County of Yorkshire

Does these genuinely come with lights factory fitted? If so, does anyone fancy taking some pics in the twilight? Cheers, CoY

Would agree with all of that Mike. So, then, Hornby are missing a GWR passenger tank of any size in their stable of 21st century tooling. Yes, they've the 42/52/72 heavies but nothing to pull their Collett coaches. Perhaps a 5101 announcement to accompany some GWR non-corridor stock (that in itself a big omission from their range) becons for 2018/2019? Stands to reason that the dancing couple of the LNER L1 - Gresley/Thompson non-corridors, the LMS Stanier Tank - Period III non-corridors, and the SR M7/H - LSWR (SR rebuilt non corridors) would be complemented by a GWR Large Prairie and some Collett flat-ended non-corridor coaches? Personally I would be a trifle dismayed if we did not see the above state of affairs by abut 2020. Unless my OCD sensibilities have beaten logic to the surface? CoY

Absolutely. And I take it be Angular you meant Anglia? Sorry. Though yes, the 19-33 series railcars would be very much welcomed as a retool. No doubt Rails/Locomotion etc would do a ltd ed one as Didcot's No.22.

We are talking about the railcars built to operate in the West County here, not in the East of the country. CoY

Absolutely. Can they shrink this autocoach and size up its N gauge GWR K41 BG as produced for the N Gauge Society. I asked the question re: the latter to the N Gauge Soc at this year's Donny show and they actually said the IP design rights remain with Dapol, not them, and so I'm a bit baffled as to why they haven't gone for this something of an open goal (in that it would be the only pre-war GWR BG to 21st Century RTR standards; Hornby's Hawksworth BG is very nice but they didn't exist much before 1950!) CoY

It's alright for some. I was told by Derails on Tuesday over the phone that my Oxford Rail Dean Goods was being sent out that same day via 1st class courier. I am sat here on Friday evening and there is still no sign of it. Hmmm. All sorted, after excellent communication and problem solving from Derails - it is Her Majesty's Royal Mail who should have been, and now are, the target of my ire. I shall now leave all of you cronies of Crewe* to it.... CoY *Although the GWR DNA on these beasts is not lost on me!

Uh-oh. So that's the BR Dean Goods, the Kernow 1361, and Dapol's Flying Banana all landing within a few weeks of each other! Can anyone lend me some money? CoY

Bullied Coaches?

Imagine a 43/53/73/93xx GWR Mogul to Hornby's current (see the latest images of the LMS Coronation Class) standards! Mmmmm... With a Hornby Lord Nelson looking increasingly nailed-on, it would seem that Hornby are open to parking their tanks on Barwell's lawn. And besides, even if Bachmann announced a retooled GWR Mogul in the next 12 months, it wouldn't see the light of day until 2021 at least, which leaves the door open for Hornby to nip in with their much, much shorter lead times. Frankly the lack of progress with the 94xx pannier is verging on the farcical. All that being said, what would GWR modelers rather have if there was a proverbial gun to the head? A Manor, a County, a Saint, a Mogul, or a 41/51/61xx Prairie? These are the biggest gaps in the loco fleet now really and I do feel that we will see them all in the next decade. If I had to go with one it would probably be the Mogul, given that they were found all over the GWR system, were maids of all work, and the old Mainline/Bachmann tooling and split chassis very ropey these days; I could probably make a case to buy three or four alone. My logic here is governed by the fact that the Hornby large prairie is serviceable with the more recent Hornby motor and the body aint bad, the Bachmann Manor scrubs up ok, as does the County. Hornby's circa 1980's Saint is pretty poor in all aspects, but given that a lot of these had dissapeared by 1948 I am not sure if there would be as much demand for one as the other prototypes listed. The new build GWR County and Saint do make retools of these almost inevitable however, in my view. CoY

