TheSignalEngineer

It looks as if newly tooled or retooled wagon of a fairly uncommon prototype probably needs to sell at £25+ on the first run to recoup the costs even without making a profit. When you look at the common types the variations of what are traffic-wise the same beast are enourmous. Just look at discussions/foaming at the mouth on 16T minerals or 7-plank POs. A small instance would be the Bachmann 1-plank. BR made at least three variations in the early days but the Bachmann doesn't match any even before looking for dimensional accuracy, but they still turn it out so presumably people still buy it. I would like a proper Palethorpes van, but who is going to tool up a six-wheeler of which a handful were made to 2 different designs and how many would buy them at a cost of about £35 or more each.

I think that the Coronation Scot is attractive to Hornby as the stock was largely based on or converted from the P3 coaches they already make and the coaches survived in their original form with the pressure ventilation hoods until the BR maroon era. It also gives them the opportunity to make the RK with virtually no changes, plus the standard versions of the 65' RFO, 57' BFK and 57' TO with modification to the roof and some interior layouts. Hopefully they have designed the roof cowl as an add-on so it can be easily modified at source to create three extra LMS coaches suitable for three different liveries over a 30-year period.

Expected date of arrival from China?

Sadly no 60' or 62' underframe stock in the original Coronation Scot sets. Other than the BTO and FK already produced the ones that look fairly straightforward possibles from the proposed coaches would be 50' D1912 RK 57' D1910 BFK. D1904 TO 65' D1902 RFO

I don't think any of my 3-rail locos in striped boxes pre-dated announcement of the introduction of 2-rail.

My take is that the 42-seat RTO reworked without the Pressure Ventilation equipment and a 56-seat interior would be a no-brainer. The LMS had thousands of TOs and the only one done RTR so far was the Replica Railways D1915. The diagram that the Coronation Scot version was derived from lasted almost 30 years in service in three different liveries

We were supposed to be getting a Lidl in our town but it seems to be taking as long as something built by Bachmann.

For information, these are all loose coaches as the Stanier Period 3 stock. The formation of the three 1937 sets was BFK-FK-RFO-RK-RTO-RTO-RK-RTO-BTK. The set being produced was originally arranged 5052-1069-7507-30084-8996-8993-30086-8961-5812 according to Jenkinson. The artics and 'streamliners' didn't get finished except for the 1939 set which went to the USA and never saw service in the Coronation Scot. After the war the part built coaches which had been stored were completed between 1947 and 1949 being used firstly in the Blackpool and Southport 'Club Trains' to Manchester and at least one twin on the Euston - Wolverhampton run.

The Coronation Scot RKs were a block of six, 30084-89,of the D1912 design specially prepared in blue livery for use in the train.They were taken from the lot built by Gloucester RCW in 1936/7 According to the caption of a picture of the Coronation Scot version in Jenkison and Essery's LMS Coaches - An Illustrated History "The general service version showed no significant external differences except for the livery" Hopefully Hornby will do a series of liveries covering their lifetime from 1936 to 1965. I could be tempted by Blood and Custard or BR Maroon.

Hornby have managed to get the right numbering for a full set of the 1937 Coronation Scot stock. These only lasted in service in the original livery until 1939 when they were put into store. They returned to service on ordinary trains as the LMS saw no prospect of re-introducing a high speed service at the end of the war given the state of the infrastructure. The Ill-fated 1939 stock as used for the USA train was stored part-built during the war then was completed for use on ordinary services c1946/7

The Hornby TK is D1899. The TOs used for the Coronation Scot conversions had the doors and toilets in different positions.

Sorry, slipped finger lead to posting half of list. Now updated. D1905 57' BTK Modified from same coach as existing Hornby BTK R4232 etc. D1961 57' BFK Coronation Scot version of D1910. not previously produced. D1960 57' FK Coronation Scot version of D1930. Hornby R4230 etc, although some have wrong seating layout. Some original issues are numbered in D1909 series which had 2 a side seating. D1912 50' RK Coronation Scot version of standard D1912. Not previously produced. D1902 65' RFO Coronation Scot version of standard D1902. Not previously produced. D1981 57' RTO Coronation Scot conversion from D1904. Not previously produced.

