RMweb Premium DRS Crewe On A Mission Posted August 18, 2019 RMweb Premium Share Posted August 18, 2019 A brilliant set of photos Jim. Really atmospheric. I really like the original Freightliner livery and N&W Transport livery on the 66s. Have a brilliant two weeks off Jim. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold beast66606 Posted August 19, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 19, 2019 Have a good break Jim - thanks for sharing all you do 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Popular Post big jim Posted August 23, 2019 Author RMweb Gold Popular Post Share Posted August 23, 2019 Supposed to be 2 weeks off but I’ve got a weekend of work coming up doing some interesting stuff MOD last night crewe to Didcot via kineton, first time I’ve done the branch since I signed it 66712 at fenny waiting to go after running the train round Token for the branch Back at fenny Into Didcot (without the cooling towers!) rhen it was quicker to go into london Paddington and across to Euston than it was to wait for a train to oxford and onward to Birmingham and crewe! 345 unit in paddington Last time I was there last year this was all HSTs! Love em or hate em they look the part under the roof Over to Euston and home, possession tomorrow night near Macclesfield (again first train over there since signing it off) and then a couple of jobs combined Monday, one where I can wave at Newbryford as I pass his house and the 2nd half has him wishing he was in work on Monday 22 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium 45156 Posted August 24, 2019 RMweb Premium Share Posted August 24, 2019 12 hours ago, big jim said: and then a couple of jobs combined Monday, one where I can wave at Newbryford as I pass his house and the 2nd half has him wishing he was in work on Monday So you sign Blackburn - Hellifield so do you also sign the S&C? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold big jim Posted August 24, 2019 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted August 24, 2019 I sure do, managed to get it signed off with Colas about 6 months before I left 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium newbryford Posted August 24, 2019 RMweb Premium Share Posted August 24, 2019 1 hour ago, big jim said: I sure do, managed to get it signed off with Colas about 6 months before I left I can vouch for that..... 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold big jim Posted August 24, 2019 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted August 24, 2019 Says the bringer of the ice creams! The Monday job job I have is conducting the GBRf 50s between hellifield to Appleby which should be fun, hopefully it will be a nice sunny day 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Davexoc Posted August 24, 2019 RMweb Premium Share Posted August 24, 2019 8 minutes ago, big jim said: The Monday job job I have is conducting the GBRf 50s between hellifield to Appleby which should be fun, hopefully it will be a nice sunny day Over 30 years since I rode one on the mainline, have fun... Do you recognise this driver? Calvert Thursday with 66717, as it has been for a while.. 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold big jim Posted August 24, 2019 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted August 24, 2019 (edited) No, don’t recognise him, don’t tend to see or mingle with many ‘southern’ drivers i wouldnt mind a trip to calvert as I’ve not been there for a while and it’s due to have big changes happen soon in relation to HS2 and east west, from what I can make out the token hut will move from north of Aylesbury to Quainton road and the line north of there will effectively become one long siding with the ground frames at Calvert becoming hand points Edited August 24, 2019 by big jim 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Popular Post big jim Posted August 25, 2019 Author RMweb Gold Popular Post Share Posted August 25, 2019 Some from last night, top and tail ballast, crewe to cheadle hulme via Stafford 66718 on the rear 66767 up front to stafford Changed ends and away via stoke to cheadle including a 90 min wait at grande for 3 other ballasts from Basford hall to pass me, bit strange that I was the first to leave but the last to arrive on site, why I wasn’t last to leave Basford hall I don’t know! and this morning walking back to the car cement and class 50s tomorrow 20 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Popular Post big jim Posted August 26, 2019 Author RMweb Gold Popular Post Share Posted August 26, 2019 Some from today, first up did the cement from Stafford to clitheroe stafford, sleeper passing through Then my train arrived 66756 up front and away to clitheroe Then it was taxi to hellifield to get on a charter to appleby, Met RMweb user smithington smythe on the platform who was out photographing the train also as an aside anyone who visits hellifield station, the little model shop on the platform has closed down now, and the cafe is running very reduced hours/days due to “issues”, wasn’t even open today with a lot of people about 50007 and 50049 up front into settle for 30 mins where I picked