Jenny Emily

My experience in 2013:

Who needs to jump out of aeroplanes to get an adrenaline buzz when you have an old car and a garage that forgot to tighten the all important nut that holds the hub to the driveshaft? I found out the hard way just how much the Haynes manual isn't kidding about how tight that nut is supposed to be. At a steady 60mph last night I became aware of a metallic scraping noise getting very loud and angry very quickly. I dived for the hard shoulder and discovered a front left wheel that wasn't very happy. The AA recovered me and took a long hard look at the offending wheel and hub behind. The damage is quite substantial given how quickly it failed once the nut started unscrewing itself at speed. On jacking the car up the wheel was free to flop in all directions with an inch or more of play in any direction. The brake disc was badly scored and it was clear that it was the callipers that had held the wheel via the disc from coming any further off the driveshaft. In the process the wheel bearing has also shredded itself, presumably at the point that the wheel drifted out of position. I was informed that it was as well I pulled over immediately and the car has been relocated, courtesy of the AA, to my drive. Three days ago I had a new ABS ring fitted on that drive shaft. The AA mechanic could turn the nut by hand that is supposed to be well torqued on, and it was his opinion that the garage had failed to torque that nut properly causing the failure as it came loose. He has given me a copy of his report so I can go back to the garage with it to demand that they put right the car fixing the damage they have caused. So, not the greatest of commutes back from work. A 20 minute trip took 4.5 hours and rendered the car a little sorry for itself. It also shows just how valuable recovery membership is. Without it, who knows how expensive getting removed from the motorway would have been. First time I've had cause to call them in over a decade.

My partner's hobby is collecting and playing various old console games. They are aiming for a complete PAL PS2 game collection, and are at 68% complete (there are nearly 2,500 games for a complete collection). They also collect for Sega Mastersystem, Megadrive, Dreamcast, Nintendo SNES, N64, Gamecube, Wii, Xbox, Xbox 360, Game boy and Sega Gamegear. It's becoming quite a collection. Their pride and joy is a copy of 'Rule of Rose' which is apparently quite hard to get on PS2. Personally I really like GTA San Andreas, and my exhibition layout takes its name from Grove Street in the game.

I finally got around to filming the triple pack set that I got of these re-chassised wagons from Hornby: My conclusion is that of the three in the set, the 7 plank and the 5 plank have some issues that are clearly a hang-up from their Airfix parentage. Whilst the chassis carries a wealth of extra detail, and the brake levers are the best I have seen in model form, they both are noticeably too long and have four locating lugs for the body rather prominently visible on the underside. The 3 plank wagon, however, is a really stunning wagon. The new chassis has worked wonders for this wagon, and I look forward to seeing future releases. The chassis is very well done, sharing the same level of detail as the 5 and 7 plankers as well as the very fine metal brake levers. It doesn't share the awful body locating lugs, and it appears to be a much more accurate length, matching the Oxford Rail 4 plank wagon exactly. In the video I try and do something of a comparison between Bachmann, Oxford Rail and these Hornby offerings. When you put the 5 plank and 7 plank wheel to wheel with a Bachmann 7 planker the difference in body length and wheelbase is rather glaring. They are nice wagons, but I would still be hesitant about buying either of the 5 or 7 plank varieties unless they were carrying a must-have livery. The 3 planker will be one I look out for, however, and I already have the SECR offering that is slated for release later in the year on order. It's just a shame that the comparatively recently released North British liveried 3 planker was just a little too soon to get this retooled chassis.

I'm curious, are the SECR vans repaints, kitbuilt or RTR? Also those SECR coaches look really god - are they kit built or otherwise?

I could certainly get behind the absence of Scottish Midges and the liquid summertime that kept falling from the sky.

My CPC liveried one gets a running session along with the SECR P class: It benefitted from adjustment to the pickup wipers and some running in. The jerkiness on the outdoors section was down to my lack of cleaning rubber (the rubber expired 2/3 of the way through cleaning and I had to use a piece of wood instead, with not quite so effective results)

I'm particularly pleased with my CPC example. Not really much to fault except for the glazing bar across the back of the cab. Plenty of weigvht to this model, and I got it running pretty well after adjusting the pickup wipers on the backs of the wheels and around an hour of running in.

Couldn't resist...

I would have assumed that plastic used in a product intended for long term use would be exempt? I mean, which wally is whizzing their models in the bin after using them once?

I get errors like these when there is a discrepancy with the time that my computer thinks it is, and the time that the server online thinks that it is.

