llamafish

October 22, 2018

Correct. The remaining examples are all rebodied examples (a few original bodied examples did gain EWS livery, not sure if any still survive now) and all carry a rather battered EWS livery.

This is a fairly typical example of one these days:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/153712773@N08/45298892392/

There are still 83 of them on TOPS, but a lot aren't active.

October 21, 2018

I can't help with that, but I can help with the reference as promised:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/northamptontoffeeman/8612967251/ - that decal is on the pantograph coach - 66870

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ews60002/42929042284/ vehicle 66870

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ews60002/28758021147/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ews60002/42742405595/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darlo2009/27986708675/ the decal on the centre of 66870

https://www.flickr.com/photos/133177549@N05/36283460755/ the decal featured on 66820 - I assume the London Midland name has now been removed, but I've not studied the unit when I've seen it

https://www.flickr.com/photos/64518788@N05/14476957592/ how the complete set looks

https://www.flickr.com/photos/barkingbill/8553453357/ when launched, the numbers were replaced with this style, but they've long since reverted to the original typeface and number spacing.

Good luck in achieving it, hope you manage to find somewhere.

October 21, 2018

I’m struggling in getting detailed pictures of the center cars.

Several of my contacts on Flickr have decent photos of the centre cars, and the various little bits of detail featured on it. On the driving ends it's basically a series of stripes that is designed to fade into the LM livery. These stripes then continue on the centre cars.

If you're still struggling to find decent pics of the individual vehicles, let me know, I'll pass on the links when I have more time to find them tomorrow.

October 18, 2018

A few of you may be aware that I have a newer style Hornby class 08 that is in need of repairs. I was running the loco into a siding when the centre coupling rod on one side somehow became detached from the wheels. This then resulted in the wheels jamming and buckling, and both sets of coupling rods becoming bent. I was able to remove the body and the motor (I have bent the copper contacts in the process though), but wasn't able to get to the wheels. I decided the safest option, all things considered, was to seek a completely new chassis unit (even though the fault is only with the wheels and coupling rods), or to try and get it repaired professionally, as I don't feel confident enough to tackle it myself, even if I had all the parts, I'd rather not make a mess of it. After I got nowhere trying to find anywhere that may sell a complete chassis, and being quoted a very high price for potential repair, I thought I'd contact Hornby direct, as I'd had locos repaired with them in the past, but this was before the factory in Westwood closed. However, I was very pleased to find out that they do still carry out repairs, at a different site. A case number was created, and the loco was posted off - the postage being covered out of my own pocket.

However, I have had contact back from them, and they say they will 'regrettably' not be repairing the loco as 'it needs a lot of work' and they do not have the parts in. I suspect it's more a case of they can't be bothered as it's not worth their time. Surely the manufacturer of the product can get onto the factory in China and have parts sent over in their next order? Anyway, the loco is being returned to me in an unrepaired state. For reference, the parts they say I need are:

X9372M wheels

X9374 chassis base (I don't believe this, there's nothing wrong with it)

X9369 side rods

X9375 contacts

This has left me feeling frustrated, disappointed and very let down, as I felt it was my last resort, and I thought surely they would be able to repair it as I didn't think it would be that complicated to swap the parts over. I've also wasted the postage costs with nothing to show for it.

I don't have a lot of money, and certainly can't afford to buy a new shunter at circa £120, as that's a hell of a lot of money, but I'm left with one of favourite locos broken and unusable.

So, I'm after a replacement class 08 or 09 (will consider any, as long as it's in good or 'as new' working condition, but would prefer either a green or dual-braked example), or a new complete chassis that I can use my loco body (nothing wrong with that) on, or I'm seeking out anyone that feels they may be able to repair it for me, as long as the cost isn't too expensive.

For any of the above, as part of it I can offer some Hornby tank wagons, Lima coaches (with Hornby bogies) and various wagon and coach wheels in part exchange if it would help keep monetary costs at a sensible price, after this farce I'm just a bit desperate and throwing myself upon people's mercy, as I don't know what else I can do.

Many thanks for reading, please pm me if you feel you can help in any way, even if it's just advice or a recommendation, or seeking more details.

Thanks.

October 3, 2018

Sorted, thanks.

September 27, 2018

A little update.

I've scored in the doors on the insides, and have added a little bit of plastic [might be slightly overscale, will probably make them protrude less in the other three] to represent the lip on the lower part of the doors. I did think about putting in the lower half of the lip, which tapers back in towards the door, but felt it wasn't needed as the interior will sit where it would go, so have settle with the top half plus a little bit! I did try and put some tape from an old video over the top of the plastic and up the door a very small way, to try and replicate the curving shape of the lip, but again, felt it wasn't necessary as it didn't really give me the desired shape.

