Peter Kazmierczak

The afternoon Wentloog - Southampton Freightliner slips through Westbury largely unnoticed, last Thursday afternoon.

Went for a walk up to King Down, north of Wimborne, this morning.

And remember that APT-P also had prefixes to their numbers...

David's comments about Shipstones Ales in Nottm, reminded me that some of the locals would replace the "p" of Shipstones with the 20th letter of the alphabet...

Yesterday's low winter late-afternoon sun catches 158750, as it calls at Westbury, right on time, whilst working 1F19 1330 Cardiff - Portsmouth. Only a 2-car formation, though, for a service that serves seven cities and almost a dozen universities...

Think we've worn out Seren...

Has anyone watched the new afternoon quiz show, Jeopardy, hosted by Stephen Fry?

Had a strange dream last night about trolleybuses in Derby... Most odd. Our friend's dog has arrived for her stay with us. Took Seren for a short walk - she's fast asleep now. Even someone coming to the front door didn't rouse her. Must've tired her out; she is 14 though.

I feel that manufacturers need to get the bodywork proportions correct. It's easy to add finer details if one wants to, but if the bodywork is wrong... Just thinking about a "Peak" that was released a year or so back where the cab door was flat when it should've had a curve towards the top. No way to correct that.

I don't think dark forces are trying to kill off our hobby. However, I do suffer from another fear; apart from opening my wallet... Models seem to be so finely detailed, containing more electronics than the Apollo 11 capsule, that I'd be loathe to tinker/detail/alter/even renumber anything I bought new. The only stuff I now buy is secondhand/pre-owned or whatever is the latest phrase used. I limit my spending to £5 a wagon, £10 a coach and £50 a loco tops. So if I do make a mess with detailing, then it's not the end of the world.

We will be having a friend's Collie for a couple of weeks. She's quite an old girl, so hopefully won't want too lengthy walks. Unlike when we had our one-year-old maniac Collie, Ace, who was more energetic and intelligent than either of us...

Once I taught at a school in the Peak District. On Friday afternoons we'd do a "show and tell" session. One girl wanted to bring in a lamb from their farm, but I managed to dissuade her... Another in my class had a dad who was a fireman - we never had any problems getting a fire engine to attend the school fayre.

6A50 1026 Whatley Quarry - Hanwell Bridge Loop approaches Pot Lane (between Frome and Westbury) on 8th January, behind 66604 and 66572. At Hanwell the train will divide. 66604 will come off the front and 66572 will work the front portion as 6M72 1342 to Churchyard Sidings (near St Pancras). 66604 will then drop back onto the rear portion as 6L52 1426 to Dagenham Dock.

Sometimes there are no words... Sleep tight Jonathan.

Meanwhile, back at, er, Westbury... 66144 is stabled by the staff block on the night of Storm Henk (Jan 2nd). Lines were closed due to obstructions of fallen trees and flooding. Lots of potential passengers milling around going nowhere.

Farmer Giles (other farmer names available...) was obviously so fed up with folks damaging his gate that he dumped a large hay bale to block the lane. 800301 passes Newton St Loe on 8th January with 1A21 1300 Bristol - Paddington.

Think I can justify this as industrial archaeology...

I lose track of the days; especially when the bin men are a day later due to Christmas/New Year. So today is Tuesday, no, Wednesday. No, it IS Tuesday. Anyway, drove up to Bristol on Monday; that was yesterday, so today must be Tuesday. Stopped on the way to see some freight things on parallel steel stuff pass by taking stone from the large Somerset quarries. Then walked along the trackbed of a disused linear mode of travel. Walked through a tunnel that used to be the main route between Bristol and Birmingham. Now it's a cyclepath, but when joggers ran past the sound of their trainers echoed in the tunnel and it sounded like the chuff-chuff noise emitted by a certain form of propulsion. On the drive back home there was a heavy snow flurry between Shaftesbury and Blandford; some of the white stuff was even settling. Quite exciting driving through it with the main beam on... Purpose of the trip was to pick-up one of my daughters from uni as she had a job interview down here today at the main hospital. Getting a train from Bristol to where we live is a pain, and I'd probably have to get her from Salisbury, so it's easier (and quicker and more reliable) to drive.

Never mind about buffer stops; I want to know why there is a member of the footplate crew lying dead on the coal in the 8Fs tender? The Mysterious Murder at Shallcross.

Finished the 500-piece jigsaw I was given at Christmas; "Hest Bank - Whitsun 1961" from a Philip D Hawkins painting. I can't say exactly what the content is, but there is a big maroon thing on it with the number 46254 on the side... Last night started reading another of my Christmas presents - "Politics On the Edge" by Rory Stewart. It's very well written. First time out of the house for a couple of days, but my cold is getting better

I'd go for the first option. The headshunt is long enough and making it an inch or so longer doesn't really add anything, apart from making it look squashed-up at the baseboard end.

The above is the perfect example of how a manufacturer should interact with their customers. So well done Accurascale. NB I don't have any connection with Accurascale and don't have any YouTube videos, so am not looking for "clicks" to gain influence/££.

And Why Do They Start Each Word With A Capital Letter? But, it's quite clever really; I especially like #5 and #10...

I went to grammer school, but maybe I should of listerned more in lesson's so as to get my grammer better. I was terible at spellings', may be I didnt try hard enuff.

Feeling rubbish today. Was coughing/spluttering throughout the night. Head fuzzy, feel queasy, gippy tum, etc... etc... Had Lem Sip Max. Wife suggests I sleep in spare room tonight so she can get her (much-needed) beauty sleep. At least the sun is shining. Am still feeling angry after watching Mr Bates vs The Post Office. If you've not seen it you can catch-up on ITVX. Thoroughly recommended.