PhilJ W

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Happy birthday Dudders and many more of them. Bright and sunny if a bit cold this morning but predicted to cloud over later. Not much else to report, be back later.

Another option would be an event under the auspices of RMweb.

Goodnight all.

Check out some of the magazines and publications of the period such as Buses Yearbook.

Evening all from Estuary-Land. An ER's get together? How about making it at a preserved railway? The GCR appears to be the ideal venue, centrally located and easily accessed. Has anyone got any thoughts on this? Someone did suggest the NRM, thats also a possibility.

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. Went to collect my other computer after lunch, and ended up bying another computer. Its second hand but refubished and I'm now awaiting for it to be fitted with a new battery. The existing battery was OK but a bit tired so I opted for a new one. The new computer is even more powerful than my present one hence the need for a new battery as the old battery was only good for one hour, the new one should be good for three.

What are the berries its eating?

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Weather as reported by Tony and chilly with it. On the trailer freeze it at 1:01. You are cruel posting that pic. Still not as good as mums bread pudding. My mum used to make bread pudding using brown bread and including an entire tin of Tate & Lyles black treacle.

Goodnight all.

Evening all from Estuary-Land. I forgot to mention earlier some of the items I obtained from the swapmeet. First off was a 1/43rd scale Bedford OYD army truck from a French partwork. The other items were 1/72 scale diecasts, the first a Winnebago motorhome that when I dismantled it proved to contain some sort of electronic gubbins. What its purpose is and what it does is a mystery. It will be going into my pile of code 3 projects. The last item is a diecast replica of a Nissan Cube, similar to Cararama models but by a company called Epoch, no I haven't heard of them either. Tea to be drunk, be back later.

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. Had a look at the young mans (£10) layout and it looks as if a complete rewire might be neccessary. The problem is from the construction of the layout. The track layout is basically a folded figure of eight with a couple of loops and three spurs/sidings. The problem is that none of the loops and sidings is isolated and it is only possible to complete a circuit using one loop. To add to the problem the wires are on the top of the baseboard but beneath the scenery, thats if they are there at all. I have a few ideas about rewiring and incorporating a control panel.

Apparently it was a runaway, 'diverted' by the catch points. One of several on the 1 in 34 bank.

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Of to the swap-meet later but got plenty of time yet. If you want to meet somewhere with a railway theme theres allways North Pole. I for one would not be here if it were not for antibiotics. When I was about four years old I went in to have my tonsils removed and it turned out to be a quincy! It meant that I had to stay in hospital over Christmas.

Goodnight all.

Evening all from Estuary-Land. A slight problem with the £10 layout. The locomotive is stalling on a couple of the points. Going to have a look at it tomorrow to see if the problem can be sorted. Behind the bike sheds? They don't have bike sheds any more.

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. Thanks Michael for explaining gender reveal, I didn't know what it was. I just hope that it doesn't catch on this side of the pond.

Third class became second class in 1956 before later becoming standard class. Second class was only retained for boat trains.

It depends on what period you model. It was abolished by most companies in the early 20th century.

You've had quite a night Jamie. Thoughts are with Beth and John's wife and family.

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Whats all this 'gender reveal' about? The only gender reveal that I know of was once found on the topmost shelves of some newsagents aimed at amateur gynacologists where gender was quite apparent. Further sorting of the boxes is taking place, a lot of the stuff has gone in the bin but I have recovered more than a dozen 0 scale painted figures. Rayleigh swapmeet tomorrow so more modelling tokens required to be removed from the hole in the wall. Tea requires drinking, be back later.

Goodnight all.

Evening all from Estuary-Land. Been sorting through my stash of old model buildings for the £10 layout. Found a few that should be suitable hopefully they will meet with the young mans approval. I have decided to get another computer in place of the one with the dead battery. That was purchased initially to use if I am away from home, the computer I am using at present is one of the larger laptops and a bit cumbersome to cart around.

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. Took the spare computer down to the computer shop this morning to enquire about a new battery for it. Had a call from the shop later to inform me that the cost of a new battery for it was £85 ouch! As the computer only cost me £140 new its simply not worth it. Its still usable plugged into the mains so I can keep it for emergencies such as if this computer goes wrong again. They did have a selection of refurbished second hand laptops in the £150-250 price range so I might get one of them. I took my friend with me as he wanted to see the exhibition at Rayleigh museum marking 130 years of the Shenfield-Southend Victoria line, quite an interesting little display. We then popped into the covered market a few doors down from the museum where there was a stall selling last months magazines and remaindered books. Among the latter was a book on trolleybuses for sale at £17.99 remaindered from £40 so as they are one of my interests I purchased a copy. That reminded me of about 45 years ago a colleagues wife was being treated for Parkinson's Disease. She was on a derivative of LSD to control her condition and then her GP asked her to try a new drug. Unbeknown to her and the GP the new superdrug was also an LSD derivative. The result was that she was trying to spray everyone and everything with flyspray as she could 'see' flies crawling over everything.

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Cold and frosty this morning with the rime on the cars having to be scraped off. Far preferable to the deluge oop north and I hope any ER's in that region are safe and dry. Time now for breakfast, be back later.

Goodnight all.