Brian Kirby

Just appearing in shops now, this is a refreshing new look at the erstwhile WR hydraulic fleet, by RMwebber Robert Carroll, covering all types including Classes 14,22 and 41, which are overlooked in some publications. Not only are these mostly newly-sourced photographs, but every image is reproduced in glorious colour, containing none of those dreary old black and white shots, and no old favourites popping up from other books. As this "bookazine" is part of a general railway series, there is an introduction by fellow RMwebber Tony Wright, he then hands over to Robert Carroll, who supplies some very interesting background information, by way of the extended captions for each image. These are clearly written by someone who knows his subject, as well as much more on the make-up of the trains behind the locomotives. There are some rare images included in this volume, like D810 COCKADE climbing Dainton Bank in green with full yellow fronts (one of only two in this short-lived livery variant), D801 VANGUARD in maroon, and rarest of all, D802 FORMIDABLE in blue with full yellow ends, which it only carried for a year until early withdrawal in October 1968. Other mouth-watering images are Hymek D7001 (without roof horns) on a mixed freight climbing through Chalford, D7030 at Tiverton Junction, and D847 STRONGBOW on a substitute Bristol Pullman in 1964. This volume has been very well put together, I guarantee you will read it at least three times, from cover-to-cover, and it will be cherished on your bookshelves, as a very worthy record. At £10.99 (Irwell Press) this is very good value, I highly recommend it, I urge you to add this to your collection. (My score = 10/10 full marks) Cheers, Brian.

Hi Tony and Everyone, We will all remember Tony and Wolverhampton MRC's splendid model of Charwelton, on the Great Central London Extension, sadly the real thing is crumbling away in places. The black iron bridge at the north end of the station is the latest casualty, having been closed since June for safety reasons, after being hit underneath by a digger truck. Some reports say the bridge will be repaired and strengthened, other reports suggest demolition. A new road has been built under the bridge and north through the cutting. The A361 over the station, was flattened many years ago, the station site is now being developed as an industrial estate. The new road through the cutting, runs to the southern entrance of Catesby Tunnel, which as previously announced, is now to be used for automobile aerodynamics testing, complete with the construction of a workshop complex. These developments, plus the new canal marina built across the line at Barby and Onley, could be the final nail in the GC coffin. The route is clearly not safeguarded, elsewhere many other sections have disappeared, particularly through, and north of, Nottingham. Regards, Brian.

Here's looking down on the Bachmann Mk2F FO interior, it needs to be turned 180 degrees, the now removed glazing partition is sitting on the edge of my laptop, you can see the slots on the seats, where it plugs in. Here's the same interior tipped over, so you can see the underframe arrangement, and the body just removed, this is how it comes, the underframe and body orientation matches, but the interior does not. For crying out loud, even the Lima Mk2F interior (below) was the right way around thirty-five years ago, and these were sold in the shops as cheap and cheerful, for less than a tenner? BK

Nah, i've put the telescope away, i've got to fix this interior orientation, it's bugging me man! So far i've got the rather delicate glass partition out from the seats, it's glued and plugged to a depth of about 2mm, gentle wiggling and flexing will release it one end at a time. But now i'm stuck, due to my recent house move, I can't find my fine crosshead screwdrivers, the search starts now. BK

Well spotted Mark, with the Bachmann 2F body off, the interior does appear reversible (body to chassis orientation is already correct), the end screws holding the interior to the chassis, will probably fit the other way, but alas not the centre screw. As you suggested, the interior transverse glass partition will then end up in the wrong position, in relation to the correctly applied "No Smoking" window stickers. Oh dear. I might copy Lord Nelson here, and put the telescope to the blind eye, if the windows were as dark as they should be, the annoying oversight would not be apparent. On the considerably cheaper Hornby Mk2E, body, chassis, interior and partition are all in their correct positions. BK

SNAP! Seems two of us found it at the same time! Here's page 6 of the old Hornby Mk2E thread, the surgery starts here, plus more on following pages, including rebuilding the lighting with two Hornby light bars. BK http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/81887-Hornby-mk2e-coaches/page-6&do=findComment&comment=1665653

And here's the Bachmann Mk2F (on the left) coupled to the other manufacturer's offerings, which reinforces my belief that the different makes shouldn't be mixed together, but kept within their own separate rakes. The Lima 2F has replacement Shawplan windows, which are very good, however my use of sticky tape for the back of the loo windows hasn't worked, i'll re-do them with off-white paint. My yellow stripe looks a bit washed out as well, this used to be in Scotrail livery, which was too modern for me. BK Bachmann v Airfix Bachmann v Hornby Bachmann v Lima

The Hornby "chassis solebar" problem is quite straightforward to fix, as detailed later on in the Hornby 2E thread on RMweb. You will need a coach, a cutting saw, and a bottle of whisky. You start by sipping the whisky, until you have gained enough Dutch courage to start cutting, drink too much whisky and you won't be able to cut in a straight line. Seriously though, it's not too difficult, i've done quite a few now, still using the whisky. Here are some views with the modified chassis and roof Hornby 2E (nearest) and Bachmann 2F side-by-side. I still reckon the Hornby glazing is better, it's flusher with the bodyshell, a tighter fit, and darker tinted. Bachmann's Rail Blue shade is good, certainly for the 1970s, officially it never changed, apart from the very early matt finishes, like on XP64, but to me it seemed to be a deeper shade in later years, perhaps it was beefed up to last longer, or maybe as a result of hand-painting? Hornby's rail blue is perhaps a bit too dark, i'm quite tempted to repaint some 2Es in a brighter shade? BK

