John Isherwood

Whaaaaat ? Defacing the Queen's coinage - surely that's a hanging, drawing and quartering offence ?!? Don't open the door to any Yeoman Warders. Regards, John Isherwood.

No quicker just because you shout !! Regards, John Isherwood.

....... and what colour is it? Unlined maroon, weathered unlined crimson (blood); or the mysterious and misleading "early maroon" much referred to by John Lewis in his Wild Swan GWR coaching stock books? Regards, John Isherwood.

Well said - I couldn't agree more !!! I made the same point not so long ago, and the only mitigating post that I can recall was along the lines that 'my clients might connect me with my posts, otherwise' - which I couldn't really follow ! Surely, if you feel strongly enough about anything enough to post here, you should have the courage of your convictions to be associated with your missive ? I, for one, would really like to read a single convincing reason for not posting under one's real name - please do regard this as a challenge, but post responses to http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/103068-pseudonyms/ . Regards, John Isherwood.

Surely the bottom line is - it ain't going to happen !! It's not a new idea, and if it had so much merit we would already have it. Despite repeated assertions to the contrary, executives in the model railway business do have a degree of business acumen. CKD is just another "If they produced XYZ they'd sell like hot cakes" wish-cry; in this case in response to inevitably rising world production costs. This debate is purely hypothetical, and will make zero impact on the development of commercial model railway production. Regards, John Isherwood.

John Lewis also referred to the BR lining colour as both gold and yellow - in fact, in describing the BR lined maroon he states that the upper lining was gold and the lower lining yellow !! I am trying to establish the as-withdrawn liveries of the A31 auto-trailers. I now have, courtesy of the Vale of Rheidol bookshop, a brand new copy of "Great Western Auto Trailers Part 1"; and this has undated BR-era photos of W207W, W209 & W211. If anyone knows of any other BR-era photos of A31 auto trailers, I would be most greatful for the information. Regards, John Isherwood.

ASDA Bodmin - one in stock; (hidden behind the new Doctor Who partwork, lefthand end of the magazine rack when facing the doors). Regards, John Isherwood.

You never typed a truer word !! .... and I don't recall the ultra-simple Tri-ang CKD kits being such a resounding success that the range was extended beyond the initial few items, or them being produced for very long at all !! I drew my own conclusions at the time, and I've had no cause to change my views since. If I never read another "they'd sell like hot cakes" posting again, it'll be too soon. If the proposal is such a dead cert - put a business case to your bank. Regards, John Isherwood.

From what I recall from the time in question, these trollies were quite sprightly. I would have thought that they would be run in some of the longer intervals between service trains. They could, of course, be manhandled off the track when needed. Regards, John Isherwood.

Couldn't agree more !! The one Achilles' Heel - unintentional uncoupling between double-headed locos. I have found that a 2mm. dia. x 1mm. thick neodymium magnet applied to one of the two couplers produces a 100% cure. Regards, John Isherwood.

Clearly off ill for most of the English grammar syllabus !! Regards, John Isherwood.

I've still got some 103 somewhere in the garage - superb stuff. However, I now use Testors Dullcote which is excellent for imparting a unified finish to partial repaints. Regards, John Isherwood.

Brian, In the interests of an easy life, I'm going to assume that D834 was at least delivered with matching fans - even if they were changed soon after !! Thanks for all the info. Regards, John.

An update :- I have now given my S/H old Bachmann (Class 42) D828 a second coat of Klear, to produce something nearer to an ex-works finish. The colour difference with the new D834 (formerly D835, new Bachmann Class 43) is still evident, but nowhere near as pronounced; and I'm putting this down in some part to the contrast with the lemon yellow warning panel on D834(5). My ultimate conclusion is that the green of D834 (old Bachmann) is closest to the truth. I have also established that it is possible to fit the under-bufferbeam 'scuttles' whilst retaining auto-couplers. Just cut a 2.0mm. slot halfway down the 'scuttles' and you will find that the couplers will pass through it and into the NEM pockets with no problems. This improves the 'draughty void' below the bufferbeams no end !! Why didn't Bachmann provide slotted as well as solid 'scuttles'? Regards, John Isherwood.

