luckymucklebackit

Hi Dave - the NLS side by side maps show the narrow gauge line and the corresponding present day view, it may be possible to work it out from there https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/side-by-side/#zoom=15&lat=52.8471&lon=-0.8564&layers=168&right=BingHyb Jim

I have a fond memory of being in 6th year at Coatbridge High School, near the end of the last term and hanging about in the common room between exams when our house master came in "looking for volunteers to help on an old folks outing" and of course refusal was not an option. However the day was not unpleasant, a free lunch in a local restaurant, then down to Coatbridge Central then onto the first of two loco hauled special trains (one hauled by a 25, the other by a 37) from there to Gourock, then onto the Queen Mary II for a cruise round the Kyles of Bute more food and a couple of underage beers and back to Gourock where we opted for 37 haulage back to Coatbridge. Just a pity I did not take more footage with my old Super8 movie camera! jim

Sorted that for you, Rangers died (according to everyone that doesn't support Rangers) I generally agree with the sentiments though, the stranglehold that the Old Firm have on the League Titles has blighted the rest of Scottish Football for many years, and you can actually trace the source of the financial troubles at Rangers to the brief period when Aberdeen and Dundee United (aka the "New Firm") challenged the Glasgow teams' dominance. That challenge was met by David Murray and his programme of massive spending, culminating in a ludicrous £12 million for Tore Andre Flo that led to a return to total dominance, but without the money being pumped into the English game by Sky it could not be sustained and we all know how that ended up.

Stairway to Heaven - Far Corporation (just to be different)

I have a photograph of a pair of class 85s running lE to pick up a freightliner service form Coatbridge Freightliner terminal, the two locomotives worked the service south, so how would they have been able to do this if no multiple working cables were installed?

One other point on the delayed introduction of the class 158s was that for a short while some of the MkIII coaches had already been reliveried in Intercity livery ready for transfer to East Anglia, so there were some sets running with mixed Scotrail/Intercity livery. Jim

Listen To The Music - The Doobie Brothers

Evening all! Well as expected the last week has been taken up hacking various bits of timber and hardboard up to form the fiddle yard end of the "cradle". I decided not to risk anything fancy as my woodworking skills are less than expert and I wanted to avoid spending money on something that would not be any more useful than a plain couple of sidings, that and the whole theme of the exercise was to use up as much scrap stuff lying about the loft as I could. What I have gone for is the rear of the layout is a plain shelf onto which will be attached a couple of sidings, just to provide variety on what can appear on the main shunting yard, At the front I continued half of the roof line of the foundry, for now I have just painted it black (the paint is still wet hence the glossy look) but if I ever run out of other jobs to do the option is there to clad it with corrugated plasticard to match the low relief building on the layout. This photo doesn't really show exactly what I mean but I couldn't reassemble the layout while the paint was wet The backscene boards are now in this place too, note the cut-outs which are required to access the controls. I will need to reassemble the components of the layout to align the rest of the supports as at the moment it is decidedly flimsy at the end! Once again it was one of those weeks where a lot of hard graft doesn't show up as very much visible progress, next task is to return to the bridge half of the cradle and get the embankments given a good cover of long grass and other shrubbery, I have a good few low relief buildings to do but these will need to wait until the Glasgow Show to get the materials needed - Squires can expect a good few pounds from me next weekend More soon Jim

I Shot the Sheriff - Eric Clapton

Not disused - it is Bishopbriggs station, and in an earlier scene you can see a class 101 DMU at Springburn station. There is a video on you tube that shows the then and now shots from that film including the above. https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=188&v=HIK2TRkZrAs im

And how to spin a story (Daily Star style) - he’s 85 and his wife is 57 and she was quick to sit on the 28 year old burglar first, hmmmm!

Walk of Life - Dire Straits

Don't You (Forget About Me) - Simple Minds

Explanation here http://www.douglas-self.com/MUSEUM/LOCOLOCO/belgian/smashsys.htm And some other Belgian oddities http://www.douglas-self.com/MUSEUM/LOCOLOCO/belgian/belgian.htm Jim

Yesterday Once More - Carpenters

On a similar note, here is one that you can play on your more gullible friends! You and your mates are sitting at a table at that back of the bar, you announce that you will bet anyone at the table 50 pence that if they go up to the bar, buy a large whisky (other spirits are available) and leave it on the bar, you will be able to drink the whisky without leaving your seat. Assuming someone is up for it, they go to the bar, buy the drink and duly leave it on the bar. At which point you get up go to the bar and sink the drink, return to the table say you lost the bet and hand over the 50p. The trick? Where on earth can you get a large whisky in a bar for 50p today!!! Jim

Whole Lotta Rosie - AC/DCC

I have an unfortunately undated photo at Millerhill and the plate is black

Shine on you Crazy Diamond - Pink Floyd

Looking forward to seeing this, any photographs you can share with us? Jim

I fully appreciate that this is a truly horrible accident, but at 5:52 I could have sworn that the bogie torn off has a tension lock coupling

Combine Harvester - The Wurzels

Maybe this is the fasteners response to gender neutrality, and we will soon be saying goodbye to male and female connectors

Well if you had told them that there was an extra virgin spread all over aisle 3 you would have been knocked over in the stampede

Rock Island Line - Lonnie Donegan and his Skiffle Group