Halvarras

Those buffers don't look like they've been pushed fully home......?

I'd be inclined to go the Peter's Spares route and if necessary spread the cost over a period of time. £1.50 per axle isn't bad - Hornby's wheel packs work out at £2 per axle these days (was 35p when they first came out, but that was then and this is now 🙄!) It's another of those 'time vs money' equations innit? - spent quite a lot of time filing down the wheels you already have, or spend some money on drop-in replacements (which means you can spend the time saved on doing something much more enjoyable than filing down Lima flanges.......ouch!)

This is exactly the kind of sight and potential event which worries me. Down here in Cornwall we have quite a few viaducts (you may be aware....!) and I can recall watching the diesel-hydraulics crossing the growth-free structures at Truro (two) and St Austell. Over the past 30 years I've been alarmed at the amount of vegetation which has been allowed to get itself established in the stonework, as these viaducts are three of many with properties below their arches. I can't help thinking that one day the news will report stonework crashing through somebody's roof, and some of us out here will know it was only a matter of time......

Found it - D1698 on Exeter Stabling Point, 5th July 1969, with D1757 in the background (tried to post this last night but 'the computer said no' - sadly it won the ensuing battle of wits!) Remarkably I'd got to Exeter from Paignton behind another GSYP loco, D854 'Tiger' which was one of the last few Warships still running in green livery (by then just D833/45/52/54 plus D810 in GFYE). Haulage behind a GSYP Brush 4 was quite an achievement as I saw very few in this condition (half a dozen?) and this is my only photo of one - however my notes from that day indicate that another was spotted at Newton Abbot while returning to Paignton behind D1698 - none other than D1616! Also seen at NA on the outward trip were 1686 and 1895 in very clean GFYE livery with numbers in the later Rail Alphabet style - this was the first time I'd seen this and these two were parked end-to-end. Thanks to Crewe's reluctance to paint Class 47s blue there would be many, many more like this, 1698 being amongst them. Not long after arriving at Paignton by car blue-liveried D145 turned up - this was my first encounter with a Class 46. It would later return through Exeter piloted by D827 'Kelly'. Little did I know that just before that year expired I'd see one at my home station of Truro, heading for Penzance........but this is neither a Warship nor Class 46 thread so.........🤐! Back on topic I must just add this little story. I mentioned that D1736 and D1744 were the last two running in GSYP livery well into 1970. On 27th July that year a mate and I travelled from Reading to Crewe to visit the Works and in the Birmingham area we passed D1736 in a goods yard. Many hours later on the return journey and hanging out of a window it appeared to be still there - but upon passing it we discovered it was D1744! I mean................what were the chances??!!

And I got the impression that the Western catalogue images were the MTK kit, although it was a loooooooong time ago now 😁!

I had D1698 in GSYP with data panels for haulage Exeter to Paignton on 5/7/69, I have a photo somewhere I'll see if I can find it. I also saw D1756 at Exeter on 6/9/69, AFAIK the WR's last GSYP Class 47, I can't recall if it had data panels but by that date it certainly should have done. The last two examples which lasted well into 1970 were D1736 and D1744, these must have had the panels.

I would really like some (4) OO gauge 'Leith General Warehousing' (LGW) peak-roofed wagons to run behind my blue Heljan OO Clayton Class 17, that really appeals. Good news then - Dapol make them. Bad news - they've used the salt wagon instead of the more suitable if still not perfect lime wagon (which has roof hatches and no side handrails) and painted them bright red instead of brown. Cheap unpainted Dapol lime wagons are available and there is a manufacturer who make the required transfers, but 8 months after ordering I'm still awaiting delivery. RMweb regulars will know who I'm referring to but let's not annoy the Mods by going there yet again 🥴 I suppose I could try writing to Dapol to see if I could persuade them to use the more appropriate wagon body in the more appropriate colour for future releases. After all, Peco managed to do it right in N gauge........

