Early Risers.

[Happy Hippo]

Pleased that I can't see any major upheavals in the ER universe with a very quick scan.

 

Hope our wounded will soon be walking wounded.

 

Saw this strange craft at Conway.

I assume it's a dredger or something.

For what are those long pipes intended?

 

Vesselrmw.jpg

It's not a proper dredger as it's far too smal, but it is obviously some sort of work boat from the way it's laid out.

 

They could possibly be some pilings that need to be put into the bed of the Conwy.

 

Mooring posts spring to mind, although the usual moorings off Deganwy are of the swinging type, which means the boat can lie at any angle away from the mooring point depending on what the wind/tide/current is doing

 

 

[Photo of mooring posts on the River Orwell by Bob Jones.]

 

These type of moorings are usually used by boats with a fin type keel.  If the water level at low water is insufficient for the boat to float, it will topple over.

 

This accounts for the development of the twin bilge keel arrangement on boats that are used in such tidal situations. 

 

There used to be a lot in what is now Cardiff bay,  My Great grandfather's pilot cutter (not fitted with an iron sail in those days) used to tie up near what was the Custom House when not at sea.

 

Shown here is one of the new Cardiff pontoon moorings: even down to the white cap shown in DD's original photo!

 

 

 

 

 

 

As an aside the swinging mooring is  usually a great big weight on the river bed to which the pick up buoy is chained.

 

Some are chained to their bases which are allegedly old driving wheels off steam locos!

Edited February 25, 2016 by Happy Hippo

[Ian Abel]

BIN day and being away provides me an excuse for not having to walk them to the kerb

 

An interesting (or not) fact about the project "Project Management" is that we actually have TWO of them. A "technical" PM and an "overall" PM.

I'm mystified as to how, with TWO PMs, they can't managed themselves, <insert all your favourite clichés - e.g. can't manage their way out of a paper bag/piss-up in a brewery etc.> and are BOTH apparently on vacation this week at the same time.

Of course, things overall running MUCH smoother because of that, BUT, certain items that they alone handle, by their choice, don't get done as a result. We don't have the same direct contact with the cloud provider that the PMs do, so since the production system was tits-up yesterday, we just had to do other tasks. Bloody good job we're only prepping the system so far and not actually live, right!

 

Onward... get to leave earlier today so I can catch the flight back home.

Still will have put in the prescribed/allotted/allowed hours for the week already, except for maybe two on this project tomorrow - another request means I'll likely be working almost a full day anyway tomorrow, helping another client with issues..

 

Had one hell of a storm and high winds here overnight, sounded like it almost tore the roof off the hotel, but subsided now and already 8C and sunny driving in.

 

Make the best of your day everyone.

[southern42]

' Afternoon all from red dragon land.

 

Good morning one and all

 

A pleasant surprise yesterday - my new passport arrived, delivered by a smiling courier.  Well, it was only just after 9 am.  Then came an e-mail from Hattons telling me that my pre-order is being processed.  Since you ask, it is for a blood and custard Collett SK, so there is another project to add to the pile.

 

Today I am to visit Poorly Pal.  After a quick trip into town for a necessary errand the catering box - wok, paddle, ingredients and recipe book - will go into the car.  Later tonight is a meeting of Stevenage Locomotive Society.  Fortunately, and perhaps controversially, I shall miss the stately passage of the money pit, aka Scotsman.  Why it is considered worthy of an item on the Today programme* I do not know!  Its spokesman is trotting out inaccuracies by the mile as I type.  Oh well, you can fool some of the people all of the time.  Phineas T Barnum, where art thou?

 

Good luck and health to all in need of them

 

Chris

 

* - on a day when Tony Blackburn is headline news!  Heaven help us

 

Even better...Realtime Trains, under Operational Information, lists it thus : "The Flying Scotsman" rather than "steam locomotive"  as I'd have expected.. 

http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/U59844/2016/02/25/advanced

 

Wishing Debs and Jock well and others who are ailing.

Baz - Ed Cold will go - eventually.  Just hang on in there.  At least, that's what I keep telling myself.

 

Some more modelling beckons.  <Sigh>   Lunch and coffee over so better get on with it.  I'll be alright once I get into it - just find it scary putting that first blob of paint on.  Nothing unusual.  ECS - No, no.  Not empty coaching stock - empty canvas syndrome!   

 

 

Hat...coat...

Edited February 25, 2016 by southern42

[DDolfelin]

Thanks for the info on the Conway Piling/Extendable leg  Boat.

I'm grateful for the trouble taken.

 

Just heard from Debs and she looks satisfied with progress.

[Tony_S]

Afternoon all.

Before I venture into the wild woods outside ER I thought I could pose a query here first. I have tried Google searching but must be asking the wrong question. Anyway the query is, where would the coal for the Flying Scotsman come from. Is it from some ancient British coal stocks or does it come from somewhere overseas?

