Bernard Lamb

I thought that was the DB equivalent, can't remember the class number. Roco made a model at one time. Bernard

Just caught up with it. I found it excellent, with the enthusiasm coming across rather well. The social history was unobtrusive to me, but I like that sort of thing, it might have come across as excessive to others. It used train set type curves, but the running was faultless, far better than certain finescale layouts that I have seen. The research into the buildings fascinated me, especially parts of London and Berlin that appeared to look real, even though mixed up as to actual location. The Pendonesque idea of plug in complete buildings, shown by removing a scene, gave an insight as to how the layout was built. The Euston arch, depicted very near the end, rather than in it's glory days. Looking forward to the next programme. Bernard

There is no 'best'. It depends what you want to make. Slaters is good, but needs to be applied to a structure as it is quite thin. Wills, Peco or whatever can be used as a building material as it is thicker. Then, if you want to model my garden wall built circa 1720, with hand made non standard bricks, laid on edge, you will need to scibe them. Bernard

Best not to go on holiday. If you do you might find that they have moved in when you get back. Bernard

This is H0 Ian. Confusing when Kato are usually associated with N. They have done several models in tie ups with German firms. I will take a close up of the inter coach coupling. It is an idea that I have not seen before and gives very neat close coupling and electrical connections. Bernard

Just in time for Halloween. Is there an emoji for wanting to hide under the duvet? I would not like to come across that at any time. Let alone on a dark and stormy night. Bernard

I have cleared a space in the garage to make room for the new locomotive depot. I will build this off site. I have for the short term put in place a narrow plank with a run of track, just to allow some of my main line stock to have a run. Quite a few locos need some serious wheel cleaning. To provide some relief from this work I dug this out of storage and with a 6m plus length of straight track let her have a gallop. Kato made these a long time ago and they seem to have recently made another run, at a heck of an increased price. Originally VT 18 16 but known by various other designations at later dates. Mine is in the VT 175 series. The prototype emerged from Gorlitz in 1963, with a production run of, I think, 8 four car sets between 1965 and 1968. There were extra coches for some services and a reduced number of coaches on the service that used the train ferry to Scandinavia. They could be seen, on selected routes, anywhere between Copenhagen and Vienna. I never rode on one but saw them in Leipzig during the fair, where they were used on a service from Berlin, back in the early 1980s from memory. I also saw the preserved example at Rummelsberg much later, where it was stored for several years. I still have friends who live in Kopenick. After various moves the last I heard, was that it was at Halberstadt for a refurbishment. There is also a set at Lichtenberg but I have not seen that one. Bernard

Best post this week. Thanks for taking my mind off of all the other crap that is going on. Bernard

Back in my yooth exhibitions were either local, school hall or fire station near the town centre, or national or local area. Paddington, City University or Westminster, or a school or local arena. All easy to get to by public transport, or walking and at most a short local bus ride. EM moved to Bracknell, via Letherhead. A short walk from the station became a much more complicated trip. Tring went from Berko to Wing, again more difficult to get to. St Albans went to Stevemage, A much more complicated or longer journey for me. While I would prefer to go by public transport it has become more and more difficult. I uppose Stoke Mandeville is about the longest running show at a fairly convienient locstion. Even High Wycombe has changed locstion and is now more difficult to reach by public transport for me. The general changes in sociey seem to have worked against me. I understand why. But I don't see it as an improvement in my quality of life, let alone being friendly to the environment. Bernard

I don't think that I have ever purchased a RTR loco, in the modern era, that has needed so much work to get it into a state that makes me happy to run it on my layout. The annoying part is that the basic appearance is very good, but is let down by the detai. . I note that I have received neither an apology nor a responce to my reaction to the sarcastic comment that came my way. Typical keyboard warrior. I will report back, still working on it. Bernard

From what I know of the mindset of KR I find it to be perfectly reasonanble. Difficult to follow, certainly. Bernard

No mum. When you go shopping you do not have to boycott hummus. Bernard

I did not say it was. Do you want to start an argument for the sake of it? I think that most, nay almost all, people on here are intelligent enough to understand by looking at the photographs what I was talking about. It is very unlikely that an early emblem example could be seven years old. Bernard

