Early Risers.

[Tony_S]

Hi Guys,

 

As I understand it in the days of steam froooooozzzzeeennn points could generally be thawed by the use of blowing off steam ... something the modern things cannot do.

 

Peter

Also with regard to the reporter mentioned earlier broadcasting from sunny Colchester the snow in Essex last night was quite unusual that lots got dumped in some places and none a few miles away. The Channel 4 weather report mentioned this specifically. Greater Anglia have had to fit their trains with socks to enable them to proceed at more than 20mph. The socks are to stop the warning horns filling up with snow. Also probably not a steam age problem! Edited February 27, 2018 by Tony_S

[Tony_S]

I'm afraid I was put off Basildon twice.  

 

Once was the occasion we were required to undertake some fieldwork there, sampling random shoppers and asking a series of questions they were totally uninterested in answering, as a part of my degree.  The other was the time I was heading back to my then home in Walthamstow using the late-lamented 151 bus (Canvey - Wood Green) upon which the last three trips this particular evening all failed to run leaving me cold, tired, frustrated and somewhat hungry in a somewhat uninviting bus station and wondering if I had enough in my pocket for a train fare.

As a Human Geography student Matthew had to do lots of interviews. For him the low spot was Cromer. Also after many years of doing interviews he developed some unfortunate prejudices about sections of the population. The only people he found generally quite pleased to be interviewed were Mums with children in buggies. To prevent responses being overwhelmed by mothers I suppose they had to seek out a cross section of the public. He said older men tended to be cross.

I think genuine researchers have had their tasks made more difficult by the dreaded chuggers who certainly seem to frequent Basildon.

Tony

[Horsetan]

....the dreaded chuggers who certainly seem to frequent Basildon.

 

They get in everyone's way in Ealing as well. Then you've got the various panhandlers and mendicants.

[Tony_S]

They get in everyone's way in Ealing as well. Then you've got the various panhandlers and mendicants.

Not a common sight in Benfleet. There is a Big Issue seller but that is about all.

[TheQ]

As a Human Geography student Matthew had to do lots of interviews. For him the low spot was Cromer. Also after many years of doing interviews he developed some unfortunate prejudices about sections of the population. The only people he found generally quite pleased to be interviewed were Mums with children in buggies. To prevent responses being overwhelmed by mothers I suppose they had to seek out a cross section of the public. He said older men tended to be cross.

I think genuine researchers have had their tasks made more difficult by the dreaded chuggers who certainly seem to frequent Basildon.

Tony

Were the people of Cromer being crabby?

[New Haven Neil]

Met with our friends from....Kent!  Nice to see them, although a emotional meeting, first since Brian died.  They have been arranging a memorial bench, all done ( I had organised it with the relevant local authority for them), back in a few weeks for 'installation' celebration, plus a little surreptitious scattering of ashes ballast.

 

Left them in a snowstorm, 5 miles later the sun was displaying his well known hat.  Is snow a Kent thing?  They're an their way back to see if they can actually get home (Burham).

 

Seaweed-foot-app declares snow not finished here yet, although it looks like spring here currently. 

[coachmann]

Hi Guys,

 

As I understand it in the days of steam froooooozzzzeeennn points could generally be thawed by the use of blowing off steam ... something the modern things cannot do.

 

Peter

I wonder why there is an assumption we are always talking about steam. DMU's, EMU's, Diesels and electrics were around too in olden days....

[81C]

Dead man walking!

I don't cower from any women except the SWMBO.  

Edited February 27, 2018 by 81C

[laurenceb]

I don't cower from any women except the SWMBO.  

It's been nice knowing you Bob

[newbryford]

I wonder why there is an assumption we are always talking about steam. DMU's, EMU's, Diesels and electrics were around too in olden days....

 

They must be pre-modern image ones then.............

 

 

Cheers,

Mick

[Ian Abel]

Chewsday.

 

Little to report from yesterday, me working, Mrs busy cancelling accounts/making arrangements/doing paperwork for MiL.

 

Warming up here at +2 and partly cloudy, high of 4 expected.

 

Carry on...

[Gwiwer]

the low spot was Cromer.

 

 

I can certainly concur with that.  Cromer is a low spot in life.  Even though I am related to the Bloggs and Henry Blogg, he of Cromer lifeboat fame, specifically.

