Zunnan

loads of room to get anything from iPhone speakers right up to an EM1 with a bit of clearancing to refit the body screws either side. Very easy one to sound fit.

They are at least now listing MR Maroon as being a 'what if' livery. I'd like to see photographic grey too to be honest. What interests me more though is which combination of details they are going to tool for as that will set the tone for which of the black liveries are correct. After the Fell, I think it reasonable to assume it will be a one size fits all model.

V5 with Biffo, EM1 with a pair of 20x20s if I can cram it all in. I managed this in an EFE 58 so it should be doable in the much roomier 45, it just depends whether the sound project agrees with this setup. Some do, some don't.

Is Saltley anything but a signing on point now? I did my last spotting anywhere in the country there around 2005 and even then much of it had been derelict for years, the land it once stood on is now just an extended part of EMRs scrapyard. To be honest though, by then my interest in the sanitised real world railways had reduced to pretty much zero...that last trip to Saltley killed it off and its never returned, its when I returned to modelling instead. I do remember a time when Saltley played host to the banker, 58012 was one of them. I can remember 012 freshly shopped in coal sector livery too, and how unusual it was to see a freight machine kept cleaner than almost everything else on shed. It was also one of the pool called on for the Baddesley Colliery clearing trains around the same time which times this particular memory to the late '80s and early 90s.

Tender height has been addressed as well as the oil firing experiments, as has the washout plug situation which changed as often as the boilers. But there are other changes that occurred not all at once, they happened over time. Subtle(ish) and yet not very subtle at all once you notice them. The big one is the reversing gear. As built she had a steam reverser but this was later changed to a mechanical linkage. MR and early LMS would have no whacking great big reversing lever along the right hand side and steam gear instead. Then there is the safety valves. Built with a pair of Ramsbottoms and mounted side by side, later changed to Ross Pop. The chimney was also changed for a Stanier pattern. Also changes to the front end frames following the shunt with 47305, the most obvious change being the more rounded plate with lifting eyes following repairs and carried for the last couple of years. There are other modifications, but these are the period defining ones I'd look for. One of the other changes which is a certainty but details are far harder to track down...I think the steam generator for the light and its associated wiring and switchgear moved around a bit. Some later BR photos of the left side show something running down the middle of the cab side to the cab step and then back up and along the running plate, while most other photos clearly don't have this. It also pre-dates the accident damage as at least one photo shows the original front frame profile.

For some months at least I would wager. Though clearly by March is seems to have disappeared under the filth, it can still be (just) seen in the 24th July photo banking a goods train.

Back to the locomotive in question though. Given her annual checkup trek, she can at least be explained away from Bromsgrove to Blackwell within certain parameters. A good friend of mine was commissioned to make a model of Water Ortons bridge a few years back which would be a great location for her on a works visit...but I'm just waiting to see the guaranteed photos of the big 'un piloting over the Mendips with a 7F. One if my usual local history sites has a nice section on Bertha. Photo by D J Norton has an interesting shot of her being laid over at Saltley in Jan 1949 with BR number and LMS still on tender; presumably painted out but still very clear indeed.

You know, I'd always considered that alignment as result of the construction of Hams Hall A from 1927, so as being an LMS thing...so had never even considered dating that one. You learn something every day.

I meant inside motion...the shared steam chests will have brought their own complexities. I don't half wish that those cylinder blocks survived! Given that she was briefly trialled elsewhere on mineral trains, I think the tolerances will have been more than generous enough to cope with anything a typical running line and siding should throw. I doubt a single foot of track within Derby works would be suspect either. Tight curvature and sideways tolerance would still be interesting to see with that 0-10-0 footprint, especially when routed via Whitacre prior to the construction of the more gentle route on the other side of Hams Hall. The rub marks evident on her frames at the end of her days told plenty enough by themselves! I get the feeling that the frames were less tolerant than the cranked axle. I'm feeling the yellow ends, but to be true Centro I think yellow smokebox ring with a black door and silver fittings. Or maybe a yellow cab front and tender cab rear with a black bandit mask about the windows.

Or raise the second axle/lower the centre axle at the wrong point of rotation. Thankfully the PW she was used over was by and large always in good shape, though I do wonder if the middle valve gear were removed for transporting to Derby to guard against any contact, especially if asked to move aside into more dubious trackage on the multiple trips she made North. It also makes you wonder about the collision damage when ran into by 47305 and whether that displaced the cylinders enough to make contact given the frame damage she suffered. Always been a fan of the Big 'un. I hope they don't do the steam reverser on later LMS or BR, or mechanical reverser on MR/early LMS. Same with the differing safety valves. I'll take mine in Centro livery.

