Derekstuart

Keefer, Was that rule rigidly adhered to, or only an aspiration? The reason I ask is that I spent many a day as a lad at Waverley and I saw driving trailers. One time on a trip to Burntisland, the 101 was formed as a 3 car, but oddly the leading car was a driving trailer and it really struggled, eventually failing a station or two before Burntisland (which resulted in the following HST picking us up whilst the 101 limped on to wherever). Aside from 3 car formations, did power/trailer units appear more on other routes that didn't have restrictions?

Thanks Talisman. I think it would be a nice and easy conversion from the Bachmann model. It's just a shame there'd be no 313 to push/pull it. Russ, they did appear in dark blue under railtrack, but previously they advertised a brand of red, white and blue toothpaste. Sorry for the repeated o/t.

I don't think there can be many modellers who haven't encountered Craftsman, and the company has been on the go for many years now. I have heard that this David Jones is a really decent bloke, but that he tends to take on more projects than his time allows. These small cottage businesses (A1, Hurst, Craftsman etc) have all generated real respect from modellers over the years and it is such as shame to see that they lose their credibility. If they are ceasing trading then they should withdraw their website, thank people for their custom etc. They can then retire/move on/ start something new with their heads held high.

If it's of any help, Howes of Kidlington say this on their website about Craftsman "Due to a change of ownership (Jan 2015) we are uncertain about the future supply of Craftsman products." I do wish that these smaller companies could get their act together in one respect and that is if they are not trading- or there are unusual delays (I am not saying this applies to Craftsman) then it should say so on the website. Likewise, if they do not accept incoming 'phone calls then they should state that (some of these companies are one man, part time cottage businesses- if they SAY that, then people will understand). It is not proper to take someone's credit card details and then give them no indication of when/if their order will be processed. I don't know what this Mr Jones intends for Craftsman, but as an example take Shawplan- the new owner has turned an "OK" range into a brilliant one, so it CAN be done. But having a "not recognised" number on a website last updated in 2009 is just not going to send out the right signals about your intent. Without wishing to mention every company in this niche- take Hurst or A1. Both still advertise being open for business and taking payments. I wouldn't try either- would YOU? (this is not to imply any foul practice, especially with Mr Hurst whom I've met- only to say that I have no confidence in their business- if you've stopped then STOP ADVERTISING items for sale... if indeed they have.)

Sorry for the continued o/d (last one) I have found 2 930078 and 79 (not sure which- but I've found someone who WILL know). If anyone's interested, if you google railtrack 930078 you will see a couple of pictures of it running with a 319. Though in the days of proper trains, it was with a 313 (something to do with the 4 coach 317/19/21 being less suitable for accelerating a dead load of 30 t from slow speed compared to the sprightly 313's). Cheers for the info Russ. This particular pair went to the depot in the sky in 2002. Not sure what ones you are referring to. But since NR seems to butcher HST's now they have their pick of anything so the older stuff seems to be going quickly. BTW if anyone looks at the photos of this vehicle, ignore the comment suggesting that this was used on passenger trains. It was not. As anyone who has been on one will know you wouldn't run it with passengers on the unit next door- for starters, they won't take kindly to running at 20MPH for a mile before the station. Secondly, it's a little messy. Thirdly it's noisy (big diesel generator). It IS possible that it was attached to a passenger train for a positioning movement of course- unlikely but possible.

Thanks anyway Mick I know there are a few websites devoted to p way trains I'm sure there will be a record somewhere about what vehicle it was. A strange thing- it still had its central roller blinds (though I think this was empty) but it also had a 313 wipac style set of lights on it. Then a 313 connector (BSI?)... most strange thing. Although your yellow stuff is outside of my time era, I can understand your interest in these sort of things that so many people normally overlook.

Mick- just the man. Can you read my post at the top of the page (#14126). I know it wasn't yellow- though would have been had it stayed around a few more years (it did get into the awful railtrack colours)- would you have any idea what type of SR vehicle I am talking about? It didn't have a front vestibule and it was un-powered (whether originally powered or not I don't know, but I suspect not). In fact if anyone knows what the Hornsey sandite vehicle was around 1992- it was one of the last jobs my Dad did on BR as Traction Inspector, and it was the very last time that I got to drive a train on the ECML (always under close supervision and never above 30MPH) Cheers Derek

Odd bit of ballast- it's that sort of attention to detail that makes layours like yours better than many others.

