jwealleans

Rikki Don't Lose That Number - Steely Dan

This Wheel's On Fire - Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger & The Trinity

It was quite sudden and unexpected, although she had been ill for some time.

For those whose patience hasn't been exhausted yet, Chris' photos from Day 3 at York, by which time we'd probably just about got the hang of it all again. These must have been taken over a fairly extended stay in front of the layout as they cover several moves. Hopefully I can remember what's supposed to be going on and you'll be able to follow. One of the less expected stars of the show from an operating point of view was 3465, a NuCast O2/2 converted into an O1. A fortuitous find at Pontefract Show in January, it had nothing more than a clean and service and was brought along on trial rather than with any real expectation. It performed pretty well faultlessly over the dead frogs for a loco with no tender pickups (yet) and I suspect has leapt straight into the permanent roster. It did see service on the down mineral empties, which is the usual working for locos I want to try out, but here is taking the Iron Ore empties back to High D y k e. In Platform 4, J5 3027 awaiting departure to Lincoln and Boston with a short train of older Howlden stock. 3027 is a London Road Models kit and one I very much enjoyed building. On Platform 5 an arrival from Derby and Nottingham. J39 1273 has just detached and will proceed to depot for turning and servicing. This and the other Bachmann J39 we have never cease to amaze me - they still have their original split chassis mechanisms with no additional pickups and work reliably show after show. They are thoroughly cleaned between shows and every so often I strip them right down and clean the axles and keeps. I suspect that's probably why they still work so well, despite both being bought second hand. Looking further right, towards London, an A3 waiting to relieve an Up express. Beyond it the end of a goods for Peterborough, which I think means we're fairly well through the sequence here. I can pick out C1 3251 in the old shed and bottom right is one of the High D y k e O4s, 6229 or 6246, having turned and getting ready to leave the shed and resume its journey north. I included this picture not only for Graham's signals and North Box and part of Paul's townscape behind, but for the partial shot of the other Eric Fry loco we had on loan, the 'neverwazza' P10 2-8-2 tank engine. It's identical to a V1/3 above the running plate but with very different frames and motion. I believe this loco was built by the late David Steinle. We didn't run it but had it on show for the duration. It made an interesting contrast with the usual north end pilot, a J54 built for us by the late Caroline Middleditch. Almost the same scene, but 1273 has now reversed out onto the viaduct and then returned down the shed road. This was a Lincoln loco in the 1930s and I worked from a picture showing it well bulled up on shed. It has yet to have the detailing which these Bachmann models benefit from and I do have to point out that after 10 years I still have not completed the 3500 gallon GS tender which it should tow. Appalling lack of effort. Down at the south end we can now see that the relieving engine is a local resident, Robert the Devil. Tom Foster weathered this engine and made his usual outstanding job of it. To the bottom of the picture, C12 4529 is south end pilot and across the bottom can be seen the loaded wagons from High D y k e, bound for Scunthorpe. Back on the shed, but the new shed building, C1 4432 (DJH), A1 2550 Blink Bonny, a Grantham resident and beyond them K3 227 from York, identifiable by the Hulburd water treatment/heating gear it carried until about 1940. This is a Bachmann model with an SEF tender. 4432 was a lockdown ebay buy with a very tatty paint job: it turned out to have a big Portescap and now repainted and packed with lead it will pull anything a Pacific will manage. I have had up to 16 kit built carriages behind it, but that was probably just showing off. Panning left to the old shed, 1273 is now almost turned and ready to return whence it came. The incoming O4 on the High D y k e service can be seen. There were no turning facilities on the branch, so engines went up chimney first and then returned tender first as far as Grantham, where they stopped and turned. In this case it looks as though whatever unidentifiable O4 this is will be relieved. An equally unidentifiable J6 (one of my NuCast ones) is just backing down to the coaling stage. In the background 3465 is turning onto the Up relief road, so the up and down High D y k e workings are visible together. The engine will run just past the Great North Road bridge at the south end and then stop to water. 1273 has turned and is now backing down to coal and water. A wider view of the new shed, with C2 3254 (DJH, by Tony Wright) in evidence. I was looking for this loco at the weekend as it managed to shuttle in and out of north fiddle without ever crossing my eyeline in the three days. Behind it another J6, not one of mine so I can't identify it. The A4 waiting to move back up the shed is Commonwealth of Australia, one of the two Coronation A4s we had for the weekend. At the rear, where we started, the Up High D y k e which looks to be making its water stop.

