Early Risers.

[beast66606]

Do they still carry out unusual practices such as this in east anglia?

 

Only when I get lucky.

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

...Now, I'm a boring homebody with .. a model railway to support...

Me too, and very happy to be so.

 

If there's a survivable travel related sinking feeling greater than sitting in the departure shack of some Transnowhereistanania, and seeing one's long delayed but nice and shiny Boeing or Airbus being crashed into by a local crazy driving one of the 'airport' vehicles, I want to know about it.

[Mike Bellamy]

Been lurking around here for a while and thought it was about time I made a contribution.

 

First time flying was a 5 minute trip in a Westland Wessex when in school cadet force around 1970 at Warcop in Cumbria. We all piled in and had a quick trip up a valley then he banked over onto the side to turn and go back down - guess who was next to the wide open door with just a lap strap !

 

Business flights include 7 visits to Israel - flights were normal but security was 'interesting'

 

Mention of executive travel above reminds me of a trip to Botswana via Johannesberg - boss was entitled to Business but he said to book 'Premium Economy' for all 5 of us but by the time we had got agreement from Finance all the seats had gone so he travelled in the back with the rest of us.

 

Most recent was to Malaysia via Dubai on a visit to the Royal Malaysia Police. We were told we would be met at the airport which usually means in the arrivals area by a bloke with a sign - not this time as we were all identified as we stepped off the plane and taken to one side by several uniformed officers so everyone else thought we were being arrested. Passports were collected and we were led through the airport with police and airport security clearing the way for us. Those who have been to KL will know there is a 'tram' system that takes you under the runway - they had a compartment reserved and held the tram until we were ready and then immediately set off. Didn't see passport control or our luggage but were taken to a couple of luxury people carriers in a no parking area surrounded by police bikes, a couple of cars and a van for the bags. Set off down the motorway at a rapid pace with the motorcyclists leading and clearing the way - as we arrived into KL they stopped the traffic at every junction and we passed many red lights. We got the same treatment for the 3 days we were there - made us all feel rather important and I was just there to take notes and write a report at the end . . . . . .

 

 

.

[beast66606]

Welcome aboard Mike !

 

Here we just talk rubbish - the quality modelling is in other parts of the forum (apparently), so if you want to talk about the weather outside your front door, your day, the definition of the word work, crosswords, quizzes, etc. etc. feel free,

[Barry O]

That makes two of us.

Sorry gents

 

The database you linked to looks like it uses a Microsoft proprietary bit of software called "Access". I didn't bother with this I used another Microsoft product "Excel" and it looks like this

 

Manufacturer Name Serial No Type Number Colour Loco No Info dcc DJH Byron 37 Britannia BS001 Green 70031    

 

 

the item in blue  is a link to a photograph of this loco.

 

Yes, AirUK are gone too.  They were bought by KLM, who formed KLM-UK.

 

Around the turn of the 21st Century (if my memory serves me correctly) KLM-UK formed Buzz which was a low cost airline flying some of the former AirUK and KLM-UK routes.

 

Buzz were then bought by Ryanair - who killed off most of the old routes and the non-Buzz remains of KLM-UK were absorbed by KLM Cityhopper.

 

It is rather a shame, because AirUK and later Buzz did an excellent service from Stansted to Frankfurt (and I mean the real Frankfurt Airport - not the one in the Eiffel ).  When I lived in Essex and was travelling regularly to Frankfurt, I was a very regular passenger.

I flew to Jersey from Kirmington on Air UK on honeymoon. The flights from Leeds to Schiphol were Air UK (F27), then KLM Cityhopper F27,F50 then F100 now I think they are Embraer jets. Happy days!

[NGT6 1315]

Gordon,

 

Cognisant of your closing remark, I hope you won't mind my expressing my sympathies regardless. Do try to remember the good times you had with your SiL.

 

Bit somber myself as on the eve of my birthday, I am finding myself reflecting rather deeply on my life thus far and what I can give myself credit for. Could have to do with the weather being rather depressing today, too.

[The Stationmaster]

That's without the postage stamp.

Absolutely right - if a card is 'pu' (i.e. postally used) it does tend to lower the value/price somewhat, rather like the difference between 'mint in box' and 'fair condition'.  However if you're collector of postmarks etc then something which is 'pu' obviously has a major advantage

[SouthernRegionSteam]

So sad to hear of the bad news around these parts, my heartfelt sympathies to all.

Dom, if it's any consolation I have spent the last 3 days much like you have. Facing uncertainty, and suddenly a lot of expenses looming over the horizon. I find myself wondering whether if I hadn't been bullied at uni whether my life would be different? The trouble is now I never want to go to uni again. I'm hoping that doing my first bit of model-making in 2 years will help straighten me out so I can focus on what to do with my future. I'm glad the internet exists, because it is impossible for me to express my feelings in person. I think that's my biggest obstacle that I need to overcome, and quitting work was the first step.

