tetsudofan

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

18 hours ago, tetsudofan said:

Just received two emails saying that my Gas Turbine 18000 has been despatched.

 

Happy bunny at last.

 

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

Just received two emails saying that my Gas Turbine 18000 has been despatched.

Happy bunny at last.

Keith

Just checked my credit card account, mine ordered on 12/11/2019 (when first announced) has been charged today.

Not too long to wait now......

Keith

Talking about language qualifications when I arrived in Hong Kong back in 1966 local policemen who spoke English wore a red flash behind their uniform number.

On the day of my arrival (working for a bank) I was signed up as a constable in the Marine Division of Hong Kong Auxiliary Police as we all had to do some form of social service and, as I had been a Special Constable in London, I was sent to the HKAP.

The interesting thing was that we were not allowed to wear the red flash behind our uniform number as we had not taken the Hong Kong Government English Examination.........

Keith

18 minutes ago, Bob83a said:

Did they mention whether the order placement order was based on the date of the original DCC ready orders or on the date the sound option was added (announcement of the option 5/6/21 I think).

 

I was charged for the DCC ready and sound upgrade more than 2 weeks ago, before then models were in stock or just after, but no sign of anything arriving yet. So it might be worth checking your credit card account as you may have to pay the bill sooner.

Hi Bob,

Just checked my diary and see that I accepted the sound upgrade on June 5th, the day that it was announced. So both orders for the DCC ready and sound upgrade were placed on the announcement dates.

Have just checked my credit card accounts (which I do on a regular basis) and no sign of any recent charges by Rails - apart from for some Accurascale JSAs and deposits for the 18100 and E1000.

Keith

2 hours ago, 70E said:

Having spoken to Rails they are fitting the sound decoders themselves in order of placement of order hence any delay in getting them out to customers. Hopefully, mine will arrive soon.

If that's the case a large number of people must have ordered on the  first day that Rails announced on here that they were doing the model.

They made the announcement on November 12, 2019 and I placed my order on that day.....and I'm still waiting..... 

Not that I'm particularly worried, my credit card clicks over tomorrow so I won't have to pay for the model until December at the earliest .

Keith

Just been advised by Royal Mail that my package from Accurascale will be delivered on Friday 15th between 8:20am and 12:20pm  .

Sound decoder and Bubbles are ready and waiting.....

Keith

Having been a passenger on the 4-DDs for a short period in 1966 (when I joined The Chartered Bank before being shipped out to Hong Kong) travelling from Mottingham up to town I've always hoped that somebody would do the 4-DDs.

Not being a clearing bank, The Chartered Bank working hours commenced at 09:30am at the end of the morning rush-hour when the majority of commuters had already traveled up to town. The timing of the 4-DD was that it would arrive at London Bridge Station at about 09:15am  allowing me a brisk walk over London Bridge getting me to the bank in Bishopsgate by 09:30am. Pleasant memories!!

Certainly looking to seeing the model. Will certainly order a green one and, maybe, as its a special model to me, a blue one when I think they were renumbered from 4001/02 to 4901/02.

Keith

I normally go to the show on the Saturday afternoon but this year I'll be going on Sunday afternoon as tomorrow I'm (hopefully) on the much rebooked UK Railtours trip to Crich and the National Tramway Museum.

The club (of which I'm not a member) have advertised locally and in some model railway magazines - the advert in Hornby Magazine states that the show is open both days from 10am to 5pm.

As mentioned above the entry proceedures are different this year - you have to enter the show via the underground car park.

Keith

Just hope mine does not get hijacked on its way over the Irish Sea......

Keith

Being single has its advantages at times. When I got on the ship to Hong Kong back in 1966 I took all my possessions with me (which upset my Mum!) in a couple of suitcases and a small standard sea trunk, when I came home in 1999 a 20ft container followed me.

I hate to think how much I have spent on my hobbies, most expensive have been some modern Japanese prints (purchased whilst I was living in Japan) and all my trains which have been accumulated over the years. I enjoyed buying them and have continued to enjoy them.

My brother knows what I've got as does his eldest daughter in case he goes before me. My brother has made it clear that he does not want to spend ages sorting out my things so he has not been nominated as the executor. Once things have been sorted he (and she) know that I would like his grandsons to be the main beneficiaries.

It would be nice to be able to know that when I'm going to turn up my tootsies and turn off the mortal coil so that I could start disposing of things before it happens but, hey ho, life is not like that. I've enjoyed the things and hope to continue enjoying them......

Keith

Whilst driving abroad (from 1970 to 1999) I had a simple solution at the time. Before setting out on a trip I would always move my watch from my left wrist to my right wrist. The odd feeling I got on the right wrist always reminded me which was the correct side of the road to be on!

Very simple solution but probably would not work now as I have not owned/worn a watch for many a year.....

Keith

5 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

 2.   Wrong type of prairies!

 

It was three of the 21xx locos series (45xx from1912) that got rented out in South Wales and got painted red into the bargain.

 

Numbered 2165-7 went new to the Rhondda and Swansea Bay Railway and remained in their service until 1922 when they were reabsorbed into the GWR fleet. They were then renumbered into their original places in the 45xx series (4504-6).

 

One wonders if just a small bit of Midland red influence crept in, as it was the Swansea area where the Midland had a small toe hold?

 

 

Talking about red prairies there was one of them things running around here a couple or so years ago:

Bachmann released a version, got hooked on it, bought one and even got sound fitted .

