Early Risers.

[emt_911]

A long and frustrating day and it appears that cockwomble clients are multiplying. I had to be on site for 07:00 which was achieved and then they couldn't find the keys to give me access to the area for 2 hours. Even though it is a priority job we had to be off site by 17:30. Some priority. Unfortunately I have to go back tomorrow.

 

I missed watching all of the rugby today but I did hear that Italy gave France a fright at the start of the game.

 

An eyelid inspection is required before trawling through the world of RMWeb. Back later

[Horsetan]

More than currently in The White House, then.

There's an awful lot more intelligence - mostly Russian or Chinese - outside the White House than currently inside it. However, it does demonstrate the enduring appeal of the US - the idea that you can reach the top, unhindered by race, creed, colour....or, indeed, ability.

Edited March 11, 2017 by Horsetan

[phil_sutters]

Hi tech safety measures at Newhaven Town level crossing during a 2-day possession in the Lewes area (I understand).

As I can see it in the main photo, I am amazed how frequently the road surface at this crossing has to be renewed. I don't know whether it is Network Rail or East Sussex CC who are responsible, or if it is one one side of the join in the surface and the other on the other, but there seem to be a couple of possessions a year, if not more, to redo it. It is where the A26 and A259 meet at the entrance to Newhaven port, where there is a steady flow of HGVs on and off the ferries, but one would think they could come up with a more resilient surface

Edited March 11, 2017 by phil_sutters

[PeterBB]

Brilliant match and result for England and I watched it on tv without causing England bad luck.

 

It was the same for me - no great blood pressure increase this time and at last a display by England.  It seems that the luck of the Irish ran out against Wales by an unfortunate error by '12' or today just may have been different.  On a personal hope I would rather not have a raised blood pressure next week either.

 

Picking up another thread - I hate the idea of 'contactless cards' and thankfully, although I wish it were cheaper,  even a minimum amount of fuel goes way over the limit allowed on them.

 

Peter

[The Stationmaster]

 Evening all,

 

well thus far it has been an interesting and enjoyable day - nice trip down to basingstoke, top notch show to see when i got there plus some time playing with one of the layouts, and a  bit of money spent on another toy trains (well engine if you're pedantic about such things.  Plus of course various of this parish duly met and chatted with plus chats with various others.

 

then came the trip home.  Well despite much juddering of the clutch the aged Dennis Loline got me to Basingstoke station in good time and the northbound Voyager which I caught with bags of time (i.e 10 minutes) to spare was amazingly empty in the comfy class (with me being the sole occupant) sped rapidly northwards until it got to Reading Westbury Line Junction (or whatever they now call it) where it sat, and sat, and sat - for nearly 10 minutes waiting platform - quite nostalgic and a reminder of the Reading we all used to know and love.  But next train eastwards duly caught without problem and i duly changed to the branch.

 

At this point there began an experience which could perhaps be rightly described as 'railroaded by cockwombles (or definitely in one case a henwomble).  An HST duly arrived and stopped in the Up Relief platform - for whatever reason - and with barely a couple of minutes to go until our booked departure of our henwomble Driver announced that 'a Driver needs assistance and there will be a slight delay'.  Was it a case of heart failure at the controls or some other medical emergency, could our Driver with no knowledge of GHSTs be called to sort out a problem baffling a trained Driver of HSTs, just what did 'assistance' mean I (and many other passengers) began to wonder.   After a considerable passage of time, around 10 minutes. the HST moved forwards - and stopped again; was our driver essential to such a manoeuvre I wondered, could the highly trained HST Driver actually not move their own train a distance of c.160 feet?  A quick look from the doorway revealed our Driver wandering about on the platform - now anyone could have done that, it's not difficult after all.

