big jim

a few from last night.... started in derby, 37604 leading the train, this time a track recording train so fully braked (thank god) from there it was up to chesterfield and over the hope valley to manchester victoria via stockport, denton, ashton moss and miles platting, a very interesting run, conducted all the way as i dont sign beyond chesterfield, extremely slippy in places, had it in a full slide a couple of times while braking gently because of the railhead, just a case of releasing the brakes and hoping the wheels start turning again before re-applying them, its always a heart stopping/ass clenching moment seeing the speedo hit 0 when your doing 40mph, you have to be quick reacting so as not to put wheel flats on anything! and into victoria at 05:30 panorama of the tram side of the station and that was that, walked over to piccadilly and got a train home, quicker than waiting for a taxi! next up, pass to london for tomorrows job

on my way home from a night shift, sat on a pendolino just leaving stockport, wide awake after a maccy d coffee at 00:30 and a big monster energy drink at 04:30! had an interesting night, slippy as hell though

just been in the shed to get something out and i've noticed ive got a very small leak on the shed roof, dripped onto the roadway in front of the station and discoloured it, will have to investigate and possibly lay some fresh felt before the winter sets in other than that, not done a thing in there due to work commitments

Some from last night, first IM shift proper, first bit of the job was to work a DBSO from crewe to stockport via warrington, chat moss and manchester piccadilly Waiting to leave crewe And into stockport We had to move over to the train alongside in the goods loop ready to be moved over the weekend, then a fast taxi to stoke to pick up my proper job which was the ultrasonic test train back to manchester, 30mph while recording which was pretty much all the way Into piccadilly And ready to leave Recorded all the way back to colwich then transit to derby where i scured it and went home for a well earned sleep In all a good night, very enjoyable night, nice to do a proper run on my own, although i am missing working freight trains a bit!

some stuff i saw in derby yesterday while covering part of a job i then walked up to the station where my dad was train spotting before heading back to do a bit of dbso handling again its been a very hard and yet again taxing day, not very enjoyable, i sure hope tomorrow goes better, and as for next weeks plan, varied isnt the word if it happens

nice, got any of me on 37601 with some yellow stuff in derby from today?

30 mph when recording on the UTU, 25 on jointed track as you can imagine its a steep learning curve for me this last few weeks, its not just a case of jumping on and going off around the countryside on a jolly, its one of the most taxing bits of training ive done in a long time, i've got a lot of respect for the guys on the IM trains, its a very skilled job, ok driving 3000 ton oil trains is a skill too but this is a completely different discipline involving a totally different driving style than most guys would be accustomed on the freight side, and even though ive done 50/50 passenger and freight over the years this is also very different to passenger work too, the underlying rules are the same but the rolling stock is totally different to what im used to nd there is a lot to learn on them! im slowly learning the meanings of the abriviated train names too and getting to know the various formations

They are network rail yellow, they snuck out of WWH earlier to derby behind 50007 i was hoping to get some pics but my train was blocking that one from getting into the station so i had to move to let him in!

Brake force runners for test trains at the mo

Job caped today, ended up taking a train from derby to crewe lnwr And into crewe

I only found out about those last night, got the manuals for them they are certainly an interesting piece of kit

Another early one but a lie in for me!, train over to derby before working a test train to bangor, llandudno and blaenau ffestiniog later, thankfully the job finishes in crewe so no drive home from derby today Lots of miles driving, 350 miles plus, of that only 50 is recording

Going via london rather than derby was only 4 minutes longer (including the walk, i could have probably shaved 1/2 hour off had i not stopped for pics, sauntered along etc! Other options were leicester-nuneaton-crewe, bedford-bletchley-crewe even St pancras-marylebone-moor st-new st-crewe (had i been in no rush what so ever!) As you say not paying for it makes it more fun

Technically no, i have pics of the ex thameslink 319s at wigan and warrington! But route wise yes, thats the first time ive worked alongside them on their 'home turf' Some from today, back to training, this time a proper recording run around the east midlands, started from derby Into the station to change ends, 2 pairs of 20s in the gas tank sidings Then we set off for leicester via the coleville branch, that was a nightmare, we were probably the first train over the burton end for a few days so the railhead was terrible, add to that the fact i have an unbraked bogie balanced up with an over compensating one on the other end of the coach, i had to keep to 30mph (where permitted) the line is up and down and i was being conducted it was certainly a taxing run! Over to kinghton jn before heading back towards burton, had an hour PNB at lounge jn, the bonus being the dbso is equiped with full kitchen facilities After the break we continued to burton where marcus37 passed by with a 66 on a stone train, then on to derby where we changed ends and headed back out to record on tge north staffs line to stoke, 250bob gave me a wave at uttoxeter in both directions too! Changing ends in stoke And back into derby On to the RTC and home, tomorrow is derby to bangor, llandudno and blaenau ffestiniog, loco swap though so not sure what 37 i'll have tomorrow

Will be ok hopefully Wednesday is more up my street, on home turf, 37 to llandudno, bangor and blaenau

not looking forward to it, 30mph recording train with an unbraked bogie on the test coach so it has enhanced brakes on the other bogie to compensate, so easy to put flats on, you cant brake much beyond initial really! oh and dbso's dont have straigh air brakes either

so your not conducting me over the coalville branch tomorrow then?

and i gave you a reasonable answer, i genuinely didn't have a clue! some from today dbso training, derby to bedford, to start with the bdso was at the wrong end so we went to trent jn so the dbso was then facing south on the MML then we got stuck outside bedford for an hour finally got into the station where i got off and the train continued to woking via the NLL etc and i caught a train into St Pancras as it was quicker to do that and walk to euston than go back to derby and get the shuttle back to crewe over to euston and home colville branch and the north staffs tomorrow

Off to derby on the train, nearly got caught out though, all derby trains leave at 6 minutes past the hour from crewe, this one is 06:58, only noticed it coz i was checking on line that it was running Dbso training today, supposed to be going to woking on it but will hopefully get off at bedford as another driver is being assessed from there so no point staying on all that way for nothing

I wondered the same thing myself, not a clue!

and to end the week of driving colas, network rail, drs, br green and br blue livery stuff, how about an ews 66 banbury to bescot, engineers spoil train with 66230 always check your rear view mirrors before pulling out and that was that

And the bridge at saunderton end of the alignment where the lines begin to diverge is 1/2 blue engineers brick (on the gwr side) and red brick (on the gc side)

only one interesting thing today, 08417 out on the mainline dragging a test train from the RTC

Yes, its where the line splits south of princes risborough, they are on 2 different levels so when it comes to crossing the up side they will do so by a bridge I believe the up formation is the old broad gauge GWR formation and the down is a newer joint line (gw/gc) formation with a shallower incline And as mike says its a nasty crossing on a bend, i actually hit a labrador there one day

Last day of shunting in derby today, friday can be a manic day apparently! Once im done its straight upto cumbria for a couple of nights in the caravan, going to go into carlisle on saturday, pop into c+m for the last time this year probably, unfortunatly ive got work on sunday morning in banbury so have to drive from silloth to there on sunday morning, best part of 250 miles Next week will be fun, more training, so far confirmed locations i'll driving to are woking, colville, holyhead, blaenau ffestiniog, sheffield, manchester airport and many more!