Halvarras

Looks like the ETH connector was moved from inside to outside the buffer (nearest corner above) during that overhaul too.......

My take on a Bachmann D7660, but at the other end of its life! Last year I combined an early Class 25/3 chassis with an as-new D5211 body from Elaine's Trains plus matching underframe from EKMexhibitions to create a model of Scottish D7579. This left me with a spare 25/3 body and underframe - what to do with these? Easy (!?) - combine with a set of Class 25 bogie sideframes left over from a Bachmann-powered Hornby Class 29 project, and a pair of old Hornby B4 bogies with the sideframe detail brutally filed down until the pinpoints showed through and fitted with Hornby 14mm wheels to create an ETHEL! ETHEL 1 (ex-D7660/25310) was selected as the paint job was easier than the other two, and a boiler compartment grille/blank swap with D7579 put both models right. Transfers from RailTec. It still needs spray varnishing (roll on the summer!) before the glazing, 'domino' headcodes and cab door handrails can be refitted. Another reason for doing ETHEL 1 was that I had photographed it without having to go all the way to Scotland - actually about 3 miles from home in Wiltshire! Seen outside Swindon Works in August 1984 with fellow Scot 27040 for company: It's interesting to reflect that D7660 never had its boiler grilles blanked, and that the chances of this one of only two late-style Class 25s to carry blue paint around its cab windscreens at the beginning of its career reacquiring this feature at the end were remote - and yet it happened!I Anyway, except for D7660 this is wandering off-topic into 'imperfect previous model' territory so I'll 🤐 zip it here!

Got this far with it - yellow panels (which also covered the headcode panels) were too large so were reduced sides and bottom with Railmatch 300 BR Green, almost perfect match, also for heacode frames; yellow redone with Precision P134 BR Signal Yellow; lower lining extended to yellow panel with Railmatch 302 BR Yellow-Green; bufferbeams painted Railmatch 400 Signal Red, fitted with Hornby buffer heads, Heljan coupling shackles and (probably) Craftsman cast whitemetal pipework; underframes, bogies and wheels finished in Railmatch 412 Weathered Black. Replica blue-square coupling codes, destinations from cut-up MTK WR Toad brake van 'RU' names (that was 'fun'!) and after a lot of searching for something to fit into apertures only 2.5mm wide the headcode characters were cut down from those supplied with the Dapol Western diesel. Side window First & No Smoking labels from the HMRS pressfix sheet 14 (printed in reverse to be applied on the inside), also the BR coaching stock roundels which Lima only applied to one side of each power car! Interiors partly repainted and bits of crude detail stuck to the otherwise plain driver's control desks (the handbrake wheels are filed-down discharge wheels off a Hornby TTA underframe). The only job remaining is renumbering to a Scottish Region unit - 36 characters, I think I'll ask RailTec for assistance with that! It appears that the majority of green DMUs displaying the yellow First Class stripe were in Scotland, so...... Lima printed those numbers too low....... Close coupling via those small Airfix couplers with one hook removed, pinned in place with Hornby track pins - I don't see why Bachmann mini-couplers couldn't be used instead: As well as the modern heater grilles the unit also has incorrect full-length guttering, but I can live with both. (With the Lima motor bogie, who needs digital sound......?!) Very pleased with this, I think it confirms just how good this model was, and it's great to know that it's still with us.

Only started on Monday - even faster than the Ultrasonic Test unit! Granted, that one required the scratchbuilt trolley and cab-interiors-plus, but this one required two full interiors. Astonishing! At this rate I reckon if you leave that Trans-Pennine unit until last you'll get it done over a weekend 😜!

Looking at the running number and those shiny wheel rims I'm thinking they used the Mainline model as a reference. A spare Nellie chassis to do what with exactly......?! 🤔

The Elliot vehicle was based on the Wickham design but was a bespoke build which differed from the passenger-carrying version in a number of significant ways.

Funny you should mention long lead times, I remembered that yesterday marked 5 years since the delivery of my D600 'Active' from Kernow, after a wait which lasted longer than the real locos were in service!! Me to postie: "Yay, I've waited years to receive this!" Postie to me: "I hope that wasn't our fault!" It was worth the wait though.......

This may be so if the magnetic strip is removed from its steel holder, but otherwise it should be OK. If a previous owner has removed the magnet and re-inserted it the other way round the demagnetisation problem probably already exists! I rebuilt a motor bogie last year which required complete disassembly (magnet + holder excluded!) and it's working fine. As others have said if the magnet + holder have been inserted the wrong way round - which should be obvious as on taking off the face plate you'll see shiny steel instead of brown magnetic strip - the central locating pip at the top won't engage properly with its hole in the plastic outer casing. Um...........not really 😁!!

