Covkid

That is not a good tale of DHL service, so I am pleased to report mine was the opposite. I was actually abroad when my first delivery texts came through, the message saying they needed someone to receive the parcel. As there was no-one, and my neighbours weren't in, the parcel went back to DHL. Fortunately, the delivery slot was later yesterday, and we arrived home about two hours before thew delivery. The DHL delivery guy insisted on handing it over, and I was pleased. The cardboard box had a bumps but their "airbag" inside made sure the Accurascale boxes (I ordered two) were pristine. 10/10 to both DHL and Accurascale. Next parcel hopefully is blue Brush type 2 5544 - probably next year

You had to do it didn't you Dave The 88DS never crossed my minds when it was announced, simply because I didn't think I wanted one, and there were none local to my sphere of interest. Then I discovered NCB Western Area had one - RH338413, and that it spent some time at Hilton Main - probably shutting the operation down and lifting the track. Then Accurascale announce the self same RH338413 in O gauge. so all of a sudden I am interested after all !!

What these need is a beat up engineers class 31. Just sayin

Yes. Mike. Very plausible indeed

I agree to a large degree with "Ruston" and feel it is all part of the huge multi faceted monster that is Hornby. I am on hols at the moment and found a couple of old James May 2019 programmes on youtube. I never really understood the "Terrier thing" at the time but James May laid it all bare. Lyndon explained that Hornby had lost 30 million pounds that year, Simon Kohler had been brought back and there were clear plans to reverse the deficit. In that show there were unpainted 44DS models on display, but more evident was they turned the new terrier out in eleven months. Proof that a model could be chosen, researched, CAD drawn, tools cut, manufactured, packaged and shipped in less than 12 months. Need i say more

"IrishMail" explained correctly. I think the Mk2D-F were the first coaches with sealed saloons, but still droplights in the vestibules.

You musf be one of a very few who don't view Mk2b and Mk2c as companions to each other. Although there are differences, there are more similarities. I'd venture to suggedt that if there were no Irish Mk2c, then A/s may well have announced them all as one big production.

Just watched the latest Beyond the buffers video with the demo of the class 50 on their test layout. Design engineer Sam went through the lighting and sound options and it seems a good model, although there were no close up views of it. I am hoping the cabs are all new design with proper shaped cab windscreens, and if they are it will entertain. The test train was four blue and grey "coffins" head by 50007 Sir Edward Elgar in GW150 livery. I think the TT:120 brand is developing creedence

You don't need to herd. You just use your own instincts along with common sense. Head and tail lamps were used by the signallers as much as any, for two reasons. The lamp on the rear indicated the train was complete. The physical presence of the lamps on the front indicated the classification if the train. The footplate crew would therefore present their classification on the front and hide away lamps out of sight of the bobbies. GWR had handy brackets up the left hand front end pointing the lamps "sideways". On the point of tail lamps, the majority of 1st gen diesel railcars had a half round slot on the marker lights, which was designed to accept a red shade. This meant that driver could show an electric tail light on the rear of the DMU, and conventional paraffin tail lamps would theoretically be superfluous. However, the actual white painted body of the paraffin tail lamp was the indication the train was complete, and that was what bobbies needed to see when trains exited block sections on anything other than TCB. I have never seen a red shade used in a marker light, and believe BR modified them with two circuits red and white. I reiterate, Hornby are adding unnecessary gimmickery to their models which is an expensive waste to the majority of purchasers

But there really is no need for them. Why on earth would you want to reach over and apply finger grease to your tender sides to switch lights which really should be controlled by a decoder if at all. Leave them off and allow the purchaser to apply if necessary. Hornby, you have set OO modelling back by ten years

All green split headcode 37. What am I missing ? Is the roof lid on properly ?

Thanks for that Matt. Been on the website and SLW are offering D5225 in GSYP and 25042 in BFYE. Two nice choices and those who will be familiar with the class on the Crewe-Cardiffs will remember stalwart 25042. As a vacuum only loco it also did a lot of ballast / engineers trips, parcels etc.

