steve1023

Well done Dave - good to see things moving along nicely Regards

Fair play to the LT museum & Bachmann for having the cojones to make this happen & not just a base 4 car set but having the option to expand up to a full 8 car set. It's not really for me but I do sincerely hope it works out for both parties.

I imagine if Dapol had done 73102 as 212 representing a Gatex loco that may have limited appeal and then reduce income, as 102 the loco pretty much went anywhere on the SR, once in the Gatwick pool the engines rarely strayed that far. Wise move I think. I also seem to recall that 105 was one of the last into Intercity - named Quadrant at the same time. ISTR seeing 104/5 & 141 in large logo on the Bournemouth line as late as 88 when most where in Intercity livery.

I've always thought the 33/1 bodyshell looked wrong around the windows and that the revised 33/0 captures the shape quite well. I was thinking of converting a new shape 33/0 to a 33/1 to create a uniform appearance across my small fleet.

Ah good point that. . Well maybe a E5010 would be better, although I wonder if D5010 did ever work the SR......

So Dave - We are 3 days away from the end of March - is it still the case that pre-ordering ends on Tuesday or will the March deadline get accidently forgotten thus giving those of us who are getting married in June and strapped for cash a chance to pre-order D5010 later, erm, hint, hint. Secondly - any chance of some Mercig weathering on it at all, erm, hint, hint.

In fairness though the Bachmann/Farish N gauge one is still to hit the shops and if Bachmann wanted it that much they could have announced a OO version last summer or in 2013 - it works both ways - lets not forget Bachmann did the same with Blue Pullman and (maybe if memory serves me correct) the LMS twin diesels that Rails had an involvement in when other people were looking to produce them and I have often wondered if the N gauge class 31 (not announced at the traditional time) was announced to throw Dapol off the scent (no proof - just idle speculation on my part).

Good to see Tonbridge West Yard coming back out of retirement - ISTR seeing at a show in St Albans around '93ish (rail magazine show?). Any chance of Maidstone Barracks making a comeback? Steve

One Blue/Grey 4VEP running well & smoothly around my little roundy-roundy. Phew......

The picture above in post #1529 (computer won't quote/link above for some reason!!) - 100% definitely a Hastings DEMU and not the 8VAB. Steve

Finished reading mine today - great read - Portchullin and Diesels in the Duchy were my favourite articles - I would also like to see a book on the retrospectrum articles. Thanks guys.

Got mine yesterday at Smiths in Chichester and I also had the price issue, other than that only really flicked through but what I have seen so far it looks pretty darn good. Steve

JSpencer - Good word, definitely right, right now, although Im not sure it will become water under the bridge over time - there appears to be a lot of people on this forum with llllllooooooooooooooooooonnnnngggggg memories and the second Hornby screw up it will be mentioned again & again & again & (you get the idea...) although I am posting in the DJM section of the forum and Hornby taking a pasting probably won't bother Dave. Another thing is your mentioning the BR blue variant - As somebody interested in the Green/BR Blue transition era I genuinely don't believe Hornby will do a BR Blue with pre-tops numbering (I don't recall it before anyway - this ultimately could be the vote winner for me. As I said before - nothing against either party. Steve (Sorry - for some reason my computer will not allow the quote function to work??)

I'm not taking anyside's here - I like DJM for Dave's rather open policy and I like Hornby - they are not perfect but I still like them, however.... Dave - if you are really confident enough that you can beat Hornby at this, then there are a few people pretty hacked off at the whole Exeter debacle at the moment - it would mean more duplication, granted, but business is business and if there is money to be made.....(I would be quite keen on 34021 rebuilt late condition hint hint)......... On another note you have created a headache for me because I am not in a position to pre-order the class 71 right now because of finance issues and now you have joined with Kernow again and announced the 117 (sensibly with 3 cars, unlike the Thumper) so thanks for that ;-) Steve

Hi Dave. I am very interested in E5010 in GFYE and I would pre-order BUT for financial reasons I probably wouldn't be pre-ordering until after Christmas now anyway. Steve

I have just been looking at the pictures on Rails website - the NRM version has air horns whilst t'other unit 2086 retains it's whistle which is (according to the Southern Electric Vol 2/David Brown book p.114) correct. Apparently already painted blue when it received its air horns in June 1971 and then withdrawn a few weeks later, so Hornby have done their research. I think it looks really good in blue. 2086 on pre-order. Steve

Dave - I'm very keen to place an order but no green full yellow end option. Hint Hint. Steve

If Farish commit to producing the 2EPB I'll commit the cash and buy 2x4ceps and 2x2epb. Until then farish really aren't incentivising me to buy a 4cep. I can't create a decent Southern Electric layout with just a CEP. Steve

Did any class 71s ever receive full yellow ends whilst in green? I thought I had seen a picture of one but can,t find it now and I'm not sure if I imagined it. Also what about Stewarts Lane's pet E5015 which was generally kept very clean for the Kent Coast Pullman trains along with flags?

Just read the latest Model Rail review of these and they say these are no good for 1st radius curves - I'm sure that won't affect many - It does me. Steve

Hey guys. Does anybody know if the BH Enterprises contact details are still the same. I placed an order on 24/10/13 but haven't as yet received anything and the cheque hasn't been cashed yet and there is no answer when I ring. Are they even still trading? Thanks in advance Steve

I feel your pain matey. I'm shortly about start conversion work on 4TCs in both N & OO scale using differing methods, however information on the underframe/coach ends seems nigh on impossible to find. Steve

Hi Mike. They look very good. Just a suggestion regarding colour matching - how about placing them alongside the farish Intercity executive 47 612 to see how they look. Steve

Colin - You may already know this but according to the David Brown Southern Electric Vol 2 book the motor coaches of 4377 spent a year running in 4LAV 2932 in 1967 before 4377 re-formed (caption p.97). Sorry for repeating it of you already knew. Steve

Dave, any chance of a piccie of the Crompton EP?