Early Risers.

[jamie92208]

I must admit ERs moves on several pages a day so the only way I can find my place is to hope I have a rating on the post. I can then follow the rating to my last post then starting to work forward ERs is not a five minutes job if you haven't looked in already that day. If you have been off for a week forget catching up life is too short. You can usually pick up on anything important.

Don

As mentioned above Don there is a simple way to do this. Click on My content at the top right. This gives you a list of threads that you have contributed to. Those threads in bold have new content since you last added to them. At the left hand side of the bold ones is a blue star. If you click on that it takes you to the last unread post in that thread. I only found out about this recently from a post like this. It saves a lot of time.

 

Jamie

[andyram]

Evening all. Just a quick stop off. It has been a shocking day. Generic congrats and commiserations all round.

[laurenceb]

Back after several days of ,uter problems. Replacement aquired so now its working properly!

Sad to read about Julian Osbourne, been reading his articles for more years than I care to remember

Night all

[Two_sugars]

My car is like me . . Getting tired. . .Still, I've  had it for 3 years. . I've had my monies worth, and it is 13 years old . . . only 81000 but . . . time for a change, methinks.

 

Goodnight Everyone . . . . Sleep well.

 

John

[Jock67B]

Evening all,

Hard to believe the train crash news emanating from Germany for most of the day, especially in trains complete with black boxes and the like - same principle as the single line tablet I was shown as a boy? I expect we'll eventually discover that someone pressed the wrong button or something similar. Must say that the emergency services have been doing their utmost in very awkward terrain. Let's hope more escape the critical list tomorrow.

Tired tonight, but unable to sleep yet so here goes -

Baz, I'm glad you got your phone issue resolved. I always keep a back up list in my old fashioned diary just in case!

Rick, sad to hear of the passing of your friend who seems to have been a fascinating character from your description, the newspaper obituary and underlined by Laurence. How laudable to commit so much of your life to the safety of others!

Ian(OD), that really isn't good news about Caroline as many of us have learned the tough way over the years. I hope Sherry is able to cope with the two events and we will obviously be thinking of her as well as you with your on-going situation. Urgent analysis and diagnosis are important so plans of action can be put in place. Joanna actually had a similar event many years back, which proved non malignant - the distaff side do put themselves through a lot to keep us going as a race! A very noble attitude from you

to priorities by the way, but not unexpected from one so thoughtful as yourself. We will keep our fingers crossed for trouble free outcomes to both issues.

Brian(BSW001), that is awful treatment of Ian, I'm glad his local hospital stepped up to the task and now hope he has at least a complete recovery. It must be a matter of where you live, as I have been treated in exemplary fashion for almost three years at Colchester. The layout you plan is sounding interesting, do you intend to run a thread as you build?

Duncan, it sounds like you'll be a long way from home for the rest of this week - what sort of accommodation do you use on such trips away?

As usual, I'm about to try for sleep, so I'd like to wish better health for our sufferers and a good rest of the week once we've traversed the 'hump'.

Kind regards,

Jock.

G'night all!

[trisonic]

G’night, Jock!

Very tied up with various things, be back in about a month.

Chin up everybody

 

Best, Pete.

[pH]

Good to see you're still with us, Pete. Whenever you've got time ...

[emt_911]

Morning all. I had a terrible nights sleep and although I don't have to leave until later this morning my body decided that it was time to get up. More coffee than normal to be consumed before hitting the road.

 

Jock - I hope that you managed to get some decent sleep. When I'm away I use Premier Inn. Most of the time I'm within a 20 minute drive of where I need to be.

 

Pete (trisonic) - Great to see you posting. I hope that there is nothing too serious keeping you away.

 

Have a good day everyone

[Robert]

Morning All,

 

It is just starting to get light here - which is a good sign that the mornings are finally getting lighter again.

 

Weather wise, we appear to have weathered the storm Ok.  It was very gusty last night, but not as rainy as the previous day was.

