Of Christmas and commerce

19th December 2021

Christmas comes but once a year

Oh hell, I think it's nearly here.

I can't believe that in a week Christmas will be 'over' for another year. It steals up on me and I'm so used to the media starting 'Christmas celebrations' earlier and earlier in the autumn that it no longer really registers until, with a blinding flash, I realise how much I've got to get done between now and 'the day' and how short December is with that week taken out. Reality kicks in and panic ensues. I'm about there now.

Talking of reality, I find myself saddened by many people's commercial ignorance these days. OK, when I was at Sheffield Poly I did Business Studies, so I ought to know the basics, but when I joined TH, my old boss passed me a book on Incoterms to gen up on. While Britain has been in the EU this has been redundant information - (Incoterms? International commecial terms, such as FOB (Free on Board), FAS (Free at Side), LOC (Letter of Credit) and many more) - but with our trade returning rather to what it was like before, those terms are going to come up again, and I get the feeling that many of our commercial execs today aren't up to it.

Here's a couple of examples. Earlier this week I placed an order on a supplier I hadn't dealt with before and naturally I expected that it would be a pro-forma invoice. But their quotation had specifically quoted 'COD' as the payment terms. COD is of course 'cash on delivery' which is not the same thing. Having placed my order they sent me a pro-forma, but this too was citing COD as payment terms. I paid but pointed this out, and the reply (from the lady in the accounts office) was that the Directors had recently decided to impose payment before manufacture but they hadn't got around to updating the stationery. Now, given that their stationery was clearly software generated, it should only have required a minor edit to the template, but I got the feeling that really they didn't know the implications of offer and acceptance under contract law. On the other hand, a large business wants to place an order on me and asked me for a copy of my letterhead. This is not unusual, in years gone by it would establish that you had some stature and for some time in the 70s and 80s you were required to carry information on your letterhead which for limited companies meant your registered office, company registation number, and a list of Directors, but that was dropped a long time back. Nevertheless I got asked and forwarded a pdf of my letterhead with a big red 'SPECIMEN' across it to prevent it being misused. (Yes, I know you could easily remove that word if you wished to use it fraudulently but I figure that anyone asking for an electronic copy (which could be generated in minutes) isn't that bright to begin with.) Anyway, the potential customer comes back with a 'thank you, but can you please provide us with your company number?'. OK, this person has a title of 'Senior Sourcing Lead - xxx Goods' and faced with a letterhead that reads Pete Briddon - not Pete Briddon plc or Pete Briddon Ltd just Pete Briddon - proceeds to ask for my company registration number. Do they really understand commerce? I am used to receptionists asking what firm am I calling from - I put on a special voice and reply 'Me!' - but surely this Senior Sourcing Lead (aka Senior Buyer) understands business structures? Nothing for it but to point out that I am not a company and do not therefore have a company number (remind you of Patrick McGoohan in The Prisoner? It did me) - I almost added that Dunn & Bradstreet have a number for me but as I don't know what it is I decided not to, but merely gave a short, and I hope tactful, lecture about being a sole trader.

My, that's a few things off my chest already. So, back to Monday, and I was up first thing and dashed down to Quainton Road to meet up with Adam and Ian. I'd aimed for 09.00 latest but was late off and delayed on the way so figured as I rolled up at about 09.25 that I'd get some ribbing but to my surprise I was there first and the lorry didn't arrive until about quarter to ten. I was in Quainton Road a few weeks ago with the Chatham Peckett and on that occasion we had had to make up a butt-end ramp, i.e. the trailer needs to be placed fairly accurately so that the rails we carry span the gap and can be fishplated to their siding end (with its buffer stop removed). This time we had a different tractor - not the usual 8 x 4 but a 6 x 2 tag axle but even this has a slightly poorer turning circle than the 6 x 2 we came in with last time. Thus I had expected to make up a longer ramp than on our previous visit but I was faced with a problem. I come armed with a 100ft tape measure and surveyors sprays, but spraying a line on to water isn't very effective and the loading area was a succession of large puddles. We tried Plan B, get it somewhere near, put two rails on to the end of their siding and overlay our ramp complete with tips.

