Ian Hargrave

The practice of not stopping at Quorn can cause confusion for passengers. Two years ago,wanting to experience Deltic Alycidon’s visit,I consulted the GCR timetable for that specific day which was a Friday and planned my visit. So I drive to Quorn and park. I join the Leicester bound train and return with it to Loughborough,intending to return to Quorn on it in as timetabled in order to pick up the car & drive home. The p a announcement at Loughborough then informed that the train would be non-stop to Leicester. I made “suitable remonstrations” with the train crew,reminding them of the advertised online timings and succeeded in achieving the then unscheduled stop at Quorn without having to take a flying leap. At the time,I suspected this was a case of the right and left hands not being in accord. The 60 mph stunts usually operate for demos ( at Quorn ) of their TPO

Sorry 93 not 97. A beautiful model .A piece of railway history recreated. One that runs itself in btw.In due course,I shall add one of Dapol’s crimson suburban Toplights to its rear. Even if someone informs me it’s historically inaccurate.

The click could be coming into contact with something on your test track perhaps.Such as the steps brushing the contacts wired from your controller.This is happening atm with my 97 to the extent that it will cause stalling at very low amps. Not a major issue for me,I hasten to add.

Which elderly said passenger could have been me,Except that I have already concluded that getting up in the middle of the night to join one of these grey power specials isn’t for me in any case and not within my comfort zone,either health or wealth wise.

In Cymraeg,Efrynwy ( f=v ) The river valley of that name was flooded in 1880 to provide a water supply to Liverpool .In essence the answer to your question is yes but probably also due to the gradual influx of migrating population from ,as we say,”up England way” and their speech patterns etc.

Putting this the other way round,if you like,currently you can operate some sound -fitted locos ( e.g.LokSound ) using a 12v DC analogue controller ( e.g.Gaugemaster) of suitable quality. You will get sound but without the sophistication of a decent DCC system. That is no guarantee that this would be the case with the steam railcar. There is no quick answer to this because there are so many variables involved such as your controller and track.. I could quote my own experience but that would not be of any use.Yes I have had what I might describe as a form of success but Neal’s advice is the way forward here. Ask. Good Luck.

……as posted on this forum perhaps ? Well some of us aren’t subscribers to the “sad saga “ and do actually run perfectly sound models with zero “issues “,to quote a seemingly much overused term. Yes,it is accepted that there have been difficulties which the gents at Rapido UK have striven manfully to overcome . It could well be that by the time your layout reaches completion,they will have successfully done so.

The unmistakable figure of Orson Welles and the sound of the zither.Wien Mitte awaits the sound of the railcar 🤪

I did post it with my tongue glued to the roof of my mouth . Walt Disney could do better.Never mind,to soothe the irritation came THE email from Camborne.

Now available for viewing on Rails website is Railroad Plus R 30319 . 14XX .Plus what exactly ?

And has been so for a number of years….well at least it certainly was in the summer of 2021 which is when I saw it parked up outside Fort William station. Worth a look at RealTime Trains which gives you both train&traction information .

Obviously a man of impeccable taste and sensibility.I have an affinity with the Diocese of B&W as both I and subsequently my son were baptised within. Sadly,the church itself is no more,it being the victim of an ecclesiastical Beeching cut.

Which post had me returning to the 2MT box for its Operating and Maintenance Instructions.I quote: “The locomotive chassis may,from time to time,pick up fluff,fabric fibres and pet hairs which can become entangled in the gears and around axles.For this reason,it is not advisable to run the locomotive on track which is laid on a carpet.”

Samples of Rails/Dapol GW Inspection Saloon now on Rails website.

One thing I think needs highlighting is that Sam is not a forum member. Above you will maybe read my take on this which is not from Sam’s perspective but my own experience with this model. You may also care to look at Mike Parkin’s post which neatly encapsulates the situation. Over the years,yes,I’ve listened to the judgment of others but in the main it’s my own decision. On very few occasions has it let me down. If you’re mentioning price,my 2MT cost me £179.But it maybe won’t have escaped your notice that things have become a good deal more expensive than they used to be and that price now seems average,like it or not. You’re obviously interested in this model,otherwise you wouldn’t be posting on this thread,so why not buy one and run it on your own layout. .? Maybe trust to the judgment of other forum members.

