chris p bacon

That was the first thing that came to my mind, I even checked I still had some. I thought it a very interesting and informative response from Bill, the overlay of the scan shows that it's near accurate which does dispel some of the twaddle and criticism. Agreed it's not a perfect copy, but if it doesn't meet exacting standards then don't purchase and wait for Bachmann to update their 'Emily'. I would say that with Bill being a GW aficionado we could have had yet another copper topped monstrosity......maybe even broad gauge..instead of Stirlings masterpiece.

Were you actually being serious about pre-painted 'sticky backed tinfoil' being applied to a cut in the footplate ? I thought you were joking.

You are correct with the 3rd camp, it just seemed a bit too obvious to include them as I would have thought that those who are modelling pre-grouping had already thought about how such a locomotive could be made. Until Rapido/NRM chose to produce No1 I doubt it was high on the list for other manufacturers. For me it has proved too difficult to build. I also doubt it will tarnish Rapido & the NRM if there has to be some compromise, quite possibly the opposite if it proves to run universally.

Why make this common knowledge ? Could be the Guilds fault anyway. At our own show we have booked traders that haven't turned up and had others come when they've confused dates/years, that's a matter between the 2 parties not for Joe public.

It might be corrected, but what if this is the compromise to make it actually run. Rapido have a reputation for producing very accurate models so I'm making a guess that somewhere along the way this was a compromise to make it run, and run well. At Warley last year I saw the 1st EP and had a discussion with Bill about it's progress, he remarked that they could have had it finished by last year but Rapido's 1st option was tender drive, but in discussion with the NRM they specified 'Engine drive', so from that point everything changed as they had to design it as a 4-4-0 so it had enough grunt to move more than just its tender. Bills list of the problems was mind boggling, and all have had to be overcome. I wonder whether purchasers fall into 2 camps. Those that want the locomotive so as to run it on a pre-grouping (or what if) layout and will accept a compromise (or take a file to it), and those that would like it as a nice model but want it absolutely accurate ?

I can't help thinking that's not only unworkable but even worse than low cylinders. Surely you don't think a £200+ model should have slots in the footplate with 'sticky foil' (which is very malleable) to cover it. If I had to take a least worse option that suited most (but not all) I'd take the low cylinders and take a file to it. I'll wait for Locomotion/Rapido to come back (if they do) It could well be like the last time and it had not actually been assembled (they were discussing livery in the PR)

Very interested in seeing this develop, If I'm right with the location a friend owned one of the cottages and we used to head to LM twice a year to make repairs, we used to walk a bit of the trackbed while eating lunch. Always thought it would make an interesting model.

It's 200 yards from my house. Our club will be joining that one.....we've got a hammer....on loan..

Aaah but thats not always so, At Sandy we had the GN main one and the LNWR, Up was 2 different directions.

We all would have pointed at each other......it's that sort of club....

The press release states its 2nd EP and pre-production sample, so I wonder if there are still some details to be dealt with. There is the scenario that Rapido could make an absolutely accurate model of No 1 but we could never run it due to the complete lack of clearances at 4mm to the foot. Maybe next time a Millholme kit comes up on Ebay I ought to bid on it to see the alternative......or maybe not..

Maybe not. When the club was exhibiting at Grantham 2 years ago a chap walked up to the layout and said "Is Chris P Bacon here" .... the club Chairman pointed at me completely unfazed.

I think It might be a mix of the cylinder being a smidge low and the front footplate being high to accommodate wheels with flanges At the rear of the cylinder where it intersects with the footplate it should be higher (the top of the cylinder running in line with the footplate). I'm with you on the last sentence.

Many years ago I worked in the Booking Office in Biggleswade, we had a railman called 'Jack Strong' (his real name was Horace but the previous 5 incumbents of the job had been called Jack so it stuck) He and his Brother in law had 3 ties that they passed between themselves for birthdays and xmas, he said it was something like 13-15 years before the wives guessed. I asked what he did after that "purchased a 4th tie to confuse them"was the answer, when asked how it was working he said "getting on for 20 years they hadn't guessed yet"

It was a bit too PC for you the.............

If you look at the 1st image in close up you can see that there is the merest knats arse of clearance between the front wheel and the cylinder. Without the ability to run a rule over it, if we assume the cylinder is the correct diameter then to achieve a prototypical look will mean another compromise on the slidebars and their size. Having tried and failed to build a Single I have admiration for what Rapido have achieved so far, I expect there to be some inaccuracies and a certain amount of compromise as in 12" to the foot the clearances on the No1 are unbelievably tight and could never be produced in 4mm. Edit to add.....I'm off to get some tissues...

I've only been to Finland once in 2009........you need more trees....thousands of them.

I think you might mean 5 thou (theres a thread running) 10 thou is freely available. You might get away with 40 thou for scoring without a mat beneath it (I'm sure someone has tried it) but 20 thou is realistically the max for it to work effectively.

Aren't they called 'Taxi's'

No doubt develop them to sell to us while we ignore it.

The Suburban is right next to the area in front of the destination boards.

A fiver less here. http://www.screwfix.com/p/dewalt-dck211c2-bqgb-10-8v-1-3ah-li-ion-cordless-drill-driver-impact-driver-twin-pack/3292t?_requestid=215520

Biggleswade.....it's not the station itself, but the town that surrounds it. It's Twinned with Royston Vasey

Oh that's alright then......lets ignore it...

There is some truth in that, but it did take more steam loco's to perform the same duties as well as lighting up and cleaning out.