BMacdermott

Hello everyone Many thanks to the Railex team for another great show. Good to catch up with Phil Parker and Chris Foren. (My apologies to both for my usual limited amount of time at these events.) Phone picture attached from Kensal Green - one of my all-time favourite layouts! Brian

Hello everyone Not a brilliant photo, but just to show you the view you get from the T5 Hllton area. Brian

Thanks Rob It was just that I have travelled, worked and 'spotted' around Heathrow since the late 60s and have never heard anything like this - hence my surprise. Brian

Hello PMP I have just taken a rough measurement from the hotel to the 09L touchdown zone, and it's near enough 2km. Brian

Thanks everyone That is most helpful! Brian

Hello everyone A funny thing happened near Heathrow yesterday... I was taking my (PPL) son back to Heathrow for a flight out and we stopped the car for a mo just outside the T5 Hilton Hotel. This is right under the approach for 09L which was in use at the time, so we got out to do some 'spotting' for a while. There was a bit of a gap between the last arrival and the one we could see approaching - maybe three minutes separation possibly. Suddenly, we heard what can only be described as some form of RAF-type jet fighter pass right over us at low altitude and high speed - yet we could see nothing and there was no mention of anything unusual on ATC. We both looked at each other dumbfounded! Can anyone suggest an explanation? Brian

Hello again Another screen grab, but I failed to make a note of this one! It was around 1500 and wind had changed direction...hence landing 09L. Taken from the balcony of the Thistle Hotel. Brian

Hello everyone Screen grab from mobile phone video footage of Emirates 6 Victor Hotel arriving 27L Heathrow on Sunday. Brian

Hello everyone Indeed a sad loss - one of the 'all-time greats' of steam era and Southern Region photography. He helped me and The 00 Poll Team with photos from time-to-time and I have many of his books. Brian

Hello Keith Above is your response to Truffy's request for the LNER Hush Hush. Not only is it on your wishlist, but It has been High Polling in the annual Wishlist Poll since 2013. It entered The Top 50 for the first time in 2018 at approximately equal position 19 overall. It was the most-wanted LNER steam loco. Brian (on behalf of The 00 Wishlist Poll Team)

Hello everyone Rails have just announced an ex-SECR Box Van, Diag.1424. As there were so many Pre-grouping types to list, we showed SECR Wagons, Vans & Brake Vans as one generic heading - this polled in The Top 50. We wish Rails every success with what appears to be the first of many planned models. Brian (on behalf of The 00 Poll Team)

Hello Geoff Have just bought my ticket. Brian

Hello everyone I'm happy to have signed up to this new project and wish it well for the future. Brian

Hello everyone Congratulations to Accurascale on the announcement of the PFA. Although the vehicle was Low Polling, it missed being up in the Middle Polling segment by just three votes. (Whilst writing, we haven't reported on the recent Cavalex announcements of Class 91 and Mk4 Stock. We believe the go-ahead is subject to advance orders.) Brian (on behalf of The 00 Poll Team)

Hello everyone Very many thanks to Chris Trerise for his hard and diligent work in getting these locos to market - in my case, D601. What a lovely loco! I well remember being a short-trousered train-spotter standing at the end of one of Paddington's platforms when one of the class - brand new at the time - came into the station. The assembly of spotters all booed! Little did I think that some 60 years later I would buy a model of the type! Brian (seriously contemplating getting another one)

Hello everyone It was a great pleasure to meet up with Roger and his team along with S&D Driver Peter Smith at the Wimborne Show on Saturday. It is the first time I have seen the layout 'in the flesh' and consider it to be top ranking. I look forward to seeing it again one day. As discussed with Roger, I will have some more STNs shortly. I know Peter will be assisting with getting some of the 'prototypical operation' details sorted over time. In the meantime, my attached photo shows Peter (on your left) with Roger discussing one such move. Kind regards to all the team! Brian

Hello everyone I now have both volumes and they will be well used. If he is reading this, many thanks to Hugh for his hard work - a massive task and one which I appreciate! Brian

Hello everyone It is great to see good news about a shop opening - and particularly that it is Kernow, with Chris Trerise and his team building on his hard work and enterprise. I wish Kernow every success with the venture! Brian

Hello Tony I have the relevant Ordnance Survey maps. The distance between the two tunnels is 1170ft (give or take). Brian

Thanks Gordon and Jonathan Gordon's photo is pretty much what I had in mind and is worth considering. All the best Brian

Hello Jonathan Just re-looking at the photo of 2 February taken from the turntable looking along the 10 hidden sidings... Is it essential for you to have point motors at the turntable end? If not, you would be able to give the tracks a straighter run at the table and increase the length of the middle three (unless the two points are part of the plan). Brian

Hello 34 You are right. That should read BR Grain Hopper. Brian

Hello everyone Congratulations to Accurascale (and Revolution Trains) on the announcement of the Mk5 and Mk5a Stock today. Both were entered 'new' in The 00 Wishlist Poll 2018 and both were High Polling, coming in around the Top 100 mark. Items so far announced since publication of the 2018 Poll Results are: 2 - Top 50 6 - High Polling 4 - Middle Polling 0 - Low Polling Brian (on behalf of The 00 Poll Team)

Hello Fran (and Ben) Congratulations on yet another exciting announcement! The Mk5 and Mk5a Stock were entered 'new' in The 00 Wishlist Poll for 2018 and both were very High Polling, coming in around the Top 100 mark. All the best. Brian (on behalf of The 00 Poll Team)

Hello Dana Thanks for this but - as we stopped running 'Lineside & Infrastructure' after 2015 - we decided not to report on that topic as the table was 'busy enough' already. The reason we stopped running the category was that we couldn't include the vast range of items that the subject really demanded. The same applies to the Rail-Mounted Gun - is it a railway vehicle per se, or a gun that happens to be on railway wheels? We believe we could list 30,000+ items, so we have to draw a line somewhere. We haven't - and don't - list 009, although we did look into running that category in 2019 and had even got to a very workable draft stage. As noted elsewhere, we decided to concentrate on 'core content'. Brian (on behalf of The 00 Poll Team)