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Oxford Rail announces - OO gauge Mk3 coaches


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Your defending it, so I presume you are ok with £64 for postage  or maybe £96 if each coach came one at a time (like my SECR Birdcages) ?

 

They will only combine whats in stock at the time, they won't hold back.

That to me is a weakness in their pre-order business model that discourages <£100 per item purchases and makes them uncompetitive for my custom.

 

Other shops will combine orders, hold orders or even offer free postage, so I voted with my feet..

 

Ive paid £16 in postage for 5 coaches in 4 parcels in less than 3 weeks of 2018, i've called time on that malarky....

 

fool me once and all that...

 

I used to have nearly 20+ Oxford mk3s, plus FGA's on order, I've not bothered to order 2018 stuff with them. 

No point calling I'm just another wonk on the order books to them so i'm in process of moving my order for a more customer friendly shop.

 

Not looking for a Hattons witch hunt, so I'll draw a line there, and await 2 more coaches to drip feed their way here in the mail.

Edited by adb968008
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  • RMweb Gold

Your defending it, so I presume you are ok with £64 for postage or maybe £96 if each coach came one at a time (like my SECR Birdcages) ?

 

They will only combine whats in stock at the time, they won't hold back.

That to me is a weakness in their pre-order business model that discourages <£100 per item purchases and makes them uncompetitive for my custom.

 

Other shops will combine orders, hold orders or even offer free postage, so I voted with my feet..

 

Ive paid £16 in postage for 5 coaches in 4 parcels in less than 3 weeks of 2018, i've called time on that malarky....

 

fool me once and all that...

 

I used to have nearly 20+ Oxford mk3s, plus FGA's on order, I've not bothered to order 2018 stuff with them.

No point calling I'm just another wonk on the order books to them so i'm in process of moving my order for a more customer friendly shop.

 

Not looking for a Hattons witch hunt, so I'll draw a line there, and await 2 more coaches to drip feed their way here in the mail.

But they have met the terms and conditions you accept by preordering. Sorry, but as that is what they say they will do, why are you surprised that they do?

 

Have you asked them to do it differently for your orders?

 

Roy

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Does indeed look very good. Great to see that the naysayers, on of which I will admit to being, have been proved wrong and that these coaches have now hit the shelves.

 

Fully agree - and for the discounted price of £29 each a bargain, considering all the detail etc, especially compared to the much more expensive forthcoming MK2F's.  Well done to Oxford Rail - bring on the Blue/Grey and ScotRail versions  :yes:

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They do look good indeed! This year is going to be quite expensive for me with the Hornby 87s, Bachmann 90s and Mark 2Fs arriving ... I had though I was content with my existing Mk3s but having seen these pictures, the temptation is getting the better of me!

 

Does anyone know if they're arriving in any other shops besides Hattons? I have a work meeting today and will be passing through Sheffield later, so it's tempting to go via a certain shop ...

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They do look very good. My only two gripes is that they had excellent wheels on the pre production examples but they've been replaced by thicker rimmed wheels. Also, the lack of communication on the lighting means we only know now for definite that they don't have lights.

 

Great price for a great model overall though. Looking forward to the Virgin ones!

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Looking forward to getting these!

 

It's so nice to be getting them the same year as a brand new Swallow 87 and a 90!

 

Although it looks like my 85 will have the honors to do the debut run with them if they are close to being in the shops!  :locomotive:

I believe that the 87 will be with us shortly. I am not so sure the 90 will make it before the year is out though.

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When somebody has these in hand, I would be very interested to know what provision has been made for fitting lights. I know it was considered by Oxford, but have the internal mouldings actually been designed to allow a light bar to be fitted?

 

Thanks,

 

Roy

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I believe that the 87 will be with us shortly. I am not so sure the 90 will make it before the year is out though.

 

I'm led to believe that the Swallow 87 will be with us in March and the Virgin 87 to follow in the summer. 

 

Bachmann have said the 90 is due late summer, and looking at the samples, I can't see there being too much of a delay on that now. 

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The InterCity colours are nice, and look more accurate than Hornby's version - though next to the Hornby stock/DVT the difference appears in photos to be quite remarkable.

 

Looking forward to those who have purchased some sharing pictures! I'm in the market for Virgin and Scotrail unfortunately!

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Shame the IC version has the CDL system fitted, these would likely only be suitable generally speaking from 1993\4 - until they were painted in new TOC livery? Wish they would release a verion in IC Swallow without CDL being present.

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Well box of dreams arrived this morning. 

 

First impressions? Very impressed the level of detail is not something we've seen on a "modern image" carriage before and is welcome - also for the price they represent great value for money. Finish is excellent, particularly nice is the different satin/gloss finish to the two sides of the corridor connections which represents these well. 

 

Word of warning: I don't know if these have been "forgotten" but for some reason the footsteps on both my models were only held in place with luck... and promptly fell off! Fortunately all were recovered and simple enough to refit with a dash of superglue - you have been warned!! 

