Scott B

I have the product modelled by Andy but manufactured by a different company and before it was manufactured as rechargeable, but otherwise exactly the same. I am a varifocal wearer and have no issues whatsoever. HTH Scott

It is a Belgian rolling roof ferrywagon. TOPS code ILB, design code ILE479, number series 21 88 5799 000 - 049 HTH Scott

Firstly, I am full agreement with Duncan, as a N gauge modeller these wagons set new standards, they are superb. Secondly, I am also in agreement with the comments that Shaun66 makes around the couplings. For me, the couplings are the wagons biggest area of criticism. The NEM box is simply too small, it surely cannot meet the so called "standards". You can see that the shanks of the couplings are on the narrow side. It is lovely that being small it disappears from view but, as is mentioned replacement couplings do not fit in. The fitted couplings also have a tendancy to drop causing my rake to split or even derail when the drooping coupling catches on pointwork. All is not lost however as Dapol easi-shunts just need a bit of careful filing off the width of the shank BEHIND the two pips. It also helps taking a smidgen off the length at the rear as well, et voila, they fit. Worth mentioning that the medium size are the shortest that I have found to work, using a short resulted in buffer locking. I have found that Hunt magnetic couplers fit without issue, OK maybe here and there a slight tweek. Also the coupling gap can be reduced if you use "Close" & "Intermediates" at alternate ends. So my rake of 28 plus two spare are fitted with Dapol easi-shunts at the end and Hunts throughout the rest of the rake and all seems good. Just need a decent pair of 25's or a Peak to haul them now. I also found that when I opened mine I had a few wheelsets drop out and also two wagons with wheelsets actually missing, presumably dropping out on packing in China, for which Rails sent out replacements very quickly. In particular, although not exlusively so, this was with REDA14835 in the original grey band livery for some reason. These wagons seem to suffer from similar issues to the NGS VIX van in that the holes for the wheelsets seen oversize compared to the axle/pinpoint diameter. An hour spent very gently squeezing in the supension frames has sorted the loose fit issue as well. So, whilst in my case they have certainly not been perfect out of the box, although damn close, I am delighted with them, to the point that I am considering a second rake so as I can load them, as removable loads will be difficult with the lovely cross bracing inside the hopper. Roll on the next Cavalex N scale project that hopefully I can get behind and back.

Anybody out there taken receipt of their model yet ? I would appreciate your honest thoughts on the application of the livery, from the images available on Rails, Kernow etc the line between blue and yellow seems all over the place. It seems to be very angular coming off the nose area, then waves about along the bodyside before seeming to rise up at the bodyside vents, looking anything but a straight line. Does it look as bad when in the hand ? At the moment I think my £200 quid will be staying in my pocket as it doesnt seem to be an isolated model with the same issue showing across multiple vendors. Cheers

Speaking of pubs, will the bar fascilities be open this year ?

It is available in Dutch livery HTH Scott

315s would be nice 😉

As well as being considerably shorter than the slab sided Polybulks that operated in the UK, but it is all that is available RTR. I am currently half way through "cutting and shutting" two similar Arnold hoppers (brown Monfer France) and grafting them onto a chassis made up of C channel flanking the under floor hopper bays and bogie pivots from the NGS Polybulk kit . The hopper body is suitably reduced in width and height. Pleased with how it is coming along, but a way to go yet.

Looks TOP that does Jo.

"Generally" a pair of them with a GUV when attached to passenger services, which makes the decision to sell in triple packs strange to me, twin packs would have seen more appropriate ?. There were other formations but from memory & consultation of the appropriate carriage workings, most were in pairs.

From the website, hope it helps, expected delivery date April-Early May

The range of Mk2 s for me and a skinhead 31 if a loco were to be produced.

You might have been right first time with licensing as they were all due at the same time initially and the BIS one has always been a tenner dearer.

Chassis & roof required as the NGS kit is only the sides & ends, same goes for the VDA kit. So in other words, you need the Farish VAA/VBA van as a doner if you are going down that route. Chuck the van, keep the chassis & roof. I believe the tool for the roof became damaged or something like, hence there being no roof in the kit.

On closer inspection, yep you are right Neal. When I first posted on this earlier in the month I said it looked "about right" when lined up against the fold/drease in the door. It is actually better illustrated by the handrail that actually runs through the white band into the grey, not stopping at the white band as on the model. Scott

If that were the case the level of grey at the bottom would be out as well, which in fact looks about right to me. I just think it has been made too wide and is simply wrong and wasn't picked up.

The back one looks like a cartic 4 set. Either that or 4xProcor 80s. Scott

Built 1988-199 IIRC, so 30-33 years Roy, perhaps not "so quickly" ;-)

To my eyes the bottom of the grey area sits between the door handle and the angular fold on the door, which appears about right to me on the model. The top of the grey area appears to be about half way between the top of the door window and the black roof. The model has way more grey above the door than it should comparing it with the prototype images that I am looking at, some of which are linked bleow from the RW Carroll collection on Flickr. Kernow have a couple of nice large images of the model on their site for comparison.

Yes, my order duly cancelled. I too had accepted the CDL lights as a tooling compromise. I can also cope with the overhead warnings as they would be simple to correct. However the application of the grey and white border is shocking. I had mulled over addressing the issue with some blue paint but instead I have cancelled as the issues of matching the paint, re-applying the white border is neither appealing or should be necessary. Such a shame and over £200 quids worth of order lost to a company I would love to support.

I am sure Rob will give you all the info, but it sounds like you are looking at more modern (post RETB) images there Scott. This layout is set/operated prior to RETB signalling so northbounds take the left platform and southbounds the right. Now were it to be operated in post RETB mode, your observation would "generally" be correct and the opposite apply ie northbound using the right platform and southbounds the left. Points are generally left set for this to happen with the point crossed exiting the station being opened by the loco/coach wheels and returning to how it was set via spring action. I hope that makes sense. Scott

That is saying something though if 40 odd percent want sound in an electric, which are not exactly renowned for their noise. Scott

Some of the decals "may" be on the decal sheet for the NGS chemical tank kit 37 if I recall correctly. Scott

I am wondering if it was a train of two portions and combined somewhere south of KO. Scott

Agree on all the points you raise Woodenhead, however, this dearth has being going on before Covid. As has already been mentioned, re-releases were almost annual not so long back. Scott