Early Risers.

[Rugd1022]

A'noon all,

 

Quite an eventful day at work this morning, it's all go on the big 1 : 1 scale railway..... I booked on at 02.37 to relieve my mate on 6Y24 at Tile Hill in the pouring rain, I got soaked walking from the van to the loco and he got the same walking from the loco back to the van, a distance of less than a hundred yards! The job itself went ok, we were dropping rail in the four foot which probably wasn't much fun in this weather for the lads on the ground, but the fun started when leaving the possession on the Up Kenilworth line just round the corner from Coventry station, I was booked to run round but someone had overlooked the fact that running round in Kenilworth loop is not actually a proper signalled move, so once I'd detached my loco in the loop and run round to the other end the Bobby had to talk me back past the signal (which he couldn't pull off for the move) onto the train, a very common occurrence back in the day but frowned upon these days by some of the high ups and some Bobbies won't do it. Anyway once I was back on to the wagons I coupled up and waited for the shunter to arrive from Rugby to do the brake test, only he'd been told mistakenly that I was running round in Coventry station and went there instead, wondering where the hell I was. Eventually he found his way round to an access point at Kenilworth but at the wrong end of the loop, it's quite a long walk so he had to get back in his van and find his way round again. With the brake test done I gave on and was right away to Bescot, or so I thought...… I got as far as Perry Barr to be told that the line was flooded further on at Hamstead station and I'd have to sit tight for a while until something could be sorted. About fifteen minutes later the Bobby interrupted my daydreaming and gentle biscuit consumtion to ask if I signed via Soho and Wolverhampton to Oxley, with the intention of sending me there to run round and regain the route into the north end of Bescot via the Wolves to Portobello line, ''afraid not mate, not the bit from Wolves to Oxley anyway'' was my reply, so I put my feet up and made (another) brew. ''Oh.... right... I'll call you back drive...''. Another ten or fifteen minutes went by and he came back on the GSM-R asking if I signed round via Soho, New St, Landor Street and the Sutton Park line to get into Bescot, ''yes no problem'' says I, he was about to pull off when I heard one of his colleagues in the background say ''can't go that way mate Landor St's blocked...". Oh dear I thought, oh dear oh dear oh dear! Another ten minutes pass by and he comes back to say Landor St is now clear and he'll have me round the houses doing a great big loop the loop afterall, so off I go, wondering if I'll get home before Easter. All went ticketyboo until I got to a red signal at Shooters Hill about half way up the bank to Aldridge, ''track circuit failure' drive, it keeps dropping out, you'll have to pass this one at danger'' came the voice from the railway ether. Duly passed with authority, I carried on until I came to a stand at the signal protecting Walsall station, once more the oracle spoke and informed me that part of the station was flooded and he'd have to instruct me to pass the signal at danger, proceed at caution along the slow and examine the line which I duly did, noting that the fast lines round the back platform were partially submerged at one end, I quickly informed him of the state of the P/Way and he routed me into the north end of Bescot. Meeting the shunter at the stop board I was greeted with a fine Black Country twang, ''nowbody knows what's happ'nin' with yer loco once you've dumped yer train in 'ere mate''. Cosmic, another round of phone calls ensued, only to reveal that no path had been booked for my light engine move to Crewe. By this point I'm well over an hour late, on a job that's nigh on eleven hours long as it is. ''Drop down to the dummy droive and we'll see what we can do like...''. What seemed like an eternity passes, the dummy eventually comes off and I tootle along the Up & Down Goods heading north for Cheshire in a filthy horrible downpour. I got as far as Bushbury and had to wait there for an up passenger to pass bound for Wolves, the clock is ticking all the while and I'm down to my last few Rich Tea Suggestives, ''I'll never catch the train back to Rugby at this rate'' I thought. With the Wolves bound Voyager out of the way I set sail for Crewe with no hassle, until I get to Basford Hall Junction where instead of routing me into the yard as expected so I could make a dash for the station, the Bobby asked me to inspect the Down Independent lines for signs of flooding as another track circuit failure blighted my progress. I passed the signal at danger and crept gently all the way up to the north end to find the water above the sleepers but still below the railhead, looking at my watch I reported back sharpish, screwed the 66 down and shot off towards Crewe station as fast as my little legs could carry me. I made the stopper to Rugby just in time, but only because it was delayed by twelve minutes due to problems elsewhere....!

 

As I type this I'm almost nodding off into a cold beer..... zzzzzzzzzzzzz 

 

 

[Tony_S]

I don’t think I was aware of the first version of RMWeb. By the time I joined Early  risers did exist. My first post there was to help Ddolfelin work out how much his dehumidifiers were going to cost after the floods. My account like many had to be reset after the 2009 (I think) upgrade. 
Tony

[Gwiwer]

Afternoon all.  

 

Dennis had a sting in his tail here.  After calming right down by bed-time he waited until I was soundly asleep before slamming large amounts of rain into the windows whilst blowing an absolute hoolie for a couple of hours.  He then went on his way and left a large amount of rain in his wake.  This has only just ceased to fall.  A good deal more remains on the ground and I haven't had the urge to check the river level but it would be at or near to minor flood, surely.  

