Owd Bob

Some preserved 08's recently seen at the ELR Bury.

Some recent preservation pics from the ELR at Bury, i'm hoping to get to the 'Class 40's at 60' event this weekend.

Hold Me. P.J. Proby.

Sad Sweet Dreamer. Sweet Sensation.

Steve you don't know just how tempting it was to pose the loco's the other day when i took those pics, But i'll resist temptation & wait until a bit more detail has been added, i started painting up the tunnel mouth last night...time to stick it all on tonight!

Sounds like a very nice legacy and a fitting tribute O.R. As O.R. and 44690 already know i totally had the opposite experience this Christmas when my younger and only Sister passed away on Xmas eve' and the DSS refused to help us out to pay for a basic paupers funeral because our elderly Mother was said to be able to have enough assets or savings she could sell off/use, not fair to lumber my 81 year old Mum with a bill that would leave her totally wanting so i sold my Roundhouse 'Jack' loco' to help out. At least i'm lucky enough to still have two live steamers that swmbo can always sell off to pay for my funeral ...and don't worry! if i did'nt laugh about it all i'd probably go feckin' Ga-Ga! Good thing we have this great hobby and friends to keep our minds off things. Got some more plastic tubs filled with plants put along side the re-laid track yesterday. The ballast has set solid and i should be able to remove a few track fixing screws by the end of this week. Hope you notice that the track is now leaning over on the curve the right way! The warmer weather is on its way so they say! ...might get to run something next week!

All the track is now stuck down and the buildings in their final positions, although only the fueling point is stuck down permanently in place as of yet. I laid all the track on a single layer of 5mm thick foam board and to give more higher/differing levels in the track bed i've also used some 2mm thick cork sheet to build it up in a few places. I've created at least 10 isolated stretches/sections in the track by cutting it and then using those clear plastic isolating joiners.

Yes! O.R. two more tins of the pound shop matt Black were bought yesterday and i'm just waiting for the next full 24 hour dry day to return. That's good news about the loco' O.R. I hope it arrives safe and sound for you.

Sounds like a good show that bus museum do phil' so i've wrote it on the calendar! I'm just covering my bets at the minute in doing the other gauges, something to fall back on or move into when the Brown stuff hits the fan again. Nice Sunny dry day again yesterday so i managed to get the ballasting finished, i used my usual granite chippings mixed 50/50 with pure cement in a dry mix then brushed and firmed into the track gaps, and the excess brushed off later. I covered it over for protection which was for the best as it's not stopped raining since seven pm. last eve' So i'll drop back onto the 'O' gauge stuff today.

Makes you sick do'snt it how some folks get great looks and great talents like acting or singing and/or go through life with the silver spoon stuck in there smug gobs etc. whilst us mere mortals get more than our fair share of the crap! Sorry to hear you're not too well phil' pleases take it easy and do'nt over do it....coz i reet fancy a visit down to yours this Summer Are you going to the 'O' gauge show in Leigh on the 28th phil'?

I don't think it will ever solve the land slipping probs' phil' I remember playing as a kid on this very same spot when it was all fields and when they built this estate the sod, top soil and whatever else was on the surface was just bulldozed over the edge of this hillside, so the first several foot of it which is now in my garden is more than probably made up from the not very firm bulldozed stuff, also there is said to be a 18th century mine shaft in the garden somewhere. I've taken a lot of weight off the problem edge, and i can only wait and see just how long it will last again. Any progress or news on your line phil' ?

We managed to get the track re-laid over the weekend after having started late on Friday afternoon. Just hoping for some more dry days soon so we can ballast it all back up. I put all my stone walling and fencing all along the back stretch and then backfilled up to it with a bit of the new soil, and then planted it up with some divided up Alpines from elsewhere around the garden line.

The History Of The World Part 1, The Damned.

O.R It's nice to see your memory is still working great! And to everyone else thanks for all your praise .... This is the real me doing TV extra work in the '70's.

Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll. Ian Dury.

It's got some Mole DNA in it somewhere Mike! Judging by all the holes it keeps friggin' digging around the yard, i was going to carry on outside today but as you can see from the last photo i'm a bit tired today and it's gone cold again! So i'm getting back to catching up with my much warmer indoor '0' Gauge fettling later on....not even started my 009 daft NG project yet either! A afternoon trip to Hobbycraft at Winwick, Warrington is on the cards...swmbo will probably want to call in at IKEA There's always a price to pay if you ask them to drive for you. Some more old stuff.

We made a big effort this last two days in the fine weather and i've got the blocks re-laid and the track bed level again, swmbo went for some more soil and we topped up the beds. I like the idea having some real Grass back, even if it's a small patch, so the bank up near the viaduct was cleared of all rocks and its plants and a sloping bank was formed using two bags of soil, a roadway was put in to the new station site coming from under the arches using the left over concrete. But more is needed. This hobby will be the death of me.

You've lost that loving feeling. The Righteous Brothers.

No Fun. Iggy and the Stooges.

...i have'nt a blooming clue what you're all on about, or on! and i'm totally lost by it all....but somehow it's still translates as funny. You've all done very well!

Had to make it just a bit bigger all round, so i added 12" on one end and a tapering 10" down to 5" piece along the front, at last i can use the only set of points i have. Its now two and half foot deep by five feet long. I can't afford to go any bigger!

I'll try and make anything out of any useful bits i can find & re-cycle Ian, but these days those 3-D printers are getting cheaper and all the other model making technologies etc. are getting to be available cheaply to the masses. Personally if i have to buy something and i know it can't be helped, but i always think i'm cheating and not modeling at all. So when somebody points to something and asks if i've made it?.... and i've not! Then i always pull my face and scowl and say in a grumpy manner...."No! i had ter Piggin' buy it"

I've thought about 7/8ths a few times over the years Don' I don't think it would take much to change say a standard 16mm Roundhouse loco' or Accucraft loco' by putting a bigger cab or a spectacle plate and a taller chimney on it. I might try to build a 7/8ths body for my Katie chassis one day and swap it over and see how it looks. It's the idea of having to make the bigger scale buildings, wagons and coaches which puts me off a bit though....it'll be like starting all over again and i don't think i have the mental energy to go the full monty.....just yet! I'll take this chance to get rid of some more old pics' Raising the line two years ago. The canal basin was left until the very last before being filled and buried,

Me to 009!

Some 1980's pics' taken around the Wigan & Warrington area