big jim

Just 3 from last night Birmingham international coventry last night of it tonight, not on it next week, got trafford park, hopefully assessing and passing out a driver on the route and the class 66 RHTT at the end of the week

Some from today, first up I went to Cheltenham to have a look in the model shop then went back into the cotswolds and took a trip to Jeremy clarksons farm shop I then came back via Broadway again and went down to Toddington on the Gloucestershire and Warwickshire railway And had a ride on the dmu to winchcombe, passing the shed at toddington And into winchcombe where the northbound train was waiting to pass, I got off here and caught it back to Broadway as we passed the train in the loop i looked over to one of the coaches and spotted Modelu’s @alanbuttler sat there with his family having a day out! (Well I hope it was his family, if not I’ve just dropped him in it!) Broadway and back to Toddington where I watched it depart for Cheltenham And that was that, back to the RHTT again tonight edit: video added

And back into it again kings Norton, different unit than the night before Rugeley And back to kings norton again

Yeah it’s only 4 months old so hopefully if they can’t resolve it if not they can replace the motor or wiring as appears to be the issue with it

Well the bike is knackered, they had a look, appeared to have fixed it (on paper) but I didn’t even get out of the car park on the test ride and it went again so I’ve got to take it back to crewe on Saturday when I get home so that’s put pay to me using it the rest of the week! weigh in day today and as suspected I’ve gained a bit, only 3/4lb so not as bad as I though, was easily expecting a couple of lb, it goes to show just how this job can effect your body, ive been on nights for 2 weeks now, living out of a hotel for 10 days of those so just eating hotel food before work then sitting down at the controls all night, thankfully I’ve had the will power not to be snacking though the night though I think had I had the bike the last couple of days then I’d have probably not had a weight gain as I would have got a good 10 mile more in commuting and yesterday and today I’d have gone out for a longer ride somewhere to burn off those calories, I was planning on doing Norton in marsh to Jeremy clarksons farm rhen there to kingham tomorrow from Evesham by train but that’s not going to happen now unfortunately not feeling disappointed about the gain, as I say less than I thought it would be, hopefully if the bike gets fixed quickly I can get back on track next week, worst comes to the worst I can use my Mums old electric bike to commute that my stepdad gave to Dominic

Just got my bike back from a repair of a repair and the motor is knackered so that’s put pay to using it the rest of the week between the hotel and kings Norton depot so I kind of wish I had have walked to the tower now to get some extra exercise in!

More mpv shots, had an issue with the jetter so had to return to the depot for a fix which meant we unfortunately missed a bit of the circuit, hopefully it will be rectified for tomorrow’s shift coventry, platform 1 this time And New st same again tomorrow, hopefully with more success

Unfortunately my wife has parted way with willows way cat rescue she was a part of, it’s still going but my wife has stepped away from her role as foster we have however, as I’ve just been informed by her over the phone, adopted a kitten from another rescue in the area, not a black one this time but a mainecoon cross who looks very much like Mike our last one who died a couple of years ago should get him in a few weeks apparently

If I’ve got a pair of 66s on the RHTT I flick out the isolation switch on the lead loco so the rear one does all the work and you can sit in the quiet(ish) with your loco just idling

There was block on between fiveways and New st so had to sit there until it was lifted, shame as the job was shorter as it’s missing out Lichfield this week so without that we’d have been back nice and early! and as I finished early I managed a good nights sleep and got up in good time for a day out, I had to drop the bike off at Halfords in redditch as the motor is playing up, they have had to keep hold of it until tomorrow so I’ve been bikeless today, gutted, so I went for an explore into the cotswolds, thought I’d have a look at the Gloucestershire and Warwickshire railway but the time I got there I’d have only got one trip in and for the cost it wasn’t worth it but I may go back later in the week and do a few trips back and forth, then again I may not! instead I went into Broadway for a walk round there to get some steps in, beautiful place, funny that it’s also in the Forza 4 Xbox game and one of the cars I saw passing through was a Lamborghini! from there I went up fish hill, which was a scream in the mini to Broadway tower and had a walk round there too, shame it was wrapped in scaffold from there I went to bourton on the water to have a look at the model shop which is unfortunately closing down at the end of the month again a really nice little village, I can see why the cotswolds are so popular and I had a nice ice cream too! and that was that for today, in work in a bit RHTTing again

Called into bourton model centre earlier, the reason for the sale is it’s closing down at the end of the month so it’s 30% off all rolling stock, 20% off accessories and 50% off the Hornby steampunk range (£18 for a loco, use file for the chassis maybe Lots of Hornby MK3s, gwr, Lner, NMT, XC sliding door type for about £22 after discount efe gatestock, maroon livery £87.50 dcc fitted Bachmann MK2s, £50.40 they said they are all in the website and can be bought from there i got myself an EFE Hymek for £91, there are 2 weathered left (blue and green liveries) for £112 shame to see a shop closing but the owners are retiring and it’s simply not continuing

