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I actually have a nice sized bone in breast of lamb in my freezer that I got fairly cheaply from the market a couple of months ago. Decision paralysis over how to prepare it has stopped me from actually eating it :lol:

A colleague of mine, for reasons he's yet to make sense to me, has convinced his bank to let him pay his mortgage weekly with appropriate division of the payment amount from what should be the monthly total. We're paid every 4 weeks so the logic completely escapes me.

The road on either side of the crossing isn't wide enough for vehicles to pass each other safely, cars and vans can usually pass each other on the crossing with a bit of careful driving but not without risk of falling onto the track. Stand offs between vehicle drivers are a frequent issue. The...

Yes I am fully aware of how both Astley and Martins Lane operate given that I've worked in both areas, albeit only geographically in Martins Lane's case as I was based in a box on the other railway line in the area which happens to have two crossings with similar arrangements, one of which is...

Its likely to prevent vandalism or anti social behaviour during times when the station isn't staffed. Trains carry their own assistance ramps so the station's being behind a locked door isn't usually an issue.

Its a red/green user worked crossing with an added klaxon to warn crossing users of an approaching train. Anyone in a large/low/slow moving vehicle or transporting animals on foot (livestock and horses) is supposed to use the phone for permission to cross. Anyone on foot or in your average car...

There's quite a few user worked crossings in that geographical area that get frequently misused, Martins Lane is probably second to one of the user worked crossings I used to control in that respect. It was only a matter of time before something tragic happened. The RAIB are involved in this...

The BTP used to like to practice with the drone in the disused CMD siding at Castleton until someone decided to plonk a housing estate on it. Their appearance at the main gate used to cause unease in the signalbox about the possibility of unreported trespassers :lol:

I'm quite partial to heart, both lamb and ox, apart from around mid way through a 6 week period one mid 00s summer where my mother got a job lot of ox hearts for a very good price and it became Sunday dinner every week. We were all sick of it for a while after that. I find that it makes a...

I'm unfortunate enough to have 4 very mature specimens of Buddleia in my front garden, i've trimmed 3 of the 4 back 4 times so far this year and every time the damn thing gets out of hand again as soon as a good rain hits. My neighbours are going to be in for a bit of a shock over winter as I...

A former colleague of mine once told me that when he was a signaller at Bamber Bridge, they rigged up a dodgy Sky TV box (when such things were easily pirated) by scrambling onto the roof of an adjacent premises and mounting a satellite on a redundant aerial pole with said business being none...

It was a similar situation in the fringe boxes. It was havoc where I was for about 90 minutes (unable to contact anyone for 30 of those), then just an awful lot of "yeah sorry drive, still no update".

Picc wasn't affected as much. Manchester North and Central Workstations have had a total loss of correspondence in every set of points so nothing can move until the position of the points is established and they're secured in the correct position for any movements. There's a unit trapped next to...

Traksy and the like aren't exactly reliable today as the train describers and GSMR all went down briefly as part of the failure. Its showing trains in locations where they either aren't or passed through during the incident when leaving ROC areas to the fringes. Train Movement Viewer being down...

For what its worth, concentrators with phones connected on individual circuits are still in use. Most signalboxes have them for contact directly between your adjacent boxes and for any signal post/points/level crossing telephones. Simply lift your handset, press the required button and wait for...

Its actually in Piccadilly SCC, not the ROC.

Its certainly an improvement over the random unit generator that normally gets thrown at them.

The local stoppers (2Jxx, 2Nxx, 2Bxx) were absolutely destroying the service of everything else during diversions, especially if Rochdale West was sticking to the regulating policy for them. The signallers on that line were complaining of seemingly endless phone calls regarding delays. I was on...

The presence of a lower quadrant semaphore in the background makes me question whether it is in Manchester. Perhaps its in Western territory?

Stores deliveries by train still happen now to boxes if need be. Usually it happens if something is urgently required, although i've had and sent everything from an emergency loo roll to a bacon sandwich (also provided to the train crew in exchange for the delivery) during my time out in the...