Phil Bullock

Don’t worry Mike gravity defying signals will be arriving shortly…

Unfortunately I don’t have my notes so am relying on memory for that one but certainly do suspect it was later in the year than your GSYP sighting. Will see if it’s on Six Bells Junction. and agree with you re GFYE it sat well on them

Definitely!!! 😀

More static grass done yesterday with help from @Liam …. Hope you enjoyed your visit, sorry about the static grass malfunction!

Ah nowt at the moment … but never say never!

Spot on Mr SM! Only anther 500 to do….

Thanks Bob! Comments like that make it all worth while! New videos not to far away get your spotting booms out! Alternatively you can come and drive yourself..,

An admirable Red Admiral there! Very nice too

Having a Marvin the Android moment here this evening… Here I am threading 280 bullhead chairs on to rail ….. 😀 Definitely one for @Enterprisingwestern and @PjKing1 …. !

Had D7009 … GFYE …. All the way from Worcester Shrub Hill to Bournemouth on an Adex one Sunday in 1968. Great day out with some excellent haulage, D7009 a favourite thereafter

No good as footplate crew…. Too highly strung!

Phew that’s good! Copped my first one at Worcester Shrub Hill October 1967 and given that I spent quite a bit of time there, and holidays in Bristol with trips to Cardiff it will come as no surprise that I was down to 1 needed by Summer 69 … D7094 …. And there she was at Bristol Temple Meads in GSYP. Got them all while they were all still live! As it turns out I could have stayed in Worcester… thanks to my good friend Brian Thomas for the records Hymeks at Worcester

I love the smell of ozone in the morning… 😉

Yes D7048 was spectacularly off the road In the loop at Spetchley with a heap of PW wagons …. Something about points being set incorrectly IIRC. 😉 But only goes to prove that Swindon never failed to repair a collision damaged hydraulic that was still needed in traffic. @mark alden has a photo of one very bent Hymek at Swindon I think…

Thats horrible! A very short straw….

It’s absolutely right to be sensitive to your prostates behaviour gentlemen. I currently have two very good friends who have aggressive disease and for whom the prognosis is probably not too good. But a few points for clarity if I may - please forgive the candid talk but I hope it may help put some things in to perspective. Firstly terminology. There is no such thing as a benign cancer. The definition of a cancer is that it has the potential to spread from its original site by local invasion and/or distant metastasis (spread). A tumour (swelling) may be either benign or malignant (cancer) and an awful lot of prostatic enlargement is benign hyperplasia (increase in size) and is not cancer. A PSA test will help start a process that will clarify that status but please note that there is no prostate screening programme for a reason. This is because PSA is not sufficiently specific on its own to be used as a screening test and it’s use as a screening tool would lead to many men having unwarranted invasive procedures following a positive result …. And other benign conditions can give a positive result. I have had PSA tests - fortunately negative - and my GP had put it to me that if I have the test I have to accept the consequences should the result indicate further investigation is required. In the event of a diagnosis of cancer …. After further investigations …. Grade and stage will be ascertained. Grade is a laboratory diagnosis and is based on the microscopic appearance of tumour cells . High stage is more aggressive cancer and is more likely to spread. Stage is a clinical diagnosis based on presentation and imaging and reflects the current state of the disease. It follows that high grade disease is more likely to present with a higher stage. Prostate cancer is in most cases hormone fuelled and treatment often involves blocking of male hormones. As we age these reduce any way …. I know mine have! I once asked an eminate prostate surgeon what he would do if he had a diagnosis of prostate cancer and his response was … in his 50s he would absolutely take whatever treatment was offered In his 60s he would think very carefully before committing to treatment In his 70s he would probably let sleeping dogs lie reflecting the comment already made above that many older men die with prostate cancer, not because of it. My own prostate is certainly enlarged as my GP had confirmed on palpation. I have always been notorious for a weak bladder so this certainly doesn’t help and neither do my cardio meds which seem to have a diuretic effect and increase my urine output. But I have decided to soldier on as long as I can cope and tests remain negative. It’s a biological fact that we will eventually all pass on - sorry! Healthcare can’t save lives but it can prolong them. Therefore if you have any doubt …. Please seek medical advice. I hope none of us on here draw a short straw…,

Each to his own ! Only issue I have with etched plates for smoke box numbers is they are often over size …. A standard 5 digit plate is used for 4 digit plates …. And they are polished metal, not white. But can still look good!

If you want to renumber you will get a far better job …. And choice of numbers .. if you use current proprietary transfers. This would be my go to … Customisable BR steam loco But there are other options

Certainly would! We never really knew what was going on then …. One day at Worcester there were no More Warships…

D844 too …. Was dragged off the scrap line at Swindon and worked up to Worcester under its own power for heating duties …. November 71.

Out in to Powys again yesterday … primary mission is fluff chucking but we did a scenic diversion before heading for the river. On a hill overlooking Erwood is a German gun More info here …. The Garth Gun. Allegedly it’s sighted on to The Wheelwrights Arms in the village. Well worth the short climb for the views…. Looking down the river towards Hay bluff The village of Erwood And upstream towards Builth. Never seen so many Coch-y-bondhu beetles … Day was better for scenery than fishing, too hot for the fish although we did see one salmon - always special.

Thanks Mike. On that basis runaways should not have existed …. But there’s a couple of well recorded Teddy Bears in the dirt …. Cymmer Afan wasn’t it? Does that mean insufficient brakes were pinned down then?

Absolutely! Every working everywhere…. Well except a heavy unbraked coal train down the Valleys perhaps ….

Cracking photos as ever ! Thanks for sharing on here. I think we were all sad when they went..,lively locos, great performers on the Cotswolds line to Worcester

Afraid the hydraulics were not built with aluminium bodies. For the sake of this discussion they are best divided in to 3 categories: 1. The Early NBL builds …. D6xx and possibly D63xx. A traditional steel heavy body with the exceptions of the cabs which were fabricated from aluminium sections…. Trade name of Alpac IIRC 2. All D800 Warships and Westerns …. Stressed steel body coated with prestolinth filler to get a smooth surface. 3. Hymeks …. All steel bodies of traditional steel construction. It was the chemicals in the washing plants … Exmover … that did the damage plus if any water got under the prestolinth on the stressed steel bodies steel would rust and big chunks would peel/fall off …. Especially if assisted by platform end spotters!