Early Risers.

[JohnDMJ]

I assume effectively they are turning an insulfrog into an electrofrog.

 

Not quite; they're removing the effect of dirt between the blade and the stock rail.

[Tony_S]

Hello all. Thanks to the wonders of interweb, T-mobile and a credit card I've managed to catch up on the ER news. I'm glad to read that Phil and Stewart are out if not quite mobile yet.

I'm in Bacharach (near Rhine). Hotel is right next to the town walls and lots of trains keep going by. The weather is warm but with very heavy showers. We spent the weekend in Amsterdam which we will certainly return to. Later this week we go to Michelstadt which is a bit further into Germany and then next week head for the Baltic. Matthew seems to be enjoying himself and even enjoyed (much to his surprise!) seeing the Rembrandts in the museum in Amsterdam.

 

 

Tony

[NGT6 1315]

Sounds like you are in very much the right spot for a railfan, Tony! Been much the same over Easter when we stayed at Kaub on the other bank of the Rhine. I guess Michelstadt will be quite a difference from the busy Rhine mainline, though! You might have a go at a trip to Darmstadt or indeed Frankfurt, if you like, as there are regionals to either city from Michelstadt.

[NGT6 1315]

Morning guys...

 

Overcast and wet outside - I just hope we'll be having better weather on Saturday as a barbecue with some friends will be up that day! The forecast says it will be sunny, but I only believe this when I see it .

 

Have a nice day all!

[Robert]

Morning All,

 

It's rather damp this morning - but it isn't raining at the moment.

 

I seem to have too much to do, and too little time in which to do it at the moment.

 

Have a good day everyone...

[BoD]

Has anyone noticed that we've reached our tricentennial.

 

Morning all

[45156]

Morning all happy page 300.

 

Wet and horrible again today - dog came in smelling like an old carpet, and bounded up to greet me - wet dog and a bad night's sleep meant a grumpy 45156 first thing today.

 

Got Mrs 45156's neice with us, which at least means that I am not home alone for as much of the day as I have been.

 

Nice to see you back on, Jam - get on with the layout now.

 

Any more news on Phil H yet?

[DonBradley]

Good morning. Sorry you had a bad night. Is it the pain causing it?

Isn't Mrs 45156's neice your neice too? Lol

Glad you have company.

Slightly cloudy here but no rain threatened and quite pleasant.

Have a good day.

[Robert]

a bad night's sleep meant a grumpy 45156 first thing today.

 

Funny you should say that - perhaps it was something in the air last night because I didn't sleep well either. Unusually for me, I woke up at around 02:30 and then spent the next hour or so dozing and then waking up again. I finally got back off to sleep again properly around 04:00. Bemoaning the fact to a colleague he said exactly the same - it must have been a bad night for sleeping

[eldavo]

Morning All, Plenty of oktas in evidence. Dogs walked, neighbours chickens sorted, coffee brewed now waiting for scaffolders to return to remove that which they erected on Monday. Head somewhat heavy due to intake of beer yesterday evening. Ought to do some work at some point today I guess. Have a good one all.

 

Cheers

Dave

[Diesel Dayz]

Morning. Happy 300th. Wet & miserable here. Contemplating letting soggy moggy back in the house. It stays out all night and sleeps in an empty rabbit hutch!

[NGT6 1315]

I woke up at around 02:30 and then spent the next hour or so dozing and then waking up again.

 

 

I also woke up around 2 am and needed a while to get back to sleep, but not until 4.00. Wonder if it may have anything to do with the weather we're having at this time, or the fact that the daylight hours are slowly drawing in already?

[gordon s]

Overcast but dry. Strange how these things happen. Had the best nights sleep I've had in ages, so perhaps your lack of sleep evened things out. So thanks to those insomniacs and apologies from me for nicking your sleep....

 

Hoping the new dawn is another day of less pain and increased mobility for Phil and Stewart. Sadly there are no short cuts to recovery, you've just got to take each day as it comes.

 

Eagerly awaiting the postman who should be bring a tailstock chuck which will allow me to drill out wheels concentrically and put a stop to wobbly RTR loco's. Funny how you start by building a layout and then the whole hobby opens up and the enjoyment just gets greater. If I'd known I would get so much pleasure from weathering and playing with loco chassis, I'd have built a far simpler layout to start with....

 

Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

[Guest Max Stafford]

More 300th greetings from 12A! I've had the best sleep overnight that I've had in ages. I think making sure I was in bed about midnight, plus a nice cup of Rooibos before I went made all the difference.