A word of note, the more recent releases of my 4 (1997 and 2004 respectively) seemed to be made of a much softer plastic than the other two, so be careful if scoring or cutting later models, the knife or tool will go into them like butter. It took much less effort to score the doors on these two than it did the older two.

July 31, 2018

Speaking of the interior, a very minor update to show I'm still working away at these, when time and temperature allows!

Two interiors of a TSO - that's Table-less Second Open! I was amazed at how quick and easy it was to remove these. They will of course be needed again later on, but this gives me better access to the rest of the interior, as well as the tables themselves.

On the right hand side is 5232, now with a white stripe. It's a bit rubbish (i.e. don't look at it too closely!), but at least it has one, hopefully I can neaten it slightly in due course.

By the way, I'm still after answers to the questions posed in an earlier post, as well as any photos of any part of a Mk2, but preferably inside, or of any fixtures and fittings, especially those areas not normally photographed such as the vestibule and toilet areas, the door areas, that kind of thing.

In a few days time I'll be away from the project for a couple of weeks as I'll be in Canterbury, but in the meantime I'll keep looking for anything that might come in useful!

Thanks.

July 6, 2018

I find simply painting the seats on RTR one colour, the partitions and corridor another the floor a third and table tops something light makes a tremendous difference to a model, even if done in a horribly slapdash manner. Getting a consistent representation of the obscured glazing on the toilets is more difficult but well worth it. Replacing the moulded slab of the guards / luggage compartment with some mesh also helps.

This is what I'm hoping, even if the colour isn't quite accurate, it has to be better than beige plastic! I'm trying to work systematically, working from the top first (or at least the inner roof panels etc), then the interior, then the outside. I'm sure we've all done something and then realised something was meant to be done before it, and left with the tough decision of leaving it as it is, or taking two steps back to take what you've just done out!

July 5, 2018

Whilst patiently waiting for answers, I've been trying to put a white stripe on 5232. I don't like to give up on things, but after 5 or so attempts of trying various ways and methods, and then trying to get it off again because it looks rubbish, I think I've rather ruined the bodyside somewhat, and still have no idea how to get the white stripe onto it, and so that it looks reasonably decent, so for now, I've decided not to continue working with this one, and will concentrate on the remaining three. It was getting me quite miserable, even more so seeing the current state of it, so I've decided to abandon it, or at least until I can work out what to do with it. It's a shame, as I was looking forward to sorting this one out, but I don't want to ruin it further.

June 27, 2018

Now that is the sort of repaint I can relate to!

Can anyone confirm any of the following please?

- I found some diagrams on one of the NSE groups' page, that states the Mk2a coaches had one table removed in the seating bays at opposite ends of the coach, was this generic to all Mk2a vehicles, or just those under NSE ownership?

- Am I right in thinking the original Mk2s had the grey formica panels on the roof, but the rest of the interior of the coach was treated wood panelling? I've found some photos of preserved Mk2s that show this arrangement, but not sure if the formica was something that might have been added later.

- Were there any bins etc provided within the coach, between any seats perhaps?

Finally, if anyone has, or can point me to any detail pics of either the inside or outside of Mk2 and Mk2 coaches, please do send them my way! I've got several bookmarked that I've found on Flickr, as well as my own photos, but will always welcome any more that can show that little bit of extra detail, however small that might be.

Many thanks!

June 26, 2018

Thanks, might be accurate then! I could only find photos of Mk1s and a Mk2 BFK with the numbering this way.

June 25, 2018

Many thanks for your replies and kind comments!

Thanks stovepipe for the brake info - did NSE bother to change any of the braking systems on the coaches they inherited?

Perception is a funny thing isn't it? Having a look around the garage over the weekend, I came across a tin of paint that, according to the colour on the label (it was called 'silver steel', supposed to be used as a base layer for something or other :lol: ) , might have some potential. I put a small 'tester' amount in a pot, and tried a small amount of it on the inside of one of the coaches, as well as a small section of the 'spare' 5232. Once dry, I was amazed to see that the sample on the inside of the coaches looked far too dark, but the sample on 5232 looked considerably lighter, and appeared to be a reasonable match for the grey of blue and grey. So I decided to revive 5232 from the scrap line, and paint the whole window area in it. Before I started, I removed the extra plastic beading that was on the side of the coach, matching where the 'grey' goes. I've also done this for 5381, but haven't yet on 5267 as I'm not sure I have anything that I can touch it up with yet. 5261, being a more recent Hornby release, doesn't have this extra beading, luckily.