 

Somewhat strange and almost contradictory reports are coming out of Bavaria this morning.  Human error seems to have been deemed the cause of the train crash - but it strikes me as being a bit early to make such a statement.  They also said that with the technology involved, a head on collision was impossible.  Now, working in software, I know that nothing is impossible - but the news report left me with the uncomfortable feeling of, "I hope they aren't trying to suggest this was deliberate".

 

Have a good day everyone...

Edited February 10, 2016 by Robert

[chrisf]

Good morning one and all

 

I forgot to mention Shrove Tuesday yesterday.  Fortunately I remembered that it was, so out came the mixing bowl, flour, egg, milk, butter, salt and whisk.  Oh yes, and the lemon juice and caster sugar which I have been trying to use up ever since the diagnosis of Type 3 diabetes.  A little of what you fancy does you good, though I rather doubt that the great Marie Lloyd had pancakes in mind.  Now Marie Lloyd reminds me of Mari Llwyd which is a Welsh folk ritual reminiscent of Plough Monday involving a horse's skull.  I'm told that it has finally spread to London so may check it out next year.

 

Between important tasks yesterday I found myself leafing through books searching for photographs of dewirements.  This is the trolleybus equivalent of derailments when the collector booms part company with the overhead wires and have to be retrieved with a bamboo pole.  Each trolleybus was meant to have such a pole in a long tube underneath the vehicle but things get pilfered or broken so what do you do without one?  Hope that the trolleybus right behind or coming the other way has one, of course.  Why was I doing this?  Because a friend has in mind a cameo for a forthcoming layout.  Aren't I kind?

 

Later this morning I'm off to South Wales.  I see from Facebook that the village of Redwick, where I plan to take afternoon tea with friends, is included in a red flood alert.  Oh dear.  

 

Donw, I asked about "the Bedford office" because I used to work in one but it wasn't the one that you used to visit.  It might have been, for the arm of coincidence is a long one.

 

Back on Friday unless inundated.  Best healing wishes to all it may concern.

 

Chris 

[Barry O]

Morning most, evening to some.

Duncan, try eating an apple ...its better than coffee at waking you up apparently.

Nice to see Pete pass by, hope to see him back soon.

 

I don't eat pancakes so sufficed with tinned spaghetti on toast last night, one of my comfort foods.

 

Today I await a call to go and see potential new clubrooms. Leeds city council say they have found us temporary storage space (and potentially help in moving it) which is a first for them. Question is, will it really happen?

 

Have a calm day, make with more positive waves and TTFN

Baz

[JohnDMJ]

Morning all.

 

Up early this morning to try and find the staff at Ford to sell me a ticket to Cromford for Saturday! On line attempts ended in computer crashes failure (after yesterday's events elsewhere!). Then it's back to the daily grind!

 

ChrisF: Safe trip to Wales

 

Thoughts and wishes, as always, with those who need them.

[Oldddudders]

Morning all

 

I can claim to have watched a clippie wielding her bamboo pole (ooh!) to put the trolleybus boom back on the wire. Kingston, 1961.

 

The Bavarian tragedy has brought out the worst of the theorists. Interfere with or sidestep a safe system and it becomes unsafe, so dogma about how safe it is cuts little mustard in the real world where people are involved.

 

The weather seemed much calmer overnight, and we have a bright, clear, cold morning. Hope yours is settling down too.

[NGT6 1315]

Morning all. Caffeine level insufficient yet and will need replenishment! Good to see you posting, Pete – hope that whatever it is that needs to be dealt with, it's nothing adverse.

 

 

My rides yesterday were, first, 1105 "Dieter Teich" on Turn 1061…

 

 

 

…and later, in lieu of the NGT8 and trailer formation (referred to as "NGT8B" in our timetables) which is undergoing check-ups at Heiterblick at present, I got a rare Großzug on Line 11:

 

 

…actually having come off Line 11E but some services working the short turn path in daytime cross over to the full length path in the early morning and late evening. This set was composed of 2151-2062-929, seen here in Schkeuditz…

 

 

 

…and Markkleeberg.