?? D1905 57' BTK Modified from same coach as existing Hornby BTK R4232 etc. D1961 57' BFK Coronation Scot version of D1910. not previously produced. D1960 57' FK Coronation Scot version of D1930. Hornby R4230 etc, although some have wrong seating layout. Some original issues are numbered in D1909 series which had 2 a side seating. D1912 50' RK Coronation Scot version of standard D1912. Not previously produced. D1902 65' RFO Coronation Scot version of standard D1902. Not previously produced. D1981 57' RTO Coronation Scot conversion from D1904. Not previously produced.

That will be a 2021/2/3* item to celebrate getting them off the main line and restoring the NRM example to original state. @AY Mod is there a 'Tongue in Cheek' emoji available?

Interesting to see the D.1981 RTO in the Coronation Scot set. There were nine of these which were refitted with 2+1 seating and pressure ventilation from the 56-seat D.1904 TO. Leaves the opportunity to backdate to the other 116 vehicles which lasted until c1964 and fill a gap for an LMS Open Third which has not been available since the Replica Railways D.1915. Also a version I haven't yet built for my excursion set.

In the days of the Vauxhall Viva we used to say that they painted the inside of the press tools and sprayed some metal onto them. Our school secretary had a puncture on the way to work. One of the teachers jacked up the car to change the wheel and the rear window popped out. My son had a Peugeot diesel which was well into its third time round the clock before it got too expensive to do any more repairs. By that time the underside of the body looked like a patchwork quilt.

50% cancellation rate to Glossop today.

I found the same problem here in the Peak District. I have to alternate the parking direction on the drive to reduce the problem.

I cleaned mine on New Year's Day when washing mud off the mountain bikes from the day before. Previous clean was when the garage did it at the MOT and service in September. Barring heavy salting that will probably be enough until after our visit to the North Yorks Moors in the Spring.

We thought the 2018 Saddleworth and Winter Hill fires were bad at 9000 acres total. The scale of the Australian fires is truly horrific.

The first Christmas I was on the railway I was working at Curzon St. 'Sid' the yard Pway ganger and his men were WW2 refugees from Poland. He came into my grandad's cabin at about 11am and produced a large bottle of clear liquid from the inside pocket of his overcoat and filled our tea cups. It was a locally distilled illicit beverage based on potatoes and grain. I think it was a good job no-one was smoking when it was poured or we might not have had a cabin left. It was easier to inhale rather than drink, a small amount on the tongue would evaporate before it reached the throat. My grandad and the Poles drank it without flinching.

Tech Support, AKA Son, arrived from Ireland last night for a weekend visit and has done a registry clean-up and killed a lot of things that Win10. Google, etc insist on being active from start-up but don't get used or add any value to the experience. Fingers crossed no crashes this morning and everything that needs to be working is there and at greater speed. Thanks Matt.

Desktop 'puter dismantled tonight to check power supply and connectors. During work tbe cause of crashes and shutdowns of graphics may have been located. A small deposit of dust was slowing the fan pn the graphics card, causing a processor overheat and automatic cut out. Time for sleep and full test tomorrow. Thanks to all who suggested solutions when I first reported problems, especially the one who looks to have got it right!

We had some great nights in Birmingham in the 1960s and 70s. Before NYD was a Bank Holiday I went to a party at the home of a BBC producer with whose daughter I was quite friendly at the time. I was due at work in the Signal Shop at Crewe on 1st January so I primed someone to get me onto the train which left New St at 0250. I woke up on a bench on Crewe station at 0630, over two hours after the train had terminated there. Went down to my digs, changed and had breakfast then caught the bus to clock on at 0755. A few years later when courting Mrs SE we went to a Hogmany Night run by the Ian Campbell Folk Group. That turned into a real manic session. We ended up running from Digbeth Civic Hall to Colmore Row to catch her bus at 0100. I walked her home before returning some time later to catch the bus back to the city centre and arriving home for breakfast then back into the office. Today's celebrations seem dull by comparison.

Over the holiday I actually got an advert for some railway modelling stuff. Today, after recently posting a picture from our latest bike ride I got an advert offering me rides dates with single lady cyclists