Edge

I must be up too early because I could have sworn I just saw London Undergrpund stock being hauled out of Birmingham New Street by a quad of class 20s. Presumably on their way to Derby

a topical suggestion, you could run through waving a Hornby Peckett in the air and smugly explain how you got it for £30 there are a few people I know who would bat me to a pulp if I tried that

For me, the Dapol 9Fand Q1 for me were the ones - characterful locmotives that ran as well as their 'OO' counterparts

I'd grab a couple - big fan of BR blue (steam only, of course) and of DJ models.

I quite agree, but manufacturers always have the option of buying up a few 'fast track' production slots with the factories - they are always available. Problem is that money talks, and they need to be sure of sales before they go forward. That being said, the peckett has sold like hot cakes literally everywhere and the black one is sold out to pre-orders in an increasing number of places

With the success of the peckett, I don't find it hard to believe that there will be other liveries coming - possibly as early as this year

As far as I understand the situation, RB will be in charge of everything on the track, and everything involved in the teams coming to the track to race . This will include levelling the playing field in terms of finances available to the teams as well as the technical regulations and sporting code. Others will be responsible for the commercial aspects of the business - i.e. television rights, race sponsorship, trackside advertising, new tracks etc.) So I think that RB will be able to address the inequality amongst the teams finances and level the playing field slightly.

A good number of shops have a presence on eBay, without having a 'pre-owned' section on their website per-se. Rails is the obvious example, but there are a great many others

I do take your point, and I hope that my comment didnt seemt o overly critical. Perhaps I would better express myself by saying that I consider such nicknames to be most appropriate between friends and family. I certainly don't know Sir Frank personally so I would personally feel uncomfortable calling him 'Davros' even in jest. If I did know him and knew that he would find it funny then I would be only too happy (I always ebjoy having a laugh). I too have lived with someone who was wheelchair bound and she showed no end of humour about the situation. Anyway, off topic here, lets talk about racing cars some more...

Oddly enough I can see Sir Frank himself having a wry chuckle at the nickname. That doesn't mean it's okay for us to use it though...

Vettel and Mercedes - I just don't see it. Although he hasn't got the push this year Werhlein is their guy, with Ocon just behind him int he pecking order. You've got to think that they will make bid for Verstappen or Ricciardo at some point as well

In other news, an offer has been made to buy Manor and its parent operating companies

Well that will teach me to read stuff before opening my trap lol That is good news, as is the news about the 2016 chassis being allowed. it will be hopelessly uncompetitive, but at least it will be there. Now, if Ron Dennis is able to mount a bid for the team 9he's about the only guy I would trust to run it further than the end of 2017), I wonder if he wil revive his old team project 4? Interesting thought, isn't it?

Good. Formula E is a hell of a show and anything that can boost its attendance at events (Gutierrez has signed for Mexico E-Prix only at the moment, although there are options for more events) is nothing but good in my eyes. For those who are interested, it seems that he may go to Dragon Faraday racing (a.k.a Penske) and displace Loic Duval there. the situation for Manor is dire, and does not look at all rosy I'm afraid. Jan 20th is the deadline for the team to be able to make Australia. Even if the team misses a few races to make the time (I think they can miss 3 and still receive funding from the TV revenue) things don't look like they will work out.

I suspect that he will be restrained from acting in any official capacity until his contract with McLaren is officially terminated on 31/01/2017. I rather expect that it will be too late for Manor by then. there is still a chance that it could race, but the prospects are not good (I expect that they have missed their window for the first test already) and are lessening by the day. The administrators will sell the team as a going concern if they can, but you're talking £100 million to run around at the back for a year - not likely to grab huge investment

The black peckett is the one for me -already pre-ordered from Hornby, but will keep my eyes open for some elsewhere. Maybe pick up the red rod sentinel, but as I've already got a similar one in 'Barabel', i'm not too concerned.

The pecketts will come - the length of time that it takes to assemble a range of products for 2017 more than encompasses the entire period that the pecketts have been on sale. Fiscal prudence is the name of the game with the plain black example. Now that their success has been established I expect we will see a few ad hoc additions to pecketts throughout the year. the pattern roughly matches the sentinel diesels and look how many variotions of those that we now have

The series does have its low points - Episode 2 and the Xmas special were both a bit naff - but overall its like they were never away. And when its good, its brilliant. In particular, I laughed at Hammond slowing down past the Cenotaph in london show due respect nice dig there

Bottas will run Hamilton very close - he's a comparable talent who has never had the machinery. Williams won't do too well this year, but 2018 will see a renaissance for them. Merc engines will be effectively free with the Bottas exchange and investments will pay off in 2018. Werlein should have got a better seat than Sauber. Force India have missed out in my opinion, although he may still ultimately have a seat there if Perez gets the rumoured Ferrari 2018 contract. An interesting point that doesn't seem to have been raised yet is that Manor is apparently about to be purchased by Ron Dennis

A few years back I drew up plans for the North Western Railway's Birmingham Terminus (Birmingham St. Martins) with a whole selection of stock from the 'Locomotives that Never Were' book running in pre-grouping, Grouping and BR liveries. The idea never got off the ground, but i'm wondering if I should have another go at it

Narrow planet sell complete Peckett sets - custom name and works plate - well worth it

Did any W4 pecketts see service with the NCB?

Finally managed to get my hands on NCB 36 (was removed from my hands by management just after it arrived from Kernow in Sep) and what a model this is. Superb. Although i suspect that my allowance will nto allow it for some months to come, count me in for another one (probably 30071 - I'm pretty sure that this was loaned to the NCB for a while, right? )

I've been interested in the whistle too, and I've watched the models carefully in person when the whistle sound effect is going on - I've yet to see anything myself to be honest. The sound plays and then the normal chuffing of the chimney begins. Once or twice I've seen a faint wisp of the smoke when the whistle effect plays, but nothing too obvious

I'd have a careful think about the elements that you want to keep in the layout - what is it that attracts you to this particular one? is it the tight curves? the intruguing shunting? the run down industrial atmosphere? Once you have identified what it is you like, I'd go for a totally independent design. i find these considerably more satisfying, as they are quintessentially 'mine' and whilst they can take inspiration from other layouts then they arent modifications or direct copies of anything else.