 

 

Have a good one, everyone…

[roundhouse]

Morning all

 

Damp but not raining at the moment here in Surrey. A few trains heading South delayed this morning but north bound ones OK

 

Even had a stone train pass through the centre roads. Tried to video it on my camera but messed that up completley.

 

Rant on

Duncan mentioning Premier Inn, I had a phone call from them just reiterating the terms of he free night that a passport or driving license was needed for our free night with no other reasoning. That wound me up as I stated that I knew that In amongst my other reasonings when I emailed them then escalated it when I got the standard answer.

 

So went on their Bookface site. Got exactly the same response except they did say that the passport was needed for proof of identity. Surely my credit card does that every time I pay to stay. So wound up I cancelled our nights stay in Chester and picked another hotel. A few more bookings for a group of us now being reviewed. They weren't interested when I mentioned this. A big organisation showing no interest in customers who have used them many times each year. Rant over.

 

Last night I hard wired a decoder into my Dapol Sir Nigel G. Now running rather smoothly. The mor I look at this loco (with the not so tidily glued on name plates) I think that Kernow sold me a return loco. Anyway I have cleaned the nameplates and the loco is now just awaiting a few crew members to be added. Has Big Jim ever driven a steam train??

 

Another task was to later he wiring in the 00 scale Dapol green 73. The headcode boxes now work right direction that the loco is travelling in.

[AndrewC]

pH, on 09 Feb 2016 - 19:49, said:pH, on 09 Feb 2016 - 19:49, said:

What layout was that? I'm asking because I saw one in Vancouver last November with stickers on it from quite a few UK shows. It was a BR Southern Region one, of a branch into a quarry, with a narrow-gauge line in the quarry. There was no name on it that I could see, and nothing in the list of layouts for the show seemed to fit.

Can't remember the name but that sounds familiar. We had a show booked in Vancouver with Kingsmarkham in 2002 but bad weather and the closure of the TransCanada at 3 Valley Gap put paid to that.

 

Feeling slightly guilty today. One of the people I've been working with and rather short with as I had him down in the cockwomble category, isn't doing too well. Turns out the reason he'd turned into an attentionless zombie was he hit his head on the boiler in his home. Undiagnosed concussion for a few weeks. A strange side effect for him was he's stopped smoking. 30+ a day man and suddenly the smell made him violently ill. Anyway, I'm being gentle with him now and a lot more patient. Today will be spent walking him through a couple of design processes that are straightforward but seemingly for him more complex than string theory. Its going to be a long day.

 

Ian (rh) MiL uses Westjet on a regular basis. To give you an idea of what the company is like, here are a couple of their annual April press videos.

 

http://youtu.be/M4SkoJy3D0M

 

http://youtu.be/BQv0VwwVwKU

 

for some reason I can't get the bloody links to preview the video anymore. Crapspackle.

 

Have a good one all.

Edited February 10, 2016 by AndrewC

[Coombe Barton]

Just back from taking the older dog to the vets for a diagnostic x-ray/ultrasound. She's been having a few bowel problems of the messy/smelly/kitchen floor clearing up type. The other dog doesn't understand what's happening. This is only the second time they've been apart in nine years.

[AndyB]

Morning all,

 

Interesting process this US election thingy. 

Can't help thinking that it might be easier to let the Queen choose who should be governor. And with the internet we could send advice over every few minutes, rather than having the chap (chapess) need to do too much thinking.

 

Was in Washington about a a dozen or so years ago after "Chad-gate" and was being given a tour of the Capitol buildings by a native of DC. 

"And this is the Supreme Court."

"Is that where they choose who is going to be President next?"

Ooooh, the look I got. 

 

Nothing much else to report. A cold and damp day here, possibly with the golden orb breaking through later? 

 

Have a nice day everyone. Andy

[Donw]

I have no knowledge of what happen in Germany. However Abermule perhaps the most famous single line crash shows how it took more than a single error to cause the crash. A member of the station staff gave the wrong tablet to the driver. The driver failed to look at the tablet and just assumed it was correct. Had either of them actually looked at the tablet a lot of lives could have been saved.

