Early Risers.

[Tony_S]

Don't laugh, I thought Fahrschule was a place. Took a bit of Googling to find it meant 'Driving School'…..

After a football match in Germany a couple of England supporters asked a German policeman to help them find their car. They had written down the name of the street "Einbahnstraße". Edited July 24, 2015 by Tony_S

[NGT6 1315]

Dom, do you clear up the litter before you take your shots?

 

Ed

 

I can assure you there are seedy places even in German cities! However, I wouldn't call the surroundings of any of our facilities such. Continuing on this topic, our trams are generally cleaned inside whenever they return to the depots, and washed outside as required. Drivers are also expected to pick up things like newspapers or similarly non-harmful litter at termini. We are, of course, not expected to clean up potential health hazards such as, shall we say, bowel contents. In such events, we should contact the Dispatch Centre to find out whether we could change cars at the nearest convenient depot.

 

 

Don't laugh, I thought Fahrschule was a place.  Took a bit of Googling to find it meant 'Driving School'…..

 

You know, Gordon, there's enough people around who thus far have actually tried boarding our training turns even though they're clearly signed as such! This did make me wonder whether these characters do, in general, look at all where the tram that's approaching is going or if they might, in fact, like to take chances of ending up anywhere… 

[Robert]

Dick, Operation Stack is in place today. I wasn't sure if the news footage of burning tyres on the tracks at Coquelles was stock footage or current when I switched over from the cricket to the news last night.

The burning tyres were earlier in the week. As far as I know, things are running fairly smoothly at the moment on both ferries and tunnel (unless you happen to be an HGV driver)

 

What happens later in the day, remains to be seen because there's a gale warning issued for the Dover Strait. There's a fairly mean depression heading up the channel at the moment.

[Robert]

They had written down the name of the street "Einbahnstraße".

A friend of mine from the UK was once heard to comment that "This Ausfahrt place must be huge - every motorway junction seems to lead there"

[Judge Dread]

 

 

 

You know, Gordon, there's enough people around who thus far have actually tried boarding our training turns even though they're clearly signed as such! This did make me wonder whether these characters do, in general, look at all where the tram that's approaching is going or if they might, in fact, like to take chances of ending up anywhere… 

You have my sympathy also on that one. I observed one day a clearly marked bus "Driver Training Vehicle" being reversed into a roadway which went only to an electricity sub station. This operation was repeated some seven or so times until all the student drivers had taken a turn. As well as me watching, there were two ladies standing at an adjacent bus stop. As the bus finally moved off, one lady put out her hand requiring it to stop. When it didn't, she stepped into the road and waved her fist at the driver!

[southern42]

Afternoon all from red dragon land.

A bit overcast with a bit of rain earlier.

"Day off" today (from playing trains)  giving me a chance for a little bit of that thing called "housework."  Also fitting in a bit of time to work out how my stock could be spread out over my proposed layout to make sure it can cope. I wouldn't like to have to abandon anything cos it's not big enough.  .   It's really more of an exercise in imagining some fancy named excursions running backwards and forwards until our next real time tour behind a big red engine, if she's ready by then.

 

Can you get seed to grow your own - definitely the way to get some tastier ones (like the 4 small ones I had in my salad for dinner this evening).

 

G'night all.

 

We tried it once but we just didn't get as much sun as FiL down south who grew them in his lean-to greenhouse.  The only things that seemed to thrive (under my care, which isn't a lot) were blackcurrants and rhubarb both of which disappeared under building projects - and I did 't eat them, anyway, after they'd been Chernobled...er...my word for it.    Scary stuff.

 

Hope you all have a relaxing afternoon while I do a bit of catching up again.

[The Lurker]

.

 

I've become a bit of a lurker as I've got older.

Eminently sensible in my humble opinion!

[sixoh8sixoh]

Afternoon all!

 

Heading out of the office shortly as I'm off to a HAGIS conference. Sadly nothing to do with the foodstuff, it stands for Healthy AGeing In Scotland...

 

On the bright side, it's Friday. Mixed bag of weather at Scottish HQ but mostly dry. Think I'm going to try my new clip-in cycle pedals and shoes for the first time tonight, so let's see if I fall over when I try to stop...  On the bright side, if I do, it'll no doubt cheer some passer-by up.  Maybe I should ensure someone's on hand with a video camera for You've Been Framed, and earn £250...