Comrade Stalin was nowhere to be seen...! I have another five back shifts to do, and that's as close to a regular routine as you get in my line of work! Still, I can use my bike every day too, so I get exercise and save on petrol!

 

Have a good day all, hope Phil and Stewarts' recovery efforts go exceedingly well today.

 

Dave.

[45156]

Thanks for your good wishes, Gordon and Dave - things seem a little less stiff each morning, and the simple exercises are getting easier and less painful than they were straight after surgery. Stairs are less of a problem now that I've worked out a technique as well, and provided there's somebody to assist (I need the zimmer at both top and botton, and need a stool sliding under my b*m at the top) I can get up and down in about three minutes.

 

Amazing how these little "victories" become quite imprtant to one!

 

Regards

Stewart

[skipepsi]

Morning all so gloomy I had to put the light on to see the keys. It is wet out there too,but a trip to the tip is called for.

[45156]

It is wet out there too,but a trip to the tip is called for.

That's how I feel about my layout as well, sometimes

[SouthernRegionSteam]

Indeed - a happy 300th!

Glad to see Stewart and Phil are on the mend.

Stewart, I remember when I had my bone graft (I was born with a cleft lip and palette) and being able to walk just a few steps again was like you've won the lottery! Certainly was a great feeling. All I remember from my stay in the hospital was the fizzy drink vending machine and the pain

Funnily enough, I came out of hospital mid-way through Christmas Day which made it that little bit more special - plus I had all my family and friends around me.

 

Wrote up a list last night of all the things I could do today - how many of them actually get finished (or started!) is anyone's guess:

 

.Cut excess off of battens

.Fit fascia

.Build pelmet (and work out where and how I am going to attach it)

.Build fiddle yard

.Temporarily lay trackwork

[DDolfelin]

Stewart: I think you've hit on a helpful course of action - achievable aims which can be measured.

All the best.

[PhilH]

Morning all, thanks for enquiries regarding my health. It's all settling down quite well at the moment, just aches as opposed to real pain now. I've had a couple of scary moments on my crutches as I'm discovering my sense of balance isn't all it should be. I've never really noticed it before but teetering round on sticks has brought my deficiencies into somewhat sharper focus.

 

It's quite stimulating mentally too, trying to work out how I'm going to do things when I go home - little things such as when you're on crutches you can't really carry anything, so I can't have a cuppa in front of the telly for instance. All being well I'm going home from my daughter's tomorrow, so am determined it's all going to work - it's got to!

 

Glad you're making progress as well Stewart, I do the leg and knee thing to get up stairs and down on my bum - of course it's easier for me as it's only my ankle, must be much more difficult for you.

[DonBradley]

Hi Phil, Glad it's going well. You've got me thinking now. How to carry a cup of tea? I had a glass with a chain attached which I could hang around my neck which was usable for cold drinks (liquor) as long as it wasn't full. Let us know when you find a solution.

[PhilH]

If I'd have put enough thought into it there would now be an O gauge branchline from the kitchen to the lounge in place......

[SouthernRegionSteam]

Or you could have borrowed my 15" ride on railway complete with Ruston!

[DDolfelin]

How about a Tea Trolly to nudge along, Phil?

I've seen this work and it doesn't have to carry tea.

[45156]

Great to hear from you, Phil, and pleased that you are in a bit less pain now. I too have the problem of how to get things moved about (drinks tend to get themselves a bit spilled when bounced about on crutches and carrying a full pint is out of the question LOL - what I do is to get the ingredients into the place that I want them - eg teabags, jar of coffee, milk, then fill a flask with hot water, and hey presto, drinks for hours. As the flask's got a lid, there's little risk of spiiling boiling water over yourself. Or as an engineman, don't you have an enamel brewcan that you could carry your drinks in - or is that in the Bothy on the MHR? The flask etc is how I'm managing here today. Knee and foot on the stairs is not too bad, I suppose - b*m and good foot is quite awkward, especially as my stairs have a half landing, 90 degree turn to the left, to a top landing. In hospital, they had no stairs which replicated that - they all turned the opposite way, so the training I had did not allow for what I have to contend with here. The only way is to put a stool on the top landing, get the bad leg as high as possible on the steps, then swing round, and get somebody to stick the stool under the b*m and then shove up with arms and good leg. But it's amazing how quickly I have adapted to things.

 

I'm having similar problems with balance on the crutches, and am thinking about getting a physio here to see if they are actually correctly adjusted, as I seem to swing about a lot on them!

 

Jam, sounds like you had quite an operation as a kid - but at that age, you're a lot more resilient than us oldies.