james-htfc

I really like the look of the white Balfour Beatty cranes, but from what I can gather they are mostly used in the South of England. I was searching high and low for an example of one in use in the North and eventually realised that the image Hattons are using is actually at Healey Mills (Wakefield) which is where my layout will be based – happy days! I don't think I've found any other examples so must have been a rare trip to these parts, but that justifies it for me! Will pre-order closer to the time

No worries – I've already purchased a couple of units just in case it wasn't planned, so will send one off for repainting Off-topic I know, but how are the 142s coming along?

Is Northern Spirit in the pipeline? If not I'll send one of my Scotrail sets off for a repaint

Yeah, I'm a bit confused by 'oh such and such doesn't look like that now' – rendering it redundant(?). It existed at some point in that colour scheme so is suitable for someone's layout.

Application of the red doors started in 2003 and continued through 2004 in line with the 'Mallard' refurbishment programme. I think it may have even gone into 2005 as Rail magazine ran an article on the newly refurbished Mk4s in March of that year.

Had a reply from Precision, who pointed me to this – http://www.precisionlabels.com/class43.html Unfortunately these are for the older style power car. They suggested I try these on the newer model and touch up the edges with black paint. Not sure if I'll go down this route. I'll probably experiment with some homemade options and see what can be achieved!

Hi Steve, Thanks for the response – I try and check Junk Mail every day but it must've got lost somewhere! I fully appreciate it's a bit of a tricky one in terms of the positioning on the curved lens, so probably a less appealing project to take on due to the challenges of getting it to look right. It's just a shame Hornby didn't accommodate this on the original models. I've got some transfer paper at home so might have to try and cobble something together in future. The only other option is masking and painting, but I doubt I'd be able to achieve accurately shaped openings for the lights.

I emailed Railtec Transfers about this very topic a while back, but never had a reply. I'm after something similar for my Midland Mainline power cars as the light covers are the earlier style, whereas I'm modelling the mid-2000s so would prefer them to be the revised style. I've just emailed Precision Labels to see if this is something they could produce. I'll let you know if I receive a response.

Rather than two of the recent Northern versions, it would be good to get something from the mid-2000s... Northern Spirit, Merseyrail or First North Western would get my vote. Appreciate you can't please us all!

I was in The Model Railway Shop in Featherstone (near Pontefract) yesterday and Martin had this in his collection of DVDs – he usually only wants a couple of quid for his DVDs and books, but unfortunately it's pot luck as to what he has in stock (he specialises in second hand stuff) and he doesn't do mail order – it might be worth giving him a ring or email to see if he'll put it to one side if you're ever passing.

I'd take any of these: Northern Spirit First NorthWestern Mersey Rail Arriva Trains Northern Basically anything that could I could rebrand with 'Northern'/'Arriva' logos as I model the mid-2000s... Thanks for your consideration!

Just seen that you can now pick this model up for £74.95! Half tempted myself but it's a little later than my modelled time period. http://www.kernowmodelrailcentre.com/p/59810/32-976Z-Bachmann-Class-66-Diesel-Locomotive-SOILED-BOX Thought it'd be worth posting in here as this is £100 off the RRP!

How about a collaboration with the NRM for a promo-liveried Northern Unit. Either that or the Settle-Carlisle version? Anything Northern will do though P.S. The Scotrail Barbie 156 is incredible. I can't stop staring at it! Then you fire it up and the sounds are mind-blowing. The toilet discharge is my favourite. It just sounds so sloppy!!

I have bought and sold on eBay almost 1,000 times and I'm not sure I'm that daft! I've even sold models so I could buy one of your Class 156s. I'll always support retailers in their endeavours to bring new and exciting models to the market, however I think you need to be careful if you start penalising people for selling models on. If they buy 5 and put them on at £400 each then fair enough - it's obvious they are trying to make money. However some people have to sell their models, be it financial pressures, or their desire to obtain something different for their collection instead. It was put on at a starting price of 99p. If it sells for an amount that's higher than the current retail price then that's not that persons fault.

Agree with this – It wasn't put on at £500+, which would be blatant profiteering. Surely once you've bought something you are within your right to sell it on. People buy and sell models as their collections evolve – that's just how it is. I'd be pretty upset if a manufacturer stopped me placing orders just because I'd sold one of their items on.

Got a nice surprise yesterday saying that my First Barbie 156 is ready to despatch! Paid the balance today so hopefully it'll be here soon! Apparently they've flown a batch over ("at great expense") to fulfil some of the orders. Glad it's finally here and can't wait to check out the features! The pictures and videos of the Abelio Scotrail version look incredible!

Any info/photos of these? Thanks in advance!

This post has led to me parting with another £50 deposit! Oopsy. Better stick some more stuff on eBay... Looking great by the way!

Exactly – I noticed these as soon as I'd posted this. It's easy to forget what has gone before! Anything Northern 2000–2010ish gets a massive YES from me

I'd quite like a Northern Spirit (light blue/ green with large 'N') and a Northern Rail one (opportunity for promotional liveries such as NRM, S&C etc - possible collaborations here?). There were also the earlier versions of the Northern Rail livery (including one with white as the main colour) with squared off 'swooshes' – any of these would be great!

Same here... will be the easiest to rebrand into a Northern Rail transition version Looking forward to which liveries come next!

Hi Dave, Excellent news RE the EWS 'beasties vinyl' version! I've already paid the deposit on the SNCF version (DJM OO Gauge Class 92 DJMOOC92-002S DCC fitted 92023 SNCF cab logo (triple Grey unbranded) 'Ravel') – am I able to change the model to the EWS version (DJMOOC92-007)? Let me know if I need to confirm this via email or through your website? Cheers, James

From the horses mouth (albeit well over a year ago)... A 156 in colaboration with Rapido. I hope so anyway. A 142 will do nicely too as my Hornby ones don't sit too well with my two Realtrack 144s!

Became a member and bought the loco + coaches pack this morning. Megan (at Bachmann) was very helpful in helping set up as I had payment issues – this was due to higher traffic than usual on the website. Looking forward to receiving these! It's typical that I had both WCRC 37s by ViTrains and decided to keep 37706 and sell 37712!

The First Class MML coaches are currently only £15.99 on the Hornby website with free postage if you buy 2... http://www.Hornby.com/shop/last-chance-to-buy/midland-mainline-mk3-first-class-coach.html Not entirely sure why this is the only one reduced