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I don't believe either the spoiler or splitter were standard on any UK cars, and they may not even have been available as factory options as there are almost no pictures of cars fitted with them (other than obvious aftermarket modifications). The foglamps might have been a factory option, but even if they were only a small minority of cars would have had them. However, I think I may have found the source of the problem. When Corgi tooled for the 1:43 Cortina mk.V they allowed for a spoiler, splitter and foglamps as optional parts, presumably to allow them to make souped-up versions to appeal to model car collectors as well as the normal production vehicles. Image here: https://www.collectors-club-of-great-britain.co.uk/news/new-tooling-in-development-from-corgi/ I suspect that due to the relationship with Hornby, Oxford may have been allowed to use the Corgi scans/drawings, and unfortunately they have included all of these optional parts when scaling it down, possibly without realising these parts are not prototypical. It's really unfortunate that the original artwork was correct and the errors only came to light with the first shot - exactly the opposite of the issue with the recent Maestro where the mismatched bumpers shown on the artwork were picked up and and corrected before the first shot. Hopefully it is not too late for Oxford to correct the Cortina.

For N-gauge cars I doubt if there if much scope for making any of the parts optional, at least not on the type of relatively simple and affordable ones that Oxford make, and the first shot of the Cortina mk.V shows them cast in: https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1038435887401132&set=pcb.1038436897401031 Obviously many people will buy them anyway. A lot of people won't realise they are wrong, and in the near-absence of any other 1980s cars in N-gauge there is nothing better available to those who do know. However, I've no doubt that they will sell fewer of them because of the un-prototypical add-ons, because some people who do know will buy fewer while it is difficult to think of anyone who is likely to be buying more of them because of the spoiler. Whilst some people don't mind about the accuracy of background vehicles, cars are really easy for a lot of people to recognise and to date, even in N-gauge. When operating my club's N-gauge layouts at exhibitions I've often overheard people commenting on the background cars, typically pointing out to their children or grandchildren a type they or a relative used to own. There are also plenty of people who can spot things "wrong" with a car model far more readily than an issue with a piece of rolling stock. I therefore find it galling that a manufacturer seems to have chosen to model what was once a very common car with various inaccurate add-ons that detract from its appearance and make it less recognisable, for absolutely no benefit whatsoever. There are enough compromises in capturing the look of a car at such a small scale without deliberately adding prominent inaccuracies. I had planned to fill a rake of Cartics with Fords and had pre-ordered ten of the red Cortinas to start with, but these I will now be cancelling as if the first shot is what gets produced they will probably be useless to me - the splitter, fog lamps and sunroof I could reluctantly live with or modify, but the prominent spoiler is likely to be very difficult to hide or to remove easily. My N-gauge is circa 1977-79 so any mk.V Cortinas would be brand new and unmodified. I'll probably buy one and have a got at it with a file and some red paint before deciding if it is worth the effort of doing more, but I'm not optimistic. Looking on the bright side the Cartics I have pre-ordered are MAT whereas Ford tended to use Toleman, so maybe Oxford are saving me from an inaccuracy of my own!

This has been discussed before, but I simply do not believe that when it comes to N-gauge models a performance car model will sell better than a common one. That is obviously true at the larger scales where most of the products are sold to model car collectors, but am sceptical about it being the case for OO and certainly not for N gauge, as those scales are selling substantially (and in the case of N-gauge, overwhelmingly) to railway modellers as scenic items. Clearly people want a mix of vehicle types and that leads to a relative over-representation of exotica, which is fine, but to chose to spoil one of the much-needed everyday saloon car models in this way is crazy. I can understand why Oxford modelled the Sierra Cosworth in OO scale rather than a more useful vanilla Sierra Sapphire, but at least in the Cosworth was an actual UK prototype. The N-gauge Cortina mk.V on the other hand appears to be a New Zealand export-spec vehicle, or a boy-racer custom, and the spoiler and splitter look totally wrong for the UK and ruin the appearance of the model. It also seems to have a moulded-in sunroof which is also unrepresentative of 99% of cars and is pointless at N-gauge where a sunroof would be better represented with paint. If the finished model comes out like the pre-production one it will be a major disappointment. I don't believe that the number of people who think "I'll buy another of those Cortina models because it has a naff spoiler" is greater than the number who buy fewer of them because the model is so unrepresentative of the prototype.

