PhilJ W

Morning all from Estuary-Land. At least the news on BBC has found other items to report now but if you blink you might miss them. I don't seem to suffer from the 'censor' as others do though at times I can use language that would make a trooper blush. Lets have a little experiment, William I was known as William the Bastard and Mrs. Slocum refered to her cat as her '######'. Well that settles that, its set to edit out American swear words rather than British it seems. A well known Anglo-Saxon word for testicles in common use this side of the pond is virtually unknown on the other side of the pond, someone in California had it on his car licence plate much to the amusement of British visitors.

Goodnight all.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtfplBy-YuE

Evening all from Estuary-Land. Happy birthday Geoff and many more of 'em. Still haven't cleared all the rubbish things that might be useful some day from the modelling room. I agree about the news coverage on the BBC, there are other newsworthy events other than Paris going on but this evenings news concentrated on Paris and absolutely nothing else, even shortening the local news to a minute or two with just about enough time for the weather report. Dinners almost ready so be back later.

Morning (again) from Estuary-Land. Sunny but blustery and predicted to last for the whole day. I have Windows 10 as it came with my new computer, one thing it doesn't have is spell check so expect a few smelling pistakes from now on. Glad to hear that the 'friend of a friend' of Ian's has made it, apparently as of last night there are still a few people unaccounted for. Commiserations and congratulations where neccessary, have a good day all.

Evening Morning all from Estuary-Land. I realise that I caused confusion about the cheese, its full name is 'Tomme des Pyrenees' not realising that there was an Alpine version. In fact it could almost be regarded as a British cheese as the region it comes from is Aquitaine and it has been around since the 12th century when Aquitaine was English territory. In fact its quite similar to a Lancashire or a Cheshire cheese but softer and milder. Getting late now so goodnight all.

Evening all from Estuary-Land. Went to open my e-bay account this morning and as soon as I went to click on something in my watch list it came up 'Your watch list is empty'. Just as well I was not bidding on anything but annoying nevertheless. I checked it this evening and it was still showing the same message, however I clicked on the notifications and items on my watch list showed on there, I then clicked on an item and it stated that it was on my watch list, the 'watch list' was highlighted so I clicked on that and it restored my watch list. I'm a bit wary of parafin heaters, many years ago the flat where I was living had a very cramped bathroom which was over an open passageway and with no central heating was absolutely freezing in winter. The only heating was by one of those upright Valor parafin heaters. I was drying myself after having a bath when I dropped the towel, bending down to pick it up my bare backside came in contact with the heater, ouch! I had to ask my dad to treat my 'wounds', when he stopped laughing that is. I've still got the scars but thankfully it wasn't something else that got burned. Jamie, nice to hear that you have a cheese 'emporium'. Does it do cheeses of all nationalities or does it limit itself to more local produce? I have discovered a particular French cheese that I do like, 'Tomme' which has a light creamy texture, goes well with a salad and a glass of beer.

Morning all from Estuary-Land. At the moment there's not much else I or anyone else can say about the events in Paris other than give our best wishes to the victims and their families. I had intended to take a trip over to Gravesend today but the wet and windy weather has knocked that on the head for now. A general tidy up (not before time) of the room I use for modelling is on the cards then.

Evening all from Estuary-Land. Not having had the TV or radio on since about 7 I have only just found out about the terrible events in Paris here on ER's, my thoughts are with the victims and their families. The wind and rain we are currently experiencing here in the south I understand is the remnants of a tropical storm and not Abigale which is battering Scotland. Had two parcels delivered today, one was a 1/43 model of a Maltese bus and the other was the Rotorcraft drill with a 400 piece accessory set. Although I am a confirmed tea drinker I will drink coffee and I always do when visiting the continent, in fact one of the best coffees I have ever tasted was when I visited Ypres about 5 years ago, a small cafe a short walk from the main square that was recommended to me, good food as well and very reasonably priced. Goodnight all.

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Bit blustery here this morning but the sun is shining at the moment, rain predicted to arrive shortly then back to the sunshine. Thats all for now, be back later.

Evening from Estuary-Land. Great news Dave and Is and I hope things go well for you. Did anyone try the test I posted here a few days ago, the Cognitive Function test? no one mentioned having done so but it does take about 15 minutes. I've put it on my Facebook page and I recommend anyone over 50 to take the test. Goodnight all.

1. They did not normally haul BR coaches in the 50's, usually they hauled the Metropolitan 'Dreadnought' stock. There is at present no R-T-R models available. 2. Parcels would have been carried on normal passenger services, they were used on freight most commonly on the 'ash train' taking ash from the boiler house of a block of flats for disposal. They may have on occassion operated engineers trains but these were usually the provence of the battery or steam locomotives. 3. They were withdrawn at about the same time as the Metropolitan steam locomotives that were replaced by the panniers (early 60's) so only the later survivors and the first panniers would be seen together and this was quite possible as they shared the same tracks.

