John Isherwood

My D1008 'WESTERN HARRIER' arrived today from Kernow. It was minus the name and numberplates - not Kernow's fault, and the missing items are to be put in the post today. A lovely model, as were the first release ones. Fitting the details is fiddly and time-consuming, but well worth the effort. The cab steps, if fitted to the body, will inhibit running on anything less than straight track. I took the pragmatic approach; removed the fixing lugs, and attached the steps to the bogies. Similarly, fitting the various hoses to the bufferbeam will cause problems with autocouplers on bends. I drilled the square fixing holes out to 1 mm. diameter, which allowed me to fit the hoses at around 45 degrees, thus missing the couplers. Finally, and IMHO essential, a coat of Klear transforms the body finish from dull and drab to 'ex-works a week ago' / 'just been through the carriage washer'. A worthy shedmate for 'WESTERN ENTERPRISE'. Regards, John Isherwood.

Well - if it's true that the tooling for the 'Clan' is lost / knackered, then they might have another go at that. They do seem to go for silly money nowadays. Regards, John Isherwood.

Those would have to be sourced secondhand - ABS / FourMost products are no longer produced. Regards, John Isherwood.

Presumably, though, there were benefits in changing to a double blastpipe that outweighed the problems of smoke drifting; they weren't daft back then! Changes that cost money had to be justified financially. Can the more technically gifted elucidate? Regards, John Isherwood.

Now you flatter me - and all narrated, in my native vernacular, so ably by Mr. Holloway. Regards, John Isherwood.

That would accord with my recollections, and more recent research. Regards, John Isherwood.

Surely, if you had already researched the sources to which you have been directed by David / davnigh, it would have been polite / helpful to indicate the fact, so that David (and others) did not have to waste time and effort providing you with information which is already available to you. Failing to mention your own research efforts tends to suggest that you can't be bothered to do any - hence my response. Regards, John Isherwood.

Paul, Nothing at all directed at you - I appreciated your input, thank you. No - I didn't notice the date on your original posting. Unfortunately, Steamport Southport took exception to my fully explained quandry with, to my mind, unwarranted sarcasm - so I responded in kind. Regards, John.

No - it means that, in the couple of days since you posted, no-one has been sufficiently attracted by your thread, and / or has had the time to spend researching and posting an answer. In the intervening two days, have you spent a significant period of time researching the usual suspect wheel suppliers, to find out if they offer what you require? No? Neither have I ! Regards, John Isherwood.

Nice !!! Regards, John Isherwood.

Ferrero Rocher box. Regards, John Isherwood.

Looking good, Dave - hopefully I can soon stop ignoring the incorrect seating in my THRUSH. Regards, John Isherwood.

Excuse me!! I simply used the link in Paul's post and found the HMRS books section - there was nothing in Paul's post to indicate what he was linking to. You repeated the link - but failed to indicate what book you were linking to. Unfortunately, my crystal ball is on the blink at the moment ! Regards, Gypsey Rose Lee (aka John Isherwood).

Really? I read "... very unlikely there ever will be as even reprinting of our volume 1, with all of its mistakes, is unlikely. Simply too big a task now that influential people want to have such accuracy in every detail. This is part of volume 2 http://www.hmrs.org.uk/books/bookdetails.php?bookid=1036 If we live long enough most of the content of volume 2 may appear in this form" to indicate that the link should go to the unpublished / incomplete Volume 2; with the balance to be uploaded when and if it is ever written. Regards, John Isherwood.

Paul, That link just reverts to the HMRS home page. Regards, John Isherwood.

As I have one that is already masquerading as THRUSH, please count me in. Thanks, John Isherwood.

I'd say that the image needs rotating around three degrees anti-clockwise; basically, such things as signal posts need to be vertical. Regards, John Isherwood.

Are these extensions so complex that it would be impracticable to add them? ... or am I missing something? Regards, John Isherwood.

As with so many prima donnas - far too much money spent on cosmetics !! Regards, John Isherwood.

So typical of today's attitude in the museum industry ! At one time, the works foreman would have said "That's no good - make them work properly" ! One of the few benefits of streamlining a static exhibit must surely be to demonstrate that the design allowed for the day-to-day maintenance of the loco to be undertaken? As to it remaining a static exhibit, how can a silent, inanimate artifact hope to convey the sense of raw power and speed that was the primary objective of the streamlining in the first place? Frankly, they'd have been better not bothing at all, and using the money to revive another of their 'static exhibits'. Regards, John Isherwood.

Pity the poor LMS cleaner who had the job of cleaning out the smokebox, then ! ...... or are present-day sheet metal workers less skilled than formerly ? A sad state of affairs. Regards, John Isherwood.

Let's be honest, I am always surprised by the apparently high cost of everything in France. Regards, John Isherwood.

I bought one - they're OK, but don't expect a precision instrument. For instance, the dial on the handle is a stick-on label. For the price, though, still worth having IMHO. Regards, John Isherwood.

Err - no, it's a Class 31 .... ... except that the class designations hadn't been invented at the time that the model was introduced. We trainspotters would have called them 55-ers, whereas our Ian Allan Combined Volumes referred to them as Brush / Mirrlees Type 2s. Regards, John isherwood.

It all sounded like Chinese in O-level chemistry, and it still does fifty-five years later !! Regards, John Isherwood.