Various first shots of forthcoming models have been shown on Oxford Diecast's facebook page over the last month or so - N-gauge Fiesta mk.I, Escort mk.II, Cortina mk.V and Capri mk.III, OO-gauge Metro, MG Midget mk.III and Dennis Eagle refuse truck. All looking pretty good with the exception of the Cortina, which unfortunately seems to have been modelled with a spoiler and splitter which I don't think were even factory options in the UK. Either it is based on an export 'S' model or a tacky aftermarket customisation. Instantly the appeal of the model is reduced by 95%. I had hoped over time to fill a rake of Revolution Cartics with these, but that will need to be re-thought. Why on earth do manufacturers do this sort of thing...?

The Commer postbus lends itself to the role, as it already has a raised roof to simulate the simulated "equipment" housing.

Would someone who has a Heljan 47 with the original steam-heat boiler tanks possibly be able to post a picture of the underside tanks viewed from below? (One year on, I am finally getting around to converting my 1980s 47/4 model to a 47/0 by replacing the underframe tanks, but I am still struggling to identify all the parts I need, and a photo from below would be a huge help). I have acquired most of the parts required, but I suspect that there is at least one more part that I am missing and which does not appear on the Heljan parts lists for the two types of undeframe tanks. Gaugemaster have been helpful as always, but when it comes to the underframe details the Heljan parts diagram for the 7mm 47 does not bear any resemblance to reality, and I am not convinced that the Heljan parts lists for the two styles of underframe are accurate either. In particular, there ought to be some sort of cover spanning between the two water tanks at the boiler end, and also a large flat a “bottom” for the whole of the tank assembly, but none of these items appear on the underframe parts list. I suspect that these covers might be parts 209 and/or 210 (“Combination Cover A” and “B”). On the other hand, following the Heljan parts list for the steam-heat underframe would result in there being eight battery boxes instead of four, so I am inclined to treat it with a pinch of salt! Also, if anyone knows how the water tanks are numbered I’d be very grateful to know which one the small one on the end under the end nearest the boiler port is. There are four Heljan parts (left water tanks 1 and 3, right water tanks 2 and 4, but one of them was missing from my parts order and as they all come loose with no numbers I’m not sure which one is missing. It is the one on this image. I’ll post pictures of the conversion in due course, if anyone else is contemplating something similar you may wish to start with the 1970s version that already has the correct tanks and boiler port, as in retrospect I’ve realised that adding a high intensity headlight would probably have been easier than the course I’ve embarked on.

I don't know, but maybe a similar spring from another manufacturer might suffice. Dapol 112743 looks about right, but I've not tried it myself. The Oxford Mk3 is notorious for this, as covered on the "Oxford Rail announces - OO gauge Mk3 coaches" thread. The screws holding the chassis to the interior are far too short, so they separate causing the chassis to become loose which in turn causes the coupling springs to unhook and various other problems. Possibly some batches are worse than others and my impression is that the buffets are worst of all, but maybe that has just been my bad luck. However, assuming you have all the parts it is reasonably easy to fix the problem by reassembling them using longer screws (but not so long that they stick through the chassis and foul the couplers) or glue (glue being risky IMHO as it would then be harder to take apart in the future) to fix the chassis to the interior. Personally I drill a small hole through the bottom of the existing screw holes in the chassis ends and countersink these slightly from below, taking care not to remove too much plastic, and then I fasten them up using a small countersunk machine screw with a nut and washer inside the vestibule, which could easily be unfastened if I ever need to fix the couplers again. However, as long as the chassis and the interior are nice and tight the coupling springs ought to stay in place.

The easiest route to a Northern Scottish Ford R1114 / Alexander Y-type would be EFE 22714, which is a "AY" type body with long-bay windows in Northern Scottish livery. The vehicle modelled is one of the secondhand Leyland Leopards acquired in the late 1980s to replace the Fords, but with new registration and fleet numbers it could easily be changed to depict one of the dual-purpose Ford R1114 / AY-types (VRG135-144L, JSA105-112N) after they had been repainted into bus livery in the early 1980s. Image from Flickr: If you are looking specifically for a short-bay "AYS" type body then I'd suggest that you model one of the first batch (SRS513-527K, which were actually Ford R226s rather than R1114s) as these were the only ones to have quad headlights like the EFE model. Despite being buses they were delivered in the predominantly cream coach livery, but received the yellow bus livery about 1980. This might well have been the type your parents travelled on - that can't have been a comfortable journey! Another Flickr image:

Never mind the paintjob, its got a NEM pocket!

