Andy1963

My understanding is that the Western Locomotive Association have not sold out of their 1062 Western Courier limited edition which is in maroon with small yellow warning panel. I don't believe they have received there order yet, and they are asking a high price compared with the standard loco's, but if you don't want to wait....

My maroon western arrived from Hattons on Friday, stunning model, haven't run it yet because I've taken my layout apart. Even wife thinks it's stunning. It's been a long wait, but worthwhile. Even the box is beautiful.

Nice shot, love the Brut trolleys, where are they from?

As the maroon version has been mentioned above, any update when we might see it? Hattons emailed me some weeks ago to say it was expected in March but I've heard nothing since. Have they been shipped, when are they due? (I have my decoder sitting waiting, good old Bachmann 21 pin, works fine for me).

In 2008, I was stuck at a crossing south of Ely where the barriers were stuck down and the lights flashing. There was a south bound train stopped a few hundred yards up the line towards Ely. I couldn't tell if the barrier was down because the train was close and had broken down, or if the train had stopped and the barrier was down because of a signalling failure. From the side I was stuck, the view of north bound trains was very restricted. After a few minutes, cars from both directions started going around the half barrier and across the line. Concerned at the risk of north bound trains still running, I went and used the phone to the signal box. The signal man was not at all helpful, told me there was a fault and I would have to find an alternative route. I pointed out that people were crossing the line, and if north bound trains were still running, there was a strong possibility of an accident. With this, he said they would control it from there. I have no idea what he meant by that, whether he was going to stop north bound trains or send someone to the crossing, I don't know. As I started walking back to my car, a driver of an oil tanker waiting the other side came across the rails and asked me what they had said. I told the tanker driver exactly what was said, to which he replied, probably too dangerous to cross then. I was dumb struck, a driver of an oil tanker was even considering manoeuvring around the half barriers. I turned around a drove around via Ely adding about 15 miles to my journey. There was no accident, but I know I did the right thing. I would never cross when the lights are flashing and the barrier down, under any circumstances.

I have 2 Heljan Westerns and 3 old Lima Westerns. I am wating for a Dapol Western to arrive and then I will start disposing of the old Lima ones. I will be keeping both Heljan Westerns, always thought it was a good model, runs well and the issue with the cab front has never bothered me that much. I paid £35 for my first Heljan one at a show some years ago, it was brand new. The other I got from Ebay for £50. The Dapol one is costing £104 which is by far the most I have ever paid for a locomotive. I cannot see any justification to replace the Heljan Westerns, which were great value and are much loved. Might even buy another, if I find one at the right price on Ebay.

Blue one's coming, that must mean maroon are not far behind. The best kept until last?

I do like reading all these comments on how a model that has been developed with the assitance of people on this website can be improved. Personally, when I get mine, I'm going to stick the name plates on, put a decoder in and run it as is and be very happy that we have such a fantastic example of the undoubted most handsome diesel that ever graced the network.

If the industry are expecting a 4% failure rate then it's high time they implemented Quality Assurance (QA) rather than Quality Control (QC). A manufacturing company with a customer reject rate of 4% wouldn't be in business very long.

What you can see is the model behind the plastic cover. We've all seen the photo's I'm looking forward to receiving mine and unwrapping it and finally getting my hands on one after all these months. Trust that's OK with Jim?

Oh that does look the dogs dangly bits. Superb, I can't wait for my Maroon one to come...

I've watched this forum over the months, seen the CAD, the comments, the photo's of the prototypes and the colour issues with the maroon 1000. My comment is, it looks the dogs dangly bits to me, and I can't wait to get my hands on my maroon version when it arrives. I don't take a great deal of notice of reviews, I read and if I like and want, I buy. I think the way this model has been developed with the input from people on this forum is fantastic, and I take my hat off (I would if I had one on) to Dave for his patience with all the comments. It must be difficult to sort the sensible comments from the rest and not to get disheartened by negative remarks. Perhaps that's why no other manufacturer goes to this trouble. When are you doing the Warship Dave?

I have a maroon one on order from Hattons, but if it's delayed by 6 - 8 weeks, I could probably afford a blue one first. Which blue model is in transit so I don't order the wrong one and have 2 strange heavy packages arrive together to explain? Andy

Just pre-ordered Cl 121 in blue from Hattons. Please don't tell the wife, she already knows there's a Western on order, just have to hope she forgets about that before the bubble car turns up!

I thought about making an uncoupling system using memory wire to raise and lower an uncouper to save having to modify the coupling droppers, but decided this was overly complicated when there are units available (Gaugemaster TLU) to do the same things for a few quid. I am therefore hoping I can make the Kirby system work, but I have also read that when going over them slowly they can uncouple. I think some experiment with magnet height and strength will determine if the system can be made reliable without the need to use electro magnets or raising and lowering them. I hadn't considered a manual magnet raising and lowering system, I suppose this could be achieved quite easily with some cables or rods under the base board.

I wouldn't bother with any uncoupling ramps, they look dreadful and I've never found them to work very well. At the moment, I am using a bent paper clip taped to a small LED torch, but I've done a lot of reading on the subject of Tension lock uncoupling and I've decided to go the Brian Kirby route. I've ordered the Bachmann couplings for my Hornby, Heljan and Airfix items, and over Christmas will be adding the staple droppers and magnets. It seems the simplist and easiest system to use and you don't have those ugly uncoupling ramps in your track.

Steel under silver paint on the sea wall does rust.

If you a do a picture search for signals on the sea wall photo's you will see silver rusty poles, so they were painted silver.

Silver posts in my opinion for the BR Western region.

I can relate to your feeling defeated. In 2008 I started a huge project that runs through 3 rooms with a 3 year plan to build. Year one was to buld the base boards, lay the track and get trains running. Year 2 was to build the scenery in one of the scenic areas and year 3 was to build the scenery in the other scenic room. As we approach the end of 5 years, I have a working layout, and one room has some scenery built. Earlier this year, I decided to break down the scenery even further and concentrate on specific areas and get these finished. I made significant progress on one section, then changed my job and have hardly touched it since. Don't know what the answer is, I agree that a large layout is needed to enjoy running something like prototypical trains, I suspect it is either a life long project for one, or a job for several.

You can contact WLA using this link on their website. http://www.westernloco.com/contact.htm

At the risk of being shouted down, personally I think the maroon Lima Westerns look just fine, better than the Heljan in fact. Dapol Dave could do a lot worse than spending £10 on a knackered Lima Western rather than £50 plus on a Heljan one.

They all look great, can't wait to get hold of my Maroon with small yellow warning panels. A question for Dave regarding the name plates. I know they are going to be supplied without the name and number plates attached my question is, are the name and number plates going to be self adhesive or are we going to have to super glue them on? I've seen a lot of people make a dreadful mess with super glue which would be a shame. Also, how will they be positioned correctly?