Trevellan

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...

I'm not sure what we're disagreeing on. 🙂 Yes, definitely 1970s and yes, an optical illusion. I lived on the West Anglia route from childhood until 2013 and effectively grew up with the 302s, 305s, 307s and 308s. The all-blue era was awful as the units looked so drab. Blue/grey made them look so much better.

Hi Tony. A number of class 305 (AM5) units were reformed in the 1990s, including 305 414 gaining a class 302 driving trailer. However, I don't recall seeing any of the 3-car units reformed to 4-car. I'm sure there'll be an online resource somewhere if you dig deep enough!

I sat through this last night and I found Sam's comments interesting. He does appear to have humility, which doesn't always come through in his reviews. Overall, I thought the video was honest and well balanced. And, as he rightly points out, if you don't like his channel, don't watch!

June 2013 for me at St Albans Crown Court. Nothing happened on days 1-3, but I did catch up on a lot of reading! Day 4 I was called and selected, only to find that a fellow juror couldn't attend the following week. The judge accepted this and the process was re-started. I was selected again and sworn in with the other 11. We only had time to hear the case for the prosecution before being dismissed until the following Monday. The case was a pub brawl in Watford, with two defendants on trial. I found the experience fascinating, yet also immensely frustrating, for similar reasons to that which Andy states above. The evidence pointed strongly to the girlfriend of one defendant provoking the brawl, yet she had refused to provide a statement to police. She was not called as a witness either and I think that was a wise decision. She was in court on one occasion and her body language spoke eloquently of someone used to getting her own way. I have little doubt the prosecuting counsel would have made mincemeat of her. The two defence counsellors had a very weak case and simply tried to discredit the prosecution witnesses, on one occasion eliciting a rebuke from the judge. Ultimately, one defendant was found guilty and got 100 hours community service, the other was found not guilty. I was unhappy with the latter, but the judge's direction made it difficult to come to any other conclusion. All evidence pointed to him being complicit, I'll say no more than that. In summary, I spent two weeks commuting to and from court. It was an interesting insight into the Criminal Justice System but I was also concerned that seven days of court time was taken up with a pub brawl. While everyone wants to see a fair trial and justice done, the laboured and tedious methods of one defence counsellor cost us a good two days of court time and was completely ineffectual. The law governs our daily lives, so If you have the opportunity to undertake jury service I'd recommend you make the most of it and treat it as a valuable learning experience.

As a local I should perhaps point out that the loss of a second train has most recently been down to staff shortages. Rather ironically, I know of at least two former Southern Vectis bus drivers who now work for Island Line. One is a signalman and the other a driver. If reliability can be restored with a two-train service it is likely that ridership will improve, even out of season. Uncertainty about service levels doesn't exactly engender confidence.

I was able to participate in a study trip to the Marston Vale line last week and sampled the 230s for the first time. Having become used to the class 484s on my local railway I was interested in how the diesel version would perform. As others have noted, the noise from the underfloor engine packs is much lower than expected, with an EMU soundtrack being more the norm. Personally, I think the interior layout is quirky, while recognising that this will often be a compromise. As a six-footer I found the directional seat spacing to be rather tight, but there were other, less cramped options. Overall, I think the 230s are perfect for such a self-contained service with short journey times. Our visit finished with tea and cake at the Ridgmont Visitor Centre, and very enjoyable it was too!

I have followed this topic with varying degrees of interest, amusement and sheer head-shaking disbelief. My model of St Paddy arrived safely, with everything attached. I managed to lose one guard iron (subsequently retrieved) when trying to place it on my test track for the first time. Otherwise, all good and silky smooth out of the box. The model is clearly a major game-changer, especially at the current price point, so thanks to all at Accurascale for making it happen. Some of the "wishlist" comments made me think of the Deltic images in my photographic collection. I'm surprised no-one (so far) has come out of left field and asked for Royal Scots Grey in its 1981 condition, complete with a ding in the bonnet and a coating of scale insect detritus. Over to you, Fran & Co 😉 My picture was taken at King's Cross on Tuesday 26th May 1981. RSG had just been released by Gordon Highlander, by then relegated to ECS duties.

I am a volunteer and trustee at a heritage attraction, in this case a bus museum. As with many other heritage attractions we are struggling for volunteers, with an increasing average age profile. The challenges of recruiting and retaining new volunteers is currently high on our agenda. This morning I saw an e-mail from a colleague, advising that there might be insufficient cover for us to open one day next weekend, bringing the issue to the fore once again. Unsurprisingly, the Covid-19 lockdowns played their part in the current situation, reminding people that they can find many other things to do with their spare time. However, I would support the view that voluntary work has many benefits, not the least of which are the positive mental health aspects.

Thanks Andy. I shall wear it with pride!

Sorry to be a pain, but I've ticked the box for RMweb Gold, but am still seeing the ads. Mind you, I don't have a Gold medallion, so perhaps I'm in a sort of Gold limbo 😉. My monthly subs are up to date, honest.

What a fabulous find. I carry out a lot of picture editing, including trying to improve older scanned images for reproduction. I usually begin by opening the file in Adobe Camera RAW, either in Photoshop CS on a Mac or Elements on a Windows PC. This allows me to assess shadow detail, assuming there is some, and make adjustments to shadows, highlights and clarity. It's the same principle for both colour and mono originals. Once I'm satisfied I'll import into the main application and try to optimise the result. While the simplest of image editors may offer improvements, IMHO there is nothing to beat applications that offer RAW support. This offers so much more flexibility and processing power.