Perhaps I ought to have been more specific in my definition of express passenger locos and provide more rationale for my list. However, upon further thought this is difficult, as for example my list is not solely 7P & 8P power classifications, given that King Arthur's were only 5P, Jubilee's 6P. My definition of 'express passenger' for the purposes of my post is probably as follows: Express Passenger (not Mixed Traffic - such as GWR Countys, Halls, Granges and Saints, LNER V2's and not 'Passenger' locos that were given over to the secondary routes; e.g. the GWR Manor, LNER B16, B17, and Claudes, LMS Compounds, SR Schools and T9's) locos that could be found in the period roughly 1930 - 1960 on the principle expresses of the Big 4 and BR, which were mainly (but not exclusively) from the London termini to the principle stations on each region (LNER: the ECML and Edinburgh, Newcastle, York, Leeds, LMS: the WCML and Manchester, Liverpool and Glasgow, GWR: Bristol, Cardiff, Birmingham, Plymouth. SR: Southampton, Bournemouth, Dover, Brighton). These Express Passenger locos were the engines of choice for the PR departments, and would be liable to be found in the promotional literature of the age: Railway Posters, cigarette cards, Hornby Dublo catalogue covers, jigsaws etc! The rationale for my list is as follows: Locos that, again, could be found on the principle expresses of the 1930 - 1960 era, and that all made it into BR colours. Moreover, 'one off' esoteric prototypes are not really going to make it into the list, given the comparative shortness of their lives before right-off, rebuilding or withdrawal due to their 'non-standard' nature (LMS Turbomotive, LNER P2 and W1, GWR Great Bear, LNER Thompson Pacifics*). Appreciate I've shot myself in the foot by including BR's Duke of Gloucester, but what did it for her is the fact that she made it into preservation, I suppose. In sum, it is obviously difficult to set too specific a barrier to what makes into a list of 'principle' Express Passenger loco of the Big 4 and BR, but I've had a stab and I wouldn't be surprised if that's not too far away from how the R&D teams of the RTR boys see it. *I suppose a case could be made for the LNER Thomposn A2/3 pacific, given that there were 15 in the class and the last went in 1965 - the others were either built in small numbers or were withdrawn by 1960/61. CoY

Interesting. This would give bang-up-to-date 21st century tooling versions of all of the big four and BR's express passenger locos (sans some of the esoteric LNER Thompson pacifics): LNER Peppercorn A1 - Bachmann Peppercorn A2 - Bachmann A3 - Hornby A4 - Hornby LMS Coronation - Hornby (pending release) Princess Royal - Hornby (though getting on a bit now - perhaps the weak link of this entire list?) Royal Scot - Hornby Patriot - Hornby Jubilee - Bachmann GWR King - Hornby Castle - Hornby Star - Hornby SR Rebuilt and unrebuilt Merchant Navy - Hornby Rebuit and unrebuilt BoB/WC - Hornby King Arthur - Hornby Lord Nelson - .... Hornby (?!) BR Britannia - Hornby Clan - Hornby (held up by many as one of the finest RTR releases of all time, but rumors abound that the tooling is now lost to Hornby(?) Duke of Gloucester - Hornby (Railroad, but not a bad bit of kit?) Not a lot of low-hanging fruit for the RTR boys going forwards then; you'd think someone - likely Hornby - would refresh the LMS Princes Royal, and then that's the lot really... CoY Edited to add the BR Clan after its absence was pointed out by JSpencer.

Whoops! That was the before. This is the after... 5917 Westminster Hall in wartime black. I know she would have been in black in 1947 as GWRJ No 8 gave her as going into Swindon works and coming out in black in Spring 1944 (iirc) and so it is reasonbale to assume that she wouldn't have gone back into GWR green prior to nationlisation. This is my first ever, properly completed RTR upgrade, and I've had this in mind since getting one of the cheap Olton Hall's from Hornby back in 2014 when they were flogging them off for forty notes(?). As such, from front to rear I've added: A smokebox door dart Lead weight in the smokebox/front of boiler barrell Brass name and numberplates Power and weight restriction indicators on the cab side Replacement cabside L handrails Fully detailed cab Real coal (from Carrog station!) Replacement vertical and horizontal tender handrails. Finished in: Halfords satin black Fox transfers for wartime locos Testors Dullcote to finish I am pretty pleased with it to be honest. She's currently doing about 75mph on my rolling road. Cheers, CoY P.S - I cannot get the vertical pictures to go horizontal, no matter what I try!