 

So a rather quiet day was had indoors pottering and muttering around something or another the detail of which is best left unsaid in here.  I managed a trip to the recycling skips on the corner of the road more out of necessity than desire as the backlog indoors was becoming an overflow.  And shortly I shall be sacrificing some sheep cutlets with roasted veg-eatables to accompany the Aussie Merlot I have to hand.  

 

Tomorrow being Moan-day I am required back at the House of Fun after a week of Annual Leave.  The break has been appreciated as it always is.  I managed two days away between storms and before the railway close-down in Cornwall for the half-term holiday scheduled upgrade works.  

 

Intermittently I have been watching the progress of Dennis the Menace and the  problems he has left behind.  I sincerely hope none here have been seriously troubled by wind, flood or other atmospheric disturbance.  

 

Now - where's that mint sauce?  

[New Haven Neil]

Evening.

 

Dennis left us little rain really, nothing special, but after a windy day it is now back to an absolute hoolie.  We had a nice lunch out at the MSPCA tearooms with Jayne, then a bit of shopping at Tynwald Mills for the gurls.  I trailed along dutifully.  They don't sell trains.

 

Then a bit of wood splitting, and some setting up of Mrs NHN's new bike to her liking, lever heights and stuff like that, and fitting the 'dash' cam.  Handlebar cam really!  The other rather essential item I had to fit was a number plate.   The correct one.....

 

This bike isn't quite new, it has under a thousand miles on the clock, so was registered.  We have personal numbers on our bikes (most folk here like to keep the older 'MAN' registrations) so the relevant MAN number was transferred to it, for which we had the registration document and tax disc (we still have those).  Debs hopped on the bike at the dealer and rode off home, as I followed in my car when I caught up I noticed it still had the old number plate.  Not impressed.  As we were yards from home by then it wasn't worth stopping.  'Words were had' with the dealer..... as she had technically ridden uninsured.  

[PhilJ W]

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. Dennis has been and gone, in fact I looked out about an hour or two ago and there wasn't much cloud about. Only problem is it was dusk so there was no sunshine except for a red sunset reflected  off the clouds to the east. I joined RMweb just before the 2009 reset though for the life of me I can't remember how I discovered it.

[Joseph_Pestell]

Just been watching the BBC local news. I was due to go to Wolverhampton today which I usually do via Tenbury Wells. They had serious flooding there so just as well that I turned back.

[TheQ]

I think its somewhat  baaahhd to  mention  food to someone with novovirus. 

 

Dhahran as a civilian airport was closed as of the end of 1999, you now have to venture up to Damman airport,  it's vastly bigger but no better. Driving up to the new airport at night was terrifying.. 

It was somewhat obvious the Saudi women changing to the black gear as the plane crossed to Saudi airspace.. Occasionally even the males would change from a suit into their white gear.. 

 

Not surprisingly I'm Not going to work tomorrow ...

 

[BoD]

Evening all.

I’ve  just got back from watching Newcastle Falcons play. Fortunately the rain that absolutely lashed down this morning and as we drove back gave the game a miss.  Unfortunately the wind didn’t.  I feel a bit sorry for the Cornish Pirate’s fans who made a 500ish mile  each way trip whilst their team it would appear hadn’t.  Actually the game showed the huge gulf between even a relegated Premiership team and the rest of the Championship.  GDB and one or two others will understand what I am whittering about.

Enjoy what is left of your weekend.  This meal and glass of red before me says I will.

 

[grandadbob]

Evenin' each,

Lazy day today. Been listening to lots of rain falling with the odd break. There was even a 5 minute glimmer of sunshine at one stage.

Rugby watched and The Bears upset The Saints who at one stage were  14-0 up . Ooops.

Fillet steak was deployed, demolished and declared delightful by The Boss. I thought so too.  It was accompanied by a couple of glasses of Aussie Malbec and another one or two are imminent.  

 

[Din]

6 hours ago, leopardml2341 said:

Nowt much happening here, lotsa water around, had planned to visit Sileby en route back to Willington this morning to see a show of things the mention of which is not allowed here.

 

Decided against that as radio bulletin advised many parts around there flooded, and I figured it would become worse as time went on. Home now, household chores to do......

 

Friends of mine in Hilton had to stay in all day as the Egginton Brook and River Dove burst its banks by the sounds of things. A lot of roads remained shut and the list from Derbyshire plod ran to some considerable length. (20 road closures within the Dove/Trent plain area).

 

Even Soggy Swad saw a couple of roads closed or at least diverted.

[Barry O]

Ey up!

 

Hope everyone is OK after the visit from Dennis. Nothing from our house sitter..yet..so fingers crossed.

 

If our cyclone visited I didnt hear it. But due to the cyclones etc the temperatures here are higher than usual..28°C forecast for today. There is still a wind and rain warning iin place.

