Oxford Rail announces - OO gauge Mk3 coaches

[royaloak]

Now that I've tried that, it is an optical illusion!!  Funny tricks your eyes can play on you. 

I thought the loco and ScotRail coaches had a different grey on them until I put the paper across, I was also surprised and I thought I could see a slight difference because my eyes were seeing what they had previously seen, but trying it on the other half and both kids (using the paper first then the full picture) they all agreed it is the same grey.

 

If nothing else it proves how easy it is to deceive our eyes and see something different to what they are actually looking at.

[royaloak]

the yellow band on the FO seems be short above the door.  on the buffet the red band runs on to the end.

There was actually quite a bit of difference in the length of the yellow or (especially) the red stripes and there still is today on coaches which still use them.

[tractor_37260]

There was actually quite a bit of difference in the length of the yellow or (especially) the red stripes and there still is today on coaches which still use them.

 

More of a concern is the depth of that yellow stripe - it's far too deep, from memory I recall Hornby made exactly the same mistake on their MK3 Blue/Grey FO's 

[royaloak]

More of a concern is the depth of that yellow stripe - it's far too deep, from memory I recall Hornby made exactly the same mistake on their MK3 Blue/Grey FO's 

When built the HST mark 3s had a very deep yellow (or red) stripe, I cant remember what the loco hauled mark 3As were like.

[tractor_37260]

When built the HST mark 3s had a very deep yellow (or red) stripe, I cant remember what the loco hauled mark 3As were like.

 

See photos linked on post #1074 above

 

Agreed the HST 1st cars had a deeper yellow band, but are these Ox Rail sample photos not supposed to be MK3A's  ?  AFAIK Oxford Rail has not yet announced HST MK3's 

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/pics-by-john/14605011003/in/photolist-ofAuWx-8916uc-ndGihM-w6VanW-22MD8yd-dhSfdv-q3pnW5-iGYfGF-qKCdS2-Vbp8xb-XtMckX-qDp5sz-ahEybW-7kNaa2-RShH51-89Q5Ek-p1Wx2T-V9jX43-avXk6L-8WSaXP-pb9tnY-bPAPYD-pHg1Jz-XyKMqw-YGfbQS-FSYNiw-bWboWt-9aNKQq-5Tgm4v-SWFuRr-9RWimX-8EbxrQ-adff6T-z6CPFw-avc2Ed-yFKEmz-b4wXqZ-aFtJMx-ojm2PY-7G5SMM-e2kpSz-9vMTrB-GoiWPC-J6Cmk3-aXdxZ8-pch6um-XtNEBt-FqSCSj-bSzZTx-r86Sdv

Edited January 24, 2018 by tractor_37260

[jjb1970]

While these may not be perfect they're very nice and remarkable value for money, a full fat model at railroad pricing. 

[BigAndy]

Funny enough I was having a go at this last night, pulled the wheels out but they are going to need the sides shaving down.

 

Regards

 

Craig

 

Interesting.

 

Not had one in my greasy mitt yet, but a good mate of mine has bought two and confirms that the bogies are going to need some attention in order to fit EM wheelsets. He's told me that the 26mm axles will fit, just, but are a bit on the tight side. it may be a case of boring out the plastic framed axle and fit a Top Hat bearing - if the plastic is thick enough to take that treatment.

The other question is whether the outside of the tyre will rub on the inside of the frame...........might be a case of building a brass subframe ( someone like Colin Craig's or Stenson models as it is now ) then cut off the Oxford bogie sides and glue them to the brass subframe.

 

One thing that has been discussed amongst me and a couple of others - in the shots of the EP, the air suspension bag on the bogie was modelled in the collapsed position ( Lima, Joueff, Hornby have all done the same in the past ), if running in a raft, it should be inflated - can anyone confirm whether they're full or flat?!

 

Regarding the door lights and handle issue with the ScotRail ones, I too am eagerly awaiting whether provision will be made to be able to run them prior to 1993 ( when the CDL lights and handles were fitted ) - hope so, otherwise it's a strip, cut 'em off and respray time.....

 

cheers

 

Andy

[159220]

Has anyone who has received the Oxford Rail Mk3a tried to see whether a Hornby Mk3 body fits onto the detailed chassis of the Oxford Rail? I am curious to know.

 

Later in the year when the Oxford Rail Mk3 HST coaches are released, if the colours do not match my Hornby class 43 HSTs I would consider either:

 

- swapping the entire chassis (oxford chassis onto a Hornby body)?

- swapping the bogies. Has anyone tried popping off the Oxford Rail detailed bogie and fitting into the slot on the Hornby chassis? 

