Marke

The Dapol JHAs are heavy wagons which I found to have significant rolling resistance's because the wheels rub against the underside of the wagons chassis. I think many n-gauge locomotives would struggle to move any largish rake and my Revolution 59 struggled with more than 6! But all is not lost - by adding very thin home made plastic card washers between each bogie and the bolsters (I.e. the pivot on the chassis to which the bogie attaches) I was able to get my JHAs to run very freely and silently. Despite the weight of these wagons, my Revolution 59 effortlessly handles a rake of 10 including around my layout including hauling them up a 1 in 40 gradient.

I can’t compete with the quality of Stuart A’s photos above but here are a few photos of my 59002 - an absolutely superb model and a beautiful runner.

Deltics and an HST (soon to replace all Deltic workings?) at the buffers at Marylebone station…..and presupposing that the Great Central remains open.

It’s been a long time since this thread was last updated but the N gauge society Ferrywagons arrived three or so months ago. I picked up three at the International N Gauge show and they are lovely models. Well done to the N Gauge Society volunteers who made this model happen, and to the manufacturing partner who produced them. To me they are detailed models that really look the part. The livery application and printing is all excellent. One point to note is that they aren’t very free running out of the box but I resolved this with a little grease on the axle ends and by easing the brake rigging. I haven’t encountered any problems with decoupling or derailments despite the long wheelbase.

This is a great announcement for British N Gauge - Well done Dapol. I will not be able to resist the two BR Blue variants (87 031 and 87 101) as long as the BR blue and warning yellow shades are reasonably accurate - the 86’s were OK in this respect but the blue / yellow shades used on the ‘recent’ Class 73 (as an exclusive for Gaugemaster) were way off the mark in my view. Also I’m hoping that 87012 in ‘mainline’ livery will become available outside of the twin pack with 87006 as currently proposed. Along with the recently announced Class 56s, Rapido’s Peaks and Revolution’s pipeline of models it looks like 2024 is going to be a horribly expensive year!..and what if Bachmann then shrunk there class 117 high density DMU and class 85??

Very good news that Dapol are proposing a new run of class 56s with updated bodies. I'm up for a large logo and banger blue versions but I do hope that the banger blue model will not be numbered 56 006 since that was the number used on the original Dapol class 56. Fresh numbers not previously used on earlier models must surely lead to more sales…much easier to justify the expense if the model is a fresh identity. I do accept that I could resort to renumbering if 56006 remains the preferred identity.

Superpower lineup on the buffers of my Marylebone layout (as viewed from the carriage entrance to the concourse).

The final segment, from about 13.35ish.

Some excellent positive publicity for model railways courtesy of the Revolution Team on the Jeremy Vine show today - who would have thought that a sound fitted Ngauge class 59 would make national radio!

I hope this is good news but what does it mean for those of us who have ordered a non-sound loco with the intention of fitting a non-sound Next 18 chip ( and noting that the original specification referred to a Next 18 interface). What does this mean for the DCC interface on the Diesel Parcels Unit and class 313. Will a non sound Next 28 DCC chip be available from ESU at non- sound prices. Hoping that Revolution can reassure me and others on these queries. Thank you

I suggest the Mark 2c coaches would be strong sellers, which would be of interest to many BR Blue era modellers and which have never been produced previously by any other manufacturer. I would certainly invest in a rake. I also ‘vote’ for the MDO/MDV 21t wagon, the HUO hoppers and the Syphon G. And from the list of locos, I vote for a new class 37 (but might Farish update theirs following the Bachmann’s plans for their OO model?); the class 50 ( whilst the Dapol model is relatively recent there is room for improvement) and the class 89 ( subject to whether Revolution decide to progress their proposal for an 89).

Thank you, good to know the Bachmann 36-567A’s are now available even if pricey….I fear the days of high quality £20 chips are long gone though.

Well done Kernow - looks like a super model. I hope it sells well.

