Early Risers.

[AndyID]

 

I appear to have gained some brownie points by installing the new dryer so quickly.  However as usual the shelf life can be variable and usually short.

 

 

Those familiar with the electronic arts will immediately recognize this as a "sawtooth" function. The up (acquisition) ramp has a very slow rise while the down (dispersal) ramp drops like a rock.

[grandadbob]

Good morning all,

Certainly cooler earlier (5C at 4.30) but the sun has appeared in some blue sky so hopefully will be quite a nice day. 

Off to collect The Boss shortly and a bit of shopping needs doing. On my list is some wallpaper paste as I am going to attempt to stick a backscene to the layout. This should be fun as I've got to stretch over the widest board which is 30" and my back is creaking a bit at the moment so it might not get done today. (Like most things on my railway)

Have a good one,

Bob.

 

PS Deepest sympathy to all you rail commuters out there. Before I retired 12 years ago I was using Thameslink and Southern to East Dulwich for a couple of years and at that time they were very good and never many problems. (unless a lorry hit the bridge at Tulse Hill which seems to happen every now and then)

Edited October 11, 2016 by grandadbob

[Happy Hippo]

The Obergrumpenfuher is off on another of her sorties to north Wales.

 

The PH has just left to go to his place of employment, and Elsa is in her bed, snoring.

 

This means that I am nominally in charge of the hippodrome.

 

My fun packed day will consist of eating all the biscuits I bought for last night's cancelled meeting.

 

Lazing around looking at the fog, and generally enjoying myself with railway related matters.

 

However, downstairs I can here the scratching of quill on vellum which usually means a time managed tasking list is being drawn up.  For me!

 

Carpet cleaning, gardening duties, more shed re-cladding, emptying the dishwasher, putting a load of washing into the washing machine and then getting it out to dry, painting, general cleaning and hopefully, my favourite, food shopping.

 

But it is not all bad, as this evening I can go boldly to our public house and load up with some Stowford Press cider and tomorrow I will sally forth to Kingswinford and visit Modellers Mecca, the only decent (proper) model shop left within an hour of Muddy Hollow (forward).

 

Tasking list has just arrived:

 

I missed out cleaning up the (my) paperwork on the conservatory table.

 

This i will enjoy, as once the place has warmed up, I can go through the paperwork very carefully;  Probably reading every document, whilst eating the  aforementioned biscuit mountain and drinking tea,

 

You cannot take short cuts with model railway related paperwork!

[iL Dottore]

PoS....................... I haven't read that insult in years! 

Naughty Boy!!!

 

Of course PoS is the acronym for Princess of Shoreditch as any fule kno.

 

I am surprised/horrified/disgusted/startled/amazed/stunned/gobsmacked (delete whatever does NOT apply) that the otherwise impeccably mannered "jovial H Amphibius" should immediately think such bad thoughts. Tut, tut, tut!

 

Presumably we can conclude that the HH will not be venturing south on November 11th?

 

iD

 

Incidentally, are you a Hippopotamus Amphibius or a Hexaprotodon liberiensis? And if you are a H Amphibius are you a Great Northern, (H. a. amphibius), East African (H.a. kiboko), Cape (H.a.capensis), West African (H. a. tschadensis) or Angolan (H. a. constrictus) Happy Hippo? We should be told, as it's almost as important to define this as OO/EM/P4/S4 back-to-back measurements.....

[Happy Hippo]

Presumably we can conclude that the HH will not be venturing south on November 11th?

 

 

No, bearing in mind the date, I shall be on parade at the local war memorial.

 

Toxonology experts believe I may be a new previously un-recognised sub species although there is a possibly I may be one of the Kinder varieties, which would explain my propensity for chocolate.

[newbryford]

Blood letting done for my "well man" checkup. Results in a couple of days.

 

I know the result of one test already. It's red................

 

Have a good Tuesday folks.

