big jim

Couple of pics from today, had to go over to stoke on the train to pick up a van then on tge way back met up with a road learner to show him round gresty lane First up a couple of 387 units on test between bletchley and crewe They are branded up 'thameslink' Then when we were in gresty bridge 70003 departed the independents heading to south wales, picture taken from the signal box steps Back in tomorrow, hereford to chirk with the baglan logs

this made me laugh this morning, not so much the story (its fox news after all) but the reaction to it on twitter http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-30773297 loving the kerrang one!

Had an hour in the shed earlier doing a few bits and bobs First up i finished a job i started yesterday, i've changed the lights in the shed so instead of one row of 4 lights down the centre of the shed ive now got 2 rows of 4 above the layout, just need to extend the wire on the end 2 lights a touch Then i went onto a bit of track work, started fitting up the points at the 'south' end of the station, lifted the plain line first.... And added in the points Refitted the plain line on one side And refitted more to the other end of the point I can't do the other line yet as i need to change a normal fishplate for an insulated one but it has a blob of solder on it so i can't remove it without using the soldering iron and as im using an extension lead at the moment i can't use the lights and reach the far end of the layout with the solderer at the same time!! Next up i had a think about the diamond crossover i bought, if i do use it then i think the only place it would be go would be 1/2 way down the platform which would allow me to do 'turnbacks' but really with the points ive added already it will only gain an extra move If i placed it where as in the picture then i could get a 3 car unit at one end of the scissor (end nearest the camera) At the other end when i add the planned high level street area/station concourse above the tracks i can create the illusion that the platform continues below it to make it look like a 3 or 4 car is sat in the platform I'll probably not end up using it!!

i didn't actually see it work as the job was caped, i thought it was a gulley cleaner but apparently it lifts the ballast and cleans/replaces it somehow!

as you say mr tilt that picture epitomises the APT and i for one feel privileged to see things from the other side after all these years since the first time i saw the pic when i was about 5 years old! that one picture you took from the cab has cleared up so many things i've always wondered about it regards the PACT track, is there a length of it outside crewe on the potteries loop line (you should see it on google maps if you follow the line out of crewe towards stoke, just alongside the south carriage sidings)

a few from last night and this morning did a railvac at barrow hill. anyway with one thing and another it never actually happened so i just had to man the 47 for the night and didnt move! one thing that did happen was my memory card went funny in the camera and wouldnt let me take any pics to it which really annoyed me, i took it out and managed to use the internal memory instead which unfortunatly could only handle 3 pictures so the night time shots were limited, also it was lashing it down so i didnt want to be stood out in the rain, these are the only 2 useable shots i managed in the end! so this morning at the end of the shift i went to tesco in chesterfield and bought a new memory card, an ultra SD 32GB whcih will hold 4000+ photos, and hopefully write to faster than my old bog standard 8gb chip i then went back to barrow hill for a couple of shots of the train in the daylight while i waited for the driver to return to take it north smart looking class 60, had a look in the cab, first one i've been in to be honest (well since 1993 at an open day) and i'm surprised just how much class 66 controls look the same, same type of brake controller etc so after meeting up with the driver i headed up to slitting mill to see if i could get a shot of the train heading north, i walked down to the crossing but thought i may get a better shot from futher up the hill unfortunatly for some reason the camera didnt focus on a few pics so i've had to bin them, i'll have to have a look at the settings on it again as i'm struggling to get good pics again, this one for example is totally out of focus, i have it set at a fixed focal point (i think) in the centre of the image but this is totally to cock! but a few seconds later it focussed perfectly! then the 60 appeared witht he railvac the next 2 pics were out of focus so i binned them and this was the next one in the sequence which is ok (but the 47 is 1/2 obscured by a tree! and that was that, i headed home via buxton and the cat and fiddle, was going to go to peak forest for a look but couldnt be bothered in the end!

The 70 is 70806 (which is an anagram of 60087!)

Decided to go via the A50 and go an mither 250bob for a cuppa en route!!

Thats what im worried about!

Windy here in crewe, fancy going into the shed but im worried the roof may come off if the wind gets under it!! So windy last night that they couldnt load my coal train in bristol so it was cancelled and i got a night off, ended up changing my shift though so now im working tonight instead but in barrow hill on the railvac which has a class 47 and 60 on it, unfortunatly i dont sign 60s so i can only drive the 47 (there is another guy on the 60) Once thats done its into a hotel in chesterfield for a break before driving home sometime sunday evening Got to drive over to chesterfield later but cant decide on which way to go, can go via the A50/A38 derby or over the top via congleton and the cat and fiddle which is 25 mile shorter but almost an hour slower!

bliss, i can sleep in my own bed tonight instead of the cab floor of 70804 (which is surprisingly comfy!) my train tonight has been cancelled

I think this guy should do the lottery!!

having a break in the power station canteen, just offloaded 2000 ton of coal so you lot can make your early morning brews! had a good few hours sleep on the floor of the loco while i waited time so feel surprisingly refreshed this morning

Just a video from today

some from last night/this morning had 70804 on the coal which made a nice change, ran via burton on trent both ways rather than leicester so ended up with 4 hours in toton waiting to get into the power station on the way in and after unloading and back in landor st and off it went to gloucester same again tonight and for the rest of the week

No they put the ohle flashes in the wrong place on the front!

Both the livery and location now sadly confined to history, brand new fastline 66 in daw mill colliery waiting for its train to be loaded

Not sure if ive posted this one, just been looking back through some of my old photobucket albums 56301 in platform 1 at manchester piccadilly, this was when i used to work the fastline barton dock job, we were booked into longsight excursion platform on a friday for a pnb after dropping off wagons there for stabling but i used to ask the signaller i could come into the station instead as there were better facilities!! Edit: just realised i had posted the original pic before on page 1 so here is the same loco and location but viewed from the other end!!

One of mine from a few years ago, sat in barton and boughton loop with the stobart express, at tge time id just resprayed a Bachmann 66 into the same livery so i posed the two locos together!!

Just dont leave em in the brake fluid too long.....

here are the pics of brackley, first post on the page http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/86750-evocotive-railway-remains-what-derelect-or-abandoned-structure-stirs-your-emotions/page-6

i dont know if its just me but your google maps links just send me to bourne end? regards the lines around brackley i went for a nose around them last year while i was on a lodge turn staying in the town, the pics are up here somewhere but i'll have to find the thread! there is something about the GC that fascinates me, its only recently ive become interested in the old infrastructure and i absolutly love driving up to claydon jn through the remains of calvert station etc, it fascinates me that the mileposts north of quaindon road to calvert are still miles from manchester piccadilly on what is now a railway backwater! you may find this site interesting, has OS maps with the GC overlaid onto them http://www.railwayarchive.org.uk/map/osIndex.php

And part 2 finished!! Arrived into hinksey to find it all shut up, the wagons are running through to westbury so it was a trip along the receptions to the exit signals and off to get my taxi!!

Halfway through todays job, taken a train bescot to oxford and am making my way back to bescot for train No2 to oxford! Eenie, meenie, minie, mo!! I took the leading loco (70808) for the first train, the next one will be 70805 which is the one with graffiti on Train 1 (6Z46) was 20 loaded falcons and 2 salmons Train 2 (6X46) is the one next to it, a nice long rake of point carriers, unfortunatly there wasnt enough room to place the loco on it ready for when i get back Then marcus37 rolled in with his road learner from shrewsbury And finally into oxford 90 mind early and thankfully back north on a late running XC service! Looking forward to getting in the hotel bed later!

saw that on big fat quiz, you know you shouldn't laugh but it is very funny