TheSignalEngineer

Definitely. My mother refused to buy cheese or butter from the Republic of Ireland after the Troubles started.

Our energy supplier isn't doing fixed price deals except some bundles including various maintenance contracts at the moment. As things like halogen downlighters have failed the lamps have been replaced by LEDs so the whole house except for two places where traditional lamps are significantly better are low energy types. The heating is kept slightly low for most of the time, only being turned up if we feel cold. Little-used rooms tend to have the thermostatic valve set low but we do find that with the wind in particular directions some adjustments are needed. If you go to the top of the big hill behind us you can see all the way to Drax, in fact if you carried on for about 500 miles in the same direction the next big hill you hit is in Norway.

Talking to our daughter this afternoon. The multinational company she works for has 140 employees in Ukraine, spread out in different locations. They have set up a group on social media to keep in contact with them and hold what is effectively a 'Roll Call' every day. Fortunately all have managed to appear on line today and are safe, although some sheltering in basements for most of the time.

Jnr may not have the chance. The UK motorsport people are refusing to recognize Russian licences apparently. Regarding the tennis, the Ukranian young lady decided to play and smacked her Russian opponent 6-2, 6-1. Prize money being donated to help the fight back home.

Sounds like a good move.

During the 1st bust up with Iraq I had some hot axlebox detectors on my patch. One set failed and we got grief from the operators over how long it was taking to fix. One of the electronic boards had been returned to the makers in the USA. It had been fixed but the US government wouldn't let it out because they had a ban on export of electronic goods at the time. Hot axlebox detectors were developed as a spin-off from heat seeking missile technology. The board in question was the bit which measured the temperature of an object and compared it with the background. On another occasion I bought some specialist drill bits for putting bond holes in high manganese hardened rail. I had to sign a declaration that I wouldn't take them to Northern Ireland. They happened to be about the same diameter as a standard rifle bullet and would reputedly go through some armoured vehicles at close range.

Meek and mild stuff. At 17 I was on the scrumpy and black at the Greyhound pub in Holloway Head in Birmingham. They brewed their own in those days. The smooth was strong and relatively clear, the rough was like a fog and had lumps floating in it, reputedly bits of apple. It cost 10d old money per pint (= 4.17p decimal) which allowing for inflation would be about 75p now. You could get unconscious for half a crown on that stuff but the local winos would happily drink it all night.

The father of one of the drivers concerned is a major sponsor of the Hass team. He is also a big mate of Putin. Finance may prove a little difficult if he gets caught up in any sanctions and where the money he uses to sustain them is currently located.

When my Dad retired from the Fire Service he had done 25 years. Just before he was due to finish the Chief told him that unfortunately he wouldn't get a long service award (although he already had the Fire Service medal for long service) because when he joined it was still the National Fire Service, only coming under council control 8 weeks later. His reply was "Ah, but from 1939 to 1942 I worked for the City Transport Department then from 1942 to joining the brigade I was doing military service which doesn't count as a break, so you should really have given it to me nearly three years ago." The next day he got a call telling him to turn up the following week for the presentation.

When my Dad transferred to the Military Police in 1944 he did his training at Nytchett.

Must be nearly as big as a box for transporting a Mountain Bike. I thought Mr McCoist summed up the previous FIFA statement rather well on Talk Sport. "Football Union of Russia" On to more serious subjects. The Head of the Culinary Arts Department has been at work. We have fresh Cake. Good job because I had just accomplished my annual task of almost single-handedly demolishing a 23cm iced Ch-----as Cake by the end of February.

Ouch, I know what you mean. I backpacked the Pennine Way with an undiagnosed knee problem. It settled down then went again shortly afterwards playing tennis. I was out of sports for six months with a tendon problem. Fortunately rest and gradual strengthening work at the gym got it to a livable state and I keep it moving by a lot of cycling. Subsequently I got knocked off my bike, went the hospital and the X-ray showed old bone fragments in the knee joint away from the new injury. Keeping fingers crossed for a good outcome. Eric

Many of our neighbour have code names. Mr Imperial lives on the biggest house in the road, developer's brochure name The Imperial. Mr Tacky (now moved on) had plastic potted shrubs by the front door. The Burger King had a catering van. Mr Big Gob and Mrs Bigger Gob Had plenty of roes, now divorced. Potato Man after his CB radio call sign.

Sympathetic thoughts this morning for all of those under attack from tyrants, health issues and black dogs. On a lighter note. A bright morning today in the frozen north. Due to all other adults being unavailable due to sports fixtures today I have been awarded a playday Youngest grandson had a birthday last week and daughter got him a ticket for the Bricktastic Lego exhibition in Manchester. Has to be accompanied by an adult so I got the second ticket. Due to the amount to see a trip out for lunch will be required. Naturally being eco-aware he wants to go by train so win-win situation.

