Godfrey Glyn

Forgive me if I have missed this (piece of gratuitous) in the over 100 posts since this posting but the painting is by Malcolm Root and he is the artist selected by Bachmann for their Collectors Club calendar. He does produce his own railway and transport calendars which I have bought for many years directly from him and I can recommend them as good presents for friends interested in railways. Tel 01787 4875402. No connection etc! I am certainly hoping that there is a Nelson coming from Hornby together with a Maunsell restaurant car. I could go on but will resist! all the best Godfrey

With regard to the LU liveried 4TC I suspect it would be a very popular version for any second run of the model; the actual set will be around for some time and is likely to be used in a variety of locations. A set of painted etchings that could be applied by the more fastidious modeller could possibly overcome the much more expensive option of a retooling without adding massively to the overall cost. Just a thought. In the meantime I am looking forward to the arrival of the NSE version next week - well in Cornwall anyway! all the best Godfrey

Soon after I retired and became able to get a Senior Railcard I bought a 7-day Railpass and one of my trips involved a trip down the WCML on a 350. I noticed that the ride was far more comfortable than I was used to in a 450 on the lines out of Waterloo. I put this down to the quality of the track, or is it that the suspension of the two 'types' is tweaked in different ways? Godfrey

I was able to travel on the London Underground 4TC last month whilst it was still being used on the Wareham to Swanage service. I was very impressed with the work that has been done on it by the Eastleigh Works. In my opinion it looks so much better than the faux teak livery. I managed to take a whole series of photos which I will happily share if anyone is interested but here are a few to whet the appetite. I am particularly interested to find out what colour they used, I bought tins of Precision Paint P116 BR Coach Crimson (1949-55) and P108 BR Maroon at Scaleforum but neither seem to match what has been used for the 4TC. I would love to know if anyone has any definitive information as I managed to get a prototype model from Kernow at the Taunton RMWeb event and I would like to have ago at producing the new livery. I did speak to Chris at recent show and he didn't think it would be likely to appear from Kernow. I have three of the present versions and I am most impressed with each one, they all run and look beautifully realistic. Kernows and Bachmann should be very proud of bringing this model to market. all the best Godfrey

My copy of the Modeller has just dropped through the letterbox; it includes a review of the first of the new BF points including four photographs and comments on the Unifrog arrangement. There is also a full page separate article which explains the principles and how the Unifrog points can be used. The RRP for the new point is £32.50. I can understand why they have followed the geometry of the code 75 FB track but I agree with the comment made earlier by Coachman that their Code 83 gives a more realistic flow to the track and to the running of a train through the points. Still a really good development in my opinion and I am looking forward to buying some in the very near future. All the best Godfrey

John Peck at Precision labels does these. I contacted them some ago when I was planning to repaint a 350 into SWT livery. He was very helpful. Needless to say it remains on the to do list! http://www.precisionlabels.com/images/swt.jpg Hope that works and its useful. All the best Godfrey

I think this has been mentioned before, further back in the discussion, but Hornby have developed their 58' under frame for the Maunsells and then gone on to use it for the rebuilt LSWR coaches. I cannot claim to be much of an expert on Bulleid coaches but would that not also provide the underframe for the Bulleid 59' Brake Corridor Thirds and Corridor Composite? That would be a quick hit for Hornby and might scare Bachmann into doing a redevelopment and more extensive range of the much needed longer versions. I suppose development of the 64' ones will depend upon whether Bachmann have other things in the pipeline, and whether they think the market will accept another range of expensive coaches. However they have certainly left this particular goal wide open. I remember speaking to one of the Bachmann team at the Bluebell Collectors' Club event which is now several years ago and getting a 'maybe at some time in the future' reply. Which ever way, given the Original and Re-built Merchants and Light Pacifics, plus the diesels and the range of less glamorous southern locos now available, I would think sales of any Bulleid coaches would be good. The lack of any Southern restaurant cars might even make the Tavern Cars a profitable development. One can dream!

