Ian Hargrave

I think you'll find you might pay a lot less for it very shortly.

The S.R.to W.R. trains that used S.R. crimson & cream stock DID carry headboards....'Brighton,Southampton.........etc.' I have a very distinct recollection of that.

The caption on the photo is probably correct. That looks to me to be S.R. Mark 1 stock that ran on inter-regional Cardiff/Bristol---Portsmouth/Brighton trains in the 50's. Princess Margaret was indeed the last 'Star'.She received her last general overhaul at Swindon in October 1953.A Bath Road favourite.,despite entreaties,she did not work 'The Bristolian'.Withdrawn in October 1957 aftter 43 years and 3 months in service.....a game old lady whom I had the pleasure of seeing many times in my locospotting days.

Taken on what was my 21st birthday. Later that month travelled to London for my birthday bash .....to and fro.....with 'Western' haulage

Why don't you give them a ring and give your details over the phone ? I did and it duly arrived last week,despite the fact that I was one of the last to order.

Mine turned up today.Don't panic.

Yes....but the NSE version appears to have been sidelined for now.

Dave.....it's D369,I'm afraid. Originally a Camden ( 1B ) allocation.....i.e. not Haymarket. Sorry...

And here we all are,like a bunch of overgrown schoolkids.....waiting.......knowing........there's jam tomorrow. Funny coloured jam,though. Desert sand ? The desert blooms !

Your local sorting office offers a 'Mail Collect' service.....which I have used for the last 8 years.If you ARE reasonably close to yours,it is an option some might consider. Solves the problem of stuff being left in the porch or worse. I wholeheartedly agree with the comments on Yodel. Wish Amazon would stop using them for books. Never had any difficulties with Hattons.Always specify Royal Mail.

Thank you for that,Robin. Appears to be just out of the works at Swindon,probably around Dec.1961/Jan 1962. Saw her Jan.'62,Temple Meads coupled ahead of a 'Warship' Plymouth-bound for testing .Cab full of 'bowler hats' looking seriously important. Thought it had descended from Mars.....never seen anything like it before....or since. A real trip back in time 'pour moi'

I have,even at this late hour,managed to reserve one.

So am I,Ray. I use their Mail Collect service from my local sorting office . I have the utmost respect and admiration for the ladies and gentlemen of our ( much maligned ) Royal Mail .Talking of Yodel,a favourite currently of Amazon,they were recently the subject of an unfavourable report on one of the many consumer watchdog programmes in the media. A CCTV clip showed one item being delivered by being hurled over a 6-foot wooden boundary fence.

Thank you ,Rob,she certainly is. You are right. The thirties were the last fling of romanticism in so many ways. Engineering design was swept along by locomotive masterpieces all over the world. Chapelon in France, the DRG with the 05 and the Henschel-Wegmann Zug,In the States so many steam glories and here,in pre-war GB, Stanier and Gresley at the peak of their creative powers,with Oliver Bulleid waiting in the wings. Gresley is buried 4 miles away from where I sit . So many Gresleys in South Derbyshire. Just a few hundred yards away lives a gentleman who was an apprentice in Derby Works in 1947 and who worked on 10000 and 10001. In the other direction is Twin Rivers,a purpose built maintenance complex for servicing and maintaining today's 220 & 221 Voyagers. Soon the wires will approach Derby heralding another rail engineering advancement. Hey-- I'm living in the centre of railway history. But,as one LMS man famously said----'Theres nothing to beat our b***** Duchesses,though' All the best from a still snowbound Burton on Trent..... Ian. PS---BR MIdland Compound released tomorrow----41157, late crest,d.c.

That is truly a beautiful sight to wake up to on a bitterly cold January morning and entirely in keeping with a rekindled interest in Hornby Duchesses. Took my wife to the hairdressers in Tutbury yesterday morning (she is a bit fragile after a nasty viral chest infection ) and whiled away the time in visiting The Tutbury Jinny,my nearest local retailer. Was amazed to find a collection of them ,boxed,mint -mainly been on display only. Succumbed to temptation----I am a weak vessel and purchased LMS streamliner red & gold 6244 'King George VI',a Modelfair Special with etched plates. The saga doesn't end there,I'm afraid. I 'sinned' twice. Returned p.m. and purchased 6222 'Queen Mary'---LMS black,also Modelfair special,etched plates. Essentially as 'Rutland' in your masterpiece above. Well,something has to keep my Midland Compound company. It would be lonely on its own. Cheers,Rob.

Methinks time you had an exhibition at The National Gallery. At any rate,we can claim you as our 'artist in resdence',Rob.

O.K. Rob,this is just along shot.In my posting above,I said I'd seen Rutland at Euston in the early 50's in black. I think it is distinctly possible that this particular loco did not receive blue livery but was repainted straight into Brunswick Green and the dates given above are incorrect. As to when it received its final nose job---pass on that one. Now to wait until others prove I'm having a senior moment. Greetings from arctic Burton on Trent and keep the photos coming. By the way,your pic came true for me in Sept. 1960. I copped 46244 'Caledonian' northbound passing slowly on the through road through Crewe staton. I still have the photo I took with my Ilford Sportsman. Sadly,I lost the negatives years back.

They are peerless.The model retailer by which all others are judged.

Saw Rutland 'in the flesh' whilst still in black 1:35 pm Euston-Perth,early 50's. Bought a 'Salford' with neat cab conversion from Acme (decent nearly local real model shop) via e-bay a couple of weeks or so ago. Had a Dublo 'Montrose' as a kid. This one is,arguably,one of Hornby's better weathering jobs.

Then the answer is yes. But for the life of me,I can't think which ones have the gap

If you mean the Ivatt built 46256 & 46257 with Timken roller bearings and altered cab,then no.You may occasionally spot one that someone has adapted on e-bay

Also,in black,City of Manchester and City of Glasgow (both LMS). To be released in BR (early crest) City of Liverpool.Sorry-don't have the catalogue numbers.A Manchester in black is on e-bay ATM and has been for weeks. Regards,Ian.

NO.It's performance is quite superb,by the way.The upcoming 2-Bil will,I'm sure,be the same.

And of course there are 'interim' black-liveried locos with 'British Railways' lettering on their tenders,such as Hornby's 46252 'City Of Leicester'.Quite a few Duchesses carried black well into BR days.Perfectly feasible to run with a black 'Compound'--circa 1948/9.Whist on the subject of'black is beautiful',might be a good idea to nudge Bachmann in the direction of a post-war BR black 'as built'Patriot' Limited Edition,anyone ? Sorry-----dreaming,again.