 

Then our Driver returned to her cab and 17 (seventeen!!) minutes late we departed down our cheery branchline and, slightly surprisingly but these things do happen, the HST began to move - in the opposite direction and thus going back the way it had come.  My conclusion was that for some reason the HST had been sent to Twyford to reverse (the generous reasoning) or - much less generously - it was actually enroute to Paddington and someone changed the plan when they tumbled to the fact that it wouldn't make its back working and decided to reverse it at Twyford.  Well it's pretty obvious it would never have made its booked 16.21 from Paddington so maybe the plan really was to reverse at Twyford for some reason (exactly why is beyond my understanding as there are perfectly good bi-directional platforms at Reading.  But I suspect the change of mind came too late for reversing at Reading and it was a change of mind due to 'unexplained late running' according to RT Trains.  But why the merry heck it should require 23 (yes, twenty bloomin' three) minutes to reverse direction - which is what Real Time Trains says and accords with what I saw  - that is starting to go some way beyond belief.

 

However in reality if one applies the standard principle of the effect of cockwombling it all becomes remarkably easy to understand - the silly cockwomble of an HST Driver stopped in the wrong place on arrival at Twyford so the rear of the train was foul of the 'track circuit' which duly held at danger the signal it needed to have cleared in order to go back whence it had come; the Driver got it wrong by 160 feet.  Right - simple explanation, we don't need Sherlock to solve that one.  But then comes the puzzle - why did the HST cockwomble Driver need 'assistance' from our henwomble and why on earth did it take the better part of 20 minutes to do whatever that 'assistance' was required for (move a train c.160 feet)?  That bit I am still trying to rationalise and my conclusion is simple - just apply the effect of cockwombling and a 10 minute job turns into a 23 minute job.   I really don't know whether to laugh or cry over a such a demonstration of utter ineptitude but I'd love to know why it took the pair of them that long to do something that simple?

[Tony_S]

I don't have any contactless information on my phone so can't comment. My bank does support such things now as does my phone but I haven't made use of such things.

[PhilJ W]

I don't have any contactless information on my phone so can't comment. My bank does support such things now as does my phone but I haven't made use of such things.

My bank presented me with a contactless debit card last year. I placed it in my wallet and a few weeks later I went to use my bus pass and it confused the machine as it read both cards, I now keep my bus pass in a separate wallet.

[Ian Abel]

<sigh> No modeling so far, and with it fast approaching 4PM here, I think there'll be little or none attempted.

 

The main floor toilet decided it needed a new seal, noticed this AM around breakfast time. This is especially problematic and warranting of IMMEDIATE ATTENTION as the waste pipe enters the basement below right above a main section of my layout and track. The sight of dripping water (fresh I hasten to add) directly onto the 4-track mainline was enough to send me into panic mode!

 

Problem appears to be fixed now, but had the devil of a time - time being the major resource used up - getting the mounting bolts undone. Can't say I recall when I last had to service this toilet seal, but judging by the state of the bolts, and the difficulty un-seizing them, it was ages ago.

Also, that sort of time spent on my knees and struggling at floor level does a real number on ones back in addition to the knees, so I'm feeling disinclined to do much more the have a rest, a brief look at what might be simply accomplished modeling-wise, and then take a well deserved evening of eating dinner and have a glass of wine or three

 

Weather here essentially cold all day, -14 at the start only -7 now, but partly sunny if that's much solace.

 

Phew, maybe it's wine-o'clock already!!

[Barry O]

Mike

Could it be case of "noidea" from the HST driver who didn't have a clue what they had done wrong?

 

Could it be the instructors can no longer cover anything more than the basics?

 

I have no answers but it sounds very frustrating.

 

Glad you enjoyed the show.. It was a long day for us at the East Anglian show.

 

Sleep well all

Baz

Edited March 11, 2017 by Barry O

[lightengine]

Mike

Could it be case of "noidea" from the HST driver who didn't have a clue what they had done wrong?

Could it be the instructors can no longer cover anything more than the basics?

I have no answers but it sounds very frustrating.

Glad you enjoyed the show.. It was a long day for us at the East Anglian show.

Sleep well all

Baz

Could it be that the drivers are partners and he pulled up 160 feet short so that said partner could have a quick snog?

[Smiffy2]

I've just discovered that here in France the limit for contactless cards is €20. Not a lot...

[newbryford]

Could it be that the drivers are partners and he pulled up 160 feet short so that said partner could have a quick snog?

 

Was there any coupling involved?

 

Cheers,

Mick

[emt_911]

Night all

[lightengine]

Was there any coupling involved?

