Early Risers.

[grandadbob]

Ian, very sorry to hear your sad news.

Edited February 26, 2018 by grandadbob

[AndyB]

Ian, Jamie, sorry to read of your respective losses. 

[Simon G]

Having returned from the House of Fun I can report as follows. Heavy and prolonged snow showers occurred causing enwhitenment of the platfom staff. It was cold. Very cold. Even wearing seven layers of clothing. Various issues are affecting services including a broken rail closing the line at Bracknell and an electric train emitting large amounts of acrid smoke from the motors which was terminated at Clapham Junction as I signed off but which is (or was) blocking the Down and Up Main Slow lines until deemed safe to move.

The broken rail at Bracknell explains why my mother had problems taking her sister to catch a train at Wokingham! In the end, she had to take her into Reading for her train back to Wales.

 

I am improving well after the weekend. Managed to eat a decent meal of bangers and mash, but stomach still feels a bit tight. I have steadily been drinking all day, so am now pretty much rehydrated. The next concern is the weather later on this week, as we have a farm cottage booked for the weekend to celebrate Mrs G’s birthday. She thinks it just us and our sons and partners, but also coming are some of her family, school friends and some of my family. Should be a good weekend, snow permitting!

[Barry O]

Good morning from an overcast Thames and yes it has Firth.

Many condolences to your good lady and all of your family Ian.

 

Neil rather than watching tv try to do a bit of railway planning and research...

Now with the weather as it is in the UK you can see why I have gone somewhere warm. Having said that we have copped the edges of two cyclones and a minor storm due along today. But, the rain is warm!

 

Simon, hope you continue to improve.

Hopefully our other with ailments will also continue on their road to recovery.

 

Baz

[Barry O]

Ps why do we, as the "stoic" Brits give up without trying now? As Mike says we managed through worse rail conditions but now, we seem incapable of running train services in any weather. Has it something to do with network fail being not up to it..and we own network fail....

 

Rant over but if the Kiwis can sort out ways around cyclone damagewithin 24 hours we need to start thinking the Kiwi ...positive..way

 

Baz

[Tony_S]

I suspect the New Zealanders have more cyclones and earthquakes thsn we have snowy days here in southeast England. I wonder if our local train service are cancelling trains tonight make sure everything is in place for the commuter traffic tomorrow.

Tony

[PhilJ W]

Evening all from Estuary-Land. Commiserations to Ian for his loss. Great to hear that Debs and Mal are improving and I hope it keeps up. It must be snowing outside as even though I haven't looked out the hallway which has frosted glass windows is getting brighter as light is reflected by the snow. I noticed that my road had been gritted today, the first time I can remember it ever being done so, now all they have to do is repair the several potholes that have appeared recently, unless of course the grit is intended to fill them.

[AndyB]

Deep joy. 

Responding to a "my donate" appeal from one of the kids at school we visited the relevant (BT operated) website.

 

First attempt at donating failed. 

So, swmbo tried again and failed.

And again and failed.

And again and failed.

 

10 minutes later BT indicated that all 4 attempts had succeeded.  ffs

 

Hey-ho, it was a good cause. Just glad we didn't put down £20 per attempt! 

 

I'll add donation pages to the list of things BT should not be allowed to operate.

[petethemole]

Condolences to Ian and Jamie.

 

Ian's picture of the Minnesota snow reminded us of the Eaglecam; was the nest covered in snow? Yes it is, and she appears to have just laid two eggs in the last couple of hours. Or she's moved them into view.  http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/features/webcams/eaglecam/index.html

 

A few flakes here so far. We have refrained from panicking.

 

Keep warm

 

Pete

[Ian Abel]

Condolences to Ian and Jamie.

 

Ian's picture of the Minnesota snow reminded us of the Eaglecam; was the nest covered in snow? Yes it is, and she appears to have just laid two eggs in the last couple of hours. Or she's moved them into view.  http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/features/webcams/eaglecam/index.html

 

A few flakes here so far. We have refrained from panicking.

 

Keep warm

 

Pete

Indeed we've been watching this, the Mrs always keeps a close eye on it. The first egg was laid Saturday as I recall.

