Going2theDogs

Hi All, As pointed out by McC @ £22.48 the Accurascale MGR are very competitively priced indeed. However, it would cost me in excess of £800 to replace all my Hornby versions and with external factors impacting household costs (gas, food, fuel for the car etc etc), in this instance I will ‘gracefully decline’. As I stated earlier, from normal viewing distances, I am personally quite happy to stick with the Hornby wagons.

Hi All, Firstly, to confirm I am a fan of both Accurascale & Cavalex products purchasing numerous wagons to make up various rakes. So I can hear ‘why on earth have you bought these Hornby MGR wagons?’ The rational I have applied is as follows: 1, I was in my local model shop & saw these new Hornby MGR wagons. They looked good with great decoration (now finally with non consecutive running Nos) & they ran well so I bought them (impulsive?). 2, The price is comparable to the alternative models from Accurascale & Cavalex. However, will the MGR models from Accurascale & Cavalex: - Have more detail - definitely. - Look better - certainly. But here is the rub. If I bought a pack of Accurascale or Cavalex MGR wagons & mixed these within a rake of Hornby MGR would these stand out - probably. And that is the issue for me. It would bug me & I would ‘need’ to replace the dozens of Hornby versions I already have. That would require me shifting on my existing Hornby versions. This requires time & with a potential limited low return as others are already doing this. Then there is the new outlay of hundreds of pounds for the newer wagons to replace my original wagons. So I have decided in this instance to keep my existing Hornby MGR wagons (sorry Accurascale & Cavalex) & will add this pack to extend my rakes further. In my opinion when these are looked at from normal viewing distances (esp once the wagons are weathered) the Hornby wagons will look great for me. Now, if I was started out & looking for my first rake MGR wagons my decision would be different.

Hi All, I have been waiting to get this latest edition at one of my local Supermarkets or WH Smith but have yet to see this appear in the shops. I notice this thread has also gone a little quiet. Has anyone managed to get a copy of this yet & if so could they confirm where they got this from. Thank you.

Hi All, Reflecting on Hornby’s ‘top notch’ diesel locomotive range. They have in their portfolio the class 8, 31, 43 (HST), 50, 56 & 60. The class 31 & 56 will soon be offered by other manufacturers and although yet to be seen, the specification looks impressive. The class 43 has recently had a modest upgrade & as an aside with the Oxford Mk3 coaches now under Hornby ownership, these could improve this offering. That leaves the class 8, 50 & 60. These were held in high regard when first launched - but that was a few years ago now. If Hornby are looking to ‘brick up’ their modern diesel range, it would be worth looking at these loco’s sooner rather than later with a view to update & improve. Although I am no expert on this, but perhaps some consideration could be given to additional lighting (engine room & ability to turn of the rear lights when hauling stock) & even a smoke generator to produce some ‘clagg’. Just some personal thoughts. I would be interested to see what others think.

Hi All, Thanks for the feedback GordonC & Zunnan. I will be running these ‘Swallow’’ liveried MK2F behind a Class 47 in either matching Inter City ‘Swallow’ livery or even a RES example. Therefore the BG or adding another TSO would be my preferred option. Still can’t find any footage on YouTube so any help with this would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Hi All, Following on from my earlier post a couple of weeks ago, I now have a rake of the MK2F in ‘swallow’ livery. The question I have is to complete my rake to a total of 6 coaches I have some options: 1, Add another TSO 2, Add the BG 3, Add a GUV In relation to the last 2 options, both are available in the same livery albeit with the legend ‘Inter City’ but would these vehicles be found at the end of a rake of MK2F? Any photo’s showing this would be gratefully received. PS - I am limited to 6 coaches due to the size of my layout. Thanks in advance.

Hi All, I have attached a short video clip of my 7 car APT. The couplings have been changed to the Hunt versions. Enjoy!

Hi All, I am certainly looking forward to adding this to my ‘reference material’. A big thanks to Simon & colleagues for putting these together.

Hi All, There has been a coaching stock upgrade completed on my layout…… Finally got round to completing my rake of MK2F in ‘Swallow’ livery with these impressive Bachmann coaches. Thought I would get these while I could as inevitably, later models that will be introduced will increase in their selling price. Worth a look if you are considering getting some of these models yourselves. Stay Safe.

Hi All, A question regarding Hornby’s MK2 coaches. I am particularly interested in the ‘swallow’ livery & see Hornby have produced in the last few years both the MK2E & MK2F. Is one version more prototypical than the other? This could be with regard to the livery Hornby has used or the actual reproduction of the coach itself. Would these 2 coach types be found in mixed rakes & if so, do the colours Hornby have used match? Questions, questions….. I look forward to your feedback.

