big jim

Only a couple from last night, finally got a 196 out, 011, first time it’s been out mainline stafford hopefully same again tonight

No weight loss this week but also no gain, the scales say my BMI has dropped a bit and my muscle mass has increased through! tonight’s commute involved home to the station then New St to Tyseley via the canal towpath from digbeth, much safer than the roads round sparkbrook! other than the ride back to New St tomorrow and the ride home I’m having a rest day from exercise as today has been a long one with plenty of miles in on both foot and bike abs I don’t want to overdo it

This afternoon I decided to set up a 5k running route from the park and back to the house to see how far I could manage at my current level of fitness, I planned it to go 2.5K out and back and to run as far as felt comfortable then stop, have a rest, rehydrate then walk back from wherever I gave up! anyway I set off and managed the full 5K in under 45 mins, I only dropped to a walking pace for the last climb at about the 3 mile mark before picking up the pace again on the flat, the places where the pace stopped or almost stopped was where I was crossing the main road and waiting for the crossing lights to change really pleased with that, I think I might make this route my regular run to see if I can improve on the time each time

Pretty sure they will be Tonbridge based

Not weighed myself yet but I’ve just dropped my lad off at work and got my wife to drive the car back while I rode back via the towpath and Nantwich, just short of 10 miles, probably about 1/3 of it with the motor off to save battery power as I never checked it before setting off and I’d plugged it in yesterday to charge but the cable to the power pack had come out so I only had 60% charge! again the workout app didn’t record the route, it’s got to be because the other apps are using the location so the map in the pic above is from the Komoot app that I used today

I don’t think training would be any more easier if it was still essentially 56 as most if not all drivers sign 66s and PBL brakes whereas there there are only a handful of us who sign 56s and I suppose the 66 controller is a ready made off the shelf solution to the problem rather than trying to adapt a 40 odd year old controller the end of the day it’s a 56 in its shape but pretty much nothing else! I don’t think I’ll get to sign them either way as by the looks of it they won’t see the Midlands/north very much anyway

if anyone knows about yellow paint it’s you!

I don’t think it’s as much aesthetics to improve the front but the need for the jumper socket to be in the centre of the cab so it can multi with other 69s and possibly 66s using a standard length jumper cable iirc when I was looking at the loco the other month in longport they are the original horns, they are certainly short ‘cranked’ ones as opposed to the long type you would see on say a 37 roof as for the livery, not a fan of the speed whiskers but I like the rest

Forgot to do any updates the last couple of days, been concentrating on the fitness thread! anyway did a ballast drop between Ludlow and hereford on Sunday night basford hall unusually the drop was not done in a possession as it was cess side only so it was line speed between drop sites with the adjacent line open to traffic (but nothing booked to pass anyway) never done it that way before but it was much simpler than a possession as it meant it could be done quicker as the drops sites were some 15-20 mile apart hereford after a change ends Face mask GWR unit Ready to head north Ludlow after the drop and ready to head back to crewe Then last night should have been 196 testing but tut got cancelled just as I stepped into the unit! small Heath ballast running round EMR 170 on loan back to WMR 196011 So that was it, so I thought, got a call while driving home, can I go to bescot to get a rescue loco and go to east mids gateway with it! bescot and onto the failed loco in east mids And shunted out of the way I had to then stay on until stetchford as the train was so late a possession was put up on its route so had to divert but the driver on board didn’t sign the diversion stechford taxi back to bescot and home, hopefully 196s again tonight

A pic came up on my wife’s Facebook timeline today, exactly a year ago as it’s Dominic’s birthday today Edited into a ‘work in progress’ picture on the weight watchers app Still a way to go but that’s the motivation I needed this morning!

