RMweb Gold Accurascale Fran Posted January 10, 2020 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted January 10, 2020 It’s also worth noting that we have more pack N on a ship headed this way. Due late Feb! Cheers! Fran 4 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dungrange Posted January 10, 2020 Share Posted January 10, 2020 1 hour ago, eric709 said: Not sure if you’ve got yours yet Dungrange but you won’t be disappointed seriously good wagon again from the Accurascale crew. I’m struggling to find anything wrong with them which I guess is testament to the ethos of only producing something once it’s pretty much a true representation in 1:76...... bodes well for all the upcoming projects too. Royal Mail attempted to deliver mine today, but I was at work and my wife wasn't home when the postman came, so they are now sitting out in my local sorting office until I can go and collect them. :-( I agree that they look nice in your photographs - my only criticism is that they look too clean!!! I'll obviously need to start collecting photographs of the real things for weathering purposes. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rembrow Posted January 11, 2020 Share Posted January 11, 2020 (edited) I couldn't afford to commit to the 'air miles' pre order, as I had other models coming before Christmas, incl Hattons 66 and Bachmann 37 Loadhaul, so decided to wait to the slow boat from China stock. However I noticed last week that Rails were advertising that their special set of CPL liveried PFAs were in stock and available to order. Reading the history of the CPL liveried versions showed they were ideal for my period, as CPL took over British Fuels in the late 90s so these can run into the early 2000s, so ideal for privatisation traction. Also good news was that CPL only repainted some of the containers into their green livery, retaining the rest in British Fuels red, so mixed livery operation is to prototype. According to Rails, CPL also used the wagons and containers on other flows from Yorkshire to Scotland. If anyone is interested, have attached a photo. The CPL nameboard on the container side is a separate fitting and is sublime. I will be ordering some British Fuel sets, but my main interest was the Gypsum container sets. Edited January 11, 2020 by rembrow spelling 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Accurascale Fran Posted January 11, 2020 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted January 11, 2020 13 hours ago, Shedmaster said: Hi Fran and fellow RMWebbers, So, it occurred to me the other evening when browsing this thread, that I have a personal history working with the Gypsum variant of these PFA wagons. In my 'formulative years' as a member of Trainload Freight Train Crew as it was then, I used to work to and from Mountfield Gypsum Works in East Sussex on a regular basis and I can tell you, it was always an amazing day at work! I cant remember the exact formation of the Class 60 hauled trains but they varied between rakes of PFA wagons or bogie Freightliner type wagons. The run 'down' was immense fun as the brake went in hard to get hold of the train for the crawl through Tonbridge, but, once we were up to the top of the climb at Tunbridge Wells, it was time to roll the rest of the way!!! THE TOP SPEED OF THE CLASS 60 IS 62.5MPH BUT WAS OFTEN ROLLED 'OFF THE CLOCK' PAST TUNBRIDGE WELLS!!! IN THE DAYS BEFORE OTMR ETC... The journey was a silent one in the cab, except for the clink of the spoons in our cups, and on arrival at Mountfield exchange sidings, we would run round the train for the climb up the internal gypsum works branch line. The Loadhaul liveried brake van would be attached at this point for the later reversal off the branch before departure. On one occasion, a 'stowaway' had jumped in the back cab of the Loco. at Doncaster the previous evening and appeared to a bleary eyed Train Crew during this run round move! Sometimes, due to railhead conditions or maybe Loco. performance, the train would be split or it just wouldn't make it up the branch at all, but I don't recall seeing this in person. I seem to remember a Kalmar type reach stacker would do the honours during our yard time, when I would either leg it to the works cafe or cook a fry up on the Loco. for those present! My own memories are a little old now, although I do possess photo's to back them up, taken by a sadly now deceased colleague. I certainly remember travelling through some of the most amazing scenery at daft o'clock in the morning on these turns, with some of the most interesting fellow crew members. How nice then, that I can now recreate those memories in model form with the highest quality of models now available, from Accurascale, and at the same time, I can now put my Class 60 fleet to the use for which they were originally intended, hauling 'proper' trains! Technically, I suppose I can run them at silly speeds too as that is actually, fully prototypical ! I'd love to know the actual formations of the trains I used to work, but as usual, I never took any notice...so, have just ordered two bulk packs of Gypsum variant PFA's to get started with as my first order from Accurascale...I cant wait to see these when they arrive ! All the best, Kindest Regards, Shed. Hi Shed, Great story about your days working these trains! We were keen to add Gypsum to our lineup as nobody has done a gypsum container train in 4mm before, and although the PFAs will be synonymous with coal containers and now nuclear traffic, the did spend a number of years