John Tomlinson

I'm no fan of this project, and would rather not one bit of it had started. However, I can't but agree this is totally bonkers. It can make no sense whatsoever to lay people off, redeploy the machinery, perhaps with penalties, than crank the thing back into life in a couple of years. How do you re-assemble skilled teams who've gone on to something else? It is total madness. They should come clean. Either it's a delay until the next election is over, and on the off-chance this Govt. is returned it will can completely all or part of it. Or they actually mean to go on, at some snail's pace commensurate in their judgement with the state of the public finances. It's also grossly unfair on those living in the planned path. They are living in a kind of void, not knowing if homes and businesses, particularly farms, will be taken over. Or not. Dreadful. John.

Thanks for the answer. If I come across anything useful I'll post it. John.

These "short projects" never quite end up like that, and you're probably going to end up with one of the most accurate early Warships ever! I'm a bit confused about one thing from what's been written above. Are the roof grilles without walkways just the first three, or the first thirteen? It would be good to be clear for the record as I suspect this thread will be looked back on as a reference in times to come. Many thanks, John.

No, but I have seen these on ebay and pondered. I'd be interested to know your opinion when they arrive. John.

I wondered what brand of transfers you use? I could send you some coach "s" from HMRS Pressfix if it's any use. However if you use something else they might look odd. John.

I'm sure you've stated this somewhere before, so please forgive the question. Is your loco weathering done solely with powders? It seems very effective to me. I've never been comfortable painting weathering on a loco, especially one that is nicely lined (even more so if I've done it!). I have tried a few coaches with powders, and been pleasantly surprised by the results, whilst they don't come off that easily a damp cotton bud is great for correcting things that have gone a bit far. Many thanks, John.

Some folk clearly expect everything yesterday, or at least now. "I want means I get, and I get it now" very sadly has become part of our society. Does it matter if you leave unfinished stuff behind? Not at all IMHO, what matters is that you, and everyone else, enjoys their hobby. It's meant to be fun, as in fact you keep reminding us, even if it can get a bit frustrating at times. John

This could well be the answer, it has been several times on stuff I've bought. If it is, it takes seconds to rectify, no snipping or anything like that. Do you know anyone at all nearby with a DCC facility, or an LMS? John.

Which was something I suggested three posts above! I can't see the problem with this, even if the roof vents are slightly different on an unpowered trailer, and I don't know that they are, then nothing that can't be fixed with a bit of thin plasticard and some glue. Mystery. John.

I might be getting totally confused, but from memory there's an issue with the Craftsman kit as manufactured, namely the sides of the rear bunker are in line with those of the water tanks. They should be set in as we see in the model here. So if this is a Craftsman kit the original builder did make a correction in the course of his/her work. John.

Slaters track and mechanism cleaner. For rails apply to a bit of old rag and wipe the railheads. For wheels apply to a cotton bud, rotate the wheel and the dirt should soften and remove. If very stubborn use a sharpish wooden cocktail stick to break it a bit, then the fluid on a cotton bud. John.

A very interesting piece indeed. Some years ago I was on a group railtour in Europe, and one of the participants was a toyfair trader, specialising in trains, buses and the like. (I appreciate several rungs below the antique book trade!). In the course of our week away, we discussed his trade, and his view was that he would expect to pay 25 - 33% of his anticipated selling price for an item. He didn't have premises costs as he worked from home, but did have outlays in travel, stall fees, stock holding, and write offs of unsaleable items bought as part of a clearance, plus of course an entirely reasonable expectation of a return for his time and effort. This does rather reinforce the numbers quoted, and also makes the point that someone prepared to spend the time on the likes of ebay will achieve a far higher net margin than they would selling via a trader or dealer. John.

I'm a bit confused by this. When you say the ER only had power trailers, surely you mean that in a two car unit one was powered and one wasn't - they can't both be unpowered. In that case, you could just buy an unpowered trailer chassis, even without the bogies to make it cheaper if available, then remove the exhausts forom the coach end and do a number change. You're left with a power chassis that isn't motorised, which could then be sold on ebay or wherever. Or am I missing something? John.

