Early Risers.

[DDolfelin]

What is a telomere please?

 

(Sounds like a BT bird sanctuary).

[trisonic]

 

 

 

 You can't miss the offspring. 6'2" Canadian accent. 

 

 

 

Eh? Quotes Red Green...............

 

Best, Pete.

[Oldddudders]

Jock

 

Someone - I think I knew him slightly as a train planner - has posted a vid of the Hastings unit at Wivenhoe. Not much sound from the diesels, sadly.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVA99R9mPYo

[Rugd1022]

Morning all,

 

 

To round off my day the cheap filling station on the Faringdon Road was no longer cheap being only slightly below prices here - so I sped by.  However once beyond Faringdon 'sped' was replaced by crawl and map read as the railway bridge at Challow is closed and the diversion is not properly signed, in fact it is hardly signed at all so I was off among the lanes of Denchworth and Charney Bassett (the latter being a place name which has fascinated me since childhood  ).  Anyway I duly found the bridge over the railway at Circourt and got back on track - all together an amusing diversion in retrospect and it took me somewhere I had long wondered about so maybe not a bad thing after all.

 

I think I might be diverted to the garden today but the management is currently cat cuddling.

 

A name like Charney Bassett could only ever be in the vicinity of Brunel's wonderful Bristol mainline Mike, it just has that ring to it. And mention of Circourt where there were some early IBS signals is enough to dig out one of Adrian Vaughan's books. He lived in Childry and of course spent a fair chunk of his railway career at Challow.... all place names which just wouldn't sit right anywhere but in GWR territory!

 

It's very 'grey and grimsal' here this morning, a bit of a come down after yesterday's lovely sunshine at Stanford Hall Mini Show. Driving to and from the venue in our Mk2 Cooper S was a bit of a hoot, the bonus being a glimpse of the not yet overgrown Great Central track bed as it approaches Lutterworth from the south. Alas not a 9F hauled windcutter in sight, just lots of old Minis driving over the top of it!

 

With a photo plank-come-diorama currently in the 'gathering bits together' stage, I'm hoping to get stuck into a bit of creative activity this week - I honestly can't remember the last time I did any modelling. The railway mojo is most definitley awake but still needs prodding in the right direction now and again - I'm sure I'm not the only one on here who has this

 

Have a good day folks!

Edited September 15, 2014 by Rugd1022

[trisonic]

Jock

 

Someone - I think I knew him slightly as a train planner - has posted a vid of the Hastings unit at Wivenhoe. Not much sound from the diesels, sadly.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVA99R9mPYo

Crikey, Ian. I dunno about you but that video makes me feel queasy when I watch it! what the heck is going on there?

 

Best, Pete.

Edited September 15, 2014 by trisonic

[AndrewC]

trisonic, on 15 Sept 2014 - 11:34, said:

Eh? Quotes Red Green...............

 

Best, Pete.

No checked shirts, no duct tape.

[Shedman5]

Afternoon, late today decided to mow the lawns before the drizzle which was forecast came, just finished as it started so they got it right! More so that it did start at the suggested hour

What is a telomere please?

 

(Sounds like a BT bird sanctuary).

A telomere is a region of repetitive nucleotide sequences at each end of a chromatid, which protects the end of the chromosome from deterioration or from fusion ...

 

hmm now you know!

 

Enjoy the rest of the day

[The Stationmaster]

A name like Charney Bassett could only ever be in the vicinity of Brunel's wonderful Bristol mainline Mike, it just has that ring to it. And mention of Circourt where there were some early IBS signals is enough to dig out one of Adrian Vaughan's books. He lived in Childry and of course spent a fair chunk of his railway career at Challow.... all place names which just wouldn't sit right anywhere but in GWR territory!

 

 

AV sometimes doesn't realise just how close to me some of his life might have been - my one of my uncles was briefly a Porter and than a Shunter at Challow in pre AV days while in my early years and youth I walked the footpath across the fields to Childrey on more than few occasions while his book about the Faringdon branch includes a picture containing both my great grandfather and a great uncleI

 

In the meanwhile I'm still waiting payment for a photo of mine he used in the OPC book on GW architecture about 40 years agog  (and as I was his boss for some years I could say a lot more but won't).

