Horsetan

There is quite a bit about the fuel problems in the book about Bulleid's Turf Burner.

I'm at that stage in life where I no longer make any declarations as to my age.

Website now says "in stock", if anyone now feels the need.....

Missing the platform number.

That ticket bears a date not long before the locomotive fuel crisis kicked in....

You should also be able to get away with using scale 3' 10-spoke wheels by robbing the trailing ones used in the bogie of the Hornby "King".

Now here's a thing: as can be seen from the photo, the two types of frames are broadly similar in outline, but the coupling rods are not interchangeable between the two. The nickel silver frames and rods have better detail and a more refined profile, but the trailing section representing the 7' part of the wheelbase is marginally longer than the earlier version in brass! If you try to use the nickel-silver rods on the brass chassis, the leading and centre drivers will revolve fine, but the trailing drivers will lock up. Not what you want on a sprung or compensated chassis. In the words of Father Ted when faced with the problem of getting Dougal off the milkfloat at over four miles an hour: "Keep going round the roundabout! I'm going to have a think!"

In order, DR Br. 50, Br.52, Br.50.35, DB Br.23 (x2!), DRG Br.50, DR Br.52, DB Br.64....and some brown diesel thing. The "Plandampf" events are quite tightly timed, and it costs a load of money to have engines certified for that type of work. It couldn't really happen in Britain, as the service timetables are so tight that there's no real room for giving a day to steam-hauled services, and that's before you go into the money and equipment required for mainline certification. Notwork Fail and the regular TOCs probably regard steam specials as a nuisance.

....and here's a look at some of it...

If you really wanted to go the whole hog, then some work to the front frame arrangements might be possible - i.e. widening them to make them look more suited to 5'3" (albeit this illusion would work better for those working to 21mm gauge), and increasing the vertical gap between the main footplate and the front footplate/bufferbeam assembly.

By far the most interesting of the surviving ex-East German engines, Roco did a grand job of capturing the looks of 18.201....and the temptation to put it in front of a sample of ex-East German Doppelstock was too great. Trivia: did you know that 18.201's front headlamps came off a Trabant?

A small packet is just after turning up from Ireland, bearing An Post's current "Nollaig" commemorative stamp, and containing a small quantity of very clean castings and a nickel silver etch. Great stuff, Des, and thanks!

The WTs ran on 6' diameter driving wheels, exactly the same ones used on the Stanier Black Five. Might be worth seeing if you can obtain a set of the current Hornby Black Five wheels and fitting them into the 4P chassis. This would correct the ride height and reinforce the WT's characteristic high-stepping looks. The rest of the model looks grand. I'm still waiting for Alan Doherty at Worsley Works to unleash his long-threatened WT kit, having put my name down for one ages ago.

If it were steam-hauled, 'tis a Panda Coaler they'd be wanting....

That dates back to 1979 at least, and it was a bold venture for Hornby at the time. I think the list price back then was about 200 quid. There were matching S&D coaches to go with it, and they had opening doors. Can't remember list price of those, but £43.50 each sticks in my mind for some reason. Rocket and its coaches were still in the catalogue for 1981, but I don't remember seeing them after that year.

Some months back, I picked up a quite attractive Austrian model of an East German steam superstar: 18.201, created out of bits from three different engines which today is the only preserved steamer passed to exceed 100mph. Mod edit: the English translation of the title is 'The Model: Risen from the Ruins'.

Ah stop, I haven't started building the thing!

This will no longer be a problem after sufficient quantities of Guinness.

Quod erat demonstrandum

...and that's up against pretty stiff competition from other, more local, shows - the now defunct Watford Finescale, and St. Albans, being two aromatic examples.