John Isherwood

Why does a new-build loco have to be historically accurate? Have any of the new-builds of recent years been historically accurate? We do not live in an historically accurate world - this is 2018. New builds take into account current technology - they have to comply with current regulation. If 71000 had been restored to an historically accurate condition it would be still running(?) with a defective draughting system and still under-performing as it did under BR. To preserve or build a loco in historically accurate condition would be to produce a stuffed and lifeless artefact - history has been and gone; we have to live in the present. ..... and please don't go on about the Oxford TOAD - even if it is the subject of this thread! Historical accuracy in a model IS perfectly achievable, and Oxford's travesty is the result of either poor research or plain old 'don't care' thinking. Regards, John Isherwood.

I hadn't realised that any of these had survived into the BR period. Regards, John Isherwood.

That's because it is - as Corbs explains in the text accompanying the image; (S100 = USA tank). Regards, John Isherwood.

No - you and I were talking about preserved railways; models can be produced with accurate fittings for the livery depicted. Preserved railways are usually limited by what components are obtainable, and if they choose to paint the finished item in a modification of the original livery, they are free to do so. Don't let that discourage you, though; if you were to offer to pay for more accurate(?) fittings to be produced for 1450 and SECR 263, or for the Lynton & Barnstaple loco to be rebuilt to your superior standards and painted in a more accurate(?) livery, I doubt that you'd be turned away. Regards, John Isherwood.

There wasn't First Class for most of the life of the TPO service - you needed to attach an additional stamp; 1/2d or 1d according to the period in question, I seem to recall. Regards, John Isherwood.

The LMS got there before you - 40T bogie brakevan to Diagram 1799 for the Copley Hill - Armley Branch. What needs to be remembered is that, if traffic and operating conditions required them, the Big Four and BR were perfectly capable of designing and building innovative rolling stock. Regards, John Isherwood.

That's a bit titchy - especially when BR had this :- Regards, John Isherwood.

All very fine and dandy - but in a few years time, when we're all dead and gone, who will know the difference? .... and who's to say whether the chimneys when the locos were withdrawn are more authentic than those with which they were built - or anything in between? Historical accuracy is a complete myth - history was never static, any more than it is now. There's an awful lot of twaddle spoken and written about recreating the past. Regards, john Isherwood.

Fortunately, and thanks to subsequent support expressed in RMweb, it is my understanding that Falcon Brassworks is still operational after all. I recently received a kit, and have another on order. Regards, John Isherwood.

The first few words of your post are the answer to your problem! Coming back into the hobby after many years - the suppliers that you fondly remember as reliable and prompt are now many years older, and many (most?) of them are 'one-man-bands'. I can think of a considerable number of suppliers that I used back in the 1970s who are now either semi-retired, retired, have sold their businesses to far less reliable successors, are seriously ill or are deceased. Time moves on, and those of us who have remained in the hobby throughout have accepted that, over the years, trading practices have changed as a consequence of one or more of the above factors. Getting the niche products now requires more effort and patience than when we were younger, but then there are far less of us around who still want these (to us) indispensable items. I don't in any way blame aging suppliers for simplifying (from their point of view) their trading terms - it would be far easier for them to say 'enough is enough' and close altogether. This situation is well known nowadays, and repeated posts bemoaning the fact are only likely to make matters worse by antagonising those traders still minded to supply us, albeit on their own terms. Regards, John Isherwood.

Yellow lettering on black departmental vehicles faded to what appeared to be off-white between (infrequent) overhauls / repaints. Regards, John Isherwood.

Prezactly !!!!! Regards, John Isherwood.

Really? From what I see, humans now come with a database source attached to their ear at birth !! Regards, John Isherwood.

