J4453 Shildon LNER A4 4498 Sir NIgel Gresley 24th Aug 75 C2339 Shildon LNWR 790 Hardwicke 24th Aug 75 C2342 Shildon Head Wrightson 0-4-0VB 24th Aug 75 C2347 Shildon B1 1306 Mayflower 24th Aug 75 C2356 Shildon CR 419 24th Aug 75 C2375 David

It does make sense, I've changed the caption. David

I went out for a walk this morning as planned. There was only one set of the water company's temporary traffic lights and none at the level crossing but it will be completely closed from 19th - 30th April to build the footbridge and do some work on the track. It is as well I didn't want any petrol as there was a large tanker filling up the tanks at the garage so it was closed, also it was in the middle of the traffic lights section. The walk along the Plessey Waggonway (opened in about 1699 and closed in 1812) was pleasant but part of the path was like walking along the bed of a shallow stream The golf cause had a lot of standing water so it was closed, some fields will need reseeding. Photos below. I was home in time to chat to a couple of neighbours and set the world to rights (we are all retired) and then had coffee. After lunch I did a little bit of the garden, just deadheading and trimming dead bits where I could reach from the gravel areas. Then I tried a Sudoku and made a stupid mistake so I will try again later this evening. Having looked at the roadworks web site there will be some evenings and nights when the level crossings on both roads leading to the only road inland from the south side of town will be closed. Perhaps the planning could be better. This a path not a stream. In places it was a couple of inches deep. A wet golf course This field may need reseeding. David

Around Little Bytham on Stoke Bank 1970-1973 with both blue and green diesels. Little Bytham Class 47 1747 up oil May 70 J2123 Little Bytham Class 47 1940 up Jan 72 J2808 A very odd headcode. Little Bytham Class 55 9003 up Jan 72 J2809 08.10 Newcastle to Kings X Little Bytham Class55 9013 down 16.00 Kings X to Edinburgh May 73 J3194 Little Bytham Class 47 1578 up 15.25 Leeds to Kings X May 73 J3195 David

When I was 64 I retired from my second career as an IT consultant working mainly for one school as I realised that younger people could do the job better than me, they had fresh ideas, I knew I was beginning to resist change. At 70 I decided to step down from committees of several societies for much the same reason - I've seen too many older people get in the way as they resist all change, not just bad changes. Tomorrow morning I have been invited to coffee and lunch at my church, I know it is to try to recruit new members to the PCC and to fill other positions. I will go and chat but will not volunteer, I am 75 this summer which is too old to take on a new responsiblity which would take about a year to fully master and who knows what my health will be like then. I am happy to do things and am in fact starting on some now but not to organise them any more. David

That's what I thought when I first saw them until I saw one coming towards me. David

I'd perhaps better not travel to Europe or the USA, my fingerprints are not very clear. Many years ago when my school in Essex was broken into staff had fingerprints taken for elimination purposes, the comment was made that the science staff had almost no patterns on their thumbs and some fingers. The fingerprint people said it was probably down to the chemicals we kept getting on our fingers in the school labs. I've just had a look, mine are slightly clearer now but not much. David

A dry sunny morning after the nearly 2" of rain so far this week. It's milder,11°C at 9.00. I've done my foot exercises and made sure the strapping tape is still attached but I think a real improvement will take time. I am seeing the MSK person at the surgery on Monday morning, I've just received a text to remind me. I assume MSK means musculo/skeletal practitioner. It is far too wet to walk anywhere on soil or grass so have decided to go for a short walk along a footpath along an old 17th century waggonway just outside town as it has a tarmac surface. I shall be able to see if there is any interesting wildlife in the hedges and watch the golfers nearby. After that it depends how I feel. I cannot do anything at all in the garden, it resembles a quagmire and is almost wet enough for it to start to form a peat bog as plants die off. David

2 locations in Denmark for thids morning. The first two photos are at Varde, which is a junction north of Esbjerg where the Westbanen line goes to Nymindegab. The last three are taken around Vejle, north of Fredericia. It is again a junction. You may need a map or Google Earth! Varde Westerbanen dmu 18th Aug 94 C19749 Varde DSB IC3 5026 and dmu 4073 18th Aug 94 C19754 Vejle DSB dmu 17th Aug 94 C9626 Vejle DSB dmu 17th Aug 94 C19628 Vejle view north 17th Aug 94 C19743 David