I wonder if it would be worth dunking the whole thing in paint remover for a day or two, so that at least you can evaluate all the problems before you invest further effort. If the paint is so poorly done, and scarcely adhering, its all going to have to come off anyway before redoing. At least if you get back to metal you will be able to start with proper primer. John.

The covered footbridge at the country end of Exeter Central station is also an example, There was an open footbridge at the London end of this station, also built to span the four tracks, but I can't find a picture of that at present. John.

I've been looking again at your "Iolanthe" pictures. It isn't just the cream that has gone, but the umber as well, which has lost all it's chestnut richness (as is the case on my examples). I doubt if we'll ever know for sure, but possibly the previous owner displayed the coaches in a window, turning them almost by accident when they dusted the area around them, so both sides got the UV treatment? John.

The three coaches in my set are perfect except for the fading on one side, handrails, buffers etc., which leaves me in a quandry as to what to do with them. I'm tempted to use them as base coaches for Precison Labels identity changes, but that only helps wth the umber parts. I could respray the cream on the faded side then add fine transfer strips in umber for the vertical lines, although that would take a bit of care to get a "factory finish" replica. The oval window might be a problem. John.

I bought a set of Devon Belle coaches on ebay a little while back. Entirely my own fault, the descripton explained that one side had faded due to being in a window, however I didn't read it! The faded side was exactly like your "Iolanthe" example above, the other side was fine like my other Hornby Pullmans. John.

An interesting question. If this were the case, then HS2, like its predecessors in Victorian times, arguably could/ should have been financed by private, not public capital. The "could" of course relies on private capital being sufficiently convinced of the viability of the project, and confidence that its anticipated returns will be achieved. John.

I should think the chance of there ever being zero Govt. borrowing in the UK is itself zero. I may be wrong, but isn't present Govt. debt around £2trilllion? The issue that politicians keep harping on about is so-called "balancing the books", that's to say revenue account Govt. spending is matched by taxation receipts. Even if that balance is achieved, and it's a big if, the overall stock of borrowing stays constant. Because most of this borrowing (if not quite all) has maturity dates, it is constantly being rolled over into new issues. John.

I've found this usually happens if there are two late bids, within a few seconds of the close. Which rather leads on to another drawback of ebay, it can be a great thief of time. The scrolling through of listings obviously absorbs time, but particularly if one tries to bid just before the end of an auction, which I've repeatedly found to be the best strategy, there can be time lost in just waiting around. I suppose that's where the sniping apps come in. In my personal experience the main benefit has been in buying RTR, with huge savings to be made on "mint, boxed" which is in reality "new" compared to retail price. I don't think I've actually spent any less money, just purchased 50 - 100% more items instead! If like Mr.Wright, you aren't an RTR user, this benefit obviously isn't there. John.

The "April 15" code on ebay has a list of retailers to whom it applies, see https://www.ebay.co.uk/b/Selected-Promotions/bn_7116140159 I can only see Rails of Sheffield for model railway stuff, but do take a look. John.

This was the first kit I ever built, long before the Bachmann one was a twinkle in anyone's eye. In fact, I don't think Bachmann were around at the time at all! It is what it is. If you want a detailed model of an 04, then pass on it and buy a Bachmann RTR (although there is an error on early models in the shape of the running plate above the cylinders, corrected in the later GWR issues). If you want something that you've made and can take pride in, then go for it. Mine uses the K's wheels, but I never had much joy with the K's motors, so it has something like a D11 that goes back into the cab, for a bit of 20th century retro! Goes like a bomb (the real thing maxed around 30mph) and will pull anything with the weight of the white metal body. John.

Really enjoyed watching this, both Hills of the North and Chapel-en-le-frith. Thanks for posting. John.

Far be it for me to interfere, but an observation from zr2498's excellent video is that your loco wasn't the only one to stutter after it crossed the northernmost double slip and beyond. Maybe there's an electrical issue with the track hereabouts? John.