Pteremy

Much though I enjoy the Rathbone films so far as story telling is concerned the definitive Sherlock Holmes is the radio version, with Clive Merrison & Michael Williams.

Have yet to watch programme but even the positive reviews suggest that, in terms of the way it has been adapted, you have to suspend disbelief given the wholesale deviations from the original story. And the same would seem to apply to the railway content.

The same thing happened on the Exe Valley - a general shortage of auto trailers (partly as a result of withdrawal of the most elderly ones) meant that from 1958 ex main line corridor stock was used instead/as well - auto trailers didn't disappear completely, but for a while were in the the minority. Then as more modern auto trailers became available (as other lines were closed or turned over to DMUs) their use increased from 1960 onwards until by the winter 1962 timetable services were predominantly auto trailers again.

For completeness, a few more comments on Hymek window surround colour. In ‘Heyday of the Hydraulics’ Hugh Dady describes the original window surrounds (p39) as ‘…pale grey (looking almost white)’ and when applied to the later corporate blue livery as ‘off-white’. There is a similar contemporaneous description in the March 1962 ‘Modern Railways’: in the article ‘Design in 1961 – a Retrospect’, Brian Haresnape describes the colour (p192) as ‘greyish-white’. And in the context of the use with corporate blue a short note in the February 1967 ‘Modern Railways’ (p107) describes the colour as ‘rail grey’. (Perhaps I should also mention that the Wikipedia entry for Hymeks describes the colour as ‘Ivory white’ (which would be white with a hint of yellow), but it is not clear what the primary source for this is.) The most convincing photograph that I have found is on p12 of ‘Heyday of the Hymeks’. This is taken inside Cardiff Canton in May 1962, and the surrounds are clearly ‘greyer’ than the white of the overhead warning stickers. Using that comparison as a guide it is possible to see a colour contrast - to some degree or other - in other photographs. But given the variation in other colour tones in the pictures, different lighting conditions, and different degrees of weathering, I would be reluctant to attribute a specific colour tint to it. Unfortunately under normal viewing conditions and distances there are just as many photographs where the contrast is very subtle or non-existent. This includes early ex-works and publicity photographs, where the combination fresh gloss paint and strong lighting appears to produce a photographic ‘white out’. So it seems to me that the true colour must have been very difficult to capture. And as a result I have every sympathy with those authors/caption writers who, perhaps without the benefit of Chris and Stationmasters first hand experience, have emphasised different shades of ‘whiteness’ – rather than a specific colour tint. I note that the original design advice by Wilkes and Ashmore is in the national archives, so perhaps that contains a formal colour specification.

Yes, books have their uses too! On a different point, anyone interested in formal Diagrams should note that the ones in this book are tiny, less than the width of the half page columns containing the lists. I like the fact that they are included as they should help with recognition in a photo. But I don't think that they are going to be the basis for detailed modelling purposes on their own.

I would be happy if the announcement focussed on actual delivery of those things that have already been announced/promised. They can save the 'new' for later, when the backlog is being eaten into.

I agree that it would need to have good ongoing control/ownership, which is probably why it doesn't exist, too much of a commitment. And there is no reason why different views could not be accommodated, if they exist.

In theory an online database would address these concerns, something which could be kept updated as new information is found. And flag areas of possible uncertainty or information gaps.

Earlier this year I went through all my MRJ's to identify articles that I might want to refer to, now that I am in touching distance of retirement and the space for a decent layout. Of the 260 odd I had at the time only 33 did not have at least one article or picture that fell into that category. Two thirds of the 33 were in the range 0-50 (i.e. the early editions). Even these would have had something of interest at time of publication, but which has been overtaken by events, whether better quality kits, RTR releases, or my own modelling priorities.

In recent years they seem to have done coaches really well - so i hope that trend continues - even if it is of no benefit to me.

Perhaps the Christmas Thieves took the Brake Thirds.....

Pines were present at several of the stations on the Taunton-Barnstaple line. I have always assumed that they were landscape markers - being just a short line of trees parallel to the station - but have never read anything to confirm that this was the case. So it is interesting to know that there was an earlier practice for doing this sort of thing, which might have been borrowed when the railways were built.

Evoking the past. Small bits of plastic, metal, cardboard etc. that in some magical way recreate not just the substance of a historical feature, but also the moment in time.

I associate 'duck egg blue' with airfix spitfires! Surely it wasn't that blue? There appears to be a (?)current BS version BS 16c33. The many early colour photographs in 'Heyday of the Hymeks' cannot in my view be described as showing anything other than white or a shade of white. I've looked in a number of others books and magazines (including Robert's), colour and black and white - and - but for this thread - it would never have occurred to me that 'shade of white' was incorrect. So I question your use of 'obvious'. But maybe this is just language. 'White with a hint of blue' would also be a (blueish) shade of white? And after all, there would be some logic in having a tint to the white, to 'blend' with the green. If the paint scheme is the same as applied to the Deltics I am surprised that the formal specification is not recorded somewhere. Or maybe it was the nature of the paint, or interaction with the undercoat/primer? Not sure what this means in modelling terms - but I suspect that an off white is going to be good enough in miniature form, as the subtlety probably doesn't scale. Particularly with weathering.

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/57017-sr-van-b-misnamed-as-gangwayed-luggage-van

Haresnape also refers to 'off-white trim', but also 'pale grey' in captions and that the colour actually varied. Neither the Railway Observer or Railway World commented on the window frames when covering introduction in 1961, emphasising instead the 'blending green'. Lewis (referenced by Stationmaster) makes the point that the colour scheme was - by design - a repeat of that applied to the production Deltics. Was that 'off white', or something else? Colour photos of the first members of the class do show very bright white frames, to my eyes at least. So as ever the only safe thing to do is find a photograph of what you want to model and follow that.

I don't know if the Ramsey's guide has an associated website, but this sort of information would be usefully collated with associated history and prototype details. Similar to the site that documents the history of the Subbuteo ranges?

The handrails look like they have right angled brackets, like an AA23 (as opposed to handrail going through a 90 degree bend)?

On a point of detail, the 'ash' you use in blending the roadway for the road crossing - is that fine sand (silt), as might be left behind as a residue of burning coal, or the burnt carbon from wood/coal, or maybe a combination of the two? That is, is it the fine graininess that makes it suitable for blending with the ballast, or the colour - or possibly both?

No sign in WH Smiths Wallington - but it is a small one. However I have found that you can order post free, and with Paypal, from https://rail-books.co.uk.

Earlier in the thread someone mentioned 2R curves. Should a locomotive of such quality be expected to navigate such tight curves? Recognise that a balance has to be struck - most of us have some sort of space restriction - but maybe there is a case for a different minimum with a high fidelity product?

Wow! Not for me. But wonderfully niche. At a suitable price for a niche product. Wish it well.

And surely 'niche' or 'bespoke' is the future? At least for anything that aspires to be accurate enough for the 'finescale' modeller?

Interesting. Does this provide a more generic insight into optimising motor/chassis performance?

Very neat - are you going to share your technique?