There is a 'wartime' layout featuring working London trams but IIRC the railway part of the layout featured the Southern Railway. There is no layout of the Underground in wartime AFAIK. I think EFE may have issued the 1938 tube stock with the anti blast netting on the windows.

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Happy birthday Ian and many more of 'em. Chris, I read somewhere that China teapots should not be cleaned and the tannin allowed to coat the inside, metal teapots on the other hand should be cleaned frequently. As to glass teapots there is no advice so a good clean after every use seems advisible.

Evening all from Estuary-Land. Not long got home from the model railway club, no fewer than three members are growing a sponsored mustache for 'Movember' in aid of prostate cancer charities, I've signed up to donate at the end of the month. I will be starting with my new teapot as soon as I have used the tea bags in the caddy, probably by the weekend. Tony, I presume you were refering to the Tesco's at Pitsea, I went in there today to seek out some leaf teas and found some promising looking blends including their own brand which comes in a see through plastic bag. When I got home I found that I already had some packets of leaf tea in the back of the cupboard, no sign of a sell by date and sealed in foil so I'll give that a try as well. Enough of my ramblings for today, goodnight all.

I naturally checked the date of that article.

Come to think of it, there's quite a few London Transport layouts on the circuit and a few 'Wartime' layouts but I've yet to see a London Transport layout set in wartime. No doubt if there is one someone will tell us of it.

Morning all from Estuary-Land. The sun made a short appearance a few minutes ago but decided it was too windy and promply went inside again. Thanks for the tips on the teapot Polly, I shall certainly take care of it. I think that the filter is going to be the part that will require the most cleaning being stainless steel, a weekly boil in washing soda will be most likely. I use a water filter/softener when making tea anyway as the local water is so heavily chlorinated its like drinking a swimming pool. Condolences and congratulations where neccessary, have a good day all.

The stated reason was to make them less visible from the air. Having said that photographs of them in the wartime colours appear to show a darker shade of grey. Buses working near or to and from aircraft factories and other 'sensitive' areas were required to be painted grey so the same might have applies to the locomotives. Another reason could have been the neccessary pigments were not available due to wartime conditions. I wasn't attracted to the grey finish at first but seeing the models in the flesh I find it quite attractive.

Evening all from Estuary-land. Nipped down to town today as it was dry and purchased one of those glass teapots with the built in filter. Now all I have to do is sort out a suitable leaf tea to use in it. My first job on leaving school was with Kearly and Tonge in Mitre Square in the City of London who traded under the names of International Stores and Twinings Tea. On the premises was the tea tasting room where the tea was tested before blending. There was also a 'staff shop' in the basement where some normally very expensive teas were available to staff at a considerable discount. That was more than fifty years ago and alas the original buildings in the square are long gone, if the name of Mitre Square sounds familiar its because of an event that took place there in September 1888. Dom, I noticed that most if not all of the trams you have driven carry names, I was wondering if these are names of local worthies connected with Liepzig or the surrounding district. Do you know who they were and what they were famous (or notorious) for?

Another interesting train hauled by these locomotives was a rake of warwells loaded with Sherman tanks. This was during wartime of course and the locomotive was in the grey livery. I have the photograph in a book somewhere but I can't locate it. This was outside one of the London Transport workshops turned over to war work.

Morning all from Estuary-Land. I agree with Gordon, those pictogram instructions are a nightmare, I can never comprehend them and even the chap who set up my new computer had difficulty in assembling my printer going by the instructions, we only found out where one component was attached when testing the printer when it deposited the finished test piece between the printer and the wall. Sometimes though even printed instructions in so called 'English' can be indeciphable. I have a Casio calculator at least 25 years old now that I was never able to make full use off for the same reason, the instructions are in what I can only describe as 'Japlish'. Another rant, I opened up my Facebook page this morning to find that someone had signed me up to a group called 'Armageddon 2055' who's only precept is that the world would end in 2055. I promptly 'unjoined' the group as well as clicking on the button to stop other people from putting me back into the group and for good measure 'unfriended' the person who entered me for the group. Thats enough of my rants, have a good day all.

Goodnight all.

In a car group on Facebook someone mentioned that BMW's and Audi's (and a few other modern cars) no longer come equiped with a dipstick. Needless to say that this elicited several ribald remarks as to where you will find the dipstick on such cars. (Actually its now an optional extra.)

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Birthday greetings to Ed and many more of 'em. As Tony said the trader at the East London Finescale exhibition was one of the recognised emporiums rather than a box shifter, John Dutfield no less. Ken was having difficulty getting a signal on the Saturday having to hold the card reader above his head, I think his arms must have got to weary by Sunday. As I said my grandfather was a cabinet maker and he was apprenticed to his own father who was also a cabinet maker running his own workshop with about half a dozen employees. As part of his apprentiship my grandfather had to make some of his own tools including a pair of clamps each of which consisted of two square wooden bars about two inches square joined by two hand-cut wooden screws, these were used when applying veneers. My great grandfather's workshop was located in the area just north of Broad Street station and most of the output went to the West End department stores.