Early Risers.

[The Stationmaster]

G'night all

[BSW01]

Goodnight all

[emt_911]

Night all

[laurenceb]

Night all

[Kelly]

An inside view (an action shot from a moving escalator.......)

 

 

The tricky bit could be the working sliding doors.........

 

Cheers,

Mick

I reckon with a bit of thought the merg level crossing kit could probably manage the movement well enough. Making the doors look realistic a bit more challenging perhaps, but not impossible. People have done it on multiple units in the past, with the orange door lock lights tied into it too.

[trisonic]

The average high in Phoenix is way beyond Melbourne. If you were in Alice Springs I might be more sympathetic.

 

Every time I’ve arrived in Phoenix it’s been c.114f then one day it was 118f - luckily I’ve always headed up the long hill to either Sedona (moderated) or Flagstaff (downright “balmy” at c. 86f and very pleasant).

 

Of course the locals say “but it’s a dry heat...” which is true, I once spent a day outside in New Jersey when it was 106f and 85% humidity, that did feel hotter, specially as I was getting married and wore a suit...

 

Best, Pete.

Edited December 12, 2016 by trisonic

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all

[AndyID]

The Winter Poultice is indeed upon us - in the form of 8 inches of snow.

 

The local highway department usually does a really good job of plowing and gritting the three miles from here to the main highway, but not today. Somebody decide traction conditions were sufficient, but not for Lorna's VW they weren't. She got stuck on a hill. I drove along to rescue her, but when I tried to move the VW, it slid gently sideways into the ditch. I dumped sand under the wheels but to no avail.

 

We called the AAA for assistance. While I was waiting for the tow truck I thought I might as well take another shot at getting it out, and I actually managed it - yippee! I then reversed all the way down the hill, but when I got to the level bit at the bottom I got too close to the edge of the road and it slid into the !@#$%^&* ditch again.

 

It didn't take the tow truck guy long to get it back on to the road but there is another steep hill on the way back to the house, so I pulled it off the road and parked it. I ran Lorna into town in my truck and picked up a pair of traction cables for the VW. I was then able to drive the VW home, but it only just made it up the hill even with the traction cables.

 

We've been here for 21 years, and this is the first time we've been stuck. Lorna will be calling the highway department tomorrow. She may expand their vocabulary.

[AndyID]

We've been watching "The Night Manager". Very well done, but the dramatic tension is so great we can only handle one episode per day.

 

(No spoilers please.)

[chrisf]

Good morning one and all

 

I'm off to London today for a meeting at the Ace Cafe.  On the way I need to call at the office of the local rag, for once again the delivery brat has defaulted.  You would think that a kid could do with every penny at this time of year and I cannot help feeling that the little scrote is not earning his pittance.

 

On impulse I toddled over to the multiplex yesterday lunchtime and watched Sully, a film starring Tom Hanks as the pilot who put his crippled plane down in the Hudson River in 2009 with no loss of life.  Apart from some confusing out-of-sequence bits it is very good indeed.  For late lunch I enjoyed a large dollop of beef stew.  The remains will last me one more day so some thought as to future menu items must be given before the rescheduled fodder run on Wednesday.

 

There being no other burning issues, I shall conclude with the beattitude.  Warm thoughts to the lonely and depressed, to all travellers [that includes me today] and to the many who are ailing, recovering, supporting, grieving and missing.

 

Chris

[emt_911]

Morning all. I haven't checked on the weather yet and it's too dark to see what's happening.

 

A reasonable work day is planned for today before being audited tomorrow.

 

Have a good day everyone

[jamie92208]

Morning all from a still dark Charente.  Breakfast has been consumed and there are sounds from the other end of the house so some orders may be posted shortly.   It doesn't really get light till about 8am but the good side is that it stays light till 5pm.   Today we are heading off to just north of Limoges to spend a couple of days with Beth's schoolfriend who lives there.  She moved out here about 4 years ago and her husband died 6 months later.  No doubt I will be presented with a short list of jobs to complete.  I quite enjoy them.  Some dog walking will no doubt be done. However the best news is that tomorrow has been designated a girly chat day and my presence will not be required so I'm being encouraged to go trainspotting for the day.  Whilst feigning pain I have grudgingly agreed to this plan.    Life is hard...

