Mr Nik

Is there a reason for the apparent prevalence of the dark blue with the striping then Phil? Is it a standard colour or merely a coincidence? Ta in advance, Nik.

Looking at many images i think the NCB one is pretty close to a standard or demonstrator livery as you will get. It's almost the same as the MSC ones in Don Thorpe's book, dark blue with a yellow-black-yellow band along the waist. this image shows it nicely: http://www.flickr.com/photos/rob50037/11938066456/ There is also an image in the book of an 0-6-0 rod driven loco in that livery as MSC 3001, works number 10144. The dark blue is also similar to an image of an 0-6-0 rod-driven version shown on page 40 of Maurice Dart's 'Cornish China Clay Trains in Colour' It's the prevalence of this livery that has led me to pre-order one from LIverpool, sadly mine wasn't sent out in the first batch that arrived and i'm waiting on a second delivery. In the meantime i bought an Esso one, just because... Hope this helps , Nik.

Well from a modelling point of view, as well as a motorcycling perspective, 2013 was a bit of a write off. A seriously delayed house move left us living out of boxes for a quarter of the year, the best quarter too. There has been no progress on my industrial layout at all. But yesterday brought a tiny glimmer of hope…the arrival of my first Hornby Sentinel. It wasn’t the livery I wanted but seeing as they are becoming like rocking horse dung I thought I’d better snap one up. Inspired by Arthur, icphotos and Richard 37670 it seems entirely practical to try and re-livery one to my exact needs. The loco in question is an Esso liveried one and I’m really pleased with it. I’d like to echo the points of numerous posters and say the red is really nicely applied and looks much better in real life than the photos you may have seen. My local shop, Trident Trains, has one left in the Esso red if anyone is interested. No connection other than as a satisfied customer. Anyway, off to do some work now but perhaps there will be track planning updates on my own thread later in the day.

Hi guys. I've just stumbled over this topic whilst digging around RMWeb for some prototype information. I have to be honest and say I agree with the OP there is definitely room for imaginary locomotives and even freight and passenger stock. As a couple of people have said the US modelers are really good at it and Tony Koester being just one example. Whenever I flick though old copies of Motive Power Review i keep seeing references to a diesel class 38 as being ideal for high speed freight workings, i.e. Speedlink. The death of wagonload put paid to this but with DBS running out of Class 37s is it time to revisit the idea of a low axle weight diesel? I always liked the idea of doing the 38 as a cut and shut class 92 with a roof made up of various 37/9 conversion parts. This makes sense as the 92 was derived from the class 60 shell so utilising the cab front and bulkhead designs makes a lot of sense and would look right for something designed or built in the early 1990s. Of course, to look right now would mean that a loco would have an international feel to it and would probably be based on the design practices of GM. To my mind this idea is a simple extension of the 'what ifs' relating to railway lines continuing past their original terminus.