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Don Coffey cab ride video discussion

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Don Coffey

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23 May 2021
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64
Location
Chapel en le Frith
I agree; those screenshots are unbelievably good quality. I am most definitely looking forwards to watching that one when it's up. Three hours? It'll be worth it...
Its actually sitting in the editor at 3:45 but I know it sits in the loop at Leicester for a while so not sure what the final length will be but after adding some maps it should be well over 3 hours ;)
 

Don Coffey

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23 May 2021
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64
Location
Chapel en le Frith
The above video is up and running now. My mate at Freightliner recorded a light engine (actually a Class 70 dragging a a Class 66) from Earles to Crewe via the freight lines at Northenden and Middlewich which I’ll edit up soon. This is Bedford to Earles;

 

Railwaysceptic

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6 Nov 2017
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1,408
My mate at Freightliner recorded a light engine (actually a Class 70 dragging a a Class 66) from Earles to Crewe via the freight lines at Northenden and Middlewich which I’ll edit up soon.
I look forward to watching that.

Many thanks for your latest video. Now at last we have a good view of the entire Erewash Valley route between Toton and Chesterfield.
 
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Western Sunset

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23 Dec 2014
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Wimborne, Dorset
Really enjoyed the Bedford - Earles last night. Especially my old stomping ground between Loughborough and Trowell. Toton is but a shadow... Good to see the view via the HLG at Trent; so much greenery now. Thanks Don.
 

55002

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16 Aug 2019
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Ldn
Really enjoyed the Bedford - Earles last night. Especially my old stomping ground between Loughborough and Trowell. Toton is but a shadow... Good to see the view via the HLG at Trent; so much greenery now. Thanks Don.
Just watching it now, so sad to see Toton, as you say a shadow of its former glory. used to be an absolute Mecca in my youth. First time I ever went back in the early 80s didn’t really know how to get on the bank so my aunt dropped me off on the a52 bridge and I scrambled down the bank from bridge that looks towards loco shed! Absolute madness thinking about it now stopping on a52 and then doing it again to pick me up!
 

Western Sunset

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23 Dec 2014
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Wimborne, Dorset
Just watching it now, so sad to see Toton, as you say a shadow of its former glory. used to be an absolute Mecca in my youth. First time I ever went back in the early 80s didn’t really know how to get on the bank so my aunt dropped me off on the a52 bridge and I scrambled down the bank from bridge that looks towards loco shed! Absolute madness thinking about it now stopping on a52 and then doing it again to pick me up!
P1260987 (2).JPG
 

Don Coffey

Member
Joined
23 May 2021
Messages
64
Location
Chapel en le Frith
Just a quick heads up - new video Monday night which covers a trip from Earles Sidings which you know by now to Crewe Basford Hall which you’ve always known! Vinny got called in on Christmas Eve 2021 to do a job of getting two locos to Basford Hall which were urgently required for other duties - who knows, maybe Christmas Day ballasting jobs. The lead loco is 70010 and it provides the high definition soundtrack for the journey and Vin had the foresight to mount the Gopro and share the footage with us. It starts by creeping out of the siding and off down the Hope Valley. By the time we get the few miles to Cowburn Tunnel, the rain has closed in and the 70 powers through a deluge. However, when we emerge from the other end of the tunnel, you’d think it was a different day - really pleasant. We then pass through New Mills and Disley (Midland) to Hazel Grove where we start the first of two journeys that you’ll rarely get to see as a passenger and even more so from the front. We do the freight line to Northernden and the Middlewich Branch. These are much requested routes that I’m delighted to bring you and Vinny has got the windows clean for a pristine view. If that wasn’t enough, we drop right inside Basford Hall Yard to the crew quarters for handover. Those are the exact locos in the photo - 70010 and 66586.

PREMIER MONDAY NIGHT AT 9:00PM

I’m part way through editing a Metrolink triple bill but that takes a bit more research which I haven’t got time for so that will now come later TBA.
Keep well folks and hopefully this will help take your mind off less pleasant things going on right now.

