The Ghost of IKB

I could have sworn ic250 was tilting! Still, it was a long time ago, and the old brain isn't as sharp as it once was!

Casting my mind back to the exciting and confusing early days of ecml traction planning, I seem to remember that there were proposals for a class of 30 freight co-co electric, class 88, that obviously didn't appear as well as a plan for electric hst power cars to replace the class 43, whilst hauling the same hst coaches. I think mk3s and 89s were considered briefly, only for ' electra' to suddenly switch from a tilting wcml train to a non tilt ecml train. I remember talk of both wc and ecml having 91s, only for the planned wc ones to be replaced by tilting 93/ic250, which again never appeared. Looking back it seems it was a time of crazy, chaotic, optimism wherein in reality it was far, far more depressing. 60 plus locos for ecml turned into 31 and the wcml stagnated, instead of a tilting supertrain it got the warmed over 87/2 to replace the 81s and 85s.

Well, I think it would be a good idea if members could claim a free class 40 on their 57th birthday. Ahem, 9 months to get that organised lads!

Anyone else getting odd emails from accura? Got one with an invoice for £0, closely followed by another confirming cancel of the £0 order, then today got an email telling me 55011 is back in stock, which it isn't and what's more when it was in stock I already bought one. Confusing!

I make that 18,000 different locos. Gulp! I need a bigger engine shed!

I had the occasional front bogie derailment (annoying as it meant repair work as pipes, steps or guard irons would sometimes be found in the ballast) so removed the front kinematic mech completely, after all it was doing nothing, hidden behind the pipes and ive no intention of selling them so dont care about resale value. They now never derail at all, over ten hours running at all speeds over some iffy trackwork and they cling on to the rails gracefully without a hint of trouble. The rear bogies are fine, maybe the weight of the train keeps the coupling mech in line.

Yes sadly wrong gauge for rheidol, but at 16.5mm a perfect choice of motive power for Dinorwic quarry railway.

Do DRS accept a £30 deposit and then monthly payments? Also noted complete tender management in the ad. Does this mean there's steam engines for sale too? Maybe 9f's from the secret strategic reserve!

All this fierce debate about reruns! Just think what it'll be like on here when accura make a really iconic loco like D200!

Agreed. On the other hand can a deltic fit in a boxfile? Must be a tight fit. Nobody's being "judged" for being skint or for waiting too long. But if you want something you need to commit BEFORE it's sold out, be that deltics or donuts. You'll find its always more difficult to buy things once theyre sold out regardless of your reasons for not buying when it was for sale. I wanted to have Dodo bird for Xmas Dinner this year, and you wouldn't believe how dismissive the woman in tesco's was when I complained. Perhaps she was judging me too harshly for waiting too long. Apparently they sold out in Xmas 1662. As Boris would say "Them's the breaks."

If you've got that proof there was 8 of them that gives you the perfect excuse to buy another 5!

Well Toy, if you cant find 30 quid you're going to struggle to buy much in model Railways. Its not meant to "beat people up over their finances" as you put it, rather an observation that if you're budget is that tight you're going to miss out on a lot of models you might otherwise want. Especially when this model is far from the most expensive one out there and has so many options to spread the cost. And it wasnt Peoples financial situation that prompted my reply, just the complaint of missing out. In the 90s I'd have loved a Bentley turbo r, but as they cost 120k, and my wages were 12k, there was no point complaining about it. Instead I bought a second hand fiat uno and put up with it. Sometimes you just have to cut your cloth as they say, and get on with it.

Mores the pity. What's that? McC has declared he's standing for election as leader of the tory party, on the promise of 0% VAT on model locomotives! At last a politician who understands my needs!

Not sure about accura, but Rails of sheffield deposits are non refundable for cancellations, however if you returned it as faulty you should get the lot refunded.

That seems to rule a re-run of the purple one out.

But to be fair, if someone can't afford a 30 quid deposit and has three years to save the balance, maybe model Railways aren't the best hobby to get into.

Pay attention 007. They've already said it's not happening.

The poor devils! Another example of Man's inhumanity to man!

Batch 2 request... 55013 in blue with grey roof, york crests etc circa 1981

And me. I'd rather they were fitted as its easier to remove them if unwanted than it is to fit them if wanted. Otherwise having them attached to the bogie in two places is a good compromise. I have done that with 55022 whose chains seemed shorter than on the other 4 i have, and kept snapping off. The difference is hardly noticeable but does remove any issues of them interfering with bogie movement

If they include blue with nameplates and no headcode blinds and no tdm jumpers and I'll join you there.

I also had similar issues with high mileage. Cleaning the bearings and brass pick up strip as you show above helped but I also took the axles apart, removed the bearings and cleaned both inside the bearings and the part of the axle which ran inside the bearings. Both turned out to be filthy. Some ipa on a cotton bud and 5 minutes later it runs like new.

Hi, Where did you get those marker light panels? Are they a Heljan spare or did you make them? I've avoided getting the 86/0 so far because I didn't want the headcode version.

No word yet on 86/2s, surely the most popular variant?

Well come on fella get a move on and get those 82, 83, 84s done pronto! You've not got time for all this rmwebbing! Time and tide wait for no man, and I'm not getting any younger!