PhilJ W

I coverted one to a full brake, its quite a simple job. Dismantle the coach and you will find that the roof and glazing are one moulding that clips into the body. I removed the glazing from the roof except for that for the doors of the outer compartments, this enables the roof to be clipped back into place afterwards. Take a razor saw and cut down the inner door shut line (if your starting from the left, the right hand side of the door.) of one of the end compartments and do the same on the other side so that you will have removed two thirds of a compartment (one window + door). Repeat the exercise on the middle compartment cutting the same side of the door to leave window+window+door. Its now a simple matter of turning the centre section around and gluing them together adding a floor to reinforce the structure, this should be w+D+D+w+w+w+w+D+w. On my conversion I just had the guards door window glazed and one of the luggage compartment doors glazed. I cut the glazing parts removed from the roof moulding to suit the new arangement and glued them into place. As I wanted blank panels I filled the gaps and painted over the windows. I also filled the cut line which was not a door shut line but if you wish you can disguise this by adding a duckett. Once painted all that is required is to clip the roof with the remaining glazing in place and fix back on the chassis.

Except when turning right, many drivers when doing so seem to get as far over to the left as possible and if traffic is coming the other way there can be a queue built up behind them before they turn right.

I saw one of those portakabin toilet/shower units used on the larger building sites yesterday, the name on the side was 'Karzee'. On the same theme the portable toilets used at the Dagenham Town Show for some years were provided by a company called Cox Cabins.

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Chairs delivered, breakfast eaten, tea drunk and now just waiting for the plasterer to turn up now. As you can see my computer has not been hacked but I have no idea what would have happened to my old computer that was on Windows XP. Apparently the NHS was not specifically targeted, the problem is worldwide. I hope they identify the perpetrators and put them away for a long time. Thats it for now, be back later.

GWR or Metropolitan?

Got to be an ER tomorrow morning. There is a local event taking place in the town and the model railway club is participating. It was mentioned at clubnight that some chairs would be required so I mentioned that I had three folding picnic chairs that I intended to donate to a local charity shop. The charity concerned, a local hospice, will also have a stand there so the arrangement is for the chairs to be used then handed over to the charity. I will not be there myself however as I'm getting plastered. The set up time is 8 o'clock so I will have to deliver the chairs to the clubroom by about 07:30 then get home before 9 to let the plasterer in.

Its also on Facebook, BTP have asked the person who filmed it for a copy, as have several news organisations.

I'm going to order a 1/76 3D print of this loco in the next few days. I intend to fit a couple of 28mm wheelbase motor bogies under it (but not Tenshodo).

If his insurance company doesn't get there first.

Was that a copy of the 'Sun' in his pocket. Perhaps we should install one at every level crossing. At least train services won't be disrupted.

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Sorry to hear of your falls BR and Jack, its annoying when no alcohol is involved. Ian, looking forward to more news from Ambridge Emmerdale Sarthe and the goings on there. I hope you and Sherry have a good time on your belated honeymoon. I'm not familiar with that part of Germany, more so with the part between the Rhine and Moselle. A bit of rain earlier this morning so I checked the repair work on the front path this morning, as I thought they'd used too lean a mix to cement them into place so I covered it with a sheet of plastic until its dried. Not to much of a problem as its a single line of paviors separating a flower bed from a gravelled area both of which will be made up to the top of the paviors. Thats it for now, be back later. EDIT Sherry posted the itinery as I was typing the above. I would thoroughly recommend visiting Heidelburg if you take that part of the tour.

Goodnight all.

Hello again from Estuary-Land. Got the guys doing the neighbours drive to tidy up some of the paviors on my front path that were begining to sag for the price of a couple of pints. There is a few things that I have acquired after they have been disposed of at work, top of the list is a full size solid oak table. The reason it was being thrown out was that it was used to hold vases of flowers and when the vases were replenished water was often spilt. This resulted in the black water stains going deep into the grain. I acquired it about twenty years ago, and being kept in a centrally heated house those stains are now barely discernable. Just as well I didn't convert it into a workbench as intended. Another odd pair of items is two 7lb weights, one a 'flat iron' and the other a 'pyramid and ring' shape. These were discovered in the back of a storeroom that was being cleared out, I was told I could keep them if I wanted.

Morning all from Estuary-Land. A bit late this morning, overslept again, at least I'm getting enough sleep. Even though they were delivering the paving blocks for the neighbours new drive at about 07:00 am I still slept through it. Still a bit sleepy mostly due to hay fever which is not to bad at the moment. Thats all for now, be back later.

Goodnight all.

Rivet counters?

I'm not going to speculate on the result of the election around here. We kicked out the UKIP county councillor, and not before time. My ward used to be a Lib-Dem stronghold but they seem to have disappeared. I'm not sure what partys have leafletted, they are binned that fast in this household.

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Hazy sunshine atm but looks ready to brighten up. Neighbour opposite is having a new drive laid, Sunday and Monday they removed the old concrete drive and then left it, including a pile of sand in the road. I'm expecting something to happen any night now because a) the pile of sand is unlit b) Essex CC switch the street lights off at 01:00 hours and c) Some teenagers take great delight in riding old motorbikes very noisily up and down the street without any lights after that time. Nothing much else to report, happy birthday Don, be back later.

Have you a link please?

Goodnight all.

Evening all fro Estuary-Land. As HH pointed out the correct term was Universal Carrier, used for all sorts of tasks only a few of which it was specifically designed for. My dad was a gunner and during the early part of the war c.1940 he was stationed in Yorkshire. An exercise took place and dad was tasked with driving the 'spotter' the officer who goes in advance of the guns marking where the shells fall and relaying the information back to the guns. It was then that he and the officer found out the hard way that the UC tracks are not suited to metalled roads. The UC discarded one of its tracks at speed going through a dry stone wall into a field. Luckily as it was an armoured vehicle no serious injuries resulted.

Morning all from Estuary-Land. A bit grey and overcast but at least its a bit warmer. Not a lot to report today and while the weather is dry I will be out zapping things with the weedkiller. I have to be careful though as there is a lot of self sown poppies that I'd like to keep, one patch is quite thick and they are doing a pretty good job at keeping the weeds at bay with little help from me. My nephew has posted some pics of his finger on Facebook, he is trying to outdo GDB by the looks of it. There's always a stiff broom.....................

Goodnight all.

He didn't say anything about driving it in France.

Evening all from Estuary-Land. Punctured tyre duly replaced so I can now drive at over 50 mph. The route I took there and back to the exhibition was via the A130 and A12, quite fast roads and being overtaken by heavy lorries is quite an experience especially if one of them is carrying an oversize load (a boat).