Troll alert !! Troll alert !! Regards, John Isherwood.

Unfortunately for me, the Warships only just fit into my early 1960s modelling period. Both D828 (Swindon October 1960) and D834 (NBL Glasgow July 1960) would have been in pretty much ex-works condition, and the very noticeable difference in colour of the two models does look incongruous. IMHO, neither the old nor the new Bachmann renditions of BR Locomotive Green are correct; the old one is too 'muddy' - reminicent of Army green; the new one is too 'bottle green'. At some point I'll probably respray them both with the appropriate Phoenix Precision colour; which seems to me to exactly reproduce the colour of the many ex-works diesel locos that I saw in the early 1960s. Regards, John Isherwood.

The gears which are fitted to the Mitsumi motors that I currently source; (you can get them sans gears, but at a higher price); and which I remove, just happen to be a perfect match for the old Tri-ang Hornby gear and two of the three Hornby Dublo / Wrenn gears that Wrenn are currently featuring in their stock clearance; http://www.gandr-wrenn.co.uk/parts_and_spares.htm; see " Gear Wheel - Loco Gear Wheels for Castle, 8F and 08 (Castle & 08 drilled & threaded)". The HD / Wrenn ones are superb gears, (two of the three with double grub-screw tapped 8BA holes in the boss), and with a Mitsumi motor and worm require no secondary gearing to produce perfectly smooth, quiet and controllable running. I can supply the worms with the motors for £1.00 extra per motor; no additional P&P. It is true that these motors can be sourced more cheaply if you want to purchase a quantity, and are prepared to take a risk with the supplier. The one batch that I ordered from a secondary supplier produced 10% of the quantity I had ordered; the supplier claimed that he'd "made a mistake" with the listing, and had intended to sell 2 units per lot, not 20 as per his listing !! I've found an honest and reliable supplier and will stick with him. Regards, John Isherwood.

Which well illustrates the, IMHO, overly bright green that Bachmann have used on the Class 43. My pair of D828 & D834 do look rather odd side-by-side. Regards, John Isherwood.

See post #33 at http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/94701-new-products-from-cambridge-custom-transfers-quality-japanese-motors-at-unbelievable-prices/page-2 or http://www.cctrans.org.uk/ . Regards, John Isherwood.

Great !! So the cameras finally generated enough income to fund a safe road layout - which should have been provided in the first place !! Regards, John Isherwood

Ah - a halo-polisher. The trouble with this location - Elkesley, A1 - is that there is a couple of miles of 50mph limit that interrupts a great many miles of 70mph limit; and there is no obvious change in the character of the road. Having been careful to observe the 70mph limit for several hours, a momentary loss of awareness of one's exact location, or a distracting comment from a passenger, can catch anyone out, no matter how law-abiding. I trust that you never have cause to regret your declaration of infallibility !! I seriously doubt whether you will have the courage to declare the fact here, if you do. Regards, John Isherwood.

That one's had me too - many years ago. Did it flash - or has it now been replaced by one of those infra-red tax collectors? I would have thought that the revenue from those four cameras would have paid for a bypass of that location, if it's really such a hazard as to warrant a 50mph limit !! In fact, one could argue gross neglect of duty by the Highways Agency in not remedying a known hazard after such a long period !! Regards, John Isherwood.

If we assume that the basis of the previous forty models has been a digital scan of a 4mm. scale RTR model, then a digital scan of the Bachmann 7mm. scale Locomotion No. 1, reproduced at 57.143%, would produce a 4mm. scale Locomotion No. 1. Simples !! Regards, John Isherwood.

I'm afraid that I can't agree - the Hymek ones at least are way too small. To see the improvement that larger characters make, see post #50 at http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/98857-building-a-4mm-scale-mpd-midland-3f-0-6-0/page-2 . Regards, John Isherwood.

..... and with that we could hope that the "It's not fair!" brigade would cease wittering - but that's not going to happen, is it? The realities of life never were immune from challenge if some people found them inconvenient for their purposes. Regards, John Isherwood.