 

Thank you in advance. 

[Darius43]

Has anyone who has received the Oxford Rail Mk3a tried to see whether a Hornby Mk3 body fits onto the detailed chassis of the Oxford Rail? I am curious to know.

 

Later in the year when the Oxford Rail Mk3 HST coaches are released, if the colours do not match my Hornby class 43 HSTs I would consider either:

 

- swapping the entire chassis (oxford chassis onto a Hornby body)?

- swapping the bogies. Has anyone tried popping off the Oxford Rail detailed bogie and fitting into the slot on the Hornby chassis? 

 

Thank you in advance.

 

Can’t speak about the chassis interchangeability but the bogies are secured with small Phillips head screws on the Oxford Mk3a.

 

Cheers

 

Darius

[Pete the Elaner]

Later in the year when the Oxford Rail Mk3 HST coaches are released

Where have you seen that? I have seen no mention on here or their web site that they will be releasing these at all, let alone an expected date.

[lyneux]

Re: mk3/3a body swapping: it's worth getting some prototype photos and looking at the underframe. Compare for example two TFs: the panel configuration is totally different. Not sure about TSOs but is suspect it is the same story.

 

Guy

[adb968008]

Has anyone who has received the Oxford Rail Mk3a tried to see whether a Hornby Mk3 body fits onto the detailed chassis of the Oxford Rail? I am curious to know.

 

Later in the year when the Oxford Rail Mk3 HST coaches are released, if the colours do not match my Hornby class 43 HSTs I would consider either:

 

- swapping the entire chassis (oxford chassis onto a Hornby body)?

- swapping the bogies. Has anyone tried popping off the Oxford Rail detailed bogie and fitting into the slot on the Hornby chassis? 

 

Thank you in advance.

 

I don’t have any Hornby ones, but I thought they were based off Limas Tooling.., if correct then the length is different.

[frobisher]

I don’t have any Hornby ones, but I thought they were based off Limas Tooling.., if correct then the length is different.

The TF/FO, TS/SO and TRFB/RFB/TRUB etc. are Hornby's late 90's scale length tooling, the SLE, TGS and RFM are the ex-Lima ones. I might have the buffet cars the wrong way around, but one is Hornby's, the other was bodged from the ex-Lima tooling.

[adb968008]

What was her response to stage 2 ?   

 

 

 

She looked at me funny wondering what was supposed to be the difference.

[bart2day]

Anybody know why Oxford didn't make these with passenger doors that could be opened? Would have happily paid extra for that feature.

[MGR Hooper!]

Anybody know why Oxford didn't make these with passenger doors that could be opened? 

 

Would have happily paid extra for that feature.

Not everyone would've happily paid extra. Oxford would've had to hear lots of modelers tell them it was an unnecessary feature and only increased the price. Not to mention if they did decide to model further variants like the Royal Train, Chiltern and GWR sets then not having operating doors on them would be such a silly difference in detail from the same range.

.

[Pete the Elaner]

Not everyone would've happily paid extra. Oxford would've had to hear lots of modelers tell them it was an unnecessary feature and only increased the price. Not to mention if they did decide to model further variants like the Royal Train, Chiltern and GWR sets then not having operating doors on them would be such a silly difference in detail from the same range.

.

Opening doors would have pushed up the price a lot. They open outwards on coaches too, so would be much more fiddly to model than the inward opening ones on some Hornby locos.

[GordonC]

Opening doors would have pushed up the price a lot. They open outwards on coaches too, so would be much more fiddly to model than the inward opening ones on some Hornby locos.

 

I wonder how many replacement doors they'd need to make if they opened up outwards in the wrong place and hit something lineside?

 

no, not a good idea for something actually usable on a layout

[Michanglais]

Should Oxford have waited before releasing these coaches?

 

Overall, I think they're great but that light grey is starting to bother me and I've just ruined the side of one coach whilst trying to glue in those damned ill-fitting steps. I also had a buffer loose.

 

I was going to try to get away with not glueing but the steps were so loose, at least one of them would have wandered off to some untraceable location at some point.

 

Stupid little mistakes like this should not be happening and, whilst the coaches are currently great value for money, there's always the question of how long they'll stay at this price...

 

Ideally, if Oxford can't sort the step issue, they should at least include them as 'accessories', preferably with thicker prongs and larger holes.

 

And then there's the question of those 'NEM' sockets. WAY too tight. I just tried a Fleischmann close coupler in one end and was concerned I was going to break the mechanism removing it (by trying to pinch the back of the coupler as you're supposed to be able to do).

 

Grrrrrr.

