Doing some training

Another awful night's sleep with my head racing, so I started the weekend by being very lazy.  But before too long I got myself going and did a quick round-the-block on the Africa Twin to see if yesterday's wheel wrenching and ratchet strapping had made a difference.  Well, yes, a bit, but no, not really.  But it'll do.  And while the sun was out it was time to run Fidra round the block too to warm up the engine a bit.  It didn't take long to see that the idle is definitely a bit too high.  But so much power on tap!

What to do with the day?  A look at the rail tour schedule showed a couple of things happening, including a new visit from SR Battle of Britain class 34067 Tangmere (the one that broke down the other week) hauling The Edinburgh Flyer, and Mum and Dad were up for it too.  So we headed out to Inveresk to wait a little while, and at length there she was in the distance (top right photo) – and here you can see all the way down the straightaway to Wallyford station and beyond.  It's just a shame all the overhead line equipment gets in the way of a good photo.

While doing all this Mum noticed a ladybird pupa, and then another, and another!  There were loads of them.  I was very pleased because I haven't seen any ladybirds for a long time now.  Some were just emerging and hadn't even developed their spots yet.  A freight train rumbled past extremely slowly at that point so I was able to get a good view.

For lunch we drove to the Palladian mansion of Newhailes House and its cafe and sat in the sunshine.  I enjoyed a toasted sandwich and a decaf latte.  A look around the little market turned up some goodies, and then we walked the grounds for a while, seeing the shell grotto, the linear garden, and the old walled garden that needs to see better days.  Basically, trying to use up the afternoon!

From Newhailes we returned to Craigentinny sidings, because Tangmere was meant to be waiting there before heading into Waverley for her return run to York.  And there she was.  A few positioning moves took her out of the sidings and we watched her, led by 47804, head into town.  We waited in the cooling sunshine for quite a while, as she was late getting to Waverley and 25 minutes late leaving.  But presently she arrived, not working too hard it seemed, and before you can say '"look, a steam train!", she was rounding the curves and away out of sight.

Tea was with Mum and Dad, with a bit more Scottish Roadscast for fun, and then an early evening ride home to flop.