My house is very simple - 1 living room, kitchen, 2 bedrooms, bathroom, porch. Both bedrooms are the same size. the kitchen is the same too, all 13'x9'. The living room is twice the size. There is of course a garage and greenhouse but no shed. All my "toys" live in the spare bedroom, if anyone wants to come and stay I can arrange it at a local hotel. I too often sweat at night, but it is quite random. It may have do do with what I've eaten, also sometimes I end up with the duvet over by chest and my legs not covered at all. I sleep on my right side, if I sleep on the left side I get a sore shoulder and neck - arthritis. Church was OK today, I found what I was doing when I got there to set things up for the service, just serving today. I had a look at the rota for the next few months services and found it is different from the one I have so I suggested that someone should e mail out the updated version to those who are involved. Apparently the person who did it hadn't thought of that. I also did a bit of shopping and found things I really did need both in Aldi and Homebase and almost resisted temptation to buy anything else. Then it was a quick salad lunch followed by falling asleep as I didn't sleep very well last night. I've done a bit on the model and found a piece which I thought was missing but it was on a different sprue. The rest of the day is planned to be quietly reading and possibly a bit of TV. David

Cramlington, on the ECML north of Newcastle in 1984/5 for the next batch. Cramlington Class 254 Kings X to Edinburgh10th Nov 84 C6663 Cramlington Class 101 Morpeth to Newcastle 18th April 85 C6829 Cramlington 47418 WBHS charter Newcastle to Fort William 11th May 85 C6834 Cramlington South 47528 down Speedlink 5th July 85 C6976 Cramlington 27017 hauling 47527 up 5th July 85 C6978 David

I much prefer fresh food or at least frozen things without additives. It doesn't always work but not much of my food is tinned or in brightly coloured packaging. I read the ingredients of most things I buy which are not plain fresh to check how much of some oils they contain as they upset my gut badly. I also have to check for nuts and fungi. As for this morning the rain has stopped, it is grey and may rain a bit later, it could reach 6° this afternoon. Gardening will be out of the question for the present, some plants are beginning to go brown as they are drowning. The greenhouse now has 2" of water in it I think I'm doing something at church in the service this morning, I'll need to check when I get there as I haven't been on a Thursday since early February. Then there may or may not be a visit to a shop depending on how I feel. The strapping on my foot is making a difference, I have ordered some to use from the stong ladies. David

Sheffield Park on the Bluebell Railway back in 1976 and 1978 for this morning. Most were taken on Boxing Days, it was always a pleasant drive from Essex through the Dartford Tunnel as there wasn't much traffic on 26th December. Sheffield Park USA 30064 Oct 76 C3074 Sheffield Park SECR CLass C 592 26th Dec 76 C3133 Sheffield Park SECR Class H 263 26th Dec 76 C3135 Sheffield Park SECR CLass P 323 Bluebell coupling to train 26th Dec 78 C4230 Sheffield Park SECR SECR H Class 263 ecs 26th Dec 78 C4233

I had a very nice piece of salmon with new potatoes and peas for lunch, simple but tasty, satisfying and very easy. During the afternoon I looked at Facebook for the first time in ages. I no longer post anything, I did for a time but it attracted too many comments from people I had taught over the years and no longer knew. Now I just look at a few local groups now and then. Apart from RMweb and flickr that is it as far as social media goes now. I had an early cuppa as I had an appointment to see the podiatrist, normally about 15 minutes away in the next little town. The way I have been going to go to the only road out of the south side of town was no use as it has two sets of roadworks with lights (part time irregularly for the water company) and Network Rail working at the level crossing and building a footbridge with more lights. So I went the other way also leading to the same only road heading inland. It only has one set of temporary traffic lights, the new roundabout where they are building the bridge over the railway is partly in use with a very temporary surface. For once it only took 7 minutes to get through it and Network Rail were not working on the level crossing today which helped. Then there was the long temporary 30 limit where another roundabout is being built at the other end of the bridge. Then I only had to negotiate 3 floods where the water in the middle of the road was about 3" deep, much worse at the verges, everyone was being very careful and stopping to allow traffic coming the other way to get through. All the fields were covered in water which was simply running onto the road, across it and into the lower fields on the other side. Going down the steep hill into the valley was interesting, the road was like a river and very slippery so everyone drove slowly, if you go through the barrier it is quite a long drop through the trees to the river. The whole journey only took 25 minutes instead of the usual 15. The podiatrist did my nails quickly and has put kinesiotape on my sore foot, I have plantar fasciitis. Coming back I wanted to avoid the floods but realised that the other obvious route is closed because a level crossing is closed all week for track renewal. So I went by another route to get to the spine road to get home. It is OK but the "on" slip has a tight curve so it can be difficult to build up speed to join the main road. Then I came in to the north side of town, today there were no road works - they had moved just outside town to another level crossing which is closed to traffic. I will be very pleased when the railway work is finished and the Northumberland Line opens, hopefully later this year. I should really say reopens as it closed to passenger traffic in 1964. David

