Downendian

Charlie should think about resurrecting his DMU kits, a 3-car Swindon class 120 just went for £104 on eBay. Not hinting for a price increase of course - I'll stick to my two Craftsman conversions for now, but could be tempted to buy several first generation DMU kits if they reemerge. Neil

The defence offers exhibit B m'ludhttps://flic.kr/p/HAH8KQ Neil Edit : to be fair to Mike on one side though she was 6 one end D6 the other. https://flic.kr/p/9kFhrJ Always the devil is in the detail - we are both right!

Number 5 will be D6327 in blue small yellow - a complete respray, and the front end was a complete pig to mask with all those appendages. I'm awaiting some replacement glazing as that also was rather porcine in the ability to shift it, breaking several in the process. Dapol appear to spot weld their glazing to their models. I hope a raft of suitable spares will appear along with the class 21/29 releases. The new blue transforms these models, I've got another two to do, but will ponder on the glazing approach, I've not had a great deal of success with Maskol, but managed to keep most paint off the window frames with it. 40066 is complete with Shawplan bits (laserglaze, roof grille and cab windows) and a "nose job" as per Mostyn, the nose peak being filed away slightly to hide the fact it's too vertical. I've not attempted the Mostyn cab door enlargements, I'm in awe that they did this. Neil

Hi Andy Sorry for the delayed response - glad you sorted it! D1065 went to Nottingham but didn't run, but 44009 did - I need to get them both sound chipped, as they were virtually the only locos there that weren't. I've been working on D6 (Green full yellow) and 40 066 (Lima on Bachmann chassis) and will be locos 3 & 4 out of the Downend workshops this year, photos to follow. Neil

Just picked up a Heljan class 47 for £31. Will need renumbering, and nameplates removing for a mid 1970s WR namer, but looks a good bargain to me. Will join my mixed fleet of Vi chassied Lima, Bachmann and Heljan - getting towards a complete set of Heljan WR namers now. The posting was mislabelled "Heljen" and carrier film showing on the numbers, but a small price to pay for the excellent pulling power of these Heljan diesels. One of only two bidders, the chassis alone go for in excess of £50. Edit to correct Bachmann spelling - I wouldn't do well on eBay Neil

I presume you missed this one Rick?https://grahammuz.com/2017/03/25/kernow-mrc-bulleid-diesels-break-cover-along-with-gate-stock-livery-samples-Bachmann-birdcage-set-livery-sample-and-other-sr-model-news/ They are in front of the D600s now, a nice surprise from Kernow. Neil

Some classic shots of Bristol's railway past in Emmdee's Flickr stream https://flickr.com/photos/10163027@N05/sets/72157616885338779 Peaks and brush 4s at Fishponds, Mangotsfield, Staple Hill, the Eastville 13 arch bridge to name a few - all late 1960s early 1970s Many more railway related in the main photo stream http://www.flickriver.com/photos/10163027@N05/popular-interesting/ Neil

Up and looking to leave for Chez Bullock at around 9am complete with Coke hoppers and a couple of guests for the Nottingham show, 44009 and D1065. Frustratingly the Western sound chip has not been delivered on time, so will be the only 2 non sound fitted locos there! Will be rummaging through my Heljan spares after my coffee following a request from the Abbotswood CME yesterday. Neil

Hi Andy Sorry no, no further mainline warship work, I've been preparing 44009 and D1065 for the Nottingham show, amongst a huge backdrop of the day job. The insulating plastic centres I recall being pushed out with the wheel pusher if the pin on it is slightly off centre. However, one did break, but not to the extent it couldn't be repaired with a bit of epoxy. I will move the next mainline warship up the to do list. Neil

Hi Dave When the Q6 project was cancelled, you mentioned OO and N gauge HUO hoppers will be on the product list. http://djmodels.co.uk/?p=470 Any updates? I'd be very interested in these. Neil

And of course DJM has discussed producing these as RTR in 4mm and 2mm but no mention of which diagram http://djmodels.co.uk/?p=470 No updates on this for a while though. Beautiful modelling macgeordie, I'm pretty certain these beasts were used on South Wales-Avonmouth Coke flows as well as Coke hoppers in the 1970s, so very interested in the prototype and their modelling. Neil

Hi Phil The etches for 44009 were from Pete Harvey, much finer than the A1 set - I don't think Craftsman did the D9/10 grilles. Neil

Oh they'll be there Phil but looking a bit too pristine for my liking though, I have 15 now.Neil

A few copyright slides won last night. First up D869 Zest at Temple Meads 25/6/69, a former Colour rail slide, but now my copyright. I wondered why I thought I'd seen it before. Second is my first colour image of a green Western, been after one for a while D1037 at Paddington 10/10/62 Finally a scrapped D1034 at Laira 28/1/76 The Western slides were picked up for a tenner in a batch of 3, a real bargain especially for the shot of D1037. Neil

I'm sure Rivercider will be along to confirm this but it was a Portishead-Marsh ponds or return trip 4 working, not in the WTThttp://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/115122-a-few-warship-pictures-date-information-welcome/?p=2441653 Neil

I scrapped the thinned down Craftsman class 37/40 split boxes on one end as they were noticeably bigger than the new tooling split box peaks Phil. I have some Genesis headcode boxes to use, so really no further than that. I may just use a "spare" centre split box model that I have. My first was renumbered to 58 The Kings own Royal border regiment. My aim to is model every peak I saw on the first few official days spotting in July 1974, 125 was one of them. Neil

I had this email several weeks ago, and declined as I'd prefer to wait until EP models are with us. On saying that though, I doubt even if there were minor issues the four horsemen of the apocalypse couldn't stop me from buying them, I've preordered two. I hope they eventually do the BSYP D602, they'd have another sale with me if they did. Neil

That's not a rat, it's a rare Siberian Hamster Neil

I should visit this thread more often. He seems to be enjoying it Edit : before you ring the RSPCA I think the Hamster is a fake! Neil

Hi Andy I'm doing another Mainline warship soon, I'll try and remember to take photos of the process. The plastic inserts are a bit of a pain, one broke in the process. Ideally I'd go with new wheelsets and drive gears, but I'm trying to keep this as cheap as I can. Neil

Hi Andy Yes I know exactly what you mean. The inserts came away with the axles, and although some become separated they all reassembled OK. The plastic inserts can't be removed too many times, as one wheelset is a bit "loose" and I've needed to regauge it. If it presents a further problem I'll try a dab of aradite to hold in place. Neil

Lovely stuff Kylestrome, looks like you're well on track to finish before the Dapol model appears. You've obviously spent a lot of time masking the model, flawless. Neil

Hmm need to take a closer look at our " Goldcrests". Firecrests have been seen in the Yealm valley (the Yealm is about half a mile away). I hadn't realised how similar they are to Goldcrests (both species can have reddish tinges to their gold caps). Apparently Firecrests have a lighter buff brown body. I had thought that they had predominantly red caps. Neil

And on topic, 40 years ago today, at Bristol Parkway it was half term and was there all week. I remember this day (it's mum's birthday) it was bitterly cold, and we had to go home early after being turfed out of a warm Parkway by one of the porters. 45 007/008/014/024; 47 013/157/234/477/484/509; class 117 51309-59476-51324, plus route finding 122 TDB975023. HSTs also in abundance 253 002-004/006/013/015/019 but the sets were getting split up by then. Sadly no Westerns seen this week - the end was nigh. Neil

Barn own screeching in the field opposite the cottage last night, and I was pleased to see Greenfinches on the feeders this morning. Firecrest wow they're in Devon must keep my eyes peeled. Neil