 

Ain't the weather been dismal lately - I think it's affected everyone after having such a mild October. Trouble is, I couldn't enjoy it because I was at work all the time!

I've had a few really fun online gaming sessions this week though which cheered me up, I think I need more though!

Edited October 30, 2014 by SouthernRegionSteam

[Tony_S]

Weather is very pleasant here. Blue sky, sunny, nearly 20C.

Tony

[NGT6 1315]

Celestial panorama out here:

 

 

Musical suggestion: Sheryl Crow - Weather Channel.

[Ian Abel]

Gordon, my thoughts are with you and your family - celebrate the good times

 

Air travel: Ack!!! Like many on here I could probably write a book (a BORING book, but a book nontheless!!)

  Notables;

  i) First ever airline flight - on a BOAC VC10 Heathrow via Kennedy to Los Angeles in '69. That was when flying was really enjoyable even in coach class.

  ii) Most impressive - Concorde across the pond - even though the seats were smaller than First Class 747, "Concorde Class" (was indicated on the ticket) couldn't be beat, I mean 3 1/2 hours acrcoss the pond is a DREAM! I did it three times and STILL moan about it not being an option, even though I probably wouldn't want to pay the fare, I WANT THE OPTION DAMMIT!

  iii) Most "regular" - commuted for 18 months, weekly, from La Guardia to Montreal. 6AM flight out on Monday, 5PM flight back on Thursday. Weirdest/funniest part of those flights was explaining to the Canadian (Quebecois) customs that I was having "business meetings for four days!!" as you weren't supposed to be going there and "working". In 18 months of stamping my passsport EVERY WEEK, they never figured it out

  iv) Most "booze" - whilst living in NYC I went to Bermuda several times for weekend getaways. BOAC used to fly their Heathrow-Kennedy 747 out and back to save the cost of parking it at JFK - At least that's how they explained ferrying a 747 600 miles out and back!!! Airfare was a pittance so a great way to get a cheap weekend vacation. Planes were always mostly empty - anyway, one return there was thunderstorms and serious weather over JFK, so pilot circled over the Atlantic and told the crew to provide free drinks for everyone - for nearly TWO HOURS -

  v) Most unwashed passengers - my FAVOURITE way to get back to the UK for CHEAP, LAKER SKYTRAIN. Was a great idea, and I used it on many occasions during its short-lived existance. BUT, you needed to be prepared to spend the flight in the equivalent of the Paris metro

  vi) Only equipment issue/failure - SKYTRAIN, lost one engine just after take-off (power, NOT dropped off the wing!!) departing JFK and had to return. Being a pilot and frequent flier, I felt the power change and knew IMMEDIATELY they'd shut down the engine, but everyone else had no clue - and were only mildly surprised as we returned ot JFK to see fire engines pacing us on landing. Quick replacement of offending part (well, TWO HOURS DELAY) and we were off again to Heathrow.

  vii) Most regretable - being convinced by a former girlfriend that a Charter to the UK was a sound idea! Don't even remember who it was (I think DAN-(D)AIR), but, outbound was late departing and service was crap. Return flight was delayed TWO DAYS (at least they did put us up in some average hotel near Gatwick), got us up at 4AM once they had the plane serviceable, and then had to stop in Gander to refuel due to headwinds, and we waited there in the frozen waste-lands for hours whilst they rustled up the fuel truck and some additional food swill to serve us - NEVER, EVER take a non-scheduled flight if you can help it and value your sanity!

 

There you are - a brief summation of the 279 flights/419,000 miles/996 hours I've clocked so far -> http://banner.flightdiary.net/IanAbel 

 

 

Evening spent tuning a couple more locos that were running poorly, and cursing the fact I STILL need to get some of the trackwork points wired with frog switches which I keep putting off <sigh>

 

Today started out at 3 and cloudy/overcast, may reach 8 if we're lucky, then supposed to be -4 overnight. Firsts serious frost of the season.

 

Choir practise tonight so may be a little chilly time we're done - carpe <whatever takes your fancy>

Edited October 30, 2014 by Ian Abel

[trisonic]

Just to update you - Ian arrived back safely in France on Tuesday evening but found that the Internet is not working so he is in Le Mans today, trying to sort it out. So that is why he hasn't been contributing to RMWeb recently.

 

I'm adjusting to a few weeks of solo living until he returns in December, ahead of my three week Christmas/New Year visit to him. I'm being kept busy with rehearsals as I've begun to help with Tadpoles, the youth theatre branch of Toads, who are performing a play about the First World War next month. Ian has kindly left me an amount of washing and ironing to keep me occupied too!

“It must be love, love, love..............” -  The washing and ironing, I mean....

