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John - I receive this as quite a compliment - my photo shows an ancient Lima coach with a plastic box I glued on and blended in with paint. The rest of your post is just "wow", thank you for all of the background information. I want to think the 'whisker' couplers will become the standard fitment but the Kadee range seems as enormous as ever. - Richard.

I have discovered another coupler piece by Roco. This is a moulded plastic shank with a NEM363 slot on one end and a pivot hole and integral springs to fit into a Kadee draught gear box at the other end. Example with a Roco universal head attached: Now - know this isn't directly related to the business of installing Kadees, but it does show a way of putting different heads onto a model equipped with Kadee boxes. Which might be useful if you are taking a model to a friend's layout or, as in my case, you have built models and then turned away from Kadees for some of your stock. I suppose, If you are really keen you could use this piece with a Kadee head in a 363 adaptor and arrive at a height-adjustable Kadee coupler in a different if slightly convoluted way. - Richard.

I indulged myself in a K class a few weeks ago and it sat in a display box until yesterday when I bought two yards of track. Well, the loco runs perfectly straight out of the box (this is the analogue version) and this prompted me to phone Minerva to tell them how happy I am with the model. I thought this would be a fairly brief affair but I ended up talking with Chris Basten for half an hour, partly I suppose because I am full of enthusiasm for the model and what Minerva are doing, and I had put a test meter on the controller, and he was having his coffee break ... It is fine to run the model on a feedback controller like my one from Kent Panel Controls Current consumption for a light engine is around 35 mA (0.035 amps ...) Stall current (I put my finger on the track in front of the loco) about 140 mA Minerva would [still] recommend a controller able to supply 1 amp For weathering, try wiping T-cut on a cotton bud vertically on the bodywork. Because the K class comes with three cabs you have two to practice on. I asked about a matt varnish over this, no don't do this The smokebox door is prototypical. Whilst a heavy thing, a man was expected to lift it off its hinges. Earlier prototypes had a door with a horizontal split, this pattern was leaky hence the move to the circular design ... there is scope for Minerva to do this on a future batch These locomotives often passed from one owner to another, with subsequent owners altering them along the way [and so, for a fictional setting, I should think carefully about the prior owners of the loco before I change the cab] Regarding passenger use and the lack of a train brake on the model: some of the more remote light railways and railways running a passenger service for employees did ignore the idea of a train brake) [so no worries about coupling up a small coach on the layout ...] There is a fine book: "Locomotive Builders of Leeds: E.B. Wilson and Manning Wardle" by Mark Smithers [I've just ordered a copy] If you want to change the smokebox door, dribble white spirit along the join before removing it [same as changing the cab] Eventually, Chris had a caller at the door :-) Hope this is useful. - Richard.

When we arrived, Sutton Hoo seemed packed. If this happens to you, simply thread your way through the main car park and eventually you come to an overflow car park (no notices for this at all!) with most likely a lot more space in it. We paid on entry, no pre-booking. - Richard.

I think the best approach is to go to see the artefacts at the British Museum first, then go to Sutton Hoo. Somehow this makes Sutton Hoo seem more special. - Richard.

The letter h in Theresa is important, especially I suspect to our ex-PM. If you miss it out you find her namesake; also in the public domain but a different business. - Richard.

It was a bit sad but many years ago a dealer offered to buy the boxes for my Dinky lorries, leaving me to keep the models. This was at a swapmeet in Bridgenorth, I suppose in the 1990s. I kept my boxes. - Richard.

Well - the railbus I am thinking of had 2' 9" wheels, and I would be happy with 10 mm on the model. The reason for suggesting two of the motor/gearbox mechanisms is to get power onto all four wheels so the model will go up a 1:20 gradient on my layout. I did some experiments with traction and two driven axles will work, but one won't. (Unless I suppose I put traction tyres on it, but this leaves pickups on only one axle, and stalling on every set of points unless I add a DCC keep alive, and so on...) I also have a vague idea in the back of my mind to let one of the units be able to twist (along the axis of the motor) to make for a three-point suspension. Just to check, is a 10mm wheel ok? - Richard.

I wonder if a model railbus could use two of these motor/gearbox units, placed horizontally with the motors facing other? Please tell us how controllable they turn out to be. - Richard.

It had a run for an hour or so on a mate's roundy-roundy this afternoon. The performance is typical Lima and it looked really nice with a rake of Mk1's. The proportions are good. I want to upgrade it with a modern chassis (Hornby 73) and DCC, and will post it to your Pugbashes topic when it is ready. - Richard.

I always imagined trains were double-headed on occasion in the days of steam but not top and tailed. Also I suppose a rake of Mk3 coaches hauled by a loco would show a little white light at the back from the windows in the gangway door. I expect @Oldddudders would know, or knows someone who does, and I'm sure he won't mind browsing this topic. - Richard.

