Early Risers.

[Shedman5]

Morning, got up to take youngest son to the station to find it raining very hard, but now its stopped the sun is out and a decent rainbow is visible.

 

The heavy rain  we have had will mean ( in my view anyway) that the proposed garden project should be postponed, if such a decree is issued along those lines then I will vacate to the shed for some peace and quiet.

 

Enjoy your day folks

[Barry O]

All I can say is that we are indeed honoured by a visit from the good Captain!

 

 

Edited to add.  I thought we'd had a visit from CK but it appears that he appeared briefly and has now disappeared - apparently!

He came, he voted... he left...

[grandadbob]

"The Good Captain" - sadly not an ER regular - must have been and gone!

 

I'm sure he said that it was the first time he'd posted in a thread with 2834 pages............or am I dreaming?

[andyram]

Evening all,

Survived my hospital visit today. They performed an 'echo-cardio graph' on me, which was a first! How strange to hear all four valves and chambers pumping away. At one point I was able to see the screen and it suddenly occurred to me that those muscles had been working like that for 67+ years - no wonder it's murmuring! Unlike Andy's experience, they were ready for me (despite only getting the request on Friday), and I was seen on time by a very friendly young lady - seems to be an efficient department. Apparently the anaesthetist should now be able to work out the best way to knock me out for the operation on the 27th if all goes to plan.

When I posted about M. Portillo's WW1 railway programme some time back, Mike (Stationmaster) warned me of certain inconsistencies and I have to report that the same applies to his Great British Railway journeys which are being repeated on Sky. For instance, he stood on Rannoch Moor station as the London Sleeper arrived, pulled by what looked like a '66', and he appeared to be boarding the final carriage which he said was for locals, but the shots on the move were in a 4 car DMU! Worse still, he is seen boarding the 'Jacobite' to ride over the Glenfinnan viaduct and it was being hauled by a Black5 which I'd recognise anywhere (didn't get the no. but it started 45....) but the line side and aerial shots showed 61994, 'The Great Marquess'as locomotive! Shame that such a lovely programme is spoiled by such inconsistency - the same happened on the S&C where he boarded with a Scot up front, but the sideline shots showed a Jubilee! Makes you wonder about the accuracy of the rest of the information?

Glad to hear your hospital visit went well Jock. I hope everything goes just as well with the actual operation. I will be keeping my eyes out for your updates, as I am sure many others will be too. I have also noticed the many inconsistencies with Mr Portillo's programme. The Jubilee / Scot S and C incident being one that sticks in my mind. I am sure that when he went to the Severn Valley the loco changes several times too, from tank engine to tender engine and back again.

 One other interesting point to note. Has anyone else noticed that when he visits a hotel / guest house / other accommodation, checks in "for the night" he more often than not emerges the "following day" in exactly the same outfit. My dad noticed that one before I did!

 

 Here in Derby today the sun is out, but there is forecast rain later. The internet shopping order is being delivered this morning and, with Sarah sorting her Avon orders, I think I will be amusing Amber for the morning. We plan to go out somewhere later, but not sure where yet. We have a few local places in mind.

 I have at least started the work, although it was more a case of sorting out the photocopied pages of the new National Curriculum to make my relevant year groups more accessible than any actual planning though. Small steps though. Still two and a half weeks until we go back, and I have started to get that usual sense of foreboding that comes with the end of the holiday. Must try and pack some more steam trains in before that dreaded day!

 

Enjoy your day everyone.

[DDolfelin]

Perhaps the Captain tripped over his long nines.

[Happy Hippo]

Cloudy here this morning, but the sun is peeping through and trying to get rid of the autumnal chill.

 

Now off to Lake Vyrnwy for a jolly.

 

This will be incorporated with a diversion to Wrexham as the Obergrumpenfuhrer wants to visit the fabrics factory and the Penylan Sausage shop. (Yuck and yum respectively.)

[trisonic]

Well, H.H., anything to get away from Telford.......................,

 

Best, Pete.

[PhilJ W]

No it was wisley but a very informed guess.

Baz

I assumed it was Hyde Hall as its not very far from Mangapps.

[Robert]

I'm sure he said that it was the first time he'd posted in a thread with 2834 pages............or am I dreaming?

 

Perhaps he posted in a weak moment, and then thought better of it!

[southern42]

Just a thought; we need a “You’re Welcome” button. I had to give Polly a “Heart” which may be considered rather forward....

 

Best, Pete.

 

Taken in the right spirit, Pete.  I guess the "thanks" button doesn't quite cut it either. 

May be it's time to go like TV channels and have hundreds of them....

 

Click "Find Appropriate" button to select button of your choice. 

