Those of you of a nervous disposition should look away now.

This was the most nerve wracking thing I've done... maybe not ever, but certainly for a long time. Actually no... but yes, it was more nerve wracking than cutting the boiler on the Ixion Manor. You see, to get the A4 body to fit, I had to cut the footplate away from the chassis.

The cylinders came loose, and one of the rods came out. And the valve gear came away from the bit where it slots in further back as well.

I thought I'd absolutely messed up. I put it on the line, and, apart from a lack of grip - well, as you can see, there's almost no weight over the drivers, it ran fine. [Victor von Frankenstein] It lives! [/Victor von Frankenstein]

I'm more relieved than Mafeking.

Of course, the body still doesn't quite fit, but I've got it to a point where the only thing that needs cutting now is the body.

And I really wish I'd gone for the B2 conversion instead...

No I don't. It would have been easier, but [JFK] we do not do these things because they are easy [/JFK] but because the results are really neat.

So... this is what progress looks like. Hopefully from here on in, it will be less painful and nerve wracking.

[And no, I'm not sure how I'm going to handle the electrical pickup from the drivers. I'll need to redo it (obviously) but as to how... All advice gratefully received.

Oh yes, as you can see, I've opted for a name. Since there is no Derby on my layout, (There's a Derringham, which is a combination of Derby and Nottingham.) I've borrowed the number for Derby County.