 

Enjoy what's left of your Friday!

[edcayton]

Afternoon all!

 

Heading out of the office shortly as I'm off to a HAGIS conference. Sadly nothing to do with the foodstuff, it stands for Healthy AGeing In Scotland...

 

On the bright side, it's Friday. Mixed bag of weather at Scottish HQ but mostly dry. Think I'm going to try my new clip-in cycle pedals and shoes for the first time tonight, so let's see if I fall over when I try to stop...  On the bright side, if I do, it'll no doubt cheer some passer-by up.  Maybe I should ensure someone's on hand with a video camera for You've Been Framed, and earn £250...

 

Enjoy what's left of your Friday!

 

My son lasted four days. He had just passed a long queue of traffic and came to the lights. He said that the fall was a thing of beauty.

 

Ed

[BoD]

Afternoon all!

 

Heading out of the office shortly as I'm off to a HAGIS conference. Sadly nothing to do with the foodstuff, it stands for Healthy AGeing In Scotland...

 

On the bright side, it's Friday. Mixed bag of weather at Scottish HQ but mostly dry. Think I'm going to try my new clip-in cycle pedals and shoes for the first time tonight, so let's see if I fall over when I try to stop...  On the bright side, if I do, it'll no doubt cheer some passer-by up.  Maybe I should ensure someone's on hand with a video camera for You've Been Framed, and earn £250...

 

Enjoy what's left of your Friday!

Be careful. I know someone who broke their wrist by not getting out of the quick releases quickly enough.

 

Also reminds of the story of the motorcyclist who came to a halt at traffic lights and literally keeled over sideways. When people arrived to check him out and help he was laughing his head off. "That's the third time I've done that since I took the side car off" he said.

[jamie92208]

I've come off twice since I got my clips (spd's in my case)  There is a minimum speed below which you can't unclip and get off safely.  About 5mph in my case which means I have to be careful on some of the steeper hills here in the West Riding.  The only other thing is to make it an absolute rule that approaching most hazards unclip.  Eg traffic lights some parked vehicles, give way signs etc.  After a while it become automatic.  Best of luck.

 

Jamie

[petethemole]

I once saw a very keen cyclist come out of the pub, get on his (very pricy) road bike, put both feet on the pedals and then forget to pedal, so he fell slowly sideways. He'd had a bit more than was advisable. Somebody locked his bike up at the back of the pub and he was put in a taxi.  I was fairly keen myself, most of a lifetime ago, but never tried clip-ons, it was bad enough having to loosen ordinary toe clips when stopping.

 

It's soggy here  in the South and the day seems to be hurtling, well sidling, into a non-event as I haven't been able to get stuck into anything. I'll have to go shopping soon though for weekend rations.

 

I thought watching paint dry was boring, but I put a fresh "satin" (but it's drying glossy) paint job in a box to keep the dust off, so I suppose I'm listening to it dry.

 

Have a good day, stay dry.

 

Pete

[Gwiwer]

Never liked clip-on cycle shoes.  My sympathies to those who have discovered that the painful way.  I did a lot of cycling in my younger days, commuting and touring rather than racing, with one of the biggest and best days being the Whitwell (IoW) - Ryde - Southsea - Brighton - East London marathon.  Always had toe-clips on the pedals but never ever clip-in shoes.  Never ever got off and walked uphill.  Point of pride, that, coming from a hilly place in Cornwall.

 

Just had a chat to a good friend here to confirm that as things haven't changed since I left the tramways they have stayed the same.  Tram drivers in Melbourne receive one week's theoretical and practical training and must pass a road test.  Assuming they do this they carry passengers as an extra car on day five of their training and work in service on day six and seven.  This is all very closely supervised by their assigned trainer who will offer advice, coaching and in extreme situations take over and drive the tram.  The student driver is then competent to drive the older Z, A and B class trams which are controlled by two foot pedals (stop and go, with vigilance on the go).  Subsequently they will receive type training as and when required on the newer types of C, D and E classes which are not allocated to all depots.  These are hand-controlled with a forward-back power-brake-vigilance device.  Type training on the heritage W-class used only on the City Circle is only given to those drivers at Southbank depot who require it.  These are the old style stand-up-to-drive trams which require the handle swung on the power controller and have a separate brake handle.  A seat is provided but most drivers stand as it's apparently more comfortable.

