Steven B

The Parkwood Warflat in N is for the WW2 version. If you want the 1970s version you either need to find an Ian Stoate Models "kit" or scratch build. The resin ISM use isn't the best for staying straight though. Appart from the jacks at the end it's not a difficult scratch building job. I'm still hunting for suitable transfers though. Happy modelling. Steven B.

The disks on the class 24 aren't etches so I'd be suprised if the ones on the class 20 are (but would love to be proved wrong). There's always the TPM ones of course. Happy modelling. Steven B.

As with many things in life you pay your money and you make your choice. The Bachmann website gives £89.95 for the RRP of the Farish Western. I'd say the extra fiver is well worth it if only for the lights and the DCC socket. There will always be people who want three older style models than two newer style ones. Personally I'd rather have fewer trains of higher quality than lots of trains that don't quite look right. Fortunatly there will be plenty of second hand locos for those who'd rather have the new models. Happy modelling. Steven B.

If it's anything like the class 153 then it's not easy but it is possible: From memory, remove the roof. Undo the screws that hold the PCB in place. Carefully lever out the windows and seating (cast metal on the power car, plastic on the dummy). You'll also need to remove the lighting blocks from the cab end - there's a peice of plastic that clips them in place. Be carefull with these - it's very easy to snap the short lengths of optic-fibre as they stick in the holes in the body shell. The body is a very tight clip fit onto the chassis - there are two are three spaces that help maintain the fit of the body along its long length that are a pain and might get broken. With the clips removed the body lifts off from the chassis - watch out for the wiring to the DCC socket. Rebuilding it is done in the reverse order. It's not for the faint hearted (potentially expensive!). Having stripped two class 153s for conversion to a class 155 it's not something I'd like to do again any time soon. Happy modelling. Steven B.

Aren't the plough shields on the same etch as the hand-wheels? (or have you just not got round to fitting them?) Happy modelling. Steven B

Nice work. I don't think it needs any toning down at all.

You could bend reality if you want a bit more traffic. The Cadbury plant at Leominster was/is served by road from Bournville. Given the location of both plants it wouldn't be unreasonable for trains to reverse at Hereford after travelling via Worcester. There were plenty of through trains at Hereford too - steel trains were regular occurrences with a wide range of wagons in use. The Railfrieght Today DVDs might have a few more pointers for you. Happy modelling. Steven B.

If Exec' liveried power cars and Swallow liveried Mk3s were rare or not depends on the period you model. According to my 1988 Combined Volume the combination was very common. As ever, a bit of research is needed before making sweeping statements. That said, matching "Intercity 125" branded mk3s would be very welcome as I prefer it to the italic Intercity branding. Happy modelling. Steven B.

I've done the same conversion but in N. With the smaller scale you get to use Dapol's dummy clas 153's which saves a few quid. Here's the results of my efforts: You can find a bigger image here. I look forward to seeing the model progress. Happy modelling. Steven B.

Further to my posting a week or so ago about my faulty HST: After a bit more testing I found out that the problem was due to the lighting circuits not the motor. Whenever a red light was being shown the current drawn went up to the point where the short-circuit protection in the GaugeMaster E cut in (500mA compared to 100mA). This happened regardless of if it was just one of the power cars or both. I.e. you could put the dummy on the track, power it so the red LEDs were on and after a short time the controller would trip. I'm guessing there was a fault with the PCB or wiring. It's now been replaced by the model shop and the new one appears to work OK. Fingers crossed it stays that way. I just wish Dapol had make some more TF and TS to go with it. Fortunatly in the era I'm modelling (late 1980s), most of the HST Mk3 fleet had been refurbished and ran in swallow livery with executive liveried power cars. Happy modelling. Steven B.

