SRman

Mine is still on its way here from Hattons but I almost wish the jumpers would fall off so I can more easily apply yellow panels to the fronts! I also received an email from Hattons saying the first batch of NRM BILs has arrived and already been pre-sold but that another batch is due soon and my pre-ordered unit will be in that delivery.

A couple of Vallium??

I only have one Western and, nice as the Dapol one is, I can't see me buying another. The existing one is a maroon Heljan 'Western Talisman', in which I have fitted Howes' sound. I modified the cab roof shape with nothing more fancy than a needle file, repainted and weathered the roof area and am content with that. The Heljan model runs superbly and looks the part, to me.

I have also removed the 'peak' on a Heljan one, simply with a file. There is sufficient 'meat' in the cab roof moulding to allow it to be filed to shape while leaving the horn cover untouched. All that was needed after that was to repaint the cab roofs and weather the entire roof.

It's very hard to generate smoke when the engine has stopped!!!! That's actually quite an interesting observation, D605.

There is a picture on page 35 in Streets of Brighton (Glyn Kraemer-Johnson & John Bishop, 2004, Ian Allan Publishing) of 4472 Flying Scotsman leaving Brighton on an excursion in the 1960s and the first coach is a Bulleid semi-open brake second complete with crest. The second coach is a maroon Mk1 second. While certainly not common for Bulleids to have the crest, it proves that there is a prototype for just about everything!

I also had an email advising that they were in and ready to ship but an extra nice touch was that Sam (from Kernow) asked if it was alright to debit my credit card. That's very considerate of them because we don't always know when the costs of pre-orders are going to 'hit'. Much appreciated, Kernow Models and staff! Well done.

The BILs and SUBs were compatible electrically and brake-wise, so no modifications would have been necessary, but they would never normally have run together in service because they were designated for different types of services on different routes.

I agree! I have been posting a few pic of progress on my even more incomplete layout. People (me!!) want to see what others are up to, completed or not. ... and yours looks to be quite scenic and complete enough to impress anyway. Of course you can see all the faults 'cos you know they are there, Jim, but the rest of us are not looking for them.

Yes, I noticed that too. I think they just made an error in the captions.

From memory, Chelsfield station itself wouldn't be that hard to model; a simple two platform through station in a bit of a cutting with long pedestrian access ramps and not too many buildings. Third rail on straight track is not too bad to lay ... it's when you get to the bendy bits it becomes a real pain to lay without the third rail chairs shooting off into the wild blue yonder when one lets go of the rail end accidentally! I used to live and go to school in third rail territory, many moons ago. Now I'm almost as far away as I could get, in Melbourne, Australia!

I have the orange V one with sound on order - it sounds very promising, even with the limitations of YouTube and the garage environment. p.s. We'll convert you yet, Rick!

Is that a hybrid Lima 31 chassis with Hornby works, or summat like that??

I don't have any numbers to give you but a few earlier sets received the later buffers after repairs or works visits, for whatever reasons - I'm guessing accident damage would be the most likely reason for changing buffer types, which also means that the buffers at one end of the unit could have differed from those at the other after this.

Yes, it was nice to catch up yesterday. I don't blame you for not running today - I'm still melting here!

The first arrival is one of the versions I have pre-ordered except I ordered it with sound. The sound ones should follow soon but I am not sure whether they are coming from the factory with sound or they are being retro-fitted by Kernow. Whichever way, I'm looking forward to seeing it 'in the flesh'.

Now there's an idea! Over to you, Dapol Dave ...

I had exactly the same things in mind too, except that both of mine will most likely get the small yellow panels.

It really sounds as if you are getting the hang of the DCC thing, Peter. If we had asked you six months ago to change CVs to alter starting voltage or tweak the top speed or even change the direction of travel, would you have even known what they were, let alone believed you would be chatting quite happily explaining what you did to improve running on locomotive XX in the Llanbourne topic?

Some very interesting shots from both bingley hall and gwiwer there. That last one in bingley's set shows a good set track formation on the left!! What a contrast there is between the narrow and broad gauges, with the standard gauge in evidence too.

Have PM'd Rick with the details.

The chances are that SWD will be able to offer the sounds from their own list even if they have a few differences compared to the Kernow ones. After all, that's what has been the case with Bachmann and SWD sounds too.

I can fully understand where you are coming from, Robin. I have pre-ordered two Hornby 2 BILs (one 'standard', one NRM). I also have two 2H units pre-ordered from Kernow Models, one with sound. I haven't been game to pre-order a Heljan Gloucester parcels unit (also due in March) in case all these others suddenly drain the credit card before I can catch up again!

They are coming on well. I have done the same trick for weight in plastic kits in the past, filling toilet compartments with lead and even plasticene at times! Just an idea but for those seats that show in the windows, is it possible for you to get a paint brush on to the very edges without touching the glazing itself? If you can, you could paint the visibe edges with black to disguise them somewhat. p.s. I agree with the comments re the Bogie 'B': i have frequently criticised it for the over-complication, using 100 parts where 30 would have done (so to speak ... don't quote me on those numbers!). And, after all that, they still didn't include the window grilles! It still made into a nice model in the end, though.

I had to phone Kernow to renew my credit card details with them the other day and had a pleasant chat about the 'Thumpers', having also been advised they were due early next month. I asked about the sound and was told that sound-fitted versions may take slightly longer to arrive and that South West Digital are responsible for the sound and recorded a real 'Thumper' recently for this project. SWD sounds are generally pretty good although the "driveability" of some of their earlier projects was a little questionable as they forced one to drive according to the sounds rather than the sounds following the driving style. Many of the later or revised projects seem to be better in this respect so I hold high hopes for the quality of the end product.