Good exercise progress last week, managed a bit of running and a tiny bit of walking but again smashed the cycling mileage thanks to the travelling back and forth between the hotel in longbridge and kings Norton depot, I did come off the bike once though when the wheel got caught on the edge of the tarmac and hurt my shoulder and hip but nothing too serious, just as well it wasn’t on the towpath! Going to be a hard one again this week, potentially just 8 miles a day round trip commute, sleeping in the day and living on hotel food, have a few things planned if I’m up and about but the bit below may put pat to that….. had the bike in for a bit of work, new rear tyre and brakes (they were contaminated with oil) and I got them to swap the rear cassette for one with a taller climbing gear but riding to work last night I had major problems with the motor throwing up faults which according to the codes was a possible hall sensor failure (code 2 and 42) it felt like when I put effort on the motor it cut out, it will eventually come back then then cut out again, I disconnected the motor from the loom at the connector and checked the connections which seem dry and after that it improved a bit and only cut out a couple of times on the way back to the hotel after about 3 miles but it’s still not right im hoping to get it back to a branch of Halfords near to my hotel as I’m away for the week now, thankfully I’ve got the car with the bike rack on as I needed more than a backpack of clothes etc this week so have transportation but I’m hoping they can look at it quickly for me later today so I can get back out on it, I’m going to possibly get them to swap the cassette and chain back to the original one and see if that cures it if they don’t see any obvious issue on inspection I can’t see the cassette swap having caused the issue with the motor as the smaller gears are pretty much the same ratio it’s just the bigger one that is vastly different (12-38 swapped for a 11-42) and the issue happened throughout the gear range, it seemed to happen more in the mid gears , the problem has started after the rear wheel was removed for the tyre and brake disc, basically it’s the first time the electrical connection between the motor and sensor has been broken since I’ve had it so I’m hoping it’s something as simple as a dodgy connection somewhere, watch this space! Other than that I’ve now passed the 1300 mile mark on it

Some more MPV shots, only difference being it was a different unit tonight kings Norton coventry class 70 passing through and redditch and that’s about it, same again tonight

I was going to message you about the paint you used, I asked mick but as it wasn’t yellow he wasn’t interested!! (he actually told me to ask you as you had done some before)

I had a bit of motivation to make some room this evening after the last post so I have put all the buildings in one box and managed to get that and the scenics box under the layout which has freed up the floor space in front of the sofa, the foam board have also managed to go under the layout too so I now have room to move still bits of wood on the floor but I don’t want to throw them as they are useful sizes while i was in the mood I started a quick project that’s been sat around for a month or so, an MXA ‘Lobster’ wagon from a 3D print off eBay, I had a spare DBA wagon that I’ve married the box upto, unfortunately when the print arrived it had snapped in half, I got sent a replacement but that was also snapped but I’ve used it anyway, I’ll most likely put a load in the wagon so it won’t be seen anyway, just need to prime it and work out what colour halford can I can use for DB red The wagon itself stripped down nicely, all the below solebar bits came off as one panel so I just need to spray the top red and refit them and job done (apart from decals)

I think fat controller means taking the towers to a compound ready for or after a possession, as it happens I was down there last weekend on a possession so I had the same thought too when I saw the load on the wagon

I’ve done absolutely zilch with the layout for months, to be honest I’ve been going out on the bike when I’ve got free time and the weather is good, no doubt when the nights draw in I’ll get a bit more done, the other thing is there is a lot of big boxes in the garage with scenics, buildings, locos etc in that I need to find room for to be able to move about the room a bit easier, I can work round them but it’s annoying!

Some from yesterday first up was a new intermodal flow, a temporary one that’s running between Tyne dock and hams hall, I believe some shops are being diverted to Tyneside due to lack of spaces elsewhere and being unloaded there, the train runs a couple of days a week between Tyne and hams and is a lengthy afair, 2220ft long, completely empty yesterday as it was the northbound service but it comes back fully loaded 66742 then it was down to rugby to work the RHTT back to kings norton And some from kings norton, a really good light in the yard for nighttime pictures Got a week of the RHTT coming up but the MPV circuit

Quite pleased with this iPhone picture….. RHTT sets between diagrams on kings Norton depot

More RHTT shots kings Norton International Covenrty Made it rugeley last night too Reddich And back to kings norton

Defiantly a CCTV crossing (I sign the route)

The crossing is a CCTV monitored one, surely the signaller would have seen the wagon on the screen before lowering the barriers?

There is an operator on board too, ive got a trainee/road learner with me this week and next so thankfully the MPV has 3 seats in each cab otherwise it would be a long night stood up!

Some from last night, first full night of RHTT, didn’t know if I was coming or going! came off the bike on the way to the depot when the tyre got caught on the edge of the tarmac on the cycle path, landed on my arm and hip, a bit achy this afternoon! kings Norton before the off 37 passing by First bit was to Coventry, waiting in international Coventry Coventry to hednesford via stetchford, aston, bescot Back to new st away to nuneaton and back to redditch Reddich to Lichfield Back to new st and eventually back to kings Norton! same again tonight but I think it goes to rugeley, it’s running earlier that much i do know got it every day next week too, going to drive to lodge near kings Norton with the bike on the roof as I don’t think I can carry a whole weeks worth of lodge gear in my backpack on Monday, just about managed 3 days worth this week!

As promised here are some pics of longbridge, don’t get me wrong it’s nice that the area has been redeveloped but it’s just so concrete! The big building looks to be pretty much on the old trackbed of the line into the plant which went to the left of the photo although I did spot a charity shop so I’ll have a look in there tomorrow There is a walkway under the A38 railway bridge went a bit further afield and found the remains of what looked like some sort of conveyer from one part of the factory to a now demolished bit, that was quite impressive behind it is the remaining bit of plant that looked to be part of the new MG group, but it looked pretty derelict to be honest apart from a few new cars parked up there, not sure if it’s where they assemble/finish the MG cars that come in from abroad By contrast redditch was quite nice, I normally only see the outside of the kingfisher shopping centre when I stop there or pass through but the rest of the town isn’t too bad from what I saw riding in on the bike, no pics though RHTT later, first night on my own so hoping I can remember how to start the MPV up and get it moving!