 

You can expect to work the roster your trainer is assigned for at least a couple of months and then when fully experienced and familiar with the routes, restrictions and conditions you will be slotted into the roster as convenient and go solo.

Edited July 24, 2015 by Gwiwer

[bbishop]

Afternoon all!

 

 

 

On the bright side, it's Friday. Mixed bag of weather at Scottish HQ but mostly dry. Think I'm going to try my new clip-in cycle pedals and shoes for the first time tonight, so let's see if I fall over when I try to stop...  On the bright side, if I do, it'll no doubt cheer some passer-by up.  Maybe I should ensure someone's on hand with a video camera for You've Been Framed, and earn £250...

 

Enjoy what's left of your Friday!

I fall off without clip-in pedals!  At the moment bike and rider are both fit and well!! 

 

Bill

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

Something of a busy week for me, and not over yet, so no time to fully read all the many contributions. The usual encouragement and commiserations to those in difficulties, am dealing with much of this myself among both family and friends - all elderly - at present. I am making notes of 'behaviours to avoid' for my own later life, should I be spared. Things like 'Don't expect people to be able to turn up bang on time if they are having to travel through heavy traffic' and 'Be direct in asking for help, instead of only asking when face to face "If it isn't any trouble please could you...?" style'. Sad to say it is getting a little wearing with a couple of folk who have apparently passed beyond comprehending that there are other obstacles in the world, beyond their own infirmities.

 

Regarding tomatoes, and the relationship to railway modelling. Having married a green fingered lady, when we finally settled in a place intended to be a long-term home, possibly the best thing I did was install a modest unheated greenhouse as a wedding anniversary gift. Result! For so relatively small an effort the yield is fantastic: it's her woman cave and she spends hours pottering around it, all sorts of stuff including excellent tomatoes that taste like tomatoes are grown, minor tasks like continuing the watering when she is away from home at conferences and the like earn maximum brownie points; a little additional work in the way of new equipment, occasional modifications and repairs cause the sun to majorly come out and questions such as 'And what would you like for the railway?' to be asked.

[The Stationmaster]

Afternoon all,

 

Interesting day as it has been raining, with increasing persistence, since about 09.00 so I duly drove to visit Dracula's daughter after first depositing the good Doctor at her place of work.  Clearly the rain is good for far more than the garden as it seems to have frightened away the grockles while it seems the commuters who cram many residential roads to avoid paying for parking are more interested in Operation Stack than stacking our roads full of double parked vehicles.  So spaces in the surgery car park (almost, abysmal parking made two of them near useless) and after a quick turnround at home we actually managed to park in the car park which serves our local Waitrose instead of driving 12 miles to the Tilehurst one we normally have to use.

 

The 'it's good for the garden' weather is continuing unabated; trouble is it's also forecast for Sunday which is the date of the RMweb visit to the GWS at Didcot - lots of long walks without shelter alas.

 

I don't know what went on over Mickey but I'm not surprised to hear he cut up a bit rough over something.  Alas he occasionally came across as a very moody sort of bloke but in general seemed a pleasant enough chap - there was, to me at any rate, a discernible pattern in his moods which in the lack of any other factor I would put down to a particular cause.  I might well be wide of the mark but whatever it's a shame to see him go however as Gordon said trying to keep a site like this running smoothly is a major task for Andy and one can't blame him one bit for cracking down if it becomes necessary.

 

Anyway enjoy the rest of the rain day.

[Tony_S]

We are alternating between rain and heavy rain here. I have done the shopping but haven't taken Robbie out yet.

Matthew has tried to interest me in different vodka type drinks after his East European jaunts so as it was on offer in Tesco I got some East Anglian vodka. We will test it this evening.

[roundhouse]

 

Anyway enjoy the rest of the rain day.

And wind.

 

As long as the wires dont get blown down on the GW mainline - oh they arent any yet (beyond Heathrow junction)

Edited July 24, 2015 by roundhouse

[Tony_S]

We were once delayed crossing to France due to high winds. As we were using the tunnel it seemed odd but it later turned out to be due to damage to power cables in France.

[Ian Abel]

...There's a fairly mean depression heading up the channel at the moment...

