Downendian

Agree with Greg first thought was immediately D1058 Neil

Will certainly try to be at the Yate show Rob, my daughter lives there. I'll look by and say hello. Neil

2nd photo is certainly D1065. Only member of the class to have this cowl. Neil

Not me Phil - had to invest cash "elsewhere" this month. Saving for a Jolly boys outing

I remember those track lifting photos Stovepipe taken in 1969 when the line was singled. Unfortunately although the page is still active the photos are gone. A nice inspirational one for Phil here though, D845 minus plates, and maroon valance panel. Bath road still using the old girl quite late in the summer. http://www.railblue.com/pages/Photo%20Galleries/David%20Mant%20Collection/DMC_D845_BR_270869.htm Neil

Just spend a lot of time trawling eBay Andy - mislabelling is the most common way of picking up bargains. Rolling road is a DCC concepts product which retails at £61, it looks barely used. Neil

I've just picked up recent tooling Farish 08 and class 20, PLUS a rolling road and a few sundries for £41. Best bargain for a while. Neil

Not really madness but amusing http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&alt=web&id=391256844695&globalID=EBAY-GB Those GBL boxes make excellent mirrors Neil

Hi Andy Lovely shots at Patchway - one of my spotting locations so fond memories. Edit - on reflection I can't tell which end of the loco is which. If the clips are missing from the B end it could be D1005, D1046, D1049 or D1063 If minus clips at A end It can only be D1040. Other candidate could be D1065 but you photo doesn't show the key identifier for Consort, the M shaped horn cowl at one end. Neil

Nothing that I've seen Gismorail. Every model ever released or to be released will have faults, the Crosti is no different all fortunately minor and easy to rectify. But if we want to improve on the model we need to know what they are. The faults are clear to see and have been discussed that's all, and in a measured way, It does seem that there are a few that see constructive criticism as Hornby bashing, perhaps they are happy with what they have. There are a few of us who want something different out of the box, and to get the toolkit and paints etc out. That is what these threads are all about. Neil

I'm bemused at this post Gismorail. Which members is it aimed at? Certainly not Brian's excellent modelling to add brake rigging, or the discussion on CKD, which would require some modelling. Neither of which have been critical of the Hornby model- yes I have one and its superb. So I can't really see who the rant is aimed it, it's been all reasonable discussion to improve the model. By the way a Golden arrow resin kit can very simply be added to a railroad chassis at little over £120 if a rebuilt Crosti is required, I've done one and I don't have anywhere near the skills that Brian has. It runs identically as it has more or less the same chassis. Neil

Just checked my records, a lot of 117s were seen in Bristol in the mid 1970s, and at the time a fair few sets were allocated to Cardiff. It's a great move by Bachmann, but for me it's more interesting that they will now have a 4mm version of the 64' chassis rather than the 57'. This bodes well for the future release of more first generation DMUs, and for my layout class 119/120 cross countries would be welcome additions. Neil

Thanks Andy - I thought I'd never seen a monoclip Western before! Lovely photos again by the way. Neil

The first shot appears to be D1026 on zooming in on the nameplate, the first letter certainly looks like a "C" and ends with a "N". D1022 I'm not so sure as that single headboard clip should be a dead giveaway, I've not found any pictures of Sentinel with one clip with a brief search. No clues on the Bathampton shots! Neil

Middle wicket or not (I like that one Mike!), they look stunning Phil. The faded blue is just spot on. Neil

Bargains on eBay are there, but patience needed (question to self, am I patient?). I picked up the modern spec Hornby 08, R2417, a beautiful model for £26 post free. Why so cheap? It was minus coupling rods, which I've just bought from Lendons of Cardiff for £1.68. A bit of a risk as there might be something else wrong, but I still think a bargain compared to the price they are fetching in A1 condition. Neil

Pretty clear photo of D1063s nameplate in the first one Andy - I'm in no doubt it reads Monitor. Another one with headboard clips on one end only. Neil

class 13 for £95? The Triang model as starting point -seriously? http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&alt=web&id=121735962100&globalID=EBAY-GB Photos of completed models please? A closed group Facebook link is given for them rather than post directly on eBay? wide berth given. Neil

Andy indeed 1st pic could be D1065 - the other end should have an M-shaped horn cowl if you could see it;) Latter photo D1038/9 were both out of service by then so those can be discounted. Neil

Terrific stuff Nidge. Pressing the thanks button just didn't seem to be enough. Neil

It's just the late Laira repaints Nidge - I.e the silver trimmings as Peter puts it. Neil

If Gareth has a complete list of these repaints that would be useful - I don't recall a full list of them Adrian Curtis's books which go into intricate detail about most Western minutiae, but then again I don't have all volumes he produced. I'll certainly paint a few more like this then, I've got D1026 on the back burner now. Strictly then this was the first deviation away from standard BR blue, well before the Stratford silver roofed 47s, and the Silver jubilee pair. Neil

Hi Charlie Sorry again to draw the discussion away from the Kernow model Sad to hear the sale of kits has fallen off, a big shame as the only source of some DMU/DEMU/EMUs. Will you start to sell again in the New Year? I'm after a couple, happy to correspond by PM. Neil

Wow well I've learnt a lot more about late Laira repaints with silver footrests. I didn't know so many had received this. I can clearly remember D1026, looked absolutely stunning in the summer of '74. It is clear though that the footrests rapidly faded. I'm still none the wiser. If Andy's slide is printed 1974 then D1008 or D1034? Neil

A very brief update - trying to get back in the old routine of Saturday morning modelling. All my spare time at the moment seems to be taken up with writing - I'm currently writing four chapters of an academic book, and I've just successfully got a paper from the research group in the excellent journal Clinical Chemistry. For those that have bought the railroad TTS class 47 with the intention of fitting to Lima 47 bodies, I found this a very simple task requiring just a couple of cuts to the Lima body side glazing so that there is sufficient clearance for the railroad gear tower. A couple of brief pics - disassemble, glazing unit out, junior hacksaw cuts x2 and reassemble. Less than 30 minutes work. Don't forget you need to remove the buffers before removing both Lima and Hornby bodies from their chassis! Glazing unit cuts on the left Reassembled Lima body The railroad chassis is very lightweight and will certainly need more weight, I will try and do this over the coming long winter as I have several railroad/Lima jobs on the horizon.