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adb968008

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Everything posted by adb968008

  1. I’m awaiting the news of the Harry Potter train hiting being banned by the cold hand of government in the US media, just as its prime time for Americans to be planning their summer holidays. The tourist board are going to need strong gonads if they hold back on getting involved, especially if it risks a dip in travel demand to the UK. Our politicians run scared of US bad news. of course if the US media don't care, then wcrcs stunt is all for nowt. It all comes down to the power of potter in the media, and the US is quite anti-UK at the moment, Potter has more magic than Flying Scotsman and i’d wager wcrc are well hooked into Warner Brothers better than the ORR, and media would always see news like this as newsworthy as badnews sells well. i’m sure they have all their cards lined up. lets see what transpires.
  2. Theres a game of chess here. The statement by wcrc is the contingency. The passengers are pawns. The people of FW are pawns The American tourists on the news are pawns. The Scottish tourism industry is a pawn And unfortunately in the eyes of public opinion, government agencies never do well, even if they are right. They could have run a diesel and mk2’s, but the PR backlash would goto WCRC. By canceling publically, it sets up another us vs them fight. I watch for the next moves. The GBR tour of Britain is up soon… i remember the last time that turned to farce. is this going to be the Tangmere tour of Britain ?
  3. So predictable. so which politician will roll up first ? que next the hardluck business stories from FW. Sensibly the nrm kept 4472 out of service, otherwise that would be linked to this news story as well. The article does highlight the low of both parties toward each other.
  4. Yeah I got hit with nearly £2.5k of orders.. everything in my list 31,50,66,89 everything except a single 31 ordered the other week. 🙂 good job its a quiet month on the credit card, looks like it didnt hit it though.
  5. so whats still unknown.. RHTT Beilhack 10000/1 Class28 14xx ICI Hopper
  6. Moggy Modelling, whatever next ?
  7. your forgetting customs and immigration. Were out now. its not just about driving your car over without scanning. An illegal is unlikely to arrive in the UK driving a Mercedes registered in Devon with a 24 plate. They are much more likely to grab a £39 seat, a stolen passport and some belongings on the 0927 from Brussels… and even if they did get past two passport lines, theres a last line of defence in London. Similarly someone from Amsterdam is more likely to be carrying waccy baccy in a rucsac on the Amsterdam london than driving that Devon 24 plate car. Finally Lord Lucan making his getaway has more chance taking Shergar to St Pancras, than a Eurotunnel with a 24 plate car in his name followed by ANPR all the way down the M2. Undesirables are often foot passengers, which puts Eurostar in top spot, and the ferry second… self drive is very remote, but they might try a coach… and having done Eurotunnel, Eurostar, Foot passenger, Car ferry and Coach ferry passenger Ive seen they do go on board in more detail on coach passengers than other modes, both sides of the channel… they basically sealed it, collected all passports, took them away and went through the passengers one by one… (that was a school trip and almost all were screaming teenagers from Surrey)… so hardly high risk.
  8. Looks like its startled and jumped in fright!
  9. Cant do that, I was thinking to buy the ribbed central section cover to turn into a shed to keep my Accurascale boxes in.
  10. Afaik EFE have only done 2 Heljan models, right at the beginning. The 35 and 58 in 2020. They are head to head on the Car transporters each with their own toolings, and Heljan has since produced more 35’s and others in their range. They appear to be still very distinct, with just the initial launch models in the efe range.
  11. Thats todays value… in 30 years it could well be not worth much. Thousands of SD40-2’s were built, the 59’s were pretty much the last of the production. I’d imagine s/h spares are plentiful as so many have been scrapped and are in last life usage, of course OEM new spares are always top shelf price, no matter how old the design. I think the UK will end up as the hub for 66’s in the future as euro imports will inevitably gravitate to the largest concentration of 66’s which is the UK…. A bit like Dan Air ended up as the last home of the global fleet of Comets in the 1970’s, so the s/h market for bits for preservation may be plentiful for a while, when that day starts to come… 66043 has been in storage since 2017.. 7 years, 66230 since 2018 (fire damage) .. and 66138/145 …heading in 6 years. Still I think its 25+ years before we see 66’s really demise, unless legislation kills them first, or a future government finds the cash to put up wires enmasse around the country.