Joking aside though, that 31 and 2 MK2's is currently at £27.99 I'm not sure if it's an Airfix or Lima version beneath that muck, but a nice new tub of modelstrip or similar and you have a cheap machine to attach some Shawplan/Extreme components to... (though I'm not sure if it's Airfix (I think so) that it lends itself quite so well...

Thanks 45156, as I said, I wasn't criticising your comment, just asking.

Talking of Rail Head Treatment Trains Back in about 1992 I spent the night on a Sandite (sorry to use such an old-fashioned term) unit- a 313 propelling/dragging some old converted SR driving coach, from Hornsey, and spent all night shuttling between KX and Herford- both on the ECML and the loop (Hertford?) When laying sandite, the 313/DT went at 15mph, but after leaving the treatment area, buzz the sandite operator and then proceed to 75mph. Well on at least one occasion he fell asleep and didn't switch the sandite off, and this 313/dtc sprayed sandite down the ECML at 75mph. Although the underframe was a little caked in some places, the rest of the train was still RELATIVELY clean. So the moral of this redacted version of war and peace is that even P Way working trains don't get THAT dirty.

Forgive me for intruding on this discussion about mixed DMU's and without wishing to sound argumentative, what exactly IS the problem with using mixed stock? Mr 45156 makes it sound like that alone is enough of a reason to wonder whether the train manages to complete its journey in one piece. Years back the Bletchley to Bedford line had a DMU TC and a DTCL (can't remember class) being used as dragged stock behind a 31 due to the one remaining serviceable power car developing a terminal engine failure. That is a more unusual sight, seeing a 31 shunt DMU's at Bedford (easy at Bletchley)- and no before anyone asks this isn't the time that 2 31's were used with a pair of MK2s all on hire from Fragonset, I'm talking around 1990. There's also a photograph somewhere on the internet of a DMU driving carriage, 57ft suburban carriages and other assortment being dragged behind a steam engine- and it was remarked that the probable cause of this unusual mix was that the booked (brand new) DMU had failed and it was a case of assemble anything with wheels.

Colin mcleod If my comments were un-decipherable to you, you only had to ask. I thought I had made it pretty clear. But as it's a "joke" thread (though perhaps not in the sense some are thinking) I think perhaps I should keep observations to myself.

Oh the irony of it... "full of hot air" Are you sure this "event" took place? Really sure? There is a psychology paper published by a former colleague of mine, which might interest you. It explains the construction of words in the sub-conscious minds and how they manifest themselves into the written word. (there is a more blunt term for it, but it'd get me barred). Sorry for the o/t.

I prefer the white stripe going right down to the bottom of the ramp- EXACTLY the way they DON'T go on the real one. And that white stripe would be about 2 1/2 feet wide scaled up.

What irritates me about that is you might find an older geezer retiring and his wife wants to buy him the "ultimate" retirement present. Not knowing how "strange" that model looks and that it is a little on the expensive side, people could be paying that sort of money for that sort of quality. I know caveat emptor, but even then...

There are a many fine quality restuarants around the world. In Britain, none finer than some of those found in the West end of London. There are also countless fast food outlets, in most towns and cities and catering to the mass easy cuisine. The West end restuarants will win all the awards from the "lah dhe da" brigade, but the reality is that the fast food takeaways is a FAR bigger and more profitable market. (you could use the same comment about premium cars, such as Jaguar and Aston Martin compared to Vauxhall and Ford) It seems obvious to me from that type of statement and those made by Mr Kohler of late, that Hornby is going down the toy train route in the end. Perhaps that is a good thing in the end if Hornby and Bachmann each find their own end of the market without competition then it may be more sustainable in the long term. Certainly Hornby's widely circulated idea of getting rid of handrails, sprung buffers etc AND increasing prices is not realistic and will backfire. 3D printing is getting better and cheaper. It won't be that long before people are designing more complicated whole bodies and having them printed (IN COLOUR))... then there will undoubtedly be a small army of semi-professional modellers who will build up the parts you've printed and attach to a suitable chassis. If you look back over the past 20 years, the technological changes are staggering. What will 2035- or even 2025 see?

Not a QC issue? "We didn't spot a glaring issue- but it's not QC"? Their response would have been credible only if they had put a disclaimer to that effect BEFORE it was sold "we have chosen to model this with the tooling available now, but be aware it is not 100% correct" label on the box/website. Is that the same response to them putting a buffet interior in the TGS as well I wonder?

