olivegreen

Whilst I sympathise and would be a buyer for all of those, I think we are again in the realms of porcine aeronautics!

I resemble that remark. OK, guilty as charged. (Among others, of course….!) Mike

I have just received my copy, too. An excellent reference with very good coverage of the type: thanks go to you and John Wenyon for producing it. Mike

Especially at our (well, my) age.

Rings the same bell with me, too! Unfortunately, like Richard Jones, my Mike King 'bible' is inaccessible at the moment to check. Nevertheless, what I said relating to the entirely reasonable question posed in post 852 regarding full Thirds and full Firsts, allowing for the possibility of later downgrading of the latter (in BR days?), stands. (Minor edit)

Oops - I stand corrected on the first line in my previous post! Are they in print and available, I wonder?

Some interesting points above. I agree that there is little of what I would term 'value' in print on French railcars in general whatever their gauge (though I may have missed something, of course), but magazines do occasionally have articles that cover them, often indirectly. (Edit: but see post 7 below!) For example, in the current issue of Le Train (issue 356, December 2017) there is an article on railcars in the Est region - not what you are looking for, I realise - but even there it is short on detail useful to the modeller. Equally, I find drawings of French rolling stock extremely difficult to come by. Again, as an example, I have long been searching for a properly-dimensioned drawing of a Nord fourgon (the type later modified for use on the Night Ferry) without success. We live in hope! Mike

The three you mention are all different, since First and Third compartment widths lead to different window sizes and spacing. As to one masquerading as another - remember rule one…!

I absolutely agree your last sentence. Just a thought ... On French TV news last night, in the context of the (we are asked to believe) software failure at Montparnasse over the weekend, it was mentioned that SNCF is 44 billion euros in debt. No plan whatsoever as to how that will be recovered, and yet the system outside the LGV/TGV network is dated and crumbling (their words, not mine). To restore the system, the government has said it would allocate 45 billion euros to SNCF Réseau (= railtrack-ish), spread across the years to 2022 (I may have that year wrong, but it is over a number of years at any rate). SNCF passengers will believe it if and when when they see it. It is almost political suicide here to put up train fares, which is of course one of the causes of these problems, added to that of excessive expenditure on TGV/LGV, as the French national audit office highlighted last month and as I have mentioned elsewhere in these threads…and yet the planned 12 billion euro extension of the LGV to/around Toulouse is still programmed... Believe me, the other man's grass is NOT greener! Mike

Even if manufacturers could achieve the degree of utopia that Robin Brasher would wish (I'm not sure that utopia can have degrees, but you get my meaning!), another well-worn argument would then arise as to whether the colours agreed upon were the 'real' colours, or those adjusted for scale, distance and the host of other elements that have been discussed in these threads. As to comparing that Wrenn horror (by today's standards) with the Bachmann birdcages….hmmm!

All that makes me wonder where those of us who have ordered 'Taw' (at a supposedly guaranteed pre-order price) stand. When and if 'Taw' appears, I'll believe it!

Just a thought… reading the last few posts, I find it sad that such a degree of consumerism has taken hold. Lots of 'look what I bought' type of comments, yet hardly one on what I (obviously naïvely) presumed the exhibition was principally about - a display of railway modelling.

Makes me wonder if it is the same bunch of twerps who coined 'ouigo' and 'inOui' in France for the TGV services. The mind boggles.

Memo to self for next visit down under: tongue-in-cheek humour is clearly unknown in South Australia.

Another example of the great information I find here! Many thanks for that link (to a site that I didn't know existed) - fascinating. Mike

I cannot match Gwiwer's numbers of models but I have one each of Dapol's 52, 22 and 122 and all have run perfectly as I would have wished from the start, though I have the same reservation about the panels dropping off the 22 (I am aware could glue them in place, of course). I do not favour Dapol over any other manufacturer but pragmatism reminds me of an old business adage that for every group of satisfied customers, however large that group might be - the silent majority, as it were - the odd dissatisfied customer makes a lot of noise and intentionally or otherwise damages the reputation of the business. That is not to say that mistakes are not made, of course, as Gwiwer points out, especially in mass manufacturing down to a price. I thank Dapol for making the models I have bought but would add 'watch the quality control, please - you might be standing into danger'.

Speak for yourself, Andy! That said, I confess I did once have my own French (man's) handbag. Wouldn't be seen dead with it now! Mike

Off-topic, I know, but following on from Mike Storey's last paragraph above, the French equivalent of the national audit office has recently pointed fingers at SNCF for excessive expenditure on the TGV network, highlighting (if the news media are to be believed) that some 38% of the SNCF budget is spent on TGV, which carries only 2% of the passenger total. (edited to add that although those actual figures will doubtlessly be debated until the cows come home, the general point is clear.) As is the way of these things, I suspect that the true cost of the LGV extensions from just east of Le Mans to Rennes and from south of Tours to Bordeaux (both loss-making TGV routes - that to Bordeaux in particular, according to the same audit office), which opened with great publicity this summer, will never be known to the French taxpayer. Mike.

Presumably the weapon Mr Willcocks is carrying is the special one required for rail car hunting (sic) in Hayle! Sorry….a senior moment of whimsy. Great photos, thanks for posting them. Mike

I suppose salmon over brown would be out of the question in the 21st century… I'm rather expecting another of those ghastly jazzy multicoloured patterns….sincerely hope I'm wrong!

I think readers of this thread have got the message. Now is perhaps the time to stop moaning and wait for developments!

I have yet to see one of these models - I have one on order, of course - but having read the rather less sensational of the comments above I would agree with Stevelewis (and others) that a redesign seems in order on several points. If that is indeed what Heljan is aiming at, it is pointless raging on about lack of deliveries and so on. Lack of information is another thing but, as has been said elsewhere, if Heljan, like many European companies, is taking block summer holidays we shouldn't expect any news until into September. Let's enjoy the sun while it lasts: modelling is for the shorter days (well, for me, anyway!).

Their turn of phrase even today (I have just looked) is, shall we say, a little 'direct'. Edited to add… (the point of Mallard's question) … the question has prompted me to leaf quickly through my books: I hadn't realised that, for all the dozens of photos of SJ that have been published, nowhere is there a drawing of the building. Hmm… perhaps, despite the comment above, the SW Circle might be the only remaining source.

The pictures in post 393 and on Kernow's own site clearly show ordinary couplings both ends of both coaches. (Edit: …though that may not be what they appear with - see #438 above!)