There was plenty to see at Sheffield yesterday, tonight a slide show after a quick look at the Derby bus station model which will initially be displaying Stagecoach models We've just had our weekly skype with cousins Tina and Max in New Zealand - its been hard though to focus as we got some day family news through while have dinner this evening and still a bit numbed but we'll get on to stuff in the morning. Not that many orders now, the great lock down rushes seem to have finished. It will be time for gardening and getting outstanding house maintenance jobs done. The electricians are coming to sort out the flood damaged system next Friday as in 5 weeks since the flood.
New DVD releases already on the PMP shop, Sheffield was quiet but interesting with quite a few buses in new First Group id for Sheffield plus a couple of the heritage buses seen. More stagecoach appearing here in their latest colours. I'm going to make a start on the Bus Spot Ultra Wolverhampton this week. Trucks on the menu next week if weather suitable. I'm still trying to get more digital downloads available, it takes quite a time uploading the files. Our latest DVD releases, trailers on Youtube , I'll put them on the PMP shop tonight. I've uploaded photos on the latest Amazon shop update. Today I was filming in Liverpool, I met someone who knew me within minutes of starting to film. I've downloaded the video and hope to get it edited this evening. I need to check out the weather for tomorrow which is planned to be Sheffield The apron markings going on my Derby bus station, a bit of modelling compromise to get the bays and numbers to match but even looking at aerial photos of the real thing they have left it far too tight for drivers and it would even look silly in OO scale with the bus hardly fitting the bay. Next the Buses Only sign, Arrow for straight on lane. layover area, fences, see if I can get ready built modern pedestrian crossing. I've edit both the Oswestry truck DVDs and no time to get covers done but I'll leave the trailers loading on Youtube while I have dinner. I also had time to load several films on the shop at digital downloads. I have also added items to the Amazon shop but need to add the cover photo to each, it all takes up time. Feeling a bit like I've over done it. I've suspended Amazon in particular, orders going to Scotland as two have reported non receipt of DVDs, strange as everything else got through come flood and pandemic. Filming this week, all buses, tomorrow Monday Liverpool, Tuesday Sheffield and Friday Nottingham if the weather outlook doesn't change! Masses of trailers for the Municipal location bus DVDs went on Youtube last night. We have already sold a couple of this brand new release which compliments the other similar volume of an earlier era. Some shots I used when compiling the cover for the new municipals DVD Still a good way to go, kerbing will make loading docks look smarter fiddly job best done in morning when I'm fresh. Lots of hassle printing Scale Model scenery downloads, found that opening the file in Chrome is a much better way forward than Adobe which my printer seems to dislike. Even the drainage channels are on and buffer blocks at the stops. The road markings will be tomorrow ( well its a thought) . We now have two pairs of Reed Buntings almost resident, they have been here three years now but we have lost the Bull Finches. The Siskins were feeding with the Gold Finches , it was perishing cold and windy. There will be a massive upload of UK bus archive clips on Youtube this evening. Hope to edit the two Oswestry truck films tomorrow, to do list grows, house cleaning, tidy offices, file photos, family history work required, put out yet more feed for birds..... I won't be tackling anything quite so challenging as this volume on British municipal bus operators which survived nationalisation, PTEs and then deregulation in 1986. Much of the material is early video so variable quality but it lasts just over 2 hours so my blood sweat and tears are thrown in for extra good value. I've just got the Wolverhampton bus spot ultra to go and I'm sticking to the present day for a while, weather permitting. If and when I access any more archives to scan I will try to use what I can, I've a few ideas still around, regulars will know about my series on the history of the post dereg bus groupings which has turned out to be more complicated than I envisaged. Our credit card terminal had died on us and 123 Send the outfit that supplies them were sending a replacement, I don't think in all the years one has actually been brand new. Anyway they were delivering between 9-5 today only when I switched the computer on there was a message sent 7.05 am this morning telling us that it would be delivered at 7.30 ( at which time we were asleep). They never rand the bell and scuttled off, words followed. Anyway it will get sorted but it has been a couple of days of hassle with everything. Mandy commented that are we the only business that prides ourselves on service. One of our customers was on the phone to us at 21.45 last night, we have learned not to be surprised by such inconsiderate treatment it goes with the territory. Tonight's slide show continues with the truck film I did near Oswestry, hoping that I get the two films edited quickly and I can divert to other items on the never ending to do list. Also hoping that the weather next week gives me opportunities to film buses, there are lots of locations on my list before lock down ends, at least it is generally quiet and no kids about although the addicts still seem to be making themselves a nuisance. I shall finish with the local council who produce a leaflet with the days we should put out the many coloured bins, green garden waste was to restart today only it didn't, as they are all sitting at home doing nothing and getting paid it might have been nice to stick to what they have undertaken, I wonder how much it cost to send the information out, obviously a lot more than deciding to change it and not tell anyone. Our council and the neighbouring one are the worst you could imagine, unless of course you can tell us your stories. The bus station looks good with some backing paper, it took 4 attempts to find a stockist which had a shop which functioned. Then I can install the bus station, hoping to get more of the frilly bits on such as buffers, pavements and when they arrive railings. The alternating configuration of the boarding gates and other details mean compromises at inevitable when constructing a model from scratch. Siskin on the bird feeder at home when I got back from filming near Oswestry, these small birds together with Reed Buntings have made up the early morning shift many days during this cold snap until the spotted woodpecker and Goldfinches take over or the Chaffinches and Starlings vacuum up the ground