dibber25

I understand we are all but sold out on two of the four versions in the second batch. There may well be a third, smaller, batch in due course. The slow running was one of the features which we requested and it resulted in the first use of Dapol's 'supercreep' motor in a 'OO' gauge model. We posed a Sentinel (with permission) on one of the quay sidings at Miniaturwunderland last Tuesday. Despite the siding being electrically 'dead', it proved impossible to obtain a photo that wasn't slightly blurred, until we realised that the Sentinel was actually running and creeping imperceptibly forwards - presumably on some residual current from Miwula's complex control system! Exposed final gears are by no means unusual, in fact they were the norm until quite recently. If you put a cover over the final gear, you'll probably find that it fouls points and crossings - the clearances in this little model are very tight. CHRIS LEIGH

Hardly 'units', and both (unusual) instances where someone (more than one person) other than the driver was required to see ahead. CHRIS LEIGH

Off-hand I can't think of any SR units that DID have a middle window. It wasn't necessary. Most had a route-indicator but on a branch set, that wasn't really necessary, either. Of course, the 'Pompey' units (contemporary with the 'Maunsell' coaches used in the push-pulls) only had the one left-hand window. CHRIS LEIGH

Model Rail ran an article contributed by a reader. We have not carried out any modifications ourselves, nor do we have information about modifications carried out by Hornby. We don't have anything which we could have passed on. CHRIS LEIGH

Yes, the Southern Region green ones were malachite. They were departmental repaints - a sort of last stand by the Southern - they would NEVER have used 'brunswick green' that smacks of GWR!! CHRIS LEIGH

How long do you have to wait for a Longmoor version? Possibly the second batch - with the emphasis on possibly at this stage. It depends how quickly people buy the first batch but we do have one person in the office who favours a Longmoor example. CHRIS LEIGH

I know. I was speaking of a ready-to-run model. The US market isn't big on kits, particularly white metal ones. CHRIS LEIGH

Looks like the fixed wheelbase of the 15XX is quite a bit longer. Doesn't mean that we wouldn't consider a 15XX - just means we wouldn't be able to use the USA chassis unmodified. We've already got a staff wish-list that's developing a lot faster than we could actually produce the models! CHRIS LEIGH

There was a guy in Alaska trying to drum up support for an HO scale S160. I don't think it got anywhere, so if it won't work in HO where it could be used on American layouts, it definitely won't in OO. CHRIS LEIGH

We've already done that, at least with a visual inspection of photos - doesn't come even close. CHRIS LEIGH

The model press can only speak as they find. We had no problems with the running of our sample VEP. To launch into print based on anything other than one's own experience can potentially be a very expensive business. Apart from the prospect of replacement interior partitions, we have not been advised of any other changes. CHRIS LEIGH

Bachmann say it will be 75% new tooling.

Take a Girl Like You (Hayley Mills/Oliver Reed). Opens with scenes on the WR (blue class 47). Then a blue Hymek arriving at Slough up fast platform. Hayley Mills alighting from blue & grey coaches in the Windsor branch bay. Station renamed Henge. Street scenes are some nice views of Staines (most of which since demolished). Later in the movie Oliver Reed stops his Moggie Minor at Pooley Green level crossing, Egham, as a 2BIL/HAL Reading train goes by. The Rebel (Tony Hancock). His sculpture "Aphrodite at the Waterhole" is decapitated by a footbridge whilst travelling on a flat wagon on the rear of the 'Golden Arrow'.

There was a kit by an outfit (I think) called Red Barn. It wasn't particularly accurate as the maker had made the same mistake as you seem to have done, if by 'parallel' you mean 'flat'. The sides are not flat and the character of the model really depends on getting them right. They are flat to the waistband but slope inwards above the waist. Similarly, the ends slope slightly backwards above the waist band. The result is that the curved glasses in the corner windows are very slightly conical. I did get myself some 7mm:1ft etchings produced some years ago but I've no idea whether I could get any more at a reasonable price. I only had side/end unit, half floor and a few detail bits etched. The chassis and roof would need to be scratch-built if I was able to get more etches done. CHRIS LEIGH (one-time owner of W79976) (Once the OO version comes out - I intend to suggest to Heljan that they do it in 'O'.)

.....and we're reviewing our sample for the next issue of Model Rail today, too. CHRIS LEIGH

I've just read - in an article about John G. Click for a forthcoming Steam World - that JGC had the numberplate off 36001 over his fireplace. CHRIS LEIGH

It was a privilege to be trusted with the layout and I just hope no one saw my behind-the-scenes efforts with the three link couplings! The last time I touched three-links in public must have been about 15 years ago - and then I vowed to give them up for good! It was great to be able to 'play' with our little Sentinel, too, on something other than a test track. I, too, was told that I look much younger than I am, so it must be something with the lighting in the DPS shed!

Hold on a minute! Cut the talk about worn tools and botched jobs, please. I can assure you that neither is the case and such suggestions are ill-considered especially in public and without contacting either MR or Dapol to get the facts first. Another 2,000 models are in production at present. Personally, I have no idea why some brake gear is glued but logic suggests that Dapol found it was sometimes coming adrift in transit and this is the easiest way to stop it doing so. The model is intended primarily for ready-to-run users and the requirements of those who wish to change the gauge are not really a factor in the design. CHRIS LEIGH

I was going to take a photo but there really isn't much point. If you imagine a black metal rectangle which fills the 'bonnet' end of the loco and runs right through the cab at the same level, with a small pcb mounted in the cab, that's what it looks like. CHRIS LEIGH

The positioning of the motor bogie has been done with the refurbished units in mind. It makes much more sense when you see the NSE version because there is no guard's section over either bogie in the rebuilt vehicles. Had it been in this end of the refurbished coach it would have been even more visible, I suspect. CHRIS LEIGH

Very sorry to hear that. Please return it to Kernow for replacement. CHRIS LEIGH

As far as I know, there's no GWR horsebox in Steam museum (Swindon). The vehicle you're linking to appears to be on a preserved railway. Preserved vehicles, even those in museums, are not necessarily reliable indicators of original livery, unless they have never been repainted. CHRIS LEIGH

I'm told that the only difference is that one is single-geared and the other is double-geared, that difference not being externally obvious. The only external difference is the presence of a second injector on the underframe of the Y3 - which will need to be removed. Versions of the model are being offered with no grilles, two grilles or four grilles according to what the particular prototype had. The GWR version has no grilles (Swindon didn't care if its crews got fried!) CHRIS LEIGH

I'm looking for someone with good knowledge of the 4VEP interior. Was the compartment 'wall' of the side corridor in the first class section solid? In other words, did it have windows onto the corridor side? I'm guessing it must have, otherwise you wouldn't have been able to see out that side to see which station you were stopping at. Or did you have to travel with the compartment door open so you could see out? Or stand in the corridor? I've looked at all the photos I can find but its pretty near impossible to tell from the outside. CHRIS LEIGH

I think it is impractical to test run 2,000 models (1,700 advance orders, I believe)when the primary aim is to get them out to the customers who are eagerly awaiting them. Had there been a high incidence of defective ones, then yes, it would have been worth test running before sending them out but so far the failure rate is a tiny percentage. Once you start test running every one, you get damaged boxes and even damaged models from all the handling, plus there's a considerable added cost in staff time. It's a case of holding up everyone's delivery while the models are tested, or inconveniencing one or two unfortunate customers who have to send theirs back. Getting an individual model test run in a shop is very different from a mass test-running operation in a warehouse - I don't know anyone who does that and I would think it's near impossible for most firms. CHRIS LEIGH