Fair enough, if the model has the correct details as per that time. We have here a locomotive that is around seven years old (AWS fitted) so it is totally wrong. Just got mine and will report tomorrow. I do find some things a bit odd, but not surprised given Hornby's history. Bernard

Glad it is of interet David. How about this from the same area. The quarry at Hengstberg. Date not known. Bernard

Mary had a little lamb She kept it in a bucket And every time the lamb got out The bulldog tried to put it back in again. I know I have posted it before but as we seem to be having a burst of notalgia I will join in. Bernard

Several times I have encountered the doggies. In Europe and in other places. The USA - Canada border can be quite an experience at times. I went through by bus one time while there was a fishing dispute going on. Everything and everybody had to exit the bus and then all bags were gone through item by item. They then got the driver to take up some floor panels and the dog was set loose. I have also had dog searches at Folkestone on the shuttle. I think that they had a target time of a minimum of three hours delay for every bus. Canadians got it worse than Europeans. My best experience of stoppy customs people was at the border between Turkey and Bulgaria. This was many years ago. I was with a group and I was dealing with the passports and currncey exchange. The chap was as nice as pie, as I had all the papework in order. He asked me if I was in a hurry. I enquired as to why and he told me what was going to happen and suggested that we found a good seat where we could enjoy the fun. A group of Germans in a VW Beetle were getting a bit lippy about being held up and so the Bulgarians decided to teach them a lesson. The customs official acussed them of having drugs. They denied it. Several heavily armed people suddenly appeared and started to strip the car. Obviuosly they found nothing. They took out the seats and various other parts that could only be refitted with the correct tools. Then they left. The customs officials came over to join us for a beer and a good laugh. Austrlaia is OK unless you have any items of food that you might have forgotten about. Nepal can also be 'interssting'. Bernard

I presume so Captain. A bigger problem is that this class has a horizontal slot, rather than the much more common vertical slot. That is going to present a problem. A tight twist in the shank, or a very narrow, height wise, shank? Neither option looks an easy solution in respect of functionality and appearance. Will get a chance to look on Monday as mine is on the way. Bernard

Simon, For a starter layout model I would go for the hobby version. It looks like very good value. You can always add pipe work and other detailing as you feel like. I have even detaied GDR period Piko diesels and they look quite acceptable as layout locos. Just watch the prices, as some on Ebay look to be from chancers. Check the Piko web site for current retail prices. Bernard

My wife has to go to Cologne next month. She asked me to look at train travel. The first problem was finding a web site that could cope with the different operators. It seemed better to book the different legs with different companies to get the best deal. The main problem was to get the cheapest tickets for each leg that would connect. I found a reasonable deal but it was complicated to book, so I gave up. What chance would a punter have who had much less knowledge of the railway system. She had a travel voucher for £100 from a raffle, so she got in contact with the travel company. They came up with a deal that was very close to what I had found, but pointed out that due to the unreliability of German trains the connections would be dodgy. She is going to fly and her voucher will almost cover the cost. far less than the train with much better back up if there are any problems. Bernard

Tony asked about models of D20s. He posted photographs of one that had passed trough his hands in search of a new home. Well. here she is at Glentarras. In the real world the NBR built the line rather than the NER and this particular machine did not go to the area until 1957. I feel reluctant to alter the tender lettering. It might be a better idea to get a more accurate tender. Crew and lamp added, also a rear wire bar to engage with tension lock couplings and a dash of paint to dull down the coupling rods. I will get round to adding some ballast one day. Bernard .

One of the best was Frank Carson. His jokes were often very simple and if you saw the script it would seem to be rather dull. However his delivery in a live performance was brilliant. He could read an audience and change the presentation to suit. You never got the same show twice. It did not work on TV or radio. Bernard

Oh dear.

The main problem with the DJH kit is the tender which has oval cut outs as per the NER drawing, rather than the shaped version actually carried by all tenders of thetype used on the D20s. I do not have the drawings or any kits that Arthur produced, but going from photographs they look pretty good. I think the front frames on one variant are also suspect on the DJH kit. Bernard