Nimbus

It's a puzzle to me that you boys haven't co-ordinated Brush Type 2 and 57ft Suburban releases. As things stand, we can soon get ER early Crimson coaches, but no early pre-warning panel Brush 2, or we can soon get a later Brush 2 with warning panel, but no later maroon ER Suburbans! The Nim.

There would also be the issue that the centre wheels are, on the prototype, a smaller diameter. Though I suppose clever choice of gear sizes on the model could cope with that.

What diameter are the drop-in wheelsets please? I was disappointed that the Deltic ones were not a scale size. The Nim.

Did unlined Crimson livery last long enough to be paired with the forthcoming Brush Type 2 with trip-cocks in GSYP livery? The Nim.

Unfortunately I was a couple of years too young to ride this branch to Luton unaccompanied, though I did make use of the option to ride WGC-Hatfield as part of my journey home from school on a couple of occasions. The demise of the part south of WGC, along with the partner Hertford branch on the east side of the ECML was due to the collapse of Wrestler's Bridge which carried the Great North Road over the line at Hatfield. This was at half-term in spring 1966, which spoiled my plans for a day's spotting outing to London with a school friend from the opposite side of the blockage. The utility services were reinstated over the line on a temporary bridge mounted on fabricated piers placed in the branches' trackbeds. The full roadway was never reinstated. There were old gravel pits off the Hertford branch too, at Holwell where the A414 crossed on a humpback bridge. I once noticed an open wagon stood in a siding as we passed. My impression was that it was longer than a 16-tonner, so may have been a Sulphate. The Nim.

Bogie footsteps were lying loose on the cab floor. I had a peep, in the DPS depot. The Nim.

Well, that could sort one end of the mismatch. Couldn't pull a few D5615 bodyshells before they get the yellow sprayed I s'pose? The Nim.

Yes, and as the CLs were a later build, the Thompson equivalents survived in otherwise Mark1 formations. The Nim.

For some reason, Accurascale seem not quite to have got their ducks in a row as far as transition-era Eastern modellers are concerned. The first release of the 57ft Suburbans will only allow the assembly of a transition-era ER Inner Suburban set in Carmine livery. However, the first release of the Brush Type 2, trip-cock fitted, such as could work these services, includes Green livery only with SYF, by which time Carmine would be becoming a rarity, with most coaches in Maroon by then. I'd hate to be stymied by inflation while waiting for subsequent production runs to solve tis conundrum! The Nim.

Way upthread I expressed the hope that the 91s would stick around long enough to be re-liveried out of the calculated tweeness of the fizzy drink design. Have to say they could hardly have done it better, it looks so much more mature! Just have to phot it before it gets covered in flies. I'd hoped the 225Group Twitter feed might have daily updates on which diagram it's on. The Nim.

Are we sure it's 'the evil mavens'? Could it be instead that Hornby have lost significant capacity for research in depth? The Nim.

It may have been that same vehicle I photted heading into town along the Stratford Road in Hall Green one summer afternoon in 1973. This was the livery which came to mind immediately I found this thread. My main mission that day was to catch at least a couple of West Midlands' all-over advertising Fleetlines, but I was pleased to catch the National looking so smart, aware of the mandated Soviet-style drabness to come, which I'd already sampled on London Country's LN5. Did BMMO repaint these early ones, or was Workington's paint shop initially more flexible? The Nim.

Pity there wasn't a soundtrack. Was that Eamonn Andrews narrating by any chance? The Nim.

Was that from new, or was it just the first one to receive fatter buffers, before a neater mod to the existing buffer cowls was chosen? The Nim.

Yes, it's well observed. I do believe this may have been the drawing Hornby used... The Nim.

Not sure that's quite right. My suggestion is that the rope drives the large wheel, which is geared to the governor. There's a lifting rod from the governor so that when that overspeeds, the lifting rod operates the geared quadrants which would be coupled to the safety catches, driving them in opposite directions. The Nim.

Even in an internal EE/Vulcan document it was referred to as a Type 4 1/2. The Eastern Region were delighted with its performance, where it could fill in seamlessly for Deltics while they were depleted by works visits. So the Eastern might well have tried to hold on to it, and given the commonality of the braking system with the Deltics, the dual upgrade package was pretty much ready-designed for it, whether in EE/GEC ownership or BR's. After that, surely a chance at preservation. I heard it coming, but was only quick enough to see its roof pass in the cutting, as I was walking back from Potters Bar to Brookmans Park along the lineside footpath, one day in early Summer 1967. I often wonder if that was on the occasion of its last trip. The Nim.

I'd say the north end of Grantham. The Nim.

The precession forces could be entertaining on typical track bends! The Nim.

Well, Hornby can't grumble. They had their chance and blew it with their slabby effort. A little disappointed that none of 34B/34G's are in the first run, but maybe that's Accurascale being considerate about folks' finances in view of the imminent Deltics. The Nim.

How many lapped cars did pass Max while he pitted? It is a question that's been bothering me. He shouldn't have been gifted those positions back. The Nim.

And since there exists a Meccano engineering drawing of a V2 bodyshell, which never made it to production, Hornby could claim "it's always been one of ours". The Nim.

This has been done, to good effect, in exercises. It's long enough ago for the tale to be told on YouTube by a retired participant, so it was probably a Tornado tale. It's a couple of years since I watched it, so no chance of finding the link in my history. But apparently much entertainment was had bamboozling the 'opposition'. ISTR the exercise was over the eastern Mediterranean, the RAF being hosted in Cyprus, against the carrier-based US Navy. The Nim.

The problem is that a design file embodies a lot of research, apart from the labour of interpreting it. Research, if done right, is rather expensive, and quite labour-intensive in its own right! The Nim.

Don't forget Rapido! But Hornby's could easily be bettered, due to their compromised body shape. As a consequence, I have only one example, when my interests suggest I should have at least a couple of dozen. I hope they don't blunder similarly with The Coronation set! The Nim.