  12. Bachmanns are coming in at 14.98 on the tyres, Heljan is 14.75 tbh 0.23mm is here nor there. Bachmanns wheels are all geared, and the axles set in an axlebox, with the keeperplate having two retaining screws holding the centre in place, and clip fit at the ends. Heljans are annoyingly geared end to end, just ignoring that centre wheel. The bogies are Heljan style push fit side frames, and 8 retaining clips holding the keeper plate in place. The axles dont have axleboxes. Tip for refitting the keeper plate, the word “Heljan” reads upright towards the cab, not the tanks. The side frames, obviously just line the cab steps to the cab door. Both have plenty of grease ! unrelated, but one point I forgot to mention, the radiator grills on the roof is a removable piece (but glued in), and the headcode boxes are a separate piece also. investigating putting a knife groove into the roof to make a slight gap for the roof access panels into 4 instead of 2. fyi Mine was £200 on sat at Ally Pally.
  13. Heres another picture supporting Saxby flickr url/ not mine.
  14. I have found Heljan locos can be a little tough to remove names and numbers.
  15. i think a lot of 66s will be preserved, but the option for preserving stock for them to pull has passed, so i’m not sure how useful they will be. That said theres so many of them, they will be running mainline for years. 59’s are the bell weather… 59001 is knocking on 40 next year.
  16. Finding someone to make a claim against is easier in a car, than a passenger on a train. i wonder how much the carpark at Luton airport cost ?
  17. so is this about shutting wcrc down, or making them cdl compliant ? certainly the posts here read as many would like or are trying to shut them down, and as an outsider it certainly feels to me like theres plenty of vendettas and ill will. But if thats the case, surely cdl isnt the right vehicle to do it, as if they become compliant…then that avenue is closed. or is it a case of keep fighting until you get the killer blow ? I’m not in this industry so I only know so much, but what I read here is fascinating, ive got to be honest ive not been on a wcrc tour in years either. I’d no idea it was that bad.
  18. Belmond has been going nearly 50 years, only has 1 rake and is still running without cdl. whats there excuse ? Tyseley is less than 10 years, given they also knew from their conception and a mainline operator, what excuse do they have for not complying back in 2014 from the outset ? SRPS also could have complied years ago, as could Rivera etc… truth be known, none of the rolling stock operators have been on the ball here. If they were then theyd all be 100% done by now and the ORR not granting exemptions. the difference was wcrc chose to challenge it, they lost but it doesnt open the door for vendettas, they should be falling in line like everyone else, and thus treated like everyone else. Royal Scotsman is back next month, I wonder if that will be cdl fitted and ready ? Wouldnt it be safer, better to Shut everyone down now, until they comply and be done with it... theres no arguments then, and thats fair. If not I dont see the argument that wcrc shouldnt be allowed to further challenge why they cant, purely based on “having had enough time” if everyone else who has had enough time, still has an exemption… if wcrc submit a plan thats broadly the same as everyone else plan ?
