PhilJ W

Evening all from Estuary-Land. My car is now over 10 years old and doesn't have automatic hazard lights AFAIK because I have never had to make an emergency stop since I bought the car new.

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. Has a good day at the Brentwood toy fair, spent a lot of modelling tokens, about 125 in all. The traffic on the A13 wasn't too bad either.

Morning all from Estuary-Land. A quick hello before going off to the toy fair. It looks as though the A13 is clear though*. Be back later. * http://www.traffic-update.co.uk

Goodnight all.

Evening all from Estuary-Land. Just watched The Great Model Railway Challenge, the best team won IMHO. Had a delivery from Hong Kong today, a rather spendid diecast, unpacked it to inspect it, then dropped it whilst putting it back in the box, luckily no damage done.

The photographers transport?

The Gulf Stream moving up the east coast warms the air above it (by a fraction of a degree). This creates a wall of very slightly warmer air that stops the Nor'Easters going further east.

And someone clicked the 'information useful' button?

Eagle Owls have been spotted in North Yorkshire so it seems unlikely that any would have ventured further afield. Also a full grown adult has a wingspan of up to six feet and they have a reputation for taking small domestic animals such as cats. In that area it could be one of several species of raptor.

Morning all from Estuary-Land. I will have to remember to to withdraw some modelling tokens today for the Brentwood toy fair tomorrow as after last Saturday I have no intention of venturing anywhere near to Pitsea tomorrow. To collect my friend from South Benfleet I will have to approach Sadlers Farm from the A127, 2 or 3 extra miles but far less hassle. I did go out with my friend to a talk on railways in the Pyrennies last night and the road was open. Just checked the travel reports, the A13 'might or might not be closed tomorrow', so thats about as much use as a chocolate teapot. Have a good POETS day all, be back later.

This extract from a newspaper letters column was on Facebook this morning:- "I support Brexit because we don't make anything in this country anymore. On the back of my TV it says 'Built in Antenna', a country I've never even heard of."

Goodnight all.

Where exactly was this? Your description sounds like an eagle owl, which have been reported in some parts of the country.

I like the idea but it would be a hard slog finding sufficient static tourist model railways of suitable quality. The one on Canvey Island in the transport museum is a case in point. When it first opened it attracted quite an audience because of its multiple trains running on several tracks, today you will be lucky to see more than one train running. The reason being most of the original builders/operators have moved on or died and with them going so did the knowledge and experience. Also over the years maintainence and repairs have not kept up and the whole layout looks very tatty.

Skodas were very underated because of their price which led to all the Skoda jokes. In fact they were well build and no less reliable than their western counterparts.

If you can find a store that hasn't closed.

I've posted this incident on that thread now.

Because of their height car carrier drivers are given a specific route which they have to keep too. So he either decided to take a short cut or took the wrong turning. There has been instances however where the instructions were in error and on one occasion were a police officer directed a driver under a low bridge.

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Didn't hear any bin wagons this morning, not even the lesser spotted glass & bottle wagon. However all bags have gone and bins emptied so they must have been in stealth mode. I see Debs has been actively posting on Facebook so heres hoping she will be back here soon. I did make a post on a Facebook group a week or so ago about duty having to be paid on goods from Hong Kong. Unfortunately it was hijacked by Brexit trolls so I have had to lock the thread. They haven't as far as I know, but they are both nurses from the local hospital.

Back on topic. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-45964816

In some eastern European countries they run trolleybuses linked together in pairs with one driver.

Evening all from Estuary-Land. Just put out the bin bags for tomorrow morning, my next door neighbours also put theirs out, at least a dozen black bags. They are finally vacating the house on Friday. No more news on the clubhouse at present, waiting for the council (our landlords) inspection of the premises.

Even made the national news.

Thats better.

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. My Facebook group has just topped 1,000 members, not bad for a specialist modelling group.