Jim’s “out and about with GBRf” thread

[big jim]

Just a couple again, trafford park job again 

 

run round in manchester

 

172 unit in nuneaton 

 

last night of it tonight 

[big jim]

Final night of the trafford park job 

 

37099 in crewe

 

Blue pullman HST powercar

 

37099 then came back and through the centre road and off toward Manchester, not sure if it was a road learner 

 

 

on the job itself We got held in Piccadilly for a while so I grabbed a photo

 

And then back to crewe at 07:00 this morning, colas 56078 waiting to head off to Stoke with a spoil train 

 

That’s me until Saturday now, RHTT job with the 66s 

[big jim]

Well that was going to be my last night of the trafford park job but I got a ‘can you just’ call to see if I could work it again last night, had a bit of a result as my relief lives in winsford so I got off in crewe instead of nuneaton and was finished and in bed some 3 hours early!

 

anyway to the pics, nice moon last night so a couple from trafford park 

 

 

 

and away it went from crewe 

 

next job is the RHTT on Saturday then an IM job Monday night derby to banbury with a class 37 and Iport on Friday as I’m going to the caravan for a few days rest 

 

[big jim]

RHTT last night, rugby to kings norton then kings Norton to bescot

 

Got a new iPhone yesterday which has a lot better camera than the previous one

 

rugby 

 

walsall waiting for other service’s to pass as we were early 

 

 

and kings Norton 

 

 

Replenished and ready to roll again 

 

And into bescot 

 

A variety of liveries to be seen there

 

 

 

 

and that was that, next job Monday IM from derby to banbury with a class 37 and a UTU 

Edited October 23, 2021 by big jim

[corneliuslundie]

Interested to see the "Overall height" notice on the tank wagons. I didn't know there were low bridges on your routes! (Apart from on a famous South West Wales line).

I must admit I thought the quality of your photos was already good.

Jonathan 

[big jim]

Some from tonight’s job, had to travel down from the caravan in silloth first 

 

playing about with the new camera on the phone, it has a wide angle mode which produces some pretty good shots 

 

wigton

 

Carlisle 

 

 

 

And into crewe, after the trip from Carlisle I was looking forward to a coffee but it looked like the queue hadn’t moved for a while!

 

Once again having a play with the camera, much better low light shots than before

 

 

 

And a wide angle one

 

 

 

 

And over to derby where I prepped my IM train, nice to be able to get through the fan end of the 37 very easily now I’m almost 6 Stone lighter, beforehand I couldn’t make it through this door especially with my big coat on but now I can breeze through 

 

37175 was my loco for the night but pushing from derby 

 

 

9802 DBSO leading for the trip to Bicester once we changed ends in derby station 

and into the station 

 

 

And into Bicester, should have been banbury but my relief was running late so I took it further south then headed back home from there 

 

 

Waiting for the taxi

 

and that’s me until Friday now when I’m on the Iport job to Doncaster 

 

 

[Gilbert]

Some cracking pictures Jim..

[5BarVT]

That phone is giving superb photos.  No wonder camera sales are falling!

And well done on the weight too.

Paul.

[big jim]

Just 3 from today, travelled back to Carlisle to head back to the caravan (on the bike, 23 miles!) 

 

colas 70 heading through with the logs 

 

 

The staycation express arrived in as I got there too

 

been asked to work tomorrow now, annoyingly crewe to Carlisle which is what I’ve just done as a passenger! 

[adb968008]

Hey Jim

Surprise to see you today, anyways here’s a pic I got of your arrival into Carlilse. They kept you waiting at Pettril Bridge for quite a while !

 

[big jim]

2 hours ago, adb968008 said:

 They kept you waiting at Pettril Bridge for quite a while !

 

 

yeah, waiting for my relief to get to Carlisle, he had to come by taxi as the line to Scotland was closed/reduced service due to the weather

 

so, some of my pics from today, not supposed to be in work but got a call, can I work a train rugby to Carlisle, got the call just as I’d arrived back into Carlisle on the train from yesterday’s job, no possible way of getting to rugby so agreed to work it from Warrington which is as far south as I could get in the time!

