John M Upton

"Full length monochromic display card...." Classy little description there. I always reckon anyone who resorts to such scientific sounding made up long descriptive words such as monochromic (err that's black and white in old money) is just trying to blind the gullible punter with b##l#cks.

Starting off a (very) early start to the day with the original motion picture soundtrack of 'Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back' one of John Williams finest works which I always seem to play whenever I am in a grumpy mood which given the increasingly closeness to that Christmas Day nonsense is off the scale in terms of being able to be accurately measured... :D

My random ITunes playlist just threw up 'Trains and Winter Rains' by Enya which seems somewhat appropriate as I am due to book on in a couple of hours...

An early start for me on a morning where I would normally be on lates this week, Christmas Lunch behind 60163 'Tornado' on the agenda today... :D I don't like Christmas normally but in this case I will make an exception!!!

Fox Transfers (www.fox-transfers.co.uk) sheet ref number F4330 for the loco logos/numerals, F4231 for the NSE coach logos and the ever dependable Replica Railways rub on transfers for the coach numbers (of which I really need to get some more!!)

With everything grinding to a halt for a couple of days owing to the descending fluffy stuff (now rapidly disappearing thank goodness!) it has been time to finish off some items on the workbench. First up, the first Vi-Trains Class 47 repaint I have attempted: The only NSE liveried model possible from the current crop of cheap 47's now being all but given away was 47711 'County of Hertfordshire' by virtue of this being the only NSE 47 that had cut cabs both ends after an argument with a rake of coaches at Yeovil one day, also it has a flush No 2 end as well. As per all my repaints, each stripe is individually masked and painted. I have tried transfers before to represent stripes on NSE and Intercity liveries but to me the end result looks like a vinyled FCC 319, cheap and nasty with obscuring of moulded detail so, each stripe gets the paint treatment instead. For comparison, here is the newly out shopped 47711 alongside an earlier repaint, 47579 'James Nighthall G.C.' which is based on a Bachmann 47: It is difficult to pick between the two manufacturers. Bachmann have a smoother drive mechanism and more choice in terms of body styles (cut/uncut buffer beams etc) but the Vi-Trains one is equally good in terms of appearance and moulding (I was never impressed by their 37, those windscreens I think, this however is good) and from a repainting point of view, having all the bits such as handrails already removed is a bonus even if it means frequent carpet searches for bits that have gone missing!! Also with the price cuts at the moment, a Vi-Trains 47 can be picked up for as little as 35 notes compared with the 60 plus price of the Bachmann, the latter also suffering by very few variations being released. The Vi-Trains loses points in that at the moment cheap ones seem to be confined to cut cab versions which limits the possibilities but at least it does not have the silly gimmicks of its Bachmann competitor with opening cab doors, cab interior lights and all that nonsense. Meantime, Mk 2 Air Con's are beginning to appear off the workbench: Mk2d FK 13575, the only AirCon Mk2 to receive NSE livery. In actual fact it is a Airfix Mk2d FO but the body shell is identical and the tinted windows hides the problems with the interior very effectively!! There were a few other AirCon Mk2's allocated to NSE operations but all were either blue/grey or Intercity livery. Next off the bench, another Airfix Mk2d, this time a BSO: I am starting to put together an AirCon Intercity XC rake as used on the 1S76 Brighton to Manchester/Glasgow services and this is the first to be completed. Again the stripes are all painted, no transfers for the same reasons as stated above. Unfortunately the rest of the rake (planned to be a RFB and three TSO's) has run into a couple of problems. There is a cheap Mk2d FO on its way to me for the 12xx series RFB conversion but it is stuck in the post with the snow problems, meanwhile eight window TSO's of Airfix/Dapol/Hornby manufacturer are becoming hard to track down owing to them going for outrageous sums on Ebay, seems they are a bit scarce!! Also a second Vi-Trains Class 47 is now in pieces on the bench, this will become Intercity Swallow liveried 47839 in time. It is just it may not have all that much to haul for a while!!! For those wondering about the 465 Networker, that is being kept to one side for Christmas time.

...and Hornby confirms in the new December Newsletter that it will be April 2011 before we see the VEP's. This particular Ebay seller has hijacked account and con man written all over it, moreso with the fact that all is used is images lifted directly off the Hornby website. Having said that there have been cases in the past of model shops advertising imminent models on Ebay to harvest desperate punters before they come into stock hoping that by the time the auction ends they actually have the item in their possession to sell.

There are a few ED's (Class 73's) in use on the erstwhile Southern Region but nowhere near the numbers we used to have back in BR days. They have been out and about but have been of limited use other than ghost trains and the odd rescue of dead units as we no longer have the cross compatibility that we used to have with the old BR(S) slam door stock. Of course the other issue has been that trained drivers with correct traction/route knowledge have not been able to get to them (there are some GBRf ones at Tonbridge for example) to actually drive them anywhere!

Yes indeed, many thanks for them. I think your two are the bottom right and bottom left one...

A light dusting has hit south of the Downs in Sussex. Bit of a worry for me as I have to be in East Croydon today for an assessment!!

I think I can safely say I now have enough parts to commence the Networker project, the difficult bit comes now but that won't be for a couple of weeks yet as there are a few Mk2 air con coaches and a Class 47 stuck in the queue ahead of it at the moment. One corner of my workbench now resembles a sort of neo classic homage to Vic Berry: Suffice to say you can see what I will be spending my Christmas and Boxing day doing!! The plan at the moment from all the various bits I have managed to accumulate is to do a 465 and a revamped 466 to go with it as I measured up and the platform will just take a six car formation. There is also the issue of powering the thing, the Hornby motor in these is from the 'couldn't pull the skin off a rice pudding' school, I do have a Bachmann Turbostar chassis around here somewhere which might work though, need to do some experimentation. Now, where did I put my razor saw...?

And that pud comes with a Buy it Now that has now been reduced to a mere £150!!!