Crepello

I see the weathered blue example has lightening holes in the bogies, which the others don't; class 23 springs to mind.........!

A picture of the blue one is eagerly awaited. Just off the ferry from Zeebrugge after its trip through Austria etc. Oh the memories.......!

What a beaut! Roll on the blue'un!

I was about 21 when it came in and what an inspiration--it coincided with long-welded rails and overhead wires--the very elements of the modern railway; great design too--a lovely typeface for all the station signs, modern staff uniforms too. Then there was the publicity--Inter-City--City to City--Heart to Heart. The colour itself was striking in comparison to what we had before--and the superb new logo--and the subtle use of rail red too. I remember running parallel with newly blue Class 302 unit number 272 which really looked flashy compared with its dark green companion. To tell you the truth, it still inspires me--to the extent that my garage door is painted in Precision rail blue!! My railway has steam, green and blue diesels--I restrict it to the end of 1981 when the Deltics finished. Not much liverywise has inspired me since--the original Freightliner was the best--and those 70s aren't bad too, trying to outdo the Deltics with noise and smoke.

My experience is different from yours Allan. My 26 arrived from Liverpool and I noticed one of the buffers was mangled (presumably in the factory as the packaging was undamaged). An e-mail to Dapol Sales produced a replacement in a couple of days. I reckon you should give them another chance.

There's some nice pics of the Railfreight Coal version on Nigel Burkin's site.

Can I put in a plea for some earlier 86s quite soon please! My OHLE posts are up and just waiting for a white window/cab roof combination and an un-named Rail Blue without cantrail stripes to glide under! Thanks in anticipation Dave!

Excellent weathering too Jon!