Godfrey Glyn

Having just compared 'Appledore' (TEC05) with 'Ottery St Mary'(SK) it would appear that there is a subtle change to the BR green and the 'Appledore' is a more refined molding. On 34045 there is a slight ridge on the side of the boiler, above the handrail which is absent on 34100. My 'Appledore' runs beautifully and the modified K type Pullman cars look really good, even if they have the wrong version of the crest on Car 34. It would indeed be great if Hornby were to produce the U types so that as Chris has written, it would be possible to recreate an authentic Golden Arrow set. Don't be pessimistic Chris, you have many years ahead of you and recently Hornby have managed to significantly reduce the time span between announcement and product release - certainly when compared with the other major manufacturers. all the best Godfrey

Just goes to prove that the original Bullied Merchant Navies were better than the rebuilds!

My two have just arrived from Alton Model Centre by special delivery - many thanks Richard! What wonderful models; loads of differences between the two and each one is quite magnificent. Congratulations to the team at Hornby for producing such a fantastic model. Can see one of them making an appearance on the modular layout at Staplegrove in April. Looking forward to getting Clan Line when it arrives, provided I have managed to save up sufficient funds by then. You will not need to buy a huge rake of coaches for an original Merchant Navy to pull. In Steam Memories of the Salisbury to Exeter Central Line by Derek Philips,on page 42 there is photograph of 35006 Peninsular & Oriental near Crewkerne pulling a three car set in March 1950 - albeit not in the form modelled Hornby so far but I am sure we will see one like it modelled in the coming years. all the best Godfrey

Thanks Stubby I am afraid I cannot make the Saturday evening 'Do' but I can offer a few lemon drizzle cakes - how many? Also aim to arrive around 7.45 on the Sunday so very willing to help set up. Will talk to Mike Sidecar Racer re fiddle yards, nowhere to store them at home though. Looking forward to the event of the year. Godfrey

Well some nice photographs of it down at Eastleigh recently on Carl Watson's site - always one for some interesting shots if you haven't come across him before. http://carlswatson.com/Trains/Galleries%202017/Galleries%20201703/20170302ArlingtonEastleighWorks/index.html Hope thats useful Godfrey

Ah I think that special permission and exemption only applies if you still own the entire West Country and BoB Class in OO!! Looking forward seeing the results of your labours with this, I suspect you will not be the only one, but probably the first! All the best Godfrey

Chris this is looking excellent, I love the painting of Steephill Castle on the back scene. Of course I now expect to see it include a moving image of a liner going by! I am still struggling with the roof ventilator for Chard, oh such fun!± See you soon, good luck with the trees! G

Robin, I think you saw it in Brian Haresnape's Bulleid Locomotives on page 21. Interestingly enough there is, on page 22, a b/w photo of 21C2 - Union Castle - taken at Merstham on the Brighton line in June 1941 with a four car special. It looks like two pullmans, sandwiched by two coaches that look like Maunsells - maybe narrow versions? I don't think its possible to tell what livery they are in except that my guess would be that the pullmans were in the same colour as the Maunsells. I am sure eagle eyed experts ( I am certainly not one) will be able to correctly identify them. All the best Godfrey

I'm not sure many of us would want to engage in the fine work demanded to construct a model locomotive in an environment where we had to wear a thick coat, presumably to keep warm in a cold Chinese winter - not unless we earned sufficient money in a year to buy a residence in Kensington! Hardly surprising that they might not have any loyalty to the firm that employs them; just very grateful, slightly embarrassed and very humbled, that I can buy one for the price I paid. Godfrey

Well the limited amount of information given in the recent post from Bachmann would suggest that they are. At least they are doing the roof with the faded paintwork, it will be interesting to see if its uniformly pale or comes with the striped effect shown in Dennis Lovett's photograph. If the 450s sell well they can then come back later and rework the model with the darker paintwork that has been applied as seen in my photographs taken at Alton posted above. I am sufficiently optimistic to have changed my mind and placed an order for the 'weathered' version after all and am looking forward to seeing it later in the year. all the best Godfrey

Well the 16V AC input seemed to result in a high rate of failures and the suggestion was made by someone who knows something about electronics. It has been discussed with the guys at Dapol so it might be worth giving them a ring. Hope thats helpful. all the best Godfrey

Am I right to think that these Pullmans are 'new' - they are marketed as U type Pullmans by Hornby and on their website they have the rectangular toilet windows - like the 'Orion' preserved at Beer? I think all the ones produced by Hornby so far have the oval windows, happy to be corrected. All the best Godfrey PS Clearly I need to read back through the thread before posting! Many thanks to Dibber, Hilux and Shroomy for the correction. At least the photo of Orion, if Mr Pritchard had it painted correctly, shows the points that Dibber raises above.

