fiftyfour fiftyfour

Err, umm. Why does anyone want 43002 in retro blue/grey but have no use for a GWR green one?!! The new GWR livery emerged before the 2016 special reliveries so having a green one on the same layout is prototypical, perhaps more so if 43198 is renumbered to one of the earlier repainted examples if you are intending to pair 43002 with an FGW 'dynamic lines' rake. The coaches planned for release later this year allow the full 10 vehicle formation as used on the May '19 farewell event to be represented. And a point of order- the HST40 plates on 43002 were GWR's, 125 Group paid for and owned the ones applied to 43013/048/300/321/423, and also had a temporary magnetic one made and used on 41001, this can best be described as a giant fridge magnet!

But no HST40 plaques for 43002?

Not very good in my opinion; £270 for one loco and a carriage with frontal lighting (effectively) and you have to immediately put the thing on the work bench and do something about the roof! Are cast plaques for the HST40 on 43002 also supplied?

every photo pulled up by Flickr has round ones! My era is c1985/6 by which time it certainly had round ones...

does anyone have a recommended source of replacement buffers for the blue/grey 121? I've concluded that the squared ovals are just wrong for that unit with that P125 "set" number.

In that there are six switches underneath the carriage allowing you to set how you want the lighting when using in old skool DC. Obviously not too realistic if a giant hand 76x larger than reality emerges from the sky and lifts the train off the track to change the setting mid way through a journey, but a level of control not available on anything else I've ever owned...

Let's hope Bachmann have made provision for addition of working high intensity headlight for the late 1980's and 1990's models. Got my 121 this morning, very happy, especially with the ability to control lighting in DC control. Now when do I dare take it apart to change the blinds to St. Erth and St. Ives?! If anyone has done this already and they have determined the font size to use please feel free to say what worked best...

The Choc and Cream 117 was Bristol based for the first few years, its full history was discussed on another thread. I hope Kernow/someone does a later version of that set with less yellow wrap around, dark grey roof, high intensity headlight, black around the cab windows and 117305 set number as per its later life in Kernow

Well spotted on the step, I hadn't noticed that. I've decided to leave them on and as my era is 1986/1987 onwards (lots of scope creep on dates!) but I now need to add steps...

New Skipper question- when were the handrails added below the windscreens? I've found some in service shots of them without handrails and this one (not mine)... So I figure if I'm doing one in early days I need to slice the handrail off both ends??!

That would be about June '97 based on the number of red coaches.

I've got a pair on order, they accepted an offer of £8.50. Thanks for the info on these!

Question bump! Hurst used to do a really good cast one (item DKU102) but since they finished I cannot find anywhere to get a ScotRail type front valance/skirt . I need one for the OLD Bachmann model, specifically the Wessex Trains one which represents an ex Scotrail unit. Can someone with a NEW one please look at the parts sheet and advise the part number if it's a separate part OR can someone offer a source of replacement front skirt/valance, a 3D printed one would be ideal. I've looked on eBay, some clown is trying to sell a Hurst one at a 570% mark up on what Hurst used to charge but apart from that nitto...

Initially I was about to say "how on earth is there a first class 2+1 layout on a GWR sliding door coach" until I looked at the photo in more detail! The passengers are socially distanced ahead of their time...

That's a slam door one you've painted the interior on......

I only require enough of the Railtec Transfers 4mm-2257 First Great Western "fag packet" coach lining pack to do one side of a coach, so that's 1/6th of a pack. In fact I could probably get away with a lot less than that if someone had an offcut although I suspect that would create a visible join, its to tidy up some over enthusiastic work done on a Mk2 20 years ago. Happy to pay a fair pro-rata and postage!

Not quite the same thing but I always laughed at the digital displays on Grand Cancel Class 180's which for years had internal info displays which scrolled to change at York for Harrowgate.

I always remember seeing that in the magazine and looking on in absolute awe. That was before print at home transfers as well, it was certainly a very impressive job, small advantage of (I assume) him taking a load of square on photos but with the disadvantage of the tech to make relative easy manipulation and subsequent use of them being some years away!

Very detailed history, thanks. I hadn't noticed the significant difference in yellow application until you pointed it out. I wonder if Bachmann has the facility to graft a high intensity headlight onto the model to represent the later Regional Railways and 117305 in v2 chocolate and cream, the 1992 livery is quite different to the 1985 version an warrants a second release I think/hope...

And that was all? I'd looked and cannot see any difference in the window/door layout on the bodyside. Possible project then if I can re-draw the Telecom graphics and modify a Class 117 into a Class 118, just need half a gallon of yellow paint and a three car Class 117!! Back to B430/117305 - this has got me to thinking I could save £300 and hack about with my old Lima Class 117 to make it into a two-car (with one guards van, hence the sacrifice and resulting loss of the middle car!) and spray that chocolate and cream as I've found pictures of 117305 running as a two car on the St Ives branch in '94. The Kernow special edition of B430 is wrong for my era anyhow, the silver roofs had been painted dark grey, bits of black had been added around the cab windows and the set number changed by the time it hit Cornwall- or maybe Kernow have a second run reflecting its later Cornish appearance in mind?

Did it ever reach Penzance or work the St Ives branch? I'd not considered it as "within scope" for my West Cornwall collection as I remember it as a Bristol area stalwart until it dropped off my radar. 1994 feels like it would have been too late for regular heritage DMU operation on the Western Region (Cardiff Bay shuttle/Chiltern not withstanding), I thought they had been killed off before then. I'm now going to ask a simple question from a simple person, please be gentle with replies. What is the difference between a 117 and 118, and what would I have to do to a 117 model if I wanted a 118?

I'm not saying it didn't reach Cornwall but it would have been rare down there, I saw it quite a lot around Bristol and surrounding areas. On the other hand, the Class 118 in yellow British Telecom "Busby" advert P460 is one I would like a model of!

Maybe, but in general the lead vehicle on a higher speed train is always where you will find the liveliest run and the only time I was ever forced to switch coaches was on one of those wretched DBSO. Going towards Liverpool St would never have been a problem as it would be on the back end!

The ride quality in the passenger saloon on the DBSO with it leading was terrible, so bad in fact that I was forced to relocate into another coach further back during the journey during one Liverpool St to Norwich journey. They were a cheap BR solution, clearly unsafe and probably not massively better after post Polmont mods. That said, I find the ride quality in the DMS of a Pendolino when that vehicle is leading to be unacceptably bad, to the extent that I won't travel in it on northbound journeys, so even with a lardy heavy vehicle specifically designed to lead a train at up to 140mph you are not assured a good ride in such a situation, and I gather the leading vehicle on the Class 374 'e320' Eurostars is also pretty abysmal.

It occurred to me that the 142's may have all had seat trim that matched the outside livery, eg a GM spec for the first 14 similar to bus seating used in the region and that the blue band version was on 142028 upwards as they were turned out with blue exteriors leading me to think the Skippers may have had something different?!