Category Archives: Weird and wonderful

Rail Speeders Conquer The Railroads!

Posted on August 15, 2015 by snitchthebudgie

Allan sent me this link, from the “Train Fanatics” site.  I’m not sure such a rail tour would work in the UK – imagine the problems on the London commuter lines – and I guess all our lines are just too … Continue reading →

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The tram that survived the Hiroshima bomb

Posted on August 13, 2015 by snitchthebudgie

An interesting little video on the BBC website, as we come up to the 70th anniversary of the Hiroshima atom bomb…. One of the few remaining trams which survived the Hiroshima bomb has been restored to commemorate the 70th anniversary … Continue reading →

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Shepton Mallet redux

Posted on August 7, 2015 by snitchthebudgie

It’s the start of the school holidays, so for the 19th time in 20 years Maxine and I went on our annual pilgrimage to the ‘New Wine’ church conference.  Once again, there were 12,000 people camping on the Bath & West Showground … Continue reading →

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Almost a model?

Posted on August 5, 2015 by snitchthebudgie

A picture from the BBC website, of derailed engineering trains in Scotland.  This looks remarkably like our ESNG layout on a bad day (and I suspect most modellers will identify with the incident!) According to the article: Two trains carrying ballast … Continue reading →

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London Bridge rebuild

Posted on August 3, 2015 by snitchthebudgie

Our local paper the Sorry Error, whoops, Surrey Mirror published these aerial photos of the London Bridge rebuilding project.  This rebuild will increase the capacity of the through tracks that feed the Thameslink lines through to north London.  It will … Continue reading →

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Up the Junction

Posted on August 1, 2015 by snitchthebudgie

Just before we went on holiday, I made my last visit to offices in Kew Bridge, reviewing designs of the river crossings for a gas pipeline in Turkey.  This has been a regular trip, from Redhill to Clapham Junction and … Continue reading →

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Five things you can do to be happier right now

Posted on July 28, 2015 by snitchthebudgie

Most people are wrong about the things that will make them happy.  Professor Paul Dolan, speaking at the Hay Festive, said it’s actually quite simple.  I’ve adapted them for model railway use – I think they still work! Listening to a … Continue reading →

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Long and winding road – narrow and wide

Posted on July 20, 2015 by snitchthebudgie

One feature of the ‘Shed’ era that I forgot was an interest in narrow gauge railways.  A few Model Railway News articles were supplemented by a copy of Don Boreham’s seminal ‘Narrow Gauge Railway Modelling’ and a history of the Lynton … Continue reading →

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London Underground: 150 fascinating Tube facts

Posted on July 16, 2015 by snitchthebudgie

Or how to bore your travelling companion on the bus during a tube strike.  These are taken from the Daily Telegraph.  Here are my top 30 (or so), avoiding a very long post! 1. There is only one Tube station … Continue reading →

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Long and winding road – the shed

Posted on July 12, 2015 by snitchthebudgie

In the mid-sixties, I was in need of the larger back bedroom in our 1930’s 3-bedroom semi, so my father invested in a SHED.  This 9′ x 8′ empire was carefully built by my father, saturated with wood preservative, insulated … Continue reading →

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