Over a week ago I left France and the 14XX in an almost finished state prior to painting, etc. The remaining parts will be fitted later this year when I return. These include the buffer beam piping, auto train parts and various pipes and conduits. Otherwise, there is not much more to do. I was tempted to try to finish these additions but good sense prevailed. Why rush?

The following black and white images (I think they look better than the coloured versions) give an idea of the current status, but there also remains some cleaning up to do before primer painting.

The classic frontal view:

And its opposite:

And full frontal, showing the missing buffer beam parts:

It will be full steam ahead to complete the model when I return. It will be 1459, an Oswestry loco in the late 1950s, painted plain black with early BR totem. It will need an appropriate pair of (auto) coaches which I still need to research.

Meanwhile I just took delivery of two, yes, two more locomotive kits from David Andrews. A second LMS Compound 4P that will eventually have a fully working inside motion and an original (un-rebuilt just doesn't sound right, does it?) Patriot which will be 45506, a Bristol based loco often seen on the MR side of New Street.

So I now have a lot of kits to build, including the Midlander coaches. And Legge Lane needs its buildings and scenery.