D8121160-6F32-4633-BBBB-94DDD125DDAB_1_102_o.jpeg
 

Crun

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30 Dec 2014
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697
Location
Werrington, Peterborough, England
Just watching it now, so sad to see Toton, as you say a shadow of its former glory. used to be an absolute Mecca in my youth. First time I ever went back in the early 80s didn’t really know how to get on the bank so my aunt dropped me off on the a52 bridge and I scrambled down the bank from bridge that looks towards loco shed! Absolute madness thinking about it now stopping on a52 and then doing it again to pick me up!
I used to live in Long Eaton until 1969, very close to Toton Sidings. My grandparents lived there until the 80's. We would walk the short distance from Doncaster Grove to the bank above. You could hear the coal trucks being shunted all over Long Eaton depending on the wind direction.
 

Rockhopper

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29 Apr 2019
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736
Hi Don. Is there any way the desk could included in the video so we could see how the drivers are actually controlling the loco?
 

Don Coffey

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23 May 2021
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Location
Chapel en le Frith
Hi Don. Is there any way the desk could included in the video so we could see how the drivers are actually controlling the loco?
Absolutely none as it stands. One of the conditions of being authorised to share the footage from any of the companies involved is that I don’t show how it’s driven. I know there are realistic simulators but in the event that some numpty attempts to move a real train, we can’t be seen to assist them in any way. It’s unfortunate but I’m afraid that’s the way it is. There are occasionally glimpses inside the cabs but nothing to show how to drive.
 

Pigeon

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8 Apr 2015
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802
Just watched the latest one and I am puzzled that he seems to go through DJ 5 on red at Skelton Junction. Been back over that bit a few times and I can't spot what other indication he is getting that tells him it's safe to proceed - can't see any position lights for it or anything like that. The previous signal DJ 3 was a yellow with an M theatre indicator, but DJ 5 looked like just a plain red to me. The scrolling captions don't explain it either. What is going on here please?

(Stepping back and forth in the video over that part while the 70 is changing speed does make it very musical!)
 

Pigeon

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8 Apr 2015
Messages
802
That still counts as a loop...?! OK, cheers :)

I wonder what the chances are that the yellow aspect has a nest of mice in it enjoying the warmth, and the green is half full of water, and nobody's noticed... Are there still lights in the jungle at Healey Mills?
 

Greybeard33

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18 Feb 2012
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Greater Manchester
That still counts as a loop...?! OK, cheers :)

I wonder what the chances are that the yellow aspect has a nest of mice in it enjoying the warmth, and the green is half full of water, and nobody's noticed... Are there still lights in the jungle at Healey Mills?
Network Rail renovated the goods loop at Skelton Junction only about ten years ago. It just needs a bit of vegetation clearance! :D

I have always thought that the siting of signal DJ3 is a little confusing, considering that the next signal on the Down Main is out of sight round the curve. But drivers are expected to learn such idiosyncracies of the infrastructure as part of their route knowledge....
 

Railwaysceptic

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6 Nov 2017
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Ben Elias has uploaded a new and splendid In-cab video to YouTube -


On his YouTube page he states that Trans Pennine Express no longer allow their drivers to film train journeys from their cabs.

Will this place drivers like Don Coffey in a straitjacket and restrict them to filming from the cabs of non TPE trains?
 

bengley

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18 May 2008
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Ben Elias has uploaded a new and splendid In-cab video to YouTube -


On his YouTube page he states that Trans Pennine Express no longer allow their drivers to film train journeys from their cabs.

Will this place drivers like Don Coffey in a straitjacket and restrict them to filming from the cabs of non TPE trains?
Unfortunately yes. TPE decided in 2020 that it was no longer what they wanted people doing. So sadly don't expect to see anything from TPE trains anymore

(Also, thanks for the praise on the above video :))
 

Railwaysceptic

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Unfortunately yes. TPE decided in 2020 that it was no longer what they wanted people doing. So sadly don't expect to see anything from TPE trains anymore

(Also, thanks for the praise on the above video :))
Thanks for your reply and thanks too for that video. Praise was well deserved! To the best of my knowledge, no other video shows that route via Fiddlers Ferry. Please continue to produce these videos.
 

bengley

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18 May 2008
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Thanks for your reply and thanks too for that video. Praise was well deserved! To the best of my knowledge, no other video shows that route via Fiddlers Ferry. Please continue to produce these videos.
Annoyingly if I'd filmed it only a few months ago it would have had the old semaphore posts in still for Carterhouse Jn SB but these were removed fairly recently.
 

