Phatbob

I can't remember who it was at Bachmann I spoke to about a diag. 2406 BCK at the Glasgow show, but they also hadn't seen the memo. Regarding the set numbers, at £75 each they ought to be right. Yes, I know adding set numbers is easy, but that that price, they should be spot on. If one want to renumber these coaches, removing the set numbers in addition to the running numbers isn't really adding much to the task. Thankfully, Bachmann's printing is easilly removed with a cotton bud and T-Cut. 🙂

Very rare, but not unheard of. There were some short "shuttle" services that were just two coaches. e.g. West Croydon - Wimbledon, Victoria to London Bridge via the South London Line, Selsdon - Elmers End, Littlehampton - Arundel, Elmers end - Sanderstead. There were electrified branches that ran only two coaches off-peak (e.g. Tattenham Corner, Heywards Heath - Horstead Keynes) that would double-up to four coaches in the peak. HTH

Perhaps I should have mentioned that I "corrected" my model with a new chimney. I think it came from 247 Developments. It's the tall, thin one that you want. HTH

The other issue with this model for we BR(S) modellers is that the Southern Region allocated Ivatt Mickey Mouse Tanks all had the later type chimney, so Bachmann are being a little disingenuous in selling this model with BR(S) numbers.

Is anybody else deafened by the bull5hit alarm when reading this?

Some advance notice. Appledore has been invited to this year's Wigan show on 1st and 2nd of October, 2022.

THe picture of the pilchard wagon is in the wrong thread mate.

I deleted the bloody thing without even opening it. The subject line was enough warning that it was going to be something crass. Following on from the point well made above by Global, it seems that the likes of Accurascale and Rapido could teach Hornby a lot about e-mail marketing in addition to how to make models.

Pressed Steel Suburban DMUs (TOPS class 117) would be the mainstay of the fleet. Also "bubblecars" (TOPS classes 121 and 122) and the odd BRCW and Met Cam (TOPS class 101). There were also some driving trailers that were used to augment the 117s, 121s and 122s. Hope that helps.

I 've just purchased one of the new tooling Bachmann Vanwides from my local model shop (Grimy Times Model Railways, Warrington) and can't find a thread for these beasts, so I've started one. It's a very detailed model I have to say, with lots of separately applied parts by the look of it. There's even a bag of extra bits to add to the "undergubbins" and airpipes for those variants that need them. It looks to me as if Bachmann have produced new wheels. They're a nice matt black and not unrealistic shinny metal colour. I approve. Reassuringly expensive at thirty five quid, but worth it IMHO. Would recommend.

Agreed. My "upgraded" 5BEL couldn't haul itself through the points in the fiddleyard, let alone climb up the gradient on Star Lane. It now has wheels with traction tyres from a VEP and is only permitted to run in tandem with my "original" 5BEL (i.e. the ones with the PITA conductive couplings). The two together will make their way round the layout okay, but it really is underwhelming that any manufacturer would produce something so unfit for purpose.

My GPVs arrived early this afternoon. They are as good as I was expecting. One innovation from Rapido I would have loved when I worked in a model shop. There is a label on both ends of the box. No faffing about making sure it's on the shelf the right way round. Nice touch.

Ditto. My magnificent purchase is also in the post. The race is on!

After a long hiatus thanks to a well known virus, Bodmin Generally will be once again exhibited at an exhibition. This weekend's forthcoming show in Preston. Do call in if you can, it's always a good show.

The all blue unit at the front of the train is a 4CEP, as one can see the first class yellow stripe is in the middle of the train, rather than at the ends. I'm not aware of any CIG or BIG unit receiving plain blue livery. Gawd only knows what the green unit in the middle is. The freeze frame is so fuzzy it could be anything and I can't make out any yellow stripes. The driving coach at one end appears to have a crest on it though, which would indicate another CEP or a BEP? AFAIK the creasts were only applied to motor coaches.

I had the same e-mither this morning. What **** does "enthusiast of Hornby" actually mean? A customer? A rabid fan? An avid collector? I'm a customer, but not a 'fan' or collector. So e-mither deleted as they didn't use language I understood.

This might be a bit but folk might like to know that the airfix Booking Office is actually H0 and not 00 IIRC.

A few more: Oxenholme - The Station Inn Mobberley - The Railway Inn Ashley (Cheshire) - The Greyhound (known to the locals as "the Dog House") Mouldsworth - The Goshawk Ravenglass - The Ratty Arms

Apologies if there are any duplicates in this list: Frodsham - The Helter Skelter Helsby - Beer Heros Greenfield - The Railway Inn Liverpool Lime Street. Ma Edgerton's one side and The Crown on the Other. Batley - The Cellar bar Wolverhampton - The Great Western Wakefield Kirkgate - Fernandez brewery Wakefield Westgate - Henry Boons Denmark Hill - The Phoenix Whyteleafe - The Radius Arms (micropub) Billericay - The Crown and The Railway Newcastle Upon Tyne - The Centurion Bar.

Blime! Sorry Mike, I'd forgotten all about that. Doh!

I've been looking through my camera and have realised that i've not uploaded any of the images I took at the last York show. So here they are. The Hawkesworth "ex-slip coach" BCK was converted for me by Mike Peace using the RTR Hornby model of an ordinary BCK as a basis.

It's a fair cop guv'nor! Yes, I forgot that one. Another unecessary and unwanted pejorative epithet. Oh dear, using phrases like "pejorative epithet" is going to make me look like a right nerd.

Hello B.A.L. Biggest drawbacks, as other have already said, are the need for (in no particular order): Space Time Money. What puts people off? Lack progress, despite effort and stuff that just goes wrong can be VERY frustrating. You have to be patient, or ready to learn patience. Not everybody copes well with that. The other off-putting thing is social predujice. Not as bad now as when I was your age, but the media in particular are prone to "take the p155" and everybody with any interest of any sort in railways is tared with the epithet "trainspotter". Make no mistake, even in this modern age of "woke" a lot of people (again, especially in the media) use the term trainspotter as a pejorative. Consequently, many modellers remain "in the closet" so to speak. This can still be a barrier to younger folk getting involved in the hobby. The other barrier could be perception that as we're a a bunch of old white guys. Women, younger folk and people from ethnic minoroties might think that they might not be welcome. Nothing could be further from the truth. Every model railway club in the country would love more members, especially younger ones. Model railway clubs are common interest groups, not faith groups or political parties. Nobody in this hobby gives a rat's @rse about another modeller gender identity, faith or ethnnicity etc. As for your design project? I think most railway modellers would agree that even after all these years of development, nobody has yet come up with the perfact coupling! IMHO all the current designs have some drawback. The reliable ones are big and chunky and look aweful. The descrete looking ones are fragile, or unreliable, or both. Most pull appart as the train moves off making realistic close-coupling impossible. The ones that are good for close-coupling are no good for shunting, and so on. Design the perfect coupling and you'll be the next Richard Branson, at least in Railway modelling terms. HTH

The interweb is forever, not just for Christmas, as one might say.

Disturbing lack of set numbers on the brake ends if these are the final decoration samples.