Titan

The orientation of the cranks was not mentioned or implied. Only their location at the bottom of the arms. For those that have difficulty understanding the terminology: As I said before, and I repeat precisely: They go from a crank at the bottom of the front arms to a crank at the bottom of the rear arms.

So is this better or worse than the APT's first day?

Ah yes, he fell into a Korma IIRC....

Don't worry, your terminology is close enough. 'Dropper wires' are usually referred to as just 'droppers'

I have several times and again, the way they are actually fitted matches my description 100%. Either you have not read my description properly or your grasp of English is somewhat lacking.

Yes it does! I even linked to a video so you can actually see it working exactly as described!

That is because they are close to the roof and almost parallel with it. They go from a crank at the bottom of the front arms to a crank at the bottom of the rear arms. You can only see them in a good 'from above' shot taken from a footbridge or similar. Not only is this the view we normally see the model in, but much more rarely see in real life, but without this link the arms would flop about and the pan would not work, just like the real one wouldn't if they were missing... This I don't think is an 87 cross arm, but the principle is the same so the Hornby 87 pan would need them too if it is to work: Youtube video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Wvw0B3pxec

Only if they wanted to be easily ridiculed!

Well seeing as the train is made up of maroon mk1's I would be not be surprised if several of the coaches in the train were actually the ones that were in the movie. So Hogwarts Express coaches being the Jacobite (or vice versa depending on your point of view) is quite possible...

Presumably starting with a lima/limby 87 was too cheap and easy.

Those will be the Auto-transformer cables. Normally they run bare on insulators on or near the back of the masts. However in station areas and through bridges there is often not the room for the required clearances. They then run them as insulated cables in troughs until past the obstruction, where they go back up in the air again.

Yay the photos are back! They are fantastic! I love something that is completely different from the norm and this is very well done!

I can relate to that. I hired a Range Rover Sport to take my girlfriend to an event in London in luxury. Felt a bit extravagant until someone pointed out that even with the fuel it was still cheaper than going by train...

Pity you deleted your photobucket pics. Because I have installed the freely available add on (as have many others, I think there is one for almost every browser now) I would have been able to see them normally. Still it looks good from the recent photos.

Cue predictable response... Not this time!

Looks like a few chickens coming home to roost: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-41520970 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-41319482

That's right. Used to be a wagon repair shop, and not far from the end of Chaddesden sidings.

Should we speak for those without a voith?

When did BR ever make a profit, let alone 'so much money'? They may well have significantly increased Intercity revenue, but BR was still loss making overall so every penny counted no matter how much HST's improved matters.

They appear to be used to serve a 'virtual quarry' That is an area where a large amount of aggregate etc. is stored, for onward shipment by train or lorry in the local area (Or ancient Range Rover with an ex utilty board trailer!). My drive was laid on rubble, topped by spent railway ballast complete with the odd pandrol clip that all came from a big heap at Chaddesden sidings!

I would have thought modelling one of the earlier ones which did not have frames would be a pretty good excuse!

That could have a completely different meaning in another context....

The general standard now seems to be centre motor and drive to both bogies. The chassis tend to be built a lot heavier now so they will pull almost anything without needing traction tyres, which also means all wheel pickup can be utilised too.

If I won the lottery that 309 would be going mainline as an eight car with the griddle reinstated!! Might be useful for charters too, even as hauled stock. There is of course a spare trailer to drop in, which helps:

Just had a thought - it does have traction tyres which I expect you would lose if re-wheeling it. Additional weight may compensate.