out a dead pigeon and pheasant from the coupling hook before I took the photo! we then set off north, before leaving settle we were asked by the organisers if we could stop on ribblehead viaduct so a passenger could spread the ashes of a relative from the rear window of the train as it was his last wish so we obliged and positioned the train on the viaduct for a couple of minutes where I jumped down and grabbed a couple of shots myself as it’s not somewhere you can normally get photos from! Then it was away to Appleby The train then shunted away into the old warcop branch and the logs passed by heading for chirk I was going to get the passenger train back to carlisle from Appleby but it was so packed I just gave up and got back on the charter to carlisle, got dropped off on the chord between the s+c and wcml, walked back to my car and went back to the caravan to continue my annual leave! 36 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smithlington smithe Posted August 26, 2019 Share Posted August 26, 2019 Was great to meet you Jim,superb pics as always especially on Ribblehead and the sun finally came out!! 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack374 Posted August 26, 2019 Share Posted August 26, 2019 Cracking shots and account of the day Jim, gutted I went to Grimsby (for my sins...) instead, would’ve loved to have seen it. It’s not often you get to 'phot a pair of Hoovers, let alone drive a pair! Jack. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium 45156 Posted August 27, 2019 RMweb Premium Share Posted August 27, 2019 Really liked these pics Jim - nice touch having a stop on Ribblehead viaduct. And gave you a great opportunity for some very unusual and interesting images. Not a bad way to spend a day of your leave. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikejames Posted August 27, 2019 Share Posted August 27, 2019 can I ask a general question about traveling at the beginning and end of the day. It must be usual to start and finish 'work' (driving trains) at different places. How (in general) do you decide where to park the car so you can get 'home' sensibly at the end of the shift. (I know you were on leave this time). I assume you have a pass that allows you to travel on trains as work to move around. How much of this 'extra time' counts as 'work' (i.e. paid). Do you have a 'base' where you 'report' for work (e.g. crewe) and you are paid from there - or do you travel in your own time. No personal details wanted - just the flavour of how it works for a freight sector driver. Thanks for any info regards mike j Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold big jim Posted August 27, 2019 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted August 27, 2019 It’s quite unusual to work 2 different trains in one job, yesterday was 2 turns cobbled together as neither were covered and they could easily be amalgamated jobs that start away from my Home Depot (hams hall) normally get a hire car sent to my house or you are shown as going passenger to the start location (the diagram will show to travel from hams hall but a lot of the time I can do it from crewe, if I can get home of course!) I tend to do a lot of out of area jobs because of my route card, diagrammed jobs can have hire cars which you have to pick up from hams hall/bescot at either the start or end of a job but hey will amend it to my home address if it makes things simpler (ie we have a booked job that starts in Toton so I get the car delivered to home to save driving 60 miles south to hams hall then 40 miles back north to Toton!), you may also have a relieving driver bring you a car at a terminal if you work a train in and he is working one out which you take home I have a freight duty pass for when I’m on duty to travel pass if it says so on my diagram i have to travel to work in on my own time if a job starts in hams hall which I don’t get paid for 1 9 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikejames Posted August 28, 2019 Share Posted August 28, 2019 thank you for the above reply/info can I ask further questions - again no personal details but 'as it affects a freight sector driver' Firstly 'late running trains' you are (I assume) restricted in the hours you can work - fine with that but how does it work out in practice. How much flexibility is there to say ' I'm OK with that' or is it a strict 'cut off' Do 'roster people' build some allowance in. Is there a lot of use of mobile phones to reorganise on the fly? Secondly 'runs as required' trains. Again a problem more for the roster people but actually how far in advance is it known if a train will run Using 'the concretes' to clitheroe as an example, there are a lot of trains in the wtt only a subset of which actually run but I suspect the pattern is fairly set and only occasionally changed. However from a drivers viewpoint does your roster get regularly changed at short notice or is it fairly stable once set I get the impression you know about a week in advance? I can imagine you get phone calls along the lines 'hi - we have a problem - can you...' I imagine good roster people can make or break a drivers life - no need to comment!! As an outsider looking in - how it really works is interesting to me (and others, I suspect) so anything you can tell us will be welcome regards and thanks mike james 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold TheSignalEngineer Posted August 28, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 28, 2019 Nice bit of Pennine sky on the first Ribblehead shot. Brought back memories of my first visit on a school trip in 1960. We walked from Stainforth to Ingleton via Ingleborough then the following day climbed over Whernside where we sat overlooking the viaduct to eat our sandwiches. Lots of steam struggling uphill in a westerly gale and horizontal rain showers. