Downendian

Birds clearing 4x feeders in two days in Dunstone. Flocks of bluetits, great tits and sparrows, greenfinches (although much less than the summer) a solitary nuthatch and even a lesser spotted woodpecker. Dunnocks, Chaffinches and Robins picking up the spoils on the ground. Even had a female pheasant in the garden picking up dropped sunflower seeds. Nothing meaningful in Bristol although Redwings have been around. Neil

AFAIK D6334-D6336 were delivered with headcode panels, green livery and no yellow panel, so it is a viable livery for the current nose tooling. Neil

Looking excellent Dave, got the "beer belly" spot on I reckon. Not a nit to pick in my book! Can't wait. Neil

Geoff I dunno if this does the trick - D1071 Swindon dump, angle slightly wrong but the curve definitely there Neil

Sat email managing in Bristol with Marillion - Marbles in the background. Not the general release but ordered from the bands website - extra tracks including the excellent Ocean Cloud, strangely missing from the general release. Neil

Lovely clip regardless of the source of sound. Must say I thought the idling 22s sounded like a 'mek, of which an identical move was filmed next. There is some short footage of D7007 and a 4F gearing up to take on the Wessex Downsman rail tour- my avatar is of D7007 when it was detached from that tour at Mangotsfield. It's so interesting to see the old place in its prime, only ten years before I was one of those duffle-bagged equipped spotters on the end of platform 11. Neil

Although I've posted before always worth another look - one of my collection. D5909 in the company of D5905 scrapped at Stratford, 1971. If you lose a buffer on your Heljan model....its prototypical Neil

Alan Seconded re the 22. Looks fantastic- by the way which headcode transfers did you use? They are very realistic indeed. Neil

Jeff - Heljan have plans for a 7mm Western. Hopefully not repeating the issues with the 4mm model. Dapol may have similar plans? Neil

Well I liked Temple Meads much better back then than I do now. Neil

Hi Brian It's standard Hattons pricing policy, nothing more sinister than that. The GSYP BDs have shifted quickly and thus demand a premium price for those desperadoes that can't resist the little beauties (I understand these weak willed souls). I'll wait 6 months before getting a GFYE, gambling thst they will come down in price, and i pre-ordered D5901 the RTC baby at £96 which is due early next year-Feb I think. I'd wait until then if you want to save. Neil

Yep that's my view too Chard- hold the line until you see the whites of their eyes then buy- standard Hattons pricing policy. It works value wisevif you understand their pricing mechanisms. Hopefully the Co-Bos and Class 14s will follow suit as well. My finger's on the trigger for a 26/0 too. Neil

I work in Plymouth and have a house in Bristol. The traffic in Bristol is horrendous and a (relative) joy in Plymouth. Great shots of that area, and agree with Fray's photos they are fantastic, and he's a fellow Dowendian too. Neil

I'm with Nidge on the BSYP 22s, they are not as pretty as the Hymeks, but a bit different to the run of the mill GSYP and BFYE. I was going to go with D6331 as GFYE but will wait to see what DapolDave may say about forthcoming releases especially liveries. D6301 was apparently sans headcodes and BFYE at her bitter end - never seen a pic to prove this though. Mike (Stationmaster)- you are right about the windscreen rivets - I was thinking that too. Neil

According to the Derbysulzers site 24 127 had "modified headcode housing" at the B end only. Neil

Yes Simon couldn't agree more- as per the 22 - took a long time but look at the results. In a nutshell as long as Dapol avoid the major flaws with the Heljan model I'd be happy. The CADs are positive, and I'm very hopeful, I may need to start selling some of Heljans in preparation for a fleet replacement! 3 main areas for me on the Heljan to avoid with the new Dapol 52. Cab roof profile Open profile scavenger fans and walkways (preferably etched) Brake rodding Neil

Dave - no problem, 22 to 21 simple snip. Sat here eating my tea grinning like a schoolboy with D6331 sat on my coffee table, having just unpacked it after its journey from Liverpool. Thanks to Dave and all at Dapol,it was well worth the wait. Neil

The photo of D6333 is one of my collection. I agree with Nidge and Pennine, it's filth- the pic of D6343 shows this a bit better than the other two. And South Wales 47/4s I'd believed for years by prototypical observations had black roofs-it perhaps was an area of the loco missed by washing. They were indeed blue but smothered in a smoky/sooty deposit. Neil

Steve Nidge beat me to it! Neil

Just ordered D6331 this morning- not going to Warley this year. Interesting choice of GSYP as it wasn't in this livery that long, as it was one of the only two GFYE class 22s. Will be getting the yellow paint out on her when it arrives. Neil

Picked my D5708 up yesterday, completely agree that the Hattons photos don't do it justice, its a sublime model in the Heljan Hymek/15/26/Kestrel/Lion class. The underframe plumbing is a very nice touch, must look at my peaks and 47s in this area, is does capture the realism a bit more. I hope the 23 is of the same quality. Should I get D5705? she languished at the back of Bristol Bath Road for much of 1976 and nearly met its end when some local yobs broke in and set fire to her bogies. A real case for one being on the WR, but a non-runner of course! Neil

With the news here that Heljan are likely to produce a Western in 7mm - perhaps we can look forward to all Hydraulics appearing RTR in this gauge. Anyhow I'll pin this thread and put together a list of all discussions on 7mm models, including kits. Please post links in here and I'll do the rest. Phill Dyson formerly of this parish will be very pleased with this news I'm sure. Had been hoping to steer clear of 7mm (financially and space!) and needed strong will power to resist buying a Deltic, but life without a 7mm Western for me is just impossible. RTR Heljan Hymek http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/83571-Heljan-o-gauge-hymek/ Heljan Western - Rumours? Dedicated thread Heljan Warship http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/72386-Heljan-7mm-class-42-warship-and-more/ Kits JLTRT Hymek http://www.justliketherealthing.co.uk/class-35-hymek-o-gauge-loco-kit-p-195.html?cPath=46 JLTRT Western http://www.justliketherealthing.co.uk/class-52-western-o-gauge-diesel-loco-kit-sale-p-19.html?cPath=46

Not exactly to the day, but with my youngest just going back to school on Friday, it reminds me of how we used to feel with the summer hols coming to an end. I spent almost all of them on the embankments at Stoke Gifford/Bristol parkway (see excellent pic from Mr Fray Bentos to see why we loved it so much - look at the rolling stock and a 52 arriving on stone to boot). To take our minds away from the dreadful return to school the last day traditionally involved a trip to "temps" (Temple Meads), but in 1975, a summer second only to '76 in the 1970s we did something different. We also used to sneak into Filton High school which was adjacent to one side of the parkway triangle and play football whilst grabbing some numbers. Allegedly the school sports master was "quite happy" for kids to use the pitch during holidays. On the last day of summer hols in 1975 we played footy all afternoon and then went to Filton junction station to see what was about. I was pleasantly surprised to cop my first ever class 20, 20 185 moving LD to South Wales - very rare in Bristol in the 1970s. None of this would be possible now! Neil

Porcupine tree - Black Dahlia This little gem was hidden away on the 2nd CD of their last album The Incident, and rediscovered it this summer- hauntingly beautiful

Re the peaked lower cab skirt that Nidge discussed- heres the only decent photo I have in my western collection front on- D1020 Western Hero, Laira scrapline 25th July 1973.