Halvarras

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!!

Slightly more recently both Airfix and Palitoy/Mainline joined the fray with their own versions of the LMS-design ventilated van - and the latter's decision to include sliding doors with thick plastic runners completely ruined their model. So never owned one, but still have three of the Airfix(/Dapol) models.

Whoa, steady on - this could result in air quality issues from all the dust being blown off long-stored MTK multiple unit kits all over the country 😃! And a national shortage of plasticard 😆!!

Rapid progress as usual, and on an interesting subject too. I'm sure you noticed after taking the pics that the rainstrip had lifted slightly on this corner, but what I can see has me intrigued - how are you attaching these long plastic strips to the aluminium roof?

A very nice conversion - looks convincing enough to those of us unfamiliar with the prototype (which will be just about everybody 😉!) Isn't it gratifying to forge piles of long-idle bits into usable models? I seem to have spent much of the last three years doing this, including a major upgrade of my own 'Nellie', the first engine I bought in 1966 and, although it has been a serious distraction from the original intention - to work up a collection of newer models into desired subjects (mostly diesel rename/renumber) now that I've retired and have the time - I can't knock it when I look at what I've achieved, and for next to nothing. However I think the long-idle bits pile has reduced to a point where nothing sensible can now be constructed from it, so my New Year's resolution......well, one of them......is to get back to those rename/renumber tasks. I'll start on Monday.......probably 😁!

Indeed, I witnessed such an event in August 1990. We were on holiday in Cornwall, staying in a caravan belonging to my aunt (she had a few in a meadow). My other half had just phoned her mother from the public telephone box at the bottom of the lane at about 9pm, and as we made our way back up the lane in the near-darkness we heard a cracking sound coming from up in the oak tree to our right - not sure what was happening we stopped and looked up, and as we watched a large chunk of the tree fell into the lane in front of us! Since it was now blocking the lane which gave access to a couple of bungalows as well as the caravan site I fetched a bow saw from my aunt's garage and sawed it into sections small enough to drag into the meadow out of the way. I thought it was a weird coincidence because, living 200 miles away at the time, I very rarely found myself up that lane, but when I was born in 1953 we lived in a house just a couple of hundred yards away and despite two house moves we remained within walking distance until 1975, so I must have passed under this tree umpteen times when I was younger but it waited all those years to try to fall on me during a rare visit!

Yes, the same power bogie is used in the Lima Classes 26/27/33/87. Plenty of Class 33s about as the OO gauge/4mm scale version first appeared in 1977. Be sure to steer clear of the earlier HO/3.5mm Class 33, the coupling is the biggest clue at first glance. Although the motor bogie in this also fits the Lima Classes 73/101/117/121 and probably 156 (never had one, too modern for me!)

If @stewartingram can remagnetise this kind of motor for you, that would be ideal. In the event that replacement becomes necessary, if the motor is the widely-used Buhler 881 which clips into the Class 46's retaining bracket and the distance of the flywheels from the motor becomes an issue, it is possible to create adjustable-length driveshafts, by cutting them in half and sleeving with a length of plastic tube - I had to do this last summer while working on a Bachmann Class 42 Warship powered by a Class 25 motor and discovered the top end of a ballpoint pen tube (the bit not filled with ink!) was perfect for the job* - a nice tight push fit, no glue required. Of course I can't guarantee all ballpoint pens are the same but it worked for me....... *If the pen is a cheap non-retractable type it'll still work after the 'operation'!

This item was included in the detail parts supplied with the original Heljan Class 47 (the 'fat' one). Since these sprues were also issued with the Western Class 52 there must be a lot of spares out there.......I used a pair on the bufferbeams of my dark green Heljan 'Falcon', which only sported a small air control pipe under each buffer and a train air brake pipe which was only applicable to the BR blue version......

It does sound as though the motor's magnet has degraded. With motors of this type remagnetising isn't really an option, replacing is necessary. The Bachmann Spares website doesn't currently list the motor for this model, however all is not lost: https://www.ekmexhibitions.co.uk/store/GENERAL-SPARES-inc-Rolling-Stock-c65516375?offset=9 If the motor is dead, or at least close to death, you have nothing to lose by dismantling the model (a soldering iron may be required) to retrieve the motor/flywheels and taking some measurements to compare against those supplied by EKM, including the photos. I would assume it's a Buhler 881 and the one listed against 'Various' in their data table, but see what you think. A tenner shouldn't break the bank either and it comes complete with flywheels. No connection with EKM other than as a satisfied customer. Actually I'm in a similar situation as the motor in my old split-chassis Pannier tank, on which I have done some work so wish to keep running, has just gone up in smoke, and EKM still stock these old motors so they'll be getting another order from me (plus some other parts I was planning to order in the New Year anyway for another project - sometimes procrastination pays off!) Hope this helps.

KJB Models have a couple of Hornby 'Golden Arrow' coach packs available with white roofs - if the box illustration is accurate! https://kjbmodels.co.uk/product/Hornby-r4196-the-golden-arrow-coach-pack-3x-pullman-coaches/ They also have at least three 12-wheelers for sale although these are all grey-roofed and priced according to their relative rarity...... I spotted these during a recent idle-moment trawl - in case of any interest!