The Home Machinist!

Hey folks, here's a link to the schedule for the Big Boy this summer. If you have never stood next to one of these, you need to. It will make you feel very small.

https://www.up.com/heritage/steam/schedule/index.htm

Stellar. Are you just dragging the cutter back through the cut before moving over for the next?

Our friend at Burbank was a laid back type, but you couldn't lay back at Mission Tower. You had to pay attention and keep moving — the traffic was constant and you probably had to eat on the run and hold your bladder until you were done with your shift. Undoubtably a spot for those with low seniorit...

When I was a young teenager my buddy and I knew the second trick operator at Burbank Junction, where the SP coast and San Joaquin lines diverged. Instead of going out with girls, we'd spend our Friday nights there where the operator was too glad to let us pull the five-foot-long levers of the 19th c...

Thanks, guys, for the additional comments. It looks now like this: We'll arrive in London from Dublin about noon on a Sunday, so we'll scoot right over to Water and Steam. Then Monday we'll do the Science Museum and I'll take Wifey to the British Museum. Tuesday Crossness will be open and I've made ...

Oops, posted in error.

Thanks, Barry for the tip on the transportation sites. We'll be staying in the Forest Gate area, about 8 miles east and a little north of the central city. It's a BnB we've used before — the lady that owns it is such a character that we wouldn't stay anywhere else.

Thanks, Barry. Crossness will be open one of the days I'm there. Perhaps I'll do Greenwich, Crossness and Water & Steam and then see what time is left. It looks like Greenwich would be most of a day; Honey would go with me and probably want to see some of the other stuff in the area. How much time w...

Thanks for all your thoughtful comments, folks. I should have mentioned in my first post that this is our fourth visit to London and that's why I'm concentrating on the steam stuff that I've not been able to visit before. We've done many of the other things including Westminster Abbey, the Tower of ...

Thanks, folks. I'm starting to think that we may miss Greenwich. Your thoughts on that?

Hi folks. In a previous thread I asked for your advice on steam stuff to see in London. Now I hope you can help me set some priorities. We’ll only be there for three days (we’re just passing through en route elsewhere) but there is more to see that we can fit in. So what do you think is best? Here a...

OK, Jack. So the truth is that the little piece you cut off went flying across the shop. The question is: how did you find it?