37114

From an enthuiasts perspective I am no lover of either HST or the class 800.From a regular passenger perspective, I definitely prefer the 800s; - More legroom - More seats - Better ride - Wi-Fi is less temperamental than HST - No smell of brakes on the approach to every station - Seat reservations never work which is a bonus to me as I can never be sure which train I get so a carriage full of seat reservations means I may end up standing. Only downside is the loss of the buffet car as I used to meet some friends for a Doombar or Thatchers on the way home which isn't quite the same with a trolley service.

As a relatively frequent traveller, there seems to be a shortage of them at the moment, I have consistently been on HSTs over the last couple of weeks on turns which were solid IET turns.

Generally I work on the basis of if I am going to use the tool a lot I will get a Makita, Dewalt or Bosch professional (blue coloured case), if it is occasional use I.e twice a year then Ryobi or Bosch DIY (Green) will suffice, as generally you get what you pay for. The only exceptions in my experience have been the Green and yellow unbranded B&Q electric Mower and pressure washer, which despite being cheap have proved to be bullet proof, the Mower is 8 years old and still going strong despite costing £40.

37099 was another, I think 37039 did as well.

Simple answer, leave the bridge and make up the lost time by not stopping at Didcot. I guess the residents of Steventon no doubt use Didcot Parkway to commute to London and would very quickly change their tune about the bridge.... On a more serious point, why does it take 10months to rebuild the Steventon bridge? NR rebuilt the stone bridge near my house in under a month with one weekend occupation. Ironically it is unlikely to have wires under it anytime soon as it is the Bath side of Thingley Junction

Oh blimey! If they do a Deltic then I would buy at least 3....

37183 was the only centre box, 37116 was the same but obviously was a split box machine (until it was "vandalised" in Transrail days)

One of the early Leyland National based prototypes went state side, Lev 2 I recall

Must be a shortage of IET's again today, both the 05.30 from Bristol and 17:00 ex Paddington was HST's today. First time in ages I have been on an HST and while it is widely published how hard the IET seats are but in my opinion they really are not that much harder than an HST, I certainly notice the lack of legroom and harsher ride in an HST more....

Some minor progress of late, time is somewhat short on supply at the moment: The houses are coming on, I need to build the steps now: My original thought was to have the windows of the admin block facing the track, but I still decided to put some interior in the building as I hate empty interiors that are visible. Having gone to the effort of installing a Kitchen etc, I am now likely to turn the building round so the interior is more visible That said it is still virtually impossible to see the details like the tap but at least I know they are there: Stock wise the steam heating van is coming on, I finally got a nut and bolt of the right dimensions to secure the roof to the chassis. The 31 is also getting there, a lack of "0"s (que the 2 Ronnie's joke) meant I can't finish the numbering:

Very impressive modelling, that warehouse looks excellent.

Hi Clive, I used Velcro with adhesive on both side in case I needed to ever remove the motor. The underframe tanks are filled with lead as otherwise it is too light. It took some tweaking but it runs ok now.

Further to my earlier post, below are some pics of the conversion I have done for the Lima chassis as well as the shattered chassis block: Raw materials: Hornby bits required: Shattered block. This happened removing the motor: Modified Lima chassis Motor bogie mount Complete chassis Test run It is about 3 hours work tops.

I did the same mods as Clive (albeit in a Lima rather than Hornby shell) which has been fine for a few years but the block is still breaking up and eventually I will redo it by putting the mechanism in a Lima chassis. My latest 31 uses the Hornby motor bogies in a Lima shell. When I removed the motor from the Hornby mazac block it literally shattered! The only long term solution is to buy a non affected chassis or put the motor in a Lima chassis.

The last 2 days both the class 800s I have been on have been Diesel powered all the way to/from Pad, just been passed by another one also on diesel power between Reading and Didcot. Is there a problem with the GWR 800s on electric as have seen 387s so presume not infrastructure problem?

Looks a great model although out of my era. It maybe too late to correct but just in case, the size of the headlight and taillight in the light clusters seem out of proportion with each other, the headlight appears too big and tail light too small?

Thanks Mark to save derailing this thread, do you have any photos/thread etc? I have just scratchbuilt a 40' Skelly

Nice model, is the trailer scratchbuild?

I have managed to sell both past layouts for more than the cost of materials, some of the reasons that I think contributed were; - They had been featured in a number of magazine articles - They had been on the exhibition circuit so were known, I did the deal to sell Peafore Yard at an exhibition. _They were equally suited to home and exhibition use. - They were less than 8ft long so could fit in a spare room. - They were both a commercial gauge (00) rather than a more niche gauge. Size wise, smaller layouts command a higher price per length. Of the layouts I have sold, they sold between £500 and £1000 without stock. Offering to deliver is another useful negotiating tool, I delivered one to Manchester (from Bath) but combined with a business trip so 0 cost to me.

Looks good Richard, good luck with the build.

Body yes, Chassis no. Southdown bought Volvo citybus chassis which are higher as they are mid engineed, the model is of the rear engine ex Leyland Olympian chassis.

I agree, even allowing for the predominance of Lima locos, it looks great value...

I found out I needed to reinforce the joins, I broke one of the joins on mine during painting so ended up repairing then reinforcing the joins.

Think of all the spin off projects you can make with the bits Phil!. I used 2 BSK's to make 1 BSO, then used some of the remains to make the first 20% of a coach for part of the backscene on Peafore Yard, while I am now making a Steam Heating van with the spare brake coach offcuts...

Hi Phil, Not done a BFK but as you know I have done a BSO, some tips which maybe useful; -Start with donor carriages in the correct colour for your end model, the window bars are a pain to repaint -Use a Mitre block to get the joins straight, it will save you a lot of hassle in the long run. - Be prepared for Hornby or Bachmann to announce a BFK 6 months after you finish your model. Good luck!!