Halvarras

Er............🤔.........I do believe you are correct!

You're probably correct, the way things are going, but it depends on whether one relishes the modelling challenge! I stuffed a spare Bachmann pannier tank chassis under a Lima 94xx in full knowledge of Bachmann's impending model (which turned out to be not so impending....) because the challenge appealed - the result was good enough for me, the overall cost was considerably less than the RTR model and there's the satisfaction of 'I made that'. I suppose the decision revolves around, how soon do you want a Saint/how cheap can you find a Star donor (so that when Murphy's Law kicks in......well, see above), or are you happy to get on with other projects while waiting for a manufacturer to produce the required cutting-edge Saint.......which of course could be a long wait as this course of action will fail to prod Mr Murphy to initiate his Law! We never had to face such dilemmas in the past - D I Y was usually the only way 😃!

I've noticed that too - as you say, hard to spot but in standard front 3/4 views it manifests as 'lumps' in the roofline above the windscreens. The Swindon designers must have decided the 'lumps' looked somewhat inelegant and smoothed them away on the production locos! D800 carried only green livery; D801 carried green and maroon; D802 carried green, maroon and blue. D801 was withdrawn first, in August 1968, followed by D800/2 two months later. I can still remember seeing a maroon D802 passing Carn Brea near Redruth on an up parcels in late August 1967, and the next down train being the 'Cornish Riviera' headed by Hymek D7029! I also recall 'copping' D800 at a foot crossing on an up train between Chacewater and Truro and thinking it was D880, quickly realising that was impossible and a missing chunk of paint had altered its identity on the leading corner! (Missing chunks of paint were nothing new on Warships in the late 1960s, some were really bad, e.g. there was nothing 'Magnificent' about D828 by the end of 1968!)

According to 'The Book of the Warships' (Irwell Press), regarded by many as the 'bible' on these locomotives, page 101 states that only the first three were built without raised walkways. Generally speaking the Swindon locos had the fan grilles themselves nearly flush with the roof with the walkways standing proud and NBL machines had the grilles raised to be flush with the walkways, but inevitably there were exceptions - D832/66/67 had the NBL raised type (D832 still has them) from new while D833 - the first of the NBL build - had the Swindon flush pattern. At withdrawal D861 had a pair of Swindon grilles and D834 had one of each, both probably having run like this since works attention in 1963.

Strange coincidence - I was unaware of the existence of this vehicle until a few days ago. I've just obtained Hornby's 6-wheel blue/grey 'Generator Unit' DE320104E, did some digging and discovered it was employed to power 'Cinema Coach' DM395017M (a former LNWR 12-wheel sleeping car, now preserved) until around 1967/8 - when (extreme) old age caught up with the 6-wheeler it was replaced by DB975056 - BR horse box S96300 turned 'Generator Van'- this one! I assume it was painted BR blue to better match the blue/grey Cinema Coach but the only photo I could find of this combination was black & white. This pairing lasted until 1973, not sure what happened to the generating horse box after that but its usefulness must have contributed to its survival 50 years on. I'm having trouble visualising how this incident could have happened but won't speculate as I wasn't there. I hope the car driver makes a full recovery.

Agreed - I've obtained some good-quality items from S & J over the years.

"....GT3 locomotive model in BR Black Early Crest and BR Green Late Crest colours -- expertly crafted to capture the spirit and charm of the original." Wow, I had no idea GT3 actually ran in BR black and green liveries. Every day's a school day 😜!

Nice to know the ol' grey matter still works regarding the number sold, if not the number dumped. I suppose the latter are still close to the Mersey if not actually in it, assuming the manner of their disposal is correct. I had never clapped eyes on one either until Hattons took one in a couple of years ago, I was really surprised to see it. I can't recall now how they had valued it, other than it being WAY above yer average mineral wagon! I remember 'Thawpit'! A clear liquid in a glass bottle with a gauze-faced pad on top. We used the stuff a lot in the late 1960s to remove tar stains from beachwear caused by residue from the 'Torrey Canyon' tanker disaster which hung about for years afterwards. Not much fun removing it from between toes, but 'Thawpit' wasn't really suitable for that task - probably just as well.....

Green D800 'Sir Brian Robertson' or blue D804 'Avenger' by any chance?

I have a memory from the distant past of being informed (can't recall where or by whom now) that 841 were sold and 10,000 dumped in the Mersey - the former sounds more plausible than the latter, although dumping stuff in such a manner was not frowned upon back then the way it would be today (understatement!) Anyway I offer this to be possibly shot down in flames 😊

And the Thornaby 27s (D5370-78, later 27024-32) were freight-only and not boiler-fitted, so had a Class 25/3-style gap on the underframe where the water tank would have been.

That is true, although following its engine transplant in 1963 D6123 made several trips as far south as Birmingham on mileage accumulation and general testing ('Condor' service to Aston from memory - I have further information in an issue of 'Classic Diesels & Electrics' magazine but would have to look it up.......)

The 'LGW' peaked-roofed grain wagons having lasted well into the (Scottish) diesel era I would really like Dapol to re-issue 4F-018-025 but using the lime wagon moulding instead of the salt wagon this time (still not perfect but closer, with roof hatches and no handrails) - and paint the bl**dy thing brown not bright red this time 🥴! Unfortunately it appears that there is (was) only one source of transfers - guess who? 🙄

The Class 142 'Skippers' were active in the South West from September 1985 until October 1987 - the good condition of this unit and the vegetation on the right looking like it's just coming into leaf suggests Spring 1986?

