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Locomotion & Rails of Sheffield announce SE&CR D Class


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You couldn’t make it up!  Bob shaped happiness now restored in full.  Nondescript grey van turned up 10 minutes ago with a very nice post person bearing gifts so well done Royal Mail even though you had me worried for a while. 
On first inspection it looks beautiful. After lunch I will visit The Shed and try it out.  Might be gone for some time. :locomotive:

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10 minutes ago, AY Mod said:

The one here wanted to play in the sunshine instead.

 

D_Class_Daylight.jpg

 

Let's hope we see more of this on future releases; it's the best loco/tender coupling I've encountered.

 

D_Class_6.jpg

 

 

 

That was sunshine (for County Durham)!

 

I think that loco-tender connection is the best and easiest to use I've seen and has lived up to its expectations.

 

Silky smooth running OOB, BTW

 

Cosmetically I am also very impressed. Not even the deservedly celebrated Stirling Single had the spokes lined!

 

 

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Very pleased with mine, including the tender connection as already commented. My cab roof fell off - so I will use it as an opportunity to fit the crew before I glue it back on.

 

Need to decide whether my Adams keeps its 488 address.

IMG_20210615_125011.jpg

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My 488 arrived at lunchtime. It was a surprise because the only notification I had was from PayPal some days ago.

 

Very beautiful! Thank you Rails and Dapol!

 

Decoder installation was a bit tedious because the speaker enclosure jammed in the opening and I had to do some very delicate simultaneous pushing, pulling and levering to get the carrier board out. (The GWR Mogul came with speaker enclosure not fitted, as I recall.)

 

It runs well: very smooth, very quiet, nicely progressive speed control, no sign of any "lumps" in the motion.

 

One minor point: I don't think the coal load is up to the standard of the rest of the model because it's not a good fit and it sits high, so that you can see the edges of the moulding. Some filing might make it sit down better so that the edges are properly hidden but the better long-term answer will be to replace it with some real coal.

 

I'll try to get the firebox flickering after work... Should be possible with a bit of CV tweaking.

 

Edited by Harlequin
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You will be pleased to see that my D class has arrived from Locomotion Models.  This is number 737 as preserved at the York Railway Museum. I am impressed with the paint finish and detail but I have not run it yet.  Although my main interest is the Swanage Railway on the LSWR I spent my childhood in Orpington, Kent which is in the area that the D class ran.

P1010317.JPG

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4 hours ago, wainwright1 said:

I was told some years ago that when they were restoring the loco to SE & CR condition for exhibition, they could not find a correct pattern chimney, so had one manufactured in wood !

Which makes you wonder why, having got the pattern maker to produce a wooden chimney, they didn't take it down the foundry and cast a metal one..... 

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4 hours ago, WisTramwayMan said:

488 has arrived this morning ex-Rails, 737 is on its way and due for delivery today from Locomotion. To settle all debate, having physically had one in my hand, the loco comes fitted with traction tyres on the leading set of drivers; there is a replacement set in the box without tyres.

 

Now to get round to trying it out. Seems quite light, but I've thought that before and haulage power is still satisfactory.

737 has now arrived. Looks as beautifully finished as 488, thankfully the finish and QA on these models appears comparable to the Moguls, which I thought were great, as opposed to a certain canine predecessor. Now roll on the Hattons Genesis coaches and get some 6-wheelers for them to haul, until then Bachmann birdcages it will be. Overall, well done Rails/Dapol.

Currently looking for an excuse to consider another one....

 

Edited by WisTramwayMan
Incapable of spelling correctly + expanded
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1 hour ago, pete_mcfarlane said:

Which makes you wonder why, having got the pattern maker to produce a wooden chimney, they didn't take it down the foundry and cast a metal one..... 

It's probably solid ................ and the elderly smokebox wouldn't have taken the weight of that much cast iron ! :)

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5 hours ago, AY Mod said:

The one here wanted to play in the sunshine instead.

 

D_Class_Daylight.jpg

 

Let's hope we see more of this on future releases; it's the best loco/tender coupling I've encountered.

 

D_Class_6.jpg

 

 

Based on my experiences with the coupling on the GWR  Mogul I doubt these will last very long unless you never separate them. After only a few iterations mine has loosened and gotten sloppy.  

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5 minutes ago, Cofga said:

Based on my experiences with the coupling on the GWR  Mogul I doubt these will last very long unless you never separate them. After only a few iterations mine has loosened and gotten sloppy.  

 

For a variety of reasons mine has been coupled and coupled many tens of times now and it seems perfectly OK. Hence making the comment I did. 

