Monthly Archives: November 2013

Update 871. 1501, DMU & D8059 at Arley, 24/11/13

4566 was on the Diner, 7812 had replaced 43106 at Bridgnorth. Those locos were not photographed as the two I saw were backwards. I did video 1501, which might be worth showing, but I haven’t checked it yet, and 4566 put up a smoke screen as it passed by – so that is probably no good. That leaves 1501 arriving, the DMU & D8059 on the log train.

Link to photos or if you have a smartphone, try this link for a slideshow

Does the slideshow work on your smartphone???

D8059 on the log train, 1 wagon with a load of logs


A Coppermine theme to view my gallery images on a smartphone/mobile

I’ve spent some time trying to modify a Coppermine theme so that I can view my galleries on my Huawei G300 mobile. It has a screen with 480 x 800 pixels, so viewing is best with the screen in a horizontal position. Below are some photos of the screen (I can’t do a screen print of the mobile) so it will look better on the mobile screen.

You can view the intermediate size images, one by one, by touching the blue “<” left or “>” right arrows, seen above and right of the image, just as you can with the mouse pointer when viewing with a pc.

It is possible to enlarge one of those images, by pinching, as you do with mobile phones. The one below is not the same photo, but you can see it is much wider on the screen.

Finally, by starting the slideshow, top left of screen, third from left, the images in the album will show one after the other, automatically.

It works for me, but I haven’t tried it on other smart phones. Give it a go and let me know if it is successful on your smart phones. The link below should automatically start a slideshow on a smart phone:-

http://www.sharpos-world.co.uk/cpg/displayimage.php?album=1141&pid=23745&slideshow=5000#top_display_media

If you try it with an ordinary pc, the standard coppermine slide show will run.

 

Update 870. 66726 hauls 0Z36 47812 & 47815 through Walsall, 20/11/13

The plan was to see this at Small Heath. My train should have arrived before the convoy passed through – I thought it was a safe bet as the covoy was running late, but it missed out one of the booked stops and was running early. So I then had to get back to Moor Street, then leg it to New Street for a train to Walsall. The bonus was I saw 37608 & 37259 on 6M56 & 60074 on 6E08, plus 66025 & 66556 on a couple of other freights.

Link to photos or if you have a smartphone, try this link for a slideshow

The 47s are seen here, D1916 & D1748 in “old numbers”

Update 869. 37612 & 37605 on 6M56 at Cradley Heath, 18/11/13

This working “should” pass through Cradley when no other trains are due, but a late running train from Birmingham can cause problems. Once again, the DMU was late, but by about 6 minutes – which meant 6M56 should be through with a couple of minutes to spare, and today it worked out well. As I mention in the video description, I tried manual focussing to avoid any blurring when the camera loses focus as the train passes. Unfortunately it wasn’t quite set for the right distance – you learn by your mistakes, hopefully? The sound was great as the train accelerated past me.

Link to video

Update 864. 5164, 43106 & DMU at Arley, 09/11/13

It’s the “quiet” timetable again. The colder weather is here & Arley Arboretum is closed. Mrs. S. didn’t want to come out in the cold & KC didn’t enjoy it at Arley last weekend – so I was on my own. The easiest & cheapest option was a £2 senior return from Stourbridge to Kidder, saves on fuel & parking, then a ride on the DMU to Arley, returning behind 43106. Bumped into plenty of friends during the brief visit, so a good little outing.

Link to photos

43106 approaching Arley

Update 862. A “classic” diesel hour at Water Orton, 04/11/13

The attraction today was Deltic D9009 & Class 40s D335 & D345 running from Barrow Hill to Tyseley. Everything else was a bonus! Colas 66s rarely cross my path so 66846 was a pleasant surprise. 47749 passed by light, and 47739 on the Boston steel. D1052 was also on a light engine movement from Tyseley to Wellingborough. Had they been running on time I would’ve missed them, but 31190 & 31452 were about an hour late with a RailVac machine. A couple of DMUs & some other 66s were also photographed.

Link to photos

The 40s & Deltic are seen below

Update 861. 5043 “Earl of Mount Edgcumbe” storms up Old Hill bank, 19/10/13

This is the return run of the Cotswold Explorer from Oxford to Tyseley. There had been a schedule for a diesel to run to Worcester to assist the train up the bank, but I was told it had not run. Presumably the load was well within the capabilities of the loco, and I think if you watch the video you’ll agree there was no need for assistance.

Link to video