I picked mine up from the postal depot today (because best way to make a parcel you've been waiting ages for turn up at the door is to go sit on the loo, apparently) The CPC livery is really well applied. It now completes the trio of Trafford Park suitable locos along with the Hornby Peckett and Sentinel for 'Grove street'. I'm going to go out in the garden and get her running in. Given the really nice weather I'll let her trundle on a full circuit of the garden loop so that I can enjoy the sun.

My video from the event:

Sounds like the Warrington mail centre is getting crowded with Barclays - mine is there too according to the tracking reference I got in the email.

I was there on the Friday and was impressed that many of the trains were standing room only. It must have been really well attended on the Saturday and Sunday.

Perhaps it depends on which loco you ordered as my order was also processed on Friday but posted yesterday - I wonder if less people ordered the same CPC one that I did?

I got around to getting myself one combining a shake down trip in my old Volvo with a trip to Hatton's at Widnes to pick one up. I chose the SECR grey one, to match my Bachmann C class and N class in the same livery: It's actually the first time that I've been to the new premises at Widnes, having been a frequent visitor to the old shop(s) in Smithdown road. It's a lot easier and quicker to get to, and the provision of parking is welcome. No more braving Liverpool traffic to find the shop! The model is really fine, and is right up there along with the Model Rail/Bachmann USA tank as being one of the finest RTR models that I've seen. I'm really looking forward to the Barclay shunter in CPC livery that I ordered a while back. Sadly the postie has just been, and my loco was not with him.

The old beast has an MOT, but the quality of the two week experience of getting it there can be summed up by having the ABS warning light come back on within half a mile of leaving the garage, the speedometer deciding to read only 50% of the road speed, and the tin lid being the rear right passenger door handle coming off in my hand when I tried to open it to get my bag off the back seat. Classic cars - who would have them? I think my 20 year love affair with this Volvo just came to an end. Looking online I'm a little stumped why the speedo is only reading half actual speed, though I suspect it is something to do with it reading road speed via ABS sensors perhaps? The speedo was working fine despite the ABS fault before the garage changed a sensor.

My Father had a series one Land Rover with door locks. We wondered why they had bothered, given it was soft top and you could just climb in over the door or through the wide open back to gain entry. The ignition barrel had the key number on it and it was possible to buy replacement keys in so many places just by quoting that number. That said, almost any other coded key seemed to work to start it. Then again, it was easy enough to open the bonnet and use a length of wire to bypass the ignition and start it.

My understanding is that the owner of the illegally parked vehicle could be held partially or wholly responsible for any damage and/or incidents caused by their poor parking, even if they are nowhere near their vehicle at the time. Therefore any drivers who end up having a prang at a junction with a badly parked vehicle being present, even if it has not been touched or damaged, would be well advised to get pictures of it and its numberplate in order to progress an insurance claim.

The new rules sound like an opportunity for unscrupulous garages to hold car owners hostage for expensive repairs. Totally unreasonable. Far better to apply the stop only on finding of faults deemed in the dangerous category.

It has a brand new battery fitted, as the old one was so lazy I had to put it on charge each time I tried to start the thing and that never threw up a fault. I suspect that it will be dirt in a wheel sensor, but it really annoyed me that it chose five minutes before an MOT to show itself.

I took my old banger classic car for its MOT last Thursday. In 22 years I've never seen it show an ABS fault. Amazing how that light came on turning into the test station and refused to go back off. Typical. I wouldn't mind, but the car is too old for OBD-II so finding out what the car thinks is the cause is something of a mystery. A moot point, as it failed on emissions. just over the threshold for both HC and CO. The theory I have is that three years of being laid up and never more than the occasional run up to temperature and shuffle onto the drive and back has resulted in a build up of cack in the system. Probably isn't helped by having used the same tank of petrol for those three years and gaining six gallons of premium only on the half mile journey to the test station without enough distance to run it through. It's going to have an oil and filter change and an Italian tune up (the mechanic will drive it like he stole it on trade plates for 20 minutes when he nips out for his lunch) will hopefully fix that. There are no fault codes coming up for the ECU on my flash code reader. Classic cars; who would have them?

The full version from original source is here

With the proliferation of ANPR cameras it never ceases to amaze me the people who take the p!$$ like this van driver. Driving with no brakes should be an automatic arrest and jail time as it is a potential manslaughter charge over and over again. I can't imagine the handbrake was doing awfully well at slowing the thing either. He can't have been the brightest tool in the drawer as he was probably noticed because of the lack of insurance/MOT/tax pinged the ANPR and the Police then subsequently discovered the rest.