big jim

today was my final day of having to travel to chester for jury duty, quite enjoyed it after the initial dread, ended up on 2 cases in the end anyway back to the trains, 37422 and caroline again this morning to me this is unusual thing to see in chester, a 175 in the parcels bay, when i used to sign them they were banned from in there (and plat 2 for a while) this is certainly the first one ive ever seen in there anyway, back when i started at arriva this week 16 years ago they used to stable 101 units in the bay for the early morning ECS to knutsford, happy days

thats why ive switched to paying through apple, when ive hed enough or they cant provide me with the service i need i can simply stop paying them without 'losing' X munber of months of pre paid membership

Here are one of the sets in crewe plat. 9/10 Regularly maintained and tested apparently

It's changed back again, your messing with my mind!!

the one's in crewe appear to still be in working condition, certainly the tanks stood behind them are "in date" test wise and the gauge on it is showing pressure, i'll see if i can grab a pic tomorrow morning as i have to walk past them between parking my van and getting on the train

you've changed it to make me look foolish!

I've updated mine so may give it a go later, thankfully it's not used the same font as Aberdeen-Mrc has used in their last post!

I have a new friend in the workshop now, IPA solution, diluted some down to strip the dodgy yellow paint off the MPV cab, seems to work quite well, took it out of the solution and have it a rub down with a bit of kitchen towel and it came off nicely, as has the grey on the roof and the yellow end is beginning to lift, I've taken it out for the evening in case I don't get in the shed tomorrow but I think a few more hours should get it back to being a blank canvas to re-prime and paint While I was playing about with the IPA I tried a bit on the white stripes of a virgin coach I have spare to see if it could get them off, didn't dilute it but put it in sparingly and with a bit of a rub with the smooth side of a nail buffer block the stripes and logos came straight off I then 'accidentally' started another project, this time the track recording coach, 999950 One side was nice and simple, a few window blanks to add, I've secured them all with 2 pack epoxy resin mix The other side was more involved, biggest bit was cutting a new window that Pete has helpfully added a template to the kit for In position And taped down Drilled the corners And scored the sides until I could pop the window out Bit rough and ready but the frame will cover it nicely I then added the rest of the blanking plates to that side I've had to nick one blanking plate from another kit I have as the kit for 999950 is a blank short for the current configuration of the real coach, there is an extra window blanked off now compared to a few years back, Pete if your reading this check it out!! I've also decided not to fit the etched window frames supplied in the kit as it's quite a lot more work to get them fitted (file back the plastic frames etc ) I'm now Leaving the glue to dry overnight before giving it a rub down around the window blanks to get rid of glue spots and runs, I'll then give it a coat of primer and fill any gaps etc that may show up, then to order some laserglaze from shawplan for it Might just start the radio survey coach tomorrow with the other virgin coach I have spare, again a simple conversion only needing window blanks and a grille fitting

Just 3 from today, back to chester again, been pretty boring journeys really, nowt but voyagers! And back there again tomorrow too!

Ok I'm gonna have to ask, is that a photograph or a computer generated image, I'm finding it hard to tell

Do you still do them?

I thought it was Model rail did them, rare as hens teeth now with no plans of a reissue according to dibber25, I may be wrong though I wouldn't mind a couple of them myself

test train formations vary week to week depending on what needs testing, my model test train comprises the SGT (structure gauging train) and dbso driving coach (which is a fairly simple conversion with the PH design kit) generator van (model rail mag ltd ed) and a 37 in my opinion the SGT (the one mick is doing 10000 times better than i ever will) is the simplest to start with if you want a 'basic' test train as you just need to paint one mk2 coach yellow and fill the windows on the other then also paint it yellow, oh and remove the gangways the problem with yellow trains is once you make one its hard to stop as im sure mick will testify! ive not got mentor, nmt, an mpv, radio survey coach, plp and a tru underway (lots of abbreviations with test trains too!) see my thread also... http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/106497-big-jims-workbenchits-all-gone-a-bit-yellow/?p=2143511

whats that old saying "a picture paints a thousand words" where is/was the triple arm signal mike, at a first glance without your explination (or arrows) i'd read it as there is a 3 way junction ahead and the signal applies to the line to the right of the platform but with your explanation im now looking at it as 65 is the left hand line (line with tpws grid), 52 is the right hand platform and 54 is the furthest right bay road which to futher complicate things has a signal near the end (the one that is off) that relates to the line your train is departing from! i assume its a through station by provision of the distant on SM47 signal? and people wonder why i wont sign them off on the route through shrewsbury without a walk round and a visit to the boxes, thats as complicated as your pics in places!

Splitting distant: approaching the new jn at Bicester on the down Splitting distant and stop: again same location Splitting banners: kidsgrove down line PRI: aynho jn up line Co acting: between crewe and alsager, co after is on ground on opposite side of single line to main signal So grab a chiltern cab pass for some and a london midland/emt pass for the others Can you grab stills from route learning videos? How about for an unusual signal the one on the end of the platform at Woodbridge that is the new LED type with a built in flashing white light for the ABCL crossings that are ahead of it Or what about an unusual ground mounted co-acter approaching deansgate which is mounted upside down to prevent the reflection off the rail making it look like it's showing a double yellow

All I can think about with this thread now is this..... Substitute "puppet" with "model railway"

Does it see much use? You need to try and sign it if it does!!

My paid account is also just for 3rd party hosting too, (almost exclusively on rmweb) I switched to monthly payments so If they pull the rug from under me early and prevent my photos from being viewed (supposedly at the end of 2018 unless I pay the £400 a year)) I can just stop paying them, would be just my luck I'd pay them for the year (£39) as I had been doing from my bank and they'd stop showing my pics via 3rd party hosting

Cool, another "down by the tracks thread" let's see if we criss cross anywhere on our travels! Look forward to seeing more pics

I now pay for my Photobucket account through Apple, (plus 50) renewing on a monthly basis, the payments are managed from there via my Apple account, I changed it via my mobile phone app If you have access to an Apple account might it be possible to switch to that as a payment method and simply not renew it when the month is up and just leave the account open but dormant

I went to the model shop in bury st Edmunds a few months back (Model Jn) and the owner said "are you big jim?" and had a chat with him for a bit, then a few days later I got on a voyager in Edinburgh and someone else recognised me there too! Similarly in bidston last week, being recognised in the local area is not unusual but away from home feels strange (and then you don't really know what to say to people!)

See, told you! ^^^^^^^^^^ (i did give you a toot and wave) I was only a couple of minutes behind the charters departure, did wonder what was on it, I saw it disappearing into the distance at steel works as I pulled into the electric depot (I also saw 250BOB while passing through stoke on Trent station with the 37)

Some from today, worked a 37 and UTU crewe to derby Changing ends in Derby A few hours on the shunt including a mainline trip in the 08 over to etches park (hence the portable headlight) Couple of 37s Then the 67s over to crewe And into the electric depot at crewe Even spotted a couple of forum members on my travels too!

No, been busy all week elsewhere but back in tomorrow morning on a UTU from crewe to derby then the 67s back to crewe in the afternoon hopefully

You know what, that really made me smile because it has some relevance to what I've been up to this week!