 

Cheers,

Mick

[pH]

Bids have been received for delivering bodacious electrons to said shed, but considering the material (I've been checking) is about 25% of the cost, I'm rather inclined to do it myself. The snag is I'm not familiar with the US national electric rules (NEC). The document costs about $100, but I just bought a slightly out of date version on Ebay for $10.

 

Are the US rules national, then? Are there no state rules? The electrical code in Canada is provincial. I presume you would, but if you do it yourself, make sure you get it inspected. Not doing that will mean the shed (and contents!) will be uninsured in case of any problems.

[edcayton]

 

 

The saga of the house next door continues. When I last bored the crap out of you with it, a new set of tenants had moved in. Seems as though either they or the management company have now turned the place illegally into a home of multiple occupation. (ie a bed sit with shared facilities) Our council is in the middle of enacting new regulations around such things to curb overcrowded houses. At first there was 2 of them, then it expanded to 3,4,5. As of last weekend it appears there are now 7 in the house. (a 3 bedroom terrace with a second reception) I feel crowded in the same sized house next door and there is only the 2 of us most of the time. Originally they all sat out the back with the bbq going every night. Now they've erected a 3m by 3m marquee tent thingy. This marquee smells like an Amsterdam coffee shop from morning till night. I'm sort of hoping they stay under the council & local plod's radar as compared to the last 2 sets of tenants, they are a massive improvement.  Friendly, pleasant, quiet, clean. Everything the last 2 sets weren't. I'm keeping quiet but I think its only a matter of time before the council come a callin'.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

...and you don't think that the Bexley drug squad monitors ERs?

 

Good morning all

 

Best wishes

 

Ed

[bbishop]

on the subject of which, Bill. How's the knee doing?

F

Flavio,

I'm down for surgery and a phone call this morning indicated the surgeon's list is open from mid November.  But I'm blocking 14 - 25 November so that I can take Höchstädt to Warley.  Höchstädt is quite happy to go without me, but I would like to be there as well.  Otherwise Jamie would have to set up a layout he has never seen before!

 

You may have to excuse latecomers at the PoS.  I think all of us will have stopped for the requisite two minutes at 11am.

 

 

Bill

Edited October 11, 2016 by bbishop

[AndyB]

So, with swmbo's birthday approaching I was offered a wish list of gifts. 

Firing up my trusted supplier, Amazon I set to and awaited deliveries to commence.

 

<RANT MODE ON>

 

Of course, after a few days I made the error of stepping out of the house for a few moments.

Instantaneously, and with timing that would suggest they had my residence under close observation, the Royal Mail turns up with a "signed for" parcel.

Unable to extract a signature they retreated to their lair, having issued a calling card with instructions on how to either drive 10 miles to pick the parcel up or a hotline to arrange re-delivery. 

 

So, I set swmbo on to the hotline. So named because after 16 attempts to get the automated pile of sh1te they use to recognise your address when spoken in the Queen's English she was, to say the least, hot under the collar. The upshot was, after she'd resorted to a variety of regional accents of some major and minor European countries, re-delivery to our local Post Office was arranged.

 

And so a day or so later I hot-footed it to the Post Office wondering what the parcel was that had caused such inconvenience.

Surely it must be bulky and valuable to warrant "signed for" and not be simply shoved through the letter box.

Nay, nay and twice nay....

 

It was a dvd. Value approximately £3.

 

Plus the additional 70p for the extra work I caused by being out when the postman only rang once. 

 

What kind of muddle-minded tw@nk vendor thought to themselves. "I know, this low-value item that would easily fit through a letter box really, really needs to cause as much work as possible so that my vendor rating will soar. 

 

I look forward to writing the product review! 

 

<RANT OFF> 

[southern42]

' Morning all from sunny red dragon land.

 

It's been non-stop for the last few weeks including two nights out in the last seven days.  Last week was a really interesting talk by Dr Dafydd Gwyn on the beginnings of local  quarry railways.  Last night (same place, different room!) we went to see Catfish Keith all the way from the U S of A, singing my favourite stuff playing his National trisonicone.  Excellent.  Hope he returns next year as we've waited 3 years since his last visit.