Don Coffey

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23 May 2021
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Chapel en le Frith
6Z91 - Theale to Bedford. That is the subject of the next video. 6M91 is the headcode for the cement tanks according to Vinny. He tells me that this special “Z” headcode is a positioning move to get the 26 HIA hoppers from the Mendip contract to the Tunstead contract. It’s really good footage as is usual from Vinny. I’ve just got some maps to create but I’m hoping to run the premier on Sunday night at 8pm (20:00 UK). Sorry for the early start but it’s 2:45 so going to be a late finish anyway. A good run on both the GWR and the MML and tons of other trains of various types. Here is our loco for the journey ready for departure from Theale;
 

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Requeststop

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21 Jan 2012
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Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea
Hi Don, so happy to get the Heads up from you for an exciting recording of the journey. Very thankful for the efforts you put into these videos and they are assuredly, very welcome by me out here in PNG. Thanks again and much appreciated.
6Z91 - Theale to Bedford. That is the subject of the next video. 6M91 is the headcode for the cement tanks according to Vinny. He tells me that this special “Z” headcode is a positioning move to get the 26 HIA hoppers from the Mendip contract to the Tunstead contract. It’s really good footage as is usual from Vinny. I’ve just got some maps to create but I’m hoping to run the premier on Sunday night at 8pm (20:00 UK). Sorry for the early start but it’s 2:45 so going to be a late finish anyway. A good run on both the GWR and the MML and tons of other trains of various types. Here is our loco for the journey ready for departure from Theale;
 

Railwaysceptic

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6Z91 - Theale to Bedford. That is the subject of the next video. 6M91 is the headcode for the cement tanks according to Vinny. He tells me that this special “Z” headcode is a positioning move to get the 26 HIA hoppers from the Mendip contract to the Tunstead contract. It’s really good footage as is usual from Vinny. I’ve just got some maps to create but I’m hoping to run the premier on Sunday night at 8pm (20:00 UK). Sorry for the early start but it’s 2:45 so going to be a late finish anyway. A good run on both the GWR and the MML and tons of other trains of various types. Here is our loco for the journey ready for departure from Theale;
Many thanks. I'll make a point of both watching and recording. I think I can guess which route this will take and, if I'm right, this will, as far as I know, be the only video showing the Brent Curve and the Hendon Lines through Silkstream Junction. Another first for Don Coffey!
 

Don Coffey

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23 May 2021
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Location
Chapel en le Frith
Many thanks. I'll make a point of both watching and recording. I think I can guess which route this will take and, if I'm right, this will, as far as I know, be the only video showing the Brent Curve and the Hendon Lines through Silkstream Junction. Another first for Don Coffey!
You are spot on with your assumption. Didn’t realise it was so far unique!
 

Western Lord

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17 Mar 2014
Messages
782
I have just watched the Theale-Bedford video and couldn't help but notice that during the run on the GWML from Reading to Acton the only trains on the fast lines were class 800s with their pans down (and therefore running on diesel) and the only class 387s to be seen were on the relief lines which must have played havoc with their schedules. Is it normal to have the power off on the fast lines during the day?
 

John Webb

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5 Jun 2010
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St Albans
6Z91 - Theale to Bedford. That is the subject of the next video. 6M91 is the headcode for the cement tanks according to Vinny. He tells me that this special “Z” headcode is a positioning move to get the 26 HIA hoppers from the Mendip contract to the Tunstead contract. It’s really good footage as is usual from Vinny. I’ve just got some maps to create but I’m hoping to run the premier on Sunday night at 8pm (20:00 UK). Sorry for the early start but it’s 2:45 so going to be a late finish anyway. A good run on both the GWR and the MML and tons of other trains of various types. Here is our loco for the journey ready for departure from Theale;
Many thanks for this interesting run. Also for your compliments about the restored St Albans South signal box; much appreciated! And if anyone wants to visit us see our website for our next few open afternoons (or days over the September Heritage Open Days weekend).

PS: At 1:34:35, where the Down Hendon joins the Down Slow, you refer to "Coldstream Junction" - The box, when I passed it before electrification, was labelled "Silkstream Junction" and it remains with that name in Baker's Rail Atlas and in other atlases.
 
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Railwaysceptic

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6 Nov 2017
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On his YouTube page for his latest video, Don Coffey mentions two future ones: Bedford to Dagenham and Tunstead to Bedford via Corby. I look forward to both of them, especially the second as it presumably includes Syston North Junction to Corby via Manton.
 

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