3rd Rail Exile

Thanks Andy - another satisfied signed up customer here! Well worth the quiet, patient wait - I won't deny it was occasionally amusing watching the antics of the less quiet & patient, but I'm sure it wasn't from your perspective!

Because we're commemorating a Platinum Jubilee, not a Platinum West Country... Either way, I must try to get to the SVR to see it before it returns to green.

Nothing , if you already have them! I'm just adding another loco to the roster assigned to charter duties... No, the Raspberry Ripple set was a set of Mark1s in the InterCity "Executive" or later, "Swallow" livery (sometimes with white roofs). But I agree that a crimson and cream set would also look good...

Rule 1 Railtours for mine - should look good pulling a "Raspberry Ripple" Mk1 charter set!

The shade of purple chosen could have been more "regal", but it is what it is and well done to the SVR in commemorating the Platinum Jubilee in this manner. No surprise that there's a "Limited Edition" Hornby model... £273.99 (including postage) duly spent at the SVR online shop.

Great to see this happening again - thoroughly enjoyed the previous ones! One space for me please... 3rd Rail Exile (aka James)

Indeed you did (and Fran did), but no-one seemed to notice - Fran's lucky he didn't get told off for going off-topic judging by some of today's comments on that thread!

Off topic for the "Accurascale's First Steam Locomotive" thread, but... Yes, Yes, YES!!!

Seat B, definitely The Class 80x seats are too hard/thin/poorly padded for the heavier amongst us, and the bus-style seats don't offer any head support. Fine for short distances (which I guess is what they were designed for), but not great for longer journeys.

Thanks for confirming that @Wickham Green too - having seen the post from @Pre Grouping fan I looked at mine really closely and was sure I couldn't see four ribs. Now whether there should be four ribs, I don't know...

I'm sure that there's many of us waiting for our own favourite variants to be announced - early '90s InterCity Mainline (not the more recent repaint) and Dutch for me! Patience is a virtue (so I'm told...)

A long time ago I'm afraid, certainly as regards English! I actually picked up a better grasp of grammar from French and Latin lessons at secondary school (1976-83) than I ever did from any English lessons. For example, it was my French teacher who explained what the past perfect and past imperfect tenses are, and how to use them (both in English and French). Whilst I'd naturally developed the use of them in English as I grew up, I had no idea what they actually were, or what they were called. These days, it seems that as long as you get your meaning across, anything goes. The modern way seems to be to tolerate the mangling of the English language, and pass it off as "the natural evolution of language over time". Also, there is a tendency to assume that as long as the software doesn't put a wavy red line under it, it must be ok...

Hattons have emailed to say that they are expecting the pre-TOPS version within the next week, but (quelle surprise) they are getting short-supplied with this one as well, so have reduced my pre-order from 2 to 1. As with the TOPS version they are actively seeking further supplies, and if successful will offer to reinstate my order for a second one... At this rate, my mixed rake of 4 (2 each of TOPS and pre-TOPS) will have been ordered together but dispatched individually (and probably one short). Maybe I ought to consider using their trunk service...

Agreed, but as @Phil Parker indicated, unpainted wood could look more desert sand if done "new". Whilst @Jenny Emily and @cctransuk have shown how something authentic-looking can be arrived at, I'm not sure Oxford Rail could produce something similar without significantly impacting the price point...

I don't think Oxford Rail have updated their description - they were originally going to be black, but there is an interesting discussion earlier in this thread as to why they shouldn't be (and what colour(s) they should be), and a post from @Phil Parker on Page 2 giving info on the rationale behind the change. No idea if they'll ever do a black version, but based on the info in this thread, I'm not sure they should...

Hattons got a further supply of the model already released (TOPS coded YCO) - they also rang me up to ask if I wanted to reinstate the order they'd had to reduce. We're still waiting for the pre-TOPS version (which Hattons say is sold out on pre-order)...

Same here - on my first attempt at "offering them up" into position without glue I managed to let go with the tweezers and the nameplate fell down the gap between boiler and running plate! It ended up lodged between the chassis block and the middle driving wheel, and was a bit of a pain to gently persuade into a position where it could be withdrawn from underneath... The suggestion from @rembrow sounds good.

I originally had an order with Hattons for two of each (product codes OR76PIL001 and OR76PIL002). Like you, my order for OR76PIL001 has been cut to one, but the order for OR76PIL002 remains at two (at the time of writing...). Could be the "Tier" system in operation, could be any one of a number of other causes - I guess for me it offsets the recent (but not unexpected) price increase! For a rake that is going to sit quietly stationary in a siding it's not the biggest disaster that could befall it...

Kernow charged my credit card yesterday (and emailed a receipt) for the two I ordered in August 2020. I can't imagine you having any trouble with them - if your card has expired in the intervening period they'll get in touch... I've never had a problem with them.

I'm so glad I waited a couple of minutes, just to let someone else do that...

Incredible! I've just had to prove this to myself by "snipping" portions of squares A and B and putting them next to each other. I know I've got dodgy colour vision (the red/green version), but this illustration just tells me not to trust any colours I see! Or, to put it another way, not to dispute any colour renditions, as they might be absolutely perfect to whoever produced them and I'm just "seeing them differently". What a minefield!

I'm the sort of strange type who does actually read the instructions each time... First four boxes I used were very clear on leaving for the full 30 minutes but not longer. Latest two are different and have revised instructions which do say prominently on the front that the tests may be different from those you have used before. These say "Wait 15 minutes before you read your result. Read the result when the timer reaches 15-30 minutes. Do not read after 30 minutes." Followed by: "IMPORTANT Wait for 15 minutes to read the result. Do not read the result after 30 minutes." To me, the mention of "15-30 minutes" adds confusion - if you want 15 minutes, stick to saying 15 minutes! But at least the latest two boxes avoid the "wipe your tonsils without touching anywhere else in your mouth" malarkey - they're strictly nose only! Fully agree that the large swathes of the general public aren't likely to have realised that there are differences...

I'm trying to imagine what such an area might be like without getting too political, but I presume you meant "areas of most financial deprivation"...

That's where I'm booked in to be going tomorrow lunchtime...

Agree it's probably a communication issue - if they're not doing boosters because there's adequate other capacity (reasonably) locally, then they ought to say so. In the case of my GP surgery, having sent a message a couple of months ago effectively saying "don't call us about the booster, we'll call you", to now say "please go elsewhere" doesn't come across particularly well - I'm sure it could be better explained.