big jim

Back in 2006/2007

And tonights crewe pic is the arriva mk3 set, this one comes in from llandudno and terminates before heading off the the south shed for service Our double headed 56 log train passed through the station while i was there too

First pics ive seen of it, didnt realise it was the same points! Coal not running again this evening, the only saving grace being i can get a few assessments done on my drivers instead

Dont worry about it, It would have been sillier if i'd have answered it!! I obviously keep out of the internal politics etc in this thread, just try to keep it interesting with pics that people wouldnt normally get to see

Mick, just had a look at the vid i took of the train departing crewe and you can see that the coach is 72631

thanks, the crewe pics are from the iphone couple more from shrewsbury

It started with a 72, think it was 631

As i say using tonight as an opportunity to assess a driver, had to catch a train from crewe to shrewsbury to pick it up there A few pics just for mick, a test train with 67027 and 67012 top and tail And one for the prototype pics mick, a grey primed door on the coach

Not heard anything about it, even if i had i wouldnt be discussing it on here!!

they certainly do, ive taken 20305 (paired with 20301) down the cambrian to machynlleth a few times! the cab view pic of mikes shows the crossing where when i was collecting a pair of 70s from the docks last year a wagon ignored the lights and drove across the track in front of me

no, using the opportunity to jump on the carlisle logs to get a driver assessment done!

Yep, coal cancelled tonight now because of that

Cleaned and renumbered by the look of it, 847 not 867

Not me guv, another week of the coal coming up Quite enjoying it to be honest, tonight its relief in crewe so a 5 min drive to the relieving point (as opposed to 2 1/2 to hours didcot) and then a run straight down the wcml to nuneaton, no messing around trundling round the west midlands!

Bit of a bump for this topic Has anyone tried a different coupling method other than the magnet method above, got my set out for the first time today and quite frankly they are the worst running wagons ive tried on the layout, as my track rises and falls (planned, not dodgy trackwork!) and has tight curves etc the coupling bars are proving troublesome On the tight curves they appear to cause the wagon body to raise at the rear end which in turn raises the outer end of the bogie lifting the wheel off the track Could shanked kaydees/knuckle couplers be fitted into the coupling hole (such as the type fitted to Bachmann megaboxes etc) or can you buy some sort of hinged/swivelling nem socket to fit to the wagon underframe and use that to mount kaydees? They are a cracking set of wagons and it would be a shame for them to be 'looking at wagons' if i cant get them to run smoothly

Had a bit of time in the shed earlier, first job was to program all the chips i fitted last week, once that was done i went on to soldering the track beyond the new points so i could have power all the way round again Once that was done i decided to run the hachette rake round the layout behind 67018 to check the trackwork, it ran lovely round the back and middle platform but when i used the crossovers one of them caused the first coach to derail but the track is still 'floating' in the air at the mo which is what was causing it to derail, i managed to cure it but ive yet to pack the track A quick vid....

Dagfields didnt open for another 2 hours or i would have called in!

a few pics from last night, decided to take my camera as it was a dry clear night first up shrewsbury, sutton bridge jn then onto leicester, the yard lights were out in the scrapyard next to me so i struggled a bit, ended up illuminating the side of the train with my led lamp! stopped me in east midlands parkway for 15 mins then on my way home in the van i had to divert from the A50 due to a crash at uttoxeter so i headed towards stone and along the A51 which passes over the WCML at stableford, i knew the stobart trainwasnt far away so i pulled up and managed a couple of shots of it as well as a voyager and pendolino and thats it, same job next week but via crewe and the wcml every night which is nice

The main problem is a bit like mine, old age! I was introduced in feb 1975 and am falling apart, they were introduced in feb 1977 and are of a similar build quality we both have hoses that regularly fail, we make strange noises under pressure, we both suffer from unexplained fluid loss, thankfully unlike myself they have been touched up more times and than a teenager at a 1970s radio 1 reunion party and have had more facelifts than sharon osbourne and anne robinson put together!

So it stood a fighting chance of actually arriving at its destination (im not joking either!) With any luck it will transfer to being a 70 late next week if i get my drivers refreshed on them early in the week

Well i got a good run out of toton in the van only to get to uttoxeter and find the back of a traffic jam, luckily i was next to the final exit for 8 miles so pulled off there and made my way home via stone and the A51 to nantwich (even managed to stop and photograph the stobart train at whitmore!) better than following all the diverted traffic along the old road to blythe bridge as i've no need to go into stoke anyway traffic reports on the local radio say 2 crashes within 200 yards of each other on opposite carriageways (rubberneckers?), delays of 1 1/4 hour and since then the road has now shut between stoke and uttoxeter in both directions!

Woo hoo, Payday! Currently sat in toton waiting for my relief with a van so i can head home, one more night of the coal this week and its looking like the same next week as well, quite enjoying it, a nice little job with not too far to travel by van at both ends If my relief gets here before 06:15 i should beat the traffic round the A50/A500 in stoke

I was on restrictves through nantwich (i assumed i was following something) but it pulled off to a green before newcastle road crossing so i gave it the gun as i knew there was a passenger behind me Its pretty easy to get up to speed on approach to wem and keep it there but there is a 30mph speed restriction after whitchurch which knocks the wind out of your sails for a few miles, currently there is also a restriction through nantwich station (30mph) which also knocks you a bit RTT stopped reporting me after madeley last night for some reason

Last night was one of those night where i just enjoyed the job, did something slightly different but just like old times! As i've already mentioned the coal went via salop to crewe, through basford hall then down the WCML to nuneaton, it was really nice to work a train over one of my old routes again, as i said i refreshed it last year but from the 2nd mans seat so last night was the first 'proper drive' south of stafford for a long time had a cracking run, up to 60mph before shugborough tunnel then on the fasts as far as lichfield, crossed over to the slows from there then stayed at 60 all the way to nuneaton where i took the link chord over to the leicester line, something ive never done before Only One pic, quite unusual as it shows a train from bristol facing southbound in stafford!

About 23:30ish Edit: times now showing on rtt http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/R62292/2015/02/25/advanced