Old Bangers and Flea Pits.

Happy New Year Reader,,,,, now go and get some modelling done.

Anybody who has been there will know exactly what this is,,, or was,,, about 3 years ago our good friends at Arriva,,,, arrived in Malta with a GRAND Plan for progress,,, promptly got the government to cancel all the old buses, most of which were family businesses,, & replaced them with "state of the art" replacements,,,, as against the "state of the ark" originals and proclaimed that progress was guaranteed for the island,,,,,

18 months passed by and Arriva,,, de-arrived and cleared off back to UK as they couldn't make a profit,,, Ha Ha ,,, those old buses did more for the Maltese tourist industry than most things but "the experts knew better",,, unfortunately there is little chance the old bangers will come back but having just spent the festive season there it wasn't the same,,,, most of them were like Triggers Brush,,,, 16 heads and 42 handles but but but,,, the experts knew best,,, although there is a lobby afoot to bring some of the best one's out during the summer tourist season,,,, but don't hold your breath!!!!

Anyway I have packed my shorts & flip flops away and it is back to watching the sheds version of the northern lights dribble down my nose whilst modelling and getting ready for TrainWest at Melksham in April,,,, it's all getting rather exciting,,, the houses are built and in situ [apart from some gutters and downpipes] and even the long ago built cinema has found a permanent resting place,,,, I built it about 6 years ago,, I just had to after finding a picture of it on't t'internet and the significance is I remember going there when it was a thriving and archetypal flea pit.

The very thought of it makes me itch,,,, that memorable pervading aroma of Brylcreem, over heated popcorn, and stale beer breath,,, happy days. I can't remember what it was I went to watch but "The Elite" pronounced "theelite" was famous for having the 3 Stooges between the adverts and the news and then again before the main film,, who needs cineplex and a small mortgage for a bag of sweets.. it's all RRRUbish.

We are really looking forward to Melksham,,,, we should be alright as we are bringing our own tame Westerner with us to translate,,, he's from down that way originally which probably explains his fascination for scenery and chocolate & cream and cleanliness,, as mentioned in my previous blog  [lagging behind the target of 14th Feb 2013] they all look the same to me.
I'm actually rather pleased to announce that my Lagging behind the Target blog is the most viewed issue of all time,,,, it's all good light hearted fun winding up my western and RCTS colleagues,,, I don't really mean it,, well not while they are in earshot.

Anyway I will post some pictures of recent progress [after Westerner has visited again with his digital box brownie] and if that isn't good enough you really ought to come along and complain in person at Trainwest Melksham on 11th & 12th April 2015.

Reminder to self,,, I really must get the sports jacket deloused and dry cleaned  and replace my resplendent rainbow display of RCTS multi coloured pens and draughtsmans propelling pencils,,, You never know I might even give the old 6" rule a polish!!!!
We need to be presentable when within spitting distance of Swinedon!!

Merry Xmas to all our reader [singular. edit Apr 2015 WRONG his names Stephen,, & I've met him]

I am delighted to announce that after another productive session in that icy cavern which is the garage I can proudly proclaim that the festive season is upon us.

After 2 hours out there this morning you can hopefully see that I have definitely felt warmer and have therefore decided to depart these frozen wastelands for the warmer climes of the Med until it heats up a bit.

We are off to Malta at some unholy hour tomorrow am and normal service will be exhumed on our return.

I am also very happy to advise that the sled driving geezer also did the Pastures proud by delivering ahead of schedule an LMS Jubilee in Maroon [ already luvly jubberli ] and an apple green D11 director,,, how does he work out every year exactly what I want,,,,ti's a mystery for sure.

More importantly one side of the terraced street is almost complete and t'other side is well over half way,,, I would post some shots but to be frank I just can't be bothered so you'll have to wait till "westerner" and his electronic box brownie appears again,,, as he is much better at it than I am.

Thinking of warmer situations I can confirm we will be at Scarborough exhibition in August and by then my feet and other fleshy protuberances may well have returned to normal.

Malta can be particularly festive at this time of year and I just hope the liver and kidneys are well prepared for the obstacle course they are about to embark on!!!!!

Enjoy the repeats,,, and be assured we will be back in the New Year.

This is about as festive as I can get!!!   wotaload o muttter muttttter mutttttter,,, oh and by the way of some strange quirk of festive fate this is the 100th post!!!! and it's only taken 7 years to get this far .

