great central

Can I echo 4479's observations. I stood watching an exhibition layout a while back. It looked good but it was run so slooowly! Supposedly a main line approaching a station in recent times. Trains emerged onto the scene under a bridge but instead of slowing on approach to the station, they just crawled the length of the layout. I work on the railway and all trains run close to the upper speed limits most of the time. Most drivers have years of experience and can judge their braking almost to the inch, regardless of conditions. So after watching said layout for a few minutes I quickly lost interest. For the reason that it looks to be operated how I remember, Grantham is a firm favourite. Another club member is a civil engineer and he gets put off by impossible bridges! We all have our particular bugbears but as Grahame says above we can all go out and look how things are done.

Probably having a P & V exam

The Scots were indeed bad, see http://www.annesleyfireman.com/ for an insight. The LMR sent various locos onto the GC, a batch of (poor) Brits was allocated. The Annesley fitters fettled them up and the LMR promptly transferred them away When the LMR first got their hands on Annesley one of the first actions was to condemn most of the ex LNER locos on the books. According to Yeadon one of the O1s they condemned was only a couple of weeks after a General Repair

Although we have a lot of new staff, not many leave, unless for a promotion (or they had little choice ) I've been a guard for 8 years now, there's over 40 people with more seniority than me. That in a depot of around 100. There are quite a few who've stayed on beyond retirement age, not all long serving either. There is one chap who left about 12 years ago to be a holiday rep, he was on the same induction course as me, 11 years ago, when I got a proper railway job (I started out self employed with a catering trolley). He was then made redundant in a management cull about 5 years ago, now he's back again as a guard, started earlier this year Our most senior man has just completed 50 years

Nothing so clever, I'm afraid, purely from the etches which came with the kit. Most of my kit-built stuff is done very much as the manufacturer intended, only exception I can think of at the moment is a DJH 9F where I replaced the motion bracket with a Comet one. The DJH bracket didn't look remotely like the ones I remember seeing daily. Also the BR1F tender needed some modification to make the shape better.

Tony, I hope you don't mind but while rooting around on an old hard drive I came across several pics of various locos I've built from kits. It seems that this thread is a place to post such things, most of which I hope are to your liking. Not being any kind of photographic wizz the pictures aren't necessarily top quality but I'm quite proud of the locos. First a Little Engines O1, built before Hornby even announced theirs, still hasn't been weathered, the day job tends to get in the way, got to be up at 04.00 tomorrow as it is! Next is an ABS L1, one of the few (only?) company built locos allocated to Colwick. Put together getting on for 20 years ago as a post 'snip' recovery project. A Nu-cast O2, again probably 10 years ago for this one, not built anything much since I've been a guard, the shifts don't help. Also having a caravan on the Norfolk coast isn't conducive to modelling. Finally for now, a Nu-cast K2, one of a pair I built about the same time, I now have another one to build having picked up a kit quite cheaply a couple of years ago. I keep picking up kits on the cheap whenever I can. I should be passing LB about 11.45-11.50 tomorrow morning on my way back from Norwich, if it's the same as Tuesday we'll be on the down fast. When I can get Deepcar cleaned and running, I'm hoping to start a thread of my own with a few projects on.

I think it's Duffield just south of the station

Definitely an O4/8, I've built two of them, one wasn't bad, the other had some fairly poor quality metal. Also done an O1 which was quite good, with another to build when I can get some OO axles, it came with EM ones. I also have a D11 that I paid the princely sum of £20 for, including wheels and two sets of gears and motors! Also built an O4/7.

Basically the Erewash Valley line now comes round as two tracks on the alignment of the goods, there's no connection here to the fast lines heading off towards Derby, on the right. There is a trailing crossover a little further north, behind the photographer, which allows trains from the up Erewash lines to reach the line to Derby, or from Derby onto the down Erewash and thence the Old Road to Barrow Hill and Rotherham Masborough. To get from the Erewash lines onto the main there is a high speed crossover (70 mph) at Chesterfield South near-ish to Hasland or a slower crossover just north of Chesterfield station. The 58 is unbranded blue, a trail for large logo?

That says Hope Valley to me possibly Hope station itself? Should really know for definite as I sign the line No idea if national Power 59s went that way

All of our 153s and 156s with new destination blinds have both Kettering and Corby on Edit to make a bit more sense

I always thought that classic car owners tended to be a fairly responsible bunch, came across the exception to the rule earlier. Some dipstick driving a MK1 Escort, made to look like a sport or maybe even a Mexico. Came roaring past me on a hill into a 30 limit, narrow village streets, ( I was doing about 30) continued in the same manner round a bend and disappeared but could be heard, revving like mad. Thing is, it wasn't that much faster than I reckon I could go if I stood on the loud pedal, so probably only a 1600 or so with a drainpipe exhaust. I've got a 2.2 turbo diesel.

