PhilJ W

Only problem I can see is I was planning some repaints to represent vehicles in military use. It now seems a shame to cover the excellent finish on these models with paint.

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Another hot day in prospect and the pollen count is through the roof according to the forecast. The forecast for the weekend locally is el scorchio, high twenties no less. Time for breakfast, be back later.

They showed the booing of the England players on the TV news last night. Not mentioned by the journalists was that the booing was soon drowned out by the cheering of the majority of the crowd.

Goodnight all.

We have foxes, muntjac deer and badgers locally. The badgers are known to venture into back gardens near their sett and the muntjac can be heard at night, they bark and have been taken for a dog before now. The foxes are everywhere but when the covid lockdown started they were deprived of their main source of food, discarded left overs from the local kebab shop which was forced to close.

Thanks for that. I thought it looked like a brake van underframe. An interesting wagon in one of the photographs is the yellow painted Lowmac adapted to carry wheelsets.

Probably converted using the chassis from a redundant revenue wagon. Anyone got any idea as to the source of the underframe? (I could be completely wrong and it could have been built as such anyway.)

Just like premiership football.

Evening all from Estuary-Land. The hay fever is only just beginning to subside so I might have a more comfortable night. I have four thermometers dotted about the house. The one controlling the central heating is showing 25C. the one in my bedroom is showing 22C. The one on the landing which is on the cooler side of the house is showing 21C. But the one in the brick shed was earlier showing 31C.! The reason for that is it has only a single skin brick wall and is on the western side of the house in full sun for most of the afternoon. In winter it doesn't get any sun at all but jutting out of the side of the house and exposed to the prevailing winds its usually freezing. Just checked it again and its now showing 28C. Time to put the kettle on, be back later.

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. I decided to sort out a few things in my bedroom this afternoon. Its on the 'cool' (north facing) side of the house and quite comfortable even in this weather. Then I came across a pile of old railway magazines. I sat down to read them and that was the end of the tidying up. Tea is brewing so I'll be back later.

Hello again from Estuary-Land. Apparently it was 18 degrees C. in Southend at 8 this morning! I can't venture out as the pollen has risen with the temperature. My back garden might even get up to 30 degrees this afternoon being south facing and surrounded on all but one side with brick walls and buildings. Now time for muggatee and a bite of lunch, be back later.

The P1's were too powerful for the task for which they were built. The P2's were not used where they could have been useful. During WW2 they would have been ideal if moved south to handle the heavier wartime trains instead of rebuilding them into rather mediocre pacifics.

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Happy birthday Flavio and many more of them. I managed to get early retirement at 59 and I'm glad I did. Many of my colleagues carried on until they were 65 although they could have retired earlier and AFAIK not one of them made it to 70. Indeed a few complained about having to retire at 65.

Goodnight all.

Evening all from Estuary-Land. It seems as if its going to be a sticky night, the humidity appears to be on the rise. Not helped by the hay fever though that's not as bad as it has been I'm still a bit sniffy. Now to tackle Farcebook, be back later.

I am responsible for the fences on both sides of my property. Thats because its the last house in the street. It suits me fine as in the front I have matching fences either side.

IIRC it was found that they'd been buried with the aid of a bulldozer.

Strangely the London trolleybuses did not carry the white circle. As an aid to driving convoys in the blackout army lorries had the rear axle differential painted white. Perhaps the idea was that in an emergency the buses could be commandeered and the white circle was there for that reason.

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. Hardly anything done today apart from a bit of shopping, I just can't find the mojo for anything. Tea has brewed so be back later.

Also interesting is the small (Ford model A?) truck on the right. The wheels suggest it was converted from a car. There is also a military ambulance, almost certainly an Austin K2 and a horse drawn wagon.

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Wall to wall blue sky this morning so fortunately the pollen count seems to be reducing but I won't know until later this morning. Time to get breakfast sorted, be back later.

Goodnight all.

Indeed, the main reason for that was that the Belgians successfully removed all but a few of their railway locomotives to the small area of the country that was not overrun by the Germans and to northern France and many of them were put to good use by the BEF.

Unfortunately I lost, it went for £92 eventually which was more than I was prepared to pay. I watched the video of it in action and it could do with a replacement chassis. The wheels were wrong as well, AFAIK the prototype always had disc wheels and the model had spoked wheels. I also watched the fireless locomotive from the same vendor, that was also subject to a bidding frenzy in the last half hour and eventually went for £318!