Mel_H

On occasion Cl 66s do clag, but not much, and not for long.

For a mere £300, you too could have a OO Rocket and three coaches! Hornby 00 GAUGE - R796 - THE STEPHENSONS ROCKET TRAIN PACK - COLLECTORS PIECE | eBay https://ebay.us/wAvzpy

There are some many wonderful pre-Grouping designs, but I guess they would all be 'mainstream'. What a fascinating collection though... And, there were a number of weird things that I hadn't heard of, so thank you for widening my knowledge. I've always had a soft spot for GWR Broad Gauge - surely that can't be mainstream! Iron Duke and Fire Fly being two obvious candidates. Also, 'conventional' crane tanks: could they be mainstream too? On second thoughts, although odd-looking, they aren't 'quirky'. A candidate for next year could include the 'original' Pacer - the Sadler Railcar, aka the Pacerailer... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacerailer

I’ve not bought one yet, so I’m not in a position to comment on it at all. However I must say that Hattons engagement on this forum and elsewhere is positive and to be welcomed. Others, such as Rapido, RevolutioN and Accurascale also have (most welcome and refreshing) similar levels of engagement. It’s very time-consuming, and must be disheartening sometimes given the amount of criticism from a small but vocal minority. Well done Hatton’s, keep it up!

I suspect that the shade has been extensively discussed elsewhere. I have a vague recollection it was discussed at the time. There seems to be a collective agreement that its a tricky shade to get right – whatever right is!. Certainly when freshly applied and seen in Sun, EWS red was quite bright. However it soon weathered, and lost its sheen. Thus it appeared a darker, and duller shade. It’s not something specific to EWS, but also seems to affect perceptions/reality about the shades of BR maroon and LMS red.

Nice pix by Eric709. Just for fun (are we allowed to do that on here;?) I put these two (Eric's and a GBRf official one) side by side. Ignore the colours (neither are outside in daylight) and that they are not the same loco. However, it does show that for something that only stands a couple of inches tall, Hattons have done very well! I'm sure we'll see some nice detailed pictures taken outdoors (or under balanced light) from others very soon. EDIT: Just found a pic of 66740 by Carl S Watson at Eastleigh, from a different viewpoint... (and minus its fueltank)

Code 100 is brilliant for fiddle yards etc, and I'm using this too - for the same reason! Having a reliable layout is top of the agenda, which is why this thread's been interesting

Certainly Peco's new 'Bullhead' range is lovely, and its appearance is helped by having the switch blade made of a single piece of rail, rather than the 'hinged' arrangement. And, because it's bullhead rail rather than flat-bottomed, it looks finer. I'm in the process of laying some over Christmas (hopefully) so can report back on how RTR stock performs on it, but I'm sure it'll be just fine. At the moment only 'large radius' points are available, but Peco is promising 'medium radius' along with a diamond crossing, single and double slips in 2020. Just one other [small] note, while the mainstream RTR manufacturers only offer OO, SLW's 4mm Class 24 is available in OO, EM or P4 'off the shelf'. It's been an interesting thread so far.

That's correct for North America (pilot), but in the UK it's officially called the 'obstacle deflector', although it may have other colloquial (possibly even regional) names. Back OT, from the few photos posted so far, it looks to be very lifelike - tricky for such a thin item.

The trailer for the BBC TV Christmas programmes shows people leaving a railway station (very briefly). Where is it? It has a vague hint of Rochester (but it's not) or possibly Sittingbourne. It looks like somewhere in the area (LCDR Chatham/North Kent Line). Assuming it's real and not CGI...!

The Showground is well signposted, but the change of name for the exhibition hall to 'The Arena' is new and is not on the signs. It would be much better if it was advertised as being at the East of England Showground, until the signs are changed (probably, a very long wait). To be fair, there were a number of yellow event signs saying 'Model Railway Exhibition', but these can be missed if you're concentrating in the heavy traffic on the fast-moving, unfamiliar roads.

From another thread on the forum, but really should be here too perhaps? [Air-braked] MGR wagons on delivery (I presume) behind steam

This was at Spalding a few weeks ago and is an excellent use of forced perspective! Also at Spalding was 'Grantham' which looked very impressive and staffed by seven operators. Sadly, on my three visits to the layout on the Sunday (by when operating gremlins on layouts have usually been solved) there was a lack of action, but just a massive tempting fiddle yard and a loco light engine in the MPD. Hopefully I'll get to see it again on a better day

Perhaps separate 'rucksack', 'smelly modellers', 'parking', 'food', 'travel' etc sub-threads could be set up for next year so we can talk about modelling on the Warley page!

I presume you mean that as the KR Models version is now not happening, RevolutioN might take it on. I wonder if there's been a conversation between the two?

I saw the latest production-ready samples of the 117 and 121 at Spalding this year and they do look lovely with some nice detailing. Sadly the cab roof corners are not correctly domed, but more 'ski slope' than the real bulbous shape. Not as bad as the Bachmann 108 is, but nevertheless a disappointment as this is one of the units' most distinctive features. Dapol managed to nail the shape. It's not a grumble as such, just an observation. I accept that it's a tricky shape to get right. Anyone for Chris Leigh replacement ends! Pictures show the Bachmann and Dapol examples for comparison.

With a group of car club friends we have just left Berlin this evening having driven our Trabants from the UK. We took part in a motor cavalcade around the city on Saturday. Complete with full police escort and running red lights. However today was more sobering as we visited the Stasi prison, and separate Stasi Museum. What the stars he did was quite Remarkable, and for all the wrong reasons.

This offer applies to everything that is staged at the NEC, irrespective of who is running the event, and applies to all exhibitions. Hope this helps.

I've just discovered that Virgin Trains offers 20% off for visitors to ANY exhibition at the NEC - or indeed event at the site - for advance booking. The discount is only available through this page. I haven't ploughed through all the previous posts on here, so if it's already mentioned, please ignore (or delete, Admins) Just trying to be helpful... https://www.virgintrains.co.uk/nec?utm_campaign=nec_banner_2015&utm_medium=banner&utm_source=nec_partners&wt.mc_id= bn_033a_2

It is fascinating, also note 33111 with close-spaced '111' numerals (a bit like 66111)

You need an excuse to run your electric loco 'under the wires' with the pan' down (and at 'non-prototypical shunting speeds' into your loco shed)? Okay, stretching the point a little but....

He still does, and still is....

What to do with that new Warwell you just bought? Load it with a wagon! [Salisbury 1988, grab from video, 7mins in, here ]

Sheringham is to have a new model shop. Details attached

Gosh, it's so easy, if you have the funds... http://www.shinedew.com/useful.asp