York between 50 and 59 years ago. York Class 55 D9015 09.05 Kings X to Edinburgh Aug 65 J222 York B1 Aug 66 J587 York Class 45 D29 Newcatle to Cardiff? Oct 66 J670 York A3 4472 Flying Scotsman up light engine Oct 66 J673 York Class 45 31 St Pancras to Scarborough special and Class 45 Newcastle to Cardiff? May 74 J3687 David

Yes, I think that is the bridge. David

It is possible becasue I am still restoring the photos which were lost, now and then a back up file I use can contain 2 copies and I do not always notice. David

I eventually got to sleep it took a while as I was wondering why I hadn't seen the traffic light on the crossing. When I did sleep I was woken by the sound of heavy rain, then I went off to sleep properly and woke at 8.45, so I am a bit behind today. After breakfast I drove into town and did a circuit of various roads ending up at yesterday's junction. As I approached the junction from about 40 yards away I could just see a glimmer of green from the light on the right hand side, nothing from the left light because of the shade on it. Getting nearer the light was no longer visible. At the junction I couldn't see any lights, the left one was hidden by its shade, the right hand one was hidden by the rear view mirror and its housing. It was only after I had pulled out onto the main road that it came into view. I reckon I was lucky to be able to stop yesterday. I have worked out that the only way to check the light is to duck my head down below the mirror, but then I can't see safely to drive forwards. I will just not use that route in future so I will join the main road earlier at a roundabout which is also odd as parking is allowed all round it outside the shops and houses on the roundabout - it is a large one. To make it worse the parking outside the shops is at right angles to the road. I was putting some railway photos on flickr this morning and realised I had a place name wrong, it was Etterby Bridge north of Carlisle. Looking at other peoples' photos I am not the only one to have problems with it, a friend has two photos on flickr of the same view captioned differently. Then I put some photos on my thread here and found that although I had the place name right I couldn't remember exactly where it was so had to find my maps of Germany. Shortly it will be coffee time, then I will do not much, perhaps some bits on the model church I making or just sit and read. I am finding that I think I am fitter than I actually am so I still easily get weary. David

Northern Germany for a change this morning. The location is Süderbraup which is on the line from Kiel to Flensburg. They were taken in August 1992 while driving back to Esbjerg in Denmark to catch the ferry to North Shields. I'd had a holiday in Switzerland and Germany, including the Harzquerbahn. Süderbraup 212 006 12th Aug 92 C17806 Süderbraup 628 204 12th Aug 92 C17809 Süderbraup Class 628 204 12th Aug 92 C17810 Süderbraup 928 204 Jübeck to Flensburg 12th Aug 92 C17813 Süderbraup 218186 Hamburg to Fredericia (in Denmark) 12th Aug 92 C17814 David

Round here some have signs, some don't. I just look at the lines and Give Way, many do not. To be honest this junction is a lot better than a number of others in the town. I sometimes think Northumberland makes up its own rules about roads. David

Herewith 2 photos at street level courtesy of Google Earth. I was on the left of this road. Note, the Google car was going in the opposte direction, so the photo is looking back on the right hand side, so you can just see one red light. From the left hand side it is harder to see. This is the view along the main road. You can argue I should have been able to see the red light but on my dash cam it comes properly into view as I reach the junction. Note there isn't even a Give Way sign. David

Now for today. I went in to town to get my haircut and was able to park in my usual place on the road. The haircut didn't take long, the bad bit was the journey home as mentioned earlier. I also rang Coop funerals, have organised what I want and paid for it (ouch!). It is simply a burial in a plot I already "own" in the local cemetery, Mum and Dad are already buried in it. When I bought it about twenty years ago for Mum and Dad (so it was in my name when we came to bury them to make it easier) the council had a "buy 2 graves and get 1 free offer" so I will fit in there as well, the exisitng headstone will just need another line adding. I have received the documents by e mail, in due course I will receive a paper copy along with some documents for me to complete concerning who is my solicitor, exact details of any service I want, where the deeds for the grave are to be found, what goes on the headstone and so on. They will also let my solicitors know that I have a pre paid funeral. It was really very easy. I've spent the rest of the day putting more things away now I can reach into cupboards and so on which means fewer things lying around. Some modelling was also done. David