[Gwiwer]

Ian, very sorry to hear your sad news.

Indeed. Condolences from the Hill.

 

On a brighter topic Neighbours (Upstairs) both popped in briefly for tea and a chat tonight with she-who-had-been-in-hospital appearing very much brighter and almost her normal self. Apparently some sort of residual infection had flared following her earlier illness but responded quickly to antibiotics and some other large green pills. Good to know it wasn’t anything more serious as we were all very concerned just 24 hours ago.

 

G’night all. Sleep well.

[JohnDMJ]

Colleagues:

 

We have a role model in the recovering Debs (Best Wishes to her!) in the discrete manner in which M*******g is discussed on these pages.

 

However, it seems that we have degenerated into a very lazy and almost sloven culture of making comments which may result from someone else's' post but without reference to said relevant post. This can be difficult to follow at times!

 

Whilst I don't often interject hereon, I do attempt to follow the daily goings-on reported on this thread.

 

So often, I have found that whilst scribing a reply, many other contributors have arrived in that time thus rendering the immediate reply to the 'last post' irrelevant as it may now be several posts out of date.

 

If your comment relating to a previous post is worth mentioning, please use the 'multiquote' button afforded you by this forum to make the reference and continue the thread of the conversation.

Edited February 26, 2018 by JohnDMJ

[newbryford]

Condolences also to Ian and Jamie and their families.

 

In the enforced absence of her Debship (and hoping that it will end soon), I'm going to be as bad daring as GDB and post a train photo.....

 

These arrived from deepest Berkshire today.

 

As the delivery address was at work to avoid the prying eyes of Mrs NB, it was rude not to give them a test run on the work layout with my new loco bought yesterday. The plan is to repaint them into a fictitious livery with a bit less yellow.......

There will be some more running tomorrow as they can be used one of our new product tests.

 

Another loco has currently arrived in the UK from Canada - I am awaiting the ransom note from HMC/Parcelforce.

 

As this US thing is running a bit faster than my first thoughts about it, it has spurred me on to dispose of some of my surplus 00 stock that had been acquired on a "just because/maybe" whim. Ebay beckons.

 

So far, none of the white stuff round our way apart from a few random flakes that looked like ash from a neighbour using newspaper to light a fire.

 

Have a good Tuesday folks.

 

Cheers,

Mick

 

 

 

 

[The Stationmaster]

I suspect the New Zealanders have more cyclones and earthquakes thsn we have snowy days here in southeast England. I wonder if our local train service are cancelling trains tonight make sure everything is in place for the commuter traffic tomorrow.

Tony

 

Tony, Your local train services appear to be running - on time.  Most trains arriving at Norwich are either on time or within 5 minutes of booked time;  some late running at Redhill but most trains are arriving within 5 minutes of booked time; trains arriving at Reading from Paddington are on time.  So overall it all appears to be something of a chilly squib this evening and the great shutdown didn't happen.  But although our forecast for Friday is now better than it was 24 hours ago we now have a yellow warning but I really wonder about that as according to the Met Office it is currently snowing here - seems we have the new invisible type of snow judging by what I can't see in the front garden.

Edited February 26, 2018 by The Stationmaster

[BSW01]

Condolences also to Ian and Jamie and their families.

 

In the enforced absence of her Debship (and hoping that it will end soon), I'm going to be as bad daring as GDB and post a train photo.....

 

These arrived from deepest Berkshire today.

northstar.jpg

 

As the delivery address was at work to avoid the prying eyes of Mrs NB, it was rude not to give them a test run on the work layout with my new loco bought yesterday. The plan is to repaint them into a fictitious livery with a bit less yellow.......

There will be some more running tomorrow as they can be used one of our new product tests.

 

Another loco has currently arrived in the UK from Canada - I am awaiting the ransom note from HMC/Parcelforce.

 

As this US thing is running a bit faster than my first thoughts about it, it has spurred me on to dispose of some of my surplus 00 stock that had been acquired on a "just because/maybe" whim. Ebay beckons.

 

So far, none of the white stuff round our way apart from a few random flakes that looked like ash from a neighbour using newspaper to light a fire.