Hope Dave doesn't mind a small thread Hi-jack. The Liverpool-Norwich service is, as Dave says hourly through the day. That particular unit will have started from Nottingham about 04.00 as ECS to Lime St. It then returns from Norwich at 12.57 to Lime St arriving about 18.25, before forming the 18.52 back to Nottingham arriving around 21.30. I'm not sure but I think it then does another local run. These 158s cover some mileage. The first service from Norwich is about 05.50, arriving in Liverpool at 11.30ish, it then forms the 11.52 back to Norwich arriving around 17.15, before working the 17.57(?) to Nottingham. The times vary by a few minutes depending on stopping patterns. First service from Nottingham to Liverpool is 05.20 calling at all stops across the Hope valley, and to Norwich at 04.56, via Melton Mowbray, Oakham and Stamford. Most of the day they run ECML from Grantham-Peterborough. Last one from Norwich is at 18.57 to Nottingham, there are rumours there may be a later one, whereas last from Liverpool is 21.37 to Nottingham again calling at all stations across the Hope Valley arriving around 00.40 depending on route due to engineering work. A few years ago EMT published a calendar with various facts on, the month of February proudly proclaiming that a 158 wheel rotates 166,153 times between Liverpool and Norwich

Sorry I couldn't make it to Grantham, fully intended doing so until Sunday morning. Then a combination of the weather forecast (rain starting in the afternoon for most of the week:stinker: ), very long grass on the lawn and a certain amount of chuntering from 'er indoors, I'm afraid to say the grass won:jester: I'll almost certainly be at Stafford and definitely at Nottingham:sungum: . Can I compliment you on your running, it's nice to see the trains given their head on a layout which is essentially all about speed. I get tired of seeing 'express trains' being anything but. I stood and watched a (very good) layout at a show,the trains looked as though they were under caution so my interest soon lapsed

Not sure on that, can't remember when the connection to the Lincoln line was re-instated, I suspect late 60s, possibly after things like Fowler tanks had pretty much disappeared from the area. Prior to that, the most likely way a Fowler tank would have got to Grantham would have been from Egginton Junction via Derby Friargate? Whilst there was a connection at Trent Lane from Low level to the Grantham line, it was rarely used as I understand it. It may even have involved a double shunt from the Midland line into Low Level?

That may just be on the limits of our new layout, a few images here: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/74756-nottingham-model-railway-society/

Neither do I, I have to work on air con trains, best thing going is fresh air through an open window

And four minute engine changes.

Caister station stood where the row of new houses now stand at the corner of Manor Road, the old house opposite is still called Station House (I think, not looked at it recently). I have a caravan on one of the sites on Manor Road, got home from there earlier this evening. Can't say I've found the sleepers you mention, must look harder next time. Haven have recently been scraping the tops off the dunes, no idea why, maybe they intend putting vans on the top like the ones on the Seashore site? Must be a premium position on top of the dunes but when there's a good easterly blowing they'll need to be well anchored. I took a few photos a year or two back of the trackbed from around the lifeboat station down as far as where it disappears under the North Denes (Seashore)caravan site. I have them somewhere on an external HD but as we now run IE I can't get the thumbnails big enough to see what they are

A bit more about Sydnope. As already stated they had a shop in Crich which is where I first came across them. They then moved to an industrial unit near Cotes Park, again as mentioned previously. They did us a very good deal on track and points for Deepcar, the Peco points being for the fiddle yard as the scenic side was all hand built. They then moved into a shop on Derby(?) Road nearer Alfreton town centre, which is where unfortunately it all went wrong. Apparently one day a number of 'gentlemen' entered the shop and said something along the lines of 'that's it then you're closed'. I understand that someone hadn't been paying the VATman! All of the stock turned up at an auction house in Eastwood a few weeks later and I and several other club members went along to see if there were any bargains to be had. The bidding was almost bizarre at times, I recall things like boxed Hornby locos going for over their normal retail price, but we picked up a couple of boxes of assorted unbuilt wagon kits and such like for next to nothing. The most notable thing was several beautifully built and finished loco kits including something like a Caledonian 4-6-0, Scottish stuff isn't my strongpoint, going for about £20!!!! Unfortunately I had been out of work recently and was just getting back on my feet, or I would have bought them just because! This would have been around 1985-6 at a best guess.

There was a bit of a problem this morning, no normal detection on the points, presumably after the train had been put into the sidings, so the main line was shut for a while.

DSC 6574, is it my imagination or is the chimney not on straight? Thought it was only my kit builds with slightly off cock chimneys