Adams442T

Thanks very much for that Neil. As 34C says it looks to be possible to move the motor back. But isn't it a shame they didn't do that in the first place! I have several locos running with flywheels and I've never found the need to have a U/J, just a bearing to support the motor spindle in some cases. As I want the LSWR version though, I will also await Hornby's offering, particularly as I don't really fancy paint matching the Oxford even if it is in the shaded area. I might though see if there are any cheap Oxfords about after the Hornby issue and chop them into an LT&SR Class 1, the wheel base being (almost) spot on.

The inventor of predictive text passed away yesterday. His funfair will be hello at the local creosote on Sundial...

Throw away line from Tesco's ................

If you look at my post 1202 and Chris Knowles-Thomas's post 1225 that should give you all the info you need. That's not to say that some pix of the pair wouldn't be welcomed!

The defendant's attorneys insisted on a statement from the officer who stopped their client, even though they were told it was a K9 unit, they still insisted. Be careful what you ask for......

Once upon a time, the NHS and a Japanese company decided to have a competitive boat race on the river Thames. Both teams practiced long and hard to reach their peak performance. On the big day, they were as ready as they could be. The Japanese won by a mile! Afterwards the NHS team became very discouraged by the loss and morale sagged. Senior management decided that the reason for the crushing defeat had to be found, and a project team was set up to investigate the problem and recommend appropriate action. Their conclusion: The problem was that the Japanese had eight people rowing, and one person steering. The NHS had one person rowing and eight people steering. Senior management immediately hired a consultancy company to do a study on the team structure. Millions of pounds and several months later the consultancy company concluded that: Too many people were steering and not enough rowing. To prevent loosing to the Japanese again next year, the team structure was changed to 'four steering managers, three senior steering managers and one executive steering manager'. A new quality performance system was set up for the person rowing the boat to give more incentive to work harder and become a key performer. "We must give him empowerment and enrichment, that ought to do it". The next year, the Japanese won by TWO miles! The NHS laid off the rower for poor performance, sold all the paddles and cancelled all the capital investment for new equipment. They halted the development of a new boat, awarded high performance awards to the consultants and distributed the money saved to senior management.

In fact I believe OR have chosen, at this time, to produce two of the possible 3 locos that remained in BR service on the Lyme Regis branch.. 30583 is the BR version of the loco with the original frames, and single slide bars, which was later retrofitted on the Bluebell and became 488 in LSWR guise. The alternative BR loco is 30584, which has the replaced later frames and double slide bars. Hornby are doing 30582 and 30584, both later frames and double slide bars, as well as the LSWR 488. This leaves a probable future Hornby release of 30583, if sales warrant it, but, if you don't want to wait, Oxford Rail is the only choice for 30583.

Hmmmm, someone should send them a text I think........

With Rails, Invicta, Kernow and Hattons all pricing the Oxford Radial at the £85-88 mark, and the Hornby Radial at £105-111, it seems that there is already a healthy discounting going on, and I myself doubt that it will drop any lower. It is a charming, charismatic locomotive and I'm sure many people at those prices will find excuses to run one, if not two!

In the LSWR Stock Book by Peter Cooper, it lists No. 488 as, Water Capacity 800 gallons, so it seems likely that it was modified in the same way as the other two.

Interestingly the Rails website does show the initial release Radial at £84.50, the other two releases due at £88.50, and it also shows the Hornby locos at £105.50. Given that the actual images do show the large engine mounting block as obstructing nearly all the boiler 'daylight' on the Oxford's, then at Rail's price I shall be opting for the Hornby ones.

Those configurations are correct for the Radials as they received different slide bars at different stages in their production / overhauling.

I'll be repainting them to LSWR colours anyway, so that doesn't matter too much, and if the Hornby ones get discounted I could just as easily backdate a BR one to LSWR with all the Adams fittings I've got lurking around!

Just received an email from Oxford Rail which says that the late BR 30583 will be released next week at £99.95. If it has, as appears from the preview photos, some detail issues, and most importantly for me no 'daylight' under the boiler I will be waiting for the Hornby one. Fortunately I'm only interested in the LSWR version, and I guess by the time that comes out all the failings will be well examined. A shame if Oxford have missed the mark on such an important release as I think it would have been good for the market to have a new manufacturer of high specification models to challenge Hornby/Bachmann, etc. For some I guess the price differential will be important enough to garner sufficient sales for Oxford, and it may well turn out to be a reliable and excellent runner. We shall see. Interestingly Kernow have all the Radials listed with images, admittedly NOT photographs, showing daylight under the boiler, and priced at £84.95, some £35.00 cheaper. Dear me the plot thickens...................

