ExplosiveCookie

Kato have posted to their Twitter today, and the translation provided states "to be released simultaneously in Japan and the UK in March" - so fingers crossed we should see them sometime next month! https://twitter.com/kato_team/status/1494582882274525186

Genuinely devastating news - I found out as I went in today, chatting to Liz - the manager. She's been wanting to retire for a while now but held on in hope of there being a buyer. I've been going there since I was around 2 or 3 years old - if you ever peek in the tiny, usually dark, side room with the kids toys in - you'll find a crude felt tip drawing of Thomas the Tank engine signed "Luke - age 7" (or thereabouts) on the way. I'm 21 now haha, massive blow to me personally as I've known the staff a very very long time and even worked there temporarily for a few weeks. It has never once disappointed with the huge range of stock and always helpful advice... End of an era...

They were all designed and constructed c.1905 by a certain Mr. Topham Hatt in his youth, working at the A.W.Dry Company in Tidmouth, for the Knapford & Elsbridge Light Railway. So safe to say they can be as freelance as anyone would like them to be - though they are all specified to be vertical boiler, other than that it's free game.

Gordon's run to London and the LMR locos visit are at least a week apart - as the LMR loco leaves next day, Gordon and Duck argue for a while and finally Gordon tries multiple times to go further than Barrow. So LMR up and back down on "The Sudrian" and then Gordon a week or so later takes Wild NW to Barrow, loco not ready so takes it all way to London St. Pancras.

The NWR has two named express trains - "The Wild Nor' Wester" which runs through to St.Pancras and "The Sudrian" which runs through to Euston or Plymouth on alternate days - the LMR engine would have come up on "The Sudrian" I'd imagine, whereas Gordon's run to London would be on "The Wild Nor' Wester"

All very fair observations - but just found this image; Taken from "Rev W. Awdry's FAMOUS ENGINES Colouring & Activity Book", written by Wilbert himself - with a far more accurate Patriot looking loco. If the Reverend has jotted him down as a Patriot here, it's safe to say this was intended in the original book.

Final update on Toby for now, he's fully weathered! Only weathered a handful of locos so rather happy with the finished result, not too heavy but certainly looks used. I also opened a few of the windows, using the etches provided with the model - which are such a brilliant inclusion and an attest to the value for money you get with this model. Going off of the Reverend Awdry's notes outside of the books and the timeline within the books, Toby was withdrawn from BR service in 1951 - the only J70 to be withdrawn that year was No.68221, one of three built in 1914 at Stratford, so logically - this is the "real" Toby, backed up by Awdry as well. 68221 was a very camera shy tram so when trying to figure out which mounting bracket to use I took a look at 68222 and 68223, the other two from the 1914 batch, to see what bracket type they had. 68222 had 3 bolts, 68223 had 2 bolts. With no evidence I've guessed and gone with the 3 bolted bracket as it seems to be the most common across all the J70s (from what I've seen at least) - need to touch the paint up a tad on this as the brass is shining through. Sorry for that wall of text, but did a fair bit of looking up to try and get this just right! As I said, I'm very happy with the final result and would love any feedback. Thank you for reading, Luke. PS. For the gentleman who asked "how can he see without a face" - take a look at the final picture! Still needs painting but it's one of my own CAD designs, 3D printed and blu-taked on (never glue a face!!)

Small update - pretty much done now apart from weathering. Really happy with how it's turned out, thank you all for the nice comments.

Out of curiosity - does anyone know if there are any decent pics of 68221? (GER 127, LNER 7127, NE 8221). Only found one so far, on Ipswich dock as 7127 - seems a rather camera shy tram!

It was going to happen eventually! What I believe to be the first Toby with the Rapido model - still a work in progress and will get a generous weathering - really looking forward to that part! Hope this doesn't ruffle too many feathers, haha.

Still awaiting my dispatch email but I am REALLY excited!! They look amazing, didn't know they came with etched plates either!

Ah right, never pre-ordered from them before. It doesn't expire for a few years yet so probably just not got around to my order yet - I'll check in the morning and if the money still hasn't come out I'll give em a call. Thanks!

MR-202, 203, 206 and 207 are all marked with the green "in stock" tick on Model Rail's website at the moment - Hopefully shouldn't be long now!! I was charged £127.50 when I first ordered and then refunded the amount a day later, despite not cancelling my order - is this normal as I haven't been charged the £127.50 again yet, as tetsudofan has. Just making sure that my order hasn't got messed up somehow. Cheers!

Rather excited now it's getting closer to release - have there been any more updates on when we can expect the first batch at all? Cheers!

Well done to Aberdeen MRC - brilliant layout guys! Shunter Guys and Wakefield put in a great effort too - we looked at doing resin water and sacked it off due to the time for drying, so to have it as the main focus of your theme must have been a big challenge. All the layouts came out brilliantly, though I do think my favourite thing was the Class 37 boat, absolutely amazing piece! I couldn't even tell they were 37s until it was pointed out! On another note, Max has produced another video, this time mainly focusing on our antics off-camera during filming consisting of some funny moments and a look at behind the scenes.