BernardTPM

Not through excessive mileage though, more neglect.

An end view would help with the clerestory as the Midland profile was quite distinctive with very rounded shoulders to both lower roof and clerestory.

That too, but if more lines were electrified not as many freight diesels would have been needed. Yes, and new work seem ever so expensive even compared to the late '80s costs after taking into account inflation.

A symbol of the failure to achieve a proper railway electrification programme in the past several decades.

All Fords too. Mk.3 Cortinas, Mk.1 Escorts & Capris and Mk.IV Zephyr/Zodiacs. The latter were in their last months of production by that time.

GWR Special saloon 9005 was fitted with B4 bogies in 1961, though since removed. Original underframe.

Dundas Models sell the sides for these (& some Midland ones) separately.

Innocenti made a one-piece top hinged tailgate for their version of the A40 Farina.

The prototype was 8 foot wide over the bunker, so 32mm. If using tight curves there will be quite a bit of overhang as the maximum width extends right to one end. I have to say the motion looks paticularly good, capturing the prototype's chunky appearance.

It probably wouldn't be the first Gresley body with Commonwealth bogie: those were the recommended functional bogies for the Trix card kits! 😁

I think it might be a variation on the AMU/Networker, especially given the cross section profile. Those 'buffers' would cover the over-rider protectors. There were several family members that never made production: Class 341 for Crossrail Class 447 Battersea Bullet Class 481 Kent High Speed Visually the 447 is closest, but you'd expect a lot of changes between early artist impression and a physical mock-up. Another possibilty is a driving cab for a Mk.3 when they were considering short, single power car HST conversions in, I think, the early 1990s, though there was another artist drawing of that which was rather different.

Scale of that A50 depends on what you measure. Matchbox claimed 1:71. For overall length it's 1:73, for wheelbase it's 1:75.3, for width it's 1:71 (Measured to nearest 1/2mm and using the dimensions here).

That's not the one shown at the top of this thread. The IC250 cab was much longer.

Wheels too big seems to be a common error on many 4mm scale diecasts. I'd say the Base Toys Mk.1 Cortina is no worse than the Oxford Mk.2, but both fall short. Long before that, soon after the Springside kit came out I made a 4-door Mk.1 by combining the estate car sides with the other saloon parts (Springside were kind enough to supply just the extra sides) which makes for a better shape than the 2-door saloon kit as the rear waistline falls slightly as it should, but there was a lot of reworking of both the bonnet and boot necessary. I used low melt sodler as filler and it shrunk after the model was painted, hence it was never completed.

The 4-door Mk.1 Cortina was in the Base Toys/Bachmann range, but only available secondhand now. Triang did a Corsair in their Minix range; not the most common secondhand, but not the rarest either, though it is one without an interior. In 4mm Oxford have done the PA Cresta in both saloon and estate car formats, but in N only the estate. Really the FB Victor would have been a better candidate for estate car format; they were relatively common and were a factory model. It is shame the Classix range is currently defunct. But compared to the situation 30 years ago there's so much more ready made.

Amusingy this means there are small versions of Airfix kit parts in the Japanese kits.

Checking Peco's 1986 price list, they only supplied nickel silver track in N. The wooden sleeper 'code 55'* was new. No matching points at that time. * total rail height was still code 80, but the visible section was code 55. The double foot to the rail meant that there were no fixings necessary on the inside face of the track, allowing the same clearance for flanges as standard code 80 rail with the normal raised plastic rail fixings.

Did they ever off steel in N? In 00 it would have had the advantage of working with the Triang-Hornby Magnadhesion system; there was nothing like that in N.

For 1977-79 you'd want the original Mk.IV type anyway as the Cortina '80 (a.k.a. Mk.V) only came out in the Autumn of 1979 (1980 model year, hence the designation). As far as I've been able to find out the spoiler wasn't standard even on the 1982 run-out Crusader models. I did find a 'Crusader S' that had one, but I'm not convinced that it was genuine, especially as I've not been able to find a second example, let alone one so adorned in a Ford brochure.

Even the Peco Code 55 was designed to run with older flanges (well, unless you're talking early '60s stuff like Lone Star and early Arnold). Not sure exactly when it was introduced, but the plain flexible code 55 track was certainly around by the end of the 1980s.

Perhaps the conductor as he doesn't have any hands on the controls, standing against the bulkhead.

Apparently it's running again.

Thanks Dave. I have fond memories of going down to Chalkwell by train back in the early to mid '60s for family days on the beach.

Lines should be very thin if done, perhaps using a slightly darker shade of the vehicle's colour rather than straight black. Most panel gaps are way overscale on 1:76 models. Here's a light coloured car (in surprisingly good condition for a 7 years old one 1972) where the only really obvious line is the one at the bottom of the doors. By contrast, dead side on the lines can be more obvious as shown here. Incidentally, the second picture shows how the Austin A30/A35 body was designed as a 4-door with a fill-in panel for the 2-door version, the join being very visible.

If it's going to crash into another vehicle then it isn't really safe. Anyway, I'd take the train...