Western Scottish

Is there any word on when the ScotRail ones are due? Hoping they are compatible with my existing Lima stock.

I think the Mk1s are tainted by "Design Clever". I've found them more than adequate for my needs and would prefer a £30 coach compared to a £45-£50 one .

I certainly hope they are expanding the Mk1 range. The diversification of types would also increase attractiveness of their existing range. Hope we get blue /grey ones this time.

Specifically if it's timing that's important the Hawksworth auto coach is only post war. Not sure if they appeared in GWR livery at all, except in preservation whereas the Airfix/Hornby one is prewar And of course the other difference is the price!

I really enjoy your updates on the layout. I love Blackpool trams and am very interested.

It was also in Modern Railways I think in 78 . I thought 40106 was the last main line loco in BR Green because I remember the discussions on the back page of Modern Railways during 1978. This was in its original green. It was repainted later being the only "celebrity" green loco for many years. I wasn't aware of 20141 being in green livery at the time as we allthought 40106 was the last one. For many years in the late 70s /early 80s modern image layouts always had BR Blue diesels with 47s with Stratford Grey Roof and the obligatory green 40106 because it was something different!

Very nice. I remember this layout, was it in Railway Modeller or Hornby Mag a few years ago. I remember it because its a fascinating era that you seldom see modelled.

Well done. As you might suspect I like the Western buses!

Looking good, but can't help thinking Bachmann have missed a trick by not announcing a 3 car one at the same time. At the moment the markets split between 3 Car Hornby and 2 Car Bachmann. With just a little extra investment (they already have a 3 car one in "N") they could have taken the whole market . I've no demand for a 2 car unit but a three car and I'd bite their hand off!

Awe no! I've got an electric blue one on order , but the tops one looks particularly nice . Too tempting................... I think this will be a major smash. I hope so . Well done Bachmann. Can we get a 25kv EMU next year?

Not happy about the price. I can appreciate that prices have increased since I placed the order , however:- 1. The advert in Railway Modeller said coming soon- so I kind of gathered they were imminent on placing order. The fact that they've taken so long and therefore subject to prices rises isn't my fault! 2.There has been no pre notification of price increase. I appreciate they are within their terms and conditions but really I would have thought a reputable company would have declared a 17% increase ,even if it was just a note in their latest advert in the Mags. If you think about it , on these t and c's, there is nothing to stop them advertising goods then doubling or even tripling the price on delivery. I won't contract with people with such an open ended possibility. I'm going to let this one ride as frankly I can't be bothered with the hassle of sending it back, alerting credit card co etc. But TMC.....NEVER AGAIN.

The buses look good. Just a wee bit out of period for the 80s, though. These Lodekkas are more 60's and 70s. In 1979 the Scottish Bus Group also changed their logo so if you are looking at 1980 they should probably have Central Scottish logos with the three quater saltire rather than the CENTRAL logo. Not sure these buses would have lasted that long though . I think corgi have a new "Y" type single decker in Midland Scottish blue coming out that might be more suitable. Sorry reading this through it sounds a bit pedantic! Just thought you should know.

Good that Steve got his VEP sorted out at Margate. But there's a few things from his posting that worries me 1. Bad VEPs are still out there. How can you identify modified ones from original batch 2. Steve's defective model was fixed by Hornby which means they must know the issues and how to correct them. Wouldn't it be a good idea to pass this on to those of us who can't get to Margate- but all we get is silence. No acknowledgement there even is an issue! Given that Model Rail has now run an article on improving a VEP you would have thought they might have asked Hornby about the defects( I appreciate that they did not find any defects in the model they tested- but we also know they are aware of this thread which details the issues). It would have been very helpful to their readers if they could have passed details of the mods.

Probably we will find that this model was outsourced to another suppler (not Sandakan),perhaps the same one as the elusive B17s, and thats why this model was so deficient. Suspect with the BEL they have reverted top original producer or simply learned lessons from the VEP. Whatever the reason it shouldn't hsave affected the buying public - but it did! Shame Hornby are not proactive in advising their existing customers , but then they've already sold these units and seem to have little interest.

Per Exel1095 way back mid November I asked Simon Kohler about how the Brighton Belle would be powered, saying I was worried in the light of the VEP issues highlighted in this thread. He was pretty insistent that there were only a few problems with individual units and that most of the comment on internet fora was pretty worthless. Now, I have not bought a VEP (because of the solid partition) and so I said I only had the evidence of what others said. This was exactly the point, he replied - lots of anonymous comment and very little of substance. Strange how very little of substance turns into "These VEP models have had a factory modification made to the bogies which will correct the occasional derailments that a few customers had experienced with this model that had not been modified."