Rob Hayes

Speaking of which Dapol please please do more MK3 DVT in Swallow livery !

Yes I think that. I don’t mind it looks ok but Hornby also around the early 2000s seems to sometimes do it this biscuit sort of colour. but old farish poole, 80s Hornby and Lima got it right. if Dapol did an APT with the colour they used before it would look like it had been in a smokers house for years. I think it’s possibly due to when weathered they did appear to look more that shade when a think layer of brown dust is over them. but you can watch loads of footage and see they where I fact much paler cold grey with a faint greenish cast to the paint. It’s just a shame they didn’t get it right. I have a 15 year old tub of railmatch here and it’s lighter than the recent farish or Dapol colour by a large degree. the font is definitely wrong however.

That looks great. To me both those look more like the real thing. They did vary over the years and the 4 main intercity style liveries. But some of the Dapol models look more like cotswolds stone yellow than fawn colour beige. fantastic work looks just the job I made these comparisons too.

Sorry but I think this is the first time in a long time the colours actually look closer to how they was in service. The recent models of the last 15 years have had overly dark beige. The colours varied on the originals and where much lighter to start with. I agree it’s slightly to pale for some. But comparing to photos and memories this is much closer to what it should look like. people have just got used to looking at overly saturated shades.

They are wonderful locos. I’d like the split box version also. I hope they do another blue one like it soon. The old 40 is still a great loco though and my two shall stay as they are are great runners.

The old one is pretty good considering I can try and take come side by side shots if you like. I’m not sure how to upload photos to here these days. What the best free photo host these days hmm

I thought it was best to share this here rather than start a new thread. I haven’t posted here in a long while but wow I love this farish 40012 Aureol and thought some might like to see it running. It’s incredible ! Cheers Rob

Well if they are made right from the start they don’t tend to break. I have a 1984 Deltic Alycidon on original gears all fine and my 37254 new from 11 years ago is fine. An so are the other 20 from the past 3 decades or so. occasionally you get a bad one. Mostly ones made in the mid 90s on. some are fitted too tight on the axles that is what causes the split. its not oil temp or running it’s over tight tolerance (no tolerance) in my examples at least.

Sector greys varied on the real locos across many classes initially it was the lighter shade in the 80s moving to that more greenish look and the medium grey band could vary too as did the roof shade. Same with warning yellow there where 4 shades as with rail blue there where two or more shades. Same with other colours like executive and swallow liveries there where multiple variations. they all look right to me

It varied in real life and the early executive colour was different to the late executive and swallow liveries. However they all got mixed up from time to time. for example Executive Dark grey to begin with was almost black with a slight purplish brown tint and the lower sides where more pale whitish grey as on the APT. The red was Rail red. then the revised executive livery could be as above but the darker grey was usually more brownish and the light grey was changed to intercity fawn as on swallow locos but could still vary in shade. then swallow livery to begin with could be either the same shades as above for the first sets it had the more brown shade grey. then swallow moved to its own more purple falcon grey and the lower fawn strip initially was paler and then the darker shade become more common. The red stripe on the swallow locos carriages etc was its own shade of red a more darker colour but again Rail red could be used. there is also the intercity mainline livery between these two liveries for mixed traffic. once your eyes are trained to the shade you can see which had what if you have a good photo. A lot of models get the colours wrong these days the dark greys often too light and the beige is too beige. id use the paints available as a starting point and mix to suit the subject. of course all the usual variables apply lighting film and weathering etc. But if it looks right it is right

Hi Harold many thanks. I purchased the Item new and I have let them know and I’ve also contacted Bachmann. luckily for me I just found on eBay some PCB for sale that match so I’ve bought I couple and I will repair it myself now. Normally I would return it but it’s not worth risking my dads health when I know I can fix it myself. I also am certain it’s just a bad component as all my other Farish, Kato, Dapol, Trix, Bachmann USA locos run fine with no issue all the time. I seem to always have this issue with Deltics I love them but each and every one I’ve bought I’ve had to fight to get them to work. my first Farish one “The Black Watch” went tech with gear issues on day one, same with my Bachmann 00 ones. Seems Tulyar is no exception. hopefully I’ll get her sorted in no time now. I’m guessing I may have to swap the LED too but hopefully not. Cheers

Yep I was thinking it might be one of those. It’s a shame they are not labelled. It is very unusual to see them go and I’ve never had a problem with farish locos melting down before. The controller is stable and all other locos are. This one two is running to the side of me now flawlessly. Nowt wrong it seems except the blown component and dimmed light. I can live with it as the dim light is ironically prototypical. But not ideal. the clag was also quite realistic for a Napier ! Haha Yep seems so but what Value I wonder

Hi All I have recently in the past two days purchased a Farish Class 55 015 Tulyar which for me is a holy grail of a loco and what a stunner it is. however I’ve ran into a problem. I have run it in at a moderate speed for a few hours either direction and there was no issue with it except it was a little hesitant at first. It is running on a loop of Kato Unitrack I have set up with a Marklin DC controller that is suitable for Z and N gauge locos. The loco ran beautifully for a few hours over the past day and then suddenly today I went to move her off and suddenly smoke ! (I wish it was a smoke generator that would be impressive)... sadly not the case. Ive popped the body off carefully and inspected it to see one of the circuit board items marked “D2” has blown a hole through its top. I then placed the loco back on the track and checked for anything that could cause a short and it was all clear as nothing is around to cause a short. Then the loco ran perfectly again in both directions albeit with a now dimmed headlight at one end. the loco is now running perfect with no ill effects but with a dimmed light. This is annoying as I am currently shielding my very poorly farther and do not wish to spend any time in a post office to send it back nor do I want to return it as it’s a great example and I have the skills to fix it myself. if I can determine what the circuit mounted item is called and what value. I can only assume the component in question was a duff (is now..) please see the photos it is the item marked “D2” in a row of 4 black boxes. Any help greatly appreciated and yes I have contacted the retailer and Bachmann regarding a spare circuit board. cheers Rob

