Early Risers.

[45156]

the most painful thing now is trying to get the ligaments and tendons back into use after not doing much for a long time.

You can say that again, Phil. It seems that ankles recover faster than hips as your progress has been very quick. The same is true of my brother, who broke his ankle, and is off his crutches as well. I'm still only part weight bearing for another couple of weeks. However, I did manage to walk hobble to the paper shop this morning to buy the Daily Rag.

 

Moan at Royal Mail appears to have been somewhat successful as post arrived about half past eight this morning, the earliest it's been for weeks.

 

Pleased to say that I don't yet need a rethatch as have reached my late 50s and still have own hair and own teeth, and not that much grey either - without the assistance of pillow messing substances!

 

Robert have a good flight, and enjoy the show.

 

As usual, happy exhibiting to those showing this weekend, and happy visiting to those who are lucky enough to be able to get to an exhibition.

 

Happy weekend to the rest...

Regards to All

Stewart

[NGT6 1315]

Turned out to be a rainy day out here. We just returned from the city - which was very busy, so I guess it's no surprise that I feel exhausted. Think a comfy evening will be up, too .

[Tony_S]

Hi,

I didn't get time to post this morning as I drove my wife to the opticians. As he added an early appointment especially for her I didn't want us to be late. We then managed to get found to the doctor's in time for a flu jab (only one, I had mine earlier in the week. For the rest of the day I've been out in rural Essex playing trains (mainly talking and eating really in my case). The club layout is going to the Warley NEC exhibition and it was being set up in a larger hall than usual for testing the planned configuration. I'm now just off to give Robbie his walk. He is almost perfectly camouflaged in dusk type lighting and sometimes all you can see is a pair of orange glowing eyes running at you!

 

Tony

[Robert]

Evening All,

 

Had a good flight over and a reasonable trip down. It's good to be back! It took me around an hour before I headed off for a walk along the clifftops.

 

Robert have a good flight, and enjoy the show.

 

Thanks Stewart!

[NGT6 1315]

Morning all...

 

Looks wet outside as it was still raining last night. Today's supposed to be mostly dry, however. Can't really say anything else right now, as it is still too dark and I'm not fully there either!

 

Have a good Sunday!

[DDolfelin]

I have a feeling it's going to be dank outside until about next June.

 

Strange how one misses the obvious.

For years I've been conscientiously fitting hot and cold fill to successive washing machines.

It's glaringly obvious that the machine is full of cold water from the pipe-run long before the hot water filters through from the tank.

 

I'm having a bit of an energy conscious week.

Looking into solar energy - especially new types like the spray-on-windows version and the transparent kind.

 

Another device I'm researching is an Air Sourced Heat Pump (works like an Air Conditioner in reverse).

 

Why there is no building regulation to instal solar panels in all new builds is perplexing.

More installations = cheaper panels for us all.

[PhilH]

Morning, another early-ish one here, especially for a Sunday. I'm going to resume my trackmaking later, early results are reasonable but certainly need refinement. Nice little learning curve though.

 

The family is descending chez moi this afternoon, eldest grandson has just started walking so anything valuable/ interesting/ breakable will have to be put up out of harm's way.

 

I'm having a bit of an energy conscious week.

 

So am I - I've decided I haven't got much so will stay in bed longer.

[gordon s]

Jeez, it's cold this morning. First real frost on the cars, so I guess you have the right idea Mr H...

 

The soggy mess of kitchen roll has nearly dried, so it's out with the paint and Grassmaster for my first scenic area. By this time tomorrow it could all be taken up again....

 

Those eagle eyed amongst you may have noticed my bit of railway will appear in Model Rail next month. Chris Nevard has worked wonders with his camera. Don't anyone let on it's only a 8' x 2' board....

[Robert]

Morning All,

 

Rather a showery morning here on the South Coast. Still, there is sunshine and patches of blue sky. Off to the Uckfield show in a minute.

