Bodmin Bob

Yes they can Bernard! From the same seller - a completely worthless, badly broken old Triang Princess body on even more dilapidated and worthless Triang Princess chassis with no bogies or coupling rods. In it's un-tampered state just a worthless piece of junk that would look simply great in a suitable dustbin! But simply slap on a coat of orange paint and write 'Reserved' on in white ink and hey presto - as if by magic it's worth at least £25 unless you get caught in a bidding war. To refer to this item as utter crap would just simply be an insult to real utter crap Can things get even worse? I wait with interest and deep anxiety!

I built my first layout as a kid using dried tea leaves as ballast - I thought it looked wonderful. A couple of weeks later I went back in the garage to do some more work on it and the ballast was covered with a fine mist of green mould which gradually grew bigger and greener over the next few days so I had to rip it all up!! I never used dried tea leaves again!

Box 'slightly tired' - DMU absolutely f+++++d!

It would be amusing if Hornby now announce in the autumn that they are releasing a model of the Bulleid 4-SUB for £160

How to wreck a really decent model! http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Heljan-Class-33-/251887834781?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item3aa5af569d

'Kit built' - err no! 'Nicely Weathered' - you are having a laugh! 'Would look great in your collection' - yeah right, I would be too ashamed to even put this one in the bin in case the dustbin-men saw it!! http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AIRFIX-KIT-BUILT-BR-GREEN-CLASS-31-A1A-A1A-DIESEL-LOCO-D5531-WEATHERED-mx-/361160427295?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item5416d6c71f

A Lima Class 33 - that'll be a Cromptic then

A nice Lord Nelson apparently in 'GW green' ! - well I could forgive that misunderstanding if it was made by a complete novice and the loco was in Brunswick green - but when it is in Bulleid Malachite green with 'SOUTHERN' plastered across it's tender then you really do have to say 'should have gone to Specsavers' http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bachmann-31-407-Lord-Nelson-Class-4-6-0-Lord-st-Vincent-GW-Green-No-856-New-/351335390035?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item51cd389b53

We've had all sorts of totally inaccurate models in these supposed 'scrapyard' conditions in recent month such as: Streamlined Duchesses A4s with side wheel valances Evening Star HST power cars in blue/grey livery The Flying Scotsman City of Truro Caledonian single Green Deltics Original liveried Blue Pullmans Heavily rusted wagons that are actually wooden bodied! Coaches/wagons with holes burned into them that have supposedly been burned out Best of all was a heavily rusted flat wagon complete with heavily rusted tree log! It shows a total lack of understanding of railway history (and the laws of nature) on the part of the creators of these monstrosities - but that said they obviously do well out of it as most of them appear to sell for silly money. The sad thing is that people are prepared to actually buy this rubbish - thus feeding the frenzy on the part of the sellers to create more and more! It would be interesting to see how many purchasers subsequently sell these items on again once they actually see what they have spent their hard earned cash on. That said, at the other end of the scale you have the truly superb scrapyard condition Hornby class 50 mentioned in recent postings where the creator clearly did his/her research and created a fantastic and realistic representation of a loco that has come to the end of its serviceable life. Not my cup of tea - but it was very well done!

Can't see what kind of tree this meant to be! Maybe it's an Old Oak Common tree http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bachmann-Trains-inches-6-inches-Spruce-Trees-6-Per-Box-Bachmann-Trains-NEW-Fr-/131232168746?pt=AU_Toys_Hobbies_Model_Railways&hash=item1e8e0bfb2a

Interesting question - as you say, Bulleid or Mk1 3 car sets were not reformed when they were used on the same route. Maybe the distance between the guards vans in the original 4 car sets caused operational difficulties as station staff numbers were reduced In some cases you do see pictures of the revised Maunsell 2 car sets running on their own as just a 2 car train though

A lovely model but at this price somebody is definitely taking the Mickey! http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bachmann-Branchline-31-460-Class-C-Wainwright-0-6-0-592-in-SE-CR-lined-green-/161595249345?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item259fd3d2c1

I got a similar response when I was searching for a nice set of buffers

It's definitely Great Western - the SNCF on the side means Swindon, Newport, Cardiff, Fishguard!!

It might sound pedantic but describing a Bulleid pacific as 'un-rebuilt' is a real pet hate of mine. It's either a Bulleid pacific or a rebuilt Bulleid pacific! On a similar theme (and often seen in books) describing a loco in BR livery as ex SR or ex LNER etc winds me up too. If a loco was built by the SR then it remains an SR loco. I bought my car a few years ago and it is still a Toyota and not an ex Toyota even though Toyota don't own it any more! Anyway - rant over - I am now going to re watch all those over priced and overpaid Charlies being knocked out of the FA cup yesterday!

I would be very reluctant to buy another kit built loco from them. I bought what I thought was a lovely looking OO kit built Lord Nelson from them about a year ago for quite a few hundred quid - but it was so badly packaged that by the time it arrived it had reverted back into being a kit again - and what was still left in one piece ran appallingly unless it was on a dead straight piece of track - test run, I don't think so. That said - I did get a full refund!

;Expertly' weathered apparently!! It might have been done by an expert of some sort but not an expert in weathering!

Do you think he's been married more than once but had to get rid of his first wife because she was the wrong region, not modern image and was not fitted with NEM couplings?

Oh dear - somebody trying to sell their collection of green Lima Deltics - each with different numbers and different degrees of weathering - each with starting prices of £40 - each with 10 minutes to go and each with no bidders!! That is when you realise that your collection is not as rare and and valuable as you might have hoped when you finally decided to sell them!! http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/grmgeorge/m.html?item=281556946995&hash=item418e1a1033&pt=UK_Trains_Railway_Models&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2562

You'll only regret it if it turns up in an escorted specialist security vehicle, packed in a lead lined box carried by a man in a full bodysuit and a face mask - if he leaves it on your doorstep and then runs then you know it's definitely not dust

You appear to have missed out the most important word of all - i.e. 'professionally'!

'The shell is a bit dirty' - too right it is, it looks like it has caught a rather unpleasant fungal infection! http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bachmann-2-6-4-Class-4MT-Tank-Loco-80002-/271733485244?pt=UK_Trains_Railway_Models&hash=item3f4493eebc

Another slight variation on the position of brake coaches in Maunsell sets was found with the 4 car Restriction 1 sets used on the Reading - Redhill service up until the mid 1960s. In the early 1960s a decision was made to split each of these BSK+CK+CK+BSK sets into two completely separate 2 car sets, each now formed BSK+CK. Half of the old set retained it's original set number whilst the other half was allocated a brand new set number. However the revised sets still usually ran together in pairs as 4 coach trains but with the BSKs now coupled together, brake end to brake end in the middle of the formation i.e. CK+BSK+BSK+CK. The reason was apparently to ensure that all the guard's/luggage accommodation was situated in the middle of the train at stations to help the platform staff - but this seems very strange after 30+ years in service on the same route in their original formation

Our 'friend' ponders on his next advert write up and is seen deciding how much a bit of 'mockling' will add or subtract to his asking price

Is it supplied in it's original box?