great central

Hmm, maybe it's simply that the official version of things reflects what the 'higher ups' prefer it said, set against what those actually at the proverbial 'coal face' feel? I can certainly confirm that this sort of thing happens currently at least. As an example I commented on something a few days ago to be told by a manager 'if you've nothing good to say, say nothing' and the company say everyone's opinion and thoughts are welcome?

Sorry rather off topic but seeing as the question was asked..... https://www.edp24.co.uk/things-to-do/yarmouth-hippodrome-circus-and-water-spectacular-summer-show-1415980

I'm surprised you find the cleanliness of the loco for a very special working worth commenting on. Weren't Top Shed still in business at the time turning out clean steam locos on a regular basis, including quarter burnished buffers at times? Although Finsbury Park was a new depot I'm sure many of the staff would have been 'schooled' on the ways of the Cross and wouldn't want to be outdone. The stock would have been brought into the station by a pilot so once cleaned the buffers shouldn't contact anything until the end of the run at least.

Doom monger 🤪

Better than Prince Albert🙃

I'm not sure I should be posting this but the frustration I'm feeling is becoming very difficult to bear. I'm four years past normal retirement age but still working full time from choice. Working on the railway, although an enforced (strike) day off today, doing a job that 99% of the time I thoroughly enjoy, just the odd 1% down to troublesome passengers. My frustration begins almost the moment I get home, my wife does have some physical problems, most notably severe back pain, but it's the way she constantly complains and has to remind me every few minutes how bad everything is. The most recent thing is a couple of oil lamp shades bought from an eBay seller, one of which arrived this morning. The other hasn't arrived yet so she's harping on that they've scammed her and she's going to lose her money and just going on and on. I've sent a message to the seller from my eBay account so hopefully it's probably just been sent as two parcels. She's also got a rather old phone which I'm trying to offer to get a newer model but that gets dismissed because she says she can't afford another £3 a month, paying £10 a month now, her phone is an android v.3, pretty ancient I think. What's really annoying is that if someone else suggests something she's all over it and telling me that it's great, I fitted an outdoor tap on Tuesday but the hose end fitting could do with changing for a trigger type. I've already said I'll get one tomorrow but next door neighbour has one and a friend fitted it while I was doing something else. Sadly it leaks but it seems it's now down to me to sort out, arrrggghhh!! As for modelling time, I've almost totally given up on that one because I have to do pretty much everything else. I'm trying to keep fairly fit using an exercise bike and some weights in the garage in the evening, but even motivation for that can be hard to come by lately. I have a very good friend I used to work with who's currently undergoing tests and such for cancer, simply gets on with life, with a smile despite a certain amount of pain and discomfort at times, not to mention the grief she gets from her daughters. I spend an hour or two with her when I can but my wife wants to know where I am and who with for much of the time. I tried telling her that my friend was just that but she doesn't accept that male and female can simply be very good friends so I have to be quite devious about it, although my wife has quite a few male friends! Realistically I probably should have got out of this years ago but didn't because my son was unable to find a regular job and become independent, he's now a fully qualified driving instructor and doing pretty well and in a stable loving relationship with his girlfriend. Not really looking for advice as such, I know the reality of my situation, just needed to vent a little, I hope people can understand. Edit: already had a reply regarding the lamp shades, they simply missed out the second one, being despatched tomorrow. Got a rather grudging thank you for that, mustn't go over the top!

I presume there was some sort of car meet locally last night, on my way home I was passed by a 60s Chevy Stingray and a couple of E types, also unfortunately saw an E type at the side of the road with the bonnet up. Edit: here apparently https://www.facebook.com/TheGriffinsHead/

That's an 1800 or 2200 'landcrab' someone else may be able to tell the exact model.

Not sure if it helps but I think the original K's Jubilee kit came with a small high sided tender. I picked one up cheaply many, many years ago long before there were any RTR Jubilees, building it probably totally wrongly, as 45581 Bihar and Orissa. I thought the tender looked on the short side, it was only in later years did I know about the different capacities. Someone with more knowledge of such things can probably advise further.

Last Saturday, 156415 on hire/loan from Northern back to EMR to strengthen a Liverpool-Nottingham service. Looking a lot cleaner than is normal for the EMR fleet.

According to my car when I was on my way home yesterday it hit 34C, today it's 13! I'd have expected an enclosed loft to get to rather more, when, having left the car standing in the open for a while it went up to 38C.

It's now in scruffy white with purple ends🙄

A few on the Skegness line, although not barrow crossings now as such, just a means of access to the opposite platform. Elton and Orston, very lightly used station, one train each way a day. Ancaster, several trains a day and does see some use although there's a signal box nearby. Sleaford is the most used one, but with electric release gates under the signallers control. Edit: these, of course, are only the foot crossings within station boundaries, there's hundreds of unsupervised foot crossings on the network still

Loughborough Midland, crossing the line with obligatory SR van in the yard😃

That depends to an extent on the company, LNER Azumas, although I don't like them, look pretty clean. When Stagecoach had EMT the white fleet always looked very presentable but deteriorated noticeably after the Abellio take over. The Meridians are now, at times, disgraceful and show a lack of proper cleaning even when they have been done.