No emotional outbursts here. Just simply saying that something like an A4 No one can ever truly “own” nothing to do with railways enthusiasts being taught a “lesson” (that was an emotional outburst ). For something like an A4 or a K4 they are of national historical importance and you can only really be a “care taker” for them even though you may own them. He is perfectly entitled to enjoy them not running in his quieter years. I’m just saying that if the comments are true that he wants to fill them with concrete to stop others being able to see them run if he can’t is selfish vandalism in the extreme (I stress IF the comments are true) If they are true it’s the sign of a massive ego problem. The main thing I’m sad about is that neither of them are on the SVR anymore I used to see them regularly here and I’m greatful to him for keeping them going all these years. But if he can’t do that no more they should be passed to the next best candidate to keep them going for the nation. No good seeing locos not working. Even the NRM used to have that as their policy before being taken over by the science museum making locos like Mallard never run again. Stupidity especially the argument that its the most original. The amount of boiler and tender swaps they all had illustrates that. Cheers Rob

I think it’s disgusting that these engines are to be Mothballed. Sure he owns them. He should be congratulated for all the effort of keeping them running. But I have it on good authority he was quoted as “allegedly” saying “they are my engines and if I can’t see them run no one else will I’m having the boilers flooded with concrete and they will never run again!” If the above comments are true it’s just greed selfishness to the extreme. He may own them financially but they are of historical importance to the nation and both locos are possibly older than him. Aside from fiscal ownership the mass collective ownership in the hearts and minds of millions far outweighs this.

I wish I could remeber how to share the video link with the image on here. Any ideas ?

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HrmupTIlup4

Well it’s about time I got on with this it’s only been a few years... life has been hard recently ! Here are some shots of Mallard and Bittern and now all these years on a modified Dapol A4 that was heavily damaged so I made it as it is preserved. Untitled by robriff1, on Flickr Untitled by robriff1, on Flickr I’ve started a new Channel on YouTube here you can see Mallard Running. https://youtu.be/HrmupTIlup4 Cheers Rob

Hi there. Yes my apologies regarding CV201. That was adjusted to that so I didn’t have to wait 7 seconds each time to check for changes in performance. I am aware of cv150 set to value 0 and 151/152 but in my expirience with Hornby motors of the later 5 and 3 Pole flywheel types they jerk. But with 150 set to value 1 with cv 153/154 adjusted as I have with CV10 adjusted too they run much more smoothly for the most part. Hence the post to help others using them with the locos they are most likely to be using them with. Of course I know there are many motors out there that are different and well that’s par for the course with many decodes and what suits what. For example my favourite for pancake motors is lenz silver. Anyway thanks Rob

Hi all. Just thought I would share this after a whole weekend of trying to get the best out of these locos. .. well deocoders !, I have fitted the A1 Chip to a Hornby A4 Mallard as I like the Chime for it. Seemed to remind me more of Mallards Particularly harsh Chime compared to the others. And another TTS chip to a Hornby Adderley Hall. At first the running was jerky but after these changes they run very well. Best results with 128 steps. I’m using a Bachmann Dynamis. Start delay = cv201 = 0 Motor algorithm = cv150 = 1 Motor high v = Cv153 = 255 Motor low v = Cv154 = 0 Config = cv29 = 2 Acceleration = cv3 = 60 Deceleration = cv4 = 10 BEMF = cv10 = 100 Volume = cv178 = 1 (To taste obviously this sets the neiboughs off on 8) Another note these sound amazing if you use an IPhone speaker ! Hope this helps some get more enjoyment from their locos Cheers Rob

Thanks Steve. Yes indeed this is the pre Bachman Model. I bought it becuase I wanted to have one of these older designed in my collection. I like it fine as it is. I just wondered about the livery and the modern bodies have mild changed so won’t fit without mods. This is the rare late type with the 5 pole tender flywheel motor and is actually the best running a4 I have by far even better than the Hornby model !, It’s just one of those situations where I love what it is but can see it had potential to be so much more with a better paint job. Not scared of talking it if I choose too. The livery is growing on me however and has a nostalgic charm you couldn’t replace. I just wondered if it ever was a real livery or if it’s a “neverwas” As regards the Dapol Model. Very nice but I hear unreliable and does not look quite right. Something off about the front end. The Hornby Model nailed it (nearly) as did Trix but the new Dapol one has this bulbous thing going on about the nose. That said I would love one... but not at that price ! Wow Cheers Rob

Hi all I recently acquired a wonderful Liliput A4 Silver link with the later motor and it runs amazing. Nice as it looks the livery to me looks like it’s not accurate or is it a rare version of the livery before the silver loco’s where painted garter blue. It’s in the usual colours but the letters are gold and red rather than the blue grey ones you normally see. Also has the nameplate on the smoke box as in latter life and not painted on the sides. This makes me tempted to repaint it but that would be sacrilege Any advice appreciated it looks like a possible attempt at photographic Grey. Cheers Rob

Can anyone tell me how to get my Youtube Videos to display here with the image of the video. My last post just put a blue script link in. Cheers Rob

Well you will have to remove some metal anyways but you could probably leave the plastic truck in place which does look better and have enough swing for the small wheel. Best of both worlds. That said the old style one ain't bad but your wheel may not fit that old style bogie. Always a hurdle to get over that's where the fun is

Just wondering if the front wheel pony could be taken from a Lima class 40 or Bachmann/jouef 40 or perhaps an old mainline class 45 and the flanged wheel held by that and then somehow mounted that might work