 

Have a good Tuesday folks.

 

Cheers,

Mick

A bit LESS yellow.

 

You must be coming down with something.

[BSW01]

Evening everyone

 

This afternoon after dinner, as Sheila had taken over the kitchen and was doing some ironing, I decided to put my feet up and do bu99erall, so I watched a bit of recoded TV. Namely a couple of documentaries on the Beatles, very entertaining and nice to have a bit to of a rest. Well, I’ve got to clear some space on the digital recorder, so that Sheila can record her programs!

 

There were a few more light snow flurries this afternoon but nothing that stuck, although it’s been bl00dy cold, even I’m feeling it now, so it must be cold!

 

Ian. Condolences to Julie.

 

Simon. Glad to see you're able to eat a little now.

 

Goodnight all

[Tony_S]

Tony, Your local train services appear to be running - on time.  Most trains arriving at Norwich are either on time or within 5 minutes of booked time;  some late running at Redhill but most trains are arriving within 5 minutes of booked time; trains arriving at Reading from Paddington are on time.  So overall it all appears to be something of a chilly squib this evening and the great shutdown didn't happen.  But although our forecast for Friday is now better than it was 24 hours ago we now have a yellow warning but I really wonder about that as according to the Met Office it is currently snowing here - seems we have the new invisible type of snow judging by what I can't see in the front garden.

There seemed to be a lot of cancellations on our local line but no shutdown at 9pm as was forecast. Everything after midnight seems to be cancelled.

My weather app had been predicting snow soon all evening but it hasn't arrived yet. Weather radar shows it missing us and passing south of us and heading for Kent. Next lot is forecast for when I am asleep.

Aditi went swimming (Not in the Thames) this afternoon and said the road traffic was really light. Pool was deserted too!

Tony

[The Stationmaster]

G'night all

[Horsetan]

A bit LESS yellow.

 

You must be coming down with something.

 

Yellow fever?

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all.

[laurenceb]

Ian, condolences

Jamie, first thought - if all that is so important to BiL let him organise the whole thing. It might shut him up. Second thought he sounds like he would make a pair with DD's BiL

Perhaps Mick is using less yellow so that Debs might think it is from someone else

Night awl

[43110andyb]

Snow duties tonight as the beast from the east rolls into Northallerton!

[Gwiwer]

Morning all. No snow. 1O01 is on time to take me to the House of Fun. That might all be Famous Last Words though the forecast now is very cold but dry. Stay safe and warm.

[chrisf]

Good morning one and all, with condolences to Ian A and encouragement to Debs.

 

All did not go smoothly at the bank yesterday.  There are two machines into which you put your debit card, enter your PIN and then draw down statements, move money between accounts and goodness knows what else.  They run out of paper, especially on Monday mornings, but by and large they are useful.  Not this time.  Neither of them would accept my card.  I had to resort to the services of a teller who was able to print for me the statement that I sought.  On reading it I found that I needed to move money between accounts.  That function had disappeared from the other clump of machines so it was back to the teller.  How time-consuming!  After all that I decided that it was high time for a haircut.  My woolly hat now fits properly.

 

In the afternoon I managed to download an album.  What a faff that was.  Google Music insisted on playing the whole album in alphabetical track order before I worked out how to save it to the computer. The next challenge is to copy the 11 tracks to a CD so I can play it in the car.  Not today though.  As I popped out to post a letter the snow began to fall but not for long.  Perhaps I should borrow some huskies from the local kennels when I do the fodder run this morning.  While we are on or near the subject of technology, the clock radio reset itself again overnight.  How do you catch a poltergeist?

 

To those who rated my post about the German replacement bus as funny, may I point out that the incident made me five hours late home from holiday.. How fortunate that we do not all have the same sense of humour.

.

Ongoing warm thoughts and best wishes to the ailing, recovering and missing

 

Chris

[Robert]

Morning All,
 
The temperature was down to -8°C overnight - plus, we have a light dusting at snow here at work.  However, there was nothing at home.
 
Sorry to hear your news, Ian.
 

How do you catch a poltergeist?

Buy it a new clock radio

 

Have a good day everyone...