I would suggest that struggles equates to slows down under load on a curve. Add in the gradient factor to the mix and if you look closely on a Smart Screen TV (mine has a dedicated YouTube app ) his track which in places is not pinned down. This is incidentally not unique in Sam’s crusade against Hornby can motors. The newly released 9F which most of us think is an excellent model sent him into a degree of indignation and led him to remotor it which is something he says he’s going to do with the 2MT but this time using a coreless specimen. If Sam is not happy then that’s up to him. Personally I’m happy with both the 2MT and the 9F.And let’s be quite clear on this…..neither model has “ issues “. My track is laid accurately pinned on a board. To conclude this post,I’ve coupled my 2MT to a rake of what’s currently on the board. : 5 new release Bachmann Bulleid coaches,the set coupled with magnetic couplings.This is about as much as its prototype would handle in its everyday existence in BR secondary passenger work .The coaches run freely ( something frequently overlooked ) but they are in rtr terms heavy. The only slow down occurs on a gradient “dip” and that is minimal. It is to be remembered that there is such a thing a load drag resistance on a curve in any case. Most rtr models will slow on a curve under load. To start a scare story about issues in this case is irresponsible nonsense . To compare this model with a 40 year old crudity is ludicrous and an insult to my intelligence at very least.

Now received the announcement with images of their arrival late February. Being a bit pedantic,in their accompanying text,they state it was delivered to BR in 1952. In fact it was displayed at the 1951 Festival of Britain Railway exhibition at Waterloo East .Be that as it may,it does seem that Heljan have made a splendid job of it in both its guises

Yes your knowledge of “the product “ speaks for itself. And talking of which,I’m currently viewing on YouTube “Vintage Southern” and just watched one in BR black head a freight train. The narrator announces it as a “diesel electric “.Should have gone to Specsavers…But the model IMHO is one of the best surprises we’ve had in a long while.

Well apparently ,we are reliably informed that it is in fact XO4 driven loco drive.,so I’ve removed my further post.Opinions on its capabilities can be found above.

The closure of what started its life as The Steel Company of Wales Margam Abbey Works is a very real human tragedy for Port Talbot & the surrounding area. It sticks in my craw,as someone who has a long association with the area,that I read just now the BBC News App post the question “Where is Port Talbot? “ .The media are it seems understandably anxious to hype the environmental benefits. Right now,that’s not going to mollify the anxiety felt this weekend. My late wife worked as a social worker there when we were first married. I remember eating a picnic lunch together on Margam Burrows overlooking the works. My father helped supply brick & pipe works to the site when it was under construction. My mother,as a young district nurse,visited the Jenkins family in the nearby village of Pontrhydyfen. One of the family’s offspring went to the local grammar school in Port Talbot where he was taken under the wing of his English teacher and grew up to reinvent himself as Richard Burton. Both Antony Hopkins and Michael Sheen followed in his footsteps from the town. That’s where Port Talbot is. I am incredibly sad.

So would this older model be loco or tender driven ? Because if it’s the latter that would make a huge difference to adhesion. & consequent performance. AFAIK,no current OO steam image model is thus powered.

I think it would be a useful exercise for you to spend time researching the locomotives that ran on BR in the 1950’s. You might then discover that the K1 ….yes it’s the same 2-6-0 configuration indeed as the Standard 2MT….is actually nearly ,in prototypical terms,twice as powerful and a totally meaningless comparison. Indeed ,comparisons in model rail terms necessarily are. Everyone’s layout is different and speed is only one of the factors involved.A preserved example of the K1 spent a period of time hauling The Jacobite between Fort William and Mallaig .It then had mainline certification. The 2MT I believe is and I think has been since withdrawal and preservation restricted to heritage lines as is 78022 on the KWVR where she is in regular use. Buy the little 2MT and judge its performance for yourself rather than dependence upon what you view on YouTube.Marking model trains performance using some arbitrary self-concocted parameters is absurd. That said,there are some decent enthusiasts ( some of them post on this forum) who video some decent stuff showing their models on well constructed layouts in non judgmental manner 9

Precisely. It is a model that is designed to be accurate in prototypical haulage capacity.And it performs well. Sam’s knowledge of such locomotives isn’t great. He exists to supply excitement & entertainment to his followers. The 78XXX will be fine with up to 5 coaches in tow but leave it at that. They started out as replacements for e.g. the Dean Goods on the Cambrian WR lines.

Both the GWR and subsequently the WR had a Paddington-Oxford-Worcester-Wolverhampton service that ran via Kidderminster,Stourbridge Junction and Dudley to Wolverhampton Low Level.

60147 was indeed one of the first run of Bachmann’s A1 along with 60158. Bachmann recalled them to Barwell….no mean feat in what was mainly a pre internet world ….and remotored all that was sent there. Several months later they were duly returned to us.