... and a feeble apology. fbb and the Mrs run a monthly "get together" Christian meeting (with sumptuous afternoon tea) using Seaton Council offices as a venue. This happens of the first Sunday of each month. They also run a fortnightly Bible Study in their home; this happens on the second and fourth Mondays in every month. Both are well attended!
Thanks to the historical craziness of the Calendar, occasionally the first Sunday sits on the day before the second Monday. April is one such occasion.
The weekend has been very busy and exhausting. Any journalistic inadequacies are thus explained!
More Fool or Fact Answers
Absolutely. Edward Watkin ...
... boss of the Metropolitan and Great Central Railways did start a grand tower at Wembley which was never completed. The lower section was built and opened to the public but few came and it started to sink. In 1880, Watkin's Channel Tunnel project was abandoned.
Yes again. Both a bridge and a tunnel have been proposed in recent years. One Island "wag" wrote, "Let's have a tunnel but make it one way FROM the Island in Summer to discourage tourists!".
Neither of them will ever happen, thankfully.
True. Produced by Dapol. Presumably they sold all of them, but no further Black Label models have appeared.
As far as we know this is fake. But he would probably make a better fist of HS2 than any political party! His Virgin West Coast company has put in a bid for the joint franchise for the main line and HS2. But that is only to run it, not build HS2.
This is the truly wonderful Wrexham and Shropshire Railway. It was killed off when Arriva, just bought by Deutsche Bahn realised that it would never be profitable. It was effectively killed off because the "Regulator" would not allow stops at Birmingham New Street or Birmingham International.
fbb rode the train to the only stop in the Brum area at Aston, then caught a train back to attend an Exhibition at the NEC. The homeward run was as outward route reversed. The train back to Marylebone ran via Birmingham International and waited there for its path onwards but the doors were kept firmly locked.
Had it been allowed to offer a real service, it might have survived.
The lunch on the outward run was superb!
The Fairey Rotodyne was exactly as described. After a helicopter-style take-off, new aeronautic technology provided lift from the unpowered rotors (think boomerang technology without the automatic return) once the little blade-end jets had lifted the plan off the ground.
Ordinary props on the stubby wings provided the forward motion.
A brilliant idea with no discernible market - especially as jet airliners were developing rapidly.
So far nobody has made a serious proposal to build a "new" GT3. But why not?
Yep. What a surprise. This is the SECOND map produced by First that shows the routes going the wrong way round the Shiregreen estate. Try and try again, folks.
The PTE (shock horror) gets it right!
A Grand Day Out
Go by train BUT allow yourself plenty of time to find the bus from (not very) near the station into the town.
Blast The Ballast?
Railways do need good strong track to run on. If not ...
... embedding sleepers (wood, concrete or metal) in a bed of ballast is still the world's favourite.
The chunks of stone wedge together to give resilience, and grip hardens the heavier the weight of train passing over. But the ballast also has just a modicum of "give" without which the rails would be more likely to crack.
Additionally, because the ballast is not solid, it helps to drain away the inevitable rainfall.
When fbb was given his first train set, the track came with a crude representation of a layer of ballast.
From bottom right and moving clockwise we see Trix, Triang and Hornby Dublo. Upper right is modern Märklin, one of the continental firms that still produces something similar. But most track comes as sleepers plus rail to which you may wish to add your own ballast.
One solution is a roll of grey foam plastic into which the track is glued. You can also buy moulded sections for pointwork.
Maybe the favourite is to buy miniature ballast (plastic or real granite) in bags, spread it on the track (using a posh spreader if you wish - a teaspoon is an alternative) and then glue it in place with either a specialist and expensive gunk or, much cheaper, slightly diluted PVA.
You add a dribble of washing-up liquid to the witches' brew to break down surface tension and ensure that the glue dribbles throughout the tiny grains.
But can fbb replicate that method for his outdoor OO gauge mini-layout?
His layout is covered completely with plastic patio "grass" so the cunning plan was, effectively, to re-create something like that original all-in-one track.
So, here goes with an experiment.
First paint strips of plastic sheet a bland grey colour.
Glue the track on top.
Add the ballast ...
... and then some "glue". fbb chose matt "clear" varnish. This was a strange flobby fluid that appeared anything but clear in the tin.
Not only that, but it is water soluble. So fbb diluted the gloop a bit, added a spot of washing up liquid (?) and poured it over the ballast.
It sinks in, sets hard and dries clear. Hopefully!
Time will tell if it works; if it is weather resistant. So far, after one rainstorm, one section is intact ...
... the other has failed.
It fell to bits, possibly because fbb over-diluted the varnish or, alternatively, did not let it dry before exposing it to substantial precipitation. Try again, old man!
Barking Mad?
This is a timber yard on River Road Barking.
It has an old steam engine parked. It is a Finnish Railway 0-6-0 tank built in 1925 to 5 foot gauge. There is at least one preserved in Finland.
Several were imported into England for a Cornwall theme park (Retallack) project which failed before it started. Retallack, near St Columb Major, is now a holiday and water sports centre and spa with no ferroequinological appendages.
Reports suggest that this weird loco was kept at Enfield Timber before moving to Blumsons.
If you want to get to its present location, take London Buses EL3 ...
... and the stop is River Road Longreach Road. Thanks to good guy Robert Munster, but no thanks to Transport for London who don't bother, fbb can give you a timetable.
Tomorrow, something completely different.
Owl Pellet and Ottery St Mary blog : Tuesday 9th April
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