MRDBLUE17

Arran has just released some new 40ft and 20ft Maersk containers. Another run of High cube Hamburg Sud would be nice on these. cheers Mark

Just to add my thanks to Ian and all the team at FMRC for another very enjoyable weekend (back home) in Barrow. Great to catch up with you all and thanks for having us. Nice to be back at a show and to have some normality back too. Thanks Mark

Hi Jools, We have indeed talked about doing 56103, certainly seems a popular option from the comments on here alone. When Alex first told me about the DCR version we knew this would be popular given how quickly the DCR class 60 repaints sold. I’ve ordered 56091 for myself as it worked up to Carlisle and from Flickr searches often find it paired up with 56103. We will probably look to do 56103 as a fully finished version where we will print the logos/ side details directly onto the body shells with only the cab front numbers done by decal as this gives as close to factory finish as we can achieve. We would have decals available as these can be produced from the artwork created. Once we have this in place we will put options on the website. thanks Mark

Well done to Bachmann on this fantastic donation and of course producing the nice boxed set. I did say to the wife when my sound fitted box arrived that’s me done my little bit for charity - she couldn’t argue with that one lol! Thanks Mark

Here are a few more photos of Morecambe now the station roof is built and a couple of lights added. A few people and animals - especially seagulls have appeared too. Thanks Mark

Hi Kev, Really looking forward to the show and seeing you all. I’ve not been in my old school since I left in 1996 and the new venue is only a short walk from my mums. I’ll add some more photos of my new mini layout Morecambe once I’ve added a few more details. Thanks Mark

Hi Cav/Alex, Another fabulous addition to the first batch of 56’s, certainly something for everyone covering the lifespan of the locos. With this having worked up to Carlisle several times both on freight and driver route learning runs, it’s one I’m about to order. You can place your orders at Rainbow Railways for this latest announcement and all the other options. We are taking a £30 deposit to secure your order but if for any reason between now and release you change your mind there is no problem having this refunded to you. https://rainbowrailways.co.uk/product/cavalex-models-cm-56091-dcr-class-56-56091-in-dc-rail-livery-oo-gauge/ Thanks Mark

Hi, Just a post of thanks to Stephen for sorting out and creating an order for an 8 coach set of the Edinburgh low lander portion. Seeing the painted samples appear inevitably led to a purchase of these along with a Caledonian 92. The colours look great on both and decided that by getting an Edinburgh destination will allow 4 coaches to run on Rannoch until I build the big layout. Superb service as normal thanks Mark

Hello everyone, Just thought I’d share the latest Bachmann Class 66 to get the Rainbow treatment. DB’s green machine 66004 I am a climate hero resprayed and artwork printed directly on the body sides. Even has tiny leaf transfers next to the cab top light on the ends. These have just hit the website today and already very popular. https://rainbowrailways.co.uk/product/Bachmann-class-66-66004-i-am-a-climate-hero-livery-db-oo-gauge-dcc-ready-repaint/ Thanks Mark

Cheers Mick, don’t you just love auto correct on you phone.

I’m looking forward to the VEA coming out. Looks superb from the video Andy shared. I’ve built 3 of the park side kids which do go together nicely and even did a couple of ODA’s but I’m going to get 3 of the new Bachmann model as they will go very nicely into my MOD van train which just happens to be made up entirely of Bachmann stock. cheers Mark

Hi Fran and all at Accurascale, It’s great to see the image of the printed sides at the factory. I think it’s captured the look of them brilliantly and the faded/removed first branding looks very effective. A block trainload off these is going to look very good. Thanks Mark

Hi Fran, Appreciate the update with photos. Really glad I’ve ordered 92010 as well to go with the other 2 last week as it looks a nice colour in your photos. No worries with the delays either. Would far rather have a top quality model that these will be than rushed through. Cheers Mark

Hi Fran, The 37/7 is nice to see being done and im sure there will be plenty to tempt in the 2nd batch. There’s enough in the first lot of course! thanks Mark

Cheers for the update Fran. Well I gave in yesterday and ordered a 3rd class 92 in Cale Sleeper livery. I think the Lowlander Edinburgh portion of the MK5’s will follow. Thanks Mark

Hi Chris, Great to hear from you. All good here but things are busy since June with my softplay finally reopened after 16 months closed. I’ve progressed the new big fiddle yard and have trains running. It’s supposed to be for use with several planned layouts but Newlands will also be able to be used once a couple of end plates are built to bridge the slight size difference. It will mean we can bring it out again and have far more capacity to run a wide variety of trains through. Well that’s the plan anyway. Will be at Glasgow next year and hopefully see you there. All the best Mark