 

Have a good day everyone...

[skipepsi]

Morning all it is sunny but cold here what I would describe as a good day for outside work.Shame that the toilet needs fixing.

[trisonic]

Yes it's me. Up at 4:15am, again, Gordon!

 

35f here within sight of the Big Apple, Storm has gone - and it even looks like it's heading for the North Pole rather than Europe so you guys should miss a very windy storm - this time. We were about 300 miles from its' centre and had winds of over 40 mph. Absolutely calm and clear outside when I went for a quick fag, probably why it is cold - even the stars have stopped glittering.

 

8' x 2" Gordon? I thought it was one of those them there Microbial train sets. Seriously I shall rush out and buy that edition of MR - probably here by the new year. Did you finish that loco where you were milling the chassis? I don't remember the follow up?

 

Best, Pete.

[Tony_S]

Morning all.

 

Not doing much this morning. Apparently we are going to Basildon to Marks and Spencer. It is very sunny here but quite cold. I didn't get up early enough to see if there was a frost. No plants have gone black overnight so it can't have been severe anyway.

Tony

[gordon s]

Although my room is 18' square, Pete, I'm building the whole thing in modules and the only board that is nearing completion is the 8' x 2' one over the stairwell. I have the next one well under way, but MR came over some months back at which time this was the only piece that was viable for pics. Chris did a brilliant job and I'm chuffed to bits with the pics.

 

The Ivatt chassis has been moved to one side for a while. The chassis itself was fine but I'm still struggling with getting the wheels to run true. Putting bearings in improved the running no end, but wheel sets now have to be assembled on the chassis and that rules out turning them true on the lathe. I'm currently converting a old wheel press to see if that will do the job, but having got the stairwell board down I'm back on layout construction.

 

Variety is the spice of life....

[sixoh8sixoh]

Morning all, frosty start here in the Durham hills. It's clouded over a bit now, though.

 

Down at my parents' with Jamie. Update for Don, she's walking, constantly up to mischief, not talking properly yet but making herself understood in other ways! She has the tunes of Twinkle Twinkle and Baa Baa Black Sheep off but the words are still eluding her a bit!

[trisonic]

Gordon,

 

Now I understand.

Your trackwork is worth an article in itself.

As part of an overall model it is often rushed through - whereas to me it is the most critical component in the big picture. I said in a reply to Jim S-W that as a kid I used to stand on Platform 11 at Liverpool Street just staring at the "throat" that was visible to me - there has always been something enchanting for me of smooth flowing track and working out the various routing of it. My favourite part of railways in general.

 

Best, Pete.

[Tony_S]

I'm clearly not eagle eyed as I'm missed the reference to Gordon in the current Model Rail. Having now read the "Whats in Next Month" I now know. As well as Gordon's Eastwood module there is a Build your own Borchester. I always liked the articles about Borchester years ago. Just think one day people will be reading about build your own Eastwood.

 

Tony

[45156]

Morning All

 

Dull, chilly, heating is on, and it's Sunday - I know It's Sunday as Terry Wogan is on the radio, and Mrs 45156 has just been listening to the rum te tum te tum te tum tune of The Archers.

 

Went out for a walk this morning, and Mrs 45156 suggested that I run the car up for a few minutes. Well, I did, and tried the clutch and it felt fine, so shoved the seat back, shut the door, seatbelt on, slipped it into first, and away I went - much to her surprise, and a trip round the block ensued - felt like a trip round Brands Hatch (Dr has said I'm OK to drive when I can manage the clutch) as I hurtled round at 25 mph. Still it got the rust off the brake discs, and meant that the battery got a bit of a charge as I left it runnning for a while.

 

Have now managed to fettle four of the five guitars, and am finishing off the last one today. I must never let them get into such a state again, as two of then actually needed to be dismantled as far as possible and it took about four hours to get them clean and back into good order.

 

Gordon S - good to hear that Eastwood Town is to feature in MR - your trackwork deserves to be shown to a wider audience.

