John Isherwood

I think that Brassmasters' response is a case of 'can't be bothered'. I had a very similar situation with a package of transfers sent to Australia which arrived severely water-damaged. Fortunately, I had (expensively) insured the package for its value of £200. It took two months - and RM will try to block you at every turn - but the insured value is being refunded. I suspect that your package was not insured by Brassmasters - hence their reluctance to get involved. Stick to your guns - you paid for a pristine kit, not a damaged one - and bends and dings in brass are VERY difficult to remove. At the end of the day, Brassmasters failed to pack the item properly - the fault is theirs. CJI.

........ and the trouble with pictures is that they don't tell you why or how something was done - merely that it was done. No wonder modellers seem disinclined to attempt more complex work - they need to know how and why, so that they can apply that knowledge in future. CJI.

I saw D1000 in Desert Sand at Birmingham Snow Hill - along with many more in maroon - always extremely impressive and appearing as part of the train; not a separate entity which merely pulled the train. CJI.

I may be biased - but the 'Westerns' really were the peak of diesel locomotive aesthetic design, IMHO. CJI.

Indeed - but in sufficient volumes / prices to make the effort worthwhile? I think not! So can't you knock something up with plastic tubing - readily available from the likes of Evergreen? It's called modelling! CJI.

Tony, I am not suggesting that the wire forms a pivot; rather that it sits in a slot to prevent rotation, but does not prevent the gearbox / motor from being withdrawn from the chassis. Rather a clever arrangement, IMHO. CJI.

I suppose that this depends upon one's opinion of 'wobbly wheels' - I'm with Tony on that subject. Whatever, the first thing is to find the oversized hole(s) that is / are allowing the gear train to disengage. That done, a decision can be made as to the need to eliminate the equalisation - or not. CJI.

Are we looking at the same wire - the transverse one in the gearbox? To me, it appears to be engaged in a slot, in order to allow some fore-and- aft motion (compensation) whilst preventing rotation. CJI.

If the worm / wormwheel disengage in reverse, this almost certainly is the root cause of the problem. SOMEWHERE, there is / are an oversize / worn bearing(s) that is/ are allowing the gear train to disengage. Start with the axle bearings and check that there is no slop, only a working clearance. Secondly, work through the gear train; again looking for excess play between the gear shafts and the gears or gearbox frame. If oversize bores are discovered, strip down the drive and bush the offending bores with brass tube. If I were building this kit, I would dispense with the equalisation; in order to work it needs some play in the bearings and this is often overdone - hence problems such as these. As far as I can see, the wire is in a slot, and serves to prevent the gearbox / motor rotating; DON'T solder the joint, it should slide. CJI.

Quite possibly 'plum-and-spilt-milk' livery on the stock - viz. the absence of an eaves dark band. CJI.

..... and I take the fact that this has not been done as a measure of the author's confidence in the usability of the files. If I were in the market for a ready-to-print file - which I'm not - I would want to see an image of an actual model printed from the file, not a render that may, or may not be, viable in real life. I'm afraid that ideas of significant sums of money being realised by this collection of digital ephemera are nothing but wishful thinking! CJI.

But would you be interested enough, along with another 999 modellers, to stump up £100.00 so that Simon can offload all his .stl files - most of which have never been printed? Be quite clear, this is all about monetising designs that were produced as a hobby - nothing to do with benefiting other modellers. If it was the latter, the designs would all be on Thingiverse by now. CJI.

...... and hence 71000 - though it failed to enthrall in BR days; only showing its potential in preservation. CJI.

Indeed I do - £10.00 each including UK P&P. John Isherwood.

You should see where mice get to when our cat is after them! CJI.

I'd guess that is sitting on one of the lower climbing irons on the RH side of the TGP. CJI.

Accepted - but you can see, surely, how the less digitally adept could pick up on "browser hack"? CJI.

To be fair, your own red header refers to "browser hack". To us digitally-challenged oldies, a hack is a hack is a hack! CJI.

No chance - since Covid, magazines are regarded as a source of cross-infection; not allowed! 😟 CJI.

Whatever you use, a coat of Klear will work wonders. CJI.

That was true in the early days of 3D printing, but affordable machines are now available which produce models requiring zero finishing, other than removing the supports. I have quite a few such prints, which simply require the addition of wheels and couplings. CJI.

If these vans actually had louvres; ie. sloping slats; surely it should not be possible to see through the vehicle? When building a van with etched 'louvres', I invariable back the etch with solid material. Regards, John Isherwood.

So, had the gate at the road end of the lane been closed, the bullocks could not have strayed. Not knowing the purpose of the lane, it is not possible to form a view as to whether the 4' height of the gate leading onto the railway was adequate, or not. CJI.

So, had the gate at the road end of the lane been closed, the bullocks could not have strayed. Not knowing the purpose of the lane, it is not possible to form a view as to whether the 4' height of the gate leading onto the railway was adequate, or not. CJI.

If you are sure that there was very little the company could have done, in what way could they be even MORALLY responsible? To be RESPONSIBLE for anything, including morally, there has to have been something that the company could have done to prevent the incident. That is the meaning of responsible. ...... and I am sure that the company, even back then, had lawyers who would have vetoed anything that might imply that the company was at fault! CJI.