I suppose different peoples priorities lie in the 'have to have it for minimal effort and I want it yesterday' category. I'm entirely guilty of that too. The shopping is online. Takeout is online. Movie hire is online. We're becoming completely disconnected from direct social interaction. A week or so ago, Just Eat had a big outage and it was curry night. Rather disappointed and on the verge of just cooking something me and the Mrs decided to go down to the takeout instead. For the first time in at least 4 years. And you know what? Just the experience of sitting there smelling the food being cooked and having a chat with the staff was absolutely fantastic. Online sales just don't have the same thrill for me. They're a means to an ends. My last model railway related one was more like this... Got home from work to a 'Sorry we missed you' card, so went online and arranged a re-delivery for my day off work. Didn't come due to strike action. Rearranged it again and had to have it redirected to my parents house as that was the only guarantee someone would be in. Finally received package 10 days after purchase. Not bad for a 48hour service. Opened up, and immediately note loose parts in the packaging, inspect and think 'meh, I can fix that'. Plonked on the layout to test it, glorious grinding noise from within. Contact the seller to arrange a return then re-packaged the problem child and trudge up to the post office. Await confirmation that the return has been received, then get the great news that a replacement is not available so would I like a refund or store credit against another purchase? That, vs being able to go into a model shop that doesn't have an online presence. My second to last visit to Topps Trains went pretty much thus. Looking for the by then sold out everywhere online Bachmann SFX class 47 in IC Swallow. Get to handle the model in the flesh for the very first time, and be seriously impressed as the online photos don't nearly do it justice. Notice a blemish or two and point them out, deflated expecting that to be the only one. Despondency turns to glee as Mike nips to the back room and pulls out another SFX Duff. Look it over and its perfect, so it gets test run, properly test run to the point its bordering on a full run in session. Wallet hits real deep trouble as you find not one, but two Mk2F TSO in blue/grey which are fetching £150+ on ebay. Not only that but also notice there are several IC exec TSO as well. Leave the shop half an hour later grinning from ear to ear wondering how you're going to explain the £700 hit to the bank because you've found and pillaged a treasure trove near impossible to find online. My most recent visit was more restrained...I just went back for two more of those IC exec TSO which are selling for silly money online because apparently they're not available 'anywhere'.

The catalogue is evidence enough methinks. Very little is of actual TT models at present, most is 00 models with the couplers shopped...poorly. The HAAs with their inherant 00 errors in the cradle I pointed out being a perfect example. Otherwise why perpetuate a known mistake on a brand new range? AYs comparison between 00 and TT Duchess is another perfect example.

This is what I envisage as well, on the proviso that the pockets properly meet the NEM standard. Easishunts on locos, loose wagons and end of coaching sets with the OEM couplers within sets or Hunts. Its already the case that there are some variances with British N pockets though, and that some fit better than others to competitors products. I think it was earlier Farish that wasn't quite right and fitting the Dapol NEM couplers resulted in a rather iffy fit...this was pre-easi shunts though with the plain knuckles Dapol produce mind you, things have improved since.

Nail, head. Hobbies require effort, screens cost less and don't require effort. Parenting has long since been passed on to the TV and iPad. I had mine hooked on model railways by age 6. At 8 the grandparents (my side, so can't blame the inlaws) bought a cheap second hand and it took around 30 minutes for the mere notion of going and playing with the new engine for Christmas to be met with eye rolls and disinterest.

Are you sure you're not mixing up social anxiety issues with model shop proprietors being on the whole extremely helpful and knowledgeable? I can only think of a former shop in Warwick as being anywhere near unpleasant. Everywhere else I've been up and down the country I've been met with nothing but a smile and advice when asked for. I don't know what shops you're going into to feel so put out, but the most intimidating place I can think of is Tutbury Models where you're greeted with a cheery 'ow do's duck, if you need a hand wi owt gissa shout'.

How about the HAA with the same cradle mistake and rather beefy metal buffers, or the 66 with the Lima-esque chassis? They've sure been busy cutting and pasting that bugs head coupler! I think there is quite some misconception about how small TT1:120 actually is. Going off European models is a bit of a false start as they are prototypically quite a bit larger. A typical Stanier 57 footer will be 27mm longer, 6.5mm higher and a shade over 4mm wider than its N Gauge counterpart. I personally expect to see detail on par with current N Gauge offerings, but widened over cylinders and valve gear to compensate for the much closer to prototype track gauge and chunky wheels needed to negotiate setrack. I look forward to the range expanding, when they get round to the Black 5 I'll have a punt.

Agreed, but Hornbys wheel standards on 00 over the last few years has been rather hit and miss at best so I wouldn't put it past them to do something completely different to what is already in their portfolio. The B2 pecketts for example with their rather deep flanges.

The robustness argument has raged on for a very long time on N with these rail standards with Pecos code 55 vs code 80 with people not familiar with how Peco code 55 works. Pecos 'Code 55' is actually a code 81 rail, embedded into the sleepers with a second foot to the rail at code 55 height. It is FAR more robust than code 80 as it does not rely on the chairs to hold the rail in place with the rail well and truly embedded into the sleeper base. edit ~ With regards to my earlier comment about the wheel standards. As long as the flanges aren't too deep, what works on code 80 will work on code 55. The thing I am concerned with could be the back to backs, those wheels on the A3 front 3/4 views look rather crude to be running on what Peco has produced.

Hornby do have a track record of looking at NEM and NMRA standards, ripping them up and doing their own thing. Even now their DCC stuff is barely compliant. I worry about the wheel standards they are seemingly using. The Euro 1:120 stuff I've handled over the years has quite fine wheel standards but the Hornby promotional photos look like they have Farish Poole era steamrollers with pizza cutter flanges.

Supplied DC only for now but fitted with Next18 socket, so to all intents and purposes they're DCC ready. It was mentioned that DCC and Sound is to come.

Thats where the competition will cash in. I'm sure Heljan won't be exclusive online sales 😉

I see they're perpetuating the huge gap in their 00 LMS coach range by ignoring a composite. Jumping in with both feet is one thing, but I hope they don't just repeat what they've done in 00 and actually fill the gaps this time.

I got to get my hands on this beauty at Cradley today and play with the sound project. Not many words needed...we just need a chefs kiss emoji. Its damn near perfect.

I'll admit to going out of my way to chase after Medusa and Phoenix back when the writing was on the wall for them. But I was always more of a Rat fan and was still missing seeing them puttering around at the time, and I kind of resented the 31s as they seemingly took over from them at Bescot. Who'd have thought that around 10 years later I'd be also missing the 31s too. Never looked twice at a 47 back then, 56s were much more dramatic!

I'm in the camp which prefers dimensional accuracy. Buy hey, if the spinny thing goes round then WOW, its so innovative!