John Isherwood

I think that you have overlooked the fact that the upper line on the maroon livery is identical to both lines on the crimson / cream and chocolate / cream liveries. Whilst we are on the subject, my Sheet BL28 provides an A5 sheet of exact scale, waterslide lining for crimson/ cream, chocolate / cream and maroon liveries. John Isherwood, Cambridge Custom Transfers.

Well, if there were to have been such cascades, it would be entirely contrary to all that had gone before! The grouped companies showed not the slightest interest in pooling or exchanging their locomotive resources. Frankly, the premise of 'No Nationalisation' makes no sense whatsoever - the four companies postwar were on their knees, and simply could not have survived in their prewar form - government money or not. CJI

Simples - give them a tin of Precision BR locomotive green. CJI.

I've ordered the green one and, thanks to livery information from PI, I have a matching green YE 'Janus' waiting for it to join my industrial 'fleet'. I had a rattle can of the same RAL green paint made up, and the resprayed 'Janus' looks very smart indeed. 'HERCULES' plates have been fixed to the Janus, and 'VULCAN' plates await the 'Victory'. CJI.

I can vouch for the fact that 10800 'HAWK' ventured down the Midland Mainline with a test train, at least once. Many mystified schoolboys witnessed the fact that it stopped at Wigston Magna station, whilst the men in white coats scurried around. I'd guess that the train was turned on the Wigston chord with the Nuneaton line, and headed back to Loughborough - but the school lunch break had finished by then! John Isherwood.

Less than two lightbulbs, it says! CJI.

I suspect someone has been playing around with their database - I'd not read too much into this flurry of messages! Anybody at KRM who knows what is actually happening care to comment? CJI.

Ah-ha !!! Technical solution - open up the counterbore with a suitably sized drill. CJI.

Surely, with your engineering experience, identifying a screw thread is the work of moments!! CJI.

It all depends if you want : - i) a solution that works; ii) to go overboard and lock the screw so that it will be difficult to remove in future; iii) to have a go at KRM for a minor design / production issue. In each case : - i) use varnish or wood glue; ii) stick your engineering principles and use Loctite; iii) post here and reject all practical solutions. Now - which are you doing; let me guess ..... CJI.

Simples - put a bit of varnish on the thread before repacing the screw; when dry, the screw will not work loose but is still removeable. John Isherwood.

Tony, No hassle - it was only intended as a friendly 'dig', and a means of reminding those who still ask for bespoke work. I do appreciate your appreciation - no need to acknowledge it in future, though. All the best, John.

He keeps doing this - I told him when I provided them that it was an exception to my rule of NO BESPOKE WORK; but he keeps broadcasting the fact!! Ah well, John Isherwood.

Any suggestions as to the nature of the six projections on the central solebar? Night working lights - I think I can make out connected electric cabling? .... or sockets for plugging in worklights, etc.? John Isherwood.

As promised - Midland 54' BT, as converted to DM198715 - Bath Green Park breakdown train staff and tool van; drawn at 4mm. / 1ft. scale. As the side is not symetrical, I will assume that the other side is mirror-imaged - unless information to the contrary is forthcoming. John Isherwood.

I know NOTHING about CIE stock, but I'd guess that it didn't have brake levers. CJI.

My drawing of DM198715 is progressing well; I will post it here in due course. John Isherwood.

Thanks for that - views of the RH end are rare. CJI.

I have now gone ahead and ordered another Ratio clerestory brake third kit, which I will use as the basis for my projected model of DM198715, augmented with parts taken from the built kit that I already have. Any thoughts on shortening the Ratio 10' WB bogies to represent the 8' WB ones that DM198715 had - where best to remove the surplus 8mm. (or 2 x 4mm.)? The Ratio sides are very detailed, but the panelling etc. is relatively shallow and so sanding them smooth and fixing overlays of 0.25mm/ plastic car should not be too onerous. I will take the image posted above, which is pretty much square-on, and adjust it to fit over the drawing of Dia. 476 in the Midland Coaches book. That will enable me to produce a basic drawing of the sides of DM198715; (I am assuming that both sides were the same - unless anyone knows to the contrary). I have seen dozens of images of DM198715 in the background of photos and videos of Bath Green Park but, typically, I have not recorded where I saw them, If anyone can point me at such images, or can post them here, I would be extremely grateful. In particular, images that show the white lettering, which I guess would include MP / BATH G. P., would be especially welcome. Thanks in anticipation. John Isherwood.

Thank you for this - most helpful. I already have one Ratio kit in stock, amd I should be able to pick up the extra bits required from Ebay. The sides shouldn't pose a problem; as to whether it was the same on both sides - I'm not sure! Bits of DM198715 appear in quite a number of photos of BGP, and in the background of several of Ivo Peters films; some in-depth research is called for! If the cut-and-shut does not go well, I will invest in the Wizard kit, but I'm loathe to waste both of the etched sides. Thanks again, John Isherwood.

Excellent - thank you very much indeed. John Isherwood.

(Copyright unknown) I would like to build a model of this vehicle, and it would appear that the best starting point would be a couple of Ratio MR Clayton clerestory kits. Is anyone able to tell me the original MR Diagram Number from which DM198715 was converted, please? (I have a copy of OPC / Jenkinson & Essery's "Midland Carriages"). Many thanks in anticipation. John Isherwood.

Nature is the dictator - if anyone now believes that h0m0 sapiens can survive without radical change in the way we treat this planet, they are completely delusional. I couldn't give a d*mn how you live your life; it is the lives of future generations, when you and I are replenishing the Earth with our bodily minerals, that concerns me! Massive change WILL come - though it may well be too late by then! CJI.

Agreed - but I've never seen a shred of evidence that GT3 hauled a revenue train. CJI.

Like it or not, we're going to have to get used to a new way of doing business - there is no option if h0m0 sapiens is to survive. You and I know that the alternative is not the telephone - if Cabinet meetings and inter-governmental conferences can be done via Zoom, etc., anything is possible. Hand shakes and pats on the back are wholly unnecessary when the future of the planet is at stake. I am fully aware of the importance of mutual trust when negotiating contracts - I was a senior engineer with Cambridge City Council at the culmination of my forty year career there. Producing CO2 simply to be physically in the same room as a colleague / business partner is demonstrably pointless, and WILL have to be abolished, despite the protestations of the those who currently enjoy it. We'd all better get used to the fact! CJI.