Horsetan

Sprouts Mexicane!!

I'd actually like to see The Young Ones, or Rich and Eddie from Bottom

No. The cylinders appear to be exactly in the right place. What Rapido have done is to insert a thick washer/bush between the coupling and connecting rods in order to fill in the difference in gauge. Removing the bush allows the coupling rods to move outwards when P4 wheelsets are inserted; connecting rods and return cranks don't need moving out, as they're already in the correct alignment.

Two years in the planning, Rapido have just delivered this. The S160 has never been mass-produced in 4mm scale before (although Roco did make a very good one in HO some years ago), and I've only ever seen two scratchbuilt efforts - one in OO, and the other in EM. There's at least eight different livery variants available, and Rails of Sheffield have plenty of stock starting at a not too terrible £230 (more if you want it in DCC with sound). At a glance, it looks as though it might be possible to convert it to P4 - axles appear to be 2mm diameter throughout (so longer replacements will be needed), and wheels look as though they will tolerate a session on a lathe, with most material being taken off the back to thin the flanges and maybe a light skim off the tyre face.

They're clearly tired of it now

Looks almost ready to receive scale-sized cushions for seats and seat backs....

Given that it's grounded, it's probably rotten underneath by now

You have to wonder what made them acquire it in the first place...

A prophet is without honour in his own country.

The only other match I've seen where there was constant end-to-end attacking football and little attempt at defence was the Euro 2004 match between the Netherlands and the Czech Republic in Aveiro, Portugal. That was a real thriller of crazy football, relentless to the point of being demented. I regret not recording it whilst watching it, but I always say that this is exactly how football should be played. In the modern game, only women's professional football gets anywhere near to recreating it. At one point in the first half, the Dutch were 2-nil up against the Czechs and should have been home and dry. They lost!

The final turned out to be equally grim. Apparently, and showing how the art of losing gracefully has not been lost, Argentinian fans have demanded that the final be replayed owing to "corrupt officials" (something which the Argentinians are themselves quite proficient at).

What can IRM do? They've already been paid. However, those who didn't order direct in time to beat the touts will always lose out unless there are subsequent batches.

Strangely appropriate that they all act like Trump in the brazen pursuit of advantage.

It would be interesting to find out what percentage of the original Park Royal buyers - who ordered direct from IRM - only purchased in order to flip on for a profit. I reckon it would be significant. That reminded me that I have "071" no.085 in the shed waiting for 21mm conversion. It's been that long since I bought it that I actually forgot I had it - meanwhile, values seem to have increased due in no small way to the flipper community. £450 is very nearly 3 times what I paid for mine.

Touts.

They are more accurately termed effluencers, since much of their output is fit only for sewage outflow, and their only real motivation is money and/or the ability to extract something without paying for it. Welcome to the antisocial media generation.

Rails of Sheffield are now busy flogging off the remains of the KR stock, so I had a look at the GWR Mica B X8 van, now reduced to almost half price (and still a bit expensive once you realise its flaws). Apart from the fact that it's 6mm too long and the brake gear is the greatest work of fiction since vows of fidelity were introduced into the marriage service, it can at least be corrected by shortening with the help of scalpel and piercing saw.

In Glasgow, you can instead growl at the badger...

When Lima produced their rather weird 08/09 decades ago, they inadvertently used the cab of the class 11 so the single-arc roof stood out a mile.

When you're paying that much for a Silver Fox model, the use of Copydex strikes me as daylight rubbery.

DCC really comes into its own with FREMO networks - I've seen the Europeans use it to walk beside their stock as it travels along, maintaining the same speed on open stretches of line with the controller unplugged. They only plug in and regulate on the approaches to junctions and stations/yards.

The PICtroller has been around for at least a decade or more - it was partly designed to fill the gap when the Pentroller ceased production - but supply can be very erratic and it may be a few more months before another batch is made.

It's better to have them too long, as then you have scope to shorten them.

You need bogies with an overall wheelbase of 10ft 6ins. Coincidentally, the only British diesel to match this exactly is the Class 35 Hymek. So, if you can drill a centre axle in a Heljan Hymek bogie, you will have an instant bogie for a CIE Sulzer.

One of the most common phrases I used to hear was "I will, yeah..."