Correct. Yes, the Bachmann is straight out of the box, the others "have been got at", with various alterations. Each product has it's merits, I too still have a soft spot for the earlier versions. I tend to run them in rakes of each brand, mixing the brands is tricky, the human eye starts spotting differences in profile, etc. So if I want a mixed d/e/f rake, i've converted Airfix Ds into Es, Lima Fs into Es, etc., thus maintaining a uniform profile. More pics later. BK

Comparing four different 4mm RTR Mk2 air-con First Opens. Which one's which? You'll never guess which one has the most recessed saloon windows? (Click on the pics for enlargements) BK

I couldn't see a thread covering these, apart from Andy Y's announcement, so here goes. Whilst we've been distracted by the new Mk2Fs, these Mk1 carflats have sneaked in under the radar. I bought one each of the 1970s/80s blue solebar versions, the third option is bauxite brown/maroon with cascaded upgrade bogies, covering the later period. Bachmann 38-901 is vacuum-braked only in blue without the Motorail slogan fitted, 38-902 is dual-braked and carries the slogan, although a pair of slogan boards are included in the 38-901 option goodies bag anyway, giving further choice. Both blue versions carry TOPS codes, and they are numbered consecutively(!). Now nobody likes banana-shaped carriages, keeping a long open wagon nice and flat without any twist is always a challenge, but these Bachmann carflats are commendably straight (at least my ones are). Buying these was a rather guilty purchase for me, because for years I intended to make up my own from various scrap Mk1s, but never got around to it, yet these new ones are too good to ignore. Has anyone bought the later brown one yet, it would be nice to hear a report on that? Cheers, Brian.

Thanks chaps, Yes LU Fan, both blue-grey FOs with lights (39-650DC), and without (39-650) are currently available. My three were all without lights, I was tempted to buy the with lights version, but a rake would look a bit odd without an illuminated Mk1 catering car, if modelling the mid-1970s era. The (39-650) no lights version still come with split-axle wheels and bearing pick-ups, so you could always add your own lighting at a later date, although for the sake of an extra £20-odd, Bachmann's DCC version has done all the hard work for you. BK

Earlier this week I had suspicions about the fit of the 2F main windows, the angled photos in the Rail Express review suggested they were slightly recessed? Nevertheless, you don't bite off your nose to spite your face, curiosity killed the cat, and giving the product the benefit of the doubt, it was time to see some in the flesh, so I ordered three Foxtrot Oscars. They arrived at lunchtime today, and overall I have to say they look fabulous, good shape, nice straight bodies, good shade of Rail Blue, although I wouldn't want the pearl grey any darker. The goodies bag of add-on bits is amazing, although the metal detail removal tool, which only works on one of the two types of add-ons, is slightly bizarre, wouldn't it be easier to remove things by just pushing them out from the inside? The bogies look good, with the correct dampers for Mk2F, picked out nicely in blue for ex-works, although in reality these would soon be plastered in brake dust (hurray for blackened RTR wheels). The Roe-vac roof vents are far more accurate than Hornby's interpretation, end detail is good, although IMHO the gangway folding doors could have been a bit more mushroom soup colour, although they are good enough. Finally, we are back to the windows, they are ever so slightly more recessed than they should be, but it's very border-line, most modellers will be satisfied with them, it's only old fusspots like me, who might quibble? It's more noticeable on the loo windows, the saloon windows do have a fish-tank effect around their outsides, but like the fit, it's only obvious when viewed at an angle. Personally I feel the saloon windows should have a deeper tint, but I can accept a modelling compromise so that the interior can be viewed, with the interior lights off. The transverse saloon partition glazing has a couple of unfortunate round mould marks visible, but that really is splitting hairs. I hope these words encourage RMwebbers to buy them, they are worth their weight in gold, i'll certainly now buy the TSOs when they appear. If I get time, i'll do some comparison photos with their Hornby 2E cousins, if I can find a 2E after just moving house. If I can cheekily dare to award points, i'd say 95 out of 100. Cheers, Brian.

Yes, The Hornby Mk2E (sitting on 2F style bogies, because a 2F model was also their original intention)has some unfortunate faults, namely the chassis "solebar", the slightly wrong type bogies, the slightly wrong grey panel livery on the 2nd class, the incorrect roof vents, and the unbalanced lighting, but nothing we didn't find a way of fixing fairly easily (See Hornby 2E thread). The Hornby 2Es could be bought quite cheaply, perfect for DIY projects, plus it would be possible to convert them to 2Ds and 2Fs, although 2D TSOs will be slightly more difficult. BK

These new 2F carriages look terrific, but the photos on the Rail Express review appear to show them with recessed saloon and fixed van windows,is this an optical illusion? One of the main aspects of a real Mk2 air-conditioned coach, are the almost-flush fitting fixed windows, with barely a quarter-of-an-inch frame retaining the glass (door windows ARE recessed). Furthermore, the model's main saloon windows appear crystal-clear in the photos, whereas they should be viewed as dark-tinted from the outside, all other side windows should be clear, apart from the loo. Not having had the benefit of seeing one of these models in the flesh yet, can anyone verify these details please? If my suggested criticisms are correct, why weren't these spotted by the scrutineers of the pre-production samples? Hornby gave us flush and tinted windows with their Mk2Es, at a fraction of the price. Cheers, Brian.