Also what about ex Great Western locomotives that used Welsh steam coal. Do they have a special import?

Thanks

[Simon G]

Not sure about the Flying Scotsman coal, but the Ratty coal comes from usually Germany or Poland, so I am led to believe.

 

iT is my mother's birthday today, so we have taken her for a short walk along the Thames towpath at Henley. We were surprised about the number of people out rowing on the river, and many of them with their coaches cycling along the towpath alongside the boats.

 

We are out tonight for a meal at a local pub, with more family, so should be a good night out.

[Barry O]

Andy

 

fifteen minutes per pint .. I'd better get some practice in!

 

Baz

[Happy Hippo]

Andy

 

fifteen minutes per pint .. I'd better get some practice in!

 

Baz

Fwiw, hippos do 15  pints per second for the first fifteen, 

 

Then 15 seconds per pint for the next two.

 

Then 15 minutes per pint there after.

 

If it's malt whisky, I fall over before I'm full.

 

If it's cider, I just fall over.

[NGT6 1315]

Just noticed this quiz hasn't been resolved so far…

 

 

 

 

 

…so, these boxes are the transmitter and receiver units for the auxiliary point locking circuit. This is an insulated track circuit fed with low tension, frequency-modulated AC to ensure a point is doubly locked before passing, in the event that for any reason, no such lock could be obtained through the VETAG setting command which would have been received through…

 

 

 

 

…antenna loops like this one, set still further ahead of the respective points. In most locations, these loops are buried in ballast, or encased in the road top.

[Ian Abel]

Well CARP!

 

Due to the high winds, and generally JFK being a really CARP airport except in perfect weather, they've ALREADY messaged me to tell me my flight is delayed two freaking hours

 

Looks like I'll finish my quota for this client time I leave for the airport, and will not get in until probably 10PM tonight

 

There's the lunchtime report from Long Island

[BoD]

Afternoon all.

 

I've had a quick skim and hope I haven't missed anything important.

Really good to see a post from Debs. Just waiting and hoping for Jock now.

 

ChrisF's posts always manage to raise a chuckle. Trouble is I'm not sure if they are meant too or not.

 

Had appointment with consultant. Vision is very good, I managed to work that bit out for myself, but more importantly it's official, the retina has reattached really well. Just a fairly straightforward op sometime in the next couple of weeks to try to correct displaced lens.

 

Our NHS has its problems and detractors but there's a hell of a lot that's good about it too.

 

In other news, have built some baseboards, haven't drank any beer, solved any of Dom's quizzes or been delayed on or by a train.

Off up to Glasgow tomorrow morning so that might all change.

[sixoh8sixoh]

Afternoon all from Scottish HQ.

 

I've had another madly busy day, can't wait for Parliament to rise for the elections (though that does come with the downside of there being elections...). One month to go...

 

Been down to see the Minister this afternoon, we're appearing at the Health and Sport Committee on Tuesday morning so had to go and brief her.

[southern42]

Didn't get very far with the painting.  Only three items ready for the weekend.*  Some might say I'm too fussy.  Others might say I should just get some new brushes so that I don't have to keep cleaning up/re-painting adjacent areas!...but when you spend the winter huddled up indoors...and 'pass' on the one time you see some...    D'oh!

 

* Good thing is....there's plenty more for the next one. 

[The Stationmaster]

Not sure about the Flying Scotsman coal, but the Ratty coal comes from usually Germany or Poland, so I am led to believe.

 

iT is my mother's birthday today, so we have taken her for a short walk along the Thames towpath at Henley. We were surprised about the number of people out rowing on the river, and many of them with their coaches cycling along the towpath alongside the boats.

 

We are out tonight for a meal at a local pub, with more family, so should be a good night out.

 

The silly b*ggers often going out rowing at this time of year, getting warmed up for the season and anyway they're all softies nowadays - when I were a lad when we went out at this time of year our landing stage was often underwater so we were often standing in the water just to get the boat on the river.  Incidentally trust you chose a decent pub and not the 'Angel By the Bridge' as it's nowadays called (used be 'The Angel' - one of two in a space of 200 yards with that name) many years ago the then landlord had a lovely daughter but he was the most miserable landlord in the town (which took some doing) and he was even more miserable after a mass demonstration against his rip-off prices when a gaggle of drinkers marched onto the bridge, lined up and chucked nearly 30 of his pint mugs into the river.

 

Alas nearly all the proper pubs have vanished with only 'The Bird In Hand' being a true survivor  - the others that are left are very much into food instead of just plain getting on with drinking and well over half of those still going 40 years ago have vanished completely - it used to be physically impossible to have a drink in every pub in town in a single evening of 5 hours of opening and with one exception the greatest distance between any two pubs was about 300 yards.

