E3109

Better with some engines though. Spot the interloper... which in real life might not even fit through the doors!

Time I posted some updates, so here we go.

I'm sure you realise I'm being picky and/or flippant but 'Europe' is a geographical area, and not a country. The Fourth Re..... Er the European Union is not the same thing.

Here she is. 4846. I suspect she might make an appearance on my Reddish gig... http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=1605083

Did you hear about the Chinese Lookalike Competition? Everybody won. Before anyone accuses me of racism, I'd like to point out that my bird is Khmer/Vietnamese and pissed herself at that lol

Not sure if this has been mentioned in this massive thread (suspect it has though) but why don't they dust off the Triang EM2 masters and get on with it... I'd have half a dozen if they reintroduced it with updated expectations with something approaching current standards.

Incidentally, the one and only time I visited Olivia's Trains they had an EM2 in the display case, in full Coca-Cola livery! I know they have form for taking the proverbial, but strewth.... Expect to see it on eBay soon, with a reserve of like £600 or summat.... Bids from spouses notwithstanding.

'Super-detailed' carries about as much clout as the term 'Super' Voyager though. FFS even VT tend to put the 'super' word in quote marks.... Somebody knows

My overall impression of the legal stuff, is that we're fecked whether it's UK statutes or EU directives. Glad I'm off soon. Hurts, but. Anyway hoping to inject some railway knowledge into one of the areas that perhaps are most in need of it. Incidentally, I keep hearing this rumour that 142s are going to be donated to Burma (regauged, obviously). Spent more years than I care to mention on those ridiculous contraptions but what the hell, if there's any truth in that rumour then my retirement's sorted haha. And the first thing I'd tell Myanmar Railways to do, is to remove the wheel slip relay and chuck it in the nearest river! Oh and bypass the waist locks ...

Lovely sir. Where did it all go wrong, we used to export kit around the world. You may wish to google 'EMU100' if you're not aware, basically BREL sorted Taiwan's railway out via these fine mk2 based units. They weren't without their teething troubles (like most things) but these units are highly revered within the Taiwan rail community and at least one set does occasional runs from time to time.

Just to add, the Lima 33 seems to have gained additional 'roof material' for the CIE version, is this 'as offered' or have you added it Noel? Agreed, the Crompton looks a damn sight more 'CIE' than the Hymek, in fact about 20 years ago I was looking at butchering a 33 towards an MV as the basic shape was pretty much bang on.

Ps forgot to add, the general assumption is that 86259/E3137 is midway between the two colours. If I were being particularly anal it shouldn't have red buffer beams either. But boy, does she look lovely.

I recall a massive online debate about this not too long back, in a nutshell it was broadly accepted that because the sixes were painted in the same proportions as the 81s-85s (and accepting the vagaries of colour film at that time) it was generally assumed that the AL6s were delivered in the same shade as the prototypes: and that assumption was in fact incorrect. Given the colour variations with film back then, the only way to know for sure is when a Can was photographed next to a Roarer. Then the difference is abundantly clear, in fact I'm sure Jez posted a Flickr pic of an AL6 next to an AL5 much earlier on in this thread and the difference is blatant. Check this out https://www.flickr.com/photos/the-evanses/8290748821/ Do you see what I mean? Incidentally my employer (FL) were looking at returning a Can to their original livery a while ago, sadly this got kiboshed for reasons unknown, I was semi-involved in getting the details correct and that involved taking paint samples from the ones still running. I didn't take samples from them all bit I got to most of them, in every single case, the base paintwork on the old dears was Rail Blue and definitely not Electric Blue. Hope that helps and apologies to Jez for hijacking his thread further! But AL6s were deffo Rail Blue rather than Electric Blue, although they're not all that different in shade. 'Swindon Blue' is what we used to call it I.e. Faded Monastral. Incidentally, the AL6s must've been the only locos ever, to be delivered in Rail Blue without any yellow panel whatsoever. True this only applied to the early examples from E310x and E316x, and even those received a yellow panel within weeks of delivery.

This is only my opinion but the worst aspect of privatisation was the model they used. BR Plc would've had great potential, we would've retained the command structure and thus the managers who got out.

