Sunday Variety

Let The Train Take The Grain!

Look very closely at this post WW2 picture of the Ben Nevis Distillery at Fort William. It was a visit taken on the fbb's recent holiday.. Now look even more closely to the right of the old car!

You might spot a railway track emenating from a wagon turntable. Here is the track where grain from Inverness was unloaded from railway wagons.

It is lorries that disgorge their malted marvel into the shiny hopper today! And just beyond are the remnants of the wagon turntable.

A detailed map also shows the tracks ...

And the siding off the Highland Railway main line can also be seem cartographically.

Of course, nothing comes and goes by train these days. The line of the track can still be spotted c/o Google Earth.

The taster was good, although fbb is not a spirits drinker, he could appreciate the richness of the flavour and the warmth of "the nip".

The Distillery is undergoing a rebrand at the moment, so sales were limited.

But, horror of horrors, Ben Nevis Distillery is now owned by a Japanese company.

Silly Signalbox for Simple Septuagenarian.

Hornby Playtrains is a range introduced to capture the imagination of younger potential model railway enthusiasts. The sets are pure toys with no real pretence at realism. But when some more accessories came out, fbb was intrigued.

The company claimed that the model was to OO scale (1:76) so, in theory at least, it could sit on fbb's Peterville Quarry layout. And at just over a fiver, it would not matter if it were a disaster, darling!

It would obviously need a full repaint! 

So fbb ordered one.

It arrived yesterday in "kit" form ...

... with instructions; and the box suggests assembly should be within the old man's capabilities.

Hmmm, time will tell!

The original Peterville signalbox ...

... is now looking very tired after years of outdoor location, so a possible replacement seemed a good idea - and for £6 ... cheap as chips!

Travel Essex

fbb doesn't DO Apps - he prefers to use his brain and look up a timetable. That way he has all the information handy if anything goes wrong with his journey plans.

Which, of course, it often does.

Sadly, Essex County Council no longer provides timetables. There are some excellent local maps, assuming that they are kept up to date.

The county does, however, have a nice line in semi-literate posters.

Arrive TO the bus?

Harvest 2

Verse two of the evergreen harvest hymn.

And some really helpful picture clues.

Easy, innit! One more verse tomorrow.

Coming Up! "Just Like London"; Andy's Aspirations!

It may be necessary to post a run of mini-blogs to cover the Fellowship meetings' preparation and delivery. The old bloke is only slowly recovering from his "Present From Scotland", viz a very nasty head and chest cold.

Good advice for dealing with a heavy cold. If you take lots of pills and potions it will clear up in a fortnight. If you do absolutely nothing it will be gone in 14 days!

The 14 days are up on Tuesday!