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Mine has arrived, and very nice it looks to! Had to refit one tender buffer and the coal load removed itself (although I plan to fit a real coal load anyway!) but overall very impressed with this model! 

 

Now, daft sounding question, but are the front NEM couplings removable? I gently pulled on mine to no avail so wanted to check in case I damage the front pony truck...

 

Many thanks

 

James

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3 minutes ago, jamesC37LG said:

 

Now, daft sounding question, but are the front NEM couplings removable? I gently pulled on mine to no avail so wanted to check in case I damage the front pony truck...

 

Many thanks

 

James

 

Yes but a pair of tweezers may be advisable.

 

I managed to easily remove the pocket to replace it with the blanking part as its only clipped to the bogie frame but even then with the pocket in my hand still couldn't pull the coupling out of it with more force than should be necessary. 

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4 minutes ago, jamesC37LG said:

the coal load removed itself

 

You only have to look at it. 

 

4 minutes ago, jamesC37LG said:

are the front NEM couplings removable?

 

The coupling mount has a different sort of attachment, lift it upwards when the loco is upside down (watch the whistle!). There's a replacement bogie front panel which looks a lot better which then fits in. 

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Since outdoor photos are de rigeur at the moment, here's mine (with a cat hair already attached :angry:😞

IMG_20210615_183933r.jpg.97b90969705c1adcc6f7c035d6869d80.jpg

Stunning!

 

IMG_20210615_183954r.jpg.b7e0164b03fecc4956daa3f7441f4554.jpg

 

Notice "SE&CR" on the tender's axle boxes... :smile_mini: Amazing!

 

I need to think about running plate alignment...

 

As with the Mogul, setting a function key to drive both F0Fwd and F0Rev outputs got the firebox flicker working. And as with the Mogul it's not very bright.

 

Edited by Harlequin
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Received my 488 today and would endorse all of the good things said about it. It runs smoothly and quietly, and the level of fine detail is exceptional. I particularly like the shaft from the reverser extending below the running board. Unfortunately, however, it has not been all plain sailing.

On removing the loco form its large, bomb proof packaging the hook from the tender coupling fell on to the table. I wasn't surprised by this as I find the hooks on current Dapol couplings fall off for a pastime.

The lampiron on the top of the smokebox was leaning at an angle, and closer inspection showed that it had come out of its mounting hole, and was only held in place by the handrail. A firm, careful push put iy back in place and it seems to be reasonably secure. 

The dome seemed to be a bit wobbly, and simply came of in my hand. Nothing broken, just not glued on very well. 

Nothing major that can't be easily fixed, just a little bit irksome to find this on something costing £200 and which in all other respects is an outstanding and high quality model. I am mightily glad I bought one.

 

Geoff

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9 hours ago, AY Mod said:

The one here wanted to play in the sunshine instead.

 

D_Class_Daylight.jpg

 

This should be the new advertising photo. I'm not ashamed to admit that I let out an audible squeak when I saw this. 

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I had No.737 running at the club test track tonight, stunning looking loco! Actually quite grateful for the traction tyres as it would have struggled around the tight inclined bend otherwise. 

 
 

3C46BAA7-4D0D-4932-AF53-D596BA84D170.jpeg

BD21057A-5021-4378-BE53-232E2ED50C6D.jpeg

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Looks like I have a faulty model 

 

the tender wheels are very stiff the middle one will sometimes lockup. I have tried to make it free running by carefully adjusting the pickups and put tiny drop of oil on the axle

 

This helps a little but it's still not quite right it will sometimes the locomotive will slow down and then speed up thinking it's more than just the tender and could be the motor 

 

It's a DC model with no decoder fitted I'm running with a gaugemaster model D that's only a about two years old 

 

I will be contacting locomotion to see what they say. I may just send it back for a refund as I'm very disappointed 

 

Looks a a great model though and the tender coupling is a great idea 

 

 

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I received mine yesterday - no mechanical faults or bits loose / missing as far as I can see. However, a couple of niggles are that the dome, safety valve casing and whistle stick out as being too bright - more gold than brass. Also, I had bought some etched workplates and cab side numbers in advance but the painted ones are the wrong size and so will show beneath the etched versions, which are the correct size. Small details that may not bother most people but I reckon that Hattons did a much better job with the P Class.

 

There are no cosmetic couplings but I am happy to make my own. I also replace cosmetic coal loads so am happy that the tender/tank top details are under the plastic coal that comes with the loco. I'm not sure what to do about the bright dome etc or oversize numbers and workplaces so will probably have to live with them.

 

8 out of 10 for me.

 

 

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