Neal Ball

Not sure the Carmine Red is strictly correct, although as I use signal red it's probably a case of splitting hairs!

Dave, When are the Blue Westerns likely to be in the shops? Early 2013 now? Thanks

It would be nice to get a pre-war (shirtbutton) castle in the 2013 catalogue!

Hi Rob, Presumably Castles were shedded further West from Taunton in the pre-War period? Surely Newton Abbot and Plymouth would have had an allocation, although I have no way of checking. OT the excellent Wild Swan book of GW engine sheds (London division) - I wonder why this wasn't made into a series of books to cover other regions? Back on-topic: A while ago, I also wondered about my next Castle. At that time, I wanted a loco with a Collet tender, but obviously Hornby had the Hawksworth tender for the GW version. In the end, I found another Tintagel on Ebay and at a reasonable price £90 I think. I do think it strange that the only version with a Collet tender is the BR livery. I am hoping that Hornby will announce a Collet tender, with GW shirtbutton livery for 2013 Good luck with your deliberations!

For my money these working 4mm signals look great and are on that ever growing shopping list for the railway!

Great to see the progress - keep up the good work!

Indeed - very clever, I think I am pretty good with photoshop, but the photos are excellent!

There is a new Poll here: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/6587-gwr-brwr-modellers-opinion-sought/

Yes, I thought it was odd that Hornby chose the Hawkesworth tender, with the only Collet tender being on BR livery locos. - Here's hoping for 2013 - But I am not thinking of a wish-list 2013 !! - I still have enough to buy in 2012!

It's worth doing again! - Hopefully Andy wont shoot me! I will ask first though!

Quite right on both points Rob, I reckon we need to get Mike to email Simon Kohler and lobby on our behalf! Shirtbutton is long overdue eh!

That is a real shame Rob, hope you are pleased with the replacement. I now have two (1st one had issues - see earlier in the thread). But now I have the correct versions - thankfully with no issues, they both run like a dream! I'm looking forward to a shirtbutton liveried version for 2013 !! - Maybe I can then have 3 or 4 - how many is too many GWR Castles????

I too need to crack on and get some more non-GWR wagons, vans and of course even cattle wagons which would have travelled away from their area. I like the use of the Harbuns wagon-loads - something different, plus of course adding that all important extra weight.

I saw a couple of Tintagel Castles at the Signal Box Rochester stand a couple of weeks ago. My 2nd Tintagel came via eBay from a model shop in Eastleigh. I would have thought 2013 will see another Great Western version with Collet tender

The pictures of the waiters and kitchen staff are particularly good. I think I need some of those in the Centenary project! - Are they also Preiser? Someone else also commented about conductive paint and taking wheels apart. As long as you reset the back to back, it should not be a problem.

Will definitely not be starting another wish-list - gonna do some modelling instead! Mind you..... with Bachmann announcing on Monday (I think), Dapol at Ally Pally and then the catalogue...... what will we have to talk about until next Christmas for Hornby - No your'e right - go model, get the carriage finished! (Comet GWR H43 Centenary coach)

It certainly has been a fascinating journey, thanks go to Dapol and Dave for encouraging / putting up with all of the suggestions. Thanks to everyone at Dapol.... so what is the next collaborative loco from Dapol?

Hi Bill, I currently use the DCC Concepts flickr free, which I purchase from Bromsgrove Models. To date, I have three coaches lit, (1 x Bachmann Collett & 2 x Hornby Collett). they all use the springs to collect current from the rails. They are arranged so you have one spring on each axle of a bogie, one axle collecting left, the other right. (DCC Concepts suggest that one bogie collects left, the other bogie right). I then apply to opposing wheels / axle a small amount of electrical conductivity paint which I got from Ebay. (I also use this method to get extra pick-ups on loco tenders!) However, I am not using decoders in my rakes, preferring them to be on constant. I probably would not recommend a propriety decoder due to the cost of converting a whole rake, let alone all of my stock! - But I have found on the web, an article about making your own, basic lighting decoder. The parts would come from maplins and cost less than £3. Or you can buy it as part of a DIY kit, in which case the chip is already programmed, you just need to solder it all together. Good luck!

Hi Jules, Just been on a catch up on the thread, great to see everything developing along. I need to get Wharncliffe to the same photogenic state! Thanks for sharing

What about the round - ship type wipers on a couple of locos!! - Or is that going too far!!

Dave - which ever way I look at the loco it's great - better than anything we have had before - your approach to this has been terrific, thank you very much. It looks like the best Western ever and maybe setting new standards for model locomotive construction and design, particularly as far as collaborative efforts are concerned. More power to your elbow Dave. I would say that this and some of the other "goodies" up the Dapol sleeve, 2012 will certainly be the year of Dapol !!

Given that Bachmann said sometime ago that they were going to start updating some of the locos, I hope the 2251 is done pretty soon! Not sure I want to start re-building a new loco, the way you have. I might have been inclined to use the DCC Concepts small decoder with stay alive, but clearly that would need to go into the tender. Let's hope Bachmann do new tooling soon!

Excellent news thank you Dave.

Another great CAD drawing Dave. When can we expect to see deliveries in the UK? Thanks again, this is looking pretty superb!

But of course Rob, I suspect this is the view for the 2012 catalogue. That view might change with the release of the 2013 or maybe the 2014 releases! I'm not giving up hope!! - It's a lovely model and my railway is obviously crying out for several Castles. - I still fancy Clun Castle, double chimney, DCC sound..... Can I repaint into the roundel !!!!!!!!!!!!