big jim

Fan belt snapped this morning on the convertible in the roadworks on the M6, managed to limp it into the services at Stafford where I’m currently waiting to be recovered. hopefully I’ve not done any damage, but the belt also drives the water pump , managed to keep the temp gauge out of the red by putting the heating on full blast (it blew out cold though) to keep water circulating but when I stopped the header tank had popped the cap off and it was dry so I really don’t know what damage has occured luckily the garage that has the cooper in fitting a new master cylinder and servo completed the work on Monday so we are going to do a swap anyone out wanting to photograph 6D44, its gonna be a couple of hours late today!!

Am I thinking of Honda engines then? My mum had a 220 coupe back in the 90s and I’m sure that had an engine swap from a rover lump after it used oil gallons of oil but wasn’t burning it or leaking it from anywhere and thinking about it I’m sure it was a Honda engine as a replacement under warranty by the main dealer

Some from today, Landor st to Leicester after a look in the shops I got a taxi from moor st to Landor st, 68012 in the platform ready to head to london into Leicester humberstone road walked back to the station past the depot which had the prototype HST and RTC livery 31 sat on there with a rake of MK3s gbrf liner passing through and a light engine freightliner 66 and that was that, back to the bescot to toton tripper again tomorrow

Even my 14 yr old picked up on that! (And the fact he had a kid in the back)

Nowt new on the ian Allen bargain table but did note in the O gauge cabinet the had ‘Brighton works’ terrier for £175 and GWR pannier for £199 (57xx I think?) which when doing a quick google check seem pretty reasonable

15% off on ebay with selected sellers with code PERCENT15 wouldnt normally put the 'bargain' up as there are no model railway related sellers offering the discount however if your looking for tools one of the sellers 'buyaparcel' appears to have very good deals on work tools, in particular makita items, tempted by an 18v cordless drill like this for exqmple.... https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Makita-HP457DWX4-18v-Combi-Hammer-Drill-70-Accessories-Metal-Case-Battery/362624258573?_trksid=p2485497.m4902.l9144 with discount, sub £80

whereas the guy i buy my bangers off had, when i bought my mini convertable back in november, a W reg, 80k, 2 owner, immaculate rover 45, not a spot of rust, no oil leaks (bmw engine i think) with a fresh that day 12 month ticket for £450 he prices his cars to get them shifted quickly off his drive having paid pennies for them from the local auction

Another week, another trip to toton and back! same loco, 66722 66758 ‘the pavior’ waiting to head into the yard they appear to have had a move about of class 60s in the yard, new ones parked on the first road and the fuel line but the ones on the new bank are still the same and our train to go back, was just the single wagon though short job tomorrow, Landor st to Leicester then 2 more days of bescot to toton before my mums cremation on Friday

I ended up getting “pure pool” with the added snooker bundle which at £9 didn’t exactly break the bank, will have a try later

i do like a good pinball game, got that one and the one on the switch, ideally id like a real table in the man cave (indiana jones is still a great one) but price and space put pay to that idea so the console versions are good enough snooker and pool game next

Thanks, I’m back in work tomorrow, hopefully cremation for my mum week after next with close family attending then she is having a church service in llwyngwril the week after with an almighty knees up in Tywyn for all her friends and wider members of the family to attend

The cooper is back, MOTd and taxed and running really well. Fixed some spotlights to it yesterday, still got to wire them up but it’s looking smart with the 4 fitted up with the S badge fitted too, I will however change the mounting bolts for black ones (and shorter ones on the middle lamps) Had my first proper drive in it earlier to ellesmere to my dads house and it certainly handles well and with it having the luxury of a metal roof it feels a lot firmer than the convertible but at the same time a lot smoother and quiet, well until the supercharger kicks in!

Nope! rattly, plasticky, noisy, uncomfortable (and I doubt not much better new!) but i absolutely loved it

Dom showed me GTA-V on the Xbox last night, now the last time I played one of the series was on PS2 (vice city) and I’ve got to admit I was blown away by just how big and involved the game is now, we took a blimp out and flew over the map and it’s immense, only managed to see less than an eighth of it I recon Dom’s character owns a nightclub and a side mission is to promote it, he ended up hiring in 2 DJs to play the club and when googling them they are real life DJs, when they play the club you can go to the dance floor and strut your stuff to their tunes, I ended up watching and listening to them for about 10 minutes! downloaded a free pinball game to the Xbox (FX pinball) and paid for a few DLC tables for it (marvel and family guy/American dad) cracking little game

