Jim Martin

Ah! I tried comparing your Templot prints with the Quail Maps book (not the current edition: the 1990-ish one). It's Platform 8 that's missing, isn't it? Jim

I have hopes. I've never been to one before but it's reasonably close to me and I'm hoping to have something in a fit state to enter into one of the competitions, so... Jim

Well, I just voted for 390011 City of Lichfield

I think it's a touch dramatic to be talking about negativity based on a tiny handful of posts. As I said, the "rules", for want of a better term, are a bit of a disappointment for me because I can't vote for either of my favourite names (Liverpool and Birmingham being well out ahead of Manchester, in truth); and probably for some other people with 9-car sets for the same reason, but I dare say I'll get over it. In fact, I already have: I've decided which one to vote for and I'll do it in the next few days. Besides, like another event which I gather is taking place next month, the possible permutations of votes are fiendishly complex and might be beyond prediction. Maybe the "9-car conservatives" will coalesce around the three "City" options available to them (Wolverhampton, Lichfield and Bangor) while the "Virgin tendency" vote is spread across their 13 choices. Maybe we'll end up with all three cities and "101 Squadron"; who knows? Jim

Hi Mike I can see the logic of that, although it's a bit of a personal disappointment. I added an edit to my post while you were typing your reply, I suspect: would you consider guaranteeing that there would be at least one "City" name and at least one "Virgin" name available for both the 9- and 11-car sets? I could put up with "City of Wolverhampton" or "City of Lichfield" a lot more readily than most of the other 9-car options! Jim

So you wouldn't be able to vote for a unit which is now an 11-car set, as a 9-car set? That's going to be a downer for me. My modelling is based on 2006, when all the sets were 9-car, but all the ones at the top of my list (City of Liverpool / Birmingham / Manchester in that order) have since been made up to 11 cars. Actually, not many of the "City of.." units are still 9 cars long. It might be worth ensuring that at least one City name and one Virgin name are available in each of the 9 and 11 car units Jim

Just to clarify, how are the gates shut? Does the signaller actually have to go outside and push them into position across the road? Jim

I just got back from work to find my first order from Railtec on the mat. Ordered on Good Friday (in fact it might have been Saturday), must have been posted on Saturday, arrived the day after Easter Monday. Couldn't be any quicker and now I have many VTG logos for my scrap and coil wagons. Very pleased! Jim

Turquoise with a big lime green "N", fifth picture down in this post. Based in North-East England (including much of Yorkshire) and current from about 1999 until the end of the Arriva Trains North franchise in 2004, then for a couple of years under Northern Rail with the logos removed. Jim EDIT: Just found this on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arriva_Trains_Northern#/media/File:Wakefield_Kirkgate_2.jpg Jim

Excellent issue, probably the best since I've been a member (about 6 years, I think). I particularly liked the article about the Bulleid coaches. They're too old and too southern for my own interests, but I think that the hobby really needs articles that tell people how they can use what the trade provides. Not bossing people about, so much as opening up possibilities that they might not have thought of, like the mixed Bulleid/Mk.1 sets. Jim

Judging from the poster right at the top, Milliedale is so overshadowed by Scarborough that it's borrowed its entire landscape from there!

Just signed up for a 9-car set. Order #389. I'm quite impressed at how many of the pledgers the project has been able to retain. I'd thought that a lot of the people who'd been reached through flyers at exhibitions might prove difficult to keep if they had to go through another ordering process, but an 80%-ish retention rate seems pretty good. Jim

Okay, I'm in. The model railway budget's been used up for the next six months or more, but I'm in. Jim

What's the exact mechanism for actually handing the money over? Apologies for not going back through the thread / website to find this information for myself, but I'm at work at the moment. Although I'm very keen to sign up for a nine-car model, I've held off so far because various family things make the post-Christmas period a cash-flow disaster for me every year (i.e. more than the aftermath of Christmas is anyway) and this has been no exception. I'm trying to find a way of doing this within my budgets, and understanding what happens immediately after the kickstarted closes would be a help. Jim

Yes, "point of no return" is putting it mildly! Jim

And still was today. They're down to the last copy now, since I bought one. Jim

Interesting. I'll definitely be getting a copy of this. Is it the kind of "bookazine" that gets stocked by Smiths? Jim

At the risk of going off-topic, there's a photo of no. 775 on page 18 of Johnson's Locomotives of the Great Central Railway vol 1 which clearly, if faintly, shows lining. There's also a photo of no. 773 on page 16 of Locomotives Illustrated no. 130 which appears to show lining on the tanks; so even though most photos seem to show unlined locomotives, lined examples are out there. Jim

Yes. Avoiding a penalty by running the train. Isn't that sort of what TOCs are supposed to do? Jim

I seem to recall reports from around the time that the Dapol FEA first came out that droop is a common problem. The model pre-dates this incarnation of RMWeb, but I'm sure that you could find the threads from that time with a bit of judicious searching. There are a number of issues regarding the positioning of the various sponsons etc, as well, IIRC. I don't think it's the best model in Dapol's stable, by any means, which is a shame considering (1) its centrality to UK intermodal operations in recent years; and (2) how good the OO version is. Jim

Oooh! That is THE most annoying thing, when you actually make an effort to get somewhere early and then something happens that's totally outside your control and you arrive at exactly the same time as normal. I trust that if anyone said "I thought you were getting in early today" with a knowing smirk, you bludgeoned them with a large stapler! Jim

I don't know that it's very different from the Tay Bridge disaster locomotive being fished up from the bed of the estuary and returned to service. I think it's always gone on. Jim

Cute! Did you make the transfer yourself, or is it something you can buy? The ship is pretty striking too. How big is that thing? Jim

Hi Jo Have you used the BHE snow ploughs at all? The TPM ones don't seem to be available at the moment, so I was looking at the BHE as an alternative (lthough their website isn't terribly clear about which item would suit a 47) Also, have you tried any screw coupling etches other than TPM? I can't find these anywhere, so I was considering either N Brass or Smith's Components (from Scale Link). Looking forward to seeing the 31 develop. I've always thought it was one of the best of the Poole efforts. Jim

Hi Jonas It's crossed my mind, but it's never really been close to happening. I know that someone did cast this type of wagon - there was a photo in issue 6 of Grahame Hedges' old N'spirations magazine - and if I'd known how long this project was going to take, I'd have been sore tempted myself. That said, I've always been keen to explore the different looks that the hoods of these wagons have; and that would require doing each one separately. I did give serious thought to casting the core - essentially the part that I've just completed - for consistency of dimension and shape. I didn't follow it up because I had doubts about the adhesion of the filler to the resin.