Martin_R

I'm afraid 1661 is wrongly credited in Model Rail as working Lea & Perrins - should be Hill Evans Vinegar Works. Most of the evidence of this line have disappeared following development of the area, some of the track routes are picked out in coloured brick in the St Martins Quarter. I came across the attached drawing many years ago but have no idea from where it came....

Now showing in stock also VBA barrier...... Prices are $@*&£!?!

68219 arrived on shed at lunchtime today, will be raising steam this evening.

Mine are on the way from Kernow, arriving tomorrow!

Well the speaker in body installation is now sorted. My original thought was to fit a pair of 8ohm sugar lump speakers wired in parallel (giving 4ohms) but having trialled them I was not too impressed.... Looking at the chassis the best position for a speaker is under the fan mesh but the 8 pin plug/socket prevents this so I reversed the circuit board position. Word of warning doing this changes the default loco direction. My eventual solution was to remove the motor and reverse the wiring, this corrects the direction issue. There is another modification, this is to cut away part of the moulded speaker housing in the body to clear the 8 pin plug/socket. The speaker I used was a 4 ohm ESU 50330 but it must be removed from it's housing. It is secured to the circuit board with double sided tape then sealed round with mastic. The ESU V4.0 Loksound decoder then fitted in-between the speaker and the motor plug/socket. There is not a lot of space so both width and height must be checked carefully.

I’m working on the speaker in the body solution at the moment. Once I have the low profile speaker to hand and fitted/tested it I will post an update with photos.

Even with my very sub standard eyes that is absolutely stunning, modelling the way it should be done and a true inspiration to all of us. Thanks Mike for sharing it with us.

Ouch! Flack jacket on.......... I bet ‘Blue Box’ are wishing the manufacturing glitch never happened.........

Well my guess is a full set of LMS Coronation coaches in blue to match Queen Elizabeth...........

I measured mine at 239mm over the buffer heads.

My red VTG TEA’s arrived this afternoon - absolutely superb. Hats off to all involved with this project for these fantastic wagons. Think I need some more.............

Nice! Personally I would’ve liked to see it in conjunction with Rapido but will watch developments closely.

I had an order for the 3 red variants but when I called in to collect them I decided that the “improved” livery was not for me. As an aside the retailer did make me aware of the issue with the colours so 10/10 to him for highlighting it to me as well as the many members on this forum. Thanks guys for the photos and discussion.

Try this link http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/70956-powering-a-bratchell-emu/ Still running like a sewing machine - I can certainly recommend a Replica chassis.

My 4705 arrived complete with broken cab steps both sides and all associated pipe work bits loose in the packaging. The pony wheels were detached and jammed under the footplate which was also slightly distorted. These are all sortable with a little work but the worst find was the tender drawbar was snapped at the sort setting hole!?! Why didn’t I return it? Sadly past experiences with Heljan tells me if a Heljan loco is largely intact and will actually run smoothly then you could have a ‘good’ one......unfortunately the c**p design of packaging is the real problem here. Update - Tender drawbar fixed using some nickel silver connecting rod parts from my bits box, miles better and stronger than the plastic one. The cab steps and pipe work are next when I finish making up some brass pipes etc as replacements which will also add some strength to the steps.

No 1 just arrived - WOW! I have just given it a visual once over and all is well, just need to untangle those very delicate front chains. Testing will be later as my other half knows the even the box is different from the ‘norm’ and may not appreciate it chuffing away on the test track during her coffee morning.........

Think I will reserve judgment until they appear in the flesh or the SLW 25 arrives.........

‘Exe’ now showing in stock at HMC - revised model?

Looks like it might be late 1980's. http://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/fisonsweedkiller/h3ac18546#h3ac18546 http://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/fisonsweedkiller/h3ac18546#h3faa56cf

Now available to pre-order http://www.invictamodelrail.com/39-000q-fisons-weedkilling-coach-pack-pre-order-9999-18671-p.asp

And finally, I have a 7mm loco just about ready to return to a customer in France. He voiced a bit of concern as to whether the Heljan packaging is up to the trip, my answer is yes as I generally add enough packaging to survive a nuclear blast. However, he decided to go a stage further, and sent me a rather sturdy plastic 'tube'. Pictured with a 7mm 37 to give a sense of scale. My local post office is going to love this one tube by rothburyuk, on Flickr Packing supplied by Barnes Wallis?

Peter I suggest you re-read the original post, my understanding was in the reference to "as built version" which I guess neither Bachmann or Hornby have actually modelled - and no I don't want to get into a slanging match with you either....... Martin.

The Make Your Mark Plasser & Theurer models are superb but I don't think they lend themselves to be easily motorised, I suggest asking Mark Sapsford direct.

Will be making a comparison with my ex Hornby version fitted with working lights etc. Also have ex Hornby Arriva version to compare with too with locked out doors modelled. My very elderly Lima model of the Midline version has now been re-motored so a new lease of life

I have to say that my all previous purchases from Locomotion, Hattons, Rails, Kernow and HMC have arrived in perfect condition thanks to these retailers using plenty of shock absorbing packaging between the outer box and the model box. There are many types used in any combination, airbags, bubble wrap, polystyrene crumbs, shredded paper BUT if the model in its own box is not in direct contact packaging able to absorb shocks in any axis then damage can and will still happen. By far the best manufacturers packaging I have seen was the Rapido APT-E - I just hope the Stirling Single packaging is to at least the same standard.