Bachmann Spring 2021 - New products

[LNER4479]

We have a Stanier b/g BSK running as the lead vehicle in this 1967 Euston-Glasgow relief working on Shap. Based on a prototype photo (actually a Britannia working the train) - and the brake is marshalled the wrong way round in the prototype photo.

 

 

Edited February 4, 2021 by LNER4479

['CHARD]

12 minutes ago, LNER4479 said:

We have a Stanier b/g BSK one running as the lead vehicle in this 1967 Euston-Glasgow relief working on Shap. Based on a prototype photo (actually a Britannia working the train) - and the brake is marshalled the wrong way round in the prototype photo.

 

 

 

 

Awesome!   That rake or one very similar is pictured leaving Galashiels during 1968.  Presumably shortly after the massed ranks of Mk2s had been delivered to WCML carriage sheds.

[LNER4479]

Thanks.

 

The picture concerned is the first one in this thread elsewhere on here:

 

 

[Legend]

41 minutes ago, APOLLO said:

So it's just a couple of Braziers for me - a useful little addition to the range !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Re the LMS Portholes, I think a thread on here many moons ago stated they were repainted as there was a shortage of BSK' s at the time. I remember seeing one about 1969 / 70 in the scrap line at Central Wagon Ince, it looked freshly repainted (or just clean) at the time, and stood out like a sore thumb.

 

Brit15

 

 

 

I actually quite like the rail buffer stops . £5.95 for two . Just about my price level

 

I take it the blue/grey portholes may have been seen with the forthcoming Heljan Electric blue AL6 . Is that a legitimate combination ?

[Black 5 Bear]

6 minutes ago, Legend said:

 

I actually quite like the rail buffer stops . £5.95 for two . Just about my price level

 

I take it the blue/grey portholes may have been seen with the forthcoming Heljan Electric blue AL6 . Is that a legitimate combination 

Russell,

The Peco code 75 bullhead rail built buffer stops are also worth a look. I was told by my local dealer that they will be produced in other OO gauge track profiles in the near future.

They are self assembly, retailing at about £5.00 a pair.

[Zunnan]

1 hour ago, Legend said:

I take it the blue/grey portholes may have been seen with the forthcoming Heljan Electric blue AL6 . Is that a legitimate combination ?

 

Absolutely, and 'E' prefix BR Blue. And not forgetting Bachmanns own pre-TOPS AL5.

[The Stationmaster]

2 hours ago, brushman47544 said:

 

I guessed that's what you meant as its omission does stand out. But thinking about it, how would you fit a coupling on the front of the loco if the baffle plate was a fixed part? Some Bachmann diesels (Class 37 and 47 come to mind) have snow ploughs provided to fit into the NEM coupling pocket. I agree it would be nice if Bachmann was offering that option for the baffle plate, but I'll let them off if they don't.

We appear to be getting into a slight tangle here but what you have said is clearly the salient point as my part enlargement (below) of the original photo in this thread shows.  What we are talking about is not 'a baffle plate' (which did get me a little baffled when I first read Ian's post and trying to work out what he was talking about) but is the front frame of the bogie.  The 'Modified Halls' of course, having a plate frame bogie instead of the earlier bar frame Churchward design of bogie.

 

Ian is absolutely right - as the part enlargement of my photo of 6991 below shows - that the front of the bogie was all too obviously different from the Churchward bogie and very prominent in any front end view of these engines.  it was very easy, at quite a distance, to work out that it was a 'Modified Hall coming towards you.

 

But on a model with an NEM pocket there is little choice - Bachmann (and others) can either offer the NEM pocket and have to alter the bogie's appearance to fit it or they offer a removable NEM pocket witha replacement part,  or they offer a replacement bogie.  Interestingly the Accurascale 'Manor' will - in a slightly different way - offer that choice (I think for the first time on a GWR r-t-r model?) while Bachmann I believe have used a removable NEM pocket on the Midland 1P.  But both of these models are 'up to the minute' mainstream items whereas the 'Modified Hall' is a rework of a basically older model.   The choice is of course to do what Ian did on a previous model and fit the front plate of the bogie with whatever material suits, duly removing the NEM pocket (if necessary).