 

And then this happened.  Nothing so serious as to interrupt transport but for the past few hours there have been frequent heavy snow showers.  SWMBO has wisely come home early.

 

 

 

 

[Horsetan]

Just had a call to tell me that another of my old clients has died, and would I mind helping his wife with the Probate.....? Shouldn't be a problem, as I wrote his Will, and he only wanted his Estate to go one way.

[Barry O]

Morning from a snow free land of the Auck.

 

Reading some of the news shows how much network fail is out of touch with reality. Engineers fixing frozen points. Engineers used to be more expensive to employ than a technician..obviously not in network fail or boring gas!

 

Here notices say "if you can't use Common Sense don't expect any recompense"...no ambulance chasers here.

 

Stay safe everyone. Me, I have to fight my way out of the land of A UK on the motorway...oooh err (patrolled by ex Essex police motorway police)

Baz

[grandadbob]

Evening all,

I'm thinking of getting a new car and the contenders so far are a Ford Kuga, Dacia Duster and Seat Arona. Has anybody any experience of any of these and could give any pointers, good or bad?

I do know the Dacia as my Sil has a  Duster and my daughter the smaller Sandero Stepway and both speak very highly of them.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Edited February 27, 2018 by grandadbob

[Coombe Barton]

Evening all,

I'm thinking of getting a new car and the contenders so far are a Ford Kuga, Dacia Duster and Seat Arona. Has anybody any experience of any of these and could give any pointers, good or bad?

I do know the Dacia as my Sil has a  Duster and my daughter the smaller Sandero Stepway and both speak very highly of them.

Any help would be much appreciated.

 

Which has the greater amount of padding about head height?

 

Knowing your history ...

[grandadbob]

That didn't take long. I was waiting for somebody to come up with some sort of remark like that John. 

[Simon G]

No snow here so far, apart from a slight flurry mid afternoon. By and large it was a nice sunny day and as the sun was starting to set, Fraggle Rock became very clear on the horizon. My picture doesn’t do the view justice!

 

[The Stationmaster]

Hi Guys,

 

As I understand it in the days of steam froooooozzzzeeennn points could generally be thawed by the use of blowing off steam ... something the modern things cannot do.

 

Peter

 

Steam lances were fiendish things but you could clear snow with them quickly although you then paid the price.  They would clear ice but it took a lot of work - and, again, you paid the price.  The price - simples, if you use 'steam' (actually very hot water vapour) to clear/melt snow or is what you get is water, and water freezes.  On New Year's night in 1979 I spent several hours trying to clear a double slip with a steam lance and as soon as I'd done each end the other end had re-frozen, fortunately the loco had a fixed lance on one end and the usual flexible lance on the other so I finally positioned it so I was clearing both sets of switches at the same time and then as quickly as I could got a couple of cwt of salt down on the slide chairs.  only problem is that salt rusts slide chairs at an unbelievable rate so you need to get oil down on the salt.  So the old ways work but they took time and you needed to know what you were at, nowadays steam lances would probably be declared illegal unless you're wearing whole body protection and Goggles.  The best way of doing it on unheated switches is to use a scraper (so no water everywhere - but it takes time although as I've said previously most switches are nowadays equipped with electric heaters and they'll stop freezing but won't do too well on deeper snow and i doubt if thee are many folk about who really understand how to deal with points.

 

We've had several snow showers this afternoon and now have a thin covering of the stuff but it's very slippery on untreated surfaces, and laddo is enroute home from Bristol and apparently is not exactly a simple trip up the M4.  The management incidentally decided to relocate faux Friday to today so we are stocked for a siege and won't need further supplies until, hmm, Friday or Saturday, oops.

Edited February 27, 2018 by The Stationmaster

[jamie92208]

Hi Guys,

 

As I understand it in the days of steam froooooozzzzeeennn points could generally be thawed by the use of blowing off steam ... something the modern things cannot do.

 

Peter

Some years ago I got a cab ride in a 59/2 and we got halted outside Maltby Colliery while a 'technician' tried to clear a set of points with a piece of 2 by 1 and a can of some sort of anti freeze,   He eventually got the points to detect.   The most impressive bit of the ride was that we got turned out main line at the south end of Decoy Yard as the ECML was not working well and we then accelerated all the way and were doing about 60 as we roared through Donny Station on the fast line with a 2000 ton train.