This shows how people make assumptions and I can see with a computer controlled system people might well assume the computer system is right. Design of system also needs to be fail safe.  Assuming a line is free because the is no indication it is blocked is not as safe as relying on a positive indication a line is free. In the first case a system failure could mean the indication is not received leading to an assumption the line is clear while in the second a system failure with no indication the line is assumed blocked. Designing a safe system requires not only software that does the correct things but also fails safe and most importantly takes into account the way people work.

It also requires a culture where the emphasis is on safety rather than meeting targets on timekeeping. We all have probably come across instances where safety measures have been ignored or given scant thought because of pressure to get things done.

I just hope at the end the whole story comes out and no one gets the blame for their part when the whole system may have colluded in them making that error.

Don

[laurenceb]

Ian & Sherry, hope that they find out Carolines problem soonest and that it is not serious,

Good to see Pete return even if only briefly.

Moning all

[Simon G]

Morning all. Not been here for a couple of days as I have had a cold, the first of this winter. Nothing too bad, but I just felt rotten, and so didn't even make pancakes last night for Shrove Tuesday. I cannot remember not making pancakes for about the last 30 years. I did try my usual cold cure last night - Bells scotch, so I felt good for a couple of hours! This morning I can't breathe properly, but as the day looks dry and sunny, I will get out at some point today.

[Happy Hippo]

I've just watched the video posted by Talltim, which is a cab ride over the route in Germany where the head on collision occurred.

 

I notice that DB  are still happy not to fence their secondary rail routes. 

 

This has nothing to do with the tragedy, but I've also noticed that this practice is common in many other continental countries.

 

A complete contrast to the UK where the rail infrastructure seems to be a separate world.

 

It is a bit grey here this morning, although there is plenty of work to keep me amused indoors.

 

However, that does not include the training session(s) on the curio cutter,which sits seductively on the desk, whispering 'Come on, you know you want to'.

 

I will resist!

 

Outside, the forward muddy hollow, which doubles as a storm ditch has recieved much in the way of fallen twigs from the surrounding bank of willows.

 

Now although these can be most convenient if you need a scratch, they are not so comfortable if you sit on a big one, so I must deploy a rake sometime soon and get them out.

[Killybegs]

Just back from taking the older dog to the vets for a diagnostic x-ray/ultrasound. She's been having a few bowel problems of the messy/smelly/kitchen floor clearing up type. The other dog doesn't understand what's happening. This is only the second time they've been apart in nine years.

Golly, your vet starts work early.

 

Woke to freezing rain so a tentative drive over to the beach. Boardwalks on the dunes were sheet ice so were avoided. The sand was crunchy under foot. Once the shower passed it was a beautiful morning and it's supposed to stay that way all day. Sadly I didn't take my camera, as a flock of 23 oystercatchers taking to the sky in bright sunshine would have made a great pic.

 

Hope the weather is as good with you wherever you are.

[NGT6 1315]

Re tram accidents, I remembered this one from Chemnitz in 2009:

 

 

Back story is similar to that in Croydon this past weekend – tram got broadsided by gormless motorist and careened far off the rails. Thankfully, no-one was on the footpath where it ended up!

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Sherry and Ian, I hope everything turns out OK. Catching something like that early is the key to a complete recovery. My sister had the same thing about 25 years ago, fortunately it was found early and after treatment she has been clear since. Jock, hope you had a better night and things settle down soonest. Great to hear from Pete and to know that his absence is only temporary. I need to do more exercise, as I mentioned yesterday, I left the car on the drive and walked hobbled into town and returned the same way.  Its not uncommon for me to feel drowsy of an afternoon but yesterday despite my exertions I was bright eyed and bushy tailed until bedtime when I went out like a light as soon as my head touched the pillow. I really must make more effort to lose weight anyway, a couple of stone would be good, four or five would be great.