Hmm, so the French famers union has taken to boats now???  

 

Manteau, chapeau, quitter par la porte  

[Ian Abel]

POETS day and I'm already pretty tired. Lack of sleep due to a huge round of thunderstorm from about 3AM on keeping me awake <sigh>

 

Yesterday the utility company replaced the pole that was leaning/falling, so we're saved the potential of lost power for now. Strangely enough though, they FIRST straightened the old one and propped it in place, put a new one up about 2 feet from the old one, transferred all the power lines to that, but left the phone and cable system lines on the old one! As they always use common poles for all utilities here, seems ODD to do it that way and looks quite weird - I'll get a photo when I'm inclined.

 

Last evening there was a '40's entertainment event at the MiL assisted living quarters. We went over to share with her, the musicians are very good and Mrs wanted to hear them. Plenty of early '40's songs and some earlier which the residents all loved.

They had some '40's cars there also and were offering rides in this convertible - MiL couldn't be persuaded unfortunately...

 

 

Following the large storms/rain it was only 18 when I got up this morning and overcast with light rain. Right now clearing and expected to reach 31 with high humidity <ewww>

 

For those working stiffs, POE if you can, and the rest of you....well.... just PO

[The Stationmaster]

We were once delayed crossing to France due to high winds. As we were using the tunnel it seemed odd but it later turned out to be due to damage to power cables in France.

There is a Eurotunnel emergency timetable - basically running trains slower than normal for aerodynamic reasons in certain weather conditions - which sounds quite impressive by its French title.  

Translated literally into English the title of the plan becomes 'Big Wind' (which might explain why they stick to the French title).

[iL Dottore]

Afternoon All,

 

Just a flying visit. I saw my GP (a family friend) this week for my pre-op work-up and lab data review. Bottom Line? Apart from being too fat and far too ugly, everything else - liver, kidneys, heart, GI tract, CNS - is working pretty much as it is supposed to   So, off to get things lopped off on August 10th

 

I also saw my unemployment advisor for this month's check up, which went much better this time than last (I'll spare you the details), I got an OK to go to London for some networking I had planned for a day where "I would need to be available for work". So a win there.

 

Regarding the job hunting, unfortunately I am still deemed "too old" by the companies I apply to, not that they would ever admit to such a policy. The usual excuse is I don't "have the right profile" (which is total and utter BS in many cases. For one job - where I was turned down with such an excuse - the job requirements was pretty much an identical line-by-line copy of the job description of a position I had successfully filled some years ago). I think that there are two reasons that the over 50s with loads of experience are discriminated against: one is the perception that we are "too expensive" (which is a crock of sh*t if you ask me, given what they fork out to management clone high flyers) and (the real reason, I think) we are too experienced and thus likely to upset the corporate apple-cart by showing up many of the spotty young managers with their still-wet-ink MBAs as the know-nothings that many are (forgive me if I sound a bit cynical here). Of course, a really good line manager/team leader would know how to effectively harness such experience for the benefit of all (and in case you may think that I am indulging in hyperbole, consider the state of the UK's TOCs - where [at least from the outside] it appears that knowledge of "management speak" is more important than knowledge of - say - signal engineering).

 

We have, at last some respite from the heat. It hit 30*C here today, but the humidity was in the low 40s and the cool temperatures of the past 36 hours has ensured a cooler house - so quite comfortable, really.

 

Mrs iD is off to the holiday hovel for two weeks with the Wolfpack. I have to stay home as I am not yet eligible for holiday time (although I have been disgruntled about the Swiss unemployment system in the past, there are a few things that are very good). So I get to have two weeks alone - which I will spend job hunting, finishing the Yard Office for Lancashire Green Ayre and getting rascally drunk

 

Off to meet some chums in town, so have a great evening.

 

iD

Edited July 24, 2015 by iL Dottore

[BoD]

Doc, Will you split your post up so I can click.

 

Like, Like, Agree, Supportive, Like, Jealous

 

but not necessarily in that order.

[Judge Dread]

I fall off without clip-in pedals!  At the moment bike and rider are both fit and well!! 

 

Bill

It's when you observe the cyclist, certainly without "toe clips", riding with their insteps on the pedals so that their toes are in danger of hitting their front wheel on corners. Viewed from the rear, they always remind me of a paddle steamer.