 

Cheers,

Mick

No

and nor was there any hump shunting involved

Edited March 11, 2017 by lightengine

[BSW01]

Good evening everyone

 

Tonight's meal was, according to Sheila a triumph, although I don't remember making one of those.

 

The rest of the evening was spent with a bottle of red and a DVD, we now how to enjoy ourselves here.

 

It started to rain here around 6:00 o'clock and it has only just stopped. I was hoping to spend the day in the garden tomorrow, doing a bit of light pruning and some general tidying up. But if it carries on like this I might have to find something else to do, mmmmm, wonder what that might be?

 

Goodnight all.

[trisonic]

Anyone planning on coming to New York, Philly or Boston avoid Tuesday 14th March. New York is under a Blizzard watch (+45mph winds, heavy snow, zero visibility).

Even Washington will get some snow tomorrow and Monday. Boston later on Tuesday.

 

In bound flights should be back to normal by Wednesday afternoon.

 

But, hey, we are “Springing” forward our clocks tonight!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Best, Pete.

Edited March 12, 2017 by trisonic

[trisonic]

 Evening all,

e 23 (yes, twenty bloomin' three) minutes to reverse direction - which is what Real Time Trains says and accords with what I saw  - that is starting to go some way beyond belief.

 

However in reality if one applies the standard principle of the effect of cockwombling it all becomes remarkably easy to understand - the silly cockwomble of an HST Driver stopped in the wrong place on arrival at Twyford so the rear of the train was foul of the 'track circuit' which duly held at danger the signal it needed to have cleared in order to go back whence it had come; the Driver got it wrong by 160 feet.  Right - simple explanation, we don't need Sherlock to solve that one.  But then comes the puzzle - why did the HST cockwomble Driver need 'assistance' from our henwomble and why on earth did it take the better part of 20 minutes to do whatever that 'assistance' was required for (move a train c.160 feet)?  That bit I am still trying to rationalise and my conclusion is simple - just apply the effect of cockwombling and a 10 minute job turns into a 23 minute job.   I really don't know whether to laugh or cry over a such a demonstration of utter ineptitude but I'd love to know why it took the pair of them that long to do something that simple?

 

“Wombles are organized, work as a team,

Wombles are tidy and Wombles are clean,

Underground, Overground, wombling free..........”

 

Thanks to Mike Batt.

 

Best, Pete.

[laurenceb]

Night all

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all.

[bluebottle]

Anyone planning on coming to New York, Philly or Boston avoid Tuesday 14th March. New York is under a Blizzard watch (+45mph winds, heavy snow, zero visibility).

Even Washington will get some snow tomorrow and Monday. Boston later on Tuesday.

 

In bound fights should be back to normal by Wednesday afternoon.

 

But, hey, we are “Springing” forward our clocks tonight!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Best, Pete.

 

For want of an L, a battle will be fought - ?

[trisonic]

For want of an L, a battle will be fought - ?

 

Quite! It’s Goba Warming innit?

 

Best, Pete.

Edited March 12, 2017 by trisonic

[trisonic]

Just caught up with the Rugby results.

 

England 61 - 21 Scotland. Quite close, Scotland.......better luck next time.

 

Best, Pete.

[AndyID]

Quite! It’s Goba Warming innit?

 

Best, Pete.

Well it is quite warm here. The ice on our roof has almost melted.

[Ian Abel]

Anyone planning on coming to New York, Philly or Boston avoid Tuesday 14th March. New York is under a Blizzard watch (+45mph winds, heavy snow, zero visibility).

Even Washington will get some snow tomorrow and Monday. Boston later on Tuesday.

 

In bound flights should be back to normal by Wednesday afternoon.

 

But, hey, we are “Springing” forward our clocks tonight!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Best, Pete.

Indeed, I've been watching that as its my week back out in the dungeon next week. Fly in tomorrow evening and there until Thursday afternoon.

I'm thinking I might be working from the hotel Tuesday!

 

Nite all.

[emt_911]

Morning all. A dry start to the day but it is meant to be raining for most of it. Not that I care as I'll be stuck inside working for most of it.

 

A rare good nights sleep was had and I actually feel slightly refreshed. That feeling won't last long.

 

Time for another coffee.

 

Have a good day everyone