 

as I’ve said above the line from Scotland was closed due to the possibility of severe weather, luckily I found out last night so I got to Carlisle earlier than planned and got a TPE which started in Carlisle rather than coming in from Glasgow, to be fair it’s really rough with wind and driving rain up here in cumbria as I type this (I certainly won’t be riding my bike back to wigton or Carlisle tomorrow afternoon that’s for sure!) 

 

397 unit 

 

LSL HST in the sidings

 

caught the 397 to Preston where there was an Avanti Pendolino waiting to take the path of the cancelled Glasgow service south 

class 331

 

And onward to Warrington to wait for my train 

 

TFW 158

 

Another 195

 

Pendolino 

 

Yet Another 195, I’ve not really seen many of these despite me living and working in ‘northern’ territory 

 

Clitheroe cement train heading south

 

 

Northern rail 150 heading north to Newton Heath, kudging by the wheel flats I suspect it’s off to the wheel lathe!

 

 

Class 60 sneaking up on me!

 

Double headed 66s heading south 

 

And then my train came in, about 30 late but plenty of make up time to get to Carlisle (5 hours to do the trip!)

 

It was booked via the S+C and the first stop was hellifield where I grabbed a photo or two, loads of people about which is when I found out I was following tornado 

 

passed @newbryford at settle so no doubt he will post a video and picture later too

 

Had to sit outside at petrill bridge as I couldn’t get into the station due to the staycation express, flying Scotsman and tornado being in the way, plus I didn’t fancy sitting next to to two steam locos with 1000 tons of aviation fuel! 
 

while I was there the HST passed by heading to Skipton 

 

And into Carlisle, as you can imagine spotters all over the place so a very popular loco to turn up with!

 

I then walked down to the car which is where I saw @adb968008on the platform end with his daughter, thankfully I tucked my car in quite close to the fence as there was a wagon delivering water to tornado and Scotsman otherwise I’d have been really popular I’d be couldn’t have got to the gate! 
 

Scotsman drew out of the sidings before I got down then and was hauled back into the station by the 57 on the rear of the train. 

 

Think what you like about Scotsman but boy it’s an impressive looking machine in the dark green livery, shame j couldn’t get a pic of it passing tornado! 

 

 

And the final shot of the day a freightliner 66 heading through the station from Tyne yard to kingmoor 

mans that’s yet lot, travelling back home tomorrow to work the Iport on Friday 

[big jim]

Just 4 from today, a wet trip home from the caravan, was hoping to get a train from wigton but they were cancelled due to the weather so got a lift into Carlisle instead, the roads in were terrible too

 

nothing was running north of Carlisle and there was a 50mph restriction between Shap and carnforth with Avanti trains running to an emergency timetable shuttling between Carlisle and Preston on a 2 hourly frequency 

 

tornado managed to make it to Carlisle though and was waiting to take a charter southbound which arrived in just before I got there 

 

TPE had their units stabled in the centre roads ready to shunt into the platform head south to manchester airport 

 

I then caught the shuttle train to Preston where I had to wait for the train to crewe

 

unusual sight of a pair of class 90s pulling some NR falcon wagons

 

 

and that was that, into crewe and home, Iport job tomorrow 

[adb968008]

we’ve been on the road all week (started from London Victoria on Sunday, via Wcml, Warrington, Wigan, Preston, Bolton, Blackpool, Bolton, Wigan Wallgate, Kirkby, Liverpool Metro system,  Birkenhead, Bidston, Wrexham (both of them),  Chester, Liverpool, York, Leeds, Skipton, and then RCS HST to Carlilse.

It took us from 1655 to 1930 to get from Carlilse to Glasgow last night on a Pendolino… 30mph up Beattock… excruciating !

 

Today we went to Edinburgh, Dundee, Perth and upto Inverness  and tonight we are now 40 miles from Wick with a southbound trip on the sleeper planned to London tomorrow, with a plan to see the 40’s in the West Country on Saturday… saw 5025 running at Aviemore today.

Have to figure out the mileage on this jolly when we get back.

 

Some week highlights has been seeing the 230 on test in both Wales (Bidston line) and outside Polmadie last night. Also seen 45699,60163,60103 and 5025, with possibly 1 more to go.
 

