Halvarras

I have D5706 of the last release and it arrived in a Hattons box (from Kernow). A very nice model but it caused me some grief because the Co end bogie pivot had too much slack, causing that end to ride a little low and the brake rigging on top of the bogie sideframes to catch on the pipework on the underside of the chassis. I managed to get a small 1mm-thick steel washer into position to cure it although it meant completely dismantling that end of the chassis, and IIRC when I removed the body the motor and drive shafts came away with it! Bit nerve-wracking on a brand new model but it was Kernow's last one in stock and purchased using my accumulated points so I decided to void the warranty and fix it myself. All's well that end's well, as they say!

Agreed - replacing Heljan's stepped couplings with Bachmann straight ones is standard practice on my models - did a Hymek just a few days ago. Actually I need some more short couplings, best get them in now while I can as when they sell out the wait for new stock can be a long one.......

Lest we forget, you only opened the box on Christmas Eve, less than a month ago! You are (rapidly!) building up a collection of models of unusual multiple units, thanks to MTK and your obvious skill in assembling these kits. You never fail to impress! Can't wait to see what's next.......🙂

I was also wondering whether a head start on a Class 74 could be achieved by employing the DJM Class 71 chassis (wherever it is) - however I was unaware of the cause of the poor performance, if it was the motor that could be replaced, but gearing issues would not be so easy to resolve without unwelcome additional investment. As it is, with virtually everything else having to be tooled from scratch, for a Class of ten locomotives in one livery which were in service during one of the least popular modelling eras (1967-77 - even if I like it cuz I was there), I can see Class 74 going one of two ways - not at all, or KR Models [backs quietly out of the room, closes the door and runs for it.......!]

Graham, don't you mean..... ......although I suspect normal Cornish time has been temporarily suspended in a warehouse in Camborne 😀!

Like wot Andyman7 said (and I was just about to!) I've done a lot of Lima motor bogie swapping over the years (including into a pair of Hornby Hymeks which the 26/27/33/42/87 bogie wheelbase fits perfectly as Hornby helpfully shortened the Hymek's ringfield bogie wheelbase by a scale 6 inches.......which was better than the original model's 15-inch discrepancy I suppose!) I also found Lima's later extra trailing bogie pick-ups a nuisance, the inelegant 'design' had all the appearance of a bodge to meet 'market expectations' and tended to make the centre axle track at a peculiar angle.

The OP says it will be on the newstands from 22nd January, if this helps. I assume the modelling content will in effect be absorbed into BRM, as this is where it is sourced from anyway. As a long-time subscriber to Traction but a different modelling mag I'm going to see how this goes - I may be won over but my main interest is in the 1960s/70s and Traction's coverage of late has generally moved on to the 1980s onwards (as clearly illustrated by this front cover), but there is usually something of interest. If the combined magazine appeals and the subscription rate stacks up (and one sub should be cheaper than two) then yes - one reading source may prove convenient. Awaited with interest.......

Or........repaint it into blue/red livery and letter it "RDB999901 - RTC Derby Unspecified Coupling Research Vehicle - NO BRAKES" 🤪!

Yes, I added extra pick-ups to my four but chose the somewhat unconventional method (I suspect!) of turning the middle axle of each bogie around and adding a pick-up formed from a single piece of nickel silver wire bearing on the axle, so the loco picks up from both rails at both ends. Did the same with a pair of Class 47s. Only problem is remembering that isolating the loco via one bogie no longer works!

Does the power bogie pivot freely in the chassis? They can get a bit 'sticky' requiring a little attention with a file to restore free movement (not restricted to the Class 117 DMU, other Lima diesels can be so affected).

I always visited this shop when holidaying in Brixham, and usually came away with a purchase. Unfortunate but the reason is understandable, and increasingly common.

With a wait measured in an indeterminate number of years.......?

In these days of 'what ifs', fictitious liveries and Kernow flogging the Hornby model at £55 I am already imagining one in BR green livery........oooh 'eck......help 😲!! I think - but I may be wrong - that the furthest South West a Bristol Bath Road Class 14 ever travelled (i.e. not allocated) was Taunton (??)

Quite so, in 1967 I pre-ordered my Tri-ang-Hornby Hymek in Langdon's Hardware Store, located a short distance behind Truro Cathedral. Still have it, but the store is long gone. On visits now I try to figure out where it was, as everything has changed so much. I can still recall the thin, smiling gent in his traditional brown dust jacket who used to serve me - the "59/3d" price hand-written on the model's brown outer sleeve must be his writing. So long ago.......

The Western is not so easy as it has an unusually short 3-axle bogie wheelbase. The only other model it may share a motor bogie with is the Irish '201' class produced by Lima for the Irish market, and there may be other continental models which used it. Perhaps somebody out there can confirm or deny this. I think I'm right in believing that any Lima diesel which has raised centre bosses on the wheel faces has the later gearing. I have four Westerns but they are all first production run with earlier gearing and flat wheel faces. I've never owned a later version.