Hello Mick I read the whole thread about your NR trains, with some great interest I might add. As NR is of course post-privatisation and therefore does not exist in my alternative reality (one in which HST's are safe from desecration!) I learned quite a lot from your techniques and methodology. For example, next time a NMT HST comes up for sale on ebay, I am going to buy it and plagiarise your techniques to turn it back to a passenger carrying, Swallow painted HST. I remember seeing in a magazine (MR probably) 20 years ago someone modelling the gauging train (or an older version)- though it was partnered with a SR driving trailer and a 37/31 at the other end. That wasn't you that built it, was it? It was White and blue with a red stripe, so probably not. ANyway, given modern LED's your lighting transformed the credibility of the model completely.

For anyone interested, there's a bit about sleepers with 37's at youtube.com/watch?v=t-5wkh5grbg This forum doesn't seem to allow links, so if that doesn't work try the railvintagetv channel and search rail'92-inter-city.

Is that £300 on ebay by any chance? People will "buy" ridiculous priced things on there (just don't ask whether they ever turned up with money to pay it)

I've just looked again at the picture The 7 of 47 is "curvy" but the 7 of 674 is straight. The 6 is noticeably larger than the other numbers. It is in full large logo. It has headlamp and cantrail warning stripe. The 74 does look smaller than the 47, but that might be an illusion due to the larger 6. What also I find interesting is that it has no long range tanks, yet as a /8 later on, these were fitted. I think that's unusual to have them fitted later on, as (to my knowledge) all the /8's were selected from those still retaining long range tanks. But I might well be wrong on that??? I haven't got a scanner at present otherwise I'd upload a copy... might be able to take a photo on my windoze phone and then email that to myself to upload here of course. I should also say that the statement it was in departmental use was from a station shunter/ pilot and not from a Traction Inspector or Depot Manager. Perhaps he was just trying to sound helpful- or perhaps it was just filling in on weekend work in departmental use? Even a front line loco can have a problem that doesn't take it out of service. But it was smoking badly (it was black- unburned fuel that's a turbo issue most commonly, isn't it?) however, a turbo change the following day (speculation) could have seen it returned to service as A1. I can't comment on its performance as such as there was only about 6 MK2s on and even a thoroughly knackered 47 would manage that to Carstairs.

There was a broken Dapol/Airfix MK2- smashed into many pieces in the middle and that went for a couple of quid and I thought it odd. Then I saw a thread from a clever chap who makes NR yellow trains and he uses spare windows from redundant coaches in his projects. I'm not saying it was him that bought this one, but someone doing something similar. There's probably all sorts of details that could be cut of this Americanised 9F and be re-used elsewhere. So perhaps the buyer isn't a plank after all.

Thanks MKKerr, it is really appreciated that you've taken so much time to answer so many questions. Having scoured the internet, I have found it was 1989 that the Carstairs-Waverley had the misfortune of being electrickeryfied. I thought it was later- AFTER the ecml was vandalised with wires, but it seems memories are playing tricks on me. That is interesting as 674 looked pretty rough in all respects at the time and so I was told at the time was engaged in p way work normally. So I am assuming some sort of overhaul before moving onto the taxing sleeper work. I'm pleased to see its still in use with West Coast Railways, and given the premium on even 50 year old diesels at the moment, its future is assured for a while yet.... though I will have to keep a watch on WCRC disposal list.... My other favourite, 711, was scrapped a few years before I was in a position to adpot a Brush 4 and give it a home. I would hate to make the same mistake twice. Thanks again for all the info. BTW I found some good reference shots of the BG jenny vans. I must add to my list of things on my new workbench!

MJKerr, I know this is a 37 forum, but as a sneaky question while the moderators aren't looking, you mentioned 47/6's from Inverness operated before the 37s. Out of curiosity, do you know whether 47674- WRVS ever appeared on sleepers? I had this a couple of times on day services from Inverness to Edinburgh and a few years later on the weekend of the carstairs electrification, it sat at the back of Waverley, only for me to be so disappointed when an 86 appeared... Although that disappointment gave way when we were told the electrickery had a problem and they were going to use a diesel to drag us out to Carstairs... my very last time on BR metal behind a Brush 4. The engine wasn't in good condition judging by the thick black smoke. Perhaps a turbo failure or manifold leak, but best ever trip. Again, apologies for the o/t- it's just that you mentioned the /6's. Cheers.