Of course. It had the original high intensity headlight. Presumably the same type as fitted to the 87s maybe

Going off at a very slight tangent - "deltics never worked freight trains" should also be in that list !!! Just because unusual events were never published does not mean they never happened. It merely means photographers barely had an 8 hour window in the depths of winter. One Friday night we worked empty bitumen tanks from Four Ashes with a pair of class 20s, initially destined for Banbury for the SR to collect. The driver signed Eastleigh and offered to work them through. When we got to Eastleigh we asked for conductors and they took us to Totton where we backed the tanks in the yard. IIRC it was 7Z29 and the choppers I think were 029 and 170, probably no photographers around to record the event

Pedantic point. All the glass on "Maid of Morvern" is on the rear of the vehicle because it is designed to give the occupants an "observation".

The dual braked class 25s with the bodyside air intakes only had them hinged on one side. This was because maintenance staff couldnt crawl down the one side of the engine room to change the filter packs. They were therefore modified to unlatch and swing out so the filters could be changed outside the loco - but only on the side where the additional air gubbins was installed. EDIT On the image posted tbere is a long brass "piano" hinge vertically fitted on the left side of each bodyside grille. On the right hand side are two horizontal metal straps which allow the filter boxes to be latched closed.

What a fantastic choice as a debut loco in the "senior" scale. Just how many folk will be tempted to build a shunting plank. As a committed OO modeller I am waiting the red box release, but would definitely prefer the Accurascale OO version were it to be announced, and would hold out for it. Why ? Well NCB Western Area owned 338413 which spent it's life in Staffordshire at various sites. An idea loco for bashing a few old coal wagons around. So please Accurascale - you obviously have all the R&D and the CAD. You could make it happen in OO !!!!! EDIT Wow !!! You have actually selected 338413 in your first run.

Why on earth would you do that ? Touching your models can easily add greasy fingermarks to then, as most of us know. More importantly though, Hornby have been developing a radical ipgrade to DCC with bluetooth control as "Colin B" says. So if your MPD is teen feet away from you, you don't want to have to reach over and squeeze your loco every time it changes direction. Utterly amazed

Is that a case of trying to reinvent the wheel ? I would have thought that once a model manufacturer had paid a designer to create CAD for a Stanier tender, it would be a simple matter to retain the design but simply modify the visible bits - ie 8 ton 9 ton or ten ton, riveted / welded etc etc.

I imagine that apart from the "turret" it was the same mechanically as 86101 and 86102. They were known by some as dual braked 87s

Never heard about a follow on order but BREL were hoping for worldwide sales. There were hopes of a big superpit at Balsall Common which would have seen Berkswell - Kenilworth reopened. A class 58 spent a couple of weeks with a saloon taking invited guests for a trip from Leamington around the Ratcliffe power station circuit to "sell" the concept of merry go round. Sadly it wasn't to be

Yes. Remember talking to a hydraulic expert years ago and the space needed was a matter of a few more inches than could be accommodated. That was their undoing and why they were withdrawn relatively early. Don't forget that all regions were expected to provide dual braked traction. It is actually interesting to speculate what may have come to pass if BR had changed very quickly from vacuum to air braking. Could the hymeks have lost their vacuum exhausters and replaced with air - probably only a second compressor instead of two exhausters

Except in pairs. IIRC Old Oak sometimes put out pairs of 31s on some of the Birminghams and they did pretty well, but they effectively were nearly 3000hp on eight traction motors !! I also remember pairs on the summer Saturday Yarmouths and Skeggies which motored

I was trying to subtly suggest there wasn't a standard EWS 37/4 !!

But it exactly isn't incompatible. This was Simon Kohler's dream - to be able to run European stuff on the same layout. Google class 66s in Europe or 59003 for that matter. The European wagons tower over the UK designed locos. My dad used to rant about this because he wanted OO scale non UK locos. He had the Kitmaster range - German class 23, Swiss Krokodil, French 241P and the Italian Crosti. They did indeed tower over his Hornby Dublo tinplate!! But he wanted big USA locos. He once tried to bid on a US design big steam loco manufactured on OO scale but the bidding was quite fierce.