 

 

Or you may prefer this (the original):

 

 

 

 

 

 

Best, Pete.

Edited October 30, 2014 by trisonic

[bluebottle]

Having a busy afternoon supervising the avian traffic to the heavily berried rowan trees which form a pleasant foreground to my panoramic view across the Upper Don valley. Nothing exotic just now; mainly blackbirds and the occasional robin, plus various tits come to check that the feeder's full of fat balls. And too many magpies. Those brutes generally clear off as soon as I open the window, but what an ex-WWII airman I used to know referred to as "the big black four-engined jobs" take a bit more shifting. Just had to go out and bellow GO AWAY!! at point-blank range at a carrion crow before it took its leave with a "Caw" of contempt ...

[Coombe Barton]

Having spent the whole day repairing what was borked by a fellow member of staff, I'm beginning to wonder if some of my colleagues shouldn't be let loose on the world without adult supervision.

 

This is the third year that this particular member of staff has screwed up! (And I've had to pull rabbits out of the hat to rescue)

[Coombe Barton]

 GO AWAY!! at point-blank range at a carrion crow before it took its leave with a "Caw" of contempt ...

 

And I was reminded of Spike Milligan's Puckoon - the text of which is in Chapter 2, the paragraph just after the song lyric (term used loosely)

 

http://www.english.txstate.edu/cohen_p/irish/Milligan.html

[45156]

Afternoon All

 

Well that was quick - I cannot believe how smoothly and efficiently I was operated on today.  Was admitted as a day patient at seven, in theatre by half past eight as the sugeon wanted me to be first because of my diabetes, and was back on the ward, drinking water before ten - apparently I came round ultra quick from the anaesthetic this time (well there has to be a first time as usually I am very slow to wake up and pay attention).  I was loooking for coffee and a sandwich very soon after that, so they said that I could go home as soon as there was somebody there to see to me - though the ward sister did emphasise that this was most unusual, and I was expected to be there until this evening, or possibly overnight - I know where I'd rather be, though. 

Thanks again to my fellow ERs for the supportive remarks. 

 

Now then, the discussion has turned to the worst air experiences that you've had, and mine was a near miss when I was flying back from Glasgow with British Midland, which was my domestic airline of choice.  They had been flying DC9s on the Glasgow/Edinburgh/Belfast runs and I was surprised one day to find I was flying on a 737-300 reg G-OMBA.  I flew quite a few times on that aircraft and its sisters, and on many occasions, travelled up front on the jump seat, as one of their First Officers was a gliding instructor of my acquaintance, and who was able to organise this with a number of skippers.  Fast forward to Friday 6th January 1989, and I was surprised to be coming back from Edinburgh with a skipper of my acquaintance, and on a new aircraft for me G-OBME which was a 737-400 with the uprated CFM56 engine.  The instrumentation was different from that on the earlier four, and even my untrained eye could this.  Flight was quite uneventful.  Students of aviation history will recognise the date and registration, as that aircraft crashed on the embankment of the M1 two days after I flew home on it.  I also knew an airframe fitter (who was another of my flying instructors) with another airline which had also had problems with the same engines, but luckily not with such disastrous results, and he was there when a blade failure engine was opened up, and his words were that "it was one uprate too far".

 

I also flew several times to various destinations on the Shorts 3-60, and on its even smaller brother, the 3-30, both of which were known by many of their afficionados victims as "vomit comets" and I had a very hairy landing into Humberside on one in a 35kt crosswind which did cause some of the passengers to have to make use of the bags provided.  The DH Twin Otter was another out of the same mould, and I flew on these as seldom as possible - though visiting the Scottish islands there was no other choice apart from the ferry.  I think I also mentioned the day that the Dan Air BAC 1-11 went tech, and we were flown home from Aberdeen to Gatwick on one of the last operational Comet 4s.

 

Regards to All

Stewart

Edited October 30, 2014 by 45156

[travelintrev]

Evening all,  Good to see that Stewart is back - that was quick!

 

Anyway another "interesting"  driving day --- see picture  -around 2 hours crawling slipping & sliding through that cr&p! 

 

I remember my first flight ( in a air plane - not a Bedford pick-up!)  The company I worked for took on a few ex Handley  (?) Page  fitters really thought they had come down in the world to be working on construction plant -- kept tell us how crude our equipment was - but  heavy duty  pilling equipment has to be!   So I had to go to a site in Jersey,  clothes in duffel bag, tools in a old gas mask bag -  camshaft ( about 2 foot long)wrapped in sacking - all as carry on! . Any way - looking out of the 'plane window (turbo-prop  but no idea what it was!) theres this huge ragged edged patch pop-riveted on to the wing......did the air plane fitters get some ribbing about that  when I got back!  .Second flight was more interesting -- either LHR or Jersey was down due  fog -  so air line (might have been BOAC- this was in late 60's) took all the passengers by coach to somewhere on the Southern - train to the  Weymouth pier  midnight ferry (but no berth) to Jersey.... so that was my first sea  voyage   too!   More tales another day! 

