BrushVeteran

Tramshed is correct, there will be two versions of the GN cab, original GN loading gauge and Gresley LNER modified loading gauge.

Hi No Decorum As I have been quoted as making a statement back in March 2016 I feel that I should reply. Originally the plan was to tool everything for the O2 versions within the first releases. However it turned out to be too complicated to proceed with all five versions at once so the first releases were the O2/3 and O2/4 which both used the high frame, side window cab, GS tenders and LHD interchangeable boilers. Work had also commenced on the first tooling s of the GN cab, which were rejected but appeared on the spares spue's. The tooling for the RHD boilers (dia 20 and 100A) and GN tenders also never got completed so when the decision was made last year to plan the O2/1, O2/2 and rebuilt O2/4 (ex.O2/1 and O2/2) as the second releases, it was decided to revise the GN cab so that it conformed more to the prototype and to also backdate it to the original GN loading gauge to make it more suitable for the GN grey liveries. Thus there will be more varieties but shorter production runs of each version. So I am still involved with the project and I'm sure Ben will collaborate. There will also be improvements to some detail parts and overall finish following feedback from the previous versions.

Based on the success of these I would hope the Gloucester version is in with a very good chance...................here's hoping!

I have a photo of one which looks like it may be blue under the dirt. It is unfortunately being hauled behind a loco but you are welcome to use it if you want.

Yes, both 677 AHT208J and 681 YHY581J received poppy red livery by COMS but the other four acquired from Bristol were withdrawn still in green. That is a very 'atmospheric' picture of 681 at Watlington, as if its trying to pretend not to be there!

Just for you Mike a couple of pictures of COMS Renown 332 which we own. It currently has been stripped of all paint and will be repainted in the 1970 two colour livery, being the first COMS vehicle to be repainted in the simplified scheme.

I have also been scanning a few more of my vast collection of slides that I have taken. As I may have already mentioned I didn't have a decent camera really, being a Kodak Instamatic 200, but with the help of photoshop they can be somewhat 'improved'. Mostly Oxford I'm afraid, as that's where I worked for 41 years! I am spending my retirement restoring one or two of them as well!

That's a bit of a concern! I hope you have informed Hornby of this problem as it looks similar to the original problem with this model. Has the chassis got a problem in this area?

I have only this poor scan from a BR Design Panel handout which the late Brian Haresnape gave me back in the late sixties. I would imagine that quite a few transparencies were taken to record this event so maybe they will surface one day.

D5578 was not adorned with the white stripes whilst painted in french blue similar to D5579 in golden ochre livery. It did however carry white cab roofs for a short while which Stratford depot applied for a royal Train working. I attach two images taken at different stages of its period in french blue livery.

Yes and I echo what has been said. I've never seen so much information and dated detail for such a small class of locomotives. It seems that they were loved by their adopted final depot in the end but unfortunately the writing was already on the wall for such a non-standard class as they had very little in common with anything else. Tony Sayer has performed a magnificent job in collating a fine array of photographs most of which I'd never seen before. Highly recommended. Well done.

Heljan paint finishes were generally matched to the Railmatch paint range as sold by Howes Models. The colour you require for the Class 35 Hymek skirt is RM302 Yellow Green, which is also suitable for the Class 55 Deltic skirt. Hope this helps.

Well I've just made friends with one of the farm cats in a barn we rent to restore our buses. The ginger tom is very good at keeping the mice and bay and occasionally the pigeons..............you could never get anywhere near him though. Yesterday, as I usually do, 'borrowed' some cat biscuits from my two at home and 'Mr Tom' or ''Sidney as I call him was actually waiting for me to arrive. He is certainly very friendly all of a sudden with plenty of head butting and purring so I think he must live nearby as he seems quite well looked after. Glad to have made another friend...................just two more to go that frequent the barn.

Should bring us all some good lock then!

This is a topic that brings tears to my eyes as I think cats are very much under-rated companions. I have lived with cats in our family for virtually all of my life and have owned cats myself since 1978 almost continuously. Prior to January this year I had been without a cat for about four months as we had said goodbye to our previous cat, Pepper, who had succumbed to the usual thyroid problems and was losing his self control. My wife and I took the decision and, as she is not an ardent cat lover, I decided to try and live without cats surrounding me. Over Christmas and the New Year of this year I was bombarded by television adverts for RSPCA, PDSA and Cats Protection and I started covertly looking into our local adaption centres. I was looking for two kittens who would give hopefully a long relationship but it seemed others had the same idea and I started to get a bit despondent. I then received a call from our local Cats Protection adoption centre to say that they had mother and son, would I like to come and view. In the car like a shot my wife and I were offered the pair and after a home visit we have Sooty , a black 5 year old female who was found heavily pregnant roaming the streets of Bicester, and her son Sweep, who is now just a year old. He has a lot of Siamese in him and a tail like a sweeps brush but is as soft as they come, albeit a bit timid. They had to go as a pair as Sweep kept howling for his mother according to his previous owner of two days, and then took him back! Sooty has had a harder life I believe being a constant stray and probably mother to quite a few litters. They still look out for each other although Sooty's temperament is such that she hisses at him quite a lot especially meal times but he is such a softy he just walks away. It makes me feel quite proud to share my cat photos with so many like minded members on this forum. I may put up some images of my previous cat family as and when..............but thanks Didcot for starting this thread.