It's good to see four different Class 03s being produced and all with the 'flowerpot' exhaust. Until now Bachmann has seemed fixated on the conical exhaust which was only fitted to 35 examples from new (D2000-32 plus Departmental 91/2, later D2370/1), plus 03129/62 changed later on. That left 193 with 'flowerpots' - somewhat more numerous! Still no plain green with the 'pot' - maybe next time then.......

I have just been reading through the description of DRP81522 on Kernow's website and at the bottom noticed an acknowledgement of assistance provided by the crane's current owner, Ron Bailes. Ron was already a member of the Swindon Model Railway Club when I joined in 1973, he was a Swindon Works apprentice at the time and it was thanks to him that I got involved in the repainting of D1062 Western Courier for the September 1975 Open Day; in May 1977 he and I undertook what would be my one and only weekend tour around Scotland by rail - that kind of long-distance roaming wasn't in my nature and almost certainly wouldn't have happened without his enthusiasm and organising (and BR connections!) Ron went on to much greater things on the railways - in later years we'd occasionally see each other at exhibitions when he was attending with his O gauge layout 'Cherry Orchard'. All the more reason to pre-order that one, which is the one I wanted anyway 😊! I already had another reason to pop down to Kernow so now I have two (well........at least two.......!)

It was D5026 which carried the same livery scheme as D7660 and D5389 - D5028 was I believe in the early blue fye with four cabside arrows when it got severely torched and inevitably withdrawn before it could become 24028. A photo in one of the Strathwood '1960s Remembered' series indicates D5026 had red bufferbeams*; D5389 did, but I haven't seen conclusive evidence of D7660/1 in this regard as the 'beams are always filthy in photos (you'd have thought somebody at Derby Works would have taken official photos of these first blue ones out the door, but if they did they're still being sat on!) There was a minor change between D7671 and D7672 on which the works plates were moved from the driver's cabsides to the cab doors, enabling the BR logos to be centralised on the cabside, with numbers moved down to maintain alignment, on D7672-7. AFAIK only D7669 lasted long enough in this original livery to acquire its TOPS number (25319) - the derbysulzers site has a good photo of it like this. *The photo is a bit distant and head-on but I'm sure the arrow logo can just be seen on the cabside, in the higher position unlike other early blue '24s'. I know of only a couple of other b&w photos of D5026 in Bsyp livery, one of which was taken in Crewe Basford Yard, with data panels dated 1970 IIRC - incredible really as I reckon it must have run for around 4 years in this condition yet its existence remained a rumour for decades, unlike Bsyp D5021 with its old BR emblems (but then I saw that one for myself at Crewe on 3rd November 1969!)

The degree of difficulty varies, not only between manufacturers but also within manufacturers depending on the age of the model. You never really know how easy or difficult any particular model will be until you tackle it - past experience with any one manufacturer's models is only a guide up to a point, as printing techniques constantly evolve. Some paint finishes don't take kindly to certain substances which others shrug off - testing first on an inconspicuous area isn't always possible as few if any areas on the outside of a model are inconspicuous, and the problem here is the risk of damaging these increasingly expensive new purchases. Yes, obviously you can disguise less-than-perfect renumberings with weathering - if you do weathering, which not everyone does. I do a lot of renumbering myself, to recreate specific locomotives, but the majority of these are on models from the 'sub-£100' era so I'm not too bothered if some prove obstructive and it shows (a bit!) My point here is that 25057 has been treated differently to all of the others in this batch of releases and this may be inconvenient for some multiple-purchasers who do find renumbering difficult.

Yes indeed, the Reading photos in the Hattons thread I refer to are immediately followed by photos of 81509 and friends doing just that, taken by @VIA185 of this parish I believe.

Wasn't 'Freight BR Blue' just BR Blue with a layer of filth?! Interestingly, from the above photos of the more numerous curvy ones at least, these appeared to always have the yellow ends applied as two panels, upper and lower. It's hard to believe there weren't a few with just one large panel. Granted the yellow on the curve wouldn't have been very effective as a warning device (the same comment could be made about the large expanse of yellow on the cabsides of locos in Large Logo Blue livery), especially when the usual layers of muck settled on it from above, but such practical considerations were not always applicable on the railway! If your model is one of the Hornby Magazine specials produced by Dapol, I and others have found that the handrails and brake wheels stick out too far and pushing these in a bit improves the appearance. It's necessary to drill slightly larger holes to take the thicker shank of the brake wheel behind the rim. Mine's a blue one, by the way!