working gypsum as you say, with a nice big type 5 up front. We produced this handy formation guide if anyone is looking for visual inspiration or guidance when purchasing PFAs. Cheers! Fran 2 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rembrow Posted January 11, 2020 Share Posted January 11, 2020 (edited) Fran I noticed today, that your website is showing stock of most of the PFAs, do you have some stock from the air freight consignment available for immediate despatch? Correction, cancel this query, just checked back on this thread again and you did advise this on Wednesday -- doh!!! Edited January 11, 2020 by rembrow 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rembrow Posted January 11, 2020 Share Posted January 11, 2020 OK you bad boys, so you had some 'Air Miles Andy' sets in stock, so now I've gone and ordered them, having got the Rails PFA CPL version today. One British Fuel set to go with the CPLs on a post 2000 Enterprise flow and 3 sets of Gypsums. She will kill me when they turn up, still it's her fault for buying me a Hattons EWS 66 for Christmas, yes that's what I'll argue!!! 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dungrange Posted January 11, 2020 Share Posted January 11, 2020 1 hour ago, Accurascale Fran said: We produced this handy formation guide if anyone is looking for visual inspiration or guidance when purchasing PFAs. I note that there aren't formations shown for the period 2006 to 2013 - where these wagons largely in storage over that period, or is it just coincidence that this is the largest gap? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
royaloak Posted January 11, 2020 Share Posted January 11, 2020 Opened my Cawoods sets last night and the weight of the empty wagons are quite a nice surprise, one tiny tiny issue is one of wagons in set A had a coupling hook missing from one end, it wasnt anywhere to be seen in the packaging so must have been missed out at the the factory, not an issue as I have plenty of spares but just thought it worth mentioning, I need to start saving up for some other Accurascale stuff now. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Accurascale Fran Posted January 11, 2020 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted January 11, 2020 (edited) 1 hour ago, rembrow said: OK you bad boys, so you had some 'Air Miles Andy' sets in stock, so now I've gone and ordered them, having got the Rails PFA CPL version today. One British Fuel set to go with the CPLs on a post 2000 Enterprise flow and 3 sets of Gypsums. She will kill me when they turn up, still it's her fault for buying me a Hattons EWS 66 for Christmas, yes that's what I'll argue!!! Let us know how that argument goes! 50 minutes ago, Dungrange said: I note that there aren't formations shown for the period 2006 to 2013 - where these wagons largely in storage over that period, or is it just coincidence that this is the largest gap? Regarding PFA dates, the vast majority of PFAs were in store from 2006 and DRS had yet to really put them to use outside of the Sellafield-Drigg trains. The non DRS ones were mostly scrapped by 2009. 34 minutes ago, royaloak said: Opened my Cawoods sets last night and the weight of the empty wagons are quite a nice surprise, one tiny tiny issue is one of wagons in set A had a coupling hook missing from one end, it wasnt anywhere to be seen in the packaging so must have been missed out at the the factory, not an issue as I have plenty of spares but just thought it worth mentioning, I need to start saving up for some other Accurascale stuff now. Very sorry to hear that. If you drop us an email we would be more than happy to send you out a replacement coupling! support@accurascale.co.uk Cheers! Fran Edited January 11, 2020 by Accurascale Fran 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dungrange Posted January 11, 2020 Share Posted January 11, 2020 2 minutes ago, Accurascale Fran said: Regarding PFA dates, the vast majority of PFAs were in store from 2006 and DRS had yet to really put them to use outside of the Sellafield-Drigg trains. The non DRS ones were mostly scrapped by 2009. Oh dear. So, none of the 24 wagons that I've just bought are really suitable for my core 2006 - 2009 time period then. :-( Thankfully I'm not modelling anywhere in particular, so I can rely on that what-if scenario. I bought the British Fuels bundle mainly because there are a lot of photographs of the EWS Mossend - Inverness Enterprise services on the Highland Mainline at the turn of the century, which always seem to contain some of these wagons as part of a nice varied train, which often included cement, and the Safeway containers. I just need to pretend these services lived on a bit longer than they actually did. As for the DRS packs, I new they were in use in my time period, but hadn't realised that the geography was so restricted at that point in time. Still, I'll be pleased when I actually get my hands on them. Thanks for making them. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold big jim Posted January 11, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 11, 2020 (edited) Damn you apple pay! i have a look on the website on my mobile phone, 3 DRS sets left in stock, right below a big black button labelled “pay with Apple Pay” one finger print check later and now 2 Left in stock Same thing happened the other week with 97301 Edited January 11, 2020 by big jim 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