Fantastic. Back when the first batch came out and Hattons said they were open to suggestions for future releases I had contacted them to suggest No.47, because I thought a NCB blue 14" would complement the green and black NCB 16" examples from the first batch, so I'm particularly delighted that they are doing that one. I think the details of the named/numbered ones are: NCB No. 47 (AB 2157/1943 - NCB Kinneil Colliery, Bo'ness) "Carbon" (AB1704/1920 - NCB Bank Hall Colliery, Burnley) "Efficient" (AB 1598/1918 - McKechnie Bros. copper works, Widnes) "Victory" (AB 2201/1945 - Stewart & Lloyds/BSC, Newport Tube Works) "Wallace" (AB 2266/1949 - ICI Gaskell Deacon works, Widnes)

The prototype photo on Hornby's website is not of the real 44726, but one of the East Lancashire Railway's preserved examples (hence the 26D shed plate). Aside from the image not looking like a colour photo from that era, the modern electrification flashes (or indeed any flashes on a loco with early crest) give the game away. I think we are fairly safe to assume that the model will be of the single domed late-crest example shown in the pre-production picture, which lacks electrification flashes and is therefore presumably correct for 44726 in late '50s/early '60s condition.

I suspect Ford must be particularly accommodating, as they are very well represented in both the Oxford and Corgi Vanguards ranges. JLR and the late MG Rover's predecessors are also well covered. Vauxhall and Rootes/Peugeot on the other hand are not nearly so well represented, and I assume there must be a reason for that.

Yes, eventually... I don't fancy repainting N-gauge cars though (not if I want them to look brand new at any rate!). Maybe once the Cartics are available Oxford might do some multipacks of different coloured versions of the same model (preferably without number plates). Personally I'd sooner have had a Cortina estate than a Capri, but it's a great announcement for N gauge modellers of that era.

This is a bold starting point compared with using the EFE diecast, so I wish you well. There wasn't much to to distinguish Y-type bodied Ford from a contemporary Leopard apart from panel/cover locations, although the final 15 R1014s got a weird little grille to accommodate the radiator. SBG had 124 11m Fords with Alexander AYS body, over half of these being for Northern. I've never heard them well spoken of though - the R-Series was a crude chassis at the best of times, and as the Alexander body was substantially heavier than a Duple or Plaxton coach body they were apparently underpowered. Can't have been much fun in the hills!

I think that under Gilbow, EFE overproduced and underpriced its product. At the time it was great for modellers and collectors, because we'd never had decent ready-made bus (or many 1:76 lorry) models before so for a while they sold like hot cakes and people snapped up whatever was released. However, as more and more models became available and other manufacturers joined the market, I think that buyers became more discerning in what they bought, buying only the models that most interested them. That would have led to declining sales volumes and eventually to Gilbow's demise, as well as to Corgi and the other manufacturers drastically scaling back production or going under. To have Gilbow, Corgi et al releasing ten new bus models a month at (relatively) affordable prices was thus ultimately unsustainable. This also helps to explain the present glut in secondhand models, though the recent dearth of new products to sustain collector interest or encourage younger people to start collecting probably suppresses secondhand values as well. Nevertheless there is clearly still a market for new 1:76 bus and lorry models, and there are endless examples of popular and collectable liveries which have not yet been produced on particular EFE castings - it is just a case of finding the right production volume and price point. The direction that prices are going in is not is question, regrettably. For various reasons over the last few years both Bachmann and Hornby have struggled to produce as many new models as consumers (and no doubt they themselves) would wish, so inevitably they'll be focussing their resources on products that are likely to give the highest return. Evidently that is not currently die-cast buses and lorries, but hopefully these will start to come back in time. The fact that Bachmann are apparently still working on new EFE bus castings is encouraging, even if they do not seem to be a high priority.