What an oddball! Love the prominent 'DIESEL LOCO' painted on the cab side, presumably to avoid confusion, cos it certainly looks confused! A great find - and I thought fireless locos looked a bit odd........the endless variety of wagon movers to have existed over the past century or so never ceases to amaze!

Leave your coat where it is Keith, many thanks for a quick walk down Memory Lane, some familiar names there I'd almost forgotten about! I once had a collection of Minic Ships, including if memory serves the liner Canberra, NS Savannah and HMS Devonshire (?) which had a helicopter on the back with tiny revolving 4-bladed rotor, a pair of tugs, various bits of quay and breakwater and the all-important plastic 'sea mat' to assemble it all on. Somewhere at home I still have a surviving price list dated April 1962 (I turned 9 that month!) with my purchases marked on it, it surfaces from time to time but I can never remember where it is. Most if not all of them were bought in a small shop called Barham's in Falmouth. I was very surprised to see them back on sale again in a model shop in Brixham about 10 years ago but wasn't tempted to get back into them - that ship sailed long, long ago 🤭!

Southern Railway No 49S (BR DS49) looked very much like a garden shed mounted on a coach bogie powered by a Dorman engine. It was apparently constructed at Exmouth Junction wagon depot in 1939 and worked at Exmouth Junction and Broad Clyst, ending its days at Yeovil via a spell at Folkestone in 1950 and scrapped in early 1960. I was oblivious to its existence until the publication of 'Modern Locomotives Illustrated' No 222 on Departmental Locomotives (Dec 2016 - Jan 2017) in which a photo appears, and marvelled at its curved corrugated iron roof, four pairs of hinged side doors and all-round high-level windows. I've tried in vain to find a photo I could provide a link to. Despite its ramshackle appearance it's sobering to think that this contraption existed for two full decades, the same as the Deltics and around a year longer than the WR hydraulic era. Its scrapping deprived some chickens of a sturdy coop 🤭!

OK, just checked - my older model is a Mainline body on an early Bachmann split-chassis (after the original failed) but this later chassis was designed to fit the Mainline body without tooling changes to the latter, so should have very similar overall dimensions to the old chassis. The main part of the earlier chassis fits neatly between the inner bonnet sides of the new body, but the fit at both ends doesn't really work, especially the cab end where there are irreconcilable differences. The body securing screws on the new body are 80mm apart but 86mm on the old chassis where they are right behind the bufferbeams. Most things can be made to fit with enough brute force and ignorance (😬) but since the Mainline bodyshell is a decent model your first choice is the right one - find a Mainline body, or an original Bachmann equivalent (31-350 - 3) if the price is right, as you can be sure it'll fit with a minimum of fuss. Another consideration is that a Mainline non-runner should provide you with a source of spare parts for your own chassis too.

Off the top of my head no, and the later/current Bachmann model was new from the ground up so probably not a straight fit. I have both so I'll check. Back later......

Take a look at the Bachmann Spares website - blue 03160 complete with cast frame/buffers for £25 looks like a steal. Depends what you want to do with it though - the extra detail on this version might get in the way compared to the Mainline model, perhaps that's why you'd prefer the latter? Quite a few Mainline models about, but most of those on their original chassis won't be runners by now, which should keep prices low (but £25 low?) Like the Warship a very good model for its time, let down by its mechanism - mine purchased in April 1983 had the middle axle fall apart before I got to use it.

Noooooooo, not 'City of Truro'?! There was me thinking it led an uneventful life! This remarkable survivor - it was withdrawn 4/3/04 with nothing more serious than dragging brakes until resurrected by Colas 4/4/07, for an anticipated further 6 years' service (now 16 and counting) - still retains both former headcode panel recesses but this must have been a close shave for No 2 end, and this side also by the looks of it. I think it acquired the orange warning stripe in 1987 and was outshopped in unbranded Mainline livery around autumn 1988, presumably following repair to damage it sustained in this incident (which should help date this view) but shorn of the nameplates it had carried since 8/6/65. It became 'Atlantic College', 'Resplendent' (as 47749) and 'Demelza' before reacquiring its original name in 2016. As a former Truro area resident who can scarcely believe the original D1660 is still alive and kicking, I say long may its charmed existence continue!

I would imagine it looked something like this then (my photo, dated 25/7/75):

I wholly agree, I am however somewhat biased as I was born in Redruth just over 70 years ago (😬) and lived down here until I was 19. I moved away in 1972 until retirement in early 2019, although lots of return visits in between, especially after 1993 as my mother, having left Cornwall in 1975 (my father had sadly passed away in 1969), had moved back to St Austell by then, always reminded me of the wonderful place I'd been privileged to have been brought up in. I made it back here in January 2020, just in time to be locked down in our new home in Par.......could have been much worse then I suppose. Most of the people we pass while walking say hello, even their dogs seem laid-back, although I wish the locals could refrain from using their car horns to attract the attention of mates they see walking along the pavement! When our daughter slipped over on an icy pavement last winter people dashed over to help her up, some even appearing from their front doors. Occasionally during my formative years I'd find myself walking the coastal path, usually a youth club outing, looking out over the sea. 60 years later I'm doing it again and it's just as magical. I agree with your more recent post too, availability of jobs is less of an issue than affordable accommodation. But I remain hopeful for the future nonetheless.....

Flying Scotsman with WR semaphores at Par last Sunday 30th April 2023: These pictures were taken after 60103 had become the first locomotive to be turned on St Blazey's newly-restored turntable.

I'll just drop this in here and run.......🤪