Broithe

A friend, with a more-than-amateur interest in railways, has been on holiday in Devon. He's just posted some pictures, so I have stolen them. They might be of interest to anyone with an L&B obsession? Apparently, there may be some more to come - I think he's waiting to get the film back from the chemist.

Try not to park on a level crossing - especially if you actually opened the line... https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-54234207

Reminds me of a project that I got roped into years ago - a Duple Commander IV on a Leopard. It was in a barn just outside Dover and we had a couple of trips down to work on it for a few days, getting it in a fit state for the 200 mile trip back here. I remain amazed that we got away with it. In the end, he didn't proceed very far with the project and it was moved on. I last saw it when we left it in a local haulage yard, as seen in the last picture. He may have had a soft spot for this sort of thing, as the one on the left was already there, but I don't know anything about that one I will always remember changing the radiator hoses....

Mention in "Exhibition Memories" of Sidro's allotment has reminded me of another thing about him. Strange traditions could become very important, yet remain mysterious to outsiders. In those days, smoking in the workshops was still normal and Sidro, being the elegant Spaniard that he was, always used a cigarette holder, to avoid possible nicotine stains. These holders were hand-carved by himself, from a suitable branch - he kept a small supply seasoning for future use. He had a new one every year and it would appear about half-way through Lent. The day of Sidro's new cigarette holder was defined to be The First Day of Spring and word would soon get round when it appeared. One year, I happened to mention to someone that the Great Event had been witnessed earlier that day (it was the chap with the hydraulic pump above) and he seemed very disappointed and depressed by this news. I asked him why and he told me that he still had to finish fixing his lawn mower. This confused me until he told me that he was obliged to cut his grass on The First Day of Spring - actually obliged to, although he couldn't really explain why...

When I had a proper job, there was a chap in the factory, which backed onto the WCML, who had come over as a child during the Spanish Civil War. Sidro, as he was known, was a very interesting character in a great many ways, but one of his major interests was his allotment, which bordered the other side of the track, about half a mile away. Over the years, the odd plant had 'escaped' over the fence and the 'additional area in use' eventually reached right to the edge of the ballast. One day, a driver I knew, who lived about twenty miles away, just happened to mention that he would be weedkilling through the town in a couple of night's time. I asked him if he knew about Sidro's allotment, as it was around this time of year and there was a harvest to lose. He told me that he'd done that route a few times and there was a "pencilled note in the book" about it and everybody was very careful to miss it. I look forward to criticising a layout one day.

Tell people it's weathering - black areas on aircraft are rarely fully 'flat' in reality.

A simple matter - to turn up at the MRSI in a suitable regalia, surely?

There's a couple of pictures of a 'single' at Ballybrophy on eBay now. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ORIGINAL-COLOUR-SLIDE-GM168-1645-LIMERICK-BALLYBROPHY-AT-BALLYBROPHY-2-4-96/402434640232 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ORIGINAL-COLOUR-SLIDE-GM168-BALLYBROPHY-LIMERICK-BALLYBROPHY-IRELAND-2-4-96/402434640221

In the Old Testament days, there were a great many prophets who maintained the faith of the True Believers - MIR, Silver Fox and many others. But, it took the revelations of St Patrick to convert many more to the faith. The 141/181s and the Cravens showed many of those of us with a weaker faith that they simply needed to follow the correct path to salvation.

Without the selfless divine intervention of St Patrick, and him saving his four, now five (?), apostles from the wilderness, we would not be where we are today. I remember seeing my first 141 - it was on a DC Kits stand at Stafford Exhibition, at the back - it was really the orangeness that I spotted first - I had gone to get some bits for a chap I'd built a layout for - I had no idea anything so exotic as an actual Irish model would even exist - I bought it and was astounded (still am) at how good it was.

Generally the same, but different. I did notice, during the multiple cock-ups of me trying to put the petrol station picture on, that my ability to edit a post afterwards has gone, though. The 'Notification' bell is less prominent when it's 'alive', it used to be 'coloured in', now it just gets a tiny number next to it. Otherwise, @BosKonaycan put his feet up for another year.

At last...

This undated picture is in Drumbeg, Co Down. Possibly late 1960s, based on the car* and what looks like no motorcycle helmet. * Sunbeam Alpine? The picture was missing, but I don't seem able to edit any more - hopefully it will be here now.

Ah, so that's the mysterious 'forthcoming product announcement' - tractors.

There's always clues in these posts... I'm predicting buildings, starting with the Central Bank.

I can't find any sign of activity on the rails, but:- Edit - This picture may actually be from the Big Island. The 'Lobitos' name is still in use for a tyre depot near Chester, presumably on/near the site of a similar operation to the Larne one.

I could imagine vast cattle trains crossing the pampas, entirely self powered via a conveyor system, leading to a digester wagon behind the engine...

It is probably more efficient to burn the methane in an internal combustion engine, rather than using it to boil water for a steam engine. There are examples already running - https://www.renewableenergymagazine.com/biogas/scandinavia-boasts-world-s-first-biogaspowered-train

The explosive risks seem to be quite well contained these days, but I do remember this - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbeystead_disaster - happening. I've always been surprised that the general drains don't cause "issues" more than they do - I always wince when I see a dog-end flicked into a grid... "Some lads I knew" once set light to a cess pit with a concrete slab 'roof', with two rows of four holes - it took us, sorry, them, hours to finally put it out. Every time it looked over, it would erupt from a different vent.

Methane harvesting is growing. Sewage plants have done it for many decades and it's been spreading(!) into agriculture in recent years.

And the possibilities of IEDs. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-25922514

Pempoul. And this one, whose name I forget. Two excavators and a wagon, moving a pile of gravel around. Enthralling to watch.