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold big jim Posted August 28, 2019 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted August 28, 2019 (edited) Mike: if a train runs late its normally “tough luck” and you have to stick with it as on the freight side thee doesn’t tend to be a pool of drivers sat round in depots spare ready to jump if it does go wrong, it’s the same with almost freight companies not just gb, passenger never seems so bad as they always had spare turns if the job goes really wrong and you can then it’s possible to get the train parked up in a siding somewhere and leave it securely and get a taxi home, of course if your not feeling up to it (ie tired) then you can refuse to work a train any further or be put in for a short break if a job is cancelled last minute then you can revert to spare where you just stay home with your phone on and hope you don’t get a call to come in, if it’s cancelled a few days in advance then you could be asked to move to another turn that is known needs covering but you should get 24 hours notice, a lot of the time if it happens to me I look at the vacancy sheet to see what I may cop for and put it to rosters to put me on it so at least I have an idea what I’m doing so can plan my day We get or roster on a Thursday afternoon then the diagrams come on a Friday evening, quite why I don’t know as if you spot an error on the diagram it’s too late for rosters to amend so it’s left to control to sort out, an error may be something like a job may have traction you don’t sign or, as I’ve just had for next weeks job (I’ve had early diagrams sent as it’s a special turn) I’m shown as working from Wembley Central to craven arms and I don’t sign south of rugby on the wcml so that needs amending and covering between Wembley and rugby Edited August 28, 2019 by big jim 2 9 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold CovDriver Posted August 28, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 28, 2019 I like the spare bit staying at home and hoping the phone doesn't ring. I could always conduct you to Northampton, But there are rumours we maybe learning Euston ready for the next timetable change in May next year I'm so looking forward to the 30 days road learning for that. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold big jim Posted August 31, 2019 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted August 31, 2019 Just one from last night, still on A/L but I’d phoned up and queried something on one of my jobs for next week and was asked if I could work hat night, first I said no but then it didn’t stop raining all morning and I was getting bored sat in the caravan and club house, I was coming home today anyway so I thought, why not, a bit of extra overtime for me worked the Dagenham cars from crewe to rugby with 66730 day off today then properly back to it tomorrow, got a doncaster to Toton on Sunday then a week working out of craven arms with a rail milling machine, annoyingly the machine is working between shotton and Buckley every night so I have to do 120 mile round trip ‘transit’ from craven arms every night to site then stay in a hotel in shrewsbury despite me trying my best to get it stabled nearer to site, it can’t go in coleham but could have gone in wrexham, gobowen, coton hill or dee marsh without issue 10 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Scottish-Exile Posted August 31, 2019 RMweb Premium Share Posted August 31, 2019 11 minutes ago, big jim said: the machine is working between Shotton and Buckley every night Oi!. Keep the noise down, I'll be trying to sleep! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold big jim Posted August 31, 2019 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted August 31, 2019 37 minutes ago, Scottish-Exile said: Oi!. Keep the noise down, I'll be trying to sleep! Not a chance! You can being me a cuppa down 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium GWRPhil Posted September 1, 2019 RMweb Premium Share Posted September 1, 2019 22 hours ago, big jim said: Not a chance! You can being me a cuppa down Biscuits as well? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold big jim Posted September 1, 2019 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted September 1, 2019 Just now, GWRPhil said: Biscuits as well? He’s Scottish, tunnocks tea cakes would be nice 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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