With the loco's owner riding the handbrake (so it didn't run ahead of our winch) it went quite smoothly and by half-eleven we were backing off site, bearing the rolling chassis and boiler of what I am assured is the oldest Barclay loco surviving in the UK, and 130 years old at that. I shan't say where it has gone as the site is private but access to it taxed Adam's usual skill and good humour, nonetheless I estimated an hour and a half to get in and unload and went pretty much to schedule, finished and departed before twilight.

The rest of the week has been a succesion of waiting in for deliveries or dashing out to suppliers. That included a day trip to Caerphilly to collect a number of Enerpac-type jacking heads from an auction. As only one has a hydraulic coupling on I suspect they are all u/s, but by having a selection, we can sort 4 out and with a pump, manifold and equal length hoses, lift a loco and from the system pressure, ascertain its gross weight. So much for the plan, but for now I think one will go to our favourite hydraulic cylinder specialists in Sheffield for assessment.

This weekend however has seen us back at the shed and getting ready for a visit from a crane. The yard had to be shunted to bring various things in to place, including one of the German flat wagons and especially the ex-East Kent EE D1197. This loco is to have its power unit lifted out, which means not only undoing the casing top, but sliding the nose cone forward (on EE's the nose cone is the complete radiator assembly) and releasing all the fuel lines, air hoses, drives, cables and mechanical connections.

First thing though was to remove the 'vac fit' which comprised a 2inch pipe from the front, down the side of the loco at casing level to a dmu valve in the cab - no exhauster nor pipe to the rear. Big Mak made short order of the casing bolts (aided by the fact that they are Whitworth) and some heavy chiselling to the hinges released the side sliding casing doors. Then slowly we disconnected things like temperature thermocouples, wiring conections, air inlets and exhausts. Andrew cleared the cab floor so that he could disconnect the propshaft from the converter but by now we were out of daylight so terminated the day. First thing Sunday a shunt with Tom resumed, with two wagons coming down to be loaded or unloaded so as to clear a 'landing area' for the crane.

I returned to 1197, working on the bolts around thre nose cone, but several of those inside have corroded heads that no socket known to man would engage with, so will have to be gassed. At the back of the engine bay, four fluid connections go through a manifold on top of the rear engine mount, and having no luck in getting two of them to unscrew, I put a hacksaw through the flexible hoses. Somewhat to my irritation, both of them started to dribble diesel - well one was definitely gas oil and the other very similar - despite the isolation valves being screwed down tight. It wasn't just a pipe-full. I rigged up a temporary container to catch the worst: Eventually Andrew joined me and we capped off the lines higher up to prevent further leakage.

As daylight fell we were shunting things back with Tom, when suddenly the engine died off again. This time Andrew was there to hear it, and having renewed filters it clearly wasn't either filter blockage nor lift pump. This was evidently a pump or governor issue and reminded me afterwards of the failures we'd had with 14901 where it would shut down for no apparent reason and would either re-start next day as if nothing was wrong or not go at all and require another visit to the pump-smith. Tonight after a couple of minutes Tom condescended to re-start - albeit reluctantly. Another complication we could have done without.

Now, next Saturday, as I am sure you will have noticed, is Christmas Day and Andrew tells me we'll be at the shed. But Sunday, Covid permitting, Steph and I are off to collect grandson so whether I'll be writing up the next edition on Sunday 26th or Monday 27th I don't yet know. But of course you'll all have better things to do anyway than sit and read my ramblings, like walking off excess helpings of Christmas pud, or taking Lateral Flow tests before visiting the in-laws. Nonetheless Andrew and I wish you all the best of such Christmasses that you can manage under the circumstances, and pop in when you can for there will be more. See ya then.