Just had an email from Oxford Rail to say that the late BR model of 30583 will be released next week! I hope the rush to market hasn't led to the seeming flaws that we have all commented on, but I suppose the 'real thing' will confirm or dismiss that. Fortunately I'm only interested in the LSWR version and I guess by the time that appears I will know if it's going to be Hornby or Oxford.

To be fair the Hornby pictures show side views and, on recent form, their bogie wheels are likely to be just as thick. That also doesn't really affect me as it will be EM'd as soon as possible anyway. But for me, if the Oxford Rail model doesn't have daylight under the boiler, that will clinch it. A shame if that's the case because I was looking forward to another quality manufacturer emerging.

As an ex-job member this is a bit too near the truth to be entirely comfortable.................. The SAS, the Parachute Regiment and the Police decide to go on a survival weekend together to see who comes out on top. After some basic exercises the trainer tells them that their next objective is to go down into the woods and catch a rabbit, returning with it ready to skin and cook. Night falls. First up - the SAS. They don infrared goggles, drop to the ground and crawl into the woods in formation. Absolute silence for 5 minutes, followed by the unmistakable muffled "phut-phut" of their trademark silenced "double-tap". They emerge with a large rabbit shot cleanly between the eyes. "Excellent!" remarks the trainer. Next up - the Paras. They finish their cans of lager, smear themselves with camouflage cream, fix bayonets and charge down into the woods, screaming at the top of their lungs. For the next hour the woods ring with the sound of rifle and machine-gun fire, hand grenades, mortar bombs and blood curdling war cries. Eventually they emerge, carrying the charred remains of a rabbit. "A bit messy, but you achieved the aim; well done", says the trainer. Lastly, in go the coppers, walking slowly, hands behind backs whistling Dixon of Dock Green. For the next few hours, the silence is only broken by the occasional crackle of a walkie-talkie "Sierra Lima Whisky Tango Fanta One, suspect headed straight for you..." etc. After what seems an eternity, they emerge escorting a squirrel in handcuffs. "What the hell do you think you are doing?" asks the incredulous trainer, "Take this squirrel back and get me a rabbit like I asked you five hours ago!". So back they go. Minutes pass. Minutes turn to hours. The next morning, the trainer and the other teams are awakened by the police, holding the handcuffed squirrel, now covered in bruises, one eye nearly shut. "Are you taking the piss!!??" asks the now seriously irate trainer. The police team leader nudges the squirrel, who squeaks: "Alright, alright, I confess - I’m a rabbit!"

After 3 days of getting no access to the computer with the usual 'Critical Error - we cannot connect you to Start - sign out now' it has this morning done another 'update' on start-up and I can now gain access to everything. This is becoming a real PITA! I'm right in the middle of working on a new book to be published in 2016, and though I've been reluctant to go down the Apple Mac route before I think it's going to be my only option. Fortunately this morning I've been able to get it to back up everything to a separate drive (wouldn't do that before either!) so it's off to my computer people tomorrow to part with some hard-earned cash!

That's true to an extent, except that all my drivers and apps worked perfectly well in W10 until I had the 'Critical Error-we cannot connect you at present' nonsense, which MS have known about since July 2 and still haven't fixed. The only way of getting around it, and gaining access to the computer, wiped all my existing drivers and apps, some of which I still haven't been able to reinstall.

Latest nonsense re W10. I've tried unsuccessfully for some time to reintroduce some of the excellent features which I had on my Canon Pixma MP492, multifunction printer, prior to the W10 debacle. Today I received the information that drivers will be available in April 2016............................

No wonder camels are always bad tempered............

My EM Gauge Society Newsletter today included a 'how to' sheet on regauging the outside crank version. Looks easy enough, and one EM Sentinel looks a bit lost on its own.................

I'm good at jigsaws too.........................'specially with white bread and brown sauce................

I thought I did well carrying a dog to the vets on my Velocette!