Trevellan

My apologies - I've only just seen this. You'll see that I also took off the worksplates from the Baldwins, using the fiction that they were extensive rebuilds of several ex-WD locomotives. That took a bit of care, using a cocktail stick instead of a cotton bud. I've also done other locos where there is fine lining close by, using the same technique with reasonable success. Again, any minor damage can be largely negated by weathering.

Yes indeed. I should have made that clear in my explanation. The image here is a couple of steps further on, i.e. gloss varnish and new transfers, but before matt varnish and weathering.

Birmingham Snow Hill, Cricklewood.

I've done two of them, both using T-Cut on a cotton bud and obviously taking due care. Having ensured that the T-Cut was fully removed, the areas for new transfers were coated with gloss varnish and the job was finished with a coat of matt varnish after application of said transfers. A bit of weathering and the job's a good 'un.

GUVs in WR passenger services seemed to be fairly common in the early 1970s. I've dug out a couple of slides from my collection, both taken in 1974. The first shows Western Envoy departing from St Austell in June of that year, with what look like two NPCCS examples of LMS origin. The second shot below was taken later in 1974, but I can't recall the location, other than being somewhere east of Totnes. The light was failing by that point, so it's not a great picture.

An interesting concept. My first thought upon seeing the name of 55 003 was that it would have been in a bright yellow livery with black trim and roof. Right, now where's my medication?

My 1504 arrived from Kernow today and is certainly a thing of beauty. Well worth the wait and it ran well straight out of the box. It even has a prototypical waddle. Nothing detached as far as I can see, although there was a minor QC problem which is easily resolved (it's coming off anyway). More "flop" than "lock", but that's just a facet of my age... 😉

I'm not at all surprised by this decision. In early June I had a few days based in York, primarily to photograph and sample the Nova 3s. As experienced by others, TPE service cancellations were rife, including my first attempt at travelling to Scarborough. The next service was a class 185 and I managed to have a pleasant chat with the driver, both at York and later at Scarborough. He told me that there were training issues with the Nova 3s and not all TPE drivers were familiar with them. I tend to ignore the more ill-informed comments about buying the CAF stock and hope that the structural issues with the Mk 5s can be overcome. I only managed to travel on one set, but it was a pleasant experience and there must surely be several uses they can be put to with other TOCs.

And very novel it was too...

I have no idea, but the failed update was widely reported, so not just me. I've used Windows from 3.1 forwards and I don't think any version has beaten 98SE for reliability IMHO. If W10 is working well for you, be grateful. I certainly have no intention of "upgrading" to W11.

I have an all-in-one Windows desktop PC which I use for most daily purposes. It runs Windows 10, which in my experience is by far the worst iteration to date. I've lost hours of productivity through failed updates and other frustrations. It's bloated and greedy for system resources. In fact, it's rather like having a colleague who is constantly attention-seeking. In addition I produce a quarterly magazine on a 20-year-old Mac G5, which easily out-performs the much newer Windows PC. However, that is likely to be replaced by a refurbished iMac at some point this year. My laptop is also a Mac. Some people try to view Mac vs Windows in the same vein as Betamax vs VHS, but it's not that simple. I can do almost everything on my MacBook that I can on the Windows PC, with some notable exceptions. Ultimately, it's down to your particular needs and what system suits them best. Good luck!

Another happy bunny here. DHL delivered mine as promised, although the carton had quite a ding in it. The AS box was also quite loose in the carton and rattling around, reflecting the experience I had with the Deltic delivery. Happily, the damage was confined to the outer carton and I shall now look forward to the actual unboxing.

I have acquaintances who refer to class 153s as "dogboxes". Back in the 1960s our local DMUs (class 125s) were often simply referred to as railcars. With four 238hp engines per three-car unit they could match EMU acceleration.

Agreed Andy. Sadly, I've noticed this attitude in a few threads recently (Accurascale Mark 5s being one), with petty bickering and a rudeness which I'd usually associate with Twitter rather than RMweb.

Ah, dear old Hertford East. The hours I spent there...