John Isherwood

Didn't I read recently that these etches have been taken on by Wizard Models? Regards, John Isherwood.

Tony, My comment was directed to Manxcat, and referred to the DMU photo in his post. Many RTR DMUs have switches to isolate lights if they are not required; if not, there are bound to be list members who are far more au fait with internal electrics than I am! Regards, John Isherwood.

Did the plastic gear come with a D-shaped hole? If not, how did you produce a concentric D-shaped hole? Do these nylon gears take to epoxy glue? My experience is that NOTHING can be relied on to secure nylon to steel other than a locking pin, but an interference / force fit can produce a workable combination. Regards, John Isherwood.

Just a word of constructive criticism, if I may. The DMU marker lights with red discs were not used as rear lights during the green era - regulations required an oil lamp, as new-fangled electricity was considered to be too unreliable !! Regards, John Isherwood.

I'm not aware that the serif condensed numbering was ever applied in yellow or cream - and I was around at the time when new diesels were being produced en masse. It is true that weathering could make the numbers appear cream, but they were always white when applied, as far as I know. Regards, John Isherwood.

With respect, you have used steam loco numerals on D8012; the D-prefixes are intended only for some diesel shunters which DID use the steam loco style numbering. In common with most BR diesel classes, D8012 should have the serifed compressed style numbering. Regards, John Isherwood.

According to http://news.Bachmann..._class_117_dmu/ , 35-500 does not have marker lights. Regards, John Isherwood.

Nope - that'll be next weekend. Regards, John Isherwood.

Oh, come on !! You can't translate early 20th century living conditions into 21st century sensibilities. Are you trying to tell me that all railwaymen of that era felt downtrodden and exploited? .... that none of them loved their work; got immense job-satisfaction from it; felt proud to be able to support their wives and family; enjoyed genuine fulfilment from what their limited resources could provide? All of this feeling guilty for what our forebears had to endure is pure crocodile tears !! ... and as for national apologies for the perceived sins of our fathers and grandfathers - they can't speak for themselves and we shouldn't presume to do it for them !! Each age has its norms of existence, and the mass of humanity accepts them. There were, (and are), those who managed to exceed them; and those who failed to attain them. What is, and what is not, acceptable for portrayal in miniature will vary according to one's personal sensibilities - as it should; trying to define those sensibilities for others is a pointless and presumptuous exercise. Regards, John Isherwood.

Really???? Now that DOES smack of 1960s gimmicky Tri-ang - retooled giraffe wagon anyone? Regards, John Isherwood.

From their appearance; almost certainly printed plastic. Regards, John Isherwood.

Nice !!!!! How to make friends and influence people? Renumbering / renaming? I do my own - much cheaper! Regards, John Isherwood.

Why - it won't get here any the sooner?! Forget about it, and when it does appear it'll be a nice surprise! ...... and yes - I too have pre-paid; as I have for 10203. Regards, John Isherwood.

For the BR era, see sheet BL171 at https://www.cctrans.org.uk/products.htm . Regards, John Isherwood.

I've changed wheels using the on-board spare wheel and jack quite a few times since I started driving in the 1960s - a practical mind will always find a way of achieving this. (An offcut of steel tube to fit over the wheelnut wrench / jack handle, carried with the jack, is one useful tip). I am now coming up to my 69th birthday and - God willing - I will continue to 'go equipped' to get back on my way in tens of minutes, rather than fractions of a day! Each to their own! Regards, John Isherwood.

So - you get a puncture; call out the roadside rescue; he (or she) tells you your tyre is irrepairable. Presumably your car is loaded onto the trailer and you and the car are transported to the nearest tyre centre to have a new tyre fitted - assuming that they have the necessary tyre in stock and it's not Sunday. Or - I think that I'd rather have a spare wheel in the boot, even if it is for emergency use only at a reduced speed. Each to their own. Regards, John Isherwood.

The idea that paying off your CC balance monthly damages your credit rating sounds to me like a good conscience-easer, invented by those who can't or won't pay it off monthly !! Regards, John Isherwood.

