tetsudofan

Looks as though I've lost my Gold status, getting dammed cheesed off for getting "This day in ...... " adverts taking up a third of the right-hand side of the screen. Funny the system has kept my little picture thing in top left hand corner but lost my gold status...... Keith

Good to be back, must thank Andy for all the work he has done getting us up and running again. Bit wet and miserable down here in the south east corner, large fluffy bits of snow blowing around but not settling on the ground. It's bin day to day, just been emptied but not venturing outside to bring the bin in until the weather improves..... Keith

Good to see that RMwewb is back again, missed all the goings on. Keith

Fantastic, 1741 and 31246 pre-ordered, odds are that in the far distant past both locomotives have passed through the station ten minutes away from where I am sitting at the moment. Fingers crossed that in the meantime hope that Rails and Dapol will take note and act upon the comments that are made regarding these models. Keith

The driver on one of my O-gauge German diesel locomotives does just that, when you change direction he changes direction. It was interesting at one of the shows we did (probably was the Telford O-gauge show) listening to the comments coming from the public when they worked out what was happening....... Keith

Yabba Dabba Do...... great news, Keith

Yes, they are. 09:30am for Bachmann Club members. Keith

The same happened to me this afternoon. Got three cars connected but when attempting to join the last car the coupling thing disintegrated. Managed to recover all the bits and pieces, got it together again but it disintegrated again. Am thinking about trying once more over the weekend and maybe try to glue it together. If that does not work back it goes back requesting a replacement package. Over the last few years I've joined together many Bachmann multiple units and never experienced this problem...... Keith

Just see that Piko have recently announced a G-scale sound-fitted version of the BR 798 2-car diesel railbus in mint-green Chiemgau-Bahn livery. Contemplating at the moment...... Keith

For me it was the other way around, a lump of metal slipped of the roof and bounced off my head: Got carted off to the local injuries clinic to get cleaned up and then taken to the nearest A & E to be checked over, waited for 4 hours to see a doctor and then another 3 hour wait for a head scan. Declared fit and well and discharged at 1 am in the morning..... Keith

Yep, I was also looking forward to catching the train up to Tonbridge. Also disappointing that the Canterbury show scheduled for January 22nd has also been cancelled. Only positive happening was that the Folkestone club managed to put on their show back in October - and that's a show I can walk to. Colin, hope you can put on a show later this year but please try make sure that it is easy to get to from Tonbridge Station. Many thanks, Keith

Having spent most of my working life in the Far East (Hong Kong, Vietnam, India, Singapore, South Korea and Japan) looking back on it I just wish I had taken a greater interest in speaking the local language. As most of my local colleagues spoke English I got lazy and mainly spoke in English. From my short time in Hong Kong I can still count from one to ten and ask for a cup of coffee in Cantonese. Reminds me of my time in Singapore, when after a few months I asked for a cup of coffee (yat boi gafe or something similar) and the office went quiet. It was apparent from the looks on their faces they were scared, he can speak Cantonese, what has he heard when they were speaking about me etc.). Singapore English was great, "what to do la" , what should we do? Can't remember any Vietnamese, Indian or Korean but my brainbox obviously took in and has retained a lot of Japanese. Realised that when I was in Germany a few years ago when trying to speak some German the brainbox was telling me what the equivalent word in Japanese! Written Japanese is interesting - you've got a choice of three - kanji for Chinese characters, hiragana for writing authentically Japanese words and katakana for foreign words. When you are listening to someone and they end with a "ka" it means they are asking a question, when you hear "desu" they are making a statement. There are also some variations of the language depending on who is speaking. Feminine Japanese is slightly different to male Japanese and then you have "keigo" - polite Japanese of which there are many versions of who is talking to who. I used to buy my rice from the local rice store and one day mentioned (in Japanese) to the owner that I was going on home leave but I could not understand his response. He then rephrased what he said and I understood it. He was originally using "keigo" as I was the customer and he was the salesman. When he used standard Japanese I could understand it. Keith (Ki-chan to my friends, Keith-san to others)

Ah, I'm not the only one....... only difference is that I've got three bent pins Keith

Had a pleasant surprise today. Know that I had ordered both a LNWR and a LMS locos when they were first announced and assumed that I had pre-ordered both from RoS paying £60 in deposits. Just before lunch received an email from UPS advising that a package from the National Railway Museum was on its way to me. An hour later the package arrived at the front door containing Hardwicke. I was somewhat confused as I was not expecting anything from the NRM. Panic set in thinking that by mistake I had pre-ordered two LNWR locos, one each from NRM & RoS. A quick rummage through my credit card records (which, being an ex-banker did not take too long!!) and found that I had ordered on the same day LNWR version from NRM and the LMS version from RoS. Further examination showed that I had paid the NRM in full with a £30 deposit being paid to RoS. This means, of course, that having paid the NRM in full in advance now only have to pay RoS for one loco instead of two. December has turned out to be an expensive month with the Ffestiniog Double Fairlies, the Caley 812s (which arrived this morning) and the Improved Precedents arriving in the same month so finding out that Hardwicke had been paid for in advance was a blessing in disguise as there is no need to raid the piggy bank this month. Hardwicke is currently making it's way round the test track, it looks gorgeous! Keith

