Gary H

Try this for size...... http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=457051&nseq=6 And then there's the mahoosive Schnabel car, the biggest of the lot- http://www.lswci.com/schnabel2005.html

That is indeed a very nice looking model.

I just offered them £35 but it was auto refused, thank god! Just to show they're not the only ones who can extract the urine! OK, that was their last chance, £35. 10p

Yep, its junk. They were crap when new! I just asked him, how is this "kit built"? I was polite I might add. I go out of my way to accurately describe anything I sell and I get abit miffed with these p*** takers!

yeah, its an attractive livery for sure..

Im guessing you've seen this one Koos? 104 looks to be an ex CNW loco with the gong bell on the nose.

Which is a country mile better viewing than the usual crap that's on TV of any Saturday night!!!

Yeah, very true. Free advertising for the seller!

Prototype Concorde engine anyone? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BAC-TSR2-RAF-Aircraft-Olympus-320-Jet-Engine-TSR-2-UNIQUE-Oportunity-/130574234473?pt=Motors_Aviation_Parts_Gear&hash=item1e66d4b369 Its said to be the forerunner to the Concorde engine at any rate!

It certainly sits better on them than power haul livery. I like it.

I don't know, every time I look at these its real hard to see how G.E could have made them look any worse! I'm hoping that the Colas livery will help turn the tables somewhat.

When we say ""16 tonner" or "16 ton mineral", is that its loaded weight?? Just something Ive always wondered! Its Tare weight would then be about 6 tons. Not much is it!

It was practically destroyed just under 6 months later! Some how it got rebuilt.

Crikey, that's knacked!!

It varies a little between TOC's but technically he cant do more than 12 hours total shift time, this is the same on PW, brought in after the Hiden report aka, Clapham disaster. Got to have 12 hours rest between shifts also. These are the basics for safety critical work.

I done that too! It took me a while to pin point the loco in its original resting place as it was under a line of trees. Some folk get all the good jobs don't they? Imagine being physically involved in this project whilst getting your salary at the same time! This project must be generating a ton of revenue for Athearn, everytime they release a model of 4014 it sells out in a day!

I think it'll look a lot better on a class 70 than that swirly PH rubbish.

This reminds me. The last time I had some paint off Ebay, (Peter's Spares actually) which were Phoenix Precision weathering colours, they were delivered using a courier, now I know why!

Those are concrete sleepers John.

Yeah, there's a vid on Youtube of UP 844's tender derailing on a curve whilst being propelled back into a yard or some such.

Yes, its perfectly feasible. Panel track will curve easily and stay put with moderate curvature. Just a nudge with the forks will see it done. The only time its a pain is for really tight curves as it starts to take on the look of a 50p bit at the joints. I can't imagine their curve in the car park being very tight because of the loco's shear size. As it is, you can see the guys there are worried about flange climb, continually looking under the engine, you can also hear the flanges biting at the outer rail, trying to climb out in the video. Grease the high rail running face is a good plan!

I just took a screen grab and highlighted it Please let me post it!!

I agree, they look nice but 168 quid- not bloody likely!

We have done in the past, Mike but normally a slack is short enough to use a string line pulled tight along the rail head and held down by a size 10 boot each end. Just go along a sleeper at a time with a step gauge and measure the gap and adding in any voiding previously recorded using meters. One imperial 'brim full' chipping canister equals 1.5 mm lift equally distributed about 12 inch each side of the rail. You can normally end up with a good result using this method along with a cross level to maintain or restore the correct cant. Sometimes you have to walk a long way with a heavy jack, forks, chipping bags at 25KG each etc etc plus a small margin between trains to do it. Its not always practical or appropriate to carry extra gear about when its not necessary.

We still use it alot down this way when repairing twist and top faults that the NMT picks up. When its done properly and accurately, it can leave a very good top and line that will last!