There are credit cards, and then there are credit cards! Shop around, is my advice. We have a Barclaycard which charges no monthly fee, and pays a credit of 1.5% or 0.5% of the total spend monthly, depending on the category of transaction.This month, the total credit was approximately £24 - though we do use the card for everything. As we clear the balance each month we pay no interest, so Barclaycard are effectively paying us to use their card. They get a commission from each retailer, of course. Regards, John Isherwood.

Oh yes they have; it was repeated several time to my knowledge on 01/03/18. Regards, John Isherwood.

We clear ours every month - we have a direct debit to transfer the full balance from our current account. We have encountered no adverse effects, to the best of our knowledge. Regards, John Isherwood.

You really do have to accept some responsibility for a perceived lack of enthusiasm to respond to your questions - when the group manager agrees with my post, you should give the matter some serious thought. If you wish to work in a parallel universe where Australian rolling stock designs were transplanted into the UK, that is your privilege - but asking members to help justify your fictitious premise is never going to capture the imagination of many readers. How much do you know about British railways and the conditions under which they developed? What stage of development existed in the UK when Australia started building railways? What mistakes had been made, and which lessons had been learned during the early development of railways in the UK, that could be incorporated into the later Australian railways? It was those starting-point differences that produced the loading gauges and track gauges that were adopted in Australia, and which make it impossible to meaningfully translate Australian railway design into the UK. Call it extreme negativity if you must; I view it as a thoughtful analysis of the facts. Regards, John Isherwood.

It was fascinating to watch in real life, too. Wigston (Leics) was my childhood world, and had a wagon repair works; (a former MR loco shed). The wagons for repair would arrive in a reception siding, and the yard shunter; (originally a 3F - later an EE 350HP diesel shunter); would take the rake onto the yard shunting head - conveniently next to the sleeper fence that we scruffy oiks sat on when trainspotting. (My Mum told me - more than once - that it was impossible to get tar and creosote out of grey school shorts). The shunter would uncouple one or more wagons; the loco would briefly accelerate with a clash of buffers, then come to a sharp halt with a matching clang of loose couplings. The detached wagons would glide serenely off into the selected siding. This repeated ad infinitum - well into the night, as I could confirm as I lay in bed on a still night. The works shunting had one downside - if the shunting loco and wagons blocked our view of something on the fast lines, our parents would have blanched at the shouted obsenities aimed at the driver of the shunter! (Who, to be honest, was not above moving his loco to the critical point deliberately). Regards, John Isherwood.

Jol, Don't misunderstand me - no-one would be happier than me if Gem were to continue production, either under the present ownership or a new owner. It's just that what has recently been announced is capable of at least two interpretations. .... and I agree that Wizard would be an ideal candidate; (but may not be in the mood for empire-building)! Regards, John Isherwood.

You have complained elsewhere that you do not get sufficient / quick enough answers to your questions. Have you considered that the problem may lie with the questions that you ask? Can you, perhaps, point to an example where "an overseas railway influences a UK rail operator enough to either build a similar/or identical design for their own railway"? No? I would struggle too! Perhaps the adoption by an Australian railway of a version of the British HST, renamed XPT? This would be one of very few instances where this kind of thing has happened, to the best of my knowledge. Railway design is driven by local circumstances, and the chances of identical conditions arising in two diverse countries is very low. I questioned once before why you seemed to be driven to apply Australian designs to British railway conditions. It hasn't happened in real life and it won't happen - for such a plethora of reasons that it is unreasonable to expect members of this forum to explain them to you. My advice is to research on the internet the factors that produced Australian railway designs in Australia, and British designs in Britain. You will then perhaps understand why trying to translate one technology onto another simply will not work, and is destined to be a pointless exercise. The fault, I'm afraid, lies not with the forum, but with the ill-thought-out questions that you are asking. Best wishes, John Isherwood.

It doesn't actually say "will continue to be produced" does it - I read the implication that remaining stocks would be available through certain retailers? Regards, John Isherwood.