PhilJ W

Evening all from Estuary-Land. Tony, rest up and take it easy. I quite agree that MiL, and any other elderly relatives should stay away, if for no other reason than they might catch it. GDB, its safe to come back now the politics is over here on ER's after Andy slapped a few wrists. I have been suffering with an ear infection over the weekend. Not really painful just a slight ache. This morning when I woke up said ear was well bunged up. I managed to clear it and it now seems to be OK and without even the ache.

Any thoughts on what sort of locomotives were used to haul the wartime trains of Warwells? I have seen a photograph of a rake loaded with Sherman tanks hauled by a Metropolitan Bo-Bo electric.

The 3 (later4) ton army lorries allways travelled with the tilt removed, even on Warwell and Lomac wagons. The reason being that they were still out of gauge with the tilt up.

When Southend converted low height buses to open top they simply boarded over the upstairs gangway leaving the sunken gangway downstairs to catch the unwary when leaving their seats. Eastern National on the other hand always removed the sunken gangway completely except a for short piece at the head of the stairs to form a step.

Morning all from Estuary-Land. A real ER this morning, bleary eyed this morning I checked my watch and decided to get up. When I put my glasses on I saw that the time was an hour earlier than I thought. The down side is that that hour seems to have disappeared somewhere since. As for politics those of you who know me on Facebook probably know exactly where I am in the political spectrum but Facebook is where it stays. I hope this isn't to political but it amused me. A vegan claimed that the Glastonbury festival is the ideal place for vegans, then someone pointed out that it takes place on a dairy farm. C&C's to all, be back later.

Goodnight all.

Evening all from Estuary-Land. Been a busy weekend, yesterday I went to a toy fair at Brentwood, slightly disappointed as another event elsewhere kept some of the regular traders away but I acquired a few items. Today was a bus rally not to far away at Billericay, even better it was free, unless you opted for the program at £3. The interest was the various stalls, many included railway items, I found some copies of the Great Eastern Magazine at £2 each and a book on cable tramways. Today was cockwomble free but yesterday I saw a few on the way back from Brentwood. In particular the Artic lorry that got himself stuck in the car park of Tesco's at Laindon. The car park in question is just that, a car park and is laid out for nothing bigger than a Transit van (deliveries to the store are via a separate access at the rear). Getting a 44 ton artic stuck in such a place is not a good idea on a Saturday afternoon .

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Another quick hello and goodby, of out again to another event. C & C's etc., be back later.

Goodnight all.

A planning application is going in for the former premises in Smithdown Road to become a bar and resturant.

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. Very belated anniversary wishes to Baz and Mrs. Baz. Dull and overcast but the predicted showers didn't come. They are probably waiting until tomorrow when I will be at a local bus rally. Only a change to the second and third letters to make it appropiate for many drivers on the road today.

Morning all from Estuary-Land. A quick look in this morning as going out soon, C&C's where neccessary, be back later.

Goodnight all.

That and a couple of the banks off the East Anglian coast were islands as late as Roman times.

A similar thing happened and resulted in the British Isles becoming separated from the rest of Europe. What is now the North Sea was once dry land and the Thames and Rhine rivers combined to flow north and reached the ocean in the region of the Orkneys. Come the ice age this exit was blocked and what was to become the North Sea became a frozen lake. At the end of the ice age the lake melted but the ice sheet to the north prevented the water from escaping. At the southern end where the Straights of Dover now is was a narrow chalk ridge. The English Channel was, as sea levels were a lot lower, a marshy plain with the coast being about where the Isle of Wight is now. Due to the weight of water behind it the narrow chalk ridge at Dover gave way resulting in a similar flood. The bed of the lake was soon occupied by the likes of Mammoths and Neanderthal humans until further sea level rises formed the North Sea.

They had some for sale at half price (£60, reduced from £120) in our local Tesco's and I am considering purchasing one. This particular one was triple voltage, 12V and 24V DC and 240V AC. I should imagine that it would be better and quicker to cool it first using the 240V before putting it in the car.

Awful things whether with an Albion or Leyland badge. They simply took the front end from a Titan PD3 and stuck a lower chassis and dropped rear axle on it. This meant that as the full height cab was retained the front seats upstairs were on a platform 15 inches above the upper deck. The best front engined low floor decker was the Bristol Lodekka, and the Dennis Loline which was a licence built Bristol for the open market which Bristol wasn't allowed to sell too. AEC made a fair job of it with the Bridgemaster and Renown. The Bridgemaster was a low height Routemaster but London Transport wasn't interested and it was expensive compared with other similar machines. The Renown was cheaper and had a separate chassis and sold quite well mostly to AEC customers but one feather in their cap was a batch sold to Southend Corporation, a Leyland customer, to replace their Leyland Lowlanders which had only had an average of 5 years service. When Leyland took over AEC the Renown was dropped along with the rear engined Routemaster and Leyland offering the Atlantean in their place. London Transport (and Southend Corporation) opted for the rival Daimler Fleetline, this was before Daimler was absorbed by Leyland.

One reason for the easing of my arthritis may be that I have eaten very little if any meat of any kind over the last few weeks. I have been eating a lot more black olives of which there appears to be a glut at the moment.

A married couple were playing golf when the wife sliced a shot and the ball went through the open window of a house and shattered a vase. The couple knocked on the door of the house and it was opened by a small wizened old man wearing a turban. When they explained what had happened the old man invited them in and explained that he was a genie and the vase that they shattered had been his prison for 500 years. As he could grant three wishes he said he would grant one each to the husband and wife and keep one for himself. This they agreed to, the husband asked to become such a great golfer that no one could beat him, the genie then granted the wish. The wife then asked for an income of $1 million per month, this was also granted. The genie then said that his wish was to have sex with the wife, they ummed and arred about it but when the genie pointed out that all wishes would otherwise be null and void they agreed. After having sex with the wife the genie asked her how old were they, the wife said "Where both 31.", the genie answered "And you still believe in genies?"

Apparently something in red meat encourages the production of uric acid.

Morning all from Estuary-Land. I am fortunate that the usual aches and pains that have troubled me over the last few years have been absent for the last few weeks. I think its down to the current dry spell of weather and may it continue for as long as possible. My nephew who is ginger haired has been sunbathing in the recent hot weather. He posted a pic on Facebook, he now looks like a boiled lobster, idiot! My complexion is quite dark compared to his and even then I avoid too much exposure to the sun. Thats it for now, be back later.

Goodnight all

Rick, gout is a form of arthritis as you are probably aware. When I was first diagnosed with arthritis I was told to avoid red meat and red wine as these encourage the formation or uric acid crystals.

Evening all from Estuary-Land. I opened my lap-top this evening to RMweb and was pleasantly surprised to have received no less than 43 likes etc. since this morning. I normally have a check to see who likes my posts but if I didn't skimp through them it would take some time to go through the lot. Rick, I suffer mobility problems and I suggest that you get yourself a mobility scooter if your going to visit the LT Museum depot at Acton Town. I used to visit the place every year for the model exhibition (in March/April) but I gave it a miss this year, partly due to mobility issues and in recent years the number of proper layouts has reduced and/or been replaced by 'toy' trains of the Lego type. Another tip, pre book your ticket as the queue to the ticket office on the day can be a couple of hundred metres long.

And in the recent hot weather plenty of them on display.