Steadfast

The loaded to Westerleigh passes through about 9.55 (6B13) The Westerleigh empties pass through 19.45 ish (6B47) This train is currently in the hands of 60074, and the loaded working tends to run to time (ish) but the empties can easily run within an hour early or late, depending on when it got away from Westerleigh The Theale empties pass by about 17.00 (6B33) The loaded runs overnight (6A11) This is in the hands of a shed or two, depending on the load HTH jo

Actually it was easier than on a bodyside - just line them up with the windows Besides, as my mate says, in N no one can see the detail lol

Yeah - I thought they'd be ok, but I was pleasantly surprised at the effect once they were on Me too!

At Bristol show last weekend I collected the plates for my 59, so the loco now is named and numbered 59004 'Paul A Hammond' This gave me the kick I needed to get on and do some work on the model, with weathering started, and it now just needing windows, Yeoman logos and the weathering finishing. Here's a couple of shots of the current state of play - will add some decent ones once the loco is finished, hopefully in the next week or two! The grills are 'homebrew' transfers drawn up in Photoshop and printed on Crafty computer paper (clear). Simply black and grey, they allow the paint to show through the grills, like the real thing, as shown here with 59002 last week at Pilning on 6A83 Machen - West Drayton The Yeoman logos have been printed for me by Kelvin at Red Firecracker, cheque's in the post so hopefully will have them on the model soon! Will report back when it's done jo

So it be! I could have sworn it disgraced itself spectacularly! Mind games I guess, as Tugtracker lists it as being put into store due to electrical equipment fault, which presumable is fixed since it's stored servicable. cheers jo

And didn't 007 pop a while back too? cheers jo

Ha ha ha! Classic, glad I'm not the only one jo

Oh yeah! Brain fart of the day there... I did see one stabled with it opened, can't remember what's under there though jo

Thanks for sharing that pic Dave, interesting to see them spreading their wings, and getting on more that coal and containers! Looks to me like it's open, if you look at the inner face of the driver's side cab front protrusion it looks like the inside of the door. Assume its the multiple socket under here, like on a 60 cheers jo

A bit of a far flung one here. There is a clip from a documentary that is on YouTube where Bruce Dickinson from Iron Maiden is interviewed for his opinions on the railways. He comments that the HST is his favourite train, so what if, in the style of their Flight 666 tour, Maiden tour Britain (with a little help from First). Each door features a different album cover, though I couldn't think up a name to match Ed Force One (the plane in flight 666), and have spent far too much time tonight tracing photos of Iron Maiden artwork... Time for a simpler one next time me thinks cherrs jo

Subtle, eh? At least it'd rid them of the faded mark where the Virgin shield logo was cheers jo

Hmm, ICE livery looks good on the Voyagers. Very neat. I had a far simpler idea for DB-isation, will have a go and stick it online, bearing in mind they plan to retain the current branding cheers jo

The blue 60 near the top of this page Interspersed with 66s both singly and in pairs, and a period a month or so ago with a 59.Prior to a 60 returning in the last week or so to Margam, it had been solid GM haulage since late last year cheers jo

Mmm, lovely, wouldn't mind a trip to Peak Forest at some point, but it's a fair old trek - especially in a day. I didn't realise 60026/062 were there until last week, when someone posted on one of the groups saying 26 had been taken out of the shed and was phottable cheers jo

Thanks Alex, btw is that your shot on 60gen at the mo? I'm not sure what's happened with 60096, it was booked to work 6M75 out of Wales - whether it worked a return, or whether it was to get it back for maintenance I'm not sure. Apparently last week it was banging due to a loose piece in the exhaust. Tug 74 is on the Westerleigh run today, I was really surprised to see it on the shorter Theale run yesterday. Only 24 tanks, vs Westlerleigh's 28, which produced a pair of sheds. If 096 is still on Margam, technically that makes 4, given 026 and 062 are stored there. Well, positive thinking and all that cheers jo

Today's working - first tug on the Theale Murco since 8th Dec last year Having been held in Swindon for a while, 60074 'Teenage Spirit' passes Callow Hill with 6B33 Theale - Robeston empty Murco tanks. Unbelievebly the blue sky held for the 60 and sight matched the sound, couldn't really have asked for more cheers jo