Don't forget, one thing to remember about building a garden railway you could start with something like this: and a few years later you get something like this: The first picture was taken just in front of the big shed in the top right corner of the second picture. Problem is that it keeps on growing this time down the fence on the left-hand side of the first picture...... All I'm glad is that I won't be around to clear it all up after I've curled up my tootsies.... Keith

Retail therapy day tomorrow. Being collected at 8:45 am and then we head off to Faversham starting with breakfast at Wetherspoons provided by me followed by a wander down to The Hobby Shop (our closest proper model shop) to see whats arrived since our last visit. Next visit we change positions, I drive and and my friend pays for breakfast. We normally go over on the last Friday of the month which, next month, would be December 31st. Will have to decide whether we do the 31st or wait until the festive season is over. Keith

Andy, agree with you regarding the Admiral Nurses. I had had a difficult day with Mum when my Admiral Nurse phoned and she realised that I needed help..... and she got Mum into temporary care within three hours. Hate to think what would have happened if she had not made that call....... Keith

Just tried it, I'm a "roller"........ Keith

I was lucky to travel the full length of the line to Kurot Kipsdorf a couple of days before the rains came in 2002. We were staying in Dresden doing most of the narrow gauge lines around Dresden and started our journey back home early in the morning just before the rains came....... We had to skip breakfast in the hotel and left with a packed breakfast! Keith

Couple of years ago I made a similar suggestion at my local mrc exhibition and was told that they had thought about it but decided it was a no go as such tickets would be passed to somebody else to avoid them paying for a fully priced ticket. Keith

It's one of these Richard.... All very exciting...... maybe should have left it on the other side of the compound!! Keith

I must be lucky, I've got two filler caps on my car, left one for petrol, right one of electricity...... Must admit I've had the car for just over a year and not had to pump any petrol into the car, have still got more than half a tank of petrol. Reading the manual it seems to be a somewhat fiddly procedure as it's impossible to just open the flap from the outside of the car and pump away, you have to depressurise the fuel tank first. One has to be sitting in the car to initiate the procedure having observed the notes on refuelling in the Owner's Manual and Supplement. If you don't do this you may not recognise dangers. Once that's been done you have to locate a petrol pump symbol embedded in the driver's door and pull the button under that symbol. An indicator lamp will then start flashing and a message will appear on the multifunction display (but it does not say what the message should be). The pressure in the fuel tank will be released and the fuel filler tank flap is then opened. The indicators lamp lights (not stated where) will light up continuously. Once all that's been done one can leave the car and proceed to the petrol pump and do the necessary but you must not get into the vehicle again during the refuelling process otherwise electrostatic charge could build up again. Certainly something to look forward to......... Keith

Managed to get both things done this afternoon . Started by planting quite a few bulbs and then broke off for tea (which for me down here in the south east corner means a mug of caramel latte together with some carrot cake slices or something similar ) and then set up the Gas Turbine Loco on my Z21. Looks and sounds good, runs quite smoothly as well. One happy bunny here! Upper arm starting to feel a bit sore so think a shower, a couple of paracetamol tablets and then bed is called for..... Keith

Had to be up at the crack of dawn this morning so I could walk up to the town for my Covid-19 booster jab in what used be a Debenham's store. Previous jabs were Astra-Zeneca but today's jab was a Pfizer. Keeping my fingers crossed that I don't suffer any side effects as am hoping to make my monthly pilgrimage to Faversham for some retail therapy on Friday - it's my turn to drive and get breakfast provided at the local Wetherspoons. Had a surprise when I got home and found a parcel from RoS containing a sound-fitted black/silver gas turbine loco - RoS only emailed yesterday afternoon advising that the parcel was on its way which I did not expect to arrive until tomorrow at the earliest. Soon after that the Postie delivered the latest copies of Model Rail and Today's Railways-Europe and what I thought was the latest copy of the The Tramway Museum Society magazine but turned out to be the Annual Report and Accounts. Plenty of bedtime reading for the rest of the week! Not quite sure what to do this afternoon, examine, test run and set up the gas turbine on my Z21 or plant in the garden some tulip bulbs purchased this morning......... Decisions, decisions...... Keith

Having received the above emails late yesterday afternoon had bit of a surprise this morning. Had to be out early to have my Covid-19 booster jab (Pfizer on top of two Astra-Zeneca jabs) and upon returning home a short while ago found a package from Rails waiting for me in the front lobby. Many thanks Rails - and ParcelForce for the speedy delivery. Keith