The ones we set up with 12v DC back in December are still working fine, as are the ones that were set up with 6v DC. It is all very strange, I agree with Budgie's post 603. all the best Godfrey

It is not like the King Canute situation at all; there is nothing he could do to change the tide but as a consumer of model railway products you can play a part in keeping the real model shops open, if you have one near by, buy your models there. You may even find that it doesn't cost much more to buy from your local shop compared to the big internet sellers, you can tap into the experience of the staff and fellow customers and you get the chance to see a loco run before parting with your money. It may be more expensive if you then succumb to the other essentials that you find on their shelves that you cannot see or get from the internet sources, but then that is a different matter! My choice of model shop involves a round trip of 50 miles but I always find it an enjoyable and worthwhile trip and return with fault free products and some things I never knew even existed,but find irresistible. Whether the small model shop continues to exist will depend upon the quality of the overall service it provides and the sense of the customers to realise that there is a considerable benefit to them in the long term of supporting good 'local' independents. We live in interesting times but we do have choices that can affect the outcome! all the best Godfrey

Paul at Alton stocks the complete PECO range with the exception of the Code 83 points and even then can get everything PECO has within a week. He also does mail order. Godfrey

I have two on order and I am looking forward to them arriving, I too will not be cancelling. I also have the Bulleids on order and in some way see the D6XXs as a down payment on the development costs of the SR diesels that I want even more. The recently released little Heljan 13XX, which I am very happy with, is £125, so I do not see the cost of the limited edition Warship is out of line. I certainly do not want Kernow to make a loss on it. I would have loved it even more at under £100 and I might have bought three but I cannot see anything happening in the near future which will reduce the costs of our models so like many others I will need to be far more realistic in my wish list! Happy New Year everybody! Godfrey

Have been trying these with a normal 12v DC supply and they work and seem to be reliable with this type of supply. A friend has his set up with 6v DC and I understand they happily work with that! Maybe the specification listed in the instructions is wrong? Godfrey

Paul has plenty of the new track in stock at Alton Model Centre, I am impressed enough to have invested in a box. Methinks we need to reassess the standards for the Staplegrove Modules!! all the best Godfrey

Collected my lovely H&P version along with the Lyme Regis set this evening and the Peckett has been approved as an excellent Christmas present, so off to be wrapped until Sunday. Funny that Simon Kohler always said that blue locos sold well; seems the new regime at Hornby have gone back through the files and taken note. I am sure this little gem will delight many over the Christmas season and for me it places the Hornby design and production team at the top of the class. all the very best Godfrey

I think you need to go back and read the very reasonable post from Graham - Post 963. I don't think you can substantiate your comments which, to me, tend to fall into the category of 'post truth' so favoured by certain politicians. Hope you do get your HP version soon and enjoy a peaceful and profitable Christmas. Good luck for 2017. best wishes Godfrey

Dropped into the shop at PECO yesterday and bought a length, just to see it for myself and compare it to the Code 75 FB. Well I am very happy with it and I don't think my quick photo does it justice. I gather the track was being despatched so it should have arrived in your local shop by the end of Friday. I also gained a view that perhaps they had gone with the same geometry as their Code 75 so that the BH points, when they become available, can be more easily be used to replace the FB ones you may have on your layout. It seems to make sense but I agree that the Code 83 gives a much better flow to the track. I have ordered a box from Alton and I certainly do not regret my decision. I think PECO may be surprised by the amount of interest in this new development. Being very selfish I only hope that they can develop a full range of points as soon as possible, I suppose that will depend upon the amount of development time they have available to devote to the work. IMHO this track is certainly a very positive development for 00 modellers who do not have the time or skill to build their own. all the best Godfrey Code 75 BH on the left, Code 75 FB on the right

I concur, however I suspect that one person's acceptable compromise is someone else's grave mistake. all the best Godfrey

I have sent the two photos above ( not the one of the 442! ) to Chris, I am sure he has plenty of data but on the other hand you probably cannot have too much! Perhaps its something some of the manufacturers should remember. As this project is being done by Bachmann's parent company I trust they will get it right, I cannot imagine Chris letting them do otherwise. All the best Godfrey

Some I took at the last Eastleigh Open Days back in 2009. Of course the next EMU to discuss should be the 442 and getting that right will make getting the ends of the 4TC right seem like a walk in the park! All the best Godfrey

The following is not a response to any particular contribution to this topic but I sometimes worry that we 'expect' manufacturers to follow each and every topic on this most excellent site. If we really want to influence the manufacturers there is need to establish a one to one relationship with them, demonstrating that we have something to offer in the way of constructive criticism and ensuring that they get the message. If there is no response to a direct approach, then they have no excuse and caustic comments are probably justified. I cannot imagine that any of them have the time to keep up with a topic and seeing as they are mere mortals like us I would understand if they gave up on what can be, sometimes, a load of contradictory expertise expressed in an antagonistic manner. I really welcome the recent response from the guys at Hornby, Dapol seem to be opening up to contributions through their website, surely Oxford would benefit from adopting a similar approach, they clearly could do with some additional expertise and I am sure all of us on here want them to produce the best possible models, within the normal parameters of manufacturing capability and cost. all the best Godfrey