When I got interested in railways in the late sixties I could go lineside in Cornwall and watch Westerns and Warships go past in green, maroon and blue liveries with either small yellow panels or full yellow ends. This livery variety stayed with me, but modelling the scene only became possible around 1980 when Westerns and Warships became available RTR and the Hornby Class 29 made a Class 22 look......well, possible. Especially when the A1 Models conversion kits appeared. When I finally built a layout with exhibiting in mind, with such a variety to display it didn't make sense to produce duplications. I only had space for a BLT or an MPD but wanted to run trains so a BLT it was. With no two locos the same I ended up with 5 D8xx Warships (only Gfye was missing as the two examples D808/10 were ex-disc h/c so extra work) and 4 Westerns (I never saw a green one). For nostalgia purposes I only required to see one in each livery on the layout. The two Hymeks and two Class 22s had to be in the most common liveries (Gsyp and Bfye) due to the amount of work involved and D6307 and D7088 were essential (these were all Lima-powered, as were the Warships - Mainline bodies on Lima chassis). I bought the nameplates for D601 'Ark Royal' in the Kings Cross model shop in 1974 shortly after seeing the real one at Barry and finally stuck them onto an MTK kit 19 years later - with only one pair of Tri-ang EM2 bogies to hand (purchased in 1977 for a fiver) there was only ever going to be one of those! I also had D1677 'Thor' in Gfye and D1932 in early Bfye, and DMUs in similar variety except Gfye which was unknown on the WR. Oh, and D3255, an upgraded Wrenn model of the only hinged side-door 08 in the area. Had I missed all this and only got into railways in say 1974, the Westerns were all Bfye but one wouldn't have been enough. In this case I'd have gone for different external conditions (standard scruffy and Laira repaint) and/or physical differences (e.g. D1028 was one of the five with the small front-end cab ventilators but this one was also one of the five Swindon built without headboard brackets). Having two models exactly the same in all but identity is not for me - maybe it's all that variety I recall from decades ago.....

Me too - I had two powered Lima bubble car conversions and put together another unpowered bubble car and a DTS to run with them. I would sometimes run the two unpowered vehicles together towed by a Class 22. I say 'had' but I still have them. The layout hasn't been exhibited since late 2005 but I put so much effort into the late 1960s stock that parting with them is unthinkable!

I had (may still have) transfer sheets from the 1970s/80s which such gems as 'D6127' in the later Rail Alphabet font (the real one was pretty much destroyed by fire in 1962), '24043' (written off in 1971 so never reached TOPS*) and '33069' in the larger 8" numbers (n/a for SR) which didn't exist! * Some years ago now I saw this number applied to a Class 24 at an exhibition - since I knew the operator I pointed out the error, he took it on the chin but was a bit miffed that he'd been misled by the transfer sheet! I'm surprised it sat round for nearly 8 years without being turned into razor blades 😁! Less than three months earlier W34885 was in traffic still in chocolate/cream livery - that one went for overhaul, repaint into blue/grey and B4 bogies, but it still didn't reach 1974. I wonder what the circumstances were that condemned one but overhauled the other.....?

I haven't tried this myself yet (I have a RR Hymek and may have a pair of Hornby Class 29 or 47 cab interiors somewhere to fiddle with) but it's worth pointing out that the Lima Class 31 chassis has holes drilled to take the Class 73 cab interiors (and they do fit - very tightly! - as I've done it, at the time I was fortunate to have a local shop which had some spare Class 73 interiors in stock amongst other Lima spares). Just in case you happen to find some Lima 73 interiors whilst looking.......

I ordered a pre-owned locomotive mid-day Wednesday, let Amazon deliver it and it arrived yesterday at 6pm. Exactly 30 hours to reach the far South West, can't argue with that. The delivery driver, in a plain white van not the usual grey Amazon-branded vehicle, seemed cheerful too. Perhaps the service one gets depends on the driver's general attitude or whether he/she is simply having a bad day. We can all get one of those.......