Anyway, going back to perception, in certain lights this paint looks spot on, in other lights it looks far too light and not grey enough. Reagrdless, it suits me fine.I'm wondering how the perception of colour will change when I add the white stripe around the edge (that I hope will also neaten it up).

This means I've now got a 4th Mk2 to 'improve', and it means another vehicle saved from scrap, which is always the preferred option! It will be the last to be finished though as I will need to buy another set of Flush-Glaze for it at some point.

June 23, 2018

Whilst I wait for the guys at the depot to finish fitting the panels to the roof, I thought I'd show 'one of those I prepared earlier' photos. Several years ago, I inserted a staple into the ends of several of my passenger and freight vehicles to act as a lamp iron. A hole was made by poking a red-hot needle into the end of the vehicles, to which the staple fitted nicely. I'd bought a pack of little tail lamps sometime beforehand, and was looking for some way of attaching them to vehicles on a non-permament basis. After trying plastic pieces and tape, rather unsuccessfully, especially the latter after about 4 uses, I found the perfect fit for a staple. It came in the form of a headphone wire, with the copper wire removed. This hole that was left behind was the perfect fit for the staple, so I glued a bit of the wire to the back of a tail lamp, so now I can be flexible with what vehicle is at the rear of a train! Just as well I'm not a purist, I can get away with this kind of behaviour :secret:

This probably won't be the last of this behaviour though..!

Keen observers amongst you may notice there are 3 Mk2 bodyshells below. The 4th belongs to earlier Mk2 5232 in blue and grey, which was acquired with 5381. Originally, I was going to use it for spares only, as it's a bit battered and worn, and the 'grey' is rather oddly a sort-of duck egg blue colour. However, if I can get the grey colour I intend to make for the inside of the coaches right, I can apply it to this coach to make a more accurate colour scheme, so it's on hold pending results of what I can mix up!

5232, of course, being an earlier Mk2, was vac only. This leads to me another question whilst I'm thinking about it. I've got some NSE Mk1s that I bought all at once 10 years ago. Would anyone be able to tell me what brake type was fitted to any of the following please?

35464 35339 7232 13328 18601 4901

Many thanks!

June 20, 2018

Thank you all. Despite their chunkyness I do quite like these Mk2s, indeed 5267 was amongst the very first model trains I received 21 years ago, so is slightly more special than the other two, but still not beyond some modification. These don't leave my house so as long as I'm fairly happy, it doesn't matter too much what it looks like in terms of materials used.

I do think the interior will be the biggest challenge, I've got several interior pics found online bookmarked. I think with the colours I have the blue colour won't be quite right, but I'll see if I can do some mixing to try and get a fairly good result. The green and purple stripes could be a bit beyond my reach, but as I won't be looking into the interior too much or too closely, I can happily live with it.

Unfortunately I did have some Hornby seated figures that I wasn't using recently, but I put them on ebay with a few wagons and other little bits thinking I'd have no need for them. This means of course I am without figures etc for now, but I could always revisit this aspect in the future.

As it stands, the current next step is giving the inside of the bodyshell a lick of paint. I don't have any off-white colours, but I do have white and black, so hopefully I can mix a tiny bit of black to some white to create the off-white colour used on the inside of these coaches. I've put some tape (in this case insulation tape) in the roof of the coach. Hopefully with the dividing lines between each piece of tape, once painted, these will represent the formica panels on the roof quite nicely, but I do have something that could represent the metal strips between each piece if it doesn't quite look right once painted.

I'm actually quite excited about my little project, looking forward to having a good scour around to the house to find anything that might be suitable for use in one form or another.

June 19, 2018

WARNING: This project is not for purists or rivet counters!

Having acquired a Hornby Mk2a and several old Lima coaches from a friend, I decided to have a look to see if there was anything I could do to them. I was already going to do this with the two Hornby Mk2s I already had (RR 5267, NSE 5261) at some point, but the acquisition of this third coach and the Lima bogies moved it up the line, and brought it to the forefront of my mind! I don't have any money, so I decided to set myself the 'challenge' (not really - those are the circumstances!) of 'improving' them without buying anything specific for them*, just utilising bits of plastic, the odd bit of paint etc that I have in the house. I'm not sure how far I can get with them, but I have a couple of potential ideas if I can find anything suitable!

DISCLAIMERS:

I'm not a 'serious' modeller by any means, and I have a very limited selection of tools, a couple of colours of paint, and not much else, so this project does not intend to create a fully accurate representation of a Mk2a, it will be full of things I'll have to settle with and 'that will do' moments. I don't have the tools or paint to do any drastic surgery or weathering etc, so the coaches will generally still look as they do now.