 

Pete I agree completely about track - when I look at a layout in any scale and any gauge, that is where my eye takes me, and I always like to see quality trackwork as that is (at least as far as I'm concerned) the hardest bit to get right - in 00 you start with a massive disadvantage, and it takes skill to make the track look prototypical.

 

I'm off to fix the last guitar up now.

 

Regards to all

Stewart

[trisonic]

Stewart,

I meant to tell you what strings I prefer. I'm mostly a Strat player (but I also own 1 Les Paul - a nice old one, 2 SG's and a Flying V) I like a "darker" sound. My main string set is by the Snake Oil Brand (S.O.B's) always Nickel and always 10-46's - if for some reason I'm out of those (I buy 20 sets at a time) I use "Burnished Nickels" (same gauge) by GHS.

 

Best, Pete.

[trisonic]

I hate replying to myself but this is an exception.

You know I said about my friend over here in the 'States with Cancer? He is the bravest man alive to me. He just called to say goodbye, he is in Sloan Kettering Memorial Hospital riddled with cancer - it's now in his lungs and he could hardly speak.

That being so the b@#ger is planning a "going away" party on October 30th in costume - he is going as a Cancer patient, I told him I would be going as an Englishman and his brother (as he would always be to me).

 

This means I'll be losing another brother in this year but gaining someone else to play guitar with when my turn comes!

 

Sorry for being maudlin but I thought you guys would understand - Baz had a minor "starring" role in a current non-fiction TV series I dunno whether they showed it in Britain, who cares? He is a real star to me.

 

Thanks for hearing me out, Pete.

[gordon s]

I feel for you, Pete. Losing a good mate is always a tough one...

 

Hopefully the little bit of banter in ER's will brighten you day a little and don't worry about off loading on here, that's what we're here for.

 

 

[NGT6 1315]

I'm not sure what I can say, Pete - aside from that I can well relate to your feelings. When my grandma was about to pass away, I almost choked when I needed to say goodbye to her . Afterwards, I often wondered - painfully so - if there might have been any other things which I might have said to her, but couldn't think of at the time...so I believe that, in a sense, providing for a kind of, well, surrounding for everyone to say goodbye may be a very good idea on the part of your friend - as it may help to not leave any things unspoken.

[45156]

Bloomin' heck Pete, your friend is very brave indeed, and there's nothing that I can say that will make the next few weeks any better for you, as it looks as though whoever makes the decisions has made one this time, and isn't about to change his mind.

 

IMHO, the best way to treat the farewell party is to regard it as celebration of his life and achievements, and to try not to be too maudlin on the day - you'll have time to mourn when he's gone. Even then, it's better to look back on the good, the accomplishments, and also, as you've said, on the fact that you'll be meeting up with him again as a fellow guitar player when the time comes. Don't forget, Pete that he's going to be in good company, Jimi to name one, but if he fancies a more country style, he can get a masterclass with Chet Atkins and Marcel Dadi.

 

Thanks for the info on the strings - mine have all come now, and all the guitars are fettled and working - the Hofner, Taylor, Ovation, and what started off as a Hokada Dreadnaught, and was modified by me into something much better, which I think still plays and sounds as well as any much more expensive instruments.

 

But don't forget, you've got a lot of cyber-mates on here if things get on top of you.

 

Regards

Stewart

[trisonic]

Thanks, guys. sometimes life is a B@#$h.........I feel so sorry for his wife, she's a beautiful woman (and not just in the way you're thinking).

 

Pete.

[DDolfelin]

Tough times, Pete.

 

Thanks for the message - something went wrong with the reply system.

I just said I'd have to get in touch with Bob again.

[trisonic]

Thanks, I doubt whether Bob would remember me........

 

Stewart, you're a gem like the rest of these guys. I really don't think Baz is going to make it that far - two weeks is a long time for someone in his position.....

 

Pete.