Ramblin Rich

Backtracking to wartime decoys and the fact that bombers used water reflections; there were fake dockyards based on Hull to lure bombers away from the real location https://www.thehullstory.com/allarticles/hulls-decoy-docks-luftwaffe

Nice set of photos, still one of my favorite layouts. Took me a moment to figure out what happened to the 25 here....!

Yes, a hurried grab from a WhatsApp group.... Ta!

How about the view from a DMU? We had a ride on the Forest of Dean railway's class 108 last weekend from Norchard to Parkend and back. Bought back all the memories of being able to view ahead on Cambian and Central Wales lines. As a bonus, the crew left the cab door open and we had some commentary about wildlife, stock restoration and sheep! Very enjoyable all round. Wooly idiots on the line at Norchard as we waited for the train to arrive.

Thankfully , this is the plaice for that kind of statement

https://www.radioexe.co.uk/news-and-features/local-news/devon-to-get-new-sleeper-train/ Check the date. Tee hee Exeter-Okehampton will take 10 hours Devon is to get a new luxury train ‘sleeper’ service. The premium overnight route will build on the success of Dartmoor Line, which came back into use in 2021 after being axed decades ago. Running from Exeter Central to Okehampton, and sometimes back again, the service will provide dinner, bed and breakfast as it passes through the Devon countryside. Based on the ‘slow’ movement, which encourages a more measured way of life, the 20-mile journey will take 10 hours, leaving passengers sufficient time for a ludicrously expensive dinner before retiring to their berths and then getting up again for an even more ludicrously expensive breakfast. The fine dining menu includes slow-roasted foul with gravy train for main, followed by fruit fool pudding. Passengers will be expected to dress for dinner and undress for bed, or vice versa. Liveried staff will be on hand at all times to help, whether passengers want it or not. The company behind the scheme, Koolep Frajilo, says the success of luxury train services globally shows that demand for quality never wanes. “It’s like the Orient Express,” said spokesperson Kanye B. Cirrius. “But instead of Venice, think Venn Ottery. For Budapest, we have Buckfastleigh. And while Umbria's out of the question, Umberleigh's a very real possibility given the number of times we re-route for signal failures. "As well as the traditional services people have come to expect from train journeys in Devon - expensive tickets, blocked loos and an unrivalled ability to treat paying customers like criminals by threatening them with court action for not having the right tickets we've been unable to sell them - we'll now trap them on board overnight and pretend we care whilst fleecing them for every penny we can get." Trains will run westerly on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and eastbound on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays because, in the words of the train company, no one wants to be stuck in Okehampton on Sunday when there's nothing to do. Although the final departure time hasn't been announced, the train operator says it will obviously be moments before the last buses connect with it, "because we know it frustrates the hell out of people and besides, we wouldn't want the type of passengers who rely on public transport." They continued: "If this works, who knows where this could take us? Tavistock? Barnstaple? Westward Ho!? Some of these places even have railway stations." Tickets for the Exeter-Okehampton service won't be available from closed ticket offices after 12 noon today.

https://www.radioexe.co.uk/news-and-features/local-news/devon-to-get-new-sleeper-train/ Check the date. Tee hee Exeter-Okehampton will take 10 hours Devon is to get a new luxury train ‘sleeper’ service. The premium overnight route will build on the success of Dartmoor Line, which came back into use in 2021 after being axed decades ago. Running from Exeter Central to Okehampton, and sometimes back again, the service will provide dinner, bed and breakfast as it passes through the Devon countryside. Based on the ‘slow’ movement, which encourages a more measured way of life, the 20-mile journey will take 10 hours, leaving passengers sufficient time for a ludicrously expensive dinner before retiring to their berths and then getting up again for an even more ludicrously expensive breakfast. The fine dining menu includes slow-roasted foul with gravy train for main, followed by fruit fool pudding. Passengers will be expected to dress for dinner and undress for bed, or vice versa. Liveried staff will be on hand at all times to help, whether passengers want it or not. The company behind the scheme, Koolep Frajilo, says the success of luxury train services globally shows that demand for quality never wanes. “It’s like the Orient Express,” said spokesperson Kanye B. Cirrius. “But instead of Venice, think Venn Ottery. For Budapest, we have Buckfastleigh. And while Umbria's out of the question, Umberleigh's a very real possibility given the number of times we re-route for signal failures. "As well as the traditional services people have come to expect from train journeys in Devon - expensive tickets, blocked loos and an unrivalled ability to treat paying customers like criminals by threatening them with court action for not having the right tickets we've been unable to sell them - we'll now trap them on board overnight and pretend we care whilst fleecing them for every penny we can get." Trains will run westerly on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and eastbound on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays because, in the words of the train company, no one wants to be stuck in Okehampton on Sunday when there's nothing to do. Although the final departure time hasn't been announced, the train operator says it will obviously be moments before the last buses connect with it, "because we know it frustrates the hell out of people and besides, we wouldn't want the type of passengers who rely on public transport." They continued: "If this works, who knows where this could take us? Tavistock? Barnstaple? Westward Ho!? Some of these places even have railway stations." Tickets for the Exeter-Okehampton service won't be available from closed ticket offices after 12 noon today.

The problem won't be that the cement will melt, it's that you're trying to cork a champagne bottle that's got he pressure of tens of thousands of tonnes on molten rock behind it. You may temporarily stop an eruption, but when something finally gives it will have more pent up pressure behind it and hence more destructive energy. And your cement cork may survive intact to become a several hundred tonne projectile...

You can tell how old this is by the antennae on the phones! And the ©️ 2001 by the signature..... 🤪 Good grief you can make italic emoji too!

Codsall on the Wolverhampton to Shrewsbury line https://maps.app.goo.gl/zrj6sCBFU7kWEskR9 If you 'move' under the bridge it's obvious the platforms are built out from the original bridge girders https://maps.app.goo.gl/4HeU49E4UrCg8YJYA

Almost a Pet Shop Boys song https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=F2ZRpPzNsNI

Are you going to ask for the 4-way point at the same time? 😉

I'm sure this has been mentioned before, possibly from Australia, but anyway: Guy sitting on station bench with large bag of chips. Gains the interest of seagulls by occasionally throwing few on the platform. More and more seagulls gather, squabbling and squawking as more chips dropped. Train pulls in and doors open. As the door hustle signal starts, guy throws bag of chips through doorway. Gulls pile in as doors close. Train pulls off with squabbling seagulls on board. Guy gets up and strolls off platform. Evil genius

I really want to get away from muddled units like mph. The 'm' could be miles, minutes, metres... Change everything to S.I. units. All road speed signs to be changed to metres per second. I'm expecting very red faced splutterings from certain circles but it's mainly to wind up Jacob Rees-Mogg. 🤪