Thanks. Yes a motor conversion would be good but I have decided to go for the current Hornby class 73 chassis (which should be a drop-in conversion) because it will come with finer wheel flanges and these wheels will run on my layout with its code 75 track. I have got this subject into a bit of a pickle because it seemed like a good idea to mention the loco on the "eBay good buys" topic but unfortunately the discussion is carrying on here as well. Hopefully one or indeed both will get forgotten before I get hauled up for cross-posting :-) - Richard.

I am happy to suppose, the project manager on the Southern Region asked EE for a malachite green locomotive with some highlights on the cab window frames to imitate the style of the old class 70 (CC1/CC2) locos. EE obliged by applying their existing style for AC electrics in 'electric blue' but in green, and the latest BR regulations required them to add full-width yellow panels. Correspondence we will never see saw a decision to use the green on the cab roofs and cab side windows instead of the EE white, to fit in more with other stock on the Southern region. I did ask the eBay vendor if they knew anything about the provenance of the model but sadly not. It came in a job lot where the only other interesting thing was the Bullied-style silver Co-Co. So all we know is what we see on the model, including the builder's notes on the inside of the body. I want to imagine, the builder chose this livery for a reason. They did all of the painting with brushes not sprays, and very neatly. - Richard.

The Hornby chassis sounds like the sensible way to go. I have ordered up a Railroad class 73 from one of the box shifters. If all goes well, E5032 will get the Hornby running gear and eBay will see a pristine 'Jeanette' with a Lima chassis. - Richard.

I will hardly every get my hands on a model made like this and it is going to show me the standards I ought to be aiming for and indeed be happy with for my own cut and shut projects. I do like the back story of the 1970's channel tunnel. This is easier than imagining the class 71 had been more successful and the Southern Region decided to get some more, but outsourced the work to EE. I posted a tentative link to this on the 'eBay good buys' topic but someone replied and now I am feeling awkward because I have ended up posting there as well: https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/5758-good-buy-from-ebay/&do=findComment&comment=4544242. I'd like to make a better chassis for it. - Richard.

I am not really used to 00 models any more. This one runs as well as the Lima models I remember - it would be good on a roundy-roundy but I don't think it would work for shunting. The wheel flanges are deeper than I expected (I always associated deep flanges with the last century) so it runs on the rail fixings on the Peco code 75 on my layout but is OK on Kato code 83. I think, the chassis is riding too high on its bogies but this is from the Lima design: Also the loco with the pan down is too tall for the loading gauge on my layout, even though Continental outline H0 fits fine. So I think I will keep the model in the display cabinet with my other 00 locos for a while. Maybe buy a fresh Lima chassis and see if I can change the ride height and the wheels, and if this is a success then move the bodyshell across to the new chassis and alter the obstructing baseboard support on the layout. I don't want to go altering things now and spoiling the loco. As for cost - well, much the same as two Hornby 6-wheel coaches. I think market prices for this sort of thing are too low, but for some reason, we (hobbyists) don't much want to pay for skill and craftsmanship, only the end result. Which I think is sad but it is probably related to this being a hobby and not a necessity for everyone's daily life. - Richard.

I have just bought a lovely model of a freelance electrodiesel (well, something between a 71, 73 and 86), this began on the eBay Madness topic but here is a link because really I think it belongs here too: https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/5197-ebay-madness/&do=findComment&comment=4543521 - Richard. Edit: I think it is an electric loco, not an electrodiesel. The is no evidence of a radiator or exhaust.

Well I think, on this case "madness" has spilled over into "genius". The workmanship is just as neat inside as outside, the builder even painted the ballast weight. They have even added styrene pads to hold the body onto its new chassis, I would have never thought of this but now it looks so obvious. A lot of imagination and attention to detail here: I didn't expect to use this topic to find things to buy! I haven't tried running it yet, but if it is a bit flaky then the power plant is plentiful secondhand. - Richard.

A working of 'Mayflower' + empty coaching stock from Southall to Colchester earlier this afternoon: I wasn't sure where to post this pic but we don't have many shots at Hatfield Peverel and I haven't seen a class 47 for years so here it is. The Mayflower will be working excursions from Colchester over the weekend. - Richard.

I think this one would look better in BTC black with a silver underframe and lettering. I have some Lima class 33 body shells (H0 ones), I bought these to make a scrap yard but I might just have a go at this loco myself. - Richard.

Me too but I succumbed, and my offer was accepted. I'll post some photos after it arrives. - Richard.

Most likely you are not writing the answer they want to see. Try replying with something truthful and informative, but unrelated to the question :-) - Richard.

The goods shed and Mortimer station both measure up for H0 especially at the doorways. - Richard.

Bit of a shame really because it is such a nice model, but I understand completely. Many thanks. - Richard.

I have this Jouef model of a Cockerill 85 ton crane and I wonder if anyone can tell me, was this design used in Britain? I am not sure of the scale of this model. It is large for 4mm scale and huge for H0. But if something similar was used in Britain, the model might work up into a nice diorama. - Richard.