Hi, I've got a couple of problems with the Exec' livery HST I bought at the weekend. Firstly, when I put the dummy car on DCC powered track there's a beeping noise. This happens regardless of if there's a decoder fitted or not (i.e. no decoder and no blanking plug - I'm not daft enough to put it on the DCC track with the DC blanking plug in). Secondly, operating on DC the power car sometimes slows right down and occasionally stops with my Gaugemaster controller showing a short. Any ideas what might be causing this? I know the easy answer is to take them back to the shop but I bought the last exec livery ones they had. I think I'd like fix them myself if it's easy enough rather than risking the shop/Dapol returns process and hoping I get my favourite livery back again. The shops forty miles away so it's not a ten minute job to return it. Happy modelling. Steven B.

I've been after a decent Intercity Executive HST ever since I started in N gauge about 12 years ago so I'm rather pleased Dapol have produced it in this livery. The book set does come with Swallow livery Mk3s which I sent a grumbly email to Dapol about. However, as has been mentioned, the Mk3s were refurbished in the late 1980s. According to my Ian Allan combined volume from 1989 the two Mk3s that are in the box set were in Swallow livery. The power cars modelled were still in Execuive livery. Also, by that date the power cars had been named (43 056 Bradford University & 43057 Bounds Green). The TF and TS are listed as being allocated to different trainsets but I can live with that - I can't read the numbers when it's travelling past at 125mph! Have Dapol produced the TF with black roof yet? I've got a couple of matching TS on order but haven't been able to find the extra TF I need. Happy modelling. Steven B.

Isn't Kernow/Dapol's Well Tank the first retailer commissioned steam engine? I'm looking forward to the BR(M) layouts with Garrett's haulling long strings of mineral wagons. But, I can hear the grumbles already : I'm an eastern region modeller and it's not the LNER one so I won't be buying one. It's too long - I can't get it out of the box The wish list gets ever shorter. I wonder what will be next? Happy modelling. Steven B.

As the 88DS has solid wheels and no coupling rods I'd be tempted to see if there's a Black Beetle, Tenshodo or Bullant motor bogie you could use instead. Happy modelling. Steven B.

Or take one tin of silver paint.... Or else the likes of Electra Graphics will produce vinyls or transfers to give the silver doors. Happy modelling. Steven B.

The MR Sentinal isn't small, it's huge (at least by N and Z gauge standards). If DCC sound is possible in a 2FS 08 and in Z gauge steam locos then fitting it to this wee beasty should be a peice of cake! You Tube video of DCC sound in Z Gauge: Happy modelling. Steven B.

By the 1990s they were rarely used on trains. Typically you'd find them when propelling moves were required (i.e. when reversing a train into a siding or onto a branch line), or where extra train crew were used for operating crossing barriers. Either could be a reason for using them on your docks branch. They were also used on trains carrying dangerous cargos (such as nuclear flask wagons and some chemical trains), so that in the event of an incident the loco crew didn't have to walk past the wagons to protect the train from the rear. Happy modelling. Steven B.

When's the Intercity Executive version due in the shops (ND-122C)? I've been waiting for this livery to be released since I started modelling in N ten years ago so another few weeks won't hurt. (But it would be nice to know!) Happy modelling, Steven B.

Looking good (as ever!) Don't forget to trim off the flash that surounds the door hinges on the Rudd. Happy modelling. Steven B

C=Rail do the MOD side door container in N so might be persuaded to do it in OO too. Weren't KFAs also used for carrying rolls of paper? The other traffic KFAs were used for was (and still is) Binliner traffic. Happy modelling. Steven B.

It might look better if the corner at the open end (ie. closest to the camera in the picture above) was curved rather than square. Are you going for open top or covered? Happy modelling. Steven B.

Were you running on DCC when you calculated your scale speed of 75mph? Some systems allow you to adjust the Voltage applied to the track so that the larger the scale, the more Volts are applied. Using the N Gauge/Scale setting on my Digitrax system reduces the top speed of trains compared to using the OO setting or the Bachmann trainset DCC controller. Happy modelling. Steven B.

Looking very very good. If only Arran would move his N Gauge modelling interests to West Yorkshire there might be more of a chance of a 1:148 one. Happy modelling. Steven B.

It might be worth having another look at the fiddle yard design. It looks like that to shunt trains in and out of the fiddle yard on the inner circuit that they might appear "on scene", especially the three and four car long units & freight trains. Happy modelling. Steven B.