 

Dan Dare...didn't seem as bad as white knuckle airlines (Britannia) which is now part of Tui.

 

Stay safe and dry!

Baz

Edited February 16, 2020 by Barry O
Spullchkcr

[tigerburnie]

Dundee spent vast amounts of money on flood defences and when the first big rain arrives...……………………………………..someone forgot to close the gates, so the road is now part of the Tay. Some one is in for a sore backside at work in the morning I think.

[leopardml2341]

^^^ on the one hand that's quite funny, but certainly not if households and businesses have been affected. Don't know how best to rate it.....

[pH]

Post retracted!

Edited February 16, 2020 by pH

[tigerburnie]

The riverside is where the station is, some garages, a big Tescos and some blocks of extremely expensive(for up here) apartments.

[pH]

Our preferred supermarket has got the Seville oranges in at last, so a major task this week will be the annual making of marmalade. My wife talked to the grocery department manager while picking them up. He said it's all ex-pat Brits that ask when they'll be getting the oranges in. Worryingly, he also said they've always got their Seville oranges from the same grower in California, who is now considering taking out those trees and planting some other crop - he thinks he can make more money with something else. 

[Tony_S]

We didn’t bother to go and collect our shopping today. Aditi thinks tomorrow will be nicer weather for a walk. The shopping is only stuff for the vacuum cleaner so not urgent. I don’t have any medical appointments until Friday which is nice. 
Tony

[Compound2632]

4 hours ago, Rugd1022 said:

I carried on until I came to a stand at the signal protecting Walsall station, once more the oracle spoke and informed me that part of the station was flooded and he'd have to instruct me to pass the signal at danger, proceed at caution along the slow and examine the line which I duly did, noting that the fast lines round the back platform were partially submerged at one end,

 

 

@Rugd1022, you'll appreciate this then:

 

 

The train is Midland (via the Sutton Park line) but the boat looks LNWR to me.

 

11 minutes ago, pH said:

Our preferred supermarket has got the Seville oranges in at last, so a major task this week will be the annual making of marmalade. My wife talked to the grocery department manager while picking them up. He said it's all ex-pat Brits that ask when they'll be getting the oranges in. Worryingly, he also said they've always got their Seville oranges from the same grower in California, who is now considering taking out those trees and planting some other crop - he thinks he can make more money with something else. 

 

It seems to have been an early season in Seville - by the time I looked at our local fruit stalls, they'd been and gone. I'm down to my penultimate jar of last year's marmalade - dated 22 Feb 2019!

[Tony_S]

3 minutes ago, Compound2632 said:

16 minutes ago, pH said:

 

 

It seems to have been an early season in Seville - by the time I looked at our local fruit stalls, they'd been and gone. I'm down to my penultimate jar of last year's marmalade - dated 22 Feb 2019!

There were boxes of organic Seville oranges in Waitrose a couple of weeks ago but Aditi decided we had enough marmalade from last year. Of course this week she changed her mind but there were none available. 

[Compound2632]

1 minute ago, Tony_S said:

There were boxes of organic Seville oranges in Waitrose a couple of weeks ago 

 

I have a strong reluctance to paying Waitrose prices when they can be had for a fraction of the price from our market fruit & veg merchants - if they're available! 

 

Looks like its golden shred for me...

[pH]

1 minute ago, Compound2632 said:

Looks like its golden shred for me...

 

How much would a jar of home-made be worth to you? .  In fact, the grocery manager asked my wife how many jars she gave away - he said everybody he talks to about making marmalade gives some away.

(And we do.)

[Compound2632]

@pH, if I had a jar for every one of your duplicate posts, I'd be well set up! (Something up with the software tonight?)

 

I did once give a couple of jars to my sister-in-law's family. We visited some months later. The jars had not been touched, my supplies were running low, so I took them back...

Edited February 16, 2020 by Compound2632

[Tony_S]

23 minutes ago, Compound2632 said:

 

I have a strong reluctance to paying Waitrose prices when they can be had for a fraction of the price from our market fruit & veg merchants - if they're available! 

 

Looks like its golden shred for me...

When we went to Seville they were growing on trees and just dropping in the road...

 

[jamie92208]

You could have the jars in our cupboard if I had my way, can't stand the stuff. I did however  enjoy helping my mother to make Marmalade many moons ago.

 

Jamie

[pH]

8 minutes ago, Compound2632 said:

@pH, if I had a jar for every one of your duplicate posts, I'd be well set up! (Something up with the software tonight?)

 

Aaaaargh!! - yes, there is!

8 minutes ago, Compound2632 said:

I did once give a couple of jars to my sister-in-law's family. We visited some months later. The jars had not been touched, my supplies were running low, so I took them back...

 

We took a couple of jars to our son and daughter-in-law. Next year, we took a couple of jars again. They confessed that they didn't like marmalade (we hadn't made marmalade while son was young, so we didn't know) and had given the previous year's to friends who do like it. Rather than take that year's jars back, we said just re-gift those, too. However, the grandsons have since had marmalade while visiting us and liked it, so the odd jar will still be given.