GNR Dave

Thanks for posting Tom. I was undecided due to the £150 price tag per three set, but they do look stunning, as does the C class. Definitely ordering a Southern set with a C class. The pre grouping combo will probably follow if the finances permit !

I've been told that livery samples for the Birdcages have been produced. Did anybody notice them at The N Gauge Show this weekend? Any photos ?

Damn it, I was happy with my old J72s until I saw those pics. Gonna have to have the NER version and probably the LNER one aswell.

I buy most of my stuff from Rails online. Would be nice to pay them a visit though. I did meet the staff at Warley last year and again at Ally Pally this year, but the refurbishment of the store looks wonderful and well worth a visit. Just not from Surrey ! It's always tempting to want to visit the shops that have huge multi page ads in the magazines, in the belief that they will have anything and everything on display in a spacious customer friendly shop. The reality is not always the case though, as I found after a 70 mile round trip to one such establishment, to find a very small shop with most of the stock 'out back' with no public access.

No No NO ! Go and sit on the naughty step !

Well mine turned up today. It's the first time I've seen one in the flesh. Have to say it is very impressive. This and the Single have definitely raised the bar for UK ready to run. Well done to all concerned.

I ordered mine at the end of April this year (V1), and got the email today saying it's on the way and the balance payment has been taken.

BMW Models in Wimbeldon. (Haydons Road IIRC) I remember seeing their full page ad in Military Modelling (another sad loss to the modelling world) and cycling over there after school one afternoon. Unfortunately me spending most of my paper-round money there over the following year or so wasn't enough to keep them in business.

12 months at a fiver a month is £60. Unless you're thinking second hand, loco prices have moved on a bit in the last 40 years ! Welcome back to the hobby though

The guy from APC that collected my spare Single on Friday (at the third time of asking) has just turned up at my doorstep today (Tuesday).............to collect my spare Single and return it to Locomotion. Ian, glad to see you got a Single, even if it was not the one I returned on Friday that definitely had your name on it. Phrases about arses and elbows come to mind.

APC have arranged for collection and failed to show twice now for my extra Single. Third time lucky ? I hope this delivery hiccup doesn't have a negative impact on all the hard work done by Rapido and Locomotion to generate some extra income for the museum.

I thought they were the evil robots from Dr Who

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the Lionheart exclusive version is only available with DCC sound. If this is the case, it will be at a considerable price disadvantage over the DCC ready versions from Dapol.

And the person on the invoice is probably the one with your Single, and they, like me, are waiting to hear from the delivery company / Locomotion about what to do with the extra model. Patience my boy, patience ! Good things come to those who wait ! You won't be disappointed.

At the risk of kicking the New Engine Green hornets nest, is it intended that this version will match the earlier Dapol releases in this livery ? I seem to remember it coming in for some negative comments when they came out. Speaking personally I would rather it matched my Waddon, but don't want to order if they've 'tweeked' it.

Couldn't possibly do that, nobody seems to know what colour it really was.

I thought I'd spray my spare one dark green and stick Emilys face on the smokebox door.

He's obviously seen the error of his ways and switched to the One True Railway Company.

I too have received 2 Singles, one with my name and address but wrong house number and one for an Ian MacCormac at the same address. I don't know any Ian MacCormacs, but Ian, if by any chance you're reading this, rest assured your Single is safe and well and will be returned to Locomotion ASAP (Or what ever other instruction they issue.)

I've not had and email requesting the balance for V1 so I guess mine is in the second batch. That will give me a couple more weeks to perfect my lining technique.

The thing with the Wainwright C is that Bachmann had the sense to back it up with the Birdcage stock, hence the continued increase in price / demand. I don't think any other manufacturer has done this with their pre-grouping locos, limiting their appeal to collectors and people capable of kit building appropriate rolling stock. The announcement by Locomotion that they are looking at possibly producing RTR stock suitable for the Single (and by default, their superb GN Atlantic) will no doubt have had a positive effect on orders for the locos.

My earliest recollection is an oval of track plus the obligatory siding nailed to a 6 X 4 and a red loco called Polly. Can't remember any other stock. The board had the Triang station on one side and the siding ramped up on the other to terminate atop the Airfix girder bridge. That would be about 1966. I was 4. In the early 1970s my dad sold it all plus my Scalextric for £10 and bought a Minitrix N gauge track pack, to which my Grandad added a Minitrix Britannia and two coaches. The base was an old door and had paper mache hills and tunnels. To me though, these were just toys to play with and were 'gone' by my early teens. My real interest was not rekindled until 2000 when I went with a friend and his 6 year old son to the Ally Pally show. I left with a new Hornby J52 in GNR livery, a couple of S/H 'teak' clerestories, several yards of code 75 and a book on the Great Northern Railway. That's the day I became a Railway Modeller. And my credit card has hated me ever since.

My late Grandad bought me a Minitrix N gauge Britannia and a couple of coaches (Mk 1s in BRS green ?) for my 13th birthday. I always thought the level of detail and trouble free running to be better than anything I had come across. It made the Grafar stuff available at the time look rather crude. That was 44 years ago and I still think it looks the biz today. And it has working lights !

When I spoke to Dapol at Ally Pally, the chap said they were hopeful their version would be available for Warley. Not sure if the Lionheart limited edition will be sooner or later.

Maybe the Dynamometer car is lined. Running for cover as I type.............