The LNER Encyclopedia

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all forum members!

And I hope you all had a happy Hanukkah and a delightful Diwali!

Thanks also to everyone for letting the forums take off this year. I have further plans for the site as a whole - watch this space over the next few weeks.

Christmas in the US? Well we're currently planning a quiet Christmas, with the exception of the beagle (still less than a year old) who has already destroyed a number of Christmas tree ornaments. We haven't seen him actually do it, but they dye his tongue and paws a bright pink colour!
With a forecast of possible precipitation and overnight/morning temperatures below freezing, a white Christmas is still not out of the question at 32deg North...

Hoping Santa brings all the trains you want...

Richard

Likewise from Scotland, a Happy Christmas and Hogmanay to all admirers of the LNER.

We won't be getting a white Christmas here; but we lost large portions of the West Highland Line a couple of weeks ago in very heavy rainfall (it's still closed at the moment, though the weather has improved). I suggested canning the debris and selling it as "Railway Soup - Extra Chunky", but there were some product traceability issues.

Dame Bullhead and I have 2 new cats, who have never seen a Christmas tree before and are spending a disproportionate amount of time in it, up it, round it, and transporting the decorations from it to random locations throughout the house, including their litter tray. I've attached a picture of them (the kittens, that is, not the decorations) - the orange one is called Spitfire; the black & white one is called Big Al Hercules.

Xmas greetings from Australia also.

We certainly won't be having a white xmas unless its from the smoke of bushfires. Its 36C here in Adelaide today but the weather forcast for monday is 29C.

I'll be sitting down to xmas dinner with my inlaws as I have just recently got married we'll be having the traditional Australian xmas BBQ with Snapper (a large deep water fish), cray fish, prawns and my favourite kangaroo steaks.

Early in the new year my wife & I will be going to Tasmania to vist my parents who retired over there earlier this year.

Hope everyone has a great holiday and I look forward to reading all your interesting and informative posts again next year.

Bullhead wrote:We won't be getting a white Christmas here; but we lost large portions of the West Highland Line a couple of weeks ago in very heavy rainfall (it's still closed at the moment, though the weather has improved). I suggested canning the debris and selling it as "Railway Soup - Extra Chunky", but there were some product traceability issues.

These 2 attachments show the spectacular effects of the heavy rain a little further south, on the (ex-LNER) Glasgow North Electric network at Dalmuir (I think you have to log in for them to be visible, but it's worth the effort):

My last day in Houston was like that (Tropical Storm Allison in 2001). I was stuck on a closed Interstate for a few hours and the journey to Dallas took over twice as long as usual. I later saw the pictures of US-59 "up to the over-bridges" in water.

No White Christmas for us this time - the rain arrived early, and we won't be seeing freezing temperatures in the next few days.

Merry Christmas!

Richard

Hope you all had a good Christmas,I did and its not quite over yet!
Thanks to Richard for such an excellent site,it's been really useful and enjoyable and I'm not logged on for a year yet!Look forward to what '07 brings,best wishes to all.Yes,those photos are just incredible Bullhead!