Hi Piston, When I built my model of Rannoch I didn’t realise there had been a turntable there in the past at first, so it was a bit of a surprise to find out. There is still an old camping coach which belongs to a fishing club beyond the turntable well. I’m not sure when it was removed or the reasons for putting the turntable in originally. All my interest and research focussed on 2005 onwards and I didn’t go much further back than the 80’s when the signal box was no longer used and the RETB was installed which changed the direction of trains through the platforms etc. A few images of it come up on Flickr and there are a few books on the West Highland line so hopefully one of those will contain information on it. thanks Mark

Hi everyone, Thanks to everyone who has visited our new shop since we opened at the end of April and to all our online customers throughout the UK and beyond. We are very fortunate to be able to stock all the leading model railway manufacturers of British outline ranges and as a result are increasing our shelf space and display counters to offer even more choice. Thanks Mark

Hello everyone, Just thought a little update that we are delighted to now be official Bachmann stockists. Thanks to Ron and the team at Bachmann, over the coming weeks more Bachmann, Graham Farish, Scenecraft and Woodland scenic products will be arriving in store and on our website. As items arrive or confirmed orders are placed, products will be added to the website for purchase or pre-order in the case of future releases. This couldn’t have come at a better time with the exciting announcement of the new class 47’s. The SFX versions are already proving very popular. Thanks for the kind words above and to all our customers who have ordered online/phone and visited so far. Many thanks Mark

Hello everyone, First of all I just want to say thank you to everyone that has supported our TUA project with Revolution and placed orders already. It has been great to see how positively the choice of wagon has been received. It’s also been really interesting talking to many modellers on the phone, from those that worked up close to them or saw them in various workings at locations up and down the country and want to recreate on their layouts. We showed off the final CAD work when we announced the wagon back in May and the factory started tooling early in June. We are very excited to share this quick shot straight out of the box from China, of the first hand assembled tooled sample which arrived at Revolution HQ this week. This is being checked for dimensional accuracy, detail, fit of parts etc and I’m looking forward to getting my hands on it shortly after that. Our early bird price of £35 is still available and all options are on our website at Rainbow Railways: https://rainbowrailways.co.uk/?s=Tua&post_type=product&dgwt_wcas=1 Thank you Mark

Hi everyone, Certainly an interesting announcement from Bachmann and not something I was expecting to see. I like the launch video and the tooling shown off does look like a further step change from Bachmann in many areas. It does look very good. I also noted they said the later variants with the stainless steel grills over the radiators could be done too which is potentially great for some current machines to appear. look forward to seeing what liveries/numbers are in the first lot to tempt. Cheers Mark

Hello everyone, Back in January I purchased 4 kits, a couple of crabs and a couple of Lamprey. Arrived well packed and I kept them aside for building. I’ve always liked the look of them, although they don’t really fit in in the North west, I thought they would mix in with a few grampus on a tatty vac braked working. I was delighted to see these return as several modelling friends have them and told me how good the kits are. A week away gave the ideal opportunity to get them built and I’m really pleased with how they went together. I think these are easily the best kits I’ve ever built in terms of fit of parts and they look great too. I’ve just got the end hand rails and footsteps to add before painting. Thanks Mark

Hi Tom, Thanks for the suggestion but I had a 3 pack of Hornby’s first version with the high body which I sold a while back and I do have the later version triple pack which I will also be selling to make way for the Accurascale versions. I’ve reduced the MTA’s/MFA’s to just the ones I want to mix in and I’m quite happy to wait for the other body type from Fran & the team which will eventually give a set 30 odd wagons long. The Accurascale MHA’s from what we’ve seen already will be far better in so many aspects I’m more than happy to wait for them. thanks Mark

Hi James, I would like the Ravenglass branded one just like that too. The photo liveries are a bit niche but if we can get hold of the artwork in a high res format then it might be possible that some of the photo liveries can be done when the next batch of 156’s are produced by us at Rainbow Railways. Can’t promise anything but it’s certainly something I would like to see. thanks Mark

Hi Fran, That’s my plan as I’ve ordered the 12 of these and hopefully the same will follow with the alternate body type in the future with the handful of MTA’s/MFA’s I already have to mix in will produce a nice engineers rake. cheers Mark