Warbonnet

Work on the Alco is still ongoing, I'm still fiddling with grab irons. I bought some wire replacements but they aren't great. I have since been bending my own but I'm not happy with they way they look either. If they were straight irons like on EMD units I think I could do them perfectly but as they curve around the side of the loco it's a bit tricky to get them all to match. So back to the drawing board. Once they're sorted I'll be on the home straight. In the meantime parts for my next project arrived. I have two ancient Athearn SD9s which I plan to do up. I will be replacing the motor with Kato and DCC them with LED lights. One was bought for the SSM Sulzer which I have since decided against buying, and the other was picked up cheap as a companion. First things first though, the Athearn bodies are too wide as their original motors did not fit within scale sized hoods. So I bought two railpower shell kits to overcome this. With Kato motors in place there'll be plenty of room for them to fit. Crude photo to show the width difference Now to draw up a shopping list for all the detail parts I need! In the meantime I really need to finish something instead of starting loads and having them partly finished all over the place!

I knew there was a reason I should've went! Great finds Anto,you'll have to do a bit of blog on the 800 build!

But you get some free mystery planes! Apparently... Hmm, Think it's in the maybe pile at that price, material and size...

Indeed. But it would have to be the Caspian Sea Monster for me.

At least measure it up for a good quality kit. She'd be on my list of builds!

And then there was the Ekranoplan The Russians have built some of the coolest things ever to move!

Would love to see this baby take off in Shannon. Having seen 124s a couple of times and the likes of jumbos and A380s this would be in a different league again. I know there was a second 225 partly built when the Soviet Union broke up and there was talk of finishing it off. Take it it still hasn't happened? Probably never will now.

As per the forum rules you must state an asking price. Many thanks.

That's a great bit of value Dave and a much needed bit of kit. Well done sir!

Thanks for the comments. I'd wager a Genesis SD40 isn't too far away.

Easy way here, just be careful with locos with traction tyres. Kitchen roll can be used. Warning, brass loco goes flying across the layout!

Don't want to fall out either mate, saw your post on the workbench thread and I think personally you phrased it correctly. We want top modellers on here helping the rest of us out and you have done that.

Twisting my words there. Everyone can have their say, just once it's in the right way. Previous criticisms which were moderated was seen as attacks because of the way they were phrased. There was nothing sinister about what Richie said and he was not moderated because he has gone about things the right way. You still haven't told us why Richie's brake van is wrong, despite going on about it. That's the wrong way to go about things. Do things in a constructive manner and the person learns, and you look as if you're helping out rather than taking cheap shots. That's done by explaining why. We don't do advertisements on this site as we do not get paid. We are there to support all Irish manufacturers. Constructive criticism can be supportive as manufacturers can take comment on board and improve. It also helps punters decide if they're getting value for money.

What can't speak can't lie! She's an Overland Brass loco suitable for N&W. I got it for a very reasonable price (for brass anyway) and while a bi old she runs very well so far. I wanted to use her as a project and paint her NS but it seems that by the time the N&W SD40s found their way to NS the bogies changed for triple clasp trucks. I will have to see how easy it is to switch her to a Southern based engine and if there would be much work needed in that or else source the correct trucks. Another one for the 'to do' pile! Still, since Athearn's SD40 tooling is broken and Kato not offering a high hood SD40 (to the best of my knowledge) it's a great starting point. Detail is incredible.

Indeed, a lot of their Mark IIIs are a lot older than ours too, running almost 1,000 miles a day and at up to 125mph. The blue grey livery was adopted by a charter company called 'Cargo D' (who had a rake of Mark IIs done out too) but they went bust. The coaches were on hire to DB Regio for Wrexham & Shropshire services and they have now bought up the coaches for Chiltern services.

I think the reasons why Richies posts have not been moderated is because he phrased his critiques of the manufacturers in a constructive, balanced and dignified way. There was good points noted as well as bad and his posts have been restrained and professional. Fundamentaly there was no over the top hysterical screaming which has seen previous topics curtailed. There is no 'hidden agenda' here and no 'double standards' here. You seem to be looking to make something out of nothing and frankly it's a bit sad and definitely unnecessary. If you think you can offer advice to Richie about his brake van then he would be better served if you could write why you think it could be better on his workbench thread in a 'constructive' manner, rather than use it as a stick to beat him with without pointing out why it's not accurate in your view. All I can say is that Dave showed me his weedsprayer and all I can say it is not up to the standard of the very high price charged and I certainly wouldn't buy what they have to offer. Your own wagons are of a higher quality for a much lower price for instance. I'm just glad that I am into Brit OO and American HO so I have a much wider choice of quality accurate rolling stock at affordable prices. Now as you say, lets get back on topic here please.

+1

Caught the 2nd half hour of this, was excellent. Got to see some of my old haunts too, especially around the lovely Highgate.

That's a lovely little loco David, nice work. How long did these tank engines last in service?

Have to agree Richie. After all it costs the same to get something right as getting something wrong. I can't see the spacing of axles to allow for 21mm gauge jacking the price up dramatically. If MIR could cater for both donkeys years ago then I'm sure companies can now, especially when the measurements would leave you with a piece of rolling stock that will be scaled down to 21mm gauge initially.

The very man! I know, I'm skeptical about it myself!

Someone on RMWeb said one was secured for preservation at Downpatrick and maybe an 80 class too. Wonder if there's any truth in it?