I have empathy, but with those who had to deal with the aftermath of the incident not with those stupid enough to cause it in the first place

But if you read the previous report she had smoked dope earlier in the night before going to the crossing also in the report the driver (and download) said the unit (a class 142) was at full power at the time of the collision so not exactly coasting quietly

A sensible judgement in the case of the mum attempting to sue network rail after her daughter was killed sitting on a crossing that I mentioned a few pages back https://www.examinerlive.co.uk/news/west-yorkshire-news/mum-loses-court-case-over-16177911?fbclid=IwAR3qxdmV07zjoRvva2JwgV09ztLd1FSyBIiQzHaYjl6vK4CZ7-aa-hBd7gA

As I’ve put in another thread my mum died this morning at 03:10 with us all at her bedside, I’m just sat on the bed feeling somewhat numb at the mo, the rest of the family are milling around the house as well, no one feels like sleeping have a look at the “cancer ward” thread for my mini tribute to her goodbye mum, love you loads

My mum, Vera, passed away this morning at 03:10 with her husband and children at her bedside, there was my stepdad, 2 elder brothers and sister as well as 2 of her grandchildren who had raced over from Stoke and Accrington respectively she wasn't in pain, simply stopped breathing very calmly and slipped away to the next life holding on to my stepdad and sisters hand, I gave her a final kiss goodbye told her I loved her just before she went I originally really didn’t want to be there when it happened but so glad I was there to see her off to know she went with dignity and with no pain, she now looks so peaceful and fragile lay in the bed awaiting further developments regards the doctor and undertakers she certainly lived a full life, born in stoke on Trent in 1945 to the sound of what turned out to be the last ever air raid warning siren sounded in the city during the war! she had 3 brothers, Derek, Alan, Graham and a sister Doreen (derek, Alan and Doreen are still alive) She married her first husband Derek in stoke had 3 children, Wayne, Steven and Lisa before marrying my dad Chris in 1973 and having little old me in 1975 she then went on to re-marry again to my stepdad Derek in 1990 to whom she’d been married for 29 years last month (yes I know 3 Dereks in this story gets confusing!) she moved from stoke to wales when she married my dad in 1970 and lived here ever since, lived all over the place though, stoke with her 1st husband, Llandudno, mold and llwyngwril with my dad and Mold, Anglesey and finally llwyngwril again but with my stepdad! Always a good laugh even if she didn’t get some of our jokes, never took herself seriously, a great mum to us all, tough but fair and we all have lots of fond memories to look back on rest in peace Mum, love you Vera Crump 4-3-45 to 25-4-19

And the red cabin in the background is Michael Delamar’s old shunting haunt before he went driving!

Another car that most wont consider to be a ‘classic’ but again it’s old this was my 1999 SEAT Ibiza gti Cupra sport that I got in 2013 off eBay for £300, spent a small fortune on it getting it lowered, stainless exhaust, induction kit, strut brace, bigger wheels etc only to have it written off by a 96 year old who accidentally reversed into it at a junction about 9 months after I bought it loved that car so much, it was a right laugh, 2L engine in it so went like stink ended up selling it as a damage repairable on eBay, getting £500 for it there arent many left on the road now and certainly only a few in that lime green colour (which was actually classed as yellow!)

That was close! i didn’t see you there TBH, well I saw someone but didn’t twig it was you

i still look the same you know!

Found this pic while looking through some old photo albums at my mums house this would have been my dads car around 1975-76ish as it’s taken outside the police house we lived in in Mold straight after I was born i’ll be honest I don’t know what car it is, Morris 1000?

The vicar came round this morning and gave my mum the last rights, I totally lost it emotion wise as all of a sudden it felt very real very quickly she is totally away with fairies with the drug dose increased to kill the pain for her, we don’t know if she knows were here but we are sitting with her in shifts, the nurses have been round twice today and the doctor is due later today as well me and my stepdad have been to see a funeral director in Dolgellau to request his services “imminently” and he is ready to take the call as and when the inevitable happens one thing that did make us laugh today was at the funeral directors my stepdad said to the undertaker “ok we’ll be back in touch to let you know” and I said “I thought you were going to end the sentence with “you’ve got the gig” even the undertaker laughed we then had a drive over to Birmingham on sea, sorry Barmouth to get some bits from the chemist before heading back via Fairbourne, I’m currently sat in a comfy rocking chair in the bedroom with my mum behind me in bed, I’m watching the rain over cardigan bay, too misty to see Harlech castle this afternoon!