Click "Not Found" button to create one - RMweb rules still apply.  

Click "Give Up" button for further assistance      which will divert you to the RMweb handbook  What RMweb handbook? .

 

 

Hope you all have a good Pressing Button Day

Polly (aka Miss Chief)

Edited August 19, 2014 by southern42

[Oldddudders]

Always liked Lake Vyrnwy, even if it seems to have been created simply to be  ahead of water for NW England! Would typically come back that way to Church Stretton from a day on the Festiniog Railway.

 

Iffy weather again yesterday, so we didn't venture outside much. Altogether better today, with clear sky and warm sun now, albeit it was a bit parky first thing. Just had coffee on the terrasse, including giving Lola a flea-treatment. There's romance!

 

Hope your week proceeding well.

[skipepsi]

Morning all, up a little later today the kittens didn't stir so early..... DD2 is trying to sort some en-suite accommodation in Preston so I might be excused Dad's taxi for a while. I put the new blinds up in the conservatory AKA trains room so reorganisation will take place later. A dry day means I should be looking for outside jobs that need doing before the holiday ends. Have a good day all.

[AndyB]

Morning all,

Just made an appointment for a "face to face" with the recruitment lady. Think I'll be heads down today getting a portfolio together to justify my use of Oxygen on the planet! Although the MiL did suggest I mowed the lawn and weeded the garden before she visits tomorrow. Grrrr.

 

Re continuity on TV programs I understand from talking to my cousin, who is a production assistant, that TV is a lot different from film or even books. With TV you have about 60 seconds to get the viewer up to speed on a storyline and set the scene. Obviously in film you have much longer and in a book you can presumably take the first chapter. An example was the recent Dylan Thomas biopic. Before interviewing for work on the program she read the relevant biography and knew the crucial events that established the relationship between Thomas and his publisher. She was somewhat surprised that to get the story moving one crucial event was re-written completely and ended up as being the opposite of what actually happened. This was explained as a necessity to ensure the overall story worked. 

 

I suspect that in the case of Mr Portillo's travelogues the producer / director is trying to tell us an overall story which is engaging for the wider public. Quite possibly things have to be brushed over in the process to both achieve that and meet production costs. Quite possibly he doesn't stay in all the hotels he purports to but jumps in a car to get to the next filming location. I guess the same is true for the trains he jumps on and off from. From my own experience of filming for TV there are numerous "takes", the majority end up on the cutting room floor. By the time they get to the 10th take and he has got his lines straight the train he might have alighted from will be about 20 miles away and they quite probably simply jump on and off the next available one.

 

Andy

[DDolfelin]

In view of the mysterious appearances, perhaps we should have a 'spooky' button.

[southern42]

Pete's (Trisonic) Charles Trenet La Mer video.

 

I knew I'd heard a more recent version.   

 

 

 

Polly

[Robert]

 

The Uploader has not made this video available in your country

 

So much for the "World Wide Web"

[AndyB]

A nice find by Pete; it was played at my wedding. Well, by the band at the reception in the evening. 

Nice to see that Charles Trenet was still performing into his latter years.

Even without the video you can hear him smiling as he sings. 

[The Stationmaster]

Morning all,

 

Some occasional sunshine out there and probably not too hot so I might be directed gardenwards at some stage.  However we need to visit Jewsons (paint sample discussion, bill to pay), Tesco (prescription money to reclaim for son), and the garden centre (salt for the water softener) plus no doubt some 'shopping' unless we are all to starve or be reduced to eating tomatoes and runner beans etc.

 

Yes Robert, I think I've tried all the half way realistic routes to the far west over the years (the coast is not realistic from here and in fact judging by the traffic around Poole/Bournemouth isn't even realistic if you live next to it).  In my experience the best way is to take the train but that means either no personal motor transport at the far end, or hiring some such, or trying to make the best of local public transport which can - alas - be rather patchy.  In reality a car was virtually essential for last week's jaunt in view of the only accommodation we could get at short notice plus the need to get to and from the crematorium in Exeter.  The latter of course meant driving in Exeter, an atrocious place for that pastime, but it was reassuring that at least two of the locals got lost between the crem and the hotel where the wake was held - despite them being off the same road and barely a mile apart!

 

Have a good day one & all.

[beast66606]

Morning all,

 

Belated birthday greetings to anyone I've missed (Andy being at least one !) and wishes for speedy recoveries to any afflicted.

 

Not been on much lately as I was out all day Saturday photographing and then Sunday was a win back some brownie points day - I took her to Lidl !

 

I was reading through a thread last night and noticed a comment mentioning the passing of Tetleys -must be a typo I thought but no, sadly it wasn't, as many others have said, he felt like a friend and it's a real shock he's gone.