[Tony_S]

  Tell me people over there actually buy US Brands of tea? Are they insane?

 

Best, Pete.

Sorry I'm not totally lucid today! There isn't a shelf of US tea. The shelves contain a range of US and Irish brands. The US bit is mainly cereals, confectionery and various fluorescent looking sodas.  The Irish products seem to be tea, biscuits and porridge. This is a very small range compared to the Polish and Caribbean product ranges. I think Indian, Italian, Chinese and increasingly Thai are now British main range products.

I like PG Tips. Aditi does too but she prefers tea to be made somewhat stronger than I do.  I think my mother's first job was at the Typhoo tea factory but it was bombed or caught fire or something equally dramatic.

Tony

[Robert]

I seem to remember that the Typhoo factory was destroyed in an air-raid.

 

Yup - here's an article: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/stories/40/a5257640.shtml

[Jock67B]

Thanks Ian, I couldn't hear much over the squeal from the guard rails! Hard to get my head round how historic that train is as I still think of diesels as recent, but some elements of that set are actually 57+ years old!

Kind regards,

Jock. 

[Tony_S]

I seem to remember that the Typhoo factory was destroyed in an air-raid.

 

Yup - here's an article: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/stories/40/a5257640.shtml

That must have been the one. Mum told me she spent the entire war worried she would get conscripted into the Land Army! She did work after Typhoo in some munitions factory but caught scarlet fever and after that ended working in a shop, where her main task was scraping mouse poo off butter and re-patting it.

[trisonic]

Nice!

 

Best, Pete.

[Ian Abel]

Morning...

Thanks to TIm for the Don update, sounds like he is soldiering on well. Jock, you seem to be doing well and continuing to improve too - good luck to both.

Andrew and others with the various ailments - take care of yourselves and we're all pulling for you.

 

Weekend update - I'll try and be brief but it's NOT my strong suit

 

Friday evening - with friends and watched "The Big Lubowski", with Jeff Bridges. Somewhat a cult movie, but Mrs and I had not seen it and were told by our friends it was a "must". Whilst I'd not say everyone will like it, I did really enjoy it and can recommend it if you like the Coen Brothers films (Fargo and No Country for Old Men, etc.,)...

 

Saturday didn't disappoint - the railroad show was a sad shadow of what I've seen portrayed for similar UK events.  It was so poorly attended, that within an hour of my arriving (an hour after it started) there were as many vendors at their stands as there were attendees <sigh> - three rather pathetic modular layouts designed simply to show roundy-round with little or no scenery to them - one N, one HO and one Lionel - most of the vendors were selling Lionel and O gauge old stock/trash

As totally predicted there was NOTHING in the way of any UK related items I could purchased, not evne a BOOK from the many miles of those available, not a single yard of PECO flex-track available - I was in the market for 4 to continue my track-laying - had to venture to the local RETAILER (who hadn't bothered to be at the show) to get the track! Photos - pathetic as they are - later.

To console ourselves - met a friend there - we visited the local model railroad museum, an extensive 'O' gauge layout depicting Minneapolis/St. Paul in the steam era (pictures later) then had lunch...

 

Wife took MiL (the 95 yr. old, still amazingly active) to a local "antiques roadshow" look-a-like, with a painting by some Hungarian artist - her origins - and discovered that it might actually be worth as much as 100,000.00 USD!!! Bloody hell!!!! Then again may only be worth 2,000.00 as apparently the artist signed some of his work with a stamp rather than actually signing by hand, and they will investigate more to determine if it's "trash or treasure"

 

Sunday - up early to retrieve daughter who had travelled to Boston to visit freinds for the weekend, but on checking the return flights discovered they were all very booked with several stand-bys, so shot for the 8:30AM flight. To quote her, "it was my best day EVER!!!".

Reason - the flight was full, but as a non-rev "crew" now, she got the jump-seat and flew half-way across the country (Boston to Minneapolis) in an A319 with the best seat in the house - I'm still having a hard time recovering from the envy!!!! Obviously she'll have many more of these, and will become quite routine, but the first one was stunning apparently!

Afternoon spent modelling, laying track into the goods yard area - YAY!! - as Mrs began prep for a colonoscopy (ewww!!!!). Son, daughter and I went OUT for dinner so as not to annoy "Mrs" further as she was at the "nothing but liquids" stage of her prep....