Ah, OK, many thanks - I don't think I'd noticed that before, even though the lining accentuates it in a 3/4 view.

Thanks Paul, I'd just been attempting a 're-trawl', as it were, based on a memory of '975411' and ended up in page 3 of the original Hattons thread where the Reading photos I could remember appear. As you say, the crane was 81509, the tube wagon ZDV DB732251 and the ex-Fruit D DB975411 (I worry myself sometimes, although I suppose it confirms I still have at least two brain cells to rub together!) The brake van was a standard type (B951128), I think the Toad brake van idea was in my own head, as I already had that (Kernow's departmental green DW35377). Hmm, it still looks like a very attractive short train........oh hang on, there seems to be a voice echoing in my head loudly reminding me that I've repeatedly said that "I don't need any more projects!" - just ignore it, it'll go away 😉 !

Have you been counting how many times you've explained this today?! 😜 (Could be an all-time record!🤭)

Note the low positioning of 47553's number - this loco was built as D1956, one of Brush Loughborough's final nine turned out in blue from new, with cabside arrow logos and bodyside numbers aligned with them, placing the numbers this low - 1956 was briefly renumbered 47260 in this condition in 1974 before being called to Crewe Works for ETH fitting and renumbering again to 47553, but whoever did this in the paint shop must have been too used to applying the new numbers on top of the old ones and did the same on this one without thinking...... I was at Bristol Temple Meads on 2nd June 1973 and witnessed the rusty hulk of 5239 being towed west through the station by Class 47 1602, on its way from Woodhams at Barry to a new life as 'Goliath' - the only time I saw such a thing. But I wouldn't like to speculate on what's going on here!

For obvious reasons I'm really surprised the later style Class 25 hasn't appeared by now. Seems like an open goal to me, and I don't even model in N!

Is 30199 showing a welded side tank repair? I don't recall seeing that on these models previously. It's not on my original 30225 (since renumbered to 30200)....

And we're in May.......(already! 😲.......👍!!)

Jeez. Yeah OK - fair point 🥴!

Good ol' BR blue - saves a lot of messin' around, dunnit?! I note you've headed the latest instalment 'Day 3' - I can't decide if you're engaged in a personal challenge or just showing off now 😜! Of course, unlike the Ultrasonic Test unit, this one requires a full interior so there's still stuff to do.......

After the usual RRP discount this should be available at around £7 above the price Hattons had anticipated, which IMHO is reasonable for something this complex. From memory of the Hattons announcement 81523 allocated to Reading (I think) was of most interest to me, and this may have been the one which ran with a former tube wagon and Fruit D-based crew vehicle (and departmental Toad brake van?) for company, which looked like an interesting little project. Methinks I'm going to have to revisit this........😉!

With such a large class to choose from I'm not sure why 25155 (already done by Heljan) was selected again - I wonder if that headcode was supposed to be '8V09?! - or why the weathered 25057 couldn't have been given a different number to the pristine one for those who may want both ex-works and 'well-used' early versions. Pleased to see D5179 without a water tank, more than Bachmann achieved with D5182....! At least Bsyp D7660 doesn't repeat D7661 for a third time (with its livery variation), and as for D7672 'Tamworth Castle'..........well, it holds a similar status to 97201 'Experiment' so not that surprised to see it again TBH! Looking at the represented one replacement cab side window frame on 25106 I presume this model is also correct in being devoid of data panels in the condition shown. 25155 was indeed Laira's longest-serving later-style Class 25, alongside early-style like 25223/5 and 25052, and so a regular on china clay traffic. It did participate in the RPPR 'Penzance Pullman' railtour with 37299 in April 1980 but whereas the '37' was near ex-works the '25' didn't appear to have received any special treatment. Cornish Class 25s became history six months later. Non-boiler 5180 closely followed by 5179 had spearheaded the Class 25's nine-year reign in the county in July/August 1971. 5180 arrived at St Blazey on a freight during the early evening of 30th July, and I found 5179 clearance-testing Truro Yard, still in the process of remodelling, during August - I wish I'd noted the date but I was only passing by that day! They were both ex-Leeds Holbeck (5180 still had cast 55A shedplates attached to the driver's cabsides) and I've seen a photo of this loco in green livery with modified exhaust as early as 1967 - I assume D5179 was likewise, as modelled here, but I don't know about D5225.