Live For Today - Lords Of The New Church

Don't Play No Game That I Can't Win - Beastie Boys

You come across this young lady, Clive? I hadn't, until I heard an interview with her husband on the World Service the other night. It certainly takes all sorts.....

Impressive sausagery.

There's A Barbarian In The Back Of My Car - Voice of the Beehive

That's what going on holiday with El Jobbo will do to you. Mind you, playing trains with Clive until all hours probably didn't help either.

We were honoured and very pleased to be loaned some locos for York by Eric Fry, series editor of the RCTS Green books and something of an LNER legend. I took time on Monday to make sure we recorded them: C1 4433, one of the four allocated to Leeds Copley Hill specifically for this working, on the up Queen of Scots. This glorious pair of B16s - 2372 is also in my collection, but I was very happy to concede the place for the weekend. .. and this equally beautiful D20. A more duplicitous photographer would have photoshopped that bogie wheel. I'll just say that I had to move the loco so I could get the perspex screens out of shot and clearly I wasn't paying enough attention. If I can find out any more about the origins of the models I'll update this post.

Some action shots from Chris H on Day One: Perhaps Steve and Graham can tell us what they're so intent on here. It's not the A4 either coming onto or going off shed: an errant road vehicle or misbehaving signal? Steve and Graham have moved, but the A4 hasn't. We can now see that it's Union of South Africa. Shedmaster Adam doesn't look too perturbed by its immobility. The North End pilot (J54) has moved out of its usual berth into Platform 4 - that probably tells someone who takes more notice than me exactly what move we're on. I appear to be completely AWOL here, which seems to be the case in an alarming number of layout photographs. I'm back and the A4 has made it right down to the far end of the depot. The Quint set hasn't set off for Nottingham from Platform 5 yet, though. There's a J3 leaving the old shed to go off on some duty or other (possibly the Up goods Tom is shunting in the background), but more importantly in the background, Graham has just remembered he left the iron on.

Time for some photos from York. I didn't take too many, being busy fiddling round the back, but here are a few of mine, then some borrowed (I hope he doesn't mind) from the excellent selection posted on Flickr by Chris H (Gilbert of this parish) which can be found here. All very calm before the punters (and operators) turned up. Locked and loaded round the back, but not quite in starting position: the Stirling Single should be on the down ramp out of the Nottingham fiddle yard, the 1938 Scotsman set should be on the main line and someone's put a loco on the Leeds which needs to come off (the train includes the Cinema Car and is too long to allow the preceding Junior Scotsman to pass if fully made up. The actual loco and cinema car are in Road 9, beside the Coronation and will couple up after the Junior Scotsman has left). Some things, unfortunately, don't change, just get worse... I blame the Convict for leaving his Beaver behind when he visited and then encouraging me to get it out and play with it.

These Boots Are Made For Walking - Nancy Sinatra

Underneath The Bottle - Lou Reed

We all ducked!

Respect Yourself - The Kane Gang

Well done for capturing the simultaneous 1888/1938 Flying Scotsman departure. We've filmed it, but I'm not sure anyone has caught it at a show before (or if they did, they didn't share). The guest appearance by the P1 is also a good catch, I think it only ran round twice and was only with us on Saturday.

Excellent. Do you mind if I link to some of those on the Grantham thread as i took very few and none of us actually running?

I'm Gonna Be a Country Girl Again - Buffy Sainte-Marie

Thanks, Ollie. Good to see you and have a quick chat yesterday. Very pleased to see a good shot of Mr King's Iron Ore train making its guest appearance as well.

2548 Galtee More and 2577 Night Hawk are now mine and will certainly be on Grantham. 2550 Tracery now belongs to Graham Nicholas and can also be seen. I did acquire a couple of A4s from Tom, but 4901 was not one of them and I can't say where that one ended up.

Sweet About Me - Gabriella Cilmi

I'll Be Your Mirror - The Velvet Underground

It's been disturbed again... ... and now downstairs awaiting the van.