I am in no way 'arty' or 'crafty' and pretty much have the skillset of a child with fat fingers, so don't expect miracle transformations, just little bits here and there!

I realise that there are/will be some things that are inherently wrong with the shape, fittings or liveries. Chances are I will know this (I like looking at small details of things), so I'm not interested in replies that just contain 'that shape looks wrong' or 'that livery isn't right' etc, but any other replies, constructive or otherwise, are always welcome.

*I did persuade my wallet to let me buy three packs of FlushGlaze windows, but that's it.

So, this is the recently-acquired coach, and the main one this project will be focusing on in terms of photos (there's no point when I pretty much just need to replicate it three times, but anything specific to the other two will be featured)

Yes, I know the position of the number and logo are the wrong way around, yes, it annoys me, but yes, I'm prepared to live with it!

So, this is the coach to start with, already with the glazing removed (which didn't come off cleanly.. great!), more to follow soon...

June 13, 2018

Oops, sorry, I forgot about the 'older' style of class 08, yes, the newer style. Thanks all for the replies.

June 12, 2018

It transpires that these coaches etc (not the 47 or 50 box) are now available again, although I have took the bogies off three of them for my further use. As we've established to my surprise that there may be a call for such things, even as rusty etc as they are, I'll leave it to those who may be interested in them to contact me.

June 12, 2018

Hopefully a simple question this! Although I am on the lookout for a new chassis (or at least part) for my 08, as I can't really use this one (see post in 'wanted'), I want to see whether the motor still operates as it should, and how bad the wheel buckling actually is when moving, but for this I need to reassemble the motor and the chassis. It's been in pieces for a little while now, and I can't remember whether the copper conducting strips are exposed, or whether they fit under the clear plastic in that area somehow?

Would anyone be able to provide a photo of how the underside of a factory standard class 08 (with the long black plastic piece covering the wheels removed) should look please, so I can remind myself of how things are positioned?

Thanks

June 5, 2018

I presume they are OO gauge?

Yes they are.

Several people have contacted me about these, and it probably means all vehicles are now accounted for, or will be, so unfortunately, for now at least, I can't take any more enquiries about them I'm afraid. I'm surprised, even in their current condition, that there's plenty of demand for them, something to bear in mind if I ever obtain any more.

As expected looking at the state of it, the 47 is a complete non-runner, but I don't know how easy it would be to get it going again.

Oh by the way, I also have a box for a Lima class 50 (originally 50007) as well. If anyone wants this, please let me know, and you can probably have it (if you'd be willing to cover postage cost though please)

June 4, 2018

Thanks both - I've had a couple of enquiries already, so will pursue those.

June 3, 2018

Hi all,

I've acquired a few old, unboxed Lima coaches (Mk1, Mk2 and one Mk3), a Lima 47 and four old Hornby TTAs. The conditions aren't great, with most having rusty and broken buffers, couplings, and in some cases, wheels. The 47's innards look pretty bad too. Most of the bodies of these vehicles have scrapes, worn transfers, marks etc, but are still generally solid. I was wondering if there would be any call for them in their current condition, or whether I should 'scrap' them all and harvest what spares I can from them, before binning the remains.

Please contact me if anyone wants to know what I have, or if you think they may have a use to you, please get in touch.

Thanks.

May 5, 2018

obsolete

February 26, 2018

It appears Nos.394406-10 remain although haven't seen a photo of the rest so maybe their stored somewhere? Although DB has started making serious inroads with dozens of MHAs and MTAs sent for scrap recently according to Rail Express, hopefully these 5 wagons will survive the cull!

394409 and 410 went some time ago I'm afraid.

February 9, 2018

Having just spent the last 5 hours reading all of this thread, it's amazing to see some things in my photos replicated perfectly in model form! I noticed you said you screenshoot the images - if you see anything on mine again in future, feel free to download the full size image direct off my Flickr - email me or send me a message if there's anything you need at a higher resolution etc and I'll sort it out for you.

Keep up the good work

(I found this thread by a Facebook contact posting a comment on a photo on the Loftus Road page, the advantages of Social Media eh?)

August 27, 2017

Does anyone, or know of anyone, who may want any issues of these? I've got issues 34-65 (65 twice), 67, 69-71 and 74 (not sure on the gaps.. sounds like I got done by Hornby there..!) of the Hornby club's 'The collector' magazine (covering 2003-2010), and issues 1-7 of 'The collector plus' available. Let me know ASAP please, as they're just cluttering up the place and will be disposed of shortly if there are no takers to any issues.

All I ask is that postage costs are covered, but collection can be an option if you happen to be passing through the Northampton area.

Thanks.

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