Cee is sadly absent at present because her partner is seriously ill. This would have been the challenge last week and I had a bit of a different approach planned. After some thought, I decided to post this because I hope it’ll cheer Cee and Chris up – perhaps give them a laugh in their current circumstances…
Some years ago we had a young guy playing for us called Tony – no C there then… He got a bad injury that ended his playing career but it opened a new door to becoming a Coach – oops! there’s a C 😅 He was with us for a couple of years as player and coach and he and I were good friends then and now. This is Tony (in grey) chatting about Coaching strategies…
Tony went on to far bigger things and I think that’s a great example to us all that anything is possible even when life takes a bad turn 😎👍
So why would this photo have been in my selection for Cee’s ‘Letter C at the middle of a word’ Midweek Challenge? What I haven’t told you is that Tony is a born and bred Australian – That makes him a Socceroo 😅 There’s your middle of the word c’s😎 Hope you enjoyed this post – I Wish Chris and Cee a swift return to normality👍
I have had a bit of a break from this project between July and Christmas because of a mix of strikes by railway staff, a bit of ill health and the start of the new football season. However, beginning in January, I have started nibbling away at the termini once more.
In January, I went out hunting for photos of things for a Midweek Madness Challenge post. That took me into the City of London and I picked up Aldgate, terminus of the Metropolitan line…
…that’s an old picture, taken before I started this project but it’ll do😎
Another early January trip was to one of the southern extremities of the Northern Line. This was a trip along the newly opened extension to the Battersea Power Station development. It also means that we have an awful case of repetition – Battersea Power Station Station 😂
The new stations on the extension are rectangular box type structures unlike the tubular ones on the existing deep level Underground. Here’s a shot on one of the platforms…
…With a 1995 stock train waiting for its time to head back to High Barnet. Short escalators connect to the ticket hall above…
…which is spacious…
Like the interior, the outside of the station bears no resemblance to London Underground designs of the 1930’s. It’s appearance if quite striking…
…Visible in the background are some of the new housing and retail blocks that surround the power station which has been converted into a retail facility too. I will visit again to get some more photos from the area for a future post. Finally, back on the station, here’s a plan of the whole Northern Line…
The rest of January was a washout with bad weather and some knee troubles.
February has been a busy month with football matches every Saturday and Tuesday. It was also a bit of a rebirth for me – the knee got better again and, courtesy of a younger member of the Twitter railway community, I discovered a website for recording train sightings. Called trainlogger, it has really given me a new impetus to get out and about! Here’s a screenshot from the site…
…As you can see, since Feb 13th I’ve been out on trips 4 times and I have three trips planned for the coming week😀 I’ll probably post a bit more about trainlogger in future.
22nd of Feb was a very damp day and I opted for a tube and termini trip out. One of the locations visited was the terminal station of the Hammersmith and City line…
…S7 stock unit 21401 waits at the platform with the next departure to Barking.
That brings my progress on the project up to date. I still have 70 termini to visit on terminating services, so there’s a lot to do. I’ll also be out and about on normal spotting trips, so the hobby is going to keep me very busy and active this year 😀👍
Last time I left us needing to make some major changes in the second half of June. Those have been done. The farm now has a new vehicle shed along one side of the yard allowing me to park up almost everything😎 Here are some views…
It’s a simple wooden beam and breezeblock building but it will do the job. As you can see, the roller remains outside and so does the header trailer for the harvester. Everything else is now sheltered.
I also bought a new trailer to haul the grain when we harvest…
…I’ve found it’s a bit too heavy when fully loaded for the Zetor, so I think the Massey Fergusson 178 will be doing the hauling. I have also tried it as a baling trailer – taking the sides off to convert it. It’s not as easy to load as the old trailer because it exposes some of the Farming Simulator Physics…
…allowing things to float through the bed of the trailer. But with a bit of perseverance, it can be loaded and then you get 18 bales per level…
…so with two layers, we’re shifting 36 bales – 10 more than the old trailer can handle. But, again, this is beyond the Zetor’s ability and the Massey will have to handle this in future. I have kept the old trailer for now as it will potentially have a use if I go into livestock and it’s probably still ok for when I mow my own grass field.
That’s June over and done. July will be a busy month with harvesting for other farms and field work on my own land. I need to turn in the oilseed radish in field 2 before sowing Canola as the next crop. I’m also looking at getting money back into the bank account because I’d like to get a 4th field. Finally, my grass is now looking like I can harvest it again, so I need to fit that in too… Busy, Busy, Busy…🤣 See you all soon😎👍
Images from Finchley 