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Richard E

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  1. Richard E

    Ouch!

    By Richard E,

    Not terribly happy. Work on the layout ceased about a month ago as I was having problems with what was thoughht to be sciatica. It turns out it isn't that but a slipped disc - darn painful recently and finding it difficult to walk let alone grovel around under baseboards. Medication is improving it but there is still a way to go. Roll on physio on Monday to try and improve things.
  2. Richard E

    More ECML woes

    By Richard E,

    After one under at Potters Bar on Tuesday that completely messed up the schedules (I feel sorry, again, for all that had to clean up after that) we have a broken down train between Grantham and Newark today.
     
    Tuesday was a delay of 112 minutes and today we are being warned of delays of up to 120 minutes. The issue at present is that the faulty set cannot be moved yet and they are having to use alternate single line working to get past the problem site.
     
    We arrived at Newark 7 minutes down, we are still at the platform as I write and are now 40 minutes late. The service an hour in front of us dropped around 45 minutes because of the disruption and arrived into Peterborough 53 down. Northbound service just passed us, so i suppose we stand a chance of moving presently.
     
    I'm afraid the recent rash of train faults (another set was failed at Newark this morning due to faulty brakes apparently and there are many other problems I know of lately) makes me wonder whether Stagecoach (since they are the majority stakeholder) are taking a rather cavalier attitude to maintenance with attempts to cut back on costs.
  3. Richard E

    ECML woes

    By Richard E,

    Well, today seems to be one of those days again.
     
    This morning the 07:46 VTEC service from Peterborough to York was cancelled due to a train fault. The set eventually crept into Stevenage 103 minutes late and there it stayed. The following 07:59 service ended up arriving in York 63 minutes after the cancelled one should have as it ended up 31 minutes late itself.
     
    And to add to that the 08:12 up service to KGX was cancelled throughout. Depending on what you believe it was either a train fault (station announcement) or a problem at the depot.
     
    Finally we are now being warned of 90 minute delays (that means 2 hours) between Doncaster and Grantham due to either an object in the overhead lines or OHL damage (much the same thing isn't it?).
     
    Oh well, a long day with too much time spent travelling it seems.
  4. Richard E

    ECML struggling again

    By Richard E,

    And more woes, couple of sets failed already this week and add one under In the Berwick area today to really mess it up. The train due in York at 14:57 from Aberdeen is an HST. It turned up at 17:20 having been via Carlisle!
     
    A bonus for me, instead of non-stop to London it is stopping at Peterborough so I get a taste of older timetables where I used to York to Peterborough non-stop. Apply the old maxim of get on the first train going your way and stopping somewhere near where you want to go.
  5. Richard E
    Latest story from VTEC, the train in front of mine is stuck south of Doncaster and the 'Thunderbird' has been dispatched. Saw it go past.
     
    Guard reports that there was smoke coming out of a tunnel south of Doncaster - has the 225 in front of us blown it's DCC chip?
  6. Richard E

    It's been a while ...

    By Richard E,

    ... since I blogged. I'm going to be more positive today, 9 weeks on Friday will see the start of the part of my life where I wonder how I ever had the time to go to work, I will retire in mid December even though the official date is 31/12.
     
    About 3 months hibernating to catch up on sleep should follow (I won't migrate like some of the feathered ones on here) and then it is all guns blazing on clearing the shed, erecting baseboards and generally cracking on. Well that is the plan anyway, it is subject to change.
     
    As for modelling plans they remain N gauge, DCC for loco control and probably servo or tortoise for points. Scenic track is to be Finetrack, planning to get the main circuit built first and then add in the branch and sidings. It is going to be a prototype location, a layout thread will hopefully appear in due course. There will be a couple of compromises though, one will be to accommodate the exits from the station area although, usefully, there are cuttings with overbridges on both main line (north of the station) and branch that define the station area. To the south is an overbridge. That allows quite a good hidden exit to the north with a wooded area, to the south will need some thought. The compromise will be in respect of one or two of the buildings as the joint company style, to me, is plain ugly. Unfortunately (or perhaps not) period photographs for my planned era are almost non-existent.
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