CHARLIE5

Hi Tony, Personally I have never liked the idea of these. I was once at a show admiring a superb GWR layout. All loco were kit built and I had a discussion with the owner about kit building. The first warning he gave was not to use friction-fit wheels. He had constructed all his loco with Gibson wheels and over time all had moved on their axles. He was slowly changing to Markits. I am aware of some who have had success with the introduction of a pin but this seemed fiddly. Much prefer the Romford nut! Regards, Terry

I have just received my 2 car set (BR green) and loose third (34-775) in BR malachite green. I agree the BR green is too dark if one assumes the Hornby version is the more accurate. The malachite green is closer but not a perfect match. I suppose this comes down to personal choice but we are still left of the old problem of matching colours when combining stock from each manufacturer.

Good morning all. I shared my West Country efforts with Tony yesterday and he suggested I post here! This is my first full kit effort in twenty years and has taken nearly a year so far. Sorry Tony no completions in 3 to 4 days! This is a Crownline kit purchased 26 years ago which has been adapted with parts from the late Albert Goodall and RT Models. Of note is the original cab from a RT Models etching which I have used to produce an early example that ran on the S&D. The tender front has been corrected using Albert's casting for the Airfix kit and has been mounted on a Perseverance chassis modified to include the correct pattern brake gear. I have modelled the early TIA water treatment on the tender although I am not certain I have the connecting pipes correctly modelled. This is something I have always wanted to attempt in memory of Albert and Shirley Goodall. Not sure my efforts are up to the excellent standard of modelling here but I am happy to share. Terry

This has just arrived. What a beauty!

Spoke to Rails on the 9th (and received email). Mine was dispatched that day and has yet to arrive (sent 48 hour). Rails have had a lot of pre-orders to dispatch. However, the delay is Royal Mail who have published that they have delivery issues. Some parcels are taking 7 days or longer to arrive.

I have had two orders with Dart/MJT since March, the most recent in May. Both arrived within a week. Postal delivery times have been erratic so I was impressed with the service. Quicker than some others.

MIne are OK but someone did have this issue when they were first released. See http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/27340-sdjr-7f/page-8

Thank you John I ordered etches last November and have received nothing. I have every sympathy with Sam's circumstances and tried to work around the problems by asking one of the guys on the Dart Castings stand to assist. That was over two weeks ago and I have heard nothing. It is now nearly 9 weeks since I last heard from Sam and I am getting nowhere. Sadly, my patience is now at an end and I have raised a Paypal dispute to recover the monies.

Mine was badly warped and barely attached above the buffer beam at the back. All of the open cab versions (002,003 &004) seem to exhibit some degree of distortion. This is not evident at post 308. I have returned mine.

Totally agree. If I had not had a response from Sam this week I would have used this option. Now we know the position there is no need to invoke Paypal. We are not dealing with the likes of Coopercraft here and having had an excellent service from Sam in the past I trust her to fulfil the order. I for one will not be seeking a refund .

No I am not. Her comment is addressed to people who have placed an order and have had no response. That is the first objective and that is what now needs to be resolved. What communication service they then wish to offer going forward (possible updates on their website) is then up to them. Yet again we seem to go off the current issue which is to get the outstanding problems addressed. No wonder Sam gets concerned about posting on this forum.

Great news. I have always had good service from Falcon and Dart Castings and this seemed so out of character. I have emailed Sam suggesting that she just keeps us in the loop by posting updates here. That way her time is not taken up answering individual emails. Hopefully, she will not be frightened away from doing this by the types of responses she has had in the past. Her postings here are now a vital link. I wish her good luck.

Glad to hear that your replacement is OK. My replacement had further faults - glue deposits on the body, poor running and the two body halves would not fit together properly. I have had enough and requested a refund. I do not have the time or patience to sort out Heljan's erratic quality issues.

My E79962 arrived in a dreadful state. All the following were broken off - four buffer cables at one end,half relief tank under floor and one sand pipe. If that was not enough it ran poorly in one direction. Returned for refund as no longer available. I am trying again with one from another retailer. I hope I am not making a mistake. From all manufacturers,this will be the fourth item out of the last five purchases returned for defects. Is there any QC carried out in China these days? Superb model but I cannot see these Heljan detailing parts lasting very long.

Just taken delivery of my 22 and it has exactly the same problem. This is very disappointing given the excellent performance of my two Beattie tanks.