The first bit of modelling I've achieved since Trainwest, where the 4VEP ran ok all weekend is to get a coat of paint onto the body to become 60074. Lack of modelling has largely been down to weather and workings like this: 47739 'Robin of Templecombe' passes Avoncliff with 4Z47 Gloucester yard to Eastleigh with ex Fastline hoppers for store 13/4/10 The welcome return of a tug to the Robeston - Westerleigh Murco circuit. 60096 lifts the train of empties up the gradient near the junction in Yate as 6B47 Westerleigh to Robeston 15/4/10 5043 'Earl of Mount Edgcumbe' races past Christian Malford near Chippenham with The Bristolian railtour, part of the GWR175 celebrations, in association with FGW Last weekend at the show I picked up some nameplates from Brian at Shawplan for the blue tug (and it's Army liveried sibling) and ordered the transfers the other day from Precision Decals. The yellow and blue is done, it now needs masking and the black painting. The cab interiors and bufferbeam are clipped in place to give an impression of how it'll look. The gloss finish on the underframe bits should help set it out as ex works and a bit special amongst the fleet. The cab interiors have been painted grey and orange, as is normal for me with my 60s, and a driver, complete with sunglasses, glued in. Okay, so I just painted his eyes black, but hey it looks like shades! So next up it'll be spraying the grills and window frames black, and then a goat of varnish ready for when the transfers arrive. There's a small amount of touching up and detail painting to be done too (for example the grey on the horns) before it all goes together and ends up like this After 18 months of dodgy paint finishes and a melted shell in Superstrip, this loco finally seems to be coming together!

After months of General Motors haulage, Tuesday 13th April saw a class 60 return to the Robeston - Westerleigh Murco circuit. Having missed it on Tuesday, here is 60096 on Thursday 15th April climbing the gradient towards Yate on the Westerleigh branch, with the 6B47 empties to Robeston cheers jo

Thanks Adam, to be honest the hard work turned up in an envelope from you. It took 20 minutes or so to get all the vinyls applied. I daren't think how long painting and masking would have been!

Indeed 60096 was on the Murcos yesterday. Hasn't run today, but is allox 0B47 (Westerleigh - Robeston) from Margam, so looks like it may well do tomorrow. 59205 was the first one to try the tanks, undergoing a fairly big exam (D, IIRC) at Merehead prior to use. It went back to Westbury after a week or so, and 59203 replaced it, lasting a week before several days of double sheds and now 60096 is back. I did rather hope that 59206 would make it onto the Murcos, as the red would look good with the red tanks, but a 60 is even better! cheers jo

There is a 60 back in south Wales. 60096 worked the Robeston to Westerleigh this morning cheers jo

Pete, thankyou very much, that's excellent information. I thought one or other of the EMUs must be similar, I'll have a chat with them at Brsitol

Thanks James. Yup, it's an RTR finish, with weathering slapped on top. I think my favourite move with powders is clag! I tend to build up darkness with washes and dry brushing, then add powder on top to give it that smoky finish. The weathering on the 73 looks even better in the flesh, the camera hasn't really picked up the subtlety of the variation in shade on the roof in particular It'll probably get a cosmetic screw link, air pipes etc on the outer end, and retain the Rapido on the inner end. To be honest, with the train moving the couplers are ok, so long as the loco and last wagon have cosmetic outer ends

Today I've finished prepping stock for Trainwest, an ED got weathered (may end up on the engineers in place of the dutch tractor after the photo I found today) and the VEP is finished. It runs ok, may need some more lead added, but we'll see. If push comes to shove (no pun intended) it can always run with an ED at the show. Anyway, some pictures: The 73 was weathered following a couple of photos using Games Workshop acrylics. First up, Graveyard Earth was applied to the fibreglass panels very thinly, not worrying about brush strokes. The it was applied with a chunky stiff brush, giving the texture that can be seen in the photos. Areas of the roof were then drybrushed the same shade. Black washes were then applied to tone it all down and add shade and depth. On top of this, black MIG powders were used for the roof clag, and too add depth to the side grills and streaks down the bodyside. The underframe is drybrushed Graveyard Earth with Industrial dirt and black MIG powders applied over the top. I've got some more 73s to do (a GBRf pair spring to mind as well as some more for the early 90s) so may do a step by step if anyone would find that useful Next up is an MLV - it was bought cheap (body only) from a friend. I assume it's TPM inlays and ends on a Farish mk1. Currently it sits on a Farish mk1 underframe to get it usable for the weekend The 4VEP is in a usable state now, and has spent part of this evening lapping the test track. I was rather worried at first, as it didn't seem to keen to move, only doing a few inches before stalling with no signs of improvement. I stuck with it, and kept fiddling, and it was eventually lapping well. Hopefully the performance will be as good, if not better, on the layout tomorrow. I'll cover the motor car in detail when I fit a BHE underframe kit, hopefully being able to get one at Bristol in a couple of weeks. The don't appear to do an MLV chassis kit, so I'll have to think about that one, unless anyone has any ideas? If anyone is popping along to Trainwest please do say hello, I'm there all weekend jo

Go on, weather it, you know it makes sense! I was going to ask if you're going to have a go at modifying the underframe, but 547 retained its tanks so that's sorted! It's looking very nice so far jo