PhilJ W

One unhappy insurance company:- https://www.hamhigh.co.uk/news/maida-vale-driver-dodges-jail-after-chelsea-supercar-crash-6636942

Or in GDB's case 2025.

The Ailsa (Volvo) engine was the smallest lightest engine they had. IIRC it was about 5 litres with a turbocharger. Turbochargers are better for longer distances but not on urban bus work with its stop/start nature. The gearboxes IIRC were designed for construction plant and were chosen because they fitted under the floor. There was an Ailsa operated by Ensign in use in Romford back in the eighties and you certainly knew it was about by the noise even if you couldn't see it.

The Ailsa, like the Guy Wulfrunian before it suffered from having too much weight ahead of the front axle. I travelled on a preserved Ailsa a couple of years ago where it had had the first row of seats upstairs removed and roped off apparently to stop stressing the body.

Morning all from Estuary-Land. The sore foot was playing merry hell last night so not much sleep was had. I've noticed that since I had the new boiler installed the water and the radiators warm up a lot quicker. Just as well as one side of the house is more exposed to the weather than before. Its an end terrace and the gable end faces west. Opposite is a wide gap between two houses, part of the garden of one of the houses. The house was owned by an elderly lady who let the garden overgrow to the extent of mature trees and there was a couple of old sheds as well. The old lady died about two years ago and the house was sold to a developer. He cleared the garden which was quite large enough for another house. The problem is that the wind whips between the two houses straight on to the end gable of my house. Rooms on that side of the house are noticeably cooler now.

Goodnight all.

Thanks, thats the one. It happened to be the evening rush hour. Those stretched Suburbans took no prisoners.

Evening all from Estuary-Land. Farcebook is playing silly bu@@ers tonight, two speeds, dead slow and stop. Just isolate them then make sure that they are infected, and add the anti-vaxxers to the mix.

The scientists are the ones that have been consistent. Its the politicians who keep changing things. At least now they appear to be listening to the scientists and taking their advice.

News has just come in that the Covid-19 hot spot has moved from Brentwood to Epping. Still in Essex but another high income area.

The name actually goes back a long way, 1920's or 30's at least possibly as far back as the Victorian period.

Steam can be generated chemically. I'm not sure of the chemistry involved but Germany were the leaders in the field in the 1930's/40's. They were even considering using the technology to power a U-boat. It was used to power the Me163 Komet rocket plane. The biggest problem was that the fuel, hydrogen peroxide was pretty nasty stuff and needed special handling.

Makes a change from turkey I guess.

Widespread double deck operation is not possible in many parts of the USA due to many low overhead structures and cables. There are some roads where even single deck buses would be too high. I remember driving out of New York on an expressway where the bridges were so low that the only PSV's that could use it were stretched Chevrolet Suburban's. I can't remember the name of the expressway but I was heading for Connecticut, this was in 1978.

Talk of exploding toilets reminded me of what my dad told me. My dad had some older cousins who lived down in Bermondsey in an old large house split into apartments. There was only one outside toilet shared by all the tenants. Problem was one of the tenants was a bully and every Sunday morning would occupy the toilet whilst he smoked his five Woodbines and checked his copy of sporting life. If he found anyone in occupation he would turf them out irrespective of age or sex. This was about 1930-35 and in those days bicycle lamps and other lamps were acetylene for which carbide tablets were available. It was suggested to my dads cousins that a carbide tablet dropped into the WC would teach this chap a lesson. So the next Sunday morning one was armed with a handful of carbide tablets whilst the other kept watch. It just so happened that their target turned up a few minutes early so the one with the tablets was in danger of being caught so he threw the entire handful into the pan and they then hid themselves and waited. They didn't have to wait long before there was an enormous bang, the outhouse disintegrated and their target had to be stretchered off face down with a badly scorched backside.

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. My friend has informed me that his eldest daughter has tested positive for Covid-19. Fortunately as she lives with her boyfriend there has been no physical contact since before Christmas but we'll wait and see if he has to be tested. If he does it might mean that I too will have to be tested as we've met (socially distanced and masked) a couple of times, once today and a week ago. I got supplies in to see me through to the weekend, if I've missed anything thats too bad. Tea has brewed so I'll be back later.

Just put another deck on top and you have an Atlantean or Fleetline. Some of those converted to single deck similarly looked a bit odd.

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Weather as described by Tony but make the most of it as some of the white stuff is predicted to be heading this way.

Goodnight all.

Evening all from Estuary-Land. Just realised I've gone through a box of tissues since Boxing day. Though usually I start getting a cold at the beginning of November this winter its only just started so thats one advantage of mask wearing and social distancing. I thought that those 'escapee's' numbered about a dozen at the most but reports are saying up to fifty individuals pillocks.

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. Spent the afternoon playing with testing a RC car. One slight problem with inserting the four AA batteries in the controller. The battery cover is held on by a screw that required a very small crosshead screwdriver. It must be years since I required such a screwdriver and I wasn't even sure that I possessed one. However I found a small flat screwdriver and I was able to open it and install the batteries. Unlike the one I purchased for the young lad this one the car clips into the controller to be recharged. I don't know what effect this has on battery life but they seem to require little power.

I use leaf tea, with an infuser it is just as convenient as tea bags. Unfortunately few if any supermarkets stock the large leaf tea for infusers only the fine stuff that clogs up the infuser. With that in mind I purchase my tea in bulk from the Wee Tea Company https://www.weeteacompany.com/ which was recommended to me by Mal, late of this parish. Mention has been made of sausages, a bit of bad news all down to BREXIT:- https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/brexit-ban-british-sausage-makers-23232052#source=push

I mentioned on ER's that I bought my friends young son a radio controlled car for Christmas. There's method in my madness as its 1/76 00 scale. I also have a similar model in my stash, different manufacturer and prototype and 1/72 scale, I had forgotten completely that I had it. Next project is to paint roads on an old baseboard, add buildings and even possibly a bit of live trackwork. The lads pressie came to about £38, the one in my stash only £20, it was an 'end of line' promotional. I looked up radio controlled cars on E-bay and was surprised at how cheap they are, starting at under £10 for a basic model.

With the short lived totem below the number plate. London Transport objected to its use by other operators.

Hello again from Estuary-Land. You can get Cornish tea, they sell it in the Eden Project shop. Its quite possible to grow certain crops in the UK and not just because of global warming. Churchill suggested that we grow tea here in the UK as a wartime measure to save shipping space. The only thing that prevented that from going ahead was it takes five years for a tea bush (camellia sinensis) to mature. I've tasted Cornish tea, not bad but not strong enough for my taste. Many years ago an old chap in Essex grew his own tobacco. When I was young we often had the remains of a Christmas gammon joint. Mum used to mince it up, add a few whisked eggs and chopped onion and put it in a flan case and bake. You only had one job on the layout and that was to plant some trees.