big jim

That’s perfect, Between yourself and the motorway meaning I can also call at Arcadia while passing there too (just need to decide whether to offer to work or not)

I may be working the early hours of Saturday morning , finishing in Doncaster with a hire car around 9am so I recon I’ll divert via Wakefield and the M62 to get home home and have come and have a look out of interest, any decent model shops in the area, or indeed en route between donny and Wakefield or the M62 corridor back toward Manchester After I visit, I only really know of rails and Arcadia that fit the bill

Another night of ratcliffe met the train in Nottingham this time 66788 this time round with ex EWS hta wagons And all discharged ready to check the doors And once done back to the loco for the off away to Doncaster with it, obligatory Masborough photo! that was it, into donny, jump off and car back home (via hobby goblin in Stoke) same again in the morning EDIT: PHOTO UPLOADING ISSUES

John looking a bit shocked after Lola took a swipe at him for getting too close! lola giving him ‘resting bitch face’ which is her only expression to be fair

Yea rhe MGR loop is still in use, straight in, discharge and straight out, no messing about shunting or running round like in ironbridge!

Extended the edge of the layout along the long side and around the lifting section used the offcuts from the rear part I’d extended they are basically sat in outriggers screwed to the existing baseboards, curved in the edge to allow the track to continue around the other end is a similar construction to widen it enough to allow me to run another 009 track from the existing ramp used my profile tools to mark up the curve I needed to cut I’ll fit a point and have a line to drop down toward the new extension piece I added along the edge so I can basically have 2 joined 009 loops, one spiralling under the castle etc and the other running though the mill area Again it’s a bit rough and ready but once the scenics are added it won’t be noticeable, to be honest the extra piece of baton I’ve added below the castle corner has made it a bit stronger!

Yeah, basically calibrating the weighbridge, it was all done and the train ready to go by the time we got there but we still had to go through the hopper at 1/2mph which takes about an hour! got it again tomorrow morning but actually dropping coal this time

Just 2 from tonight, Ratcliffe power station to Doncaster down decoy with the weights and measures coal train which was top and tailed. Got stopped en route after activating a hot axle box detector near chesterfield so had to go and inspect the wheel bearing just before barrow hill which was 6 wagons from the back, no fault found but had to stop again at Rotherham to check it again before continuing onward to Doncaster and stabling it in down decoy

Some from last night, ballast drop between Lichfield and rugby, a 25 mile worksite at 5mph! bescot changing ends at Stafford Lichfield trent valley looking down from the high level platforms Amington jn And that was about it, ratcliffe power station to Doncaster tonight

The speedo illumination is shocking on the colas and GB 56s whereas the brake gauges and ammeter are bright, many a time I’ve had to put a lamp next to the speedo or have the cab light on to see it at night I seem to remember one of the colas 56s has an LED illuminated speedo fitted

I’m just shocked by the fact there’s stairs in your house as I’ve driven trains past dozens of times and thought you lived in a bungalow!

Just one from last night, same job but to Leamington instead ballast job tonight

I’ve mentioned this before elsewhere but my great grandad used to be the civil engineer in charge of Barmouth bridge back in the 1960s (I think) he opened the swing bridge one hot summers day and was unable to close it again due to heat expansion, they had to wait until it cooled down in the evening to be able to close it, I believe they also sprayed seawater on it to cool it, probably why it’s rotten now!

Juat a few from last night, same job again had a walk to landor at from new st again as it was a nice evening, walking up to the signal noticed they were cracking on with the demolition of saltley signal box won’t be long until it’s a memory waiting in crewe, looks like someone has put an LED on the pantograph of this DCC fitted 86 Waiting in crewe on the southbound trip there was a fatality at Harrow last night and northbound services were effected out of Euston, the last Manchester Roser I’ve passed me near Lichfield running 5 1/2 hours late and the lowland sleeper passed me at tamworth running 3 hours late at 04:30, my train home from nuneaton which is normally empty had lots of passengers who had been trying to get home from london last night! Nuneaton same again tonight but through to leamington

Living the dream, sat in the McDonald’s in Asda nuneaton waiting for a bacon roll and coffee before heading home on the train to crewe, quite a cold damp one here but not freezing so that’s a bonus 3rd night of trafford park job, got it again tomorrow now, been a long week, annual leave next week though but I’ll probably come in for a couple of turns if there is anything interesting on the vacancy list there was a fatality at Harrow and Wheatstone last night by all accounts which seriously knocked the trains coming from london, the last one to Manchester from euston was running 5 1/2 hours late and j passed the sleeper st tamworth at 04:45 running some 4 hours late in other news Dominic is enjoying working in dominos but he has also just got a job in a high school in Nantwich as an IT apprentice, going to be strange him going to school with a staff lanyard on instead of being a pupil, it’s the high school gethin goes to so I’ve told him he’ll have to call him Mr Scott when he sees him oh yeah and had my booster just before work yesterday, no side effects thankfully but when I went to lift my bag into the loco in Manchester I noticed my arm was really aching

before I lost weight the crane was used to lift my up and down into the cab! here’s another picture from my arrival into Crewe at dawn walking over to the mess room to get my bike

Totally agree with that, followed a new Peugeot SUV the other day and the indicator was impossible to see while it was braking as it was a tiny dot in the centre of the circular bright led brake light, only became properly visible once the brake light went off

Trafford park job again landor st, ECS voyager heading to central rivers Basford hall Trafford park, running round Unloading Crewe in a light flurry of snow Nuneaton same again tonight

It was my father in laws favourite ’Dad joke’

that must have been soul destroying 10mph all the way from blea moor!

Not seen one of these for a while, a Ford probe parked in Nantwich

Weigh in day and unsurprisingly I’ve gained 1lb due to lack of exercise, I’ve only managed 2.1 mile in the bike this week as opposed to 70+ last week, this weeks jobs are all car and train jobs so I’ll not get much more in annual leave next week so hopefully weather permitting I may do a few miles back and forth with Dominic to his work, I’ll most likely end up working a few days anyway so will hopefully get some commute rides in not disappointed by the gain, was expected and was less than expected, still under 17 Stone that’s the main thing

Been a quiet week so far, Sunday was cancelled, Monday’s Hindlow cancelled due to the snow and a change of job as a driver tested positive for COVID so is off for 10 days so I ended up with the trafford park job last night instead of a small Heath got it again tonight and tomorrow too landor st class 70 shunting in basford hall styal Trafford park running round And being loaded

Making sure I can be seen is one thing I do go over the top with for both myself and Dominic, not only from the front and back but also from the sides to be seen at junctions this is Dom’s bike on the ring cam on his way to work, reflective spokes and rim stickers as well as 2 x 1000 lumen headlights and 4 taillights! I’ve given him an old colas rail hi coz to wear too, he’s lucky as his ride to work is 95% cycle path as for my bike, same again 4 headlights and taillights as well as spoke reflectors, takes me ages to turn them all on and off and I normally forget to do the bike by the time I’ve done that lot! excuse the mess, got to get the old freezer to the tip! Despite dressing like that and being reflected up I’ve still been hit twice on it, my wife said last week while I was adding more reflectors, “if someone hits you now it’s going to be on purpose because all those reflectors have annoyed them!”

I was going to put a link to this guys auctions last week when I spotted the way they were photographed. he actually had a couple of 1/2 decent priced items with honest descriptions but the photos put me off buying