 

Bob depending on how far north you are going in Norway it can get a bit on the cold side.  We were there over the first week in April and at times ashore up north we really needed our 3 layers of clothing, two layers of socks, snow boats and ski masks - but it does depend very much on where you'll be going ashore; it snowed everyday we were north of the Arctic Circle.

[AndyB]

Andy

 

fifteen minutes per pint .. I'd better get some practice in!

 

Baz

 

Depending on how my meetings go, it may be a little faster. 

Shame you've moved; could have spent 10 mins at your club and 5 minutes having a couple of pints.

[PhilJ W]

Evening from Estuary-Land. Had the haircut yesterday so feeling a bit cold around the ears, also the hair looks a lot thinner than when last I had it cut. Tesco's today had some old stock at marked down prices including a pack of computer address labels marked down from £3 to 75p only when I got home I noticed they were for ink jet printer and I have a laser printer. Can anyone tell me if its ok to use them with a laser printer? No sign of the sciatica today so I hope it stays away now.

[emt_911]

A better day today. I managed to finish on time although there are a couple of reports to finish.

 

Looking forward to Jock's return

 

Phil - I've never had any problems with inkjet labels in my laser printer

[New Haven Neil]

Fridaaayyyy...well it is for me anyway!

 

Nice to see some good news from our ill friends.

 

Pubs in Leeds - oh dear - OK Baz, I admit it....a friend's in-laws were the landlords at the Lord Nelson in Holbeck in the 80's, I thought their Tetleys was OK myself, but of course our local beer then was McEwans Best Scotch. Ugh.  Not the most salubrious of pubs #ahem#, but we had some good nights there!  The Station at Crossgates was the scene for some fun too, one of the bar stools still adorns a friend's garage!

[Barry O]

Neil, lots of changes in Leeds, not always for the better. But the demise of Tetleys means a wider variety of beer is available here. Lots of Craft Beer bars ...which means +50p ona pint as it crafted......and still the odd old pub. White locos doesn't seem to change but doesn't sell Youngest Number 3.

 

Cricket meeting tonight was too long so its sleep time for me.

Have a good rest everyone

 

Baz

[newbryford]

Short night shift coming up. No idea if it'll be short short (1.15am), medium short (2.30am) or long short (4am).

 

Time for a power nap.

 

Catch up later folks.

 

Cheers,

Mick

[Kelly]

Evening from Estuary-Land. Had the haircut yesterday so feeling a bit cold around the ears, also the hair looks a lot thinner than when last I had it cut. Tesco's today had some old stock at marked down prices including a pack of computer address labels marked down from £3 to 75p only when I got home I noticed they were for ink jet printer and I have a laser printer. Can anyone tell me if its ok to use them with a laser printer? No sign of the sciatica today so I hope it stays away now.

 

 

They should work. But there are so many different makes and adhesives used that it is impossible to say 'Yes, they'll be 100% fine' as the laser printer could get too hot for them and cause them to melt, and consequently jam. Use at your own risk applies with such things. However, I'd suspect they should be fine.

 

Hope the sciatica keeps away, it is horrible, I get it on occasions alongside my usual back pain (and fibromyalgia pain) and it is most annoying!

 

Been a quiet day after a busy weekend just gone (Diesel & Electric Show in Telford) and been doing some planning work on the 465 I'm building, only to run out of ink when I want to print some plans off for it, do'h!

 

Kelly

[BSW01]

Evening everyone. With it being the last Thursday of the month it was time for our monthly meeting. All the usual office/work bu£&?!t, but at least I got a decent bacon butty. For the rest of the afternoon I was sat around waiting for some new APP to down load onto my works iPad. Not sure why it wouldn't down load, but that's a problem that the company will have to sort out. Sitting round waiting really makes me very tired, and that's 4 hours of my life that will never get back. Ho hum.

 

Bob. Glad your retina reattachment surgery has gone well. Let's hope the up and coming lens re-alignment surgery goes well too!

 

Dave. More stunning photos.

 

 

Although I've sat round today and done bu99er all, I'm bloody knackered, so I'm off to bed.

 

Good night all.

Edited February 25, 2016 by BSW01

[emt_911]

Night all

[southern42]

If you'd like a sneak preview in advance of Chapel en le frith this weekend, I've posted the latest offering on CQ.  Thinking especially of those who aren't able to come.

 

All for now, got some stock to put away after gluing and painting all day.

 

' Night all and nos da.

[Donw]

At last I have my Broad band back or at least a new service in a new place.

I have happy Memories of the Bird in Hand spent many hours in there during the sixties. It was run by a Landlady and her daughter with another lass as barmaid. Regulars would often get roped in to help when a barrel needed changing. My mate married the daughter in the end. Happy days.

Hope all are as well as can be expected.

Don