Just done day 8 (thought it was 7!) of couch to 5K, today was 5 mins warm up, 8 mins run, 5 min walk, 8 mins run, 5 mins cool down. looking at my current the pace 5k would take me 48 minutes but I keep forgetting to bear in mind that the training pace includes the walking warm up, 5 mins ‘breather’ walk and cool down times so once the ‘breather’ gets shorter then disappears I’m hoping to get to the magic 45 minute mark, only thing is the final run is 35 mins so I don’t know where I’m going to find 10 mins and the extra mile from! admittedly I wasn’t in the mood for a run tonight but pushed myself to do it and I’m glad I did, once I got started I enjoyed it

I’m certainly getting beyond the 16mph threshold a fair bit of the time, it’s also in eco mode which is the least assistance mode but I do go ‘turbo’ for short spurts up the hills!

Ride back from basford hall this morning, did well, 1/2 mile further than usual from the station but a minute quicker got a run to do this afternoon then work this evening but I’m going by car so can’t get a sneaky commute in

That last sentence is what confuses me, combined with a few other responses from people in the medical profession am I still diabetic in a medical sense or just in an official sense? My blood sugar level has gone from 76 to 43 which is below the safe level of 47, I’ve lost over 3 Stone, feel the most fit and healthy I have for a good 25 years anyway rode to basford hall tonight via the petrol station for a coffee! then just for fun I thought I’d see how far I walk during a train prep from the cabin to the train then along it to the back loco and back to the front, just over 1/2 mile on ballast, it all adds up! got the ride back in the morning so I’m hoping it doesn’t rain!

Gave both the minis a clean earlier and swapped the badges on the diesel for black and also blacked out the chrome ring on the fog light and put some perforated film over it to darken it down

She sat watching Hank clean his paws earlier and started to mimic him by cleaning herself, we were bothered she’d have to be hand groomed but she’s picked it up already!

I’m trying to figure out if I can get the bike across the buffers on a 66 like they used to do on the old steam locos!

This is in my other thread but I’ll also leave it here…..

I know you were joking by it does make a huge difference! what I liked about today as the ride back to tutbury took me along roads and over bridges that i normally drive trains under, nice to see it from the other side! did day 7 of couch to 5k this evening, the Apple Watch went haywire and wouldn’t update my distance but it recorded it fully when I downloaded it but with no location again so the calories burned are too few on Strava but the 5K app shows the correct 430 burned rest day tomorrow but I will ride to basford hall on my bike in the evening and back home Monday morning at the end of the job

She’s already come to life with a bit of love and affection, transfixed by fae, keeps trying to follow her!

appropriately timed post… this little lady has come into the rescue today, found this morning under a car in a Nantwich car park, 6 weeks old so too young to be away from her mother and she has cat flu and an eye infection, we suspect that maybe the ‘owner’ may have seen how much it was going to cost to get her treated and dumped her as there is no way she will have escaped from a house knowing where she was found an absolutely beautiful little kitten that we hope will be ok, she’s lapping up kitten milk already so we won’t have to syringe feed her thankfully but I sure hope the person who dumped her gets their just deserts in this life or next! of course any donations to willowsway rescue would be appreciated at this time to help out!

Some from today, crewe to derby with an IM Train, had to turn the train at trent jn so the DBSO was leading onto the rtc trent jn 50050 passing by also heading to the RTC Chad curve 50050 and 37240 passing by heading back to Nottingham

I’m loving the E-bike, you can see the difference it makes from the post above where the battery was flat, if I had bought a ‘normal’ bike, ok obviously lighter and more gears I’d probably have not done as many miles as I have in the last 2 weeks as it makes cycling a pleasure, I can thoroughly recommend getting one I’ve synced up my various routines so I get enough rest days between works outs

Yes it does, but here is the difference it makes…… I had to do the ride back from the station to home with no battery (and carrying a 4kg bike rack strapped to the crossbar) with a headwind, some 5 minutes longer than normal That ride normally takes me 12-13 minutes

Had to work a train to derby today and had to pick up another car bike carrier while I was there, strapped it to the bike and started riding home, I was planning on going to uttoxeter (25 mile) but I got to tutbury and Hatton and the battery light started flashing so I got in the train from there instead, still managed to do 13.5 miles though!