Red Fox

Yes they are. Same as the 350's, the object deflector plugs into the NEM pocket and the dummy Delner fits (poorly) in a hole in the chassis plus there are mouldings representing the wiring between coaches should you wish to attach them. One thing different is that the dummy Delner head is no longer supplied pre-attached to it's arm, you have to glue them together. Another minor difference between the 350's and the 450's packs is that the instructions, collectors club and warranty leaflets are all now combined in one neat booklet.

A few years back when I was a regular morning traveller my train was more often than not a 450/444 combo, I think it was due to a 444 refurbishment program being underway and also some damage to a 444 meaning there were less of them about. Normally the 450 was the leading unit to Waterloo, I always went for the 444 section and judging by how full it got it seemed everyone else did the same. Quite the reverse of the normal 2 x 444 formation where most of the commuters would try and cram in the front unit for a quick exit at Waterloo leaving plenty of seats in the rear unit. One of the mid morning Weymouth-Waterloo fasts has been joining up with a 450 at Southampton Central the last few times I've been on it, 0903 ex Weymouth rings a bell but I'm not certain.

Weathered version has Waterloo as a destination though the unweathered review sample in Model Rail has Waterloo on the cab display and Portsmouth & Southsea on the side display? The 450's and 444's are quite commonly seen displaying 'South West Trains' and 'SWT' on the side and cab displays respectively, maybe that would have been a better option over P&S?

My weathered 450 has arrived from Kernow and is currently being run in. I was a bit apprehensive about the weathered finish but IMHO Bachmann have done an excellent job, the light coloured roof isn't as over powering as it appears in some pictures though the underframe dirt maybe goes a bit too high on to the bodyside. Lots of nice little details printed on like warning labels and no smoking signs, seats are the correct colour in standard and first. Little niggles - the side destinations boards only saying Waterloo when they normally say London Waterloo and I'm not 100% on the bodyside blue though this does seem to vary on the real thing depending on condition, I wonder if the unweathered version will appear darker? But overall I'm very happy with the unit.

When I visited on Wednesday only the U Class was in service. 33111 was operating the other Swanage-Norden services and 33025 and D6515 were top and tailing on the Swanage-Wareham services. The T9 was on Swanage Shed turntable receiving some attention and the M7 was sat out of service further down in the sidings along with Manston and a West Coast Railways 37. The Standard Tank was parked up near Swanage Station with a buffer missing and its pony truck detached and sat next to the fence, see picture

The T3 seen today at Corfe Castle in the delightful summer weather....

Has anyone else had any issues contacting DC Kits? I've sent emails, tried a PM on this forum and called but no response. Any suggestions?

Some nice picture of the weathered release on Nigel Burkin's blog https://nigelburkin.wordpress.com/2017/07/18/desirable-desiro/ Bachmann looks to have applied lots of nice little details to the units including correct SWT style no smoking signs and painted the seating the correct colours - red for standard and blue for first.

I want to strip the paint off a Hornby coach so I can respray it but can't get the window glazing out without damaging it. If I use Phoenix Superstrip on the body with the glazing still in place is the glazing likely to get damaged?

I think the newspaper have got their wording wrong as David MacBrayne Ltd is owned by the Scottish Government not the the Minsters themselves, maybe something to do with the Wikipedia article using both terms?

Excellent work. What will you use for the curved windscreen glazing on the 442?

It's taken me a while but I've finally got round to attempting the tunnel mouth. It's a bit rough and ready at the moment and some work is required to get the curve at the bottom correct before it is clad in suitable embossed plastikard but as a first attempt I'm pretty happy with it. It is made from clear acrylic tube cut in half and then shaped using templates to get the curves right. I used acrylic tube as it was the perfect diameter and I wanted something rigid and able to withstand the occasional knock if and when I proceed to layout construction.

66721 Harry Beck now appears to be sold out. Hopefully my order for both locos went through OK yesterday.

Wightlink own the non-rail parts of the pier. I can't see them giving up on the Ryde Pier service unless someones pays a big chunk of money and dredges a channel for them to allow a service to Ryde at all states of the tide.

Regarding the problems with Hattons and 005 I had all six wagons on pre-order and 001 to 004 were dispatched when they arrived in stock. 005 and 006 arrived in stock about a week later but I got a dispatch note for only 006 so I emailed them that day to query this as I didn't want to get charged another £4 P&P. The reply I got was that there had been a processing problem when the order went through their system. They apologised and 005 was sent. I would contact Hattons if I were you as that is what may have happened to your orders for 005 but I doubt they have any HIA's left to dispatch now.

My current thinking is to use half a suitable diameter plastic pipe to give the semi-circular shape in plan view and them use templates the cut out of the tunnel mouth and brickwork curve. I've worked out the dimensions from the previous mentioned reference picture with the 158. As luck would have it I've found a supplier of the correct diameter pipe with an outer wall width of 3mm.

Thank you all for the advice, suggestions and pictures. I shall try experimenting with cardboard and see how that goes. Got quite a few good reference pictures including one a with a conveniently positioned 158 for scale.

As part of a long term project I'm attempting to create a compressed version of Southampton Central between the tunnel and station footbridge. I'd like to build a fairly accurate representation of the tunnel portal but it is a bit of an odd shape https://flic.kr/p/p5UgY2 https://flic.kr/p/4p3PzF Any suggestions as to how I would go about replicating the shape in 4mm scale? I'd prefer to have the structure clad in embossed plasticard to give the brickwork some relief.

Ampton mk2 is essentially no more, there were a number of problems with the layout including the weight of the baseboards and lack of planning on my part. I was distracted by other layout ideas and Ampton mk2 was largely dismantled in 2013. But Ampton will return! I've continued to plan, gather information and purchase stock and track for Ampton mk3. The mk3 version will feature Tillig Elite pointwork on the scenic sections, DCC Concepts Cobalt point motors and lighter laser cut baseboards. It will be around 15 feet long. The big question design wise at the moment is should the layout have the modern buildings of the mk2 version or should it more closely follow the buildings of the real Southampton Central??? I'm leaning more towards basing the buildings on real life and have managed to get hold of a number of diagrams for Overline House and the down side buildings. I'm also looking at a way to replicate the Southampton Tunnel portal which has a bit of an odd shape, any suggestions would be appreciated.

That's a C Class probably the Caedmon as her sisters Cenred and Cenwulf would have been on the Lymington-Yarmouth service.

Not had a chance to open up my GBRf one yet but the instruction sheet accompaning the loco says it's a 21pin plug. Way back when the model was announced it was planned to have PluX22 socket but it was changed during the development process. PluX seems to have sunk without a trace in the UK market.

Croydon Tram? I purchased some of your platform shelters and various bits of lineside equipment not so long ago, they are are excellent pieces and highly recommended Shall be getting some more as my various projects develop.

Excellent news. With the ribbon glazing version that 300+ potential units to model vs the 128 of the newer version (377/379/387).

The 377 you are modelling seems to be the less common 5 coach 377/6 and 377/7 varieties which have individual framed windows rather than ribbon glazing of the more common older type in the /1 to 5 subclasses which are also the same as the 375's. I would be most interested in a OO version.

I used this kit for my original layout Ampton. To span 4 lines you do indeed need 2 kits. I also cut the height down quite a bit as it looked far too tall for a UK structure. Beware glue marks as it has a lot of clear plastic bits I integrated my with a canopy... Currently all sitting in a box while I properly plan Ampton Mark 3.