Over the last 3 or so years N gauge locomotives have evolved from having 6 pin decoder sockets to Next-18 sockets allowing a greater range DCC functionality and supporting sound decoders for those interested in ‘sound’. Personally I am not a sound fan (in part due to the considerable additional expense) and my go-to decoder of choice has been the Zimo MX618N which I have found to be great value (they were selling for £20), to offer fine motor control and to support a good range of lighting functions. However Zimo decoders (and in particular their non sound Next 18s) are now as rare as hens teeth. Likewise the Bachman 36-567 Next 18 decoder, which I understand is made by Zimo and is the same as the MX618N, is showing ‘out of stock’ or ‘on order with the supplier’ at all main model railway retailers. I would be interested to hear other modellers recommendations for Next 18 decoders from other suppers in light of the current lack of availability of Zimo / Bachman decoders.

Very pleased with my BR blue Class 28 (with a dab of value weathering by TMC). Mine is a non sound version with with Zimo Next 18 DCC chip fitted. Runs smoothly with a lovely low volume ‘chug’ from the mechanism. In my view a superb first N gauge model from Rapido and good value too.

Just returned from visiting GETS today in Milton Keynes. I thought it was an excellent show with a good mix of layouts in N, OO and O. Also a good mix of retailers, specialist traders and manufacturers. Personally I think this is the best GETS so far (… since it has been using the MK venue).

As this has become a general wish list thread, then I have to fly the flag for a suburban first generation DMU such as a class 115, 116, 117s etc.

Another excellent development from Revolution. Doesn’t quite fit with my area of modelling but I am sure I will find an excuse for a blue-grey one. If only somebody would produce a first generation high density suburban DMU (class 117 or similar) which remains a big gap in the world of British N gauge.

Just wanted to record my thumbs up for this development…despite the pain it will inflict on my wallet. Great to see Rapido now proposing to produce the Peak series of locos which are bit more mainstream than the class 28. It’s been a good couple of months for N Gauge announcements.

Thought I would post an NSE 321 on the ‘run round’ tracks on my Marylebone layout. The 321 is a fine looking model and I have now got it running reliably although I would have preferred more straight forward couplers without the through electrical connections.

I think this is a beautiful model and pleased to see that Farish have reverted to using the satin finish rail blue rather than the matt finish used on the initial release of the class 40s.

From the video I would say you have a split gear on one of the bogies.

Thank you for the positive feedback. Regarding my method I can summarise it as follows: - I removed all glazing including the perspex light guides that link to the roof mounted headcode boxes - I then removed as much of the headcode boxes as possible with a sharp craft knife / files - I used a square styrene section (plastic card from the Evergreen range) to fill the hole, roughly cut to shape before installing and secured with epoxy glue from the inside of the body shell - I then further filed this to match the curve of the roof, and filled any small gaps using Deluxe Materials plastic putty. - further filing to refine the shape to achieve the doomed roof end look of the skinhead 31s. - I used a separate section of filed plasticard to create the roof mounted horn enclosures. (In fact I made these by laminating two thinish sections, curving the sections over a curved file handle). More filler needed to get a neat finish after fixing these to the cab roofs. - once I was happy with the roofs I masked off the rest of the body to leave the two cab roofs exposed and applied a spray undercoat (Tamiya Fine Surface Primer - grey). - after correcting obvious imperfections after applying the undercoat, I brush painted Precision Paints Pre 1985 BR blue which I found to be a pretty good match for the Farish BR blue. - on the cab fronts I removed the mounded handrails and used 0.35 nickel silver to create separate handrails following the revised arrangement used on the Skinhead cabs. Precision paint BR warning yellow to touch up the front ends, again a reasonable (but not exact) match to the Farish yellow - the marker disc are from n-brass - bespoke loco numbers from Railtec Hope this is clear. Will try to add a couple of photos ( and my apologies if any end up upside down - I can see no way to rotate the images even though they are the right way up in my photo library). Mark

As a lockdown project I have completed a conversion of the rail blue 31 to a skinhead version, namely 31 102

Good news indeed - I wonder if it might prompt Oxford to expand their range of 70s / early 80s cars.