At least on here you can post in the morning and still be relevant 6 nano seconds later!!!!

Half Hearted progress report,,, some actual modelling,

These cottage backs are starting to take over and are now starting to hide in the corner of the office.
Thought I'd better just add a couple of shots of whats been happening on the modelling front.
Just co's I havent' been blogging does not necessarily mean I have been sat doing diddlysquat.
Well actually I have been a bit of a blog on the RMweb forum thing and sticking my large overscale 00 gauge oar into a heated debate about wheel flanges with the P4 lads,,,, it's all reminded me of my first Triang clockwork shunter,,,, I really enjoy a good wind-up.

I have amassed so many brownie points I have been allowed to set up camp in the spare bedroom/office to attack the first part of "Newtown" a fitting name is still to be decided upon and whatever we call it is just a distraction to hide the fiddle yard".
Having permission to use the office is handy co's if I have a sudden attack of the insomnia's I can don my modellers dressing gown and wander about 3 metres and set about the next little part of the project.

This is the plywood hill currently sitting on top of the fiddle yard and that hole is where the cottages are going to be sited,,, I bet your fascinated by all this.
Another blog bites the dust,,,, I really will have to concentrate on the buildings as checking my exhibition planner yesterday I only have 26 weeks before Trainwest Melksham in April,,, and we still have lots of things to attack on the ToDo list.

The next couple of shots will probably be more meaningful than these 2,,, Very very busy

Annual Pilgrimage!!!!

I know I've had a moan about this before but this is all that's left of Crimpsall works at Doncaster!!!!
The actual spot where Mallard and Flying Scotsman came into being now looks like a wasteland.
I'll probably not bother going round there again,,, whats the point!!!!

To add to my gloom on walking back to the station I noticed that 2 public houses which have probably heard more railway stories than most are also looking in danger,,,, "The Plant" which is right next to what is now the Wabco entrance is having serious remedial work carried out on the structure and the next time I wander off down memory lane it will probably be a nail bar or tattoo parlour!!
Wonderful.
"The Railway" which is between "The Plant" and the station appears to be shut or in very serious trouble,,, I did notice that they have a new Pub Sign swinging in the breeze advertising it as "The Railway".
The picture on the sign is of a GWR King!!!!! you can probably spit from the bar onto the ECML and some corporate prat has decided that sign is adequate,,,, that picture may be why business tailed off,,,, if so,,, serves you right.

One good bit of news is that whilst sitting on the station platform I noticed a Dad with his 6 or 7 year old son on the other platform,,, Dad was videoing stuff going past and son was obviously filling in his Ian Allan book,,, and seemed to be really enjoying himself,,, "well done Dad,,, we need you"
In fairness there were a considerable number of youngsters on the platform spotting,,, probably because it's half term,,, mind you the majority of other anoraks were probably older than me!!!!

 You may wonder why I have got a picture of Jack Bruce leaning against a shed,,,, if only you knew.
Whilst building Salmon Pastures in my shed I have probably listened to Jack Bruce more than anybody,,, although it may be a close run thing with Django and Fats Waller.
He shuffled off this mortal coil last weekend and I feel pretty sad about that,, for me his music is a very important part of me,, and that he has gone needs officially recording.
Good on yer Jack,,, did you have a railway in that shed????

Oh Happy Days!!!!

What a cracking photo,,,,, I was doing something very similar at Little Bytham last Friday.
The kid on the far left with the nobbliest knees since mine last saw daylight on Donnie station in 1963 is not checking his latest text he's checking his latest cop,,,, oh what fun we had,,,, lucky lucky boy and I can still remember most of it!!!

Have to admit though I never went spotting in my school cap,,, for sure it would have flown off when I was being chased out of the back of Crimpsall works and more importantly it had my name embroidered into it!!!!

What a challenge it all was!!!    Like a red rag to a bull!!! No grumpy old git was going to stop my cops.

Inspiration!!

Yesterday,,, [all my models seemed so far away],,,, I had the real pleasure, with the majority of the Potter Heigham Fine Scale Group, of visiting Little Bytham,, the home turf of a certain Mr Tony Wright.

Only one word springs to mind and that is "Inspiration".