I once (1966-72) had a loft layout with mainly Tri-ang Super-4 track, to which I'd added a storage yard laid with lengths of cheap second-hand Gem fibre-based flexible track with very poor conductivity. None of my locos would run on it very well at all, with one exception - a Tri-ang Dokafority........,sorry, @The Johnster has me at it now 🤭, I mean Dock Authority diesel shunter with those noisy 'splined' wheels which appeared to simply grind its way through the dirt! I would therefore suggest a pair of these would make an effective RHTT except that (a) these days they'd be more likely to run on the chairs instead of the rail-head, and (b) the OP's predicament would defeat even them. If I may extend the title, "Running of filthy track.....isn't possible." Unless using battery power or clockwork, and even then it'd be a bit lumpy......

Many thanks for this adb, worth bearing in mind. I have 4 or 5 (can't remember) packs of 4-axle Heljan replacement wheelsets to sort out a Hymek/26/33 mix when I get around to selecting which ones I want to keep, but I also have two Heljan Brush Type 4s, two Westerns and another Hymek which will only be used on a diesel depot project so I am hoping their brass wheels wouldn't be an issue if just shuttling to and fro. If they don't perform well this looks like the solution - the Westerns have always been a particular concern due to their unique- 4-hole plastic wheel face inserts, but I see that Hornby produce 14.1mm coach wheels with 4 holes (R8234) so there's the answer! The wheel swaps with the Heljan packs I already have will create a small pile of axle/gear 'donors' so I could assemble some Hornby-wheeled replacement wheelsets without dismantling the recipient models first. The only downside would be the need to repeat the laborious painting of D1733's white wheel rims.....12 wheels x 3 coats + great care.....🙄

Agreed, not alone - Heljan only ever produced four of its original Class 47s with the early 3-part fixed radiator grilles and the two green ones represented two of the four real examples which never made it to TOPS - 1562 (withdrawn July 1971 with serious engine failure) got close but D1734 only lasted in traffic for less than 9 months before being written off in a collision. With so many locos to choose from this was surely deliberate - but why?

Right now Kernow have just 5 x D604 'Cossack' left in stock, then that's it. Until a possible future re-run anyway, which should include D603 'Conquest' with headcode boxes and yellow panels extended upwards between them - it was blue D600 'Active's sidekick in Cornwall while the other three were away in South Wales during Aug - Nov 1967. They had Hymeks D7029/88 for company.

The first one I bought was typically NBL! It worked fine until it was out of warranty then developed a fault akin to 'the lights are on but nobody's home'. I'd unscrew the circuit board, check for loose wires, apply power directly to the motor (with some difficulty) which always turned, reassemble while retesting, a final test on the track, put it back in the box in working order (not knowing exactly how I'd 'fixed' it).......and the next time I got it out it was back to Square One. Eventually I considered stripping out all of the electronics but carried out one last in-depth examination with torch and magnifying glass - and discovered a dry solder joint on one of the motor's carbon brush holders. It seems that my direct motor test would push the solder blob back into contact but only briefly. I managed to resolder the joint with some difficulty, as the motor is embedded in the cast chassis block with limited clearance, but now it's not 'fixed' but properly fixed! I think!!

Nah, got four already - that'll do!

Just taken a look and the driver's name card holders are still there, just below the cab side windows. The BR logos just catch them on the secondman's corners (as they did on the original 6326 and nonsense D6328), they're not so much of an issue on these 'final blue' liveries but they interfere with the positioning of numbers and logos on the earlier blue full yellow livery and shouldn't be there on any BFYE Class 22 (and D6312 in GFYE!) Still wish Dapol would refrain from painting the small side grilles black. And the least said about the clip-on side valances the better........

