I've been listening to discussions on the local radio about how different people have left instructions about what should happen when they die. I'm old but not old enough to think about such things to much but I was fascinated by some of the bizarre instructions. In the same vain I thought a no fuss cremation and scatter the ashes on my favorite railway line (between Hook and Basingstoke). I doubt if permission would be granted and anyway I don't think windows or doors open any more ! Would the ash be a pollution concern ?
You'd probably need to be cremated in full hi-vis gear and have attended all the relevant courses on being dead ;)
If you think permission will be refused, don't ask for it, just do it ;)
Personally I have had all the paperwork signed and witnessed a few years ago, to donate my carcass for educational purposes, so no funeral and no fuss :thumbsup:
cheers John.
Never too early to get your will written (did my first one when 21!), and then keep updated as circumstances change. Recent news article about what happens to your itunes or similar paid for music. If you don't give your family the log in password, your music is lost, as you only "hire" the music. And who gets your model railway???
Quote from: tutenkhamunsleeping on January 31, 2014, 12:13:33 PM
You'd probably need to be cremated in full hi-vis gear and have attended all the relevant courses on being dead ;)
:laughabovepost:
I hope it's a long way off, unless I get infirm or senile............oh, bugger, I'm already there :doh:
Seriously, I live on my own and have compiled a file for my relatives giving details of everything of relevance e.g. will, house documents, car documents, where the money is (Rails of Sheffield :D), insurance policies etc with a notes page at the front of the file.
Note 1 - cancel all my pre-orders with Rails or you'll be getting packages through the post for the next 2 years! :laugh:
A cheery topic for a dreary Friday afternoon! My dad died on Christmas morning in 2010 and after Boxing day I went to the local council offices to register his death. Due to council holidays there was only one person in the registrar's department. When I was eventually dealt with this bossy boots woman asked me (in a Basil Fawlty manner) if I'd made an appointment. I told her " I didn't know he was going to die" . The woman's manner changed from cold to ***** cold. Happy days!
ps I was arranging the funeral and at the local crematorium you only get 3 tunes played. I wanted one of them to be "The Panzerlied" from the Battle of the Bulge movie, one of my dad's favourite films but was over-ruled by the rest of the family. For may own funeral I don't want any of this "sad loss"', "greatly missed " guff, just someone to say good ***** riddance !. And no football shirts or colourful clothes which seems to be a la mode these days. Black suits, black ties white shirts and black shoes.
My will states that I am to be cremated (Most of my organs are shot anyway), my ashes to be put in the nearest dustbin (This is true, it is in my will) and everyone to have a great party at my expense, it won't be big because I am not leaving much!
Peter.
A friend of mine is a guard on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway and they get (and grant) requests to put ashes in the firebox of steam locos. Sounds like a good idea to me. A last free ride. :D
Quote from: Malc on January 31, 2014, 01:10:15 PM
A friend of mine is a guard on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway and they get (and grant) requests to put ashes in the firebox of steam locos. Sounds like a good idea to me. A last free ride. :D
The ultimate footplate experience! ;D
Quote from: Malc on January 31, 2014, 01:10:15 PM
A friend of mine is a guard on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway and they get (and grant) requests to put ashes in the firebox of steam locos. Sounds like a good idea to me. A last free ride. :D
now is that a cinder in your eye, or old uncle harry having the last laugh as you look out the open drop light on his celebration journey :'(.
Quote from: BobB on January 31, 2014, 12:07:09 PM
In the same vain I thought a no fuss cremation and scatter the ashes on my favorite railway line (between Hook and Basingstoke).
The Basingstoke end has a footpath running along behind The Hampshire Clinic where you could scatter the ashes from the cutting top-----when the wind is in the right direction.
Between Old Basing and Newnham there a several isolated bridges that you could scatter them from.
Whether it is legal or not I have no idea, but its a nice idea
Quote from: Malc on January 31, 2014, 01:10:15 PM
A friend of mine is a guard on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway and they get (and grant) requests to put ashes in the firebox of steam locos. Sounds like a good idea to me. A last free ride. :D
Or getting you prepared for the heat down below >:D :smiley-laughing: :smiley-laughing: :smiley-laughing:
cheers John.