 

I trust AY/Bachmann will excise me taking a minor liberty with the original photo of the Bachmann model?

 

 

[No Decorum]

8 hours ago, lwnameplates said:

i must be the only one who actually likes sitting in the dark quiet a lot with all my little layout lights shining, its a lot easier to sort a bright white light than replacing no light at all 

No you’re not.

[Ighten]

Being very picky I know  but Is it just me (or is the it the way the pics been taken) but the 24 always looks like its crying out for some much finer wipers - they seem to have been like this for so long now 

[andyman7]

9 hours ago, lwnameplates said:

i must be the only one who actually likes sitting in the dark quiet a lot with all my little layout lights shining, its a lot easier to sort a bright white light than replacing no light at all 

 

You and many others - and I've no problem with that, I don't begrudge anyone their personal enjoyment

 

3 hours ago, TheSignalEngineer said:

They were replaced in the WCML rakes as soon as Mk2 deliveries arrived during 1968. BR were very fussy about their new electric express trains being all blue/grey and using electrics for every possible train under the wires, even to the extent of Class 7 freights composed of 16T minerals with a fitted head.

As soon as new stock arrived the portholes were cascaded to normal use in the north of the LMR.

 

This and other posts have helped bring out the great possibilities with the Blue Grey Portholes. Manna for Death Steam and early AC electrics - and you don't even need a rake, one will do

[Coryton]

33 minutes ago, andyman7 said:

This and other posts have helped bring out the great possibilities with the Blue Grey Portholes. Manna for Death Steam and early AC electrics - and you don't even need a rake, one will do

 

Indeed.

 

I've been waiting for this for a while - seemed like an obvious thing to do. Though I rather imagined it would be done as a commission.

[Ian Hargrave]

3 hours ago, The Stationmaster said:

We appear to be getting into a slight tangle here but what you have said is clearly the salient point as my part enlargement (below) of the original photo in this thread shows.  What we are talking about is not 'a baffle plate' (which did get me a little baffled when I first read Ian's post and trying to work out what he was talking about) but is the front frame of the bogie.  The 'Modified Halls' of course, having a plate frame bogie instead of the earlier bar frame Churchward design of bogie.

 

Ian is absolutely right - as the part enlargement of my photo of 6991 below shows - that the front of the bogie was all too obviously different from the Churchward bogie and very prominent in any front end view of these engines.  it was very easy, at quite a distance, to work out that it was a 'Modified Hall coming towards you.

 

But on a model with an NEM pocket there is little choice - Bachmann (and others) can either offer the NEM pocket and have to alter the bogie's appearance to fit it or they offer a removable NEM pocket witha replacement part,  or they offer a replacement bogie.  Interestingly the Accurascale 'Manor' will - in a slightly different way - offer that choice (I think for the first time on a GWR r-t-r model?) while Bachmann I believe have used a removable NEM pocket on the Midland 1P.  But both of these models are 'up to the minute' mainstream items whereas the 'Modified Hall' is a rework of a basically older model.   The choice is of course to do what Ian did on a previous model and fit the front plate of the bogie with whatever material suits, duly removing the NEM pocket (if necessary).

 

I trust AY/Bachmann will excise me taking a minor liberty with the original photo of the Bachmann model?

 

 

 
Aplogies for the “bafflement “ and misidentification of frame. There are of course those who will need the option of running tender first which I understand. However there is presumably an NEM socket here so might it just be possible to provide an alternative fit for the front of the frame as well as a tension lock ? Only just a thought.

 

 

[TheSignalEngineer]

12 hours ago, lwnameplates said:

i must be the only one who actually likes sitting in the dark quiet a lot with all my little layout lights shining, its a lot easier to sort a bright white light than replacing no light at all 

Sat in the dark alongside the 12" to the foot railway for many hours in my career. Trains were virtually invisible especially in the early diesel era. Compartment coaches had pull down blinds or curtains and series-parallel dimmer circuits for the lights. Only with the coming of open stock with fluorescent lighting did they start to become more visible, at least side on. 

