Accurascale Fran

Thanks for that John, that sounds ace! I will be sure to steer us in that direction and sign up with Colonial! Roll on October! Another mention must go to Ulrich Models, who were very helpful when I was ordering one of their gas turbine sound chip kits but had a payment issue. Their customer service was second to none, and the twin speaker kit was a joy to install. sounds good too! The tender was left off due to tunnel clearance issues! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__NXyTrAiWc

Easpecially with the new all singing, all dancing Murphy's 201 around the corner. Gone are the days of Lima 201 ransoms!

Excellent, I'm off to Orlando later this year. Will have to look them up. My girlfriend will be delighted Now to research any good lineside spots in Orlando or surround areas for a video or two....

Online I have used MB Klein and Trainworld. Have also visited Trainworld's store in Brooklyn on both occasions I have been to NY. Both are good for mail order and have shipped everything to Ireland for a decent rate. Once used Factory Direct Trains to buy a BLI AC6000 for buttons. I believe they are BLI's factory store. They were also good. A mention should go to the UK's very own Model Junction. Have bought freight cars, wheel sets and Kadee's and once again recieved very good mail order service. A great place for all different bits, but the exchange rates and prices push their loco prices a bit too high for me personally.

Excellent post Brush Veteran. Its good to hear that the right care and steps are being taken. I'm sure people wouldn't mind waiting a bit longer for a correct model than rushing out an incorrect one.

For an 'inaccurate' model the last batch Heljan released didn't hang around on the shelves too long. Should prove an interesting head-to-head as the Dapol one has a promised release date around the same time. I'm eagerly awaiting the 22 as it will be my first ever Dapol loco. Hopefully it will be good enough to encourage me to buy more of their products!

A friend of mine has one of those Eureka HO garratt's with DCC sound and they are a damn impressive, beautifully smooth loco. I think they were about 750 euro, which is a lot of money. But for DCC sound, nicely weathered, smooth running giant locomotive (and they are made in limited numbers iirc) I think its a fair price. Was even tempted to get one myself!

An interesting (well, somewhat interesting) bit of news is that Murphy's Models are doing a limited run of a CIE Sentinel this summer http://www.murphymodels.com/index.html I believe that this is using the same tooling, but am not 100% sure. It is most probable though.

Afraid not, have been meaning the cross the water and head to the NMRA convention though. Maybe next time. They didnt, they were road testing a 25

Cant go wrong with the Veranda Turbine, the detail is lovely and they run as smooth as silk. Video of my one which i fitted with sound running on my mates layout. Had to leave the tender off due to permanent way issues! Excuse the motley collection of rolling stock too. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__NXyTrAiWc I cannot wait personally for the DDA40X. Mind you the U50's are tempting....

I'm sure some are already aware of the big news, but here it is anyway. Athearn have announced a HO UP DDA40X Centennial for its Genesis line. Pics on their facebook page http://www.facebook.com/#!/album.php?aid=335646&id=320327140040 Let the good times roll!

By 'locked' do you mean 'permanently coupled'? If so, then no, All Bachmann A1's including Tornado (I have a production A1 and a Tornado) are not permanently coupled. There is a bar attached to the Loco which slides through a slot on the tender and hooks onto a smaill round peg under the tender. There are two holes on the coupling bar, one for close coupling and one for tighter radius curves. Hope this was of help.

interesting dockside shunter http://www.erieshipnews.com/images/Erie10/121910/Loco/DSC_0269.JPG

And when did GNER operate class 101 DMU's?

Krocodile it!!!

Kestrel's have the newer wheels Craig. Well my one does, and there was only one run done.

Tug 99 has been outshopped in Tata steel livery and will be unveiled tomorrow Silver, like Chorus seemingly, pic from the distance over on wnxx.com. Tug 15 is also being admitted to the paint shop. Lets hope they recieve attention to their internals too.