 

Anyway, regards to all.

 

Jamie

[Robert]

Morning All,

 

We have a fairly mild morning here today.  No sign of winter at the moment.  Although it is starting to get light, and it does look rather grey.

 

 I am very very fortunate that paracetamol is very effective as an analgesic.

 

Paracetamol is a wonder drug.  It is a good thing that it was discovered years ago, because it would probably never get approval these days.

 

As far as the 67 is concerned - the designer certainly wasn't having a good day when that one was on the drawing board!  Still, I guess that is progress.  Most of the modern diesels are probably best described as "utilitarian".  Still, at least it breaks up the monotony of one shed after another.

 

In my spotting days, I always groaned inwardly when a 47 appeared - but these days they seem much more appealing than they did then.  Maybe the same will be true of sheds one day

 

Best looking diesel ever built?  IMHO the Warships, closely followed by the Westerns.  The Hydraulics were definitely under rated, and went long before their time.

 

Have a good day everyone...

[trisonic]

The weird thing about the solstice - at our latitudes anyway, the same as Barcelona in Europe - is that early morning daylight is still decreasing yet afternoon daylight is increasing, something like +/- 9 minutes compared to a couple of weeks ago.

 

Official sunrise is about 7:15 am, yet sundown has already increased to 4:33pm. It’s light at 7:00am and 5:00pm (if the sky is clear).

 

No need for chains here with c. 0.25” of snow - it is changing over to rain, right now.

 

Best, Pete.

Edited December 12, 2016 by trisonic

[TheQ]

Morning awl, ER time of 04:45, so I actually 6:15 minutes of sleep which is a lot for me.

 

Our time of sunset has been set at 15:40 for several days and will be for several days more, meanwhile we are still losing an minute of daylight per day in the morning.

 

The roads were dry and and there was only light fog coming into work with suprisingly light traffic. But...

 

Something at the Coltishall road NDR works has gone wrong in a big way, the road is flooded, as are all the great many ditches and holes they have dug. Water is pouring over the carriageway. it suggests one of those new mains water pipes / connections has failed . The pipes were about 18 inches in diameter so that is a lot of water.....

 

Yet another Christmas dinner later, so I've just had google maps up with the little man on the road, so I can see where to turn off the main road to find the place. One of the most useful aspects of google maps.. They were talking of them putting that system on the rivers of the broads as well, but so far they haven't , that I can find, which is a pity as it would be very handy to show you all where I'm racing up and down in ever decreasing circles..

Edited December 12, 2016 by TheQ

[AndyID]

Every time I’ve arrived in Phoenix it’s been c.114f then one day it was 118f - luckily I’ve always headed up the long hill to either Sedona (moderated) or Flagstaff (downright “balmy” at c. 86f and very pleasant).

 

Of course the locals say “but it’s a dry heat...” which is true, I once spent a day outside in New Jersey when it was 106f and 85% humidity, that did feel hotter, specially as I was getting married and wore a suit...

 

Best, Pete.

 

When we were in AZ Lorna used to say it was like living with a hair drier up her nose.

[Barry O]

Oh for some of that "dry" heat! Salt lake City had dry heat, Orlando humid heat.. Both visited on the same business trip some years ago.

 

Morning to most. I did call in about 4am but didn't leave a note in case I woke people up.

 

We are still missing a number of ERs ...just hope they are keeping well?

 

Have a great day and sleep well those heading towards nighttime.

 

Baz

[martin1]

morning all from a cold and frosty chesterfield,quiet on to sheffield and although cold at least dry,even inside the garage which is allways a good thing ! love chrisf post how true......second born on way back to full steam after a breif bout of chestyness and everyone else is asleep as i left,managed to get the wd just about done,ill try and post a pic if i can figure how to,ive allways wanted to take the zephyr to the ace cafe....must get round to it one day,have a good day all. 

[Purley Oaks]

When we were in AZ Lorna used to say it was like living with a hair drier up her nose.

When I first read this I thought it was a hair drier up her *rse...