If only they'd done the Class 120 40-odd years ago instead of the Class 110, which was great for those modelling the Calder Valley line or to whom a DMU was a DMU was a DMU. Even at the time I thought it was an odd choice when Classes 101, 116 & 120 had a far greater appeal due to that geographical spread - yes they'd already done the 101 (sort of) and Lima's 117 undermined a 116 so those two were highly unlikely, leaving the 120 ripe for the picking. But in Hornby's view this consideration is very often trumped by how a subject looks, and the Class 110 was one of the more attractive-looking 1st Gen DMUs, so that was that. It was the Class 755 of its day I suppose. Had Hornby selected the 120 over the 110 back then it would of course now be 40-odd years old and there would be loud calls for a retool, but the 110 was an impressive model for its day, and think of all the modelling practice we'd have experienced in the meantime doing our own upgrades 😀! I'd have enjoyed creating my requirement, a centre-headcode version without buffet, but I'm not convinced a new RTR model would include this as there were not many such sets and I'd baulk at attacking what would no doubt now be a very expensive model with drills, knives and files then trying to colour-match the paintwork. Oh well.

Yes, on reflection I could have described that better! I knew what I meant but....... Apologies for wondering off-topic with that, but there is a connection, apart from the obvious - I've seen the three Mark 1 saloons DB999506/8/9 also described as Diagram Q13. I believe this is confused, these three were 1/552 which perhaps unusually was a diagram in the freight series(?) Not sure why such confusion exists, after all nobody confuses Hawksworth and BR Mark 1 coaches and the number of end windows at least is surely a massive clue....... (Should I own up to the 'lookalike' I carved out of a Hornby Class 110 centre car about 30 years ago, and which I still have? Er.................no 🥴!)

The first JGA wagon went out on the Rocks/Goonbarrow - Fowey clay working on Thursday 20/9/23 - but according to Craig Munday's notes this wagon type may not prove suitable as it wasn't designed for side scoop loading: http://www.cornwallrailwaysociety.org.uk/latest-input--news--old-pictures-etc Perhaps it was judged similar to the JIAs in theory but not similar enough in practice. Developments awaited......

Pleasantly surprised to see these on here Nidge! I sent the images to the CRS but they were taken by a school friend, William (Bill) Heggie, who IIRC was a member of the school's photography club, developed the photos there and handed me a spare set of prints. I believe they were taken in March 1971 and he probably caught the first move in the remodelling of Truro yard which progressed over the following 7 months and included demolition of the old steam shed and Truro West Box and closure of the Newham branch. I hung on to these photos because I thought one day I might build a model of DB999508.... This is based on a Triang-Hornby Mark 1 Buffet Car with a spare 'buffet' side, a later-tooled roof and scratch-built ends, and Bill's pictures were close to essential to enable me to do this. There are 6 sections in one side and 4 in the other. The chassis was cleared of all underframe detail, shortened to a scale 57' and the centre part of a Replica Railways Mk1 BG underframe moulding grafted on, which also acts as a 'splint' Why not just use the Replica underframe? Because I decided to build the body in one piece, to resolve the end water filler pipe issue, and retain the T-H 'tongue-in-groove' method of locating the sides into the chassis - I felt this was the best way to keep everything square and rigid. Whether it was less work is debatable - it also means the interior fittings have to be a scale foot away from the walls but I hope the curtains will hide that....) It was also discovered that Replica Mk 1 glazing is a near-perfect fit for this T-H coach with its window raised rimming, so that's standing by. I will have to have another go at the interior as it was educated guesswork and I know I haven't got the end saloon tables right. Sadly it has been in this ghostly state for longer (much longer) than I care to admit to - it seems that these days I prefer the building to the painting - but it's on a long list of other things which need finishing and I've told myself, in no uncertain terms, to get organised for spraying sessions next summer. After all, I finished D6322 in 1998 (that's not to say that DB999508 has been hanging around for 25 years - I'm not THAT bad!!)

That will have been this one. DW80975 at BTM July/August 1984:

Modern Image? Sounds like you could use one of these then 🤭!