Owd Bob

Its actually heading towards you Apollo Next stop Hindley Green! No chance of a railway again here again ...that Burnham chap backed a guided bus way here when he was in power rather than what the people really asked for and desperately wanted but that's Labour for you.

Think i'll get them thar skips finished off next Paul, then i can use them as i go along from now on with the ballasting, cos swmbo is getting too old for all the lifting and is getting as fecked up as i am these days. I would leave those skips outside to rust if i did'nt think the local scum bags would take 'em and weigh them in. Mike it is built on top of the old 16mm line footings all along that same problem fence line But at least i might stand a better or an easier chance of keeping the bigger track leveled up by bunging more ballast under it if it do's start to sink. So far so good though as there is no longer two rows of heavy blocks built on top and as yet there is no weight on it. Oh! and the '0' gauge might have to go...i need a new welder. I can't afford to be so diverse these days and the old car needs fettling with soon for its mot....etc etc.

A couple of quite dry calm days this week gave me the excuse i needed to get out and do something with the new track, the next two 10.ft. long sections of track had to be curved so i stripped the sleepers off from the rails, all ended being very easy and a lot quicker than i first thought, the rails are only screwed onto the sleepers using large slotted screws on either side. It made it a lot easier for me to bend the alloy rails separately once i'd stripped it down. I then laid out the straight lengths of rail onto the track bed and roughly marked them up with a permanent marker pen in the places they would need bending. I used my fancy iron garden gate to bend each length as the rail just slotted nicely into the fancy spiky bits. After some time consuming and very gentle bending and double checking the rails curvature by placing on the ground where they were to be laid. I eventually got the lengths to the right amount of curvature i needed, it was'nt a process i wanted to rush and make mistakes with. The sleepers were screwed back on and they pulled the rails nicely parallel together again. The track has been left down for now but i'll lift it and treat the wooden sleepers before i finally lay it down. Thankfully the curve is not quite as severe as it looks in these pics' and from now on for the next 35-40 feet its all going to be an almost straight run.

Thanks Chris' I was surprised to see 397 last long enough at SP to get painted into grey. Funny how some 08 numbers at SP have always stuck in the mind since the late 1970's like the low numbered ones such as 126, 129, 130, then 301 302, 304, 337, 340, 342. 423 was a long time stayer, as was 08 744, and as you mentioned 815 (once named 'Brenda') and my fave 08 925. A few more for the records. 08 396 first in the scrap line with stored 08's & 25's. 08 130 with a missing number 3, and last is the back end of 08337 sticking out of the old steam shed.

I like the 60's but the spotting mate of mine who first got me into this hobby as kids in the mid' 1970's hated them for being as he put it 'just a boring breeze block blob' ...and he still dislikes them I though loved them as when they first arrived brand new around this area and at Springs Branch on the MGR's or stabled up by the dozen at Warrington at the weekends, they put new life back into the scene and the hobby for me as all the 40's & 25's had all well gone, and by then the 20's were also on their way out. I think i've nearly posted all my scans of 60's so far but here are more of my crappy scans, one day i'll get a decent scanner and do them all again For now at least it's a record of the time, and they maybe ok for modelling use if you're desperate enough.

RIP 60 006. Warrington B.Q. Mid' 1990's.

I've got mi big coat on in the house..... Stuff all that putting the heating on nonsense! Another layer saves a few quid for the more important railway stuff.

A couple of pics that mirror todays weather around here perfectly. An 86 and 87 passing SP in the mid' '90's

A double header 31 that exactly mirrors the weather conditions this morning. Probably taken in the mid' '90's.

I think June '81 is the nearest i can get to it.

Thanks Stovepipe that looks like the right one, with a dent in the right place and now painted over and has Royal Oak says a lower OLE flash, great work everyone. 40 172 was always around SP around the early '80's. Here's another unknown number seen at Guide Bridge in 1981 with the end doors dented inwards, and a few pics' more for detailing if it helps. 40 178 faces 40 171 at SP in 1981. 40 055 with fading Yellow end and stripes of White showing through at Guide Bridge 1981.

I have three possibles in my pics' but no paint scrapes on those three 40's, which are 170, 178, 181. If it helps i spotted a pic' of 40 065 at Reddish depot in '82-ish with a centre head code box but no hand rail above it, and an obvious lower cab body front bottom edge where the connecting doors once where. I did'nt see the i assume local youth inside until the pics' came back from Truprint

Thanks Brian, no worries it's just that i'd noticed a lot had bent ended round bar hand rails, and not a lot in any of my own pics' had these brackets on the ends. I'll go through my cl.40 pics' again and make a list of any numbers i can see with these brackets.

Had to do a few repairs on the lamp brackets on the 37, so before i put it (gently) back in its box i took a few grainy pics'

A few quick pics' but bad light on the layout today in the spare room but i did my best with the big light on Sprayed it up in a car exhaust heat paint matt Black, with Humbrol signal Red buff beams, but the Black reacted with the primer and gave the paint work a crackle effect, which i've come to like and gives it a well worn look. All was wafted lightly over with the air brush using my own dirty diesel under-frame Black/Brown mix. Needs a few extras sticking on like a driver and the name plates are on order. ....it'll be yet another of my loco' builds named 'Warrior' Just noticed that the kneeling Bachmann figure has Green hair!

Springs Branch 1981. I'm hoping that this centre head code box class 40's number might be recognised by someone by the fittings and bar on the front end? I'm just thinking and planning ahead for what number i would pick for an 'O' gauge Heljan version i'd like to own.

Thanks for posting that newbryford, i was wondering whether they were still giving some away.

I was watching the sea come over the walls on the web cams this morning and up to lunch time, it was terrifying to watch, and it was'nt even high tide, just glad i was'nt on any trains there today and hope no one got hurt.

Maybe he's more like the Ian Carmichael character in the film 'Lucky Jim'

Thanks! That's all looking very good. Its a great hobby which keeps us out of trouble and do's no harm to no one apart from our better halves and our wallets. Good luck with the show.

Loads of great info there Edwardian, thanks. Here's a rear end pic of 'TB Wood' in the shed at Gin pit, somehow it would'nt let me post it above. It could help a lot in the rear cab and bunker detail construction if anyone's thinking of modelling it.

Not a lot in the book but hope it helps. 'George Peace' was built in 1906 by Lowca engineering of Whitehaven. an 0-6-0 side tank with inside cylinders and joys valve gear. 'James Lord' was built in 1903 again by lowca of Whithaven. The earliest of three identical loco's was named 'T.B. Wood' and was also built by lowca in 1897. All three worked well into the early 1950's at the Gin Pit, Tyldesley Lancs' A pic of 'T.B. Wood' in the engine shed at Gin Pit after the roof had collapsed in 1956.

Will go read my book and report back soon

Looking forward to going to this and meeting up with and seeing a few old faces and having a great day out Are you and your fellow group of garden railway enthusiast posting any of your garden railway threads/topics on here? As i'd love to see them. Or are they to be seen elsewhere such as on Facebook?