Adrian Knowles

Wow, that is a nice shot! What always gets me is how clean and tidy the main line environment seemed to be (or, indeed, was) back then.

Ian, What tremendous photos! When I finished studying photography at Guildford in 1976 I was presented with my degree by Sir Misha Black who had been employed for the ceremony that year as an iconic personality from the design and imaging world that we about to enter. Of all the students I was the only one who was aware of his work on the Westerns (and indeed the original Victoria Line tube stock) which resulted in me having a rather long conversation with him as I received my certificate - much to the annoyance of the other graduates! Just over a year later he was gone - as were all the Westerns :-( Adrian

Richard, You could try CGW Nameplates. The problem with a one-off order is that you will have to stand the preparation costs so it could be quite expensive. Anyone coming along later wanting the same plate would then pay much less. Adrian

Some lovely ones there too... Tempting to get some plates made up and indulge in a bit of fantasy.

Beechen Cliff it was, 3rd April 2010.

Brilliant, many thanks. As you say, just as well they didn't stray from the 'Western' theme. One or two in the list you have posted would have been wonderful... Fury, Mistral, Hawk, Zephyr. Hmmm, pity.

Having geared up from 4mm to 7mm modelling some years ago, here I am back with a load of Dapol 4mm Westerns on order! Now there is the prospect of the 2mm version which opens up the attractive possibility of amazing dioramas - based on something like the snap here. Which scale, which scale??! And where's the money for all this going to come from? C'mon Dave, end the misery and do it in '0'...

That's true, some of the names were less inspirational, almost as if they were struggling towards the end to think of more, but some really do capture the spirit of the times... 'Enterprise' being one of them in my opinion. The list I am most interested in is one I heard about ages ago - I think it may even have been published in Railway Magazine - where the names did not have the 'Western' prefix at all but were mostly places across former GW territory. Anyone seen it, or got a copy?

Does anyone have a copy of the list of proposed 'Western' names that were never used?

A few more images from 1969 to entertain...

OK, this is going to make me look completely stupid (worse than normal!) but you are absolutely right. I have been back to the negs from that day and found a couple taken from the first window in the train which JUST show the number plate. I could be wrong, but it looks like 1019 Western Challenger, which would tie in with your livery records. All these years I have been thinking it was 1039 - a slip of the schoolboy pen. I don't have that many shots of 52s - I couldn't afford much film in those days and I saved it for steam but there are a few that may interest people on here which I'll post shortly. Here are the shots that say it's 1019....

Pretty sure of the loco's ID and the date is definite - strange... I'll go back to negatives in the same series to see if there are any that show the name/number more clearly. Def not 1010 as it's not marked in my ABC as one I travelled behind!

Hi Rugd1022, Just noticed the links at the bottom of your posts to the Western Liveries - a superbly-compiled resource and well worth a look for anyone who hasn't seen it yet. As always however, it shows that official records are not always completely reliable. Going through my photo box I found this snap I took at Bodmin Road on 11 July 1969. It shows D1039 Western King in well worn maroon with SYP when according to the records it received MFYE in April 1968. Sometimes you just can't win!

This might be the link you are looking for: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:D1000-old_oak_common_-_1964.jpg

Chris, I am sure you know that I have no axe to grind with you and I apologise unreservedly for seeming unfair in my comments - I did not even know that you were the author of the review. It's a pity that the review was not available for everyone to read before it became such a hot topic in this forum. My comments were driven entirely by the fact that I have seen and held this model at various shows. To me it is so far ahead of anything else I have seen 'out of the box', including the Class 22, that it did seem slightly unreasonable to knock it down to 92% just because some of the detail parts require secure fixing. That said, I admit that I have not yet read the review and it may be that there are more factors that led to the final 'score'. I am prepared to stand corrected when I eventually see the review. None of this stops me commending the work done by Dave and Dapol in raising the bar to a level which will hopefully be aspired to by other manufacturers. I, for one, can't wait for delivery day.

You only have to look at the photos to see that this is probably the best r-t-r diesel there has ever been in 4mm scale. When a review starts criticising fragile detail you have to wonder who on earth they think their audience is - the train set market? I say take it with a pinch of salt - reviews are often written to stir controversy and sell magazines. I have three of these gorgeous 52s on order and am tempted to order another.

I'm almost speechless.... I was expecting it to be good but this is beyond anything we have ever had before. I have three on order and I don't even model in 4mm any more! Now, as said before, wouldn't it be fantastic to enlarge it to 7mm? C'mon Dave..... Watch out Heljan is all I can say!

For me it's the GWR Armstrong Class (a close-run thing with some of Johnson's work though). Pity it was ruined later with a Belpaire boiler.