big jim

I’ve just sent that to my butcher son who’s girlfriend is vegan

not from ebay but amazon, something ive been watching for a good 6 weeks in the ‘warehouse’ section, a Hornby TTS class 60 in DB Shenker livery, 60044 ‘Dowlow’ which i got for £125, not seen it cheaper than £175 on line or in the shops looks to have been opened but not run, box a bit creased in one corner but other than that fine, all detailing bits still sealed in box etc, i really thought it would have sold weeks ago at that price and i kept umming and ahhing over it but in the end thought id take the plunge, glad i did! its actually one of the non colas/GBRf 60s ive driven for real in the same livery so a doubly good reason to have it

Defiantly a productive week exercise wise, had a short run earlier (1.5 mile) so I could break my 6 mile weekly goal, exceeded the walking and cycling goals by a fair margin too not had any scales at the van so will have to wait until Wednesday to see if all the effort has been worth it (with the chippy teas and a bit of alcohol thrown into the mix) got a couple of commutes to Tyseley to do before weigh in day so that should be at least 25 miles on the bike and I’m going to get a run in before Wednesday too, going to try for 5 mile I recon this is this weeks results and a couple of pics from a ride I had this evening with gethin along the front at silloth at sunset

no parkrun in silloth, nearest one is in aspatria I think, il do one soon as I’m all signed up for it

Did a couple of bike rides today as the weather is good, cooling see breeze on me while out and about first up I went to grune point which is the furthest most tip of the silloth peninsular, a slow pace as some of the ride back was actually pushing my bike along the shale beach to rejoin the path and also having to lift my bike over gates back to silloth then this evening was an unplanned trip but as usual I was enjoying myself so I just kept going for 12 or so miles, also broke the 400 mile mark on the bike too on top of that I had a 750 meter swim in the pool at the holiday park despite two chippy teas this week I think I may be on course for a bit of weight loss, if nothing else my fitness will certainly be improved!

Got a shot of all 5 together, we’ve got the air con unit set up in the caravan so they are lovely and cool!

Some from the other night in Stafford, couple of vids off until Tuesday and back on to the 196s again for a couple of days and a ballast on Friday night

Done a fair bit today, had a bike ride, swim and run went to the new balance factory shop in flimby to see what they had and ended up getting myself a new pair of running shoes, better fitting for me than my other New Balance ones, they have better support on my heels as I run on them rather than the ball of my feet, had a quick run to bed them in, 2 miles along silloth prom finishing off with a pint in the RAFA club! even got myself a running top, I normally wear my really baggy 4xl tops when running as I’m a bit self conscious of all my bits wobbling about but I thought sod it, the black is very forgiving, the dayglo version left nothing to the imagination though so I left that on the hook! Just caught the sunset as I was out certainly lost the weight around my neck and face when you compare my from January 2021

We have had to bring the kittens up to the caravan for the week as they haven’t found homes yet (still need 2nd jabs), thankfully we have an air con unit so it’s nice and cold in here for them but they are furry terrorists, demolishing everything and running round like loonies until they wear themselves out and sleep! not managed to get pics of them all together but here are 3 of the 5

No weight loss this week but also no gain so not too disappointed I did have a chippy tea on Sunday and a pizza for the kebab house on Monday (small 7’ though instead of my pre diet 12-15 inch size) not as much exercise either bike wise but more running done, off to the caravan tomorrow so plenty of all exercise to be done before next weigh in

They go and stop well enough but a bit over complicated for my liking compared to the first unit I ever signed, class 150s

Some from last night, 196 testing again tyseley Stafford Crewe

as a site driver on a route I dont sign I have to have a safety brief on the route etc, I get maps, local instructions etc that I have to read and acknowledge before I work any trains I was working on the other side of the Solway firth to silloth, in a straight line the worksite was 10 miles across the water, by car it was just short of 50 miles to drive! as it happened I know the area from visiting Dumfries regularly while at the caravan as the line runs parallel with the road we use to get back to Gretna, in fact I used the local ice cream farm as a landmark to see where the train was sat, it was actually 11 mile from the signing in point! I got to the access and I could see the tail light of the train in the distance so I walked up to it only to discover that was the 20 wagon train behind mine and mine was 25 falcons in front of it so just short if a mile later I finally got to my loco i eventually moved down to the relay site where I slowly drew forward while they loaded the spent ballast into the falcons and in the daylight in the old station at Ruthwell In tonight doing 196 testing but got a days annual leave back in lieu of it so I can spend an extra day at the caravan next week

Did a quick 5k before work this evening along the prom in silloth, I only planned to do a 30 min run but I don’t know if it’s the sea air or views but I kept going for 5k Felt really ‘in tune’ tonight and managed to up the pace to 13:01 minute mile from my usual 14:40-15:00 minute miles, that on top of a 6 mile bike ride earlier, must have felt guilty from my chip shop chippy tea last night!

Some from today, Leicester to peak forest Leicester had to wait at codnor park for 30 mins, a few trains passing by And into peak forest

Took a few today as it was a nice sunny day! had to go to tuebrook sidings to pick up a couple of locos 66758 and 66721 which came in on a biomass service and coupled up to my loco And over to basford hall where there was a top and tail class 97 train heading to Dee March And my locos on to the train bound for dinting 86101 in the sidings And into stockport where I got off Doing a Leicester to peak forest via the hope valley tomorrow afternoon then a week off apart from a possession train near Dumfries on Monday (as it’s not far from the caravan!)

It made it back!

Not in a piccie mood this week, just one from yesterday, landor st to trafford park, 66735 again, filthy, looks to have had a disagreement with a Stone loader somewhere! working a pair of locos from Liverpool to crewe later then an engineers train as far as stockport (which carries on to dinting)

That’s my loco later, I’ve got to go over to tuebrook and pick it up when it arrives back on 6M09 and take it to crewe for an engineers job in dinting tonight

Not a lot been happening the end of this week, couple of days of the small heath Stone job, last night there was no relief in crewe so I worked it through to peak forest via sandbach, Northwich, altrincham, Cheadle and hazel grove picking up a route conductor at chinley to see me into peak forest as I don’t sign beyond dove holes tunnel only one piccie in peak forest Trafford park tonight then a week off

Had to drop my bike off at basford hall earlier and pick up a hire car so went the long way round via Nantwich to make it a 10 mile trip Then just before work I decided to have a run, didn’t fancy a particularly long one so set a goal of 30 mins rather than a distance and set off at a bit quicker pace than usual knowing I wouldn’t be running for as long and I managed to get an average of 13:25 a mile compared to my usual 14:50-15:10 a mile so I’m pleased with that, 2.25 mile in 30 mins, I felt I could have actually made the 5k mark maintaining around that pace but I needed to get back and get ready for work my job tonight finishes in peak forest and I was seriously considering riding back from there (35 mile) but I’ve not racked proper hills yet and the first 8 mile involves the climb from peak dale to Buxton then to near the top of the cat an fiddle at 04:00 so I thought better of it!

the fosters getting comfy!

That’s the moot point I’ve not mentioned, the supposed owner who wants him back hasn’t in the 8 years since they “acquired” the cat once taken him to a vet get him checked over or registered and vaccinated etc or it would have been seen he belonged to someone and have been returned with his rightful owner straight away don’t get me wrong he’s a healthy cat, well fed etc but since the original owner got him neutered and vaccinated 8 years ago, before he went missing, he’s not once been to a vet under the ‘custodianship’ of the other person which makes me suspicious he was taken as a kitten rather than wandering the 2 miles between houses and crossing over 3 busy main roads and the west coast mainline in the process!