When my Dad was in the Birningham Fire Brigade it was called Fire and Ambulance Service. It had one control room that dispatched both fire engines and emergency ambulances. The central area was covered by the main ambulance depot but the suburbs were served by ambulances based at fire stations. The target was to reach the patient within six minutes of the address being handed to the driver. Actual performance was often better than this. When Anne was expecting our first child she went into labour very early. By then the ambulances had been taken from city ownership and handed to the NHS. I phoned the ambulance control, and an hour later nothing had turned up. I was getting concerned so called them again and asked if there was anyone there who could talk me through delivering a baby. The blue flashing lights were outside in 4 minutes. When the crew assessed the situation we did the four miles to the hospital, all blues and twos, in six minutes. A midwife was waiting for us at the door and Matt was born ten minutes after we got there.

So a couple of days ago I put my head above the parapet and some eejit tries to start WW3. Think I'll get some new toys before panic buying sets in. Local Tesco has already run out of diesel, I made a pre-emptive strike yesterday as soon as I heard about Putin's move. I suppose next Aldi will run out of toilet paper, although some people are probably still using their start of pandemic stash. Seem to be getting the dining room dried out after last weekend's deluge, hopefully a builder will turn up tomorrow to see what needs doing to repair the leaking roof. Built in 1899. Various uses included the headquarters of the Eccles Rubber and Cycle Company, a piano factory, bedstead factory and Co-op warehouse. Severely damaged by a fire in 2007, the roof and south-eastern end of the façade subsequently collapsed, leaving the building in a state of dereliction. Internally, little of the original remained. This is what it looked like about 7 years ago. I think John was right in describing it as a new build.

I remember going to a derailment at Saltley c1967 where a box van split open. It was loaded with printed tinplate blanks for Cadburys cocoa tins.

Cadburys were one of the last big users of canal transport to bring in bagged raw materials from the docks and transfer between factories. I remember seeing sacks being unloaded at their canalside warehouse in 1960/61. The rail vans were used to take the sacks across to the factory via an incline on the east side then back over the skew bridge to the factory. This 25 inch OS Map shows the extent of the network, with the canal wharf at the top and the kick-back incline up to Raddlebarn Road. https://www.warwickshirerailways.com/lms/mrcad1478.htm These are some in use on an enthusiasts tour https://www.warwickshirerailways.com/misc/misc_cad121.htm

LMS stock was generally fitted with an end pipe instead of handrail where there was a toilet. GWR stock pre-Hawksworth was filled through a cap on the roof tank. Hawksworth stock additionally had pipes similar to those on Mk1s IIRC.

Colour Rail have two photos of D856 on their site. One is dated 25/7/64 and has no yellow panel. The other is dated 6/8/64 and has the yellow panel. I would doubt the latter date as the train near Teignmouth has three blue/grey Mk1coaches and one maroon.

Regarding earlier comments on prices, the HD locos at the end of production would be in the £100 - £130 range nowadays purely on the basis of overall price inflation. The very reason I gave up on my Mainline models. The only one I had which survived was a 2251 which 'got lost' during a house move and turned up about 15 years later. It had lain hidden in a cool, dry dark place for that time and had never seen oil or grease in its life. All of the others were sold as bags of assorted spare parts.

Visible on this photo Patrick O'Brien on Flickr.

Yes there were hoses for filling toilet roof tanks on the platform canopy.

How much? We used to get 4 miles home from our holiday train into Snow Hill for 4s 6d. Last time I used a taxi the driver smuggled me out of Royston Vasey for a Fiver.

Apologies for having gone missing for a while. Have dropped in occasionally but have been restricting my web activity lately. Bit of a nasty storm at the weekend managed to blow some water through the tiles on the bay window roof. Fortunately I went to look at the incoming weather from that room just as it started dripping through the ceiling and was able to save most things in its path except the window blinds. I think the felting onderneath must have got damaged or displaced at the edges as the wind was gusting to about 60 mph at the time. Once the roof is fixed and the inside dried out the plasterboard on the ceiling will need replacing. We ride across to Holmfirth regularly. I haven't done the off-road route on a conventional MTB for a couple of years but will try it again in the summer. We've done it in winter on an eBike and also the road route via Holm Moss. Coming down the Woodhead side one day the wind was so strong that it took about 10 mph off my rolling speed and had to pedal on the way done. For eating we often use the bakery on the street crossing the river in the centre. The do hot beef barms with onion gravy. Regarding Sid's Cafe you used to be able to get a certificate saying you had partaken of tea and buns there. When there was a bit cut in the armed services in the 1990s we had a lot of ex-service people diverted onto BR. Some proudly displayed their basic training certificates on the wall so I replied by putting up my Sid's Cafe one.