Halvarras

"Meagre efforts"? You must have posted the wrong set of photos Simon, these are great 👍!

The two Classes visible in this photo were the only ones to be renumbered in a random manner. Class 45/0 was not entirely random because once the fifty ETH-fitted 45/1s had been completed at Derby the remaining pre-TOPS locos were quickly renumbered into the 45/0 series in numerical order, presumably therefore at depots. Nonetheless Class 45 had the distinction of scoring both the first TOPS- numbered diesel (45101, ex-D96) in March 1973, and the last (45071, ex-D125) in December 1975, the latter delayed due to extensive collision damage repairs which saw it emerge as the first Peak with flush nose ends and twin headlights.

Erm.......you were the one who posed the question in the first place - I'm agreeing with you! - many of these early visibility experiments were white, as confirmed by the Strathwood 'Looking Back at Shunters' colour albums. If @Fredo is adamant that 12135's were yellow I have no reason to argue. I knew that was what you meant to say 😉!

@cctransuk posed the question because many of those very early 'horizontal' visual warning experiments on various designs of diesel shunter were white........

Poor old thing! But hopefully, wherever it went it's still clinging to life and one glorious day will arise like a Phoenix from the ashes.......however unlikely that looks here! No, let's be optimistic 😁! Many thanks for posting this pic 👍.

Interesting that the 'D' prefix has serifs but the '1' doesn't.......

That cryptic comment has me wondering - do tell me more! Reason is I have a Wrenn model detailed and repainted as this one. And the reason for that is that on 18th April 1968 I copped D3255 at the far end of the Wenfordbridge branch in Cornwall. Until 08091/113/377 arrived at St Blazey as the line's closure loomed in 1983 D3255 had been the only early (external side hinges) '08' in the area so it was the one which corresponded best with the model's detail - if it hadn't been around I'd have had to laboriously remove all of those hinges and do D3526 instead! (I did this once to a Lima '08'........and vowed 'never again' 😬!) I know D3255 was withdrawn in 1972 and went to work for the NCB before acquiring a TOPS number, then ended up in preservation and spent some time stored at Preston Park, but I've lost track of this old friend lately.......

That possibility had occurred to me (as Dapol has done the same - maybe still do the same - with the ex-Airfix kits). I don't personally recall any pink interiors though 😲! - perhaps I was just lucky.....

I meant to say - wow! Just.......wow! Does anyone else remember when Tri-ang Hornby thought crudely moulding one-piece coach interiors in inappropriate colours such as sky blue and white was good enough? This suddenly makes that bygone era feel considerably more bygone........best to not think about that too much and just admire the decor 😉!

Judging by the wheel guards this tender appears to be mounted on a GWR shunter's truck underframe which, although perhaps not the ideal solution, does achieve short length with footboards already fitted (this may seem extravagant but at one point the shelves were awash with shunter's trucks by both Bachmann and Hornby, and overproduction by the latter resulted in prices sinking as low as £6.99 - perhaps this combo dates back to then). This is probably not the ideal solution either, being a scale 10' wheelbase, but it may appeal to budding 'Pug' tender builders wondering how to add the pick-ups: Lendons of Cardiff sell these underframes (X7397/7397W (weathered version)) already fitted with pick-ups for £2.98, which qualifies for their low postage rate. I think this version is from the Ruston 48DS diesel's runner wagon and the weathered version is from the TTS sound-fitted vent van. Just in case it's of interest 🙂!

I remember wondering when I would see my first blue Class 08 in the late '60s and got all excited when a gleaming loco appeared briefly on Carvedras Viaduct in 1967 before shuffling back into Truro yard. Trouble was, I'd seen it from some distance away and when I made it to the station to check it out I found D4007 freshly turned out by Swindon in BR green livery, so I was somewhat deflated! I've since learned that it wasn't alone in this retro-treatment. The irony was that I had fully expected to have to travel east to find my first blue 08 - as I did - whereas all I had to do was head in the opposite direction to find D4161 at Penzance, which must have been outshopped around the same time as D4167 as it was in identical condition (red bufferbeams & coupling rods, block serif numbers and BR arrows on the side boxes).