Nothing like the Morbid Express :uneasy:
Two of our members (that I know of) have passed away unexpectedly in the last 12 months and the Grim Reaper can take any one of us at any time. Obviously I'll be beyond caring if it happens to me but I'd like to think I've taken as much stress/strain out of the situation for my relatives/friends.
Apart from that, there is always a 'graveyard humour' side to many folks wishes :D
Must admit I laughed out loud at Peter's wish for his ashes to be chucked in the dustbin :smiley-laughing:
As a corollary to this: What will happen to our layouts after we depart?
My wife and I have had this discussion a couple of times and come to the conclusion that, ultimately (unfortunately), most model railway layouts tend to be dumped/scrapped after the departure of the builder. That's probably what will happen to my 'creations', although as one of them i of the 'micro' variety, it might survive.
The unfortunate fact is that layouts are very specific entities, and ultimately of interest mainly (sometimes only) to their 'creator'. The 'children' are rarely as interested as the parent, and most spouses have little real interest in what has been built. As widows/widower also tend to down-size their accommodation as they get older, ultimately the layout has to go.
So what happens to the layout? It can't be run, it can't be given away; it simply has no 'friend' to keep it 'alive'.
It can be stored, but for what ultimate purpose, and the local MR club will probably not be interested (they have their own layout/s that they have created).
So......?
It's worth considering.
Any thoughts?
A story to liven up what is, here in Yorkshire anyway, a miserable afternoon.
In the 60's and 70's I was a keen and moderately successful racing cyclist, riding mostly time trials in and around the south of the country. My favourite events were those based on the old A4 [the Bath Road] which used to finish by turning off the A road up the lane leading to Pangbourne village. The finishing line was about two miles from the main road and parking facilities were provided in an adjacent field where a character called Ron Mellett used to sell tea and food to shattered cyclists. Over the years the place became almost hallowed ground in cycling circles particularly as record times were regularly posted in events based on the course. I'd decided to have my ashes scattered in "Ron Mellets Field" even though, after moving to God's Own County in the 1970's, I'd raced only occasionally and rarely returned to the south.
On a business trip to Berkshire in the 1990's I decide to drive north via "The Lane" to check my proposed final resting place. I turned off the old A4 and the memories flooded back and I was once again riding the final two miles of a 100 mile event, desperately trying to urge tired legs into one last effort. The bubble of nostalgia was rudely burst when I realised that the sacred turf was no longer and my dying wish would only be realised by a highly dangerous, and definitely illegal, foray onto the central reservation of the M4!
They say you should never go back. I went to see the house I was born in, only to end up on a Morrison's car park.
Quote from: cycletrak9 on January 31, 2014, 05:24:59 PM
A story to liven up what is, here in Yorkshire anyway, a miserable afternoon.
In the 60's and 70's I was a keen and moderately successful racing cyclist, riding mostly time trials in and around the south of the country. My favourite events were those based on the old A4 [the Bath Road] which used to finish by turning off the A road up the lane leading to Pangbourne village. The finishing line was about two miles from the main road and parking facilities were provided in an adjacent field where a character called Ron Mellett used to sell tea and food to shattered cyclists. Over the years the place became almost hallowed ground in cycling circles particularly as record times were regularly posted in events based on the course.
Ah yes, and in those days you would probably felt me swearing and cursing at your backs as I/we tried to get though that part of the A4 and the lane to Pangbourne to visit relatives
Being an avid attender at local auction houses, there are often either layouts for sale, or boxes of trains, buildings and other oddments like trees, (from dismantled layouts, perhaps). I imagine these have been disposed of by grieving relatives. Strangely, these have always been either OO or O, never seen any N!
