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Broithe

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Everything posted by Broithe

  1. That was a particularly good month.
  2. I managed to catch it better on the return service - not sure if there was a catering trolley onboard, the steamed-up windows reduced visibility of the interior. At least the guards turned up to check for ticket evaders. Good shot of the coupling there - for those interested in modelling this arrangement.
  3. Getting ready to stroll into town, I just heard the approach of the 10:15 service in time to grab a picture.
  4. They has two exhibitions that I know of, and went to. The first was at the old North School in Abbeyleix and the second was in the Killeshin Hotel in Port Laoise.
  5. I was required to go to the Wednesbury IKEA a few times in the last century. I always had an urge to see if I could spend the night, undetected, in one of those high-level beds that they did. I've only ever 'bought' off Amazon with vouchers that I was given and had no cash alternative for. It seemed the least of the evils, rather than leave them with the value.
  6. I do have one, technically speaking, but it's not really very mobile - it hasn't been out of the room it's in now since the first week of November, when I moved it from the room it was in before then. I only really keep it as the bank wants to send me "security codes" via a separate means now and then. The provider moans at me now and then and I am required to send a text or make a call, to ensure that I am not dead. I have a rule that it will have a minimum balance of £10 on it, in case I do need to use it at some point and I don't want it running out on me then. I have used about £2 of the current balance in the last two years, mostly making 'proof of life' calls. It is a Nokia 3510 and is still using the original battery.
  7. Snakes on a train... https://www.rte.ie/news/2024/0312/1437515-cork-snake/
  8. Is it this sort of thing you're after? https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0026/4984/9913/files/A_Class_DCC_functionality.pdf?v=1603462537 If so, then go to the chip in question and click on it, then click on 'click to download functions'.
  9. Do make sure that the relief valve actually operates. It is not unknown for them to stick down and then 'something else' might let go first, if it comes to that. I remember the excitement of a stuck-down relief valve going off on a small boiler, when we got to three times the intended blow-off pressure, due to a confusion over documentation using every unit known to man, except what was actually on the pressure gauge...
  10. It's like sitting next to a weirdo on a bus. It's all working the same for me as I seem to remember it in the past, but that is no guarantee on absolute similarity...
  11. So, I went out again today to check another walk I spotted that takes you round on the west side of the old main road. This affords you a view of the remaining (and additional?) station buildings. A few yards of a detour from the posted route gives you a good view of the Station house. The path takes you from the gate of the Protestant Church, down onto the track-bed under the skew bridge on the R435 road to Rathdowney & Templemore. From here on, the trees stop you getting any better view of the back of the building than this. From there, my route back to the hotel involved traversing a bit of new boardwalk at the south end of the bog, having crossed back to the east of the old main road again. This took me fairly close to the double-arch bridge from Sunday's walk and, as things were a good bit drier, I diverted to there and got a picture of the east side, largely submerged in ivy, and details of the impressive condition of the stonework, having stood, largely unaffected, in the middle of a bog for 160 years. Also, whilst doing reconnaissance on Street View to assess various entry/exit points that I would be using today, I realised that my picture of the 'gated bridge' alongside the main road in the first post does not make it obvious that there are a few yards of track still protruding from it. And, by standing in the 'right place', you can effect a reasonable lining-up of the picture with the remaining buildings. This works better than it might, I think, considering that the picture is presumably taken from the top of the bridge. Finally, the tea/coffee/cakes arrangement does pay some homage to the reason why it's there.
  12. That situation also exists on some early uPVC frames. You can get bolt-pins which will stop the door coming out with the hinge pin removed - and interlocking hinges that have the same function.
  13. Talk of security matters reminds me of an almost accidental feature which has turned out to be very useful. When we drew up the plans for the house here, there was a bathroom and an adjacent shower room, both had toilets in and, with my father being an obsessive gardener, I suggested that the shower room could have a door to the outside as well. This would avoid him dragging mud all through the every all day. This proved to be a good idea, but he developed a wish to keep the door locked, as the garden was quite large and the door wouldn't always be under surveillance, especially after the shed was built. This meant that he started carrying a key, which, if dropped, would disappear for ever. I picked up a push-button combination lock and fitted that, so a physical key was no longer necessary. It has actually become apparent that it is an even better idea than I thought. If I'm leaving the premises without the car or an intention to lock the bike somewhere, than I have no need to take any keys at all, and have no likelihood of losing them... The code can even be entered in the dark, as long as you can remember it and the button layout. It also means that, should I be away, I have a simple means of giving someone the means to get in on my behalf. I did fit a few key-boxes for people over the years. They would almost always want their birthday as the code. I would point out that, if they wanted other people to get in, neighbours, etc., then expecting people to remember that had an element of risk. Most of these boxes are ten-figure panels and I would suggest they actually used a 'shape' - 1560 (the corners), 1267(the top four), etc. this makes it much easier for different people to enter the code, and it can be done in the pitch dark, if you can find the box.
  14. I was once asked to get into a shed, after the owner had clicked the padlock with the keys still inside. I suggested that he go and put the kettle on, whilst I pondered the matter - when he came out with the tea, I handed him the keys - he searched for the 'damage that I might have done', in order to get in, but could find none. I had just unscrewed the hinges, opened the door, using the lock side as the hinge, retrieved the keys and put the hinge screws back in. He was a bit 'security conscious' and was horrified by the ease of this method. I went back later and put a bolt through the hinges, with lock-nuts on the inside, after I persuaded him to get a second key. This made him happy again, so I didn't point out all the other ways I could have got in - the windows, for example, were fitted from the outside and just held in with a few panel pins, etc...
  15. I had a clockwork Super-8 cine camera. Is that what the youths use to make these "Tik-Tok videos"..?
  16. Sunday walking excursions have been curtailed by atmospheric conditions lately, but a quick walk was squeezed in today. Going a bit further south along the old railway. Things get a bit moister as you proceed along the track, but it's still passable, even after a wet year... At one point, at the southern end, where the track is on a ten foot embankment, I spotted a glimpse of stonework through the vegetation. Further investigation revealed it to be an immaculate twin-arched bridge - in the middle of nowhere, but as good as the day it was built. It seems a rather elaborate thing to place in the middle of a bog. I presume that it was there for the purposes of the De Vesci estate.
  17. Nostalgia used to be a lot better years ago. I don't think there's much point in it now.
  18. Toast done with a toasting fork + butter and local honey. This is from the time of using the shed to isolate during the early days of the Great Plague. I also did cheese on toast, but the cheese bit was done under the grill on the gas cooker.
  19. Stanley Waterford 104 Mk II.
  20. I have a vague idea that there was a layout in a carriage at Crewe 10/15 years ago. This could be 'real life or is it just fantasy'? I will ask the person who was there with me, he's (fairly) reliable...
  21. Until late last year, the shed was not considered to be part of her responsibilities, but, with the door open all day in the warmer weather, it was decided to check the internal area as well. Before that point, she would just sit on the doorstep, protecting the open entrance from unauthorised incursions. So far, she has proved to be well-behaved - probably better than me. Occasionally, other cats do venture into the garden, but they are not treated as colleagues, or even welcomed as visitors. As for the smell issue, she seems able to put up with me...
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