I will confess to a certain roguish tongue-in-cheek when I posted, and I rather anticipated the response from a certain sector; but it seems from the 'Likes' and 'Agrees' that have been registered that I am far from being alone in my opposition to ever more complex regulation. Surely computers are capable of understanding a simple number such as GBxxxxxx or Fxxxxxx or Dxxxxxx, and producing on-screen the appropriate descriptive data? Why does the number itself have to describe the vehicle in question? The numbers are now so complex that you need a hand-held computer to decipher them! All that is necessary is a central database to ensure that individual numbers are not duplicated. Simples! Regards, John Isherwood. (.... and I still contend that a senior level of railway management gets a lot of luxury 'jollies' during the never-ending debates over issues such as this. Significantly, several posters have referred to the UIC numbering system as "slowly" having been developed over many years - that's the trouble with ever-widening regulation; it takes forever and is paid for by the rail-users).

Are How many people were paid ludicrous salaries, and provided with free first class travel and luxury accommodation to get together on numerous occasions, in order to come up with htis kind of over-regulation? If the opponents of Brexit want to know why the UK voted for it - they have the perfect illustration here !!! We now have a Europe-wide elite who have a vested interest in telling the rest of us how we should do our jobs, whilst making what we do harder and more expensive. It can't go on - sooner or later those who actually do productive work will have had enough of the parasites who exist only to make life more and more complex. I'm glad that I am finished with the working environment, and those who exist only to regulate it. Regards, John Isherwood.

I can't claim that, but my mobile phone makes and receives phone calls - on the rare occasions that I switch it on; (it lives in the car). It isn't smart; it doesn't talk; I can't select the temperature of my bath with it; but, in an emergency, I can make contact with the national phone network. Works for me !! Regards, John Isherwood.

If it was purchased VAT-free for export, surely it'll be subject to VAT if re-imported? Regards, John Isherwood.

A week or so ago, I sent a packet to a customer via RM first class that took four days to arrive. Unusual, though - nowadays first class usually means next day. Regards, John Isherwood.

Not much of that on a 3F - but I know what you mean!! Regards, John Isherwood.

In the words of a famous comedienne - "Look at my face - do I care"? I occasionally produce transfer sheets at the request of modellers, for which I have no personal use. When I do so, I try to be exhaustive so as to cover the requirements of as many modellers as possible. Nonetheless, since these brakevan sheets were introduced I have sold forty-five copies in all scales. Frankly, the financial return on those would suggest that I would have been better off doing my own modelling, rather than spending days compiling transfer sheet designs. Fortunately, the majority of modellers seem to appreciate what I produce; unlike yourself. Regards, John Isherwood.

Try rerailing a large passenger loco and tender with "2-3 finely detailed engines" and a few plastic (underscale) sleepers !!! Regards, John Isherwood.

The list of allocations, provided by the person who requested that I produce the shunters' truck transfers, was a simple alphabetic list of allocations with appropriate numbers. Not having personal knowledge of which allocations were within each division, I produced the sheets in alphabetic format. The sheets that I provide include every wagon in the list, and took up a huge amount of design time. I accept that a divisional format might have been financially beneficial to you, but it would have required a great deal more research on my part, in order to reduce my own financial return. Sorry, but that's life - you can't satisfy some people, can you? Regards, John Isherwood, Cambridge Custom Transfers. https://www.cctrans.org.uk/products.htm

That effect is due to a massive overdose of matting agent in the mix. Years ago, I use to add talcum powder in order to dull / matt paints and varnishes - if I was too heavy-handed I got that effect. I now use Tamiya matting agent, but you have to be careful - you need a lot less than you would think. Regards, John Isherwood.

Nice coach, Tony; I picked up one of the Mailcoach Tourist buffet cars recently. Painting them is a bit of a faff, but the Tourist style certainly adds a bit of variety to a train. Regards, John Isherwood.

You're only doing one thing wrong, Tony - using Humbrol paints !! I'm afraid that they nowadays have a terrible reputation for inconsistency and poor quality. I use Halfords rattle cans where practicable, and Phoenix Precision paint via brush or airbrush where necessary. Regards, John Isherwood.