Thought I'd share with everyone a Hall class loco that has been a labour of love over the last 2 months or so... I was trying to go for this. Cheers, CoY

Superb, though please could I rock the superlative boat and enquire where the smokebox door dart has gone? CoY

Whilst idly browsing the forum this morning and seeing Coach's image above, I thought I't finally scratch an itch I've had for a long while. Therefore, can someone please tell me the function of the grey waist strips on the brake double doors? I see it present on much post-nationalisation LMS origin stock, but cannot fathom it's function, as it is not seen on stock from other regions. P.S - I've always liked the look of the Porthole stock, but as a pre-nationalisation modeller I've no excuse to have some! CoY

Absolutely. I am not going to pay £161 (that's Hattons price - RRP is £189.99(!)) for the forthcoming Hornby GWR King from 'The Last Day' Collection, when I can pick up last years release for £89.99 discounted, a tin of matt black enamel for £1.70, and some HMRS transfers for £7, and have a King in the self and same livery with an evening's work. Modellers have no logical need to pay more for a 98% similar model, who's price is a hostage to time based inflation, though 'R number' collectors might. Another part of this wider whole is the fact that inflation has moved up to 3%, whilst wages have seen an average rise of 1.2% for the same period. Appreciate that Railway Modelling is a hobby, and a luxury - non essential - spend, but Hornby's recent RRP rises of between 5%-30% (Q1 from £110 to £150) for some products is totally out of step with certain parts of reality; partially for reasons as specified by adb9680008 above. CoY

Is their Caerphilly Castle not correct then, Miss?

Excellent; makes reliverying to GWR wartime black easier! But in all seriousness, is this prototypical? CoY

Unfortunately, yes. It is also something that is nigh-on impossible to remove for all but the most adept modeller, such is its integral relationship to the rear splasher. The 4093 - 5012 series Castles with slightly larger scalloped cylinder cover is represented by the 2009(?) release of 5011 Tintagel Castle in Great - Crest - Western green. These, however, are now like hen's teeth and frequently go on eBay for north of £100, as for a long time these were the only game in town for a GWR liveried Castle with 4,000 gallon Collett tender until this years release of Drysyllwyn Castle in the Shitbutton livery. Out of interest, Tintagel Castle has no fire iron tunnel and so Hornby do have the tooling to do the scalloped cylinder cover (the larger one of 4093- 5012 series however) and no fire iron tunnel. Indeed I think it has been said on here before that there are still a lot of detail combinations that Hornby can do with their castles: Single Chimney Collett Tender in late BR livery, 4073 - 4092 series Castle with 4000 Gallon tender in any livery, or indeed with a Hawksworth tender and any BR livery. Who was it who said one can never have too many castles? CoY

CoY

Take the point but the gentleman will have to travel out of London to attend a swapmeet as I just don't see the market for these existing within the M25 anymore. For example, there is one in Brentwood this Saturday. My advice would be to take £100 cash and your best haggling voice and you will get bargains! if you pick up, say, four or five things that's postage saved on each item if bought online. At £4 average postage per item that's £20 which pays for the London - Brentwood train ticket, entry to the swapmeet and a coffee. Plus, of course, it gets you out for the day! CoY

Great news about the continuation of the range, and my anxiety about non-availability has greatly diminished - still don't regret cleaning Peter's Spares out of all of their GWR/Cambrian Railways kits however! How about a GWR Crocodile of a different length/style to the Mainline/Bachmann RTR one? Something like a Crocodile F to complement the reheated Bachmann Crocodile H? CoY

Try and get out to some swap meets - I picked up a stack of bargains at the Doncaster Toy & Train fair today: Kit built Ian Kirk GWR Monster van in decent nick but wrong livery for £8 Brand new Hornby GWR Toad (2017 tooling) for £7 Brand new Hornby GWR Collett brake third for £25 A History of GWR Goods Wagons (Atkins, Hyde & Touret) now out of print for £3 In fact, some of the prices at these swap meets are so 'silly cheap' that I usually buy things that I don't need! CoY