The diecast releases started to dry up the moment Bachmann took EFE over in late 2016. Prior to that there had been about six new releases each month, but for the next three years the annual releases didn't make it into double figures, and a high proportion of these were just re-releases of previous liveries with minor changes (i.e. different registration/fleet numbers/destinations) which suggested there wasn't a lot of staff resource being put into product development. New releases then stopped altogether for three years until the Leyland National anniversary models came out late last year, and since then there has been nothing else announced. Obviously Gilbow's' difficulties may have meant that they didn't have much in the pipeline at the time of the takeover and it was probably unrealistic to expect production to step back up to the previous level or for the previous prices to be maintained, but it has never seemed to me like Bachmann are interested in the range, which is a shame. There are endless new livery opportunities for the existing castings, and if they can sell them at £40 a time (like the Nationals) while Oxford's newly-cast (and in some cases rather niche) bus models retail at £25-27 you would hope that the margins would be adequate.

A long dormant thread but this might be of interest to someone. To my lasting regret I threw out my 1980s train formation notes many years ago, but I recently came across one scribbled in the back of a notebook from 1988. It was an described as "Manchester train", seen in Edinburgh. The formation was: 47469 "Glasgow Chamber of Commerce" - Intercity Scotrail livery 5884, 5813 (mk2e TSO) - Intercity 17165 (mk2d BFK) - Intercity 5891, 5781 (mk2e TSO) - Intercity 1670 (mk1 RBR) - blue/grey 5800, 5841 (mk2e TSO) - Intercity This was in the days when most Cross Country services split at Carstairs, so there would probably have been a Glasgow portion as well.

Yes, or Arisaig. Probably others too.

Based on the side-platform stations on the Mallaig Extension rather than the island-platform stations on the West Highland proper. They looked nice.

Surely the Scottish Four are the prime candidates given the location of the announcement, and I don't imagine they'd duplicate the Jones Goods. My money is on the D34.

That was very common, especially in the final days of the 120s in Scotland in the late '80s. The 120 centre cars were all withdrawn before the last of the driving motors so the last survivors invariably ran with an odd trailer and sometimes a mismatched driving motor at the other end. This one is a real oddball though - a 120/101/105 lashup, all in different liveries:(from Flickr)

I agree open merchandise wagons have been sadly neglected, considering how common they were, so it is really good to see more variety becoming available. I think many modellers (me anyway) have been far more willing to accept generic opens and mineral wagons than we have with vans, but whilst the differences between opens of the same height are more subtle than the obvious differences between van types there was still huge variety which it is rewarding to model. Also, you get the opportunity to model the loads for added interest.

Some favourite similar stories from from my own career: a) Pig farm in the middle of the countryside goes bust and is sold off as separate lots. Man buys the farmhouse, another pig farmer buys everything else. Man considers the overwhelming 24/7 odour of pig faeces to be somehow the fault of the council for allowing house to be built next to farm. The fact that it was the farmhouse and its construction long pre-dated the existence of the planning system would not shake him from this view. Any suggestion that the situation was in any way of his own making provoked screaming. (This man was a regular caller, especially on hot summer days...) b) Headmistress self-builds retirement house facing out over fields. Complains to environmental health that cattle in field are defecating freely, in full view of her windows, and that it is causing her some embarrassment. c) Couple purchase large country house at knock-down price because it is right next door to a landfill site. Couple never cease complaining about landfill site and about regulatory agencies failure to shut it down. Couple then apply for planning permission to build more houses in their garden. Planning permission is refused because of odour (amongst other reasons). Couple appeal and in doing so claim there is no odour issue. Council produce years of odour complaints from Couple. Couple complain that council has "made them look like liars". Appeal dismissed. d) Woman complains to council about neighbour's decking. When was the decking built? Before she bought the house. If the decking was a problem why did she buy the house? She viewed it at night and did not see the decking. When was this? Twenty years ago. Why is this only now a problem? She has built her own decking now and now they are looking directly into one another. Did she obtain planning permission for her own decking? No.

The West Highland Line ones were. However there were also Timber P wagons used in Bristol which were of different ancestry.

Having grown up near Oxwellmains I foresee quite a few of these joining my O gauge fleet, though perhaps not all at once! As I understand it, the evolution of BCC livery was that the earliest style modelled had the grey TOPS panels and red OHL flashes, then black TOPS panels came in circa 1989/90, followed by yellow OHL flashes circa 1998. There are however some slight differences in the graphics between the images above and those on the Realism Redefined website - i.e. 10749 shown above with body-colour TOPS panel and the number above it patched out, but on their website with later (black) TOPS panel and the number in place.