big jim

no probs marcus got a couple of days off coming up, so hopefully i'll try and get the decoder working so i can get the last bit of track down

yep, and here he is..... actually my wife has 'a thing' for will mellor off 2 pints of lager and a packet of crisps, there was one episode where gaz looks into the future and is over weight, when it came on both me and my wife both couldn't stop laughing as we both said at the same time "oh my god, its me!" at least i know if i lose quite a lot of weight (probably over 1/2 my body weight) i'd look like will mellor!!

according to WNXX colas have bought some class 37s from preservation groups, not sure how true it is but would be nice if it is numbers quoted are: 37116, 37175, 37216, 37421

i've not heard what they will be used on yet by yesterday i hope you meant friday as i was on it saturday and i'd be in trouble if i came past your house as i still dont sign it!

the new batch of colas 70s have the extra boxes fitted too, according to another forum they are extra cooling fans after freightliner had problems with overheating at low speeds they are not as noticable once painted the same colour as the rest of the loco, hmmmmm how do i know that?

they have made it look worse by bolting a big orange "zit" to the side! i've said it before but the colas livery suits it well as its more angular, (go back a page to see a link to the, incorrect, artists impression to get an idea of how it will look) the only problem being now that the big bolt on bit goes right through the bodyside writing, i'm hoping only 70801 has it so i can renumber my respray to 70802

Things have come to a halt for a bit, mainly due to lack of electricity to the shed, i was going to go in there this morning but thought it better i had a sleep being as im on nights tonight! I really want to get that last point wired up then i can get the final bit of track in and have a complete loop Payday on friday so i may look at getting the electrician in to get power in there if i can afford it!

oh b#gger it, no sooner than i paint my Bachmann one into colas livery then the real thing appears with some sort of new cabinet on the side....... http://www.flickr.com/photos/drs20304/11171355544/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/drs20304/11171473043/ i think it may be a hose reel

Chaos at stoke earlier to add to the problems! Failed train at wolves meant that some xc trains were running into stoke from the south and terminating, running out into the sidings and headin back south, i finally got back home at 20:30 so still not a long day really, a few days of now then back to it monday A few phone pics from today... After relief in chirk the driver sets back into the factory At chirk the old glyn valley platfrom has been cleared a bit Then it got dark and the iphone battery died!

Its a one off today, due to earlier problems, unusual to work 2 different trains over on the freight but i only booked on at 12 so well within my hours, im only working it from stoke to crewe so the guy on i can get back to brum a bit earlier, a driver who was booked to go pass from crewe back north is working it after me I dont mind mucking in a bit to keep things moving to be honest, i should be home before 9 with any luck as i notice its on the move now from derby

Oh dear! http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/O42268/2013/11/29/advanced

having worked the logs to chirk im now back at crewe waiting to head to stoke to work the sinfins back as far as warrington!

and now i've just been asked to work the logs from crewe to chirk instead of going to carlisle!

yes i'm trying to work that one out too, the only thing i can think of is its gone via lichfield TV and alrewas whatever's happened its not looking good for me later

and a few from yesterday nuneaton 153 about to head off to coventry another pendolino the car train again nice reverse cant on the track this passed by during a signal check at water orton (yesterdays freightliner train was waiting round the sorner on the sutton park line!) and off to bescot, into the down side yesterday, blurry shot as it was just going dark the train in the yard at 16:20 and 50 mins later then i moved over to the up engineers siding and collected my train which last night was the point carrying wagons, this runs as an X classification as its an exceptional load, basically there are places it can't run, thankfully not too many but the accompinied paperwork tells you where on your route you have to avoid (platform 2 at hatton for example) and thats that. on the sinfins later, crewe to carlisle

problems north of crewe yesterday morning meant it didnt get to derby in time to be unloaded so it got there (after the loco had a trip to DRS gresty bridge) and had to come back to crewe for stabling, its heading back in the morning though with any luck, unfortunatly for me i've copped for working it north from crewe to carlisle this afternoon instead of road learning/refreshing hereford

more bescot pics here http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/2848-forgotten-railways-of-the-midlands/?p=1243978

becot fuel point, stopping points for locos

only a few pics from yesterday, i've got some to post in the disused railways of the west midlands thread too though..... starting in nuneaton, a pendo flies through the station my train arriving, 66849, 10 autoballasters and 5 rail carrying wagons of some sort car train heading the other way signal check at water orton, this passed by into bescot and on the depot for fuel then i departed for banbury, at washwood heath at another signal check the GBRf S Stock move was sat opposite, driven by our own 'marcus37'. running late he was routed out in front of me and i followed him all the way to dorridge where he went into the goods loop and i had my booked stop in the passenger loop, at my departure time i noticed the flashing tail light of his train leaving the loop in front of me which impressed me no end as marcus' train is 45mph max and i'm 60mph, so i followed him all the way to laemington where i was held in the centre road for a XC and chiltern to pass, as i aproached fenny compton i could see marcus' flashing tail light in the loop, finally, passed him at 60mph and gave him a merry toot as i did so, and on into banbury, only arriving 8 late, being as i knew the s-stock wasnt far behind i hung around and got a couple of pics of it, thing is the useless driver parked behind the station building so i couldnt get a decent shot, i dunno can't get the staff!! bit of a blurry shot but here is my train about to leave after relief, 20 falcon wagons in tow as he pulled out this came the other way, our portbury to ratcliffe train! Arriva DVT crew swap on the 20s ended up giving marcus a lift home as he had missed the last train and we had a bit of a catch up en route!

if samuel l jackson were a dog........

thats one of the downsides with the iphone camera you cant avoid the light flare, you can however "direct" it by cleaning the lens in a particular direction!

just a couple again, didnt bother with the camera tonight so just iphone pics, slightly edited on there using photoshop express, not fantastic but ok basically a short run from bescot to banbury, 66849 with a rake of loaded autoballasters, 500 or so tons so went quite well on arrival into banbury and these were sat in the yard/on the goods might take the camera tomorrow for some proper pics

now where have i seen that livery before............

well thats a good start, all that guff about attention to detail and you cant get the ad right, how dare you! next up you will be telling us the roof profile is all wrong, the actual model only has 4 wheels to suit radius 1 curves, there will be a non prototypical gap between the running plate and chassis to allow the wheels to turn, and you have done market research and the most popular livery requested is nankang blue with full yellow ends....... .......and its clockwork! on reading of your mistake i put my foot through the screen and sent rmweb the bill! its just corruption at the highest level in andy y's little empire! on a serious note though it does go to show how far both the forum and hobby has come in the last 3 or so years, if you remember there there have been suggestions of RMWeb limited editions in the past, from wagons to locos even buildings that were simply not viable back then the downside being limited runs of 500 models, expendature, differing views on what to produce, marketing etc move on to today and the changing face of the model business/technology etc means small runs can be produced at a realistic price for what is in effect a 'niche' on line market, i hope that the gamble will prove sucessful, its not just the RMWeb ltd edition which shows how far the forum has progressed, take the 2012 scratchbuild challenge for example, off the back of that we have a 3D printed/lazer cut/etched tamper kit being released to the market, even little things like PH Designs class 172 window etches that he produced for me that are available purely from the seeds of an idea i had in one of my threads long may it continue