great northern

Short of light, and so short of images again. Just the one tonight, I have photographed the whole rake behind the B17, but it will be one at a time till I can get some more taken. Who needs more than a lovely Gresley shortie BSK anyway?

More high level experimentation, featuring 43108, waiting to take its ECS down to Nene sidings.

Those who have been paying attention😉 will know that at the same time as the arrival from Kings Lynn, there is also an arrival from March. and here it is. Tottenham Hotspur, in its last month of life, has been allocated this easy duty.

The last look at 60854 is from Spital Bridge. For the time being, you might think you are still seeing the midweek sequence, as next in is the 8.35 arrival from Kings Lynn.

Running a bit late this evening. We start with another plonk. But then our hovering cameraman spots movement, and captures 60854 on its way to Grantham.

More plonks this morning, hovering around the District Engineer's domain.

They won't read it, but they will find out about it. As to the manufacturers, I think we need to take into account the case in which a lady who had bought one of those large camper van type things, read that it had cruise control and so when she got out of town set it, and walked off to make herself a drink. Following the inevitable crash, she sued the manufacturer because they hadn't spelled out exactly what cruise control allowed. And the result? Jury found in her favour and gave her lots of money. Where did this happen, USA of course, where else? Andof course all manuals are multinational now, so we get the lot too. I still like to think that decision would never be made in the UK, and the fact that we don't have juries in civil cases should make sure it doesn't. For once, pity the poor manufacturer though.

Another plonk. I put the camera down for a moment, and saw this. I am seriously beginning to wonder whether the extension and completion of Station Road is the best idea I have had in the 10+ years of designing the layout. Fish and V2 on high. This should make Andy The Green Howards rather happy. I suppose the only better thing might be a V2 hauling a fish train.

Still from on high, we follow the progress of the fish empties, and their immaculate KX B1, as they rattle through the south end approach to the station.

Camera on tripod, had to put it down somewhere, then looked in view finder, thought it looked nice, so here's a plonk. I do not know why this happens. This thing wouldn't let me type any more, so I closed it off, intending to do another post. But then it put up the image I wanted next, but wouldn't let me type a caption. So, edit, and here's the Hull fish empties.

Always try not to be too black and white. There is a duty of care owed by an employer, but also a duty to take care on the part of an employee. How many times was over confidence and/or over familiarity involved? Quite a lot, I suspect. The "men were men" in the caption above and "only themselves to blame" is totally inappropriate, because there shouldn't be so many hazards, but that doesn't mean they should be ignored by those who encountered them. I have just acquired a car which has all sorts of helpful functions. It will automatically make a severe brake application when it senses an emergency, or warn me if I drift out of my lane, and if I take no notice it will steer the car back to where it thinks it should be. There follows paragraph after paragraph in the manual giving circumstances where either a warning may not be given, or may be false. Why? My lawyer hat tells me that is to avoid liability wherever possible, but it is also to cater for numbskulls who will think that the car will do everything for them, so they can just drive like idiots.

That's the problem, I think. There is always over compensation before things settle down. It is very difficult to start from a low and to stop at just the right point.

8.19am at PN, and that 9F is waiting for the road. I decided to leave this as the camera saw it, but would it have been better cropped? The lovely shiny V2 is having a ten minute rest at Platform 6, and lurching from one extreme to the other, I reckon I over cropped it.

V2 heaven for some people, as another appears. This one is a Top Shed engine, and so much better kept than most you have seen so far. It has the 5.50 KX-Grantham, and is seen from on high, about to pass under the bridge. and again, moments later and on its way into Platform 6.

But 60005 was always a double chimney engine, wasn't it? I took that into account, but missed the AWS. Of course 1963 makes sense, as that would be why there was such a thick layer of grime to take off.

You may well be right. 1952 and 1955 they were there.

Unfortunately my offer of £37 nine shillings and sixpence was not considered to be acceptable, so its all off.

One 9F follows another along the Down slow. Past the box and under the bridge..... and then along the straight and past Platform 6.

I could say it wasn't very clean before they started, but I won't. All generalisations are somewhat dodgy, and I'm sure that not all Gateshead engines were always filthy, but once there is a reputation it tends to stick. I have certainly read that when 52A got more through workings to KX the locos were generally well turned out.

The 9F has a clear run through, and will soon be safely in the yards and out of the way. Victor Wild has also got under way, and is London bound.

On the Down slow, a 9F with empties that left Ferme Park in the small hours in order to be out of the way before the mass exodus from KX begins. A close up of an impressive and handsome beast. Then up on the bridge to see the A3 waiting and the 9F trudging along the slow. This is a bit ragged in parts, but it took three attempts to get it even this passable, and I wasn't prepared to have a fourth. I have to magnify this sort of image when shopping, so there are large areas which I can't see, and the sneaky thing will look for areas of similar colour and erase them as well. It only needs a very thin connecting line, sometimes almost imperceptible, and it shoots along like a kind of lightning strike and gleefully removes something it shouldn't. This, of course, does not become apparent until I reduce magnification and look at the whole image again. It can be somewhat irritating.

More of Victor Wild running in for just a three minute stop.

The first Leicester of the day arrives at Platform 6, a very easy job for a nearly new Standard 4. Another familiar train approaches from the North. The 7.30 Grantham-KX, with one of that shed's less well kept A3s.

At 7.25 am, 60875 is on its way to London. and ten minutes later, 60853 sets off towards Doncaster. Both will stop at a number of stations which will cease to cater for passengers very soon. Whoops! Forgot to photoshop this. Doesn't look too bad, I hope.

Computer has been playing silly games again, I wondered why I hadn't taken a photo of the B17 leaving, and now I have found out. Apparently the thing randomly decided that 9 came after 11, and put the image right at the end of the page, where I failed to notice it. Anyway, here it is. So there we are, now we can look again at the V2, and everything is back in correct order, until the next time this thing decides otherwise.