 

Also with regard to the reporter mentioned earlier broadcasting from sunny Colchester the snow in Essex last night was quite unusual that lots got dumped in some places and none a few miles away. The Channel 4 weather report mentioned this specifically. Greater Anglia have had to fit their trains with socks to enable them to proceed at more than 20mph. The socks are to stop the warning horns filling up with snow. Also probably not a steam age problem!

Class 158's on the S & C had that problem a couple of weeks ago and trains were an hour late.  They've obviously found some socks as trains are running without any problem over Ais Gill.

 

Jamie

[AndyB]

Hi Guys,

 

As I understand it in the days of steam froooooozzzzeeennn points could generally be thawed by the use of blowing off steam ... something the modern things cannot do.

 

Peter

 

Makes me wonder if there's any waste heat available from the motor or brakes.Then I start to think about arrays of impinging hot jets that are used as part of the paper making process.  

Then I start to think about resistance to trying anything new in this country. 

[PhilJ W]

Evening all from Estuary-Land. Had a bit of heavy snow at lunchtime but it was predicted by Arfur Itis exactly six hours previously. As soon as it finished I popped down to Tesco's to get the newspapers and a loaf of bread. As I entered the store I was 'caught short' and popped into the gents where I soon realised that my hands were colder than I thought. Note to self, use hand driers to warm hands first.

 

If I could see whales the Thames would be severely in flood.

 

Basildon, on the other hand ....... would anyone ever really want to see it????? 

I see it every day, as soon as I draw the curtains, 'cos I live there.

[tetsudofan]

Met with our friends from....Kent!  Nice to see them, although a emotional meeting, first since Brian died.  They have been arranging a memorial bench, all done ( I had organised it with the relevant local authority for them), back in a few weeks for 'installation' celebration, plus a little surreptitious scattering of ashes ballast.

 

Left them in a snowstorm, 5 miles later the sun was displaying his well known hat.  Is snow a Kent thing?  They're an their way back to see if they can actually get home (Burham).

 

Seaweed-foot-app declares snow not finished here yet, although it looks like spring here currently.

Must admit Neil that I had to do a search to find Burham, I'd never heard of the place. Seeing that its close to the Medway towns which seems to have been worst affected area in Kent today hope they get home safe and sound.

 

Down in Shepway we seemed to have avoided the worst of the bad weather - had a light covering of dry powdery snow this morning most of which had disappeared by mid-afternoon but just looking out of the window it seems to be returning.

 

Keith

 

PS: everybody know where Shepway is? If you don't, don't worry. The leader of Shepway District Council thinks that nobody north of here has heard of Shepway so he's getting it changed to Folkestone and Hythe District Council.......

 

I quite like Shepway as it has historical links and does not favour any one part of the area. Understand that the residents of the Romney Marsh are not happy especially as the council currently brands itself as:

 

Shepway District Council

serving Folkestone, Hythe and the Romney Marsh

 

(soon to renamed Folkestone & Hythe District Council

[New Haven Neil]

No snow here so far, apart from a slight flurry mid afternoon. By and large it was a nice sunny day and as the sun was starting to set, Fraggle Rock became very clear on the horizon. My picture doesn’t do the view justice!

 

3DD9325A-1D0B-4E5F-B82B-9160F104AD66.jpeg

 

Thanks Simon.  That is actually the best photo of Fraggle Rock from your side I have seen. I'm on the right.....

[New Haven Neil]

Must admit Neil that I had to do a search to find Burham, I'd never heard of the place. Seeing that its close to the Medway towns which seems to have been worst affected area in Kent today hope they get home safe and sound.

 

Down in Shepway we seemed to have avoided the worst of the bad weather - had a light covering of dry powdery snow this morning most of which had disappeared by mid-afternoon but just looking out of the window it seems to be returning.

 

Keith

 

PS: everybody know where Shepway is? If you don't, don't worry. The leader of Shepway District Council thinks that nobody north of here has heard of Shepway so he's getting it changed to Folkestone and Hythe District Council.......

 

I quite like Shepway as it has historical links and does not favour any one part of the area. Understand that the residents of the Romney Marsh are not happy especially as the council currently brands itself as:

 

Shepway District Council

serving Folkestone, Hythe and the Romney Marsh

 

(soon to renamed Folkestone & Hythe District Council

 

 

They usually just say Rochester!