Hroth

What a sight! Methinks the plumbers were on piecework! Also, the Nord seemed to like putting four-wheeled vans at the end of their passenger trains, a sort of foregone conclusion, I suppose... Of course, the problem with modelling French railways is that the environs end up looking like Clochemerle.

Barons are bad enough, Baronets are even worse! And there was Sir Watkins Folly, the Tower, which stood where Wembly Stadium now stands!

So - going by the position of the lamp, its a stopping passenger? Just about right for a Nord compound Atlantic, as Churchward determined..... Hat, coat, alles OOOP!!!

That noted digital TV channel "Yesterday" is currently running a series called "Royal Murder Mysteries" and last week had a highly overdramatised account of poor King Lud. At one point it seemed more PG Wodehouse as the government sicced the loony doctor onto him, shades of Aunt Agatha setting Sir Roderick Glossop onto Bertie Wooster.... I must say it didn't seem much of a mystery about whodunnit!

I'm surprised the carriage wasn't taken out of service until the hole had been fixed. Its basic safety, it should not have happened. Having seen how some passengers ignore notices on heritage trains*, I'm not even sure that 6" nails through the doorframe would be "adequate". * Another carriage toilet, on a completely different railway. Signed as "Out Of Use" and locked but a passenger worked on the doorbolt and got in....

Given that the first production of the Dean Goods was supposed to be on its way from China when the NRM decided they wanted one (without most of the more eyecatching errors), I suppose they couldn't return the incoming consignment for "reworking" and decided to release the Mk1 version (ie 2309) as is and not let it go to waste. If that's the case, there might be a bit of a wait for the other variants as Oxford attempt to rectify the problems that make the Goods unlike the NRM loco. Once the NRM are happy, I should expect to see the Mk2 Goods emerge, that is the other liveries apart from 2903, which will probably not be repeated once the current stock is exhausted. Of course, all my "just supposing" may be well wide of the mark and any changes made for the NRM won't be transferred to the mainstream models. We'll just have to wait and see if the NRM will accept Oxfords efforts!

That IKEA room setting looks rather hygge to me, just right for when the nights start to draw in. Pity its real 50s, rather than the rubbish "retro" stuff you get nowadays. As for the Bachmann teak effect, they seem to have had a better stab at it than Hornbys recent effort!

Y'know, even if there were a copy of that rag around for that purpose, I would be loath to use it for fear of contaminating myself! Now, back to the Dean Goods, flawed yet relatively respectable...

The problem is clearly that whoever read the architectural spec sheet transposed the lintel spec for the back door with that for the windows and the brickies didn't say a dickybird but just creatively installed the dodgy lintels. Should be interesting when the window frames rot. There also doesn't appear to be any flashing around the smoke ventilators... What I want to know is do the big doors open, or will there be, say, a Dean Goods shaped hole in them some time soon? To be evenhanded and supportive, I note that not only has guttering been installed, but there's a downspout too!

Not just that they ran on any vaguely flammable liquid, but in the case of the Bolinders version (oft found in Trad Narrowboats) they don't need any particular means of going in reverse, you just kick start them in the opposite direction. I've always admired the fact that to initiate combustion, the Hot Bulb has to be preheated using a paraffin blowtorch. And the measured yet arrythmic "boink" of a Bolinder engine in motion reminds me of a hydraulic ram.... Bolinder engined narrowboat: Starting a Bolinder: Interesting features include the amount of "oiling round" involved and the modernised feature, the engine has a propane blowtorch! edits to include the Bolinder videos

Hmmmm, in pristine condition too. I'd like to see the weathered version........ As for delivery times, Hornby have it as "Coming soon - July 2017", but out of stock for pre-orders. Perhaps the Q4 dates quoted by Hattons, etc are for a second production tranche? It will be interesting to see what sort of fist Oxford will make of the Toad, in both 4 and 6 legged varieties!

Because the Proms season starts just after Wimbledon! I do like the S&DJR livery on the 2Ps, it suits them far better than when tarted up in Midland Red...

You vandal......

It depends on the cheese - if you're talking about a decent hard cheese then I'd agree, but anything thats inclined to creep off the plate on its own is another kettle of fish. As it were... Back OT, my DG has proved itself and is now back into its box until I get a DCC decoder for it.

Good to hear that it was an enjoyable event. This might shine through in the final product when screened!

You know you've got Dieselitis when you start contemplating a Diesel MPD diorama for your stud of Pilot Scheme locos, or you believe that diesel engines are suitable for aerial propulsion*. * A government scheme, 'nuff said.....

You do know there is help and treatment for Malachitis? Its not TOO painful, at least its less painful than the original infliction....... Tangentially, after seeing your images, I was flicking through Hattons listings and noticed the pop-up chat box asking "Can we help?". And I thought "No. Its too late now..." At least I didn't buy anything!

Sometimes it IS difficult to spot the difference.....

That'll be the export model for Australia and New Zealand.

Ye gods! That bow is straight out of the 19th Century!

Well, my pre-ordered Dean Goods arrived from Rails of Sheffield this morning, a tad under £90 inc delivery. Yes, it has all the faults that have been identified over the past 18 months since it was announced as being of this world BUT its pretty, smaller than I'd realised (not having had either the Mainline or Hornby incarnations) and it runs well. At normal viewing distances, most of the errors are relatively unnoticable. It'll do. Thing is, if Hornby had re-issued their Dean Goods, it would probably have amounted to a re-engineered loco chassis for loco drive and the existing tooling for the body and tender, ending up with a huge heap of coal to disguise the non-existent tender drive, a level of detail thats 20 years out of date and a price-point close to the similarly treated 4F and 2P reissues, which were rather too expensive for what they were, and are now available at a Liverpool retailer at bargain prices. Of course, a new Hornby Dean Goods might have ended up in a similar situation! As it is, currently s/h prices for Mainline/Dapol?Hornby Dean Goods a the aforementioned retailer range from £38 (for what appears to be a dying mechanism) to £77. Better buys than the Oxford Rail model?

Properly pronounced "hangedd". Whats your position on Union Jacks?

Hung, drawn and, I believe......

But as its an aircraft operated by Railway Air Services (in which the GWR held shares), its a natural mistake to make.,... Prior to the formation of RAS, the GWR ran air services in conjunction with Imperial Airways, the Wessex aircraft they chartered was painted in GWR Chocolate and Cream.

Thats a wonderful Keep - looks rather like what Bridgnorth Castle ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridgnorth_Castle ) would have looked like if it hadn't been so knocked about by Ollie Cromwell.... AND the greenery is identical! Edited to remove an extraneous "e", and here it is!!! e