I gathered from staff at the PECO shop yesterday that a sample of the packaging for the points had been brought down to check the barcode so they cannot be too far away now. I suspect Monk Bar will be holding their PECO day in October at the earliest.

Have faith, they will come! They must know it makes sense.

...and in Alton Model Centre, will have to wait until Friday to collect mine. Having viewed them a few times in the Bachmann display cabinet and seen the photographs in the mags I do not think I shall be disappointed. Very pleased that Bachmann are spreading their arrival over three months!

I had the email yesterday and sorted it out quickly over the phone this morning. The credit card is taking a bit of a bashing at the moment, note to myself - put aside a regular amount to pay for pre-orders - God knows, in the world of model railways, you usually have plenty of time to save up for newly announced model! Looking forward to getting the decorated versions, I managed to buy an engineering sample off Chris at the Taunton event back in April and am very impressed. One fine day I will attempt to paint it. all the best Godfrey

As guzzler17 has indicated above, the use of the LT 4TC ended last week-end. i certainly saw the West Coast 37 and 33 hauling the LT 4TC set up through Eastleigh this on Monday this week. The 4TC set looks very smart in its LT livery, so much nicer than the faux teak in my opinion. Godfrey

Coachman, very happy for you to play around with the photo, just as long as I can doodle on any package coming to you from Paul T . The SWT livery on the 444s never seemed as attractive to me as the one they used for the 450s which I liked the first time I saw it. I rather think Bachmann may have problem bringing out an updated version of the 450s if SWR persist with the grey stripes on them. Anyone on here really au fait with Chinese symbols? Could there be some inscrutable meaning behind the logo? all the best Godfrey

Some more of the old and the new at Eastleigh this afternoon. I gather the inside decoration remains as per SWT. I wonder what they will do with the 450s. alll the best Godfrey

I remember learning from a friend who used to work at PECO that Mr Pritchard Snr wanted to produce a better looking OO track for the British market but was frustrated that he couldn't get a consensus from the customers as to what they wanted. I rather think you can understand how he came to this opinion when reading back through the 111 pages of this thread! I am really pleased that Michael Pritchard and the present team at Beer have been brave enough to launch the new range, I have bought a box of the new track for a layout and I am looking forward to the arrival of the points. I have heard that the track is selling well. As one of those who wants to run the present superb range of RTR OO stock on something better than we have had in the past I am looking forward to getting my hands on the points due this year and hopefully in due time a full range. I notice that PECO have been advertising for new staff which must be a good sign. all the very best to all on this beautiful sunny day! Godfrey

I rather think the problem started with Margaret Thatcher who brought in political advisors, a process that has continued with subsequent administrations. There has certainly been a politicisation of the civil service as a result. A large number of senior civil servants left education when the coalition government came in - of course that may have had something to do with the arrival of Michael Gove! The problem with leaving it to the practitioners in any organisation is that they eventually end up running it for their own perceived benefit; for proper governance and effective provision there needs to be a (educated) balance between those who have oversight ( and ultimate responsibility for funding the operation ) and those who know what can be done and how to do it. That is far from easy in a large organisation. I have recently enjoyed reading two books by Peter Barnfield about his trips around the west country branch lines in the early '60s; you get the impression that at times there was some valiant efforts made by the actual staff to make the system work whilst most of the time the industry never considered the actual needs of the users/passengers/customers. There is one further point you can make about the civil service and it relates to the point jjb1970 makes, there is a hierarchy in the civil service departments, some are seen as the place to be, some are not! I think we are all saying that there are some fairly serious systemic problems in the rail industry at the moment which need to be sorted out, certainly as a non-railway person I am saddened and somewhat alarmed to read what the railway professionals have written in this topic. It will require the electorate to better understand the situation the industry is in and one has to say that we, the electorate are not terribly sophisticated! all the best Godfrey

The really senior civil servants are certainly the key to good governance but they will be the ones trying to get to grips with the implications of the brexit decision. Having observed the workings of them in education I was generally very impressed with the senior ones, less so with the lower ranks who often seemed to be just doing a job and worrying about the internal civil service politics. However remember they were forbidden to do any contingency work in the purdah period before the referendum and clearly the politicians are struggling to make sense of it. I gather many of the top notch people from all over the civil service have been drafted into the brexit department and I think much of normal governance has therefore been disrupted. That will have significant implications for a wide range of decisions that have to be made to keep the show on the road. I certainly agree with The Johnster re the minister concerned!

