big jim

im the same, never been a huge fan of them, saw plenty as a kid but only ever had a ride behind one of them between reading and london Paddington and back, 50024 ‘vanguard’ I’ve driven one mainline, 50049, nice to say I have done that but I’d prefer a class 47 anyway! (Runs for cover), if I learn them through work then brilliant but if I don’t then so be it, must admit I struggled with the door between the clean air end and engine bay, far tighter than any class 37 fan end I’ve had to squeeze through

not as yet, I think the rollout of the new policy has been put on the back burner for now with the current situation I’ve not been too bothered about taking that many pictures to be honest, more interested in keeping my self safe and holed up in the cab!

Shrewsbury to derby last night with a Stone train, 66753 up front a week of Trafford park now

please tell me your name isn’t Richard

Shiny new (2nd hand) milltek stainless exhaust on the cooper S and a set of bilstein B14 coilovers to improve the handling also got a smaller supercharger pulley on it now and had had a few oil seals renewed, only problem is it’s 40 miles away on the Wirral so I can’t collect it until lockdown is over as it’s hardly an essential journey! Still keeps the miles down on it as I have a limited mileage policy and I’m enjoying using the convertible anyway

Don’t see why Bachmann would retool, nowt wrong with it (in my eyes) I have 30+ of them from the first issue right through to the likes of evening star from the later batches I’m glad some people decided to dump them on eBay on the strength of the hype over, at the time, the unseen hattons model, picked up some right bargains over the last few months!

It’s funny that after 20 odd years working trains down there it wasn’t until last night thanks to rail maps online that I discovered there was a line over the top Of the stour line from Dudley (you can make out the embankment in the picture) and indeed a wagon works where the recycling plant is now I knew there was a triangular jn to what I now know is the princes end branch but again that was something I thought closed in the middle of the last century looking at the remains on the ground, didn’t know it existed until the 80s it’s amazing how much railway there was around the Black Country

@russ p there are some pedantic people who write into car magazines! (gonna have to download the March issue now to see the picture!)

I believe there are a few going into store while Covid-19 lockdown is happening the ones that are running are very quickly getting a deep clean and disinfect of the cabs to keep us all safe!

never seen a pic of greaves sidings before! note the 56 at hatton has ‘landfill express’ on the front, wonder what that was all about? as for greaves works, yet another housing estate now

the reference to the church in Tipton in previous posts also relates to this pic as you can see it to the left of the frame google mapping the location gives me this as a possible point Dropped pin Near Tipton https://goo.gl/maps/pRyeGotVdAy5hUeE9 Between coseley and Tipton looking toward Birmingham, the give always are the bend in the canal On the right and the long building to the left , in particular the skylight arrangement that is the same in the pic as google maps the signal has a No1 route indicator which is hazard a guess would take you into the aforementioned princes end branch on the down side there is a signal box that those with knowledge of the area may be able to identify (Tipton curve signal box maybe?)

i had the 5 litre V10 diesel VW Phaeton LWB, that sounded awesome when you hoofed it, 300+ BHP and 0-60 in 6 seconds, not bad for a 2.5 ton bus thats the day i swapped from the 3l diesel to the 5l (5l LWB one is at the rear) i do quite fancy another phaeton though

Bescot Rugby

Just a couple from last night/this morning 66781 in Trafford park while running round And this morning in new st, unfortunately I had to get a train home, thankfully I had it to myself ballast tonight out of bescot

i could have got one of those with power supply, external floppy, games, joysticks etc from the local flea market a few months back for £20 but didn’t bother!

oh come on! I was eating a peach then, been put right off it now http://viz.co.uk/2014/09/24/clag-gone/

Fixed the track down below the mill area so I can once I decide upon the height I can fix it in place As for the wood, I’ve cut the wall piece back so it’s the same level as the outer piece at the back to make the loop easier to lay but I’m going to bring the front of the wood down to the level of the block under the front (it’s currently sat higher than it should be so the gap will reduce anyway) And shorten the right hand side piece to the pencil mark to clear the crossovers I’ll also slightly widen the cut away where the incline drops under the mill might try and do that over the weekend

i did my family's 'big shop' in bescot yesterday on my commute home, between farmfoods, iceland warehouse and poundland i got everything we need for the next couple of weeks, obviously certain things like bread will need topping up but had no issues getting anything from the 3 stores combined, even wine for my wife, luckily got to farmfoods after a daytime delivery so freezers were pretty much full and there were even stacks of loo roll the thing with the retail park at bescot is its a bit, how can i put it....urban......with lots of closed units so its not busy at the best of times, yesterday was just right

I’ll stick with my Bachmann ones thanks! ive got a Bachmann 66789 and 66783 on order with my local shop, a hattons sound fitted variant in a different livery was going to be a treat but it can wait now as I’ve not exactly been blown away by what I’ve seen so far, ok it’s probably the minority of locos sold that have issues but its put me off buying

I think you have hit the nail on the head there, i will be doing my best at boycotting ‘spoons when all this blows over but it’s going to be difficult, as a non drinker I use them regularly for dining when out with the family or while lodging in work and I don’t fancy a hotel dinner, you know what you are getting, it’s cheap and most places are actually quite pleasant (rugeley, congleton, sandbach and Dumfries in particular) saying that I’ve just discovered ‘hungry horse’ which by us is greene king chain and the food there is on a par if not slightly better than ‘spoons but a touch more expensive so I’ll try and use them more when out and about

it’s a shame with the GBRf one (66762) that the exquisitely detailed cab interior is wrong though, the real thing has a eurospec wrap round desk rather than a traditional pedestal type, ok it’s not the end of the world (I’ll leave that to a certain virus) but it would have been nice to have seen modelled maybe I should have a go at replicating it correctly should I buy one

I had a jap import game gear back in 1990ish, sonic the hedgehog was my fave game and columns

Some of the replies to this thread over the last couple of months have made me chuckle..... lists of problems, issues, bits missing and falling off etc then signed off with ‘it’s a lovely model’! I keep thinking of the old joke...... Lost dog, one ear missing, 3 legs, blind and deaf, answers to the name lucky I really hope the issues are resolved for the future as I quite fancy getting one or two but as they stand now I wouldn’t touch them with a barge pole

The Touareg I bought is a diesel, first one for for a while, compared to the petrol Murano’s 240ish BHP it’s soooo slow off the mark but cruises lovely, without its Superchip bluefin activated its 175bhp, with it 207 but I really can’t see or feel any difference in economy or performance The bluefin’s I have on the mini’s have transformed them into totally different cars, the mini one has gone from 90 to 130 Bhp and the cooper s 167 to 218 bhp, although that should be nearer the 230-240 mark soon with its new exhaust, pulley, injectors and remap (once travel restrictions are lifted so I can get it done in Cambridgeshire)

I could see from the badge it was a chimaera but couldn’t get it down in words that I want a griffith without it looking like I thought yours was one! 240bhp, rear wheel drive, I’d have that in a hedge in about 30 seconds