43110andyb

A bit of a milestone reached today as 50% of the wiring prep is complete! Dropper wires fitted, insulated fiddle yard circuits bridged out and point frogs isolated and tested through the existing micro-switches for frog switching. Work has taken around 35 hours to complete with plenty more work to do!!!! Picture below is of one of the point matrix boards (there is one either end of the fiddle yard for route setting (we are not touching these at the moment so the work has been to remove the common return wires that feed the track).

A beer from the Hartlep**l brewery Cameron's- A-hop-alypseNow 4.3% powerfully hopped bitter and proof that there can be something good to come from Hartlep**l (football aside).

An absolute peach of a Porter from Nick Staffords -Hambleton Ales, Nightmare Porter at 5%. A beautifully balanced Porter -bought for my wife who loved it and I managed to sneak a quick taste as a bonus!

Quick update on work- 7 of the 19 boards are now fully prepped for bus-bar fitting, points have had to be separated from the common return (common return fed track feeds/points/signals) and are going to be controlled via the original panel and fiddle yard route matrix. Another task that has been started is a database of stock- starting with revenue freight a first draft has been started and I have added a screen shot of the initial count below. Only a few more rakes required to fill the expansive fiddle yard!!!

Tonight's tipple after a 5-2 hammering at football is another of the Black Sheep fold- Black Sheep ale 4.4% another Yorkshire classic from the Masham brewery!

Football match over and eventually dried out after a rainy night- Cropton brewery's experimental Golden ale 4% tonight! 2000 flavour profiles all from UK hops so a unique flavour to each bottle -and record breaking too boot!

Don't mention the pools! -Darlington v Harlep**l exhibition derby! -Violence in the local trade stands for sure!

Tonight's after match tipple is another Yorkshire beer from the Black Sheep brewery in Masham- Golden Sheep Ale 4.5%

When I was lowly Trainee Tech it was a Toyota Corolla getting an oil change by one of the S&T stalwarts outside Darlington box next to a class 37 stabled outside the Park Lane shops!

Another football match brings another beer- Cascade Pale Ale from the Saltaire brewery, at 4.8% a refreshing American Pale Ale.

Some interesting shots of Sunderland stabling point here for inspiration- http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/89192-sunderland-south-stabling-point-1985-95-00/

Becoming a regular feature a beer after 7-a-side football- tonight it's another north east example from the Tyne Bank brewery- Monument 4.1%, refreshing session beer and a welcome drink to relax with!

There are just two wires- lots of two wires

Thish Dee shee shee malarkey ish easy, can't see what all the fush is about- hic! The morning hash flowwwn by wiring- hic. Very tempting to open a beer! All wiring for bus-bars now in for first fiddle board- red/grey for outer district and white/grey for inner.

No work to report over the summer break but we have now started the great re-wire to DCC!!! A before and after shot below, work completed to remove all common return loops (to be replaced by individual droppers to bus-bars), and remaining feeds separated to Up & Dn line circuits as we are splitting layout into several power districts to avoid short circuits and power drops.

A new beer from the Masham stable- Reaper Red Rye ale 4.1% very palatable and the usual high quality from the Black Sheep brewery!

Popped into our local newsagents in Blackwell to put up a poster for our exhibition, out of the corner of my eye spotted a shelf with Cropton brews on it, returned a week later to stock up and be re-united with an old favourite in bottle form-

The railway has its own language and many a new starter coming from maybe another industry sometime really struggled to Comprehend it. The railway signalling alphabet normally blows the brain the most- here are a few to start with. W- points operating equipment, D- clear (Green); decoding; relay contact- de energised, H- caution (yellow). Some letters such as D have multiple meanings depending on the context they are used, great fun trying to teach newcomers! You just have to think back to when someone taught myself aged 16 and how I managed to take it in. I'm sure there are many industries/professions that would be the same for me now if I tried to change careers!

A great first day of the exhibition capped by our annual BBQ and quiz this evening! Took this snap earlier as Dave C's 45 somehow managed to creep its way onto East Street (sounding very nice indeed).

Set up underway and a flurry of activity in the members competition entries area!

Another game of footy brings another beer! Samuel Smiths -India Ale 5% Very refreshing beer from the Tadcaster brewery!

A quick sneak preview of two of the members competition entries to whet the appetite- EOTL- end of the line, and East Street.

Honeymoon! sounds like a dream! Can't say I ever managed any real ale on ours- worse luck ps- congratulations! Hope your back in time for our show in Darlo?

Our last club night before the exhibition due to next Mondays bank holiday! There are plenty of prizes to be won on the tombola over the weekend and now with at least five members competition layouts to add to the exhibition were as ready as we can be!!

My reward tonight after a tough (unfit after a weeks holiday) 7-a-side match is another north east classic- Mordue Brewery's award winning Radgie Gadgie 4.8%