big jim

sorry, I want a short day! it was booked via the usual route of burton-water orton-Sutton park and Stafford etc but I managed to get it rerouted the short way, saves a good 75 miles and 2 hours

@08221 headed through uttoxeter in the morning with 66795 and 66310 if your about https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:R00933/2024-02-12/detailed

Gethin my 14yr old made us dinner tonight to celebrate the Chinese new year, he’s turning into a proper little chef, this morning he made bacon butties for breakfast for all of us Chicken curry, beef noodles and his own recipe egg fried rice, chicken balls and prawn crackers

same here, Ive been looking out for the remains of an embankment every time I’ve passed by! I only recently discovered the old canal in the area too, from the train there looks to be a junction about 1/2 mile south of wooferton station given the line of the trees and the road is called tunnel lane but I couldn’t see any record of a railway there then I looked on railmaponline’s canal subsection and noticed it was in fact the canal which after closure looks like it became part of the trackbed of the line to tenbury just after the pub/A49 http://www.lostlabours.co.uk/canal/images/lostlines.pdf

Picked my GBRf pair up from @Mike at C&M this afternoon and have just had a quick nose in the box, really wasn’t expecting the wow factor I got when I lifted the foam up to reveal the locos, Stunning! I’ve not managed to drive either in the retro liveries, unlikely I will but I’ve got a class 69 test run on Friday out of longport so if I could I’d be tempted to put 081 on the back for insurance instead of the booked 66!

Not quite sure wheee to put this, modern classic or old car thread given its 40 odd years old! parked up next to my car in Carlisle earlier, 78k on the clock and a local(ish) garage name on the number plates (dissington)

fully expecting it! nothing on the vacancy list I could catch but I’m in position to cover sickness or out of course issues by the sound of it I’ve dodged a bullet this weekend with issues at Ely and Leamington @Siggie in the east might be able to confirm the Anglia issues

Never gonna call and I got away for the weekend too, only one pic from a walk into Carlisle earlier, a WCR 37 and DRS 57 in the sidings back to it Monday, as I’m not in the Midlands or crewe link due to changing depots they didn’t roster me any work but I’ve picked up a toton to longport via uttoxeter on Monday, hinksey to bescot on Wednesday and a class 69 test on Friday then a weeks annual leave in Somerset

Another one on the sandbank on the entrance to silloth port, molasses boat again Panorama shot the port entrance with the lock gates seems the ship in question has been in trouble before https://shipwrecklog.com/log/2011/04/zapadnyy-allision/

yeah, I fell for that one with the 16’ hunslets!

Very nice, just need to choose which one to buy though, quite taken by the yellow one but the white/green one is suitably hideous but appealing at the same time

no, this is the stuff of nightmares (I’ve got too much time on my hands!)

how about a massive 3D print Andy?

the weight waters app is good too, it has a forum/social media bit where you can post pics and get encouragement etc, I don’t want to meet up with people in real life! 2021 I managed a few 50 and a 75 mile ride without issue, my average ride distance I got up to on my evening rides was about 20-25 miles, I want to get back to that level again, I’m going to restart zwift too and get my road bike on the rollers to up the miles of an evening I’m moving depots next week to crewe so hopefully I can get back into cycling rhe 2.5 mile to the station again, I might have to go back to the electric bike for a bit though

Someone has posted this on Twitter not entirely convinced by the front end personally

My preorder page is showing my 3 ex hattons supplied warwells but it now says payment due by 14th Feb, if I don’t pay by then will the order by cancelled, I’d like to wait until after payday at the end of the month if possible also the price is now showing as £75, does the ‘3 wagon or more’ discount apply to these or just those ordered direct from accurascale?

Ive bravely (or stupidly) signed up for a london to Brighton cycle in September in aid of great ormond street hospital despite being massively unfit at the moment https://www.gosh.org/get-involved/fundraising-events/london-brighton-cycle/ I’ve resurrected my old weight loss thread too where I’ll attempt to highlight my weight loss (again!)

Almost 2 years down the line and I thought I’d better update this thread! things haven’t gone particularly well regards keeping the weight off I had my work medical last week as I’ve gone back up to just short of 22 stone again quite simply I’ve been very lax with the healthier eating, my exercise has taken a dive bomb and I’ve not been taking my metformin, the weight gain has crept up in me really, much as I never noticed it coming off instantly I’ve not noticed it slowly going back on other than the closes I bought when I was at my lightest don’t fit now, my waist line went from 46 down to 38 and is now back up to 42 again, I’ve also been informed by my own doctor that my cholesterol is high which it’s never been before my diabetic levels this time round are lower than when I was first diagnosed in 2021, back then I was 76, I’m now 50 but I did get it down to 32 at my most healthy and fittest so hopefully I can get it back down there again I’ve found that although I’m not as tired as I was in 2021 I am sleeping a lot more again and having far more ‘afternoon naps’ so this is (another) wake up call for me, time to get back into the weight loss regime and get moving a bit more, I found it hard to get motivated last year when it came down to the cycling which is a shame as I really enjoyed it the previous year, as an idea I covered 2500 miles in 2022 and only 350 miles last year, this years mileage is currently 0! im going to rejoin weight watchers as I thought I didn’t need it but I obviously do as the weight started to go on again once I finished counting the points! now call me brave, or call me stupid but this years GBRf charity partner is great ormond street hospital and I’ve signed up for the london to Brighton cycle challenge in September, a 55 mile ride raising money for the hospital https://www.gosh.org/get-involved/fundraising-events/london-brighton-cycle/ A friend joined GBRf last week as a trainee driver and she’s into cycling and has also signed up, (it was her who has persuaded me to sign up too) as she lives down the road we’re going to see if we can get some training in locally, in know I can manage 50 miles but certainly not in the condition im in now, I did the Mersey tunnel ride at about 21 stone with admittedly not enough training so hopefully by September I can get my fitness levels back up and do the brighton run with ease(ish) I also found that posting on here was a big boost for me as well as getting helpful advice so hopefully when I start posing again I can get some motivation!

the speed limiter on the 805 and 807 is set to a default 125mph and is active all the time, you change it manually where required. cant say I’ve ever tried to see if I can make it go higher than 125mph or turn it off though, I’ll have a play next time I’m on one

3 years ago!

They have to plan the paths in advance as well as the test crew, test train operator and driver amongst other things it could cancelled if there’s an issue or it might just be that the testing thats been planned is complete, sometimes if that happens then it will go out and do another part of the required testing schedule if it’s possible As it happens tomorrow’s run is cancelled too so I’m now just spare (hoping not to get a call!)

There is a fair bit of external difference between a 56 and 69, extra grille, totally different roof panels, revised from end and lights etc etc they have also been going in for modifications which involve removing the rain gutter above the front windscreen amongst other subtle mods Sounds a bit like a 66 but seems to rev a bit higher, doesn’t ying as much as a 66 to my ears, lots of little individual sounds different to a 66 too, warning buzzer, brake sounds (different brake type compared to a 66) I had a brain freeze earlier and couldnt remember what liveries were about, totally forgot about 69005 in green, that’s a definite order for me too, go nice with 66779

I miss doing that run from back when we were covering colas work down there, a nice week lodging in london working out of Hither Green 37099 in Eastbourne and Bognor

004 was the first one I drove as my passing out loco so I definitely want that one in my collection!