One interesting facet of china clay operations at Fowey, as illustrated in this link, was the use of ex-GW shunter's truck DW41799 well into the 1980s, with ex-BR Class 10 shunters D3452/76. Its longevity ensured its survival into preservation on the Glos-Warks Railway, where its long-missing toolbox was reinstated:

Diversion / Just catching up and apologies for the OT 5-month back-track, but this comment reminded me of Bachmann's Mark 1 BSK W34885 (39-079B): The application of chalking panels to this model was unfortunate because W34885 lasted until well into 1968 in Chocolate and Cream livery, but had lost the chalking panels way before then (if it ever had them). I saw this vehicle passing through Truro 56 years ago today (Monday) as it happens, and this model would have been an automatic purchase, but the difficulty in removing those chalking panels and restoring both livery colours and the lining meant renumbering an older 39-079 instead was considerably easier. / Diversion Ends!

That row of top side grilles reminds me of 'Falcon'.......🤔! Locating yer typical British bufferbeam in a functional yet aesthetically acceptable manner would be a challenge though! Maybe that other Brush prototype named after a bird offers a suggestion.......

I didn't take any in-progess photos since at the time I did it, if RMweb existed I wasn't a member. However I can try to explain how I went about it, if memory permits! I deleted the fictitious side boxes by purchasing an additional bonnet for the extra full-depth doors required, hence the grey and cream colours (I have since wondered whether creating my own bonnet sides with slightly narrower doors would have been a better idea as the Hornby ones extend too far forward, but too late now). With the bonnet, cab and frame still separate, the first task in the slimming process was to carefully plot and scribe a centre line down all three parts; then from this line plot and scribe lines either side 2.5 mm from the centre line (I should mention that this was derived from 4mm drawings helpfully published in 'Model Rail' issue 3). The three components were then sawn down the centre line and the 6 parts filed back to the '2.5mm' lines, resulting in 5mm (scale 15") being removed. The fuel tank as modelled by Hornby is too squat due to the excess width, slimming the body means this can have its angles corrected. To do this I removed the front face of the fuel tank then heavily scribed the inside at the crease line between vertical and angled surfaces which allowed the latter to be carefully bent to a steeper angle. Once the two slimmed-down bonnet halves have been reunited (with the join reinforced internally) the angle of the fuel tank sides can be adjusted with reference to the cab front face. A rectangle of 40thou was filed to fit inside the top of the angled surfaces to keep these at the correct angles, this was then filed flat on top and capping piece of 20thou glued in place, to be filed to shape when set - note that the top of this should sit just below the cab roof lip. 40thou triangular infills then formed front and rear faces for the fuel tank (the latter face is up against the cab front but helps keep the tank in shape). The 5mm square section Plastruct inserts in the cab were fitted purely to provide somewhere for a pair of body fixing screws to tap into at that end. Slimming the cab removes almost all of the rear centre window - the easiest solution was to plug what was left and enlarge the outer two to represent the later cab design (D2425-44). The undersized triangular front windscreens were also enlarged to match the reshaped fuel tank, although I overdid this and had to adjust the shape with plasticard inserts. The two halves of the cast chassis frame had small contact areas at each end so some form of reinforcement is desirable - I was lucky enough to have an approximately 60thou piece of whitemetal slab to hand but brass sheet would do, securely epoxied in position behind the bufferbeams (I've found that epoxy resin doesn't always adhere to plastic). The gaps either side to accommodate the Hornby motor spring were plugged with brass strip from below and then filled with Miliput epoxy filler on top, carefully sanded down level with the top of the running plate (plasticard of suitable thickness could also be used of course). The opening in the frame was filed to fit around the running chassis. Hope this helps!