No worries Jez, to be fair the Electric Blue on 86s myth has been stated so often in books that it's become an 'accepted fact', so much so that VT painted theirs in that shade and the same with Les Ross, lovely as they look/looked. In fact when BR repainted 86426 in an approximation of its original livery for the Intercity 21st celebrations, they were slated for painted it the 'wrong' colour when in fact it was correct in Rail Blue. Of course the AL1-AL5 were delivered in Electric Blue, and the AL6 details were applied in the same proportions such as white roof, white window surrounds etc. So it's easy to see where the confusion and myth arose. Anyway. Keep up the cracking work on this project, it's coming together very well.

Hi Jez I've been following this thread with absolute incredulity, well done and I hope to see it in the flesh at some point. N Scale isn't my thing at all, but you could be forgiven for thinking this was 4mm at first (I did!). Just bear in mind, AL6s were all delivered in Rail Blue, not Electric Blue. And very few had red buffer beams, just the first handful from each of the Vulcan and Donny builds had them. You probably already know about the flexicoils and double door handles being later additions.

It didn't stop MTK from using the Trix EM1 as a master though... At least from what I could see, when I foolishly bought one.

The Thai word for pineapple is 'sapporot'. They still adore that daft song though, as sung by the Japanese comedian whose name escapes me. 'Pen pineapple Apple pen' is the ditty. If you aren't aware of it, you might wish to remain in ignorance! Some things you can't unsee...

Hi Noel, I saw one of those Hymeks at a collectors' fair recently and the fella wanted £90 for it! As you say, Irish modelling has come on leaps and bounds since then, if Murphy's ever commission an A Class I'll have one of them. I did have a B141 a while ago, didn't have anywhere to run it at the time and sold it on, but still highly impressed.

Don't forget the PRR half GG-1!

Given that Beardie was referring to "Bad Old British Rail" within weeks of receiving the WCML concession, it was always an odds-on that he'd claim credit for increased ridership. 1. Pax numbers have risen because of factors mentioned above 2. Does that fella not realise how many railway(wo)men he p1ssed off by slating their former employer? An employer who acknowledged that for most people 'the railway' wasn't just a job but a vocation?

He got a snifter of how nice 'free' (public) money smells, and he's like a swarm of bluebottles around a freshly-laid dog jobbie right now. No wonder his current target is what they refer to as "Our NHS". Glad I'm outa here shortly. Already priced a 20ft container for all me train tat... Where I'm going, corruption is rife and in yer face. But at least the little man gets a slice. In the UK the filtration ends around the councillor/PC/Freemason level.

Your radar appears to be finely tuned sir. Yes. Correct. Nowt to do with Rancid Units displacing mk3s, as unpleasant as they are the AM90s fulfil their purpose and especially so given their low MPC figures. My bitterness commenced the day that skank was given free rein to do what he likes on OUR WCML.

It's worth bearing in mind, that when that guy was privy to bids for the ex-BR part of Eurostar in the 1990s he always promoted it as Virgin Eurostar. I'm probably more capitalist-minded than Branson in my personal politics but if I had my way, that skank would be absolutely forbidden from bidding for any TOC franchises ever again. Get down the library and read the Tom Bower books about him. Bower clearly despises the fella even more than I do but the fact remains, Beardie has a tendency to run to his lawyers at the drop of a hat.... The fact that he hasn't done so with the Bower books speaks volumes ie they're based on fact. Quite frankly, Colonel Sanders or Ronald McDonald have more legitimacy than Beardie. He makes Ray Krok look like a saint. Who's more serpentine though, Branson, or the folk who think he can do no wrong.

I wonder if Rover will still be catered for, when he's feeling fur-sty (geddit? You're such a wag, aren't you Richard). And remember guys, feel free to use the 240v socket but no toasters or hair dyers please! I have good mates who work for VT and even the ones who’ve been lobotomised with Virgin "FUN" know it's all BS and cringe accordingly, in private at least. Can't blame them for not wanting to bite the hand that feeds though. And boy, does Virgin feed. Off the taxpayers' titty.