Also I think it looks odd because seeing an "A4" with a whacking great driving wheel under the cab looks so........well, unnatural!

Colin M would probably have regarded 1mm as 'within tolerance'! This is coming along really nicely. Oddly enough I've had some of those Ratio seat strips in stock since the 1970s - original reason for purchase lost in the mists of time, but I finally found a use for some bits of it just last week!

Thank you BH, that explains everything - the 48DS has been produced in preserved liveries (I have 'Jim'*) so no surprise that the 88DS is being similarly adorned. OHLE flashes on "D2959" are a nice touch! * Mulling over whether to overlay his name with 'DS1170'..........just going with the present flow, I seem to be getting less precious about these things in my old age 🤓!

OK..........so Hornby are applying a fictitious livery to the wrong Ruston. Were there not enough genuine liveries for the 88DS to have to resort to this so soon? (Meanwhile we're still waiting for the 48DS to appear as DS1169........)

A poor-quality photo of 92203 'Black Prince' waiting to depart Oxford for Hereford (for a 6000 'King George V' special according to my notebook) on 19th May 1973. Ex-works Class 47 1752 was on the other end of the train, headcode 1Z80. Discovering it there was coincidental, I knew nothing about it until I arrived from the Didcot direction, got off the train and noticed the crowd at the far end of the platform....... A reminder that 92203 was main line registered 50 years ago. Not possible these days as Network Rail take a dim view of wheels without flanges! There is nothing in the new announcements of particular interest, however I'd like to assess the Railroad Plus Class 47 D1683 which I see has now slipped back to September - also noted that the DC version is labelled as Era 4 and the newly-announced sound-fitted version as Era 6.........surely they should both be Era 5! Until I perused the update list I was also unaware of two new versions of the R&H 88DS as 'GWR No 1' (Era 3 - R30014) and 'BR D2959' (Era 4 - R30017) - I'm intrigued..........no pics yet but due April (along with a mass of stuff, allegedly - we'll see). This fictitious livery lark is getting out of hand.......although I'm contemplating repainting a spare Sentinel 4wDM in BR Blue as 97021 so I'm in no position to criticize 🤪! Although I regard my Tri-ang 'Nellie' as my first loco in 1966, it was actually preceded by a Hornby Dublo 3-rail A4 'Silver King' (with one coach, 10 wagons and an oval of track with middle return loop, something you could do with 3-rail) - however my nostalgia scale hasn't reached anywhere near £320, and as for the new 'Nellie'..........no, sorry, I don't think so!

'Modern Locomotives Illustrated'?

I had just performed my usual daily perusal of the latest pre-owned (just in case.....as always), then opened up Youtube on a whim.....and there it was, front and centre - news I failed to believe at first sight. But as I watched I realised it was alas true. Next stop was Hatton's own website for confirmation. One of life's 'bombshell' moments. I made my first purchase from Hattons in 1968, two years after getting into the hobby. I still have that model, a second-hand Tri-ang Brush Type 2 - it couldn't be a new one because of what I did to it...... Yes I know, but I was 15 and desperate, OK? Valuable learning curve though. Another pre-owned one followed, also from Hattons, which remained a Class 31 (wasn't going to do THAT again). Since I was located in Cornwall these were both mail-ordered following their listing in Hatton's advertisements in the 'Railway Modeller'.......think about that, publishing lead times back then meant shop visitors could have nabbed them way before I even saw the ads......not sure how that worked now - pure luck? The internet revolution led to many orders over the years since - they became more sporadic in recent times but picked up again during the past year - my last pre-owned item was a mint but non-running (of course) Mainline Warship just 6 weeks ago. The service was always fast and efficient, never a problem. This is a very sad day for the hobby of modelling in general, my heart goes out to the terrific staff and management there - I wish them all the very best for the future and hope that they all quickly find alternative employment which will allow that enthusiasm to continue to shine. Like many others it seems, I will now have a hole in my day, around early evening when I used to pop in to see the latest pre-owned listings in case something came up I never knew I needed.........Hattons, you will be hugely missed for sure. Many thanks for all you have done for this great hobby.

You may be lucky that the Manor is still in perfect working condition after 40 years - I bought a Mainline Class 03 when it first appeared in 1983 and it didn't take long for one of the axles to split, breaking the sockets on the backs of the wheels rendering them useless, while it was still in its box.

Indeed, when tackling an oddball of this kind, looking outside the scale of the model you're working on is sometimes necessary. Back in the early 1990s I resprayed a Lima Western diesel as D1030 in blue with small yellow panels - it was Swindon's first blue repaint, outshopped 2/8/66, and received very small hand-painted BR double-arrow logos. Despite having an extensive collection of 4mm transfer sheets going back to the early 1970s I couldn't find logos small enough so ended up buying a 2mm sheet just for the required two logos to finish the model!

I thought it looked familiar!!