Ian Hargrave

Great Central main line,Rob.

Not the way my 'Prince Albert' looks after a superb weathering by Steve of 'Grimy Times'.. a matter of personal taste,of course.Cheers!

An LMS 'Black Beauty' The prettiest thing on four couples I ever did behold. Magnificent! 'Rails' delivery was excellent and their communication courteous and friendly---a feature of late.It was also free.

I,also,succumbed to the NRM Compound last year....but left it in its original state.When the BR version appears,I shall indulge another moment of 'weakness'.......thus 'compounding' my sins .As they say....'three times for a jolly Welshman'.

Thanks,Rob,for illustrating my dream perfectly.I've got the Staniers and I'm wating patiently for Rails to deliver my Midland Compound.Hopefully on its way.Ironic that it arrives in NZ before it covers the 40 odd miles from Sheffield.It's an ever-shrinking world. Enjoy !

I agree,Larry. This is a truly seductive model.The lettering & numerals highlighted by the plain black livery added to the graceful Compound lines will make a truly dramatic statement on any one's layout. I can see it,in my mind's eye heading a rake of LMS Staniers or ,for a piece-de-resistance,teak Gresleys. Harks back to Eric Treacy's post-war Liverpool Lime Street photos. The album was called 'Steam Up'

According to latest Kernow newsletter,delivery of LMS 1189 is imminent.

Has anyone else had trouble removing their lovely Hornby 01 from the plastic packaging? The one I got from Cheltenham Models was wedged in so tightly that I had to cut the rectangular "tube" lengthways before I could get to the innermost packing and get the loco out. [/quot A feature of all new Hornby Steam locos..Set it down on a flat,safe surface and gently prise the packaging apart, The good news.....no more fiddling with that microscopically infernal plug into the tender .Hallelujah and Amen!!!

YEE--HAH !! Another Hornby masterpiece.Got a weathered one from 'Dirty Boy' weathering at Warley yesterday. Looks & runs like a dream. Now.....where's that B17 ?

At that time,it is more than possible that a weekend diversion could have been in operation in the March area......or that it might have been called upon to haul /double-head a failed E.E. type 3/Brush type2/ 'Brit'7MT out of trouble--depends on what was diagrammed for 1E75 at the time. It was a Stratford (30A) turn as far as Sheffield Victoria and return with the balancing working on the same day. Believe it or not,the modestly powered Brush diesels did work the turn.

The train reporting board would only indicate a passenger duty. August 1962 would have been the end of steam on passenger duties and some unusual valedictory workings. My 'long shot' would be that she's a pilot loco on a double headed special working.

There's a bid,so somebody loves it.,even if its chimney seems to have been a wee bit close to a soldering iron. Not to my taste,either.

From one Ian to his namesake,my thoughts are with you. You have a whole body of friends around you.This shared passion of ours can be a way of easing the pain.In some small way,we all can share your grief .

In my beloved but battered copy of the 1955 Ian Allan abc there is a photo of 6973 Bricklehampton Hall (cycling lion emblem) with Collett tender.On the same page is 5947 Saint Benet's Hall (original Hall) with Hawksworth tender.So--you pays your money and you takes your choice. I have to confess,I cant recall any thing but a Hawksworth tender with a Modified Hall,but there it is. Me--I'll buy both versions. My existing Bachmann Mod. won't pull the skin off a rice pudding

Gawd! NOT another 'He's gotta have it' A pauper's grave looms.

If I'm any judge of horseflesh,then this looks to be a good'un. Million dollar question,how will it run ? Will its track-holding performance be acceptable ? Awful lot of pennies to lay out. Hope the gamble will be worth it. Heljan's first venture into OO steam,though it does Danish HO stuff. I relish this.

So--what now for EM Trains fleet of Meridians and 125's ? Conversion---or brand new state of the art Hitachi as replacement ? Too much to ask for Derby-made units,I suppose.

Has the ECML the necessary capacity to absorb the current frequency of service between St. Pancras and Sheffield ?

Hallelujah! Excellent news for an area sliding into economic depression. Now--why not the Cross-Country Bristol-Birmingham-Burton-Derby line to make a real 'joined-up' network? Hopefully,it will mean investment and development in Derby's long tradition of train & infrastructure manufacturing which we've been on the way to losing recently. Please let's make sure that the new 'kit 'and engineering development needed stay 'in house' and are not bought in from Kassel. We need innovative skills and knowledge right here---six miles from where I'm writing this.

Just received my 'electric glide in blue'.What an exquisite model! Looks smart & runs beautifully. ATM towing 6 Bachmann maroon Mark ones as if the aren't there--effortlessly.

These were all in service by mid-1959,when frost grilles were being fitted to new Vulcan Foundry --and other---locos--e.g. the type 4's ( later Class 40) However,having looked at early photos of some ,I don't think you can be certain of the situation in every case. It appears that some carried them and some didn't..I saw all of them in service before their modification but after 50 years,the memory dims. Besides,I didn't know what a frost grille was. The dreaded '62--'63 winter was yet to come. It challenged the new 'Diesel Dawn' somewhat !

Modellers Mecca have them on their website as 'in stock'

Bachmann website IS showing it as 'in stock' (Today 26th June) whereas the pre-Tops version is no longer in stock at Barwell. The distribution chain is not rolling yet,it seems.

Rails newsletter reports the early 'electric blue' arriving Monday. Time for the maroon mark ones,I think.

I wouldn't take Hattons website too literally atm--they are still having problems. Go to my new posting on R 3096 'William Shakespeare', They e-mailed me at midday stating 'production cancelled'