So far had haulage on 377, 390, 397, 331,156,150,507,508,67 x2, 68, 185,333, RCS HST, 390, 385, 801, 170, 43, 158 tonight 

 

noticed what looks like 66708/73969 as the sleeper combo at Inverness tonight so looking good for tomorrow as we are in the first compartment next to the loco !

 

good to catch you there at Carlilse ! 
sorry for hijacking.

Edited October 28, 2021 by adb968008

[big jim]

That’s some trip, I was saying to my dad earlier that you had planned to get to wick but having not heard anything and given the weather I thought you’d given up and turned back but we’ll done for getting there! 
 

hopefully the sleeper will go ok for you, I think it’s had trouble the last couple of nights what with the weather and other issues 

[adb968008]

2 minutes ago, big jim said:

That’s some trip, I was saying to my dad earlier that you had planned to get to wick but having not heard anything and given the weather I thought you’d given up and turned back but we’ll done for getting there! 
 

hopefully the sleeper will go ok for you, I think it’s had trouble the last couple of nights what with the weather and other issues 

Its been some manic planning… 15 trains on Tuesday alone.. 

this is the ticket stash so far, still got a few more to go..definitely made use of the friends and family card, surprisingly weve not been alone this week, a few dads and kids have been on rail adventures.

 

Some specific routings too, timings for freight, steam workings etc..

Such as Warrington to just see a Burnley freight, Kirkby and Bank Hall to look at the depot, Bidston for the 230 (turned to a nightmare that produced 2x class 67 rides and 70802 on the same logs you posted earlier that day up north).

Weve also routed for hills, S &C, Forth & Tay Bridges… was trying to get to Stirling this am to see the stranded 73 but timings wouldnt allow it.

 

if the southbound sleeper was to be a few hours late on Friday night it’d suit my plans for the 40’s perfectly.. 

 

anyways just getting ready for a quick photo op at Georgemas in the next 5 mins, Scotrails wifi is serving pretty good up heres .

[big jim]

Some from today, never got to Iport in the end!

 

drove to coleshill and just as I arrived got asked if I could go to East Midlands gateway and work a train from there back to crewe, finishing at 15:30 2 miles from home as opposed to coleshill at 22:30 and 60 miles from home, who was I to refuse!

 

arty backlit shot at gateway

 

66735 was the loco 

 

stopped at Burton for a bit and had a chat with another driver on the spool train, DB service passing by

 

and into crewe

 

trafford park service heading south as I walked back to the taxi

 

RHTT tomorrow and retrieving my car from coleshill

Edited October 29, 2021 by big jim

[Gilbert]

That new phone is doing the business again Jim...great stuff...love the Burton sky.

Chris

[big jim]

Tonight’s RHTT job ended op being changed again due to an issue with another train 

 

got on it at rugby, 66795 and 66704 now the locos after a swap

 

 

 

waiting time in Birmingham International 

 

we then set off for kings norton but got stopped en route and asked to go and conduct an intermodal round to bescot as it couldn’t get into the booked terminal, that meant we had to leave the RHTT somewhere as there was a possession due to be taken and the intermodal needed to be moved quickly! 
 

Saltley depot road was suggested but the intermodal was blocking the route so we had to take it to tyseley!

 

 

the local MOM drove me back round to washwood Heath where I got on the intermodal and took it round to bescot, I was hoping to get it run round but they took the line block as soon as I got into the yard so I had to leave it where it was, annoyingly I walked back to the cabin then couldn’t remember if I’d turned the battery switch off on the loco so had to walk back and check it, as it happened I had, if nothing else I got a 1.25 mile walk in which counts toward my steps for the day!

 

Supposedly MPV Sunday evening but after that lot today I’m half expecting a change of job

[big jim]

Some from last night, only MPV pics I’m afraid! With the weather issues last night it took me almost 4 hours to get from crewe to kings norton so I go there a bit late and jumped straight on the unit, left 20 late but was on time by the time I got to coventry

 

the Sunday job is different to the weekday one and carries on from cov to Leamington spa

 

 

from there it was back toward Coventry then over to rugeley via bescot, you can see the driving rain in this pic 

 

 

From there it was back toward walsall and then over to Stafford 

 

Then Stafford to Redditch

 

 

and back to the shed 

 

 

planned to get the 05:30 off new st but that was cancelled as was the 06:00 so I  had a sleep in the MPV for an hour before setting off on the bike back to new street

 

something different tomorrow, light loco Bescot to Derby RTC then over to the SVR with the weed spraying train and back to bescot light loco 

[Davexoc]

Lessons in weathering on that last but one shot?

