big jim

Thanks for that, got myself the station pilot set as I’ve been after a Webb coal tank for a while hopefully the link below should take you to all the 50% off items off all gauges, was tempted by the B17 at £75 DCC fitted that’s on there https://www.themodelcentre.com/sale?range=1105&product_list_order=price

my sister rolled my stepdads niva Cossack back in 1990, he bought it new and it developed rust after a few months so he had it resprayed under warranty and she was driving it back from the garage down a lane and clipped the edge, rolling it 3 times and ending up on its roof, she got out in one piece though, my stepdad wasn’t too bothered as he hated the car anyway and she was alright! he got a Citroen BX estate after that which was quite nice for its time

If you really want a niva and don’t mind doing a bit of ‘cosmetic leg work’ a driver in work has one of the Brazilian niva’s (60 plate iirc) that he keeps saying he’s going to sell, it’s got a few rust patches in places but I think it came with them as standard from new

Just 2 from last night, trafford park job landor st last night And Nuneaton this morning, had a bit of a mad rush as I was late getting into the station due to an emergency possession being taken at colwich to repair a broken rail, made me 30 late but managed to get back a few minutes so rolled in at 05:52 with my train home at 05:55! same job tonight

It says 1978 if you click on the pic and go to Flickr

Not really noticed to be honest, I’m normally in the cab rather than out on a platform videoing one

That will do nicely, annoyingly though it’s the only colas 56 I’ve not driven!

just one from yesterday, back to site to drop the ballast 20 hoppers dropping Stone on a severe gradient was fun on the downhill run, keeping it at 2mph was interesting to say the least! trafford park the rest of the week

as Bodmin says everything is easier both physically and mentally, this weekend for example I was staying on the 2nd floor of the hotel and used the stairs instead of the lift, 3 months ago I’d have a temper tantrum if I had to use the stairs and demand a room on the ground floor rather than use the stairs! breathing is the biggest thing I’ve noticed, I regularly used to walk up in the night unable to breathe as I assume my windpipe was being forced closed, I was tested for Sleep apnea the other year but was told I didn’t have it thankfully and now having lost the weight I can see it was just that causing breathing problems and also I’m not feeling tired all the time and nodding off in the chair (thankfully not the loco seat!) as that’s something that used to happen, ok I have had a few ‘power naps’ but not to an extent I used to Didn’t bother with the gym in the end today, made sure I had a good sleep in readyness for tonight’s shift instead and I feel pretty refreshed after it, Still got a good 2 miles walk in while in work though to and from the various trains!

Yeah, it’s my iPhone 8 so the camera is quite dated compared to the newer models but it does take good pics, all the pics in this thread since at least 2015 are off an iPhone of some sort i set the camera to HDR mode which takes 2 different resolution picture one of them stitching the best bits of various exposure points to make one good hi res pic which is the one above, the pic below is the non hi res one which has a bit more ‘noise’ particularly in the dark sky, of course the new white yard lights at bescot help the situation too compared to the old tungsten type the other issue I get it if the lens is greasy the light from say yard lights, headlights etc steaks across the photo as can be seen in this picture, compare it to the one int he post above with a clean lens

Just 2 from last night, couple of trains into site at Walsall, couple of issues so very late on with the 2nd one which means ill be late tonight now! walsall rycroft

I didn’t know he was the drummer in PWEI! One of my fave tunes of all time is ‘touched by the hand of cicciolina” by them, had it on 12’ (and now digitally) notice in the pic there appears to be one of those Hornby ‘family project’ boxes

Only one from last night, small Heath to bescot, seen here after arrival into the yard bescot to Walsall possession train tonight, one to take on site then back to bescot for the 2nd one to site!

Had a bit of a treat tonight in the hotel, sod it ive earned it! to be honest it’s mostly chicken so low points on weight watchers but the chips have Carb’d me up for the day! resisted a pudding though that would have ruined all the good work the good thing is the hotel has a proper gym and pool so when I say I earned it I had already ran 3 miles and had a swim before dinner! here again tomorrow til early afternoon so may pay the gym another visit im on the Trafford park job all next week so that’s a ride to and from the station every day so hopefully get 25 mile in on the bike commuting plus whatever I do exercise wise on top

She’s affectionately known as ‘Donna’ all the buttons inside have Turkish writing on them with English stickers stuck over the top i do miss 70s, I managed to keep them in my card with GB as I used to make sure I’d move them round the yard at bescot but I’ve not done the shunt for a while or touched one so they have dropped off my card, wouldn’t take much to put them back on though

They would look good in GB livery! GB did trial them a coulee of years back but nothing came of it, wonder if it will be any different now they are for sale

what that needs is the sound of the screech of the fan clutch engaging as the fan starts turning, hopefully something you are planning on adding?

Yeah it’s Tyseley, it runs round the edge of the car park at the depot/museum next to warwick road station so I assume it’s an old visitor ride, I can’t find any pictures of it on line though and I only ever visited there once when it was a proper museum when I was about 10 so wouldn’t remember it

So close!

Close but no cigar!

No not Buxton It could well be 10 1/4, it’s too big for 5 inch that much I do know! Glad I’ve got a few people thinking

Quite a busy exercise day today, got 9 miles in on the bike just commuting, Tyseley to new st then crewe station to home and back again in the evening, broke the 200 mile mark on the bike too I also weren’t for a run, did the 30 min ‘see how far I could get’ one around the park, I noticed the pace has dropped to 0 at 3 points and the moving time is different to the actual time by 15 seconds despite me staying moving at all times, I really felt I pushed myself tonight to improve a bit but it seems to be a slower pace (I’m not going to say worse as any running movement I do is better than the none I was doing 3 weeks ago!) you may see that the final 3-5 mins my pace actually increased, that’s where I pushed myself that little bit harder rest day from running and bike commuting tomorrow and the weekend I’ve got a lodge turn at a hotel that has a gym, pool and spa so I’m hoping they are open so I can get some miles in on the treadmill and a good swim

Just a few from last night, 196 testing again 196103 this time, Stafford freightliner 66 passing theough and down to Nuneaton while I was waiting for the road the freightliner ‘jumbo’ passed through with a 70 and 66 upfront pulling 40 loaded Stone wagons, the class 70 sounds so good under power! Then it was back to crewe, back to nuneaton, back to Stafford and eventually Tyseley, didn’t bother with any more pics they only other one I took was of a family of Canada geese on the canal on my bike ride back to new st from Tyseley! short small Heath job tonight, just taking it to bescot then 2 days of possessions in Walsall

Not round the corner it isn’t!

I’ve found that picking a point, say the end of a hedge or fence post, gate etc to get to by a certain time is a good incentive to keep the pace up Yesterday as I reached the final 1:30 of the 30 min run i looked ahead down the final long straight ahead of me and visualised the point where I thought the time would be up, as it happened I passed it by some 50 or so meters Last night I rode to the station but did an extra lap of the park en route then in Birmingham I did the ride to Tyseley but stayed on the tow path to the opposite side of the tracks and came back past the station into the depot, I also called in small Heath yard en route