[AndyB]

Morning All,

 

We have a fairly mild morning here today.  No sign of winter at the moment.  Although it is starting to get light, and it does look rather grey.

 

 

Paracetamol is a wonder drug.  It is a good thing that it was discovered years ago, because it would probably never get approval these days.

 

As far as the 67 is concerned - the designer certainly wasn't having a good day when that one was on the drawing board!  Still, I guess that is progress.  Most of the modern diesels are probably best described as "utilitarian".  Still, at least it breaks up the monotony of one shed after another.

 

In my spotting days, I always groaned inwardly when a 47 appeared - but these days they seem much more appealing than they did then.  Maybe the same will be true of sheds one day

 

Best looking diesel ever built?  IMHO the Warships, closely followed by the Westerns.  The Hydraulics were definitely under rated, and went long before their time.

 

Have a good day everyone...

 

Paracetamol approvals: I had the experience of talking to a professor last week who earnestly believed that a body of evidence similar to drug effectiveness should be sought for anything used in hospitals, including cleaning equipment. A 5-year trial of a vacuum cleaner anyone?  

 

The 68: It seems that Chuggington was inspired by existing trains. And now we've closed the circle. 

 

Best looking diesel? 37s, closely followed by....the rest.  

[TheQ]

When I first read this I thought it was a hair drier up her *rse...

It's all in the mind.. all in the mind....

[Kelly]

Morning all, hope everyone is well? If not speedy recoveries and sympathy as needed.

 

 

Awake early for a change. Need to get on with making jewellery for gifts before going to Richards for Christmas, but supplies haven't yet turned up, grr.

 

 

 

Paracetamol is a wonder drug.

As is morphine :-) it too probably would have struggled to get approval these days if it were a new drug due to the addictive risks etc.

 

As far as the 67 is concerned - the designer certainly wasn't having a good day when that one was on the drawing board!

 

 

Most modern diesels have to work across multiple counties these days, so that probably makes it harder for a design to be anywhere near as refined as past br diesels.

 

Best looking diesel ever built? IMHO the Warships, closely followed by the Westerns. The Hydraulics were definitely under rated, and went long before their time.

 

Have to agree with you here, though I suppose it is also because one was named Kelly ;-) the German diesels they were derived from were also quite nice. I can't really think of any other type that doesn't look utilitarian really, I suppose except for the prototype deltic. Probably looked revolutionary back then.

[Tony_S]

Morning all.

It isn't cold out. Definitely cloudy. I didn't accompany Robbie on a run round the garden but he was dry when he came back in so I suspect it hasn't rained.

Not a lot planned for the day.

Tony

[AndyB]

Morning all,

A drizzly start to the day. 

• Father Christmas visited.
• Turkey purchased.
• Presents purchased.
• Cards dispatched.
• Mince pies baked.
• Mince pies eaten.
• Tree decorated.

Interestingly when I went to the butcher to purchase the turkey I'd imagined that I'd be paying a deposit and returning on Christmas eve to collect it.

Other ideas seem to prevail now. Instead I was offered a "price now" and a "price next week" with a 50% rise in between. Clearly they don't want a last minute rush, or to be left with a lot of unsold stock. 

 

Anyway, off to immerse myself in the corporate world for a few hours. Have a nice day everyone. Andy

[roundhouse]

Morning form an overcast London.

 

A great weekend only marred by lack of trains home last night. Just over 2 hours Nottingham to London St Pancras then 2.5 hours for the last 20 miles home. No Thameslink to Croydon so we had ot go vi the underground to either LBG or Vic. Decided Vic was the better option but with the drivers overtime ban there were plenty of cancellations.Our train was wedged to the point the people were let behind at Vic.

 

AT East Croydon we decided ot get the normal service bus home but that seemed to stop every request stop to Purley and then most to Redhill but at least we had a seat.

 

This morning our train to LBG was cancelled and looks like it plus the earlier one to LBG are no longer running for the foreseeable future so standing all the way on a wedged late running Thameslink. It left many people waiting for the next train when it departed East Croydon. The next two days there will be no Southern trains so not really sure what to do to get in as the few Thameslink services are going to be unbearable if you can get on them at all.

 

Just 8 more days of commuting this year but its going to be a long few days.