Add rust colour in lines brushing downwards, then before it fully dries, gently rub down with a cotton bud dampened with thinners to spread and remove the harshness. And there you have it, rust streak effects.....

[big jim]

My trip to the Severn valley today has been cancelled so I got asked to conduct a Stone train from stockport to Stafford via Macclesfield last night instead 

 

had about an hour to wait at stockport so grabbed a few pics of the various trains that stopped there

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

then in came my train, 66766

 

and into Stafford 

 

Back in this evening, covering a Mountsorrel to Doncaster job 

[big jim]

Some from last night, complete change of job again, SVR move was cancelled so got asked to to a Mountsorrel job which in turn was also cancelled so I ended up doing a landor st to Nottingham job instead and into a hotel 

 

caught the train from crewe 

 

 

then worked the RDT as far as Nottingham, it continued to Scunthorpe from there, 66779 up front

 

 

another GBRf service passing through 

 

 

Various units around the station

 

The bridge above the 158 is where the old GC used to cross over, now the tramway, the bridge in the foreground is the footbridge 

 

 

and that was that, just set off from the hotel and walked down to Attenborough station, got a few pics and vids of things passing through that I’ll post later, doing a Stone train to shrewsbury today 

[big jim]

And some from yesterday and this morning, booked to do coleshill to shrewsbury with a Stone train for loading

 

had a work from the hotel to Attenborough station to be get the train to Leicester, good timing when I got there as the Kingsbury tanks went through

 

 

and a few other units too

 

 

 

 

my train to Leicester 

 

and into Leicester 

 

 

 

And over to nuneaton, I got off there as it seemed pointless to travel through to coleshill when the train I was booked to work was following the train I caught from Leicester, meant the other driver could get off and head back to Wellingborough a bit earlier 

 

the train I caught from Leicester had a defective rear coach, no lighting etc, note the 2 torches in the window acting as tail lights, one of the few disadvantages of not having bardic lamps any more is you can’t hang a torch off the lamp iron in as an emergency tail light!

 

 

 

And in came my train

 

And into coton hill, shrewsbury

 

And run round 

 

Beginning loading with the water mist sprays running to minimise dust 

 

158 passing by

 

And after loading, back to coleshill

 

That should have been my day up but earlier in the day I was asked if I could work the same train as the night before from landor st to Nottingham again, I said yes but would have had 3 hours to wait at saltley for it to arrive so I arranged to get to banbury and meet it there, again getting the other driver off early and saving me hanging around saltley 

 

units in banbury 

 

 

And in came my “light engine” which turned out to be 4 66s! 

and away to Nottingham 

 

 

 

 

A few units in the station again

 

 

 

 

And that was that, travelling home later today but fully expecting to be asked to do a job later in the day!

 

 

 

 

[big jim]

Last nights pics before I go to sleep, another change of job, was supposed to go to stockport to work a train to Stafford then pick up a northbound service and take it to Newton le willows and finish however the first train was some 3 1/2 hours late so I ended up going to Stafford first and working the northbound train so it stayed on time! 
 

crewe station 

 

 

and into Stafford where I got on the northbound service 

 

When I got to crewe I was passed on the independent line by a triple headed DRS class 37 combo hauling a freightliner 66 on an intermodal service, apparently it had failed around Milton Keynes and the 37s were summoned to assist it as far as Crewe, I purposely held my train back a bit from the signal to get some piccies!

 

 

 

 

and a quick one of my train

 

didn’t even spot 86101 until after the 37s had left

 

I then continued to Newton-le-willows where @Michael Delamar took over to take the train to hindlow, I got a taxi to stockport to pick up the late running southbound service 

 

 

and into Stafford

 

and that was that, doing the first half of the trafford park job tonight 

[adb968008]

For a moment I thought those inner 37’s had been painted Engineers grey.. then I noted they are just a bit weathered.