PhilJ W

Morning all from Estuary-Land. A couple of hours makes a difference weather wise as its now bright and sunny this morning hereabouts and whats more the wind is dropping to what it was earlier. A walk into town seems like a good idea after watching the eather forecast. Great to see Debs posting and Gordon and Neil on the up, it just needs a bit of news from Jock now. Bye for now be back later. EDIT I almost forgot best wishes to Ian and to any other ER's under the weather at the moment.

Goodnight all.

Morning all from Estuary-Land. I tried Mike's name finder and having done research into my family tree most of the names were where I expected them to be except for my paternal grandmothers name. Her family according to the records came from Portland Bill but according to the website her surname is concentrated around Cumbria and the Solway Firth. My own surname comes from Newcastle/Durham but my own family has been living and working in and on the Thames estuary for several generations. I became aware of this when watching 'Heir Hunters' when hearing my surname my ears pricked up. It turned out however that the surname is so common in the North East that they had great difficulty in finding the heir(s). It also confirmed that my mothers maiden name was Welsh as my grandfather once said, concentrated around Pembrokeshire. I have been very careful in using the Co-codamol, never taking more than two a day, using paracetamol mostly. When I felt a little bit 'high' I think is taking them on an empty stomach. I still have nearly half the packet left and will only use them if the sciatica returns, as for the constipation I haven't suffered any such effects of that sort. I do try to avoid popping to many pills, on a couple of occassions I've witnessed the results of mixing drugs, once when both were prescribed but fortunately the worst thing to happen was hallucinations (which was the prescribed drugs) and no permanent harm resulted. Bit blustery outside now but dry at the moment but this mornings sun has disappeared. Now just to wish Ian (Able) a happy birthday for today. Cheerio all, be back later.

Evening all from Estuary-Land. Having a sort out of modelling tools, models etc. and having found some tools and models I'd forgotten I had. The spare room still looks as cluttered as ever. An update on the little bit of excitement last Friday with the air ambulance, an elderly gent apparently suffered a massive heart attack and had stopped breathing. Regretably despite the best attentions of the medical staff he died on the way to hospital in the air ambulance. Neil mentioned the Co-codamol, its good stuff but you have to be careful, I was only taking two a day in the evening and on a couple of occasions felt 'high' but a very effective pain killer nevertheless. Its been some time now since we heard from Jock I hope everythings going OK with him. Thats all for tonight folks, goodnight all.

They are surface stock, more or less the same structure gauge as main line stock. Due to limited clearances the lot smaller tube stock is the only option.

There are probably plenty of second hand tramcars available from continental Europe that could be adapted. As for conversion to 3rd rail it should not be difficult to fit an underunning system such as used on the DLR. The earlier DLR cars were sold on to Germany where they are still operating having been equipped with pantographs and full control desks. If any DLR cars are due for replacement in the near future they would be highly suited for the Island Line and should be considered. Birmingham are introducing dual mode overhead/battery trams for use in areas where OHLE is unacceptable. Battery operation could be used on the street section and on the pier itself.

Morning all from Estuary-Land. The happy pill seems to have worked and I had a good nights rest last night, my symtoms have almost disappeared now but best wishes to Gordon, Neil, Mal, Debs and of course Jock. A bit wet and soggy at the moment but predicted to become dry not long after lunch, we shall see. Interesting item on the news this morning, the boffins have decided that we are now in a new epoch called the Anthropocene, marked by mans influence on the planet. They only have to decide now when to set the start date, options range from when man first lit a fire about 400,000 years ago to the first nuclear tests less than 75 years ago.

Good evening from Estuary-Land. Best wishes to Debs, Neil, Gordon and others who are under the weather and hope to hear from Jock asap. Recovered from the sciatica only to have pulled a muscle in my chest so it was back to the happy pills and that so far seems to have done the trick even if I am feeling a bit 'high'. Its now time for bed so goodnight all.

Mike Pett figures.

Get well soon Gordon.

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Nice to hear from Debs and hope to hear from Jock soon. Pete, you asked about council tax, there is a 25% discount on council tax if there is single occupancy, I receive the same as I live alone. However if you own a second property such as a holiday home the discount is 50% and the same applies to any further properties owned. If Ian was to register to vote using Sherry's flat as a UK residence Sherry as a single occupant would lose that 25% discount. It seems surprising to me that an estimated 350,000 UK citizens who live and/or work in the EU who will probably be most affected by a brexit are denied any say in the matter but I won't say any more on the subject as that is venturing into politics.

Goodnight all.

If you are a British citizen registered to vote in the UK the answer is yes. In your case Ian you could register using Sherry's flat as an address, all quite legal and above board. Irish, Maltese and Cypriots resident in the UK are also entitled to vote in the referendum, Gibraltarians are automatically included as they are already in an English Euro constituency.

Morning all from a rather damp Estuary-Land. Woken up this morning by the rain rattling on the windows, it seems to have passed now luckily. Great to hear from Debs and as others have said hoping for more news from Jock. Thats all for now, teas brewing, be back later.

Goodnight all.

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Waiting in for a parcel this morning, not sure if it will get here today but as the post around here is delivered before noon on Saturdays its not long to wait. I've been watching some items that I haven't got from the Atlas 'World of Stobart' collection on e-bay and have noticed on some items that the price has actually dropped considerably to what they were a couple of weeks ago, in some cases to less than the usual price. I'm going to bid on some of them as I require them for code 3's.

I have a similar model in 1/32 scale. I'm not sure who made it but its quite accurate.

Went down into town today and as I passed the station I saw a test train pass through in the down direction. A DRS locomotive on each end and about four or five coaches one of which was pantograph equipped with the pantograph up on the wire. As the service was running normally I presume they were checking the height and tension of the OHLE. Unfortunately the line being on an embankment I was unable to identify the locomotives but the trailing locomotive appeared to be a 68. Just a few minutes later even more excitement as the local air ambulance landed in the bus station, apparently someone had collapsed in the shopping centre. They were taken away in the air ambulance which headed towards Chelmsford. I and many others were surprised at that as the local hospital is less than a mile away and the patient could have been delivered there in less time than it took for the air ambulance to arrive. The local hospital is the same one that Jocks grandson was taken to last year to the specialist heart unit so its doubtful it was a heart attack.

I clicked the 'funny' button as there isn't a GROAN button.

I do recall hearing of a similar occurence in London about 100 years earlier. Only in this instance it was beer when a vat burst. I can't recall any more details but there were several fatalities.

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Going into town today to do a bit more shopping, nearly out of tea so a visit Marks and Sparks is a must. On the leaf tea for good now, its like real ale compared to fizzy pop keg beers. M&S English breakfast I find to my taste more than any other. Best wishes to Debs and Jock and any other ER's who are ailing, be back later.

This could well be the 'Ash train' for the boiler waste from Chiltern Court before they went over to other fuels. These trains were usually hauled by the Metropolitan Bo-Bo's.

Evening from Estuary-Land. Had the haircut yesterday so feeling a bit cold around the ears, also the hair looks a lot thinner than when last I had it cut. Tesco's today had some old stock at marked down prices including a pack of computer address labels marked down from £3 to 75p only when I got home I noticed they were for ink jet printer and I have a laser printer. Can anyone tell me if its ok to use them with a laser printer? No sign of the sciatica today so I hope it stays away now.

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Great to hear from Debs and I hope she's up and about soon. We've got to keep the bu@@ers out somehow. Pete, you've inadvertedly let Tony's secret out, now we know why he goes to Waitrose. http://southendnewsnetwork.com/news/shoppers-horror/

Goodnight all.