royaloak Posted January 11, 2020 Share Posted January 11, 2020 14 minutes ago, Accurascale Fran said: Very sorry to hear that. If you drop us an email we would be more than happy to send you out a replacement coupling! support@accurascale.co.uk Cheers! Fran Thanks for the kind offer but its fine, hardly worth the effort for a tiny bit of metal, its just one of those things that occasionally happens. Off out to do some more wiring after being inspired to see these beautiful wagons actually have somewhere to run. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krieghoff Posted January 11, 2020 Share Posted January 11, 2020 20 hours ago, Accurascale Fran said: It’s also worth noting that we have more pack N on a ship headed this way. Due late Feb! Cheers! Fran That is excellent news Fran. Might I suggest that a pre order for this pack might be worthwhile. I missed out on the DRS bundle but ordered both the Cawood and Gypsum bundles as well. I'm gutted that I missed out and I need the pack N to make the set complete. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
97403_Ixion Posted January 11, 2020 Share Posted January 11, 2020 Hi Fran, I see DRS PFA set O has also now sold out. When you said there are more set N on a ship... does this include more stock of the others too? I'd like a set of the DRS ones, so keeping my fingers crossed Cheers, Ixion. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krieghoff Posted January 11, 2020 Share Posted January 11, 2020 4 minutes ago, 97403_Ixion said: Hi Fran, I see DRS PFA set O has also now sold out. When you said there are more set N on a ship... does this include more stock of the others too? I'd like a set of the DRS ones, so keeping my fingers crossed Cheers, Ixion. Lets hope so !! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium newbryford Posted January 11, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 11, 2020 Now that the PFAs are hitting the rails - is there any movement on doing just the gypsum boxes? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MRDBLUE17 Posted January 12, 2020 Share Posted January 12, 2020 Hello everyone, Just a quick shot of the recreation of the Highland flask working. 37605 and 37602 top and tail the Carlisle - Georgmas working with the FNA sandwiches with a pair of PFA’s. The tension locks have been swapped with Kadees and the PFA’s are a perfect match to Bachmann FNA in coupling/buffer height. Thanks Mark 11 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium newbryford Posted January 12, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 12, 2020 16 minutes ago, MRDBLUE17 said: Hello everyone, Just a quick shot of the recreation of the Highland flask working. 37605 and 37602 top and tail the Carlisle - Georgmas working with the FNA sandwiches with a pair of PFA’s. The tension locks have been swapped with Kadees and the PFA’s are a perfect match to Bachmann FNA in coupling/buffer height. Thanks Mark Nice one Mark. Searching flickr with "Georgemas DRS" bringsup a few odd workings. Single KUA anyone? Sup 7 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
25901 Posted January 12, 2020 Share Posted January 12, 2020 Three words,one picture. "Thank you Accurascale" 6 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick G Posted January 12, 2020 Share Posted January 12, 2020 Anyone been brave enough to weather their wagons yet? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
KDG Posted January 12, 2020 Share Posted January 12, 2020 My brother and sister both kindly gave me Accurascale vouchers for Christmas, so yesterday I was able to buy one of the DRS triple packs of half height container pfa's. Really looking forward to seeing them in the flesh. Will there be another run of the Castle PCA's? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium newbryford Posted January 12, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 12, 2020 42 minutes ago, Nick G said: Anyone been brave enough to weather their wagons yet? Yep! - But no pics...………. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick G Posted January 12, 2020 Share Posted January 12, 2020 2 minutes ago, newbryford said: Yep! - But no pics...………. Guess I will have to wait until Stafford then? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold big jim Posted January 12, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 12, 2020 3 minutes ago, newbryford said: Yep! - But no pics...………. If you want to go really far with your weathering they why not add a Strap around the Cawoods container about 1/4 way up when loaded wagons arrived into Liverpool and it was discovered that a door had burst open en route (which was surprisingly a regular occurrence) we used to put a ratchet strap right round the container to hold the door shut while lifting off the wagon into the dock side, the door would only normally be open a couple of inches as the design of the wagon prevented it opening too far if course once the container was lifted off we had to clean the wagon down, removing the dropped coal, straight into bags, straight into the Montego van and straight across the Mersey to deeside to the fitters coal bunker, I don’t think he paid for coal for a good 10 years! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium newbryford Posted January 12, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 12, 2020 19 minutes ago, Nick G said: Guess I will have to wait until Stafford then? They won't be a Stafford. DL is a nuclear-free zone - apart from a few DRS locos. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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