sub39h

Thank you all for your help and guidance. Lots of useful hints and tips here! Ok so there are a few pieces of kit I need to invest in but nothing too taxing. I’ll defo practice on a couple of scrap coaches first to see what happens. Wish me luck!

Hi guys, I plan on using 2 Hornby Mk2E BSOs and 2 Mk2E FOs to make 2 BFKs and a Mk2D TSO. What’s the best way to get a fine cut between the roof and body and body segments to allow me to do this please? I’ve never bashed coaches before. Thanks!

Incomplete = not made properly = faulty. And not what you’d expect from the price we pay these days.

It’s incomplete. It’s faulty. I wouldn’t risk ruining a brand new model I spent a considerable amount on by trying to repair it myself.

I wish Hornby had done the Mk2D instead but here we are. I think I can forgive them if they get the BR liveries right this time, not the dark blue on blue grey with mismatching and light grey, or custard yellow for InterCity light grey.

Wow that’s incredibly helpful. Thanks very much!

I didn’t realise the Cobblers were that long

Hmm all of this may explain why I saw a video with blue grey Mk1 in an otherwise Mk2 rake being hauled by a Class 50 at New Street in my period. I had assumed the Mk1 was an SO though! One thing I really love about this period is the patchwork quilt of liveries that made up the trains. Class 50 in NSE hauling Intercity Mk2s with a blue grey Mk1 and a Mk1 buffet. So much diversity! No need for Rule 1, it probably happened in real life!

Do you happen to remember what livery the Mk1s were in please?

Some absolutely excellent information here. Thanks very much everyone! So would Paddington to B’ham be considered an XC working then? I thought XC workings by definition didn’t begin or end at a London terminus?

I think I just presumed that because MML HSTs were ER that the route was too lol. Heljan announced a newly tooled 86 in November.

Thanks for your reply. Wouldn’t Derby be ER? I’ve seen photos and videos of 47/4s at New Street up to 1991. Would those not have been XC trains then? And that’s interesting regarding the 86s - I saw those and presumed they were 2ndary WCML services, a bit like the 5-car Voyagers that sometimes run from Euston now rather than XC services. Definitely gives me a bit of operational interest if a 47 hauled train can come in and uncouple and an 86 joins and the train moves off.

Hi all, I’m interested in knowing more about the Cross Country services that ran through Birmingham New Street and in and around the West Midlands between 1989 and 1991ish. I’ve watched a lot of videos and studied photos and I think I have some ideas but still had a few questions. My understanding is as follows: 1. Trains were either Class 47 hauled or there were some 2+7 HSTs mostly from the WR but also from the ER. 2. Class 47 trains were usually 6 coach mixed Mk2 formations with a Mk1 buffet and a single first class coach My questions were as follows: 1. When were the MK2F RFBs introduced onto XC services? 2. Were the Mk2 sets ER or WR based? What sort of Mk1 buffet coaches were most commonly used? 3. Mk2D TSOTs - I think these were all ER based by 1989? Were any of those used on XC services like above? Were they RMBTs by then and what is the difference between the TSOT and the RMBT? 4. Were there any other coach types or rakes used? Mk1s? 5. Were any longer trains used? 6. Which Class 47s were used on these services and where were they stabled? Would WR 47s ever haul ER coaches? 7. Were declassified coaches (Mk2C/D/F ex-FOs) common on these trains? Would any Mk2F coaches still be in blue grey and awaiting 2+2 seating by then or had they all been fully refurbished and painted into Swallow livery by then? 8. The two rakes I have planned are as follows. Are they vaguely realistic? Class 47 Mk2F TSO Mk2F TSO Mk2A TSO Mk2E BSO Mk1 RMB Mk2D/E/F FO Class 47 Mk2E BSO Mk2D/E/F TSO x 3 Mk1 RBR Mk2D/E/F FO or Mk2 B/C/D BFK Sorry for the long post. Thanks for any info you can give me! Happy new year and happy modelling!

I ordered 4 along with some Mk2As. I also bought some Mk2s in a previous eBay offer and all items have arrived very quickly and well wrapped. It’s definitely worth checking out the C37LG store on eBay! Thank you to all of you and i’m Glad my money is going towards a good cause!

These look very nice indeed. Any word on where to buy and what sort of price please?

Groupon have strips of self adhesive LED lights and they seem cheap. Not sure if they would be of use for lighting coaches or buildings with the right skills? http://www.groupon.co.uk/deals/battery-powered-led-strip-lights-1?utm_campaign=UserReferral_mih&utm_source=undefined

The Class 37 Loco Group’s eBay pages had Bachmann’s blue/grey Mk2F TSOs for £41.65 plus postage. Take away the 15% from the voucher above and that’s as low a price as you’re going to see. There weren’t many left when I bought mine so be quick!

Merry Christmas everyone! Just a quick bump on my old thread rather than opening another one. Which ones of these had had their buffers modified by 1991 please? And if you could narrow that down to which ones were in trainload (any sector) or RES that would be great.

Great thanks Flood - so i’ve just noticed from one of your old posts on another thread that Mk2F FOs could have Stones fans same as Mk2Es. I don’t suppose you happen to know which declassified Mk2Fs had the Stones equipment please because it makes converting a Hornby Mk2E that much easier? Similarly do you know which RFBs had Stones and which had the Temperature ones? Thanks again

Looks fantastic. Need to get on with painting mine.

Thanks for all the info guys!

Ok great thank you. I think i’ll have to butcher one of my Hornby Mk2E FOs into a declassified MK2F SO to bolster my rake. So it can be blue grey, I need to steal a fan off a scrap Lima Mk2F I have and remove one of the underframe boxes. I know I also should replace the roof hatch (Mk2Fs were bigger were they not?) and all of my Hornby Mk2Es need their roe-vacs replacing with the ones I got from Shawplan. Would different Mk2 air con types run in the same rake commonly on the WCML? The WCML got Ds, Es and Fs didn’t it?

Toilets on the same side is applicable to all air con FOs I believe. Mk2D TSOs also have the toilets on the same side, unlike the E/F which have them on opposite corners. I thought the Mk2D FOs had bump stops which those coaches don’t?

I wouldn’t be able to identify that as an Mk2D at that range lol

Could anyone clarify which liveries the 62xx Mk2D TSO (ex-FO) coaches carried please? I’ve found loads lf photos of the Mk2F declassified coaches both in blue/grey and Intercity but am yet to find a photo of a declassified Mk2D FO? Thanks