feeder bird food. The weather was ideal, cold but then a few degrees minus is no challenge for my electric gloves and socks which saw me through the freezing morning no problem at all, got a coffee in the garage and topped the van up ready for better bus film conditions next week. Very busy now trying to get the film of municipal bus operators post deregulation finished, these compendium volumes take forever to compile, I hope you think the result warrants the effort! Just a small selection of the lorries today near Oswestry and Wrexham, very friendly drivers as usual, plenty of toots and thumbs up! Jobs on now for the rest of this week, dentist catch up after over a year being closed to check ups. A very chilly night in store for us. I tried to get the back drops for the next two dioramas ordered but it took 4 shops online before one worked , very little response , nobody seems interested I guess the volume of trade has made them complacent, never an attitude at PMP although it fell on deaf ears at 8.45 tonight that it might be a bit late to be ringing PMP, you can't win. The weather is proving very fickle for filming this week but all the outlooks seem to converge on this part of the world to be full sun tomorrow morning so I'm off to my spot near Wrexham but actually in Shropshire which has served us well over the years and always seems to produce a few good shots. I'm nearly ready to edit the DVD with post deregulation Municipal bus survivors, there are only two places that I can't cover Aberdare and Pontypridd the era is pre my video coverage in that part of the world but tempts me to take a look at Aberdare next time we are welcomed back to Wales. I'll put it together tomorrow night I shouldn't be late back from the lorry filming. Then it will be Bus Spot Ultra Wolverhampton on the assembly line. After that I hope that the weather will support more bus coverage in the present day. I got a lot more work done on the modern era bus station for layout two and based upon the new Derby facility. The passenger loading bays are fiddly to do and took ages. When the scene is finished and a load of buses inhabit it the blemishes shouldn't be too obvious. I tried it with some sky backdrop when I get it back on the shelf really looked the business. I can't find any models of the twin wall mounted LED lamps, perhaps I can hold off and wait or to I get the time to construct them. There will be a few bits of street furniture that might push current retail availability I've certainly .got through a stack of card and sticky back copy paper on this project. We did have some household things to do, went to pick our pills up at Holmes Chapel but they now have a hour shut at lunch time so the total run down the road was 90 minutes including some bits from Boots in Knutsford. When I've got the municipal film finished I'll use the material for a truck load of Youtube trailers. Meanwhile its a foretaste of Oswestry lorries which provide the slide show. Quite quiet on the DVD sales today, we are getting more as digital downloads, it might be that I need to concentrate time uploading more to this format. It was as forecast a gloomy day and very cold and breezy but it wasn't any loss as I thought tomorrow was going to be better suited to getting out filming but not so now, anyway I'm well on with the British Municipal Bus Operators in the video era as a companion to the last volume which covered the earlier stage pre PTE , NBC etc. It still takes a long time downloading on to the wediti9ng deck, about 40% now done. As you can see from the photo above I've also made progress with the Derby bus station model. The passengers doors are roughly laid out , I'll fix in position tomorrow then I can mark out the paving and the roofs . The long grey strip is fascia where trimming around the boarding points back on to.I had another bash at the windows which are very like the prototype now. The doors are nearly as per original although I've taken a couple of liberties but overall faithful to the design. When these are all fixed I can add the tarmac and get marking laid out, that's quite complex and there are several sets which cross each other. The bays also have numbers and a crash barrier, looks concrete like a tank trap, I might fabricate those from card, its a bit like the concrete crash barriers we now have on the motorways. We now have over 700 programmes available as digital downloads at just £8. I've refreshed the DVD list on the PMP site to include the many listings I did at the weekend. A few DVD orders came in today, a very mixed bag with lots of early titles which take a bit more effort as I may need to copy the copy and run off DVDs. Really it is all time, we went to Waitrose at Northwich, the floods are now well gone but we never got the expected call back from the electricians to get us back to normal as all the extension cables are a bit of a tripping hazard and fire risk. I managed to locate the new cine scanners which are very similar to the Chinese ones, these though are slightly less expensive and it seems are made in Germany, I haven't any scanning jobs on the go, I've put all the kit away pending more reels to go through, a rest from it isn't a bad thing, I think there are a few I need to put on the archive index. The roof is on the bus station, next the loading doors/bays and paving. Hopefully I can use standard components and mass manufacture them ready to install, it is such a vast project but looks pretty god so far. Its back in the cupboard to dry and set now, I'll give is the artist fixing spray when finished. I did some work on family history, annoying that although different sites and subscriptions have different sources to an extent but the only way to marge is to combine and end up with two of everyone and when you have a few thousand people it isn't a road you'd wish to go down. I did get some from My Heritage on to Mandy Hardy site on her dad's side but My Heritage is really a hateful hard to use effort compared with Ancestry but Ancestry is being outrun by the late comers and for what you have to pay is no longer really value unless you are just starting out. The weather is cold and breezy but no snow as yet. I do hope to get out filming a few times this week, the electric gloves and socks should see off the beast from the east. Mt cine scanner ( one of several) has expired, just packed in. Tirned it off last night won't turn on this morning. I'll have to see what Bristol cameras have in stock but no rush until I can get another batch of films up here to work on. We now have over 700 films from the PMP range on digital archive although we have 4500 plus some unedited archive material so not a job to be undertaken lightly. Well nearly dinner time, its very quiet this weekend on the DVD front, enjoying the rest! |
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