Happy thread

[dannyboy]

@stevewalker
I am glad the cat came back home safe and well. Our first cat had a habit of going 'walkabouts'. He used to disappear about once every couple of months for two or three days at a time, which used to make Louisa quite upset always thinking the worst, but on one occasion he was away for about three weeks! Congratulations on your Anniversary.

[Malc]

One of our cats came in one night covered in clean motor oil. We were just about to go out, but couldn't leave him like that. Got him in the kitchen sink after a brief struggle and got the Vosene from the bathroom. Managed to get him clean, but he wasn't a happy pussy. We were soaking wet.

[Bealman]

Not to mention a bit oily!!!

[Malc]

He was a black and white cat, but when he came in he was black and gold.

[Bealman]

Gawd! I can just imagine the mess!

[dannyboy]

Did you have to 'Shell' out for more Vosene? 

[Snowwolflair]

Over 25 years ago we were living in Paddington Green London for about six months and our ginger tom Peter, who was 4 at the time, went for a wander.  Four days later we got a call from a Mr Bond  (of Paddington Bear note) to say he had taken up residence on top of his rabbit hutch about a block away.  He had been bitten by a squirrel on his hind leg and could not jump so had settled down where he was getting fed and looked after.  Fortunately we had our phone number on his collar.  He went on to live to the age of 22.

[Delboy]

so I'm using a headband magnifier to use K/B and screen

Hold the ctrl key and  turn scroll wheel on your mouse to magnify the screen

Well you learn something everyday. Never knew that. Thanks for the tip.

[LASteve]

This is a happy post, with a little background. About five years ago I was was YouTubing and went down a model railway rabbit hole and found a video of "Ambleton Vale". I had no plans to build a layout, no inclination to get into the hobby, and suddenly I was astounded by the quality of what Anna and Ray had built in - whaaatt? N-gauge! So I took the now-fatal step of finding a "Sir Daniel Gooch" Castle class loco, ordering one, fixing it up with sound from YouChoos and getting myself a DCC starter set and a couple of meters of track. And Anyrail Ohhhh dear!

Fast-forward a number of years and a forum member in France a few weeks ago noticed I was interested in BR Green Bulleid coaches and sent me a message; he had a few extras and was I interested?

So in the intervening time of watching that first video, and from a position of mostly total ignorance, I've learned who Bulleid was, I've got a picture of a modified "Hall" (and learned what a "modified Hall" was) on the wall in my bathroom hauling a rake of Bulleid coaches through my youth-home-town of Winchester; I've got a spreadsheet of coachsets that I downloaded from the Interwebs and I find that the brake coach that is part of my new set formed a five-coach rake on the Waterloo-Weymouth and Waterloo-West of England services. The composite corridor was used on the south-east services (but don't let facts get in the way of a good story!) I built one layout, taken it apart and I'm in the early stages of the second.

A long story short, but many happy hours of research and fun leads me to hooking up a reasonably-representative rake which could have had an SR/BR set number of 836 comprising BSK-SK-CK-SK-BST hauled by the aforementioned Sir Daniel Gooch through my new mainline station. I sat in my railway room watching the trains go by - many of them from you all. (All y'all as I've learned to say).

(I didn't know what BSK meant when I was a callow youth, I (we) were all more interested in the locos.)

So thanks to all of you on the forum, thanks to the other members that I've traded with (you know who you are) and all of you who I've followed, been inspired by and chuckled with. And a couple of you I've met. It's quite a grand community here. Mods - take a bow. And members - take a curtain call too.

Thanks for all you do.

[crewearpley40]

That's a lovely story steve. Amazing what has happened in 5 years on your journey

[silly moo]

I’m very happy to be a member of this friendly and helpful forum. In July I put up a request for spare Minitrix Britannia loco and tender bodies. A friend of mine who is going through a really rough patch due to lockdown, shielding and the loss of his wife was after a Britannia, I had a spare chassis which prompted the request for the bodies. With just a bit of work I could send him a loco as a surprise to cheer him up.

It wasn’t quite as simple as that as the chassis I had in my spares box, wasn’t that good after all but thanks to forum members Dave, Bob and Phil I eventually managed to produce a ‘Frankenstein’ Britannia that runs well. It was posted yesterday, arrived today and the recipient was thrilled.

I must also mention Dr Al whose advice to another forum member helped me clean and assemble the loco properly. Never be afraid to ask for advice as the answer you get goes on to help other members in future.

Thank you very much to everyone who helped.

[dannyboy]

Never be afraid to ask for advice as the answer you get goes on to help other members in future.

I think the above is a very valid point, I know I have learnt quite a bit just by reading the replies to some of the questions asked. Glad you were able to help someone out Veronica.

[tutenkhamunsleeping]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-wales-53974777

A happy video, but it made me cry anyway!

[guest8885]

happiness is rochdale in the rearview
feel free to substitute , first was slough i think in the 80's
tread boldly

[stevewalker]

I have decided that I might make another foray into a different gauge. No don't worry, not 'orribly oversized. I've just won an auction for a boiler that needs work on it and will fit the 5" gauge Simplex chassis that I built with my father many years ago  It was tested on compressed air, but we never plucked up the courage to build the boiler and then the rest of life intervened. Time to get some decent torches and practice the silver-soldering!