Personally it is fortunate that Tony has a very healthy interest in all things Eastern Region/LNER but the other members of our group, who's interest are Southern/LSWR, Western/GWR, & MGNR/NNR/Diesel/Steam [what a well balanced group we are!!!] seemed to enjoy themselves equally and  no matter what your interests are the "quality" of Little Bytham speaks for itself.

Tony openly tells the tale that he has been "very fortunate" to be able to recruit some pretty skilled "assistants" in helping him create his own "Valhalaland" but for me to be able to experience close up what IS possible in this wonderful hobby is very worthwhile no matter who or how it was achieved.

It runs like a dream and I think that is very important,,, what is the point in building something that really looks the part if it "DON'T WORK", and it looks the part because,,,mmm,,, why do's it look the part,,, "clutter" or perhaps more importantly the lack of it,,, what can I say apart from the fact that it just looks right, and I'm pretty sure that is more to do with planning than skill or luck!!.

In modelling terms yesterday was a very significant day, how that will benefit us all here down on the pasture's I'm not altogether sure,, but,, believe me yesterday will have a positive effect on what we are trying to achieve here down at the mucky end of the hobby!!!

I attach a couple of shots of pastures motive power "lording" it at LB,,, one thing I did learn is that they would both have looked a lot better if they had been finished and weathered!!!
There you are,,, the visit is having an impact already!!!

ENJOY

A Fowler/Mongrel/Hornby/Comet/Crownline/Hybrid,,, with Limo-Cab
and
A D9 without handrails,, [and various other bits],,, and looking far too pristine for it's own good,,,
BUT,,  I have to say I was incredibly proud when they both held their own when it came to tractive effort/ pulling power,, and both of them informed me on the debrief back home that life is so much easier when the trackwork is extremely functional as well as pretty and I've added the promised bits of weight to the boilers.

!!!  

The Great Bake Off,,, well close

Whist recently looking round the loft for something else which I had put "somewhere safe",,, and once again couldn't find it for the life of me I occasioned upon a battered old folder,,, "mmm that's interesting" I mused and had to look inside,, and low and behold it was the original rough notes of what I intended to include in my proposed layout which transpired into the original boards of Salmon Pastures ,,,, along with it in the folder were some old invoices from a model shop in Farnborough & the wonderful West Coast Kit Centre near Bristol,, and the invoices were dated 1994,,,, cripes I thought that's 20 years ago,,, that's a long time and I nearly had much more hair in those days,, well well 20 years of pasturing,,, dosen't time fly when your happily modelling!!!!

As I haven't got a thumbs up or down button on this steam blog I'm warning you now I can feel a 20th celebratory rant coming on:

Why am I paying for a TV license,,, I am not in the least bit interested in baking cakes which reduces the content of what I might want to watch on telly by about 40%,,, I'm even less interested in talentless numpty's who cannot dance, sing, ice skate or whatever but just want to be on tele and become a "celebrity",,, and that takes the content down even further to about 7.5% and that includes the news!!!

It's a complete waste of my hard earned dosh,, why do we legally need a license to watch absolute tosh!!!!

It's a mystery to me,,, mind you I did glean one useful bit of info the other evening and that was that Bruce Forsythe was older than sliced bread!!!!! Now that is no surprise to me at all,,, and it BLOOMIN SHOWS,,, if ever there was a case for "social euthanasia" it is our Brucie!!!! give it a rest you old git and let some sprightly 60 year old have a go,,,, 

Anyway I was also reminded the other day that I have not been blogging for some time,,, CORRECT,,,, I've been far too busy modelling,, working,,, caravaning,, Welsh Walesing,,, and reunioning,, but you'll be pleased to know I'm back,,, and before long we will be able to post pictures of the Pastures equivalent of Newtown + the new entrance building + some shots of the latest finished loco's to grace the coaling stage down our way.

I won't apologise for not blogging as I've been having the time of my life,,, and it's just dawned on my that blogging is actually more fun than,, corrie,,emma,, [read the next one in a high pitch scream] east-enders and whatever other drivel auntie Beeb is conning us with these days.

We are all jumping in a car next Friday to visit Little Bytham,,,, cripes,,, I'd better polish my shoes for this one and I'd like to say make sure my parting is in the right place but just like decent TV my parting departed years ago and what was a parting is now just a large pink void,, mind you it's an experienced void and I really  am looking forward to a day at LB.