 

Weather is sunny and not sunny here (see I can do BBC weather forecasting !) - and I've already managed a pair of 31s on a structure monitoring train.

 

Have a good day all,

[travelintrev]

Morning (again & just!)   More than a tad piffed off, (1)  been on site ( together with contractors & my crew)  since 08:30..... crane due  at 9:30........ just been told  - after repeated "its on its way"  tales that the counterweight trailer had been detained by the  road safety police  who then demanded equivalent of 1000USd to be paid in their bank account before release! So no all sitting around twiddling thumbs.......

 

and (2)  was my ex's birthday yesterday  except our (MY)  daughter & (MY) Grandchildren  were to busy to send any more than  a quick message on Farcebook.... some how that's my fault??  

 

Try and enjoy the rest of the day.....

 

 

Trev

 

(PS  it's raining)

[laurenceb]

Taken in the right spirit, Pete.  I guess the "thanks" button doesn't quite cut it either. 

May be it's time to go like TV channels and have hundreds of them....

 

Click "Find Appropriate" button to select button of your choice. 

Click "Not Found" button to create one - RMweb rules still apply.  

Click "Give Up" button for further assistance      which will divert you to the RMweb handbook  What RMweb handbook? .

Click "Create RM Web handbook

 

Hope you all have a good Pressing Button Day

Polly (aka Miss Chief)

Greetings all

Laurence

[45156]

Afternoon All

 

Not a great deal to say today, but I need to go out this pm as both 30747 and I have Dr appointments in town, and tried to get them to coincide for time - some hope, even though we are seeing different Drs.  Hers is ten minutes before mine - what's the betting that we wind up hanging around for each other for ages?

 

As to Jock's comments about TV continuity, Mr Portillo's series is well known for its howlers - but then we would pick up every minor discrepancy, as we know what we're talking about.  I was talking to one of the filming co-ordinators on one of the preserved railways once, and he said that in essence, the producers don't really care about accuracy, as long as the scene is set and an idea of railway is conveyed.  He cited an example where there was a suitable loco and stock to represent a 1920s branch line but the producer wanted something "more impressive" and wanted to use a much larger and later loco and was not really listening to any comments about accuracy.

 

Must go as dog needs a walk before I go out.

Regards to All

Stewart

[Jock67B]

Afternoon all,

Sunny here at the moment and a few tasks already completed! Have to agree with everyone about trips to the West Country. I used to do the run to Cornwall very regularly before the motorway routes were complete - no M25, M5 large chunks, and very little dual carriageway West of Exeter. When I lived there, I had to travel back and forth on business and must have tried every permutation possible and none of them were good! Now, due to my need for frequent comfort stops, and somewhere safe for the dog to stretch his legs, I have to stick to the motorways - the services are slowly getting better and the Costa Coffee stalls keep me alert with double espressos!!

I was personally delighted to find a rating from the famous Captain Kernow when I signed in. Tim is a superb modeller and I get lots of his humorous posts in the Cornwall Today thread where he also dispenses his abundant knowledge as a serving railwayman!

Been catching up with one of my (July) birthday present books which is of great interest to anyone keen on exploration and Malt Whisky (ME!) - 'Shackleton's Whisky' by Neville Peat (ISBN 978 1 84809 390 4). The great man took 25 cases of MacKinlay's 10 year old malt whisky (300bottles!) on his 1907-1909 expedition to the Antarctic. Three cases were recently recovered and amazingly found to be in very good condition! The book purports to give the human interest angle on the trip, being based on Shackleton's own writings as well as the diaries an journals of his fellow explorers. It is interspersed with fascinating details of the malt whisky industry then and now and at one point involves one of Scotland's leading expert on the subject, Richard Paterson of Glasgow, who actually produces a replica of the original. This in itself is fascinating for any fan of 'the water of life'. I can heartily recommend this book to anyone who likes either subject.

Off now to paint the penultimate patio chair, hope the rest of the day is kind to you all,

Kind regards,

Jock.

PS Poor Trev must be really looking forward to flying out soon! J.

Edited August 19, 2014 by Jock67B

[Barry O]

Genteel rant..  all I want is some STRAIGHT 4" by 1" wood... can I find any......NO!! warped.. yes, bent...yes But straight ..No!

 

and at the prices being charged...Humph!!

 

rant over and many apologies...

 

Bazx

[Debs.]

Genteel rant..  all I want is some STRAIGHT 4" by 1" wood... can I find any......NO!! warped.. yes, bent...yes But straight ..No!

 

and at the prices being charged...Humph!!

 

  "Timber of the quality that Sir clearly requires, just doesn`t grow on trees, y`know!"