 

I think I've had too much caffeine.

[Pete the Elaner]

Regarding the light grey, do you think Oxford listened to the complaints about Hornby's over-red colour & over-corrected this?

The Lima light grey looks a lot closer to me & now seems to almost be a happy medium.

Edited January 26, 2018 by Pete the Elaner

[Wild Boar Fell]

Got coaches from 2 shops now, one had its steps attached but not glued, the ones from the other shop were all in the accessories bag.

 

Not a problem, especially if it means coaches as good as these can be <£30

[Michanglais]

Got coaches from 2 shops now, one had its steps attached but not glued, the ones from the other shop were all in the accessories bag.

 

Not a problem, especially if it means coaches as good as these can be <£30

 

That's very interesting. Could you tell whether the accessories bag had been opened (I'm wondering if the shop owner placed the steps in the bag for safe keeping) or maybe Oxford has released a second batch/noticed the problem and is now including them as an add-on?

 

Cheers,

Michael

[tractor_37260]

Should Oxford have waited before releasing these coaches?

 

Overall, I think they're great but that light grey is starting to bother me and I've just ruined the side of one coach whilst trying to glue in those damned ill-fitting steps. I also had a buffer loose.

 

I was going to try to get away with not glueing but the steps were so loose, at least one of them would have wandered off to some untraceable location at some point.

 

Stupid little mistakes like this should not be happening and, whilst the coaches are currently great value for money, there's always the question of how long they'll stay at this price...

 

Ideally, if Oxford can't sort the step issue, they should at least include them as 'accessories', preferably with thicker prongs and larger holes.

 

And then there's the question of those 'NEM' sockets. WAY too tight. I just tried a Fleischmann close coupler in one end and was concerned I was going to break the mechanism removing it (by trying to pinch the back of the coupler as you're supposed to be able to do).

 

Grrrrrr.

 

I think I've had too much caffeine.

 

quote  I've just ruined the side of one coach whilst trying to glue in those damned ill-fitting steps

 

That's a real shame on a brand new coach, what did you use  - super glue ?    Slaters Mek-Pak or Plastic Magic would have done the job,  still no excuse for them not being properly fitted/secured at the factory............

[tetsudofan]

I collected my two Intercity Swallows from my (relatively close) local model shop yesterday after I convinced them that I was ok taking mine home after the hassle they had encountered with the footboards when they got one out of the box to photograph for the shop website.

 

Once I got home I was very careful getting mine out of the box and removing the cellophane surrounding the bogies and, in the process, only lost one footboard. This was soon back in place and a slim bead of adhesive was laid on the underside of the all footboards. No real hassle, but its something that you should not have to do.

 

There was, however, another problem. One coach was missing a coupling!! No real problem as I was planning on getting rid of them anyway in an attempt to get the coaches closer to each other. First in was a set of Hornby Roco couplings but these still left quite a gap between the coaches so they were replaced by a set of Roco couplings which were a lot better as can be seen below:

 

 

and a close-up:

 

 

Nice coaches and I'll certainly buy some more as they are released but Oxford must improve quality control etc. if they want to succeed in the search for excellence..... and maybe improve the quality of the cardboard they use for the boxes, they seem a bit on the flimsy side compared with the boxes of other manufacturers. 

 

Keith

 

 

 

 

[Roy Langridge]

I collected my two Intercity Swallows from my (relatively close) local model shop yesterday after I convinced them that I was ok taking mine home after the hassle they had encountered with the footboards when they got one out of the box to photograph for the shop website.

 

Once I got home I was very careful getting mine out of the box and removing the cellophane surrounding the bogies and, in the process, only lost one footboard. This was soon back in place and a slim bead of adhesive was laid on the underside of the all footboards. No real hassle, but its something that you should not have to do.

 

There was, however, another problem. One coach was missing a coupling!! No real problem as I was planning on getting rid of them anyway in an attempt to get the coaches closer to each other. First in was a set of Hornby Roco couplings but these still left quite a gap between the coaches so they were replaced by a set of Roco couplings which were a lot better as can be seen below:

 

OxfordMk3Coupling-01.jpg

 

and a close-up:

 

OxfordMk3Coupling-02.jpg

 

Nice coaches and I'll certainly buy some more as they are released but Oxford must improve quality control etc. if they want to succeed in the search for excellence..... and maybe improve the quality of the cardboard they use for the boxes, they seem a bit on the flimsy side compared with the boxes of other manufacturers.

 

Keith

Your photos show nicely what impact lighting has on the light grey - it looks passable in your photos, but nearly white in some ofhers.

 

Roy