big jim

not done a test train for a week or so, back on the freight for a while off for a few days, this is the view from the hotel were in for the weekend

some from today, chirk to hereford with 60047 hereford unusual headboard on a LM 153 into shrewsbury where as per usual they didnt hold the connection with the chirk train so i had an hour to wait for the next one, all it takes is a simple bit of planning of the platform arrangements and it could be solved anyway, this came through while i was waiting i think its TIC2 and SGT, mick can put me right on that 37421 on the rear and that was that

Can't see it myself!!

some from today, did a sinfin, crewe to derby and back, first one ive done since april i think got light by the time i got to derby, running round the train after dropping the tanks off it was onto etches park for fuel where there was an anglia 156 on the wheel lathe also a 20 and 68 and a freightliner 66 56078 in a brief ray of sunshine and after picking up and tanks, setting back along the branch to run round and into crewe

My little un is obsessed with michael jacksons 'thriller' since he learned the dance at a halloween party, he has watched the video hundreds of times and has it down to a tee Last weekend we went to madame tussauds in blackpool where they have a dummy of MJ, when we showed gethin and said "look, michael jackson", he looked round the room and said "where?" We Pointed him out and he still looked puzzled "thats not michael jackson, he's the wrong colour" "oh" ,"yes, michael jackson has a red top and pants on" "Phew!"

OO gauge collectors club model? the cancelled olivia's DRS 37?

i did look out for you at the crossing! it should be on it again tomorrow night though, even though i wont be it was a nice change, you dont realise how noisy and rough riding 37s are until you get on a 60, got a 56 tomorrow on the sinfins, that should be fun, not had one for a while either

Just a couple from last night, hereford to chirk with the logs, first freight for a few weeks EWS service heading south And my loco going north

Wonder if i can pick up a GBRf one from the factory shop on friday, my job finishes at chirk at 10am just in time for it opening, i normally call in on my way home anyway for a browse so would be nice if i can get one

Quite simply.......Lovely

mine went for £135 the other week, paid for the DRS one bought to replace it if nothing else!

love it, looking forward to seeing this progress just dont do what my great great grandfather did when he was the engineer in charge of the real barmouth bridge back in the "olden days" (post cambrian i believe) and open the swing bridge on a sunny day only to find that due to heat expansion they couldnt close it again until the sun had set and the metal cooled down!

the external size is 12ft by 6 ft a brief 1/2 hour in the shed this evening, took a bit of height off the side wall on the station so the roof sits at the right height and with the unpainted canopies in place, the 2 legs are just placed on the outside for now, they will be moved to the inside of the canopy and the extra 2 added when i get round to painting them up etc, looking quite good now, it also sounds good too when a sound chipped loco goes under the canopy and into the tunnel! and a new addition to the fleet, already sound chipped up (taken the chip from 37409), it would be rude not to really

Ties in nicely with south park from a few weeks back

you have the beauty of being able to walk through the train though, i have to walk up the ballast where there are no platforms, a bit of a pain at abbey jn, and i only forgot the AWS change over handle once all night which meant an extra 'walk of shame' back to switch it out, thankfully in the platform that time

i do struggle to get anything done in the shed at the moment, hopefully i can get a bit of time in there over the weekend, not in work til tuesday afternoon

for some reason ive not had the unimog yet, this months model for me is a horsebox, as nice as it is i'm more interested in the unimog in with the package, not in a box this time, back to a bag, was another certificate for 66411 that i got last month!

some from last night, another shift covering IM work started in derby couple of locos on the rtc train for the night, 6 carriages and a 37, the extra coaches are for brake force as the test coach was unbraked last night try and keep up with this lot! out of the rtc into derby staion where i changed ends then off to walsall, DBSO leading, changed ends in walsall and went to rugeley trent valley with the 37 leading changed ends again in rugeley and headed back to walsall after arrival back into walsall, no pics at rugeley as the station lights were off and the train was too long for the platform anyway changed ends again in walsall and off to nuneaton waiting to depart walsall and into nuneaton (plat 7) changed ends and back out to abbey jn (only 3/4 mile away) where i changed ends again and back through platform 2 towards coventry on arrival into coventry changed ends again and back through nuneaton (plat 1) to abbey jn, changed ends again and back into plat 6 changed ends again in plat 6 and off to water orton whre i changed ends again and headed back to derby into derby, changed ends again in the station and back onto the rtc! and that was that, lots of changing ends and 30mph running but also a nice bit of transit move which is at 75mph max so gave the 37 a good chance to stretch its legs between derby and water orton back to freight tonight, empty logs crewe to carlisle

Thats me done for the day, in work last night, taxi to lichfield then worked a train to derby, walked to the station for the train home, been asleep most of the way back to crewe, woke myself up snoring a couple of times though! Hopefully get a good days sleep before im back in tonight on another yellow train around the west midlands

I suppose there are differnet ways and means depending on the country Anyhoo, just one from last night, DBSO at lichfield trent valley at 03:45, iphone pic, should have taken it from there to rugby and back then on to derby but the recording was cut short so i just took it straight back to derby via the high level link line towards alrewas, turned it at burton and into derby Off home to bed now, back in later with another recording run visiting such exotic locations as walsall, nuneaton, coventry and rugeley

its still a big problem jock, leaf fall season is in full swing at the moment, terrible out there, hopefully this couple of days of rough weather will bring the leaves down quickly and the wind blow them away anyway a few from today, had to collect 37116 from barrow hill after some work on the staveley branch before setting off for derby (yes i did turn the tail lights off) and into derby

Unmasked the other side of the canopy with a knife, its come out so much better, no smudges and very little touching up required Loosly in place..... The uprights are all drying too, hopefully i may get in the shed later in the week to get it all fitted up properly

Early start as usual to get the kids up for school, rest day today but just had a call to possibly go to barrow hill to collect a couple of 37s, just waiting for conformation

Nice bargain last night, a Bachmann nuclear flask wagon for £7 plus 3.50 postage, seller had 6 of them at that price, would have gone for more but i already have 3

sprayed up the big canopy earlier today (you can also make out where the rainwater has dripped onto the home printed roadway in the top left of this pic, discolouring it) and de-masked it this evening, it has come out terrible though, the biggest mistake is the primer is white, i didnt know that before i started spraying though! a lot of paint has lifted with the masking tape and where i used my nail to lift it has caused the clear panels to have adhesive smudges from the tape, i can clean it off but it will take a while from there i touched the lifted paint up with a fine brush, still need to remove the finger marks though, also noticed that somehow some overspray has gone on the underside of the canopy in one spot, hopefully i can also get that off too it doesn't look too bad in place, once its cleaned up and properly fitted it should look alright. no pics yet though as i'd unplugged the extension cable to the shed and locked up