 

Be good

 

Trev

[PhilJ W]

Trev has bought us very nicely onto ferries, the first ferry trip I went on was late summer 1973 or 74. You would think that the weather in September would be quite calm but it most certainly was not. It was blowing such a gale that the swell was about 10/12 feet, in the inner harbour at Dover! We even had to do a 'drag start' to get the car onto the ferry whilst the ramp was level enough. Despite the conditions the captain decided to put to sea, and as the destination was Ostend and the trip was overnight we had booked the basic accommodation which was a 'dormitory' type accommodation, the ladies one was amidships but the mens was in the bow of the ship. The ship was heading directly into the wind and every 20 seconds or so a wave would hit, and it was like being inside a base drum. Due to that I was unable to sleep so I made my way up to the cafeteria, which was almost empty and I ordered a full English breakfast, I was tucking into my breakfast when a member of staff came over and asked me not to sit so close to the entrance as potential clients on seeing what I was eating were turning green and rushing out. As you can gather I must have been born with sea legs. On another cross channel trip, this time in winter, IIRC November the sea was like a millpond if a bit foggy, it was so calm that you could see the reflection of passing vessels in the water.

[Coombe Barton]

First ferry trip. Must have been summer 1954, I was three. Ferry from Barbican ( the stinky pier) to Turnchapel. I'd obviously been good as I had an ice cream.

 

However the motion of the boat proved too much, and I managed to throw up all down the back of Dad's new tweed sports jacket.

 

That's all I remember of the day.

[New Haven Neil]

Evening folks - a lot going on today!   Best wishes, sympathy, commiserations and supportive thoughts to those that need it.

 

First flight - Trident to LHR from NCL, 1976.  Wow did they go down the runway!  The repaired cracks around the wing roots were always worrying though.....  Scariest moment - going around after landing too far down the runway to stop at Muscat in a 747 (Japan to LHR) - must have been an ex-Zero pilot (JAL IIRC) the way he threw it around after taking off again!  Smelliest - TWA 727, must have been on it's way to the boneyard, (LHR - Baltimore), 1980.  Best, Air NZ LGW to Auckland, first commercial flight of a new 747-400.

 

Did a bit of DCC chipping at work today (not a bad work task!) and had the first Bachmann 101/MetCam DMU I have had out of the box - oh dear, I NEED one!  Funny how I hated then on the South Shields - Newcastle ride in the 70's, and now I am full of nostalgia for them!

[Simon G]

Ferry trips - worst one I had was Dieppe to Newhaven in the early 1970s as a teenager with family.  The ship's stabilisers weren't working and it pitched and rolled all the way across the channel.  I was OK for the first hour or so then couldn't get a seat except in a smoking lounge, and that set me off.  This was then compounded by my father arriving excitedly saying that he had managed to get us a trip down to the ship's engine room.  Well, the thought of a hot, oily, smelly engineroom on top of the cigarette fumes really did set me off, and it was then technicolour yawns all the way to Newhaven.  About 5-10 minutes after docking, I was right as rain again.

Edited October 30, 2014 by Simon G

[New Haven Neil]

 snip<.......a hot, oily, smelly engineroom .....

 

 

Heaven!  30 years on I still miss it!  Sad, I know....

[sixoh8sixoh]

First flight was in a helicopter (just a 10-minute flight) at Raby Castle near Bishop Auckland. Then a Cessna at Duxford. More fun though was flying De Havilland Chipmunks out of RAF Leeming as a cadet. Strangest trip was (again as a cadet) from Brize Norton to Akrotiri and back in a day, RAF Tri-Star.

[bluebottle]

I can't claim to have spent a great deal of time at sea, but I have crossed the Irish Sea, the Adriatic and the English Channel a few times, almost invariably in rough conditions.

Without a word of a lie, the only time I've been ill was in a small boat on Loch Lomond - as I've never been allowed to forget ...

[Smiffy2]

I've only ever had a problem with flying once - as an air cadet we were encouraged to get flight hours in, which meant a transport plane full of cadets doing circuits and bumps for two hours. Worst headache ever...

 

I did a school trip on the Dover-Calais ferry once when the seas were so bad that the fire extinguishers were going off spontaneously. It was so bad that Paul Snowshall spilled his pint, and that had never been seen before. Vomit everywhere. I'll always remember the poor deckhand on his knees mopping up the vom when a pinstripe suit came up to him and instructed him to move so that the suit could pass. He didn't move, but he did wring his pukemoprag out all over the suit's shiny shoes. Delicious.

 

In other news, the dentist tells me that I need a wisdom tooth hacked out. I'm 65!