Goodness knows what will happen to my layout as no one else in the family is interested in railways. The only stipulation in my will is that all rolling stock be sold off and the proceeds given to Help 4 Heroes
Quote from: jonclox on January 31, 2014, 07:27:49 PM
Quote from: cycletrak9 on January 31, 2014, 05:24:59 PM
Ah yes, and in those days you would probably felt me swearing and cursing at your backs as I/we tried to get though that part of the A4 and the lane to Pangbourne to visit relatives
Almost certainly not, Jonclox. The races I did were time trials where the riders start at one minute intervals and ride unpaced. At worst you might have had to get past two cyclists, one having caught the other.
I've decided I'm going to be buried at sea :hmmm:
my wife says she can't wait to dance on my grave :smiley-laughing:
seriously, the railway's sorted, my 5yr old grandson is mad on it :thumbsup:
I'm keeping all the boxes and paperwork (+ an xls) of locos, rolling stock and decent RTP buildings so Other Half know what things are and can sell.
Doubt if anything on a permanent layout would be worth anything so may go on here!
Not that I'm planning on leaving just yet! :wave:
Dave G
Quote from: cycletrak9 on January 31, 2014, 09:29:35 PM
Quote from: jonclox on January 31, 2014, 07:27:49 PM
Quote from: cycletrak9 on January 31, 2014, 05:24:59 PM
Ah yes, and in those days you would probably felt me swearing and cursing at your backs as I/we tried to get though that part of the A4 and the lane to Pangbourne to visit relatives
Almost certainly not, Jonclox. The races I did were time trials where the riders start at one minute intervals and ride unpaced. At worst you might have had to get past two cyclists, one having caught the other.
My apologies then.
I do remember the road being blocked with what seemed like hundreds of cyclists either waiting to start, just finished or even just milling around many weekends tho
Just think what will happen to your layout when you die. Someone will come along and promise your widow to cherish it like you did - then get it home and pick out the points - and take the rest up the tip. Kind of like Beeching now I come to think of it.
:( When I die I would hope that my 3year old grandson will be old enough to appreciate my layout as he is train mad but I` m afraid he might not be old enough by then :'(
Quote from: jonclox on February 01, 2014, 09:54:08 AM
:( When I die I would hope that my 3year old grandson will be old enough to appreciate my layout as he is train mad but I` m afraid he might not be old enough by then :'(
You hang in there Jon, no sense in leaving early.
My good lady lost her ex 14 years ago in a car crash, the same year she lost her father too. 4 years ago her eldest daughter passed away aged only 24. So she likes to have things organised for unforeseen events.
We are starting to get some things sorted, like getting married this year, and sorting wills out. She asked me last week what I'd want to happen to my models if anything were to happen to me. Kind of took me by surprise really, I'm only 42...
My kids aren't interested in railways, I just hope my 9wk old grandson gets into trains, coz I'd hate to think of all my hard earned models ending up in a charity shop or something. Not that I have anything against charity shops, I support the hospice that looked after Kelly in her last few months, it just seems such a shame when you spend your life building something up for it all to be of no interest to your loved ones.
Still, gives us years of enjoyment, and that's what matters...
Cheers, Timmo
To know what will happen to your locos and rolling stock when you die you only have to look at the faces of people on Antiques Roadshow when they are told how much grannies heirloom handed down through five generations is worth - how quick can I convert it into the price of a boozed out of my mind holiday in Loret de Mar!!
Quote from: jonclox on February 01, 2014, 09:49:29 AM
Quote from: cycletrak9 on January 31, 2014, 09:29:35 PM
Quote from: jonclox on January 31, 2014, 07:27:49 PM
Quote from: cycletrak9 on January 31, 2014, 05:24:59 PM
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My apologies then.
I do remember the road being blocked with what seemed like hundreds of cyclists either waiting to start, just finished or even just milling around many weekends tho
My turn to apologise Jonclox -I'd thought you were talking about bunches on the open road. Yes, there certainly would have been large crowds around the finish, particularly for such events as the "Bath Road 100". This emphasises the popularity of the course and the reverence in which it was held and underlines my reasons for choosing it as my final resting place.