  19. Summer 1990-1992 was a fun time in Manchester as a teenager, summer holidays going where butter wouldnt. Whilst I recall 25’s, 40’s, even a 24, 44 and 76’s those day were gone. But life wasnt always boring, the summer would send the South’s finest to the North West… 47573, 579, 47821,835 and 47484/500 were all noteable visitors. 47821 at Wilmslow heading towards Manchester and Here is 47596 at a Station time has forgotten… Clifton, on the Bolton line, today served by 1 each way a day… 47596 on the twice weekly Bolton GUS parcels points to note here, it hasnt yet got a sparrow, and its eth socket is on the buffer beam, as the step is in the way.. its also not got the white lining around the windows. so naturally Heljans announcement of 47596 peaked my interest. I thought i’d compare against two favourites… Heljan 47596 vs 47484 [new] and 47628 [old] 47’s from Bachmann So how does it weigh in…. 567g (New Bachmann is 585g / old Bachmann was 537g). So its there. first the roof… 47596/484/628 Roof shape is very similar, this new Heljan is brought much closer to the Bachmann and Hornby/Lima shape than the old Tubby Heljan 47. Note the panels are different, is this right ? 47628 47596/47484 Theres not much to pick between the roof grills, the fans are not powered. so how does it measure up ? the overall shape, inc the nose profile is pretty good… Heres my measures Heljan 47596 / New 47711 Length over buffer: 254mm / 253 mm (1mm) Length over buffer beam 242mm / 240mm (2mm) Width centre bodyside 35.42 / 35.42 (0mm) Height centre wheel to roof 51.02 / 52.08 (-1.06mm) * note this height as its interesting.. A real 47 is 3.9m / 12’ 9.5” which at 1:76.2 suggests 5.1mm or at 1.76 suggests 5.13mm The Bachmann 47 has two switch's for cab lights, the Heljan 47 does not. The Heljan 47 is powered off the outer and inner wheel, the centre wheen has no gearing, so its in effect an A1A-A1A drive. Heljan has done some under pipe detailing, it maybe fuel tank specific, but Bachmann has done more.. 47596 on top of 47484 on top of 47711 (also new Bachmann) now lets look inside… note the fans arent interior mounted, they were put in from the roof exterior. This isnt what were used to seeing inside a Heljan loco, this boards had some serious attention… The cab lights are plugged in with a tiny jst which has been located opposite ends of the (top corners of the) board but simply reverse socketed (Black/Red one end, Red/Black at the other)… unplugging these turns those cab lights on/off. The roof fans are a separate piece glued in. Theres some definite lineage of Heljan history inside.. Its the same motor as the good old 26/27/33 using the same driveshaft / gearbox clip and tower arrangement. Sound space under the board apparently. On power this thing is a beast… 0.2 amp startup, 0.36amp on full power… the house lights flickered when it started.. its running fine, top speed is good, its responsive but man that thing is hungry. It didnt come down after 10 minutes either. comparisons.. 47596/47711/47628 Amps full 0.36 / 0.18 / 0.13 Amps start up 0.20 / 0.02 / 0.04 Cab interior comparisons… ( The Bachmann cab is inside the body, the Heljan cab is on the chassis)… They do seem a bit different.. Heljan 47596 on the left Theres two quite different interior renditions of the engine room… Bachmanns is different on all 4 window positions, Heljan has two identical pipe runs, and 2 different engine bay renditions. The bogies really brings the difference out, Heljans bogie (47596’ is much less relief, more like older Bachmann or even Lima, where as Bachmanns new 47 (47484) has more relief and separate piping… It looks fine at a glance though. Heres the front of a 47.. 47635 at Doncaster in 2003. Heres Heljans 47..side by side What stands out here is on first glance, the window sill is lower, the windows larger, the frame between the two windows is narrower, the roof arc is shallower… But… The buffer beam is lower ! indeed the whole chassis is… All is not what it seems.. So how about an alignment… yep the Heljan 47 is set lower.. Bachmanns old 47s and new align (47628 and 47484) so how about 47711 and Heljans 47596.. yes 47596 is lower.. look at the bogie / chassis gap on both models but 47596 bufferbeam is a perfect height match to an Accurascale mk2b… Also note the buffer beam step, ive not seen this modelled on a 47 before. To be certain heres 47004 to an Accurascale mk2b and 47004 is higher. I also checked a Hornby 87, Bachmann 37, Hattons 66… the Bachmann 47 is higher… between 1mm and 1.5mm depending how tightly youve screwed the body to the