Godfrey Glyn

A model of small town station with a train shed would be great. Chard Central comes to mind and as it still exists is easily surveyed. Happy to help! Godfrey

Just spoken to Geoff at Steam to order D1000.What a really nice man, a real pleasure to do business with him. Godfrey

A front view, sorry can't get the hang of how to load two photos in one post! Godfrey

I don't know if this helps with the curve Godfrey.

I sent my lumpy NSE version back to Hornby. The arrangement of the traction tyres has been changed to a diagonal arrangement and it is now a good runner. I didn't mark the carriage before sending it back so I don't know if they changed the bogie or the whole carriage, it certainly came back very quickly. Back at the end of October I spoke to Simon Kohler at the NRM and he seemed to indicate that it would be easy for them to change the solid compartment moulding. Maybe they will slip them in later, they seem to have a very different policy to Bachmann. I recall that the smoke box door of the original Merchant Navies was corrected and then became available (but only if you were in the know), and the pullman bogies were also changed without much publicity. I sent all mine back to Hornby for replacement, it must have kept their engineer busy for days! My experience of dealing with the public would suggest that when you, or your organisation, make a mistake, put your hands up as soon as possible and try and put it right. Hornby seem to find that difficult. Its a great pity. Godfrey

Wonderful, wonderful news! Cannot possibly have only one set!! Godfrey

I have bought one of each version released so far - I still need to make 'pencil trick' permanent on the BR blue version. My Network South East version did not run well and I simply took it back to Bob at Alton. He sent it back via his Hornby rep and yesterday it arrived back at the shop. Repaired no problem, as iL Dottore says ' Simples'. Godfrey

Maybe Hornby should just talk to (the other) Godfrey at Replica Railways, his Die-cast Chassis is superb. If they are serious about developing top quality multiple units it would be the way to go, and could be financially beneficial to both parties. Godfrey

Just to add a bit more grist to the discussion I attach a photo that I took at the last Open Day at Eastleigh. There is no doubt that painting the window frames silver significantly changes the appearance. I actually don't think the appearance of the jumper leads is too far out on the model, the size of the shoes are more difficult to assess but they are quite 'light' on the actual 4VEP. Godfrey

It's never possible to make absolute statements when comparing a photo of a model and the real thing but looking at Ceptic's beautifully annotated photo of the 3-CEP it would appear that Hornby's VEP does have some differences - the vestibule door and the lower levels of the driver's side and front windows are fairly obvious. I'm afraid I am not brave enough to take a saw to it yet but simply running a pencil around the gangway join makes it look a bit better to me. Godfrey

Picked up the new brake from Alton on Thursday. Have been trying out the macro lens and so some pictures as requested. Godfrey

In that photo the door appears to be even further forward than in these two examples, taken at the Eastleigh Open Day in 2009 Godfrey

It is, as identified by Pete one of the LNER Suburbans. Sorry to go off the topic of 4VEPS but it seemed the logical reply to the question. Godfrey

I have tried to attach a photo I took on Saturday at DEMU with a new camera (hence its not very good) which show the VEP. Looking at it now I am worried by the position of the curtains but hopefully they will get them right before release! Godfrey

I picked up my coaling tower from Bob at Alton yesterday and am very impressed. I had also ordered the four road engine shed but when we opened the box we found it to be broken so I will have to wait for the next batch. I think both models are really good value for money but I wouldn't recommend buying either without checking for damage. Given the comment from Gareth earlier I think there is a problem with the transportation of these large and quite heavy resin models. Bob advised me to avoid the potholes on the way home, I did and managed to get mine home in one piece! Godfrey

Me 2-Bil !!!