For a recent low level shot of the 07 in the Eastleigh works see this: https://sisuktrainpix.smugmug.com/2017/August-2017/i-CWLgbvK/A All the best Godfrey

Having collected my two versions from Alton last Friday I am delighted with them, Bachmann have done a really good job with the livery and if anyone fancies further weathering of the roof on individual carriages they can look at the photos I put up on the 'To weather or not to weather a SWT 450' topic. I think you would have to be both brave and competent to try! Hopefully this run will sell well and Bachmann could very easily do another run of the weathered version by painting some of the roofs the darker blue colour that was applied almost randomly to carriages, presumably depending on the degree of weathering that had taken place. I was looking at some 450s yesterday from the footbridge at Eastleigh and noticed that even now the darker blue has not been applied to all of them. Having said all that, my wallet would appreciate a bit of a rest! all the best Godfrey

Very impressive photograph, I can't say that its a very beautiful ship and somehow looks as though it has been built in pieces (as of course it has). The rear slanting funnels rather remind me of the Japanese battleships of WW2 and the two island arrangement is unusual to say the least. I gather that there was a suggestion to build three and share the load with the French Navy but the politicos didn't like the idea. I wonder what will be cut to pay for these two new ships and the equipment and ships that will be needed to carry out their role. The Type 45 destroyers manage to look good as well as impressive though I still think the County Class destroyers built in the '60s were the best looking post WW2 RN ships. Mind you an ex-colleague who served in one pointed out to me that the missile store ran all the way forward from the launch position at the stern through the centre of the ships which was not entirely reassuring for the crew. Godfrey

Just over 1007mm - 42 inches in old money. HTH Godfrey PS They are beautiful!

Sorry, no pictures of the points just a full page advert announcing the new streamline bullhead range with a photo of the track and some of it fully ballasted. Godfrey

Full page advert in the September Railway Modeller says that the large radius unifrog Bullhead turnouts SL-UII88 (Right) and SL-UII89 (Left) are DUE OUT SOON! It quotes Length 258mm; Radius 1524mm; Angle 12 deg. Ties in with what I heard earlier this 'summer' that they would be out in September. Looking forward to seeing these and hoping that they do well so encouraging Peco to widen the range. all the best Godfrey

Picked up a copy of this new book at Alton Model Centre on Friday. It is a fairly thick tome -336 pages - with masses of tables, timetables, allocations, timings and photographs (over 300), both colour and black and white. I must admit I smiled to myself when I saw the title, but don't be put off, it really is a fantastic book for anyone interested in the last days of steam on the Southern on the Waterloo to Bournemouth line and lots of inspiration for anyone wanting to weather stock. Paul had several copies back on Friday but I suspect his stock might have reduced by now. all the best Godfrey

This cannot be a win-win situation for all if you include the smaller model shop that provides its customers with all the other things a modeller might need. I often seem to see comments on a model shop closure topic along the lines ' such a pity I always used it to get the paints and glues I need and now I will have to drive x miles to model shop Y or rely on the internet'. Model shops cannot survive on the bits and bobs we might need. They need to have a steady supply of new large price items with reasonable mark up on each item. When a model appears as an exclusive with one shop, it must by definition, reduce the income of all other retailers. Certainly that is the effect on my buying pattern, I do, like most people have a limited budget for the hobby. I am certainly not saying that this wrong, in a business terms it makes great sense for those who can commission models and for the manufacturers in this very challenging economic climate; I am saying that it is a business model that will have long term implications for the hobby as a whole and is likely to hasten the demise of more model shops.