Just read this article about a cancelled Stones gig due to Mick having Covid. Dissolved into hysterical laughter in the mess room when I read the name of the Swiss stadium🤣 https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-10915157/The-Rolling-Stones-forced-cancel-tour-date.html

Some are normally parked at Leicester making up part of the DATS test train. I think there's also one or two 'stored' at Great Yarmouth. No idea of numbers I'm afraid

In response to the 'back to models' post from a master of his craft, can I put forward rather the opposite take on Britannias and probably lower the tone of the thread in consequence 🤔 Both 1960s Triang locos, Iron Duke is my original childhood loco bought as a Christmas present when first released, much used and abused, originally fitted with a smoke unit which I used to put 3 in 1 into because smoke oil was very much an unnecessary expense. I decided many years ago to upgrade and renumber it, when the folly of using 3 in 1 became apparent. As I cleaned away the rather scratched black paint on the smokebox the chimney simply disintegrated! The supply of spares for upgrading models was, at that time, not particularly good, being before Crownline came on the scene I think. At one of the first Nottingham shows after moving to the Victoria Leisure Centre I asked, either George Norton or Ralph Jackson,about replacement chimneys to be met with a response along the lines of 'what's a BR standard, don't recognise anything post 1947. I looked through the various items on offer and selected one which looked about right. Apparently it was an A3 chimney and although a bit on the tall side didn't look bad, still wearing it to this day and won't be getting changed now. Sir John Moore was a swapmeet purchase, all of £3 if memory serves, missing the smoke deflectors it was a prime candidate for Eastern regionisation (if that's a proper word?). Etched brass smoke deflectors fitted it looked the part. Both painted using a Humbrol airbrush for the green with black parts by brush. Lining and lettering transfers from Kemco, which at the time didn't come with corners so I simply squared them off intending that they'd both be weathered to tone down the brightness. Running on the original chassis and driving wheels with the open axle boxes filled in and pin point bearings fitted to take better wheels on pony and tender. Bogie wheels were changed for better versions as well. Valve gear is Triang/Hornby Evening Star, remember when such things could be bought as spares, with the mounting points modified to suit. This is probably the second or third time they've seen the light of day in more than 35 years but, to me at least, they have character.

Famously, one even made a trip across the Woodhead route with a footex.

Silent but deadly, schoolboy humour https://images.app.goo.gl/i4mLmX4dinmbLnze6

At least it didn't mention the SBD!

Agreed, there's one thing however that looks a bit 'off' to my eyes. The very impressive signals which, I presume, are for main line or up loop seem to be very high up which would make sighting very difficult or impossible until the loco had actually emerged from the tunnel. I realise that there wouldn't be much, if any, view from inside the tunnel anyway, especially in steam days. There may have been a splitting distant at the north end of the tunnel, or given the length of the tunnel more recently fitted colour lights inside the tunnel. Even so I would have thought the signal sighting committee for the area would insist on something lower which could give somewhat better visibility. The first signal outside the southern portal at Weekday Cross, in steam days, in Nottingham was a colour light with a position indicator (feather) for the junction with the GN Grantham line I hesitate to criticise what is a superb 'might have been, or from my point of view, if only!' scene particularly with the excellent signal gantry as well, but it does jar a little to my eyes. Also I don't know whether they are the original signals which came with the layout and the current owners don't wish to replace a nicely modelled set of signals with a rather mundane colour light. At the end of the day it's their layout and more power to the collective elbow to both present a coherent and believable scenario and exhibit a large layout. https://images.app.goo.gl/5GjvFFrSb34gkZUJ6

Why do Scuba divers always fall off the boat backwards? Because if they fell forwards they'd still be in the boat!

If I've followed your link correctly, I think somehow you've finished up a couple of miles from the bridge in David's photo. The link photos show the area at the bottom of Butterley Hill, in Ripley, Close to the Midland Railway Centre station, the track being, I'm fairly sure, in what used to be the Butterley company yard. The bridge in David's photo is at Pye Bridge and crosses the current B600. Just the other side of the bridge was the access road to Pye Hill and Somercotes Station on the Midland Erewash Valley route. The photo was taken from somewhere close to the bridge over the Great Northern Pinxton branch which some years ago was used as an underpass for large dumper trucks involved in the opencast mining of the area. Currently the area on the right immediately before the bridge is occupied by several mobile and sectional built homes. Edit: Apologies I've looked closer at the map and can see you're correct in saying the track is in a yard off the B600, the photos attached to the image are, I'm certain, from Butterley Hill. If the track is where I think it is there used to be a crane repair company based there, although I did some CCTV work there 30 or more years ago I don't recall any railway track in the yard.

Hmm, I have one of these bought part built from a friend of a friend, now sadly deceased. I'll keep an eye on yours if you don't mind, it might inspire me, having owned the kit for well over 5 years. I find any sort of modelling pretty much impossible at the moment partly due to time constraints but also domestic circumstances are far from ideal. Does yours have the BR1F tender as in the picture? That was my preferred option but being offered this one at somewhere around half the new kit price including wheels, motor and gears, it was too good to turn down. I built the 4mm version some years ago and found a couple of dimensional errors which I bodged, no idea if the 7mm version has the same errors though.