 

These distracted me from my disappointment with some scaling issues.  Setting out to model my grandad in the goods yard in the late 30s, I got hold of a "1:76 scale" (Oxford Diecast) mechanial horse to go with a "1:76 scale" (Dapol) container (substitute for what in real life is actually shorter than the one in my photo).  The container is too large for the flatbed.  Ah, well.  That's modelling, I guess.

 

On the bright side, I had a good couple of loco runs at West Shore recently and am beginning to get the feeling of being in charge of the loco rather than the loco being in charge of me, but still early days.  We public run til the end of the month.  Thereafter, it remains to be seen how the weather pans out for some light engine work.  It could be a long winter intermission...but days like today would be most welcome.

 

Hope it all matches up for you, today.

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Bright and sunny at the moment but there was a short shower when I went to fetch the milk in this morning.

 

Remember Hippos are the most dangerous animal for humans in Africa - which is very similar to Warley.....their farts can kill at 25 yards.

 

Best, Pete.

But can a Hippo fart overcome the BO of the backpackers?

[AndrewC]

...and you don't think that the Bexley drug squad monitors ERs?

 

Good morning all

 

Best wishes

 

Ed

They are too busy filling in paper work for their transfers to some place less boring.

We go through a borough commander on an almost annual basis. 3 out of 4 of the local "team" have transferred out in the past few months.

 

These days I can't see them bothering unless they need to bump up their arrest stats with some low hanging fruit. Now if they add a greenhouse to the garden..........

[AndyB]

... "well man" checkup.... 

 

 

Cheers,

Mick

 

So called as at the end of it you say.....

 

"Well, man, that's that for another year!"  

 

Hope the results are what you'd wish for. 

[PhilJ W]

' Morning all from sunny red dragon land.

 

It's been non-stop for the last few weeks including two nights out in the last seven days.  Last week was a really interesting talk by Dr Dafydd Gwyn on the beginnings of local  quarry railways.  Last night (same place, different room!) we went to see Catfish Keith all the way from the U S of A, singing my favourite stuff playing his National trisonicone.  Excellent.  Hope he returns next year as we've waited 3 years since his last visit.

 

These distracted me from my disappointment with some scaling issues.  Setting out to model my grandad in the goods yard in the late 30s, I got hold of a "1:76 scale" (Oxford Diecast) mechanial horse to go with a "1:76 scale" (Dapol) container (substitute for what in real life is actually shorter than the one in my photo).  The container is too large for the flatbed.  Ah, well.  That's modelling, I guess.

 

On the bright side, I had a good couple of loco runs at West Shore recently and am beginning to get the feeling of being in charge of the loco rather than the loco being in charge of me, but still early days.  We public run til the end of the month.  Thereafter, it remains to be seen how the weather pans out for some light engine work.  It could be a long winter intermission...but days like today would be most welcome.

 

Hope it all matches up for you, today.

There is a photograph of a mechanical horse and trailer carrying a standard container in one of the early editions of 'Bylines', the container overhung the trailer by two or three feet, apparently this was usual practice. The Dublo Dinky Bedford flat lorry was made to carry the Hornby Dublo container and was excessively long as a result.

[The Stationmaster]

That is a great photo. Did you take it?

 

If I had taken it my youthful childhood photographic abilities would have put Henri Cartier Bresson in the shade.  So while not taking it with a camera I did borrow it from the site of a national newspaper rag who had some 'now & then' comparisons of the West End.  The 'then' photos were of considerably better quality although they dated from the first half of the 1950s or earlier so no doubt they had done their usual trick and had borrowed them from somewhere else.

 

And now - Good Morning all,

 

Alas Phil's mention above of a backpacker with BO reminded me of an incident in Taunton yesterday - on our return walk to the station Captain Kernow and I drew ahead of our two companions so we halted to give them a chance to catch up, on the fairly narrow pavement near the station.  As we stood there a person passed in the opposite direction and to be very blunt the smell was overpowering and so we both turned to watch him in his way along the pavement, he was wearing a backpack and we quickly concluded that we wouldn't like to bump into him at a model railway exhibition as things were bad enough in the open air.

