RedRich

Spot on Fran. The 201's and MK11's were made in a separate factory to the the 141-181, 071, and Cravens. Just put a Craven next to a MK11 and compare the B4 bogies. Rich,

Speaking of Cathedrals Tom I was in the Church of Ireland Cathedral last year. There was an Exhibit about the buildings history and they had a model of the Cathedral as it was when it was first built. It is a beautiful building and well worth a visit if you are in town. Rich,

True Ed. Luckily I have a bottle bought many years ago. It is still nearly full by the way. Here is a link which say's it all. http://www.scalemodelguide.com/hints-tips/general/using-klear-floor-varnish/ Rich,

Johnsons Clear or Klear as it is sometimes called is a floor polish that dries clear. I first became aware of it when a chap was using it on the cockpit canopy of an Airfix kit. After the canopy was dipped in the Clear it was left to dry overnight. When the Clear had dried the plastic looked like glass and amazingly took on the appearance that the glazing was thinner. I have also used it on attaching nameplates to models. They are still there to this day even having been handled many times. Google Johnsons Clear and it will give you all the info you need. I believe it has been renamed in the USA but the Google search will give you all the answers you need. Rich,

If you can get your hands on some clear it does a good job of getting rid of the prismatic look on the windows and makes it look like glass. Sanding them sounds a bit extreme and you could end up removing the printed black parts of the glazing unit. Rich,

Looking good Eamonn. I've always had a soft spot for the plough and ballast wagons. Rich,

The Birthdays are coming fast and furious. Happy Birthday Pat. Rich,

That's a nice selection of rolling stock Vincent. I like the Galway EGV and IE liveried MK11's. It was a regular occurrence on the network to see some Galway and IE coaches in the same rake, so it looks authentic. Rich,

I watched the program this evening on RTE one. The work that was carried out in returning Saint Mel's Cathedral to it's former beauty after the fire was amazing. The people of Longford who were naturally shocked at the outset pulled together as a community to see this beautiful building restored. The people working on the restoration commented on how they had no idea how the original build took place without the tools and machinery that are available today. All in all a great program and if anyone missed it, watch it on the RTE player. Rich,

Happy birthday Fran. That was a fast year. Rich,

Looks good John, also liked. Rich,

The MM 201's have a floating center axle and aren't all wheel drive. It is a good thing in one sense as a rigid all wheel drive can sometimes be a bit problematic for anyone modelling in the correct gauge. A lot of BR modellers that model in P4 have had some problems with the Bachmann class 47. Rich,

I have no doubt that these kits will raise the bar again Des. From concept, through design, and the finished product that's a lot of work for a man working on his own. Even more amazing is how quick it has taken. Take a well deserved break during the festive season. Rich,

I think a picture paints a thousand words. Rich,

I've enjoyed this Richie very concise and easy to follow. I'm trawling the internet trying to find a Freightliner Ridemaster bogie to make the non sole bar splasher wagon. Had a look at Colin Craigs but they would need some surgery to produce our type. I doubt Bachmann will make their FFA FGA bogies available and these would also need the same amount of work as the Colin Craig bogies to resemble ours. Rich,

Have a good one Richie, I'll raise a glass to you tonight. Rich,

I thought people would be discussing drugs when I saw the thread title. Rich,

Flickr usually. Just type in the class of loco into the search box and it usually throws up some pics of the classes down through the decades. Fotopic was a great resource for photos, alas it has been shut down for the last few years. It must be an absolute nightmare for manufacturers having production liveried models delivered with little errors when they have done so much hard work on r&d. It's not like PM can stand over the the worker painting and printing the models in China and the man does so much, and has done so much hard work in wanting them right. Rich,

IR locos had orange horns and orange handrails on the bonnet sides above the grilles. These were left black on the models. I certainly remember seeing supertrain babies with orange horns. 164 IR livery 186 IR livery It pays to have a look on the various photo sharing sites. Just because the models are released with black horns it doesn't mean that the prototype had them. The bodyside bonnet handrails on the IE liveried 071 models should be orange. It is an easy fix however and doesn't detract from an already fantastic model. The same goes for the IR liveried babies from MM. Rich,

Yes you are 100% correct. I should have said Dennis Lovett. I must edit my previous post. Rich,

DCC wouldn't have anything to do with the cosmetic changes, and you would still be left with Bo Bo bogies. If (and for the life of me I couldn't imagine why) someone was prepared to do something like trying to dress up a class 33 as an A class and was prepared to ignore anything below the chassis a Heljan class 33 would be a better donor. Rich,

The class 33 is Bo Bo bogie, and the A class is a Co Co bogie. It would be a complete waste of time to be honest. Where did you hear that it was possible, just curious. Rich,

The 201's are MM and not Bachmann Noel. I can't understand where this idea that the 201's are in some way related to Bachmann has come from. It's been discussed here enough times that were weren't. What I will say is that the I reckon the 201's and MK11 aircons were manufactured in the another factory, and the 141-181, Cravens, 071's were manufactured by Sanda Kan. Sanda Kan is owned by Kader Holdings which owns Bachmann and Farish. Still doesn't mean that Bachmann had any involvement in the Craven's and O71's even though they were involved in the 141-181 classes. I remember Dennis Lovett of Bachmann addressing the very subject himself in the past to quash the rumors. Rich,

If you contact PM I'd imagine he will advise you to contact Jim in Marks Models in Hawkins Street. Might be worth ringing Marks Models tomorrow to see if Jim is there. If all else fails PM me and I'll see if I can find the spare one I have lying around somewhere. Rich,

If you can lay your hands on some butanone, put the broken piece in position and brush a tiny bit of the butanone on the area and hold it for a few moments. It will set solid and give no more trouble. With the types of plastic used in the hobby today it's no bad idea to have some butanone in your tool box, because at some time you will need it. If you do go down the butannoe route do it outside or in a well ventilated area. Whatever method you use good luck. Rich,