I would also recommend viewing Lloyd Wellam's (Baby Deltic on here) interpretation of London's run down and poorer areas as depicted on his very nostalgic Sumatra Road layout, formerly known as Harford Street. He hasn't exhibited it for a few years but I have had the pleasure of operating it, and whilst doing that gazing at the magnificent detail realism that has been created. The railway detail is good but the buildings and portrayal of neglect in the buildings is most lifelike. I was born in that area so I knew no different but some people are quite taken aback when I show them pictures of 'my manor' of the 1950's. People just got on with life and were always very friendly, and still were when I used to visit regularly in the 1960's. Even when my parents moved back to West Hampstead, which was deemed to be the 'posher' side of London, the flats where we lived were in a pretty bad state..................and yes they are still standing, have been extended and are now worth a mint! I still go back to my old haunts every couple of years but now nobody really speaks and don't seem to be too concerned about the history of where they live......................quite depressing really. Anyway I have just ordered East End in Colour Vol 1 and am looking forward to another trip down memory lane!

I'm not quite sure of the location but here is a Cuban 48 on test on BR metals. I purchased this slide with copyright a few years ago from a former Brush employee. From what I can gather quite a number of Brush personnel were involved with the fitting out of these 'Clayton' built locos.

Not as far as I've been able to ascertain Jools, I have pictures of all of them in green with full yellow ends, some at Crewe Works, very near to the dates when they went into works for conversion to 47's so I'm pretty certain no Class 48's made it into blue livery.

Thanks for that kind offer RBAGE, my problem is time even though I'm supposed to be retired. I have six full size buses to complete restorations on................I may even live to complete them! However always up for a challenge if it is as easy as you say I might just try a couple in the forthcoming dark evenings!....................so would take you up on your offer of instruction.

There was also a severe derailment at Uddingston Junction involving several Cemflo's which I believe were scrapped on site. The construction and design of the wagon didn't take too kindly to derailments twisting the solebars and causing frame fractures. I'm surprised that they lasted as long as they did really but I suppose being privately owned they had to be written down over a set period. May we be able to persuade Accurascale to do another pre-tops run....................or dare I mention Gloucesters! I do need some more but liked the Gloucester livery better...............when they were new and not encrusted with cement. But well done to you for producing the type in the first place.

I cannot remember the track cleaning wagon routine but was a frequent visitor to Lou Nadin's Model Railway in Garage Street Llandudno between 1962-7. I helped to operate the layout occasionally to give Lou a break and met up with Merf Jones of this parish, with whom I still have a pint or two with when I am visiting Llandudno. I attach some pictures I took which some maybe familiar with. Lou was my inspiration to include a hump yard on my own layout...................something about gravity shunting that fascinates me..............probably the 'bang' at the end! Apologies if I have posted these before but are relevant to the topic.

I purchased some of Brian Haresnape's diesel slides back in 1969/70, some of which I believe may have been taken by Alec Swain. I knew Alec through a work colleague of my grandfather and he put me in touch with Brian. I am pleased to have some of Brian's slides in my possession as he was a very talented man who's life was cut short tragically.

Here we go.........................................................!!!!

Not D5106 but D5026 did.

It is actually in Robert Tufnell's book 'The Diesel Impact on British Rail' published by Mechanical Engineering Publications in 1979 where he mentions that D5705 received a modified crankcase just before the whole class started to be withdrawn due to the National Traction Plan. Thus the reason for it's retention by Derby Research. It would be good to read a follow-up as to how the power unit performed and whether the previous problems were solved but I suppose it was not really used in hard revenue earning service so comparison maybe unfair. Nevertheless very interesting in my opinion and would be of great benefit to the preservation guys at the ELR who are restoring D5705. I did find these locomotives fascinating when I used to go around the old Cricklewood (West) depot where a work colleague of my paternal grandfather used to work in the offices. There were usually about five or six about and I would say the summer of 1960/1. I think I've answered my own question!