 

I have managed to take my TSO apart - something I don't recommend! Body simply clips on, but you need to detach the ETH gear first - the "socket" on the chassis does actually come apart for this purpose, though I don't discover that until afterwards! Also I would recommend removing the couplings from the sockets first, as the chassis bends the close coupling mechanism self destructs and then jams between the chassis and the interior! To solve this I had to remove the interior (3 screws) and then carefully reassemble the mechanism. 

 

I can confirm that when apart there does not appear to be any provision for lights, not that fitting lights would be particularly difficult. 

 

Colour -  I think we were balloted on this if I remember right? It is always a subjective question, only the buff colour really comes into question, and it doesn't match other companies attempts, however looking at photographs and video I would say it is probably closer than other attempts - it is very subtle and doesn't show well in the photos on Hatton's website.  

 

On the whole though and excellent model and for the price well worth investing in - as others have said I hope Oxford expand their range sooner rather than later! HST trailers would be particularly useful! 

 

Bruce 

Edited by D400
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Interesting mix going on there! - 3-phase (HST) sockets in the middle ETH at the sides but no socket on the left and 1st class trim in a TSO minus the white headrests shown in the Hatton's image?  Can't say I'm impressed with those wheels.  What is it with Oxford Rail and wheels?  Thanks for the photo's all the same.

 

[Edit] just spotted they've equipped the BT10 bogies with BR Wheelslide and not Girling WSP as it should have been (and was shown in the 1st EP's)...  Is this cutting back the variants/spec. to keep the cost as low as they are?

Edited by Bob-65b
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Great photos, thanks for sharing.

 

Can you tell if the no smoking beermats are printed on the outside of the windows? They are probably the most visible glitch for me personally, and I'm hoping they will be easily removed with a cocktail stick to allow a fully non-smoking set of square transfers to be applied. I'm not having my 4mm passengers sparking up in my coaches thank you very much, in this case Nanny Knows Best.

 

Shame it's a 72 seat layout for the TSO not the correct 76 seat layout but I think it would have been unreasonable to expect Oxford to tool up for it and keep the price so remarkably low.

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Great photos, thanks for sharing.

 

Can you tell if the no smoking beermats are printed on the outside of the windows? They are probably the most visible glitch for me personally, and I'm hoping they will be easily removed with a cocktail stick to allow a fully non-smoking set of square transfers to be applied. I'm not having my 4mm passengers sparking up in my coaches thank you very much, in this case Nanny Knows Best.

 

Shame it's a 72 seat layout for the TSO not the correct 76 seat layout but I think it would have been unreasonable to expect Oxford to tool up for it and keep the price so remarkably low.

 

Yes they are on the outside of the windows.

 

Bruce 

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Interesting mix going on there! - 3-phase (HST) sockets in the middle ETH at the sides but no socket on the left and 1st class trim in a TSO minus the white headrests shown in the Hatton's image?  Can't say I'm impressed with those wheels.  What is it with Oxford Rail and wheels?  Thanks for the photo's all the same.

 

[Edit] just spotted they've equipped the BT10 bogies with BR Wheelslide and not Girling WSP as it should have been (and was shown in the 1st EP's)...  Is this cutting back the variants/spec. to keep the cost as low as they are?

 

Like the look of the vehicles and will be getting some Scotrail ones (3-4 TSO, 1 CO) but not impressed about the WSP equipment (looks like I will be carving those off)or the location of those not required HST 3 Phase Sockets (I wonder if they have mixed up and confused with the CDL Jumper and Sockets??) - look easy enough to remove.

 

Cheers

 

Simon

Edited by 87023Velocity
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Interesting mix going on there! - 3-phase (HST) sockets in the middle ETH at the sides but no socket on the left and 1st class trim in a TSO minus the white headrests shown in the Hatton's image?  Can't say I'm impressed with those wheels.  What is it with Oxford Rail and wheels?  Thanks for the photo's all the same.

 

[Edit] just spotted they've equipped the BT10 bogies with BR Wheelslide and not Girling WSP as it should have been (and was shown in the 1st EP's)...  Is this cutting back the variants/spec. to keep the cost as low as they are?

 

What are the main differences between a loco hauled MK3A, and a MK3 HST coach, apart from the buffers/shanks ? 

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What are the main differences between a loco hauled MK3A, and a MK3 HST coach, apart from the buffers/shanks ? 

 

Apart from the buffers, for the Mk3a daycoaches, visibly - The roof vents, the Wheelslide Prevention equipment manufacturer (Girling for the 3a's and BR for the 3b / HST's), ETH as opposed to 3ph ETS having different coupling arrangements / sockets, drop head as opposed to fixed head autocouplers, different underframe module layouts / module doors are the most obvious one's and also different livery / lining on the B&G version.

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