OK, it wasn't a model of a real thing but then again it was a real thing because I saw it and rode behind it over at the Bluebell. Can't beat that can you...........

Keith 

On 9/11 I was in Tokyo on vacation having dinner with friends at a local restaurant when the first tower was hit.

A few days later I was booked on a North West flight to San Francisco and on to Albuquerque, New Mexico and then on to Antonito, Colorado via plane and rental car (with Canadian number plates!) to do a two-day charter on the Cumbres & Toltec Railroad.

At first I thought that was goodbye to the Cumbres & Toltec but luckily planes started flying again on the day that my flight was booked. There were not many passengers on board, many of the seats were taken by North West cabin crew who were returning to the US.

My other memory of that trip was that at that time I was into collecting Harley Davidson dealer t-shirts and had planned my route from Albuquerque to Antonito and onto Denver via all the H-D dealerships. We do weird things at times.......

Keith 

18 minutes ago, martin_l_jones said:

Anybody had any issues with the close couplers, the buckeye on one of my wagons seems to be permanently open and fails to couple with the next wagon, looks like there is a brown spring missing which is on all the others. 

 

 

Yes, I've found one just like you........

Keith

I visited the South Shore Line just as they were getting rid of the old rolling stock and introducing the new "silver" trains. Got chatting with the motorman and went down the street and into the countryside in the drivers cab but can't remember if it was in one of the old or new coaches,

At that time I was living and working in Tokyo and when I came home on annual leave I always bought a "round-the-world" ticket leaving Tokyo at 8:00pm on a Friday night arriving in Hawaii at 8:00am on the same Friday morning. After winding down over the weekend I would then head off for the mainland and each year stopping off at one or two towns that had trams and/or interurbans before hitting the east coast and heading home, Over a period of 10 years visited most of these towns.

Somewhere I must have some pictures but where I don't know........

Keith

My garden railway, the EG&SNNR (the Ever Growing and Still No Name Railway), is also visible on Google Earth.

Search around Kent and you might find it .

Keith

Looking at the shed allocations I noted that 69824, 69826 and 62829 were allocated to 32C Lowestoft in 1955/56.

At that time I was 10 years old and every year we spent our summer holidays at Lowestoft where my grandfather was a fitter at 32C. His house was at the end of Denmark Road overlooking the line running into Lowestoft Central and we spent many an hour sitting in the window in the second house from the left watching the trains pass by:

Odds are that grandfather did some work on one or more of the above locos and I may even have seen one or more of them pass the bedroom window. 

Pre-order was placed on the day they were announced......

Keith

8 hours ago, New Haven Neil said:

Aaaah that awakens memories.....we often visited Japan when I was in the Merch, and those toilets......the one thing I didn't like about Japan!  A fascinating country, which we intend to visit when Mrs NHN retires, she hasn't been there but really wants to do so.  I haven't mentioned the bogs.....

 

 

 

 

 

Reminds of the time back in the mid-1970s when I got my parents to visit me in Japan for a couple of weeks. Took them down to Kyoto for a weekend to do the sights and whilst we were wandering round one of the parks Mum suddenly decided that she needed to visit the loo. Despite it being a well known tourist site, the loos were somewhat basic. That was the only time on the trip that Mum used such a loo!!

Looking at the picture of your ship it bears a resemblance to the Chitral that got me out to Hong Kong in 1966:

Only real difference I can see is the freight/passenger ratio. During the journey we stopped at Aden, Colombo, Penang, Port Swettenham (for Kuala Lumpur) and Singapore to offload some of the cargo. Longest stay was 2/3 days in Singapore. After leaving Hong Kong the ship headed off to Yokohama and then started its journey back to the UK.

Keith

Just received some emails from Hattons telling me that their suppliers suggests that the JHA hoppers I pre-ordered some time ago are expected to arrive at Hattons on or after August 19th 2021.

Keith

Having spent most of my working in the Far East I've not owned that many cars. Returned from India in 1972 and bought an Austin 1300GT followed a couple of years later by a Triumph 2.5 both of which were passed on to my father when I returned to the Far East.

When I came back in 1999 I bought a Suzuki Wagon R+, having seen and liked the original Suzuki Wagon R (somewhat smaller than the R+) when I was living in Japan.

Kept the Wagon R+ for six years (and no problems incurred during that time) before I decided to move to Mercedes starting with the second version of the A-Class followed about four years later by a B-Class before I moved to the first version of the GLA which I kept for three years before getting the latest (hybrid) version of the GLA which is now like a proper SUV)

Can remember the index numbers of the first two cars but cannot remember the index number of the first Mercedes. About a year after I got the car and whilst I was caring for my mother (who had  Alzheimers) at the end of a rather difficult day just as I was shutting down the pc I saw an advert from the DVLA regarding personalised number plates. Stupid thing I thought but hey-ho why not. Pressed the button and was offered a GB05 plate for £800 which I thought was stupid. Turned that down and got offered MB05 for £400. Still thought it was rather stupid but a couple of days later looked again, MB05 was still there and decided to go for it. Don't have a problem remembering the number now!!

The Suzuki was bought because I thought it was a quirky car (which it was!!) but my move to Mercedes was probably due to me driving one whilst I was working in Bahrain many moons ago and thinking then that it was a decent car.

Keith

.... and another making its way to the south east coast....

Keith