 

Right now , 9AM, 14 and raining. Sitting in the waiting area of the hospital, whilst Mrs gets to have "all the fun" in the surgery/procedures area    

[Ian Abel]

That must have been the one. Mum told me she spent the entire war worried she would get conscripted into the Land Army! She did work after Typhoo in some munitions factory but caught scarlet fever and after that ended working in a shop, where her main task was scraping mouse poo off butter and re-patting it.

Ewwwww....

[Smiffy2]

It's not the poo, you can see that and pick it off.

 

It's the wee you can't see...

 

As #1 is fond of recounting, mice don't have sphincters and just dribble and plop all the time.

 

 

Have a nice lunch!

[edcayton]

Spiders galore today, had to remove an enormous beast before using the bath this morning, at least 4 inches across, used the card tube from a toilet roll to pick it up. A small spider that resides in my car door mirror housing managed to capture a large bluebottle yesterday so she wont be going hungry. (Its a she, only females spin webs.)

 

Blimey, how big are your bog rolls?

 

Ed

[AndrewC]

Ian, shame about the train show. I've been to some pretty crappy ones in Canada and the US. I've also been to some brilliant ones. You pays yer money and takes yer chances. Good on your daughter. Stuff like that is always pretty special. Color me jealous.

 

No movie nostalgia for me but we did spend Sunday catching up on Twin Peaks. Haven't watched it in nearly 25 years. David Lynch must have had some real good class A's back then.

 

Speaking of mice we seem to have a pair again. One (or more) living near the greenhouse. Several small things knocked over and tell tale droppings on the potting bench. Humane trap deployed, but not likely to help much as its next to impossible to make the space mouseproof. Another one will probably just move in. The other sighting has been in our under the stairs cupboard (also known as the Harry Potter Suite) No droppings but something gnawed into the bird food fat ball packaging, and has shredded all the foil from the tops of my Belgian beers. Another trap but no takers as of yet. Once I'm feeling better I'll have to clear out the space again and look for any entry points from under the house. (there is a trap door but sealed with expanding foam) I have a feeling he's coming in through a gap where the bottom stair joins the wall right at the most difficult point to reach. At least there is no Hanta virus in the UK.

[AndyB]

Is there a "Too much information" icon anywhere? 

 

:poop:

[PhilJ W]

Thanks Ian, I couldn't hear much over the squeal from the guard rails! Hard to get my head round how historic that train is as I still think of diesels as recent, but some elements of that set are actually 57+ years old!

Kind regards,

Jock. 

Back in the early 50's my grandparents moved to St. Leonards from Gidea Park. So every summer my brother and myself were put on the train at Charing Cross. I do remember traveling behind a Schools class engine before the introduction of the Hastings units. The carriages were not the best, the corridor concertina connections were so tatty that you could see the track through the gaps!

[PhilJ W]

Blimey, how big are your bog rolls?

 

Ed

Normal size, the trick is to cover the top with your hand and the spider will climb in to hide, take the spider to where you want to release it and uncover the top and it will scuttle off.

EDIT For those who are a bit nervous of spiders you can use a beer mat instead of your hand.

Edited September 15, 2014 by PhilJ W

[PhilJ W]

Had an ultrasound scan of the waterworks this afternoon. The cause of the trouble a couple of weeks ago is a small kidney stone. Seeing my GP on Friday hopefully an operation will not be necessary. 

[DDolfelin]

Normal size, the trick is to cover the top with your hand and the spider will climb in to hide,

 

Then seek urgent medical attention from the Venom Department of the Tropical Diseases Department in Liverpool to treat the swollen hand before it falls off.

[trisonic]

I found this on You Tube this am:

 

 

 

Are there any places like this in the UK? A spectacular rail location that has it’s own park? Horseshoe Curve, Altoona, PA. Look at the scene from about 5:18.

 

Best, Pete.

[Tony_S]

 

 

 

Are there any places like this in the UK? A spectacular rail location that has it’s own park? Horseshoe Curve, Altoona, PA. Look at the scene from about 5:18.

 

Best, Pete.

Our local park is right next to the railway line! You can see a steady stream of Class 357 EMUs, very occasional class 66s and rarely some Class 37s. Not many trainspotters though!