Hi All, Can anyone confirm if the latest Yeoman hoppers have the same running numbers as the original batch. Thanks in advance.

Hi All, Well my list (of superb) Accurascale rolling stock is as follows: 12 x Cawoods PFA coal wagons. 12 x Rugby Cement PCA wagons. 10 x BSC JUA iron ore wagons. 12 x HOP/HUO coal hoppers. 6 x BSC JSA Covered wagons. All are suitably weathered & have applicable Accurascale loads (apart from the PCA obvs). I am waiting to see the class 37’s & could easily be tempted by a blue large logo variant. Also looking for a class 55 D9000 in two tone green as ‘Royal Scots Grey’ & hoping this will be in a further batch…..

Hi All, So today I collected my Hornby class 370 APT 7 car set & I have to say my initial impressions were very good. I set up a basic train set oval to test this & all was well. I then added the Hunt couplings & run this again with no problems. Once the 3 units are ‘chipped up’ it will be on the layout for more testing. In the meantime, here Is a short video showing my APT set complete with an additional 2 car pack. Not very prototypical but a real tail chaser in every sense of the word…. Enjoy.

Hi All, I have ordered a pack of Hunt couplings for the APT & they have arrived today. I see they are different lengths, but unfortunately no instructions on what coupling goes on which vehicle…. Can anyone advise on this? I am collecting my Hornby APT this afternoon so was planning to fit these this evening so if anyone could help it would be most appreciated. Also, if additional coach packs are ordered I am quite happy to order another pack from West Hill Wagon Works, however, which variant of these Hunt couplings would be used? As a footnote, on their website I saw it said for third radius & above.

Hi All, Attached a short video showing the Dapol SR starter signal in operation. I have been impressed with these as they are easy to install & add some ‘real life’ realism albeit a little noisy…. Enjoy!

Hi All, Just following up on the most recent run of these superb BBA’s. Once again, there has been quite a lot of interest in the Railfreight versions with some versions already sold out. I would suggest, if you are contemplating acquiring some of these, act soon. Once they are gone, they are gone (until the next run anyways).

Hi All, I have also received my BBA’s from Rails (including the 2 with the metals sub-sector branding). I spoke to Rails on Wednesday to confirm my pre-order & pay, They arrived the following day - exceptional service especially at this time of the year. Thank you Rails.

Hi All, Looking at this pending announcement from Accurascale, got me thinking…… Is this the ‘competition’ referred to by Hornby on the recent TV series regarding the HST? I guess we will soon know. Whatever it is, it sure to be a top class model.

Hi All, Thought I would attach some images showing some of these items once positioned on my model railway. Enjoy.

Now that explains a lot!

Hi All, This post is with regard to West Hill Wagon Works although not directly related to the earlier posts concerning their superb magnetic couplings. I had ordered some items to add some additional detail to various scenes on my layout. These included Newspaper stands, detailed parking meter, welder bottle trolley & some ‘Stop’ boards, After an hour or so of preparing, priming & painting they have all turned out well (IMHO). ‘Under the microscope’ this enlarged image can be quite brutal but once these items have been installed on the layout & with normal viewing distances of a few feet, they all look superb. Well recommended.

Hi All, Talking of Argos..... For my 10th birthday (back in the 1970’s) my parents took me to get the Hornby Flying Scotsman train set from our local Argos store. Unfortunately,, this was out of stock, however an alternative Hornby train set was available..... This was supplied in a plain cardboard box & included a blue class 35 Hymek with an assortment of wagons & circle of track. Not sure if there was a packaging error but included in the set was 2No. Blue circle cement wagons (in the stand out yellow livery). Other wagons included a red SR 7 plank wagon, London brick wagon in red livery, Fine Fish vent van & a 20T BR brake van. I still have these +40 years on. Note to self - must dig these out for a jog along memory lane.

Hi All, Hope you have all had a great weekend. Some interesting comments & feedback from my earlier post about the advancement on battery technology. For the record, I for one will continue with my use on DCC but was just making an observation. I did smile about the comment about the fact that the batteries would need charging - very true that! Stay safe people.

Hi Roy (& others), Battery technology has come on significantly over the last few years. Using Li-Ion battery technology resolves a lot of the challenges previously experienced with other variants. Li-ion eliminates the memory effect & also holds the charge when not in use. These batteries are also lighter. Charging can be done either via a ‘trickle’ charge or ‘fast’ (without any detrimental effect to the battery). Many different capacities are also now available. I believe the real challenge will be sourcing & supplying the Li-Ion materials with the competition from electric cars, bikes, scooters all requiring a similar technology.

Hi All, Picked my copy up earlier today in Tesco’s. Another excellent read using prototype images showing the real stock alongside photo’s of the models including details on how to improve these. Well done Simon.