chassis, but its higher. fascinated i put both bodies on the deck, theres not much between then.. Now I will shout out some detail points here.. The glazing of the lights lenses on the Bachmann 47 is top notch, Heljans is more average. The aerial mounts are imo better, the cab window frame width imo looks wrong on both.. to thick on Bachmann too thin on Heljan. You can see the difference in footstep positioning (i think Heljans is too close, but I prefer it to be moulded on, as ive lost dozens of Bachmann front steps over the years !). The curvature of the bufferbbeam at the cab corners on Heljan is a bit rough too. Finally the parts bag has a set of screws to mount the snow ploughs which look very good renditions.. on my one there seemed to be a bit of flash around a headlight, and a bit of over spray around a window frame, but its nothing I cant resolve and no worse than others, I think these were foibles Unique to mine..but hey ho. so my conclusions…. Its good but not great. 1. Its a huge improvement on the old Heljan 47, its much closer to the accept shape of a 47 established by Lima and close to Bachmanns. 2. The ride height imo is looking much better on Heljans 47 than Bachmanns, finding the buffers so high on Bachmann was a surprise i checked against several.. 47004/484/628/711.. they are all around 1mm-1.5mm high. When I put it against several other models like the 37/50/87/mk2b they aligned to Heljans 47… now I see that better ride height I cant miss it, this wasnt expected, and I do like the lower height on Heljans / reduced gap between body and bogie. 3. The lighting is good, shape nice. 4. The front steps in front of the bogies is a nice touch. 5. It has separate handrails on the roof vents. What could be better.. Three words.. The Front end… 1. The headlights lenses 2. The moulding of the bufferbeam/cab corners looks sloppy, you can see a mould line for a cut cab. 3. The cab windows feel a fraction too large 4. I’m not a fan of the A1A -A1A drive arrangement, its a CO-CO, whether its technically better its imo not quite realistic. I’d personally put it in second place behind the latest Bachmann 47, and ahead of the previous Bachmann one. Will I buy more, yes I will, it’s good enough, but I may seek after market lenses if someone makes them that good. Is the roof panels right ? I am concious of its price, and that Bachmanns ended up discounted, so I may wait on the same…. Theres not enough in either new 47 to make me want to trade in my older ones, but theres still gaps out there… For me 47’s is about who makes which livery first, heres a hint… and I still need a 47500 to complete the GW150 line up.
  20. Mine was less than that at Ally Pally, not that there was many to be had. I didn't yet find 47555, probably a unique first to go looking for it, and not see it on a day out.
  21. A bit too young to be a mum, but My 13 yr old little one is still into the hobby, wants to drag me out to see the blue 455… indeed she was at Ally Pally hanging out with a friend this weekend. Admittedly an Ipad was a bit more than normal, but she was driving the 142.
  22. Wcrc has a lot of coaches to fit, and more tours than anyone else to fulfill. Its obvious its going to take them longer. Other operators, some with just 1 active rake, have operated in the exemption agreed with the ORR. If wcrc was treated differently than the other operators then the ORR leaves itself exposed. Wcrc for their part are justified, even if it was logically irrational, to wait until the JR result came in before acting on fitting cdl, indeed had they started fitting cdl whilst the JR was underway, it would have undermined their case. I think they played a game last year to drag this out, they may try the same this year too, by ensuring the ORR has to play fair by all operators. So if wcrc agrees a schedule and timetable to fix it, and sticks to it, then the ORR should treat them no differently to any other operator and grant it. Obviously if they don't stick to it, things change, and if the exemption request is illogical the ORR could reject it too. They have done the Northern Belle set with cdl, it was out last week, so the demonstration to comply has been met, so its about committing to doing the rest and keeping the pace. No doubt if the ORR rejects, the Scottish political card could end up being played, and in an election year just before summer may carry a bit more weight.
  23. Interesting the two wcrc mk2bs 5478, 5487 have cdl fitted. I wonder if this might give them a comeback ?
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