 

On a much brighter note the offspring are (separately) returning from various parts of the mainland today - laddo will no doubt shortly be enroute via Brussel and E* having spent last night in Koln having got there the previous night on a sleeper from Warsaw while the Good Doctor will be winging her way back from Berlin with a somewhat later arrival time back in dear old, increasingly impoverished, blighty.  If they have a handful of Euros leftover they will no doubt be able treat us to a slap-up meal for four in a week or two.  I wonder how many £s I'll be able to get for my 50,000 marks note or should I try the 200,000 one.

 

Have a good day one & all

Edited October 11, 2016 by The Stationmaster

[jamie92208]

Flavio,

I'm down for surgery and a phone call this morning indicated the surgeon's list is open from mid November.  But I'm blocking 14 - 25 November so that I can take Höchstädt to Warley.  Höchstädt is quite happy to go without me, but I would like to be there as well.  Otherwise Jamie would have to set up a layout he has never seen before!

 

You may have to excuse latecomers at the PoS.  I think all of us will have stopped for the requisite two minutes at 11am.

 

 

Bill

 

I do like a challenge Bill, presumably you would have it delivered to Warley by Royal Mail.

 

Jamie

[roundhouse]

I do like a challenge Bill, presumably you would have it delivered to Warley by Royal Mail.

 

Jamie

Might not arrive till the 2018 show though!!

[Judge Dread]

Hey up!

 

Judge Dread..a warning..I have been told to attend a flat 'viewing' in Hull with him later today.. Beware blue Honda Civics!

 

 

 

Your warning duly noted and a rota set up for watching out. Nothing so far as it's too early in the day. Students living opposite have finally got the idea that although Tuesday is "bin day", they need to look at the beautifully printed fridge door card to find out which bin and put it out either the night before or in the early morning not late afternoon! It's only taken three weeks to find that out, a new local record!

Thanks Baz.

[The Stationmaster]

I do like a challenge Bill, presumably you would have it delivered to Warley by Royal Mail.

 

Jamie

 

And if you're not there you'll have to go to the nearest 'Delivery Office' to extract it from their clutches.

[Happy Hippo]

 

 

But can a Hippo fart overcome the BO of the backpackers?

A doombar/curry/rice/chocolate/aspargus/sprout/cauliflower/baked bean combo might work

 

Would you like me to try it for my trip to Warley?

 

It might also generate what would be known as a triple flusher!!

[lightengine]

Might not arrive till the 2018 show though!!

Or maybe like my Royal Mail delivery this morning. Don't knock on the door or ring the bell just push a card through the letter box, dump the parcel and leggit.

[southern42]

There is a photograph of a mechanical horse and trailer carrying a standard container in one of the early editions of 'Bylines', the container overhung the trailer by two or three feet, apparently this was usual practice. The Dublo Dinky Bedford flat lorry was made to carry the Hornby Dublo container and was excessively long as a result.

 

Something I can look out for.  Thanks, Phil.  That makes me very happy.

 

Now for my sister's photo - Grandad with his GWR 'orse! Sis has even worked out the colour, size, etc as she's the 'orse expert in our family - draws them to a t.  When she was just seven (and only in the first year juniors), one of her horse paintings was put up directly opposite the rear doors of our school hall (for everyone to see as they left the hall) - the highest compliment a kid could have, so the spot not to have gone to a top junior was really something.

 

Thanks again, Phil.

[Tony_S]

No power at present. Eon chap suspects house may be too big for the gas meter to link its signal to the electric meter. So we may get a smart electric meter and retain a dim gas meter. Tests are proceeding.

Tony

[emt_911]

I decided earlier that it wasn't worth going into work with how I felt and went back to bed.

 

At least I get a chance to catch up on various postings on RM

 

Back later