[LNER4479]

3 hours ago, andyman7 said:

This and other posts have helped bring out the great possibilities with the Blue Grey Portholes. Manna for Death Steam and early AC electrics - and you don't even need a rake, one will do

Indeed. As this seems to have created some interest, here's a rather better picture of our train, this time with a 'Brit' at the business end, taken by Tony Wright, who's quite happy for me to post such pics on here, so long as they're credited (which I just did).

 

This was all done for our Shap '67 project for the '50 years ago' area at the Warley 2017 show. We now run the layout with a broader timescale (1953-1967) to allow for the real red-blooded Stanier locos to be seen. 1950s steam much more my 'thing'; however, having done the research for 1967 and taken the trouble to put together trains like this then we still run them at exhibitions (remember them?) in a cycling presentation going through the eras.

 

Having got into it a bit, I would agree that 'death steam' is certainly a fascinating - if somewhat macabre - time to model. These summer Saturday trains were the last to feature steam haulage over Shap in the pre-1968 age and enthusiasts flocked to both photograph and ride on them in those final years. Hopefully therefore the Bachmann b/g portholes will have some appeal in this context.

Edited February 4, 2021 by LNER4479

[The Stationmaster]

4 minutes ago, Ian Hargrave said:

 
Aplogies for the “bafflement “ and misidentification of frame. There are of course those who will need the option of running tender first which I understand. However there is presumably an NEM socket here so might it just be possible to provide an alternative fit for the front of the frame as well as a tension lock ? Only just a thought.

 

 

I wonder if the problem might be in relation to the position of the socket in relation to the line of the buffer faces?  Clearly NEM pockets for a particular length of coupling shank have to be in a certain position.  I would think the best answer with the GWR plate frame bogie is to offer two bogies  witha replacement one in the box ready for the owner to swap them.  But that would no doubt increase the price which might not be acceptable to those buyers who will be using the engine tender first.  Not so easy to please everybody all of the time.

[phil-b259]

32 minutes ago, The Stationmaster said:

I wonder if the problem might be in relation to the position of the socket in relation to the line of the buffer faces?  Clearly NEM pockets for a particular length of coupling shank have to be in a certain position.  I would think the best answer with the GWR plate frame bogie is to offer two bogies  witha replacement one in the box ready for the owner to swap them.  But that would no doubt increase the price which might not be acceptable to those buyers who will be using the engine tender first.  Not so easy to please everybody all of the time.

 

Would it not be better to design the bogie such that the pocket itself can be removed and some form of detailing part to be plugged in instead.

 

That would keep costs down - a tiny piece of moulded plastic is going to be cheaper than a whole bogies as well as being potentially much easier for someone to install / remove.

[Ian Hargrave]

2 hours ago, phil-b259 said:

 

Would it not be better to design the bogie such that the pocket itself can be removed and some form of detailing part to be plugged in instead.

 

That would keep costs down - a tiny piece of moulded plastic is going to be cheaper than a whole bogies as well as being potentially much easier for someone to install / remove.

 

indeed.But it depends of course on how near to production it is. I sincerely hope it can be presented as accurately  as it could be and that particular issue is crucial to this model. 

 

 

[TheSignalEngineer]

2 hours ago, The Stationmaster said:

I wonder if the problem might be in relation to the position of the socket in relation to the line of the buffer faces?  Clearly NEM pockets for a particular length of coupling shank have to be in a certain position.  I would think the best answer with the GWR plate frame bogie is to offer two bogies  witha replacement one in the box ready for the owner to swap them.  But that would no doubt increase the price which might not be acceptable to those buyers who will be using the engine tender first.  Not so easy to please everybody all of the time.

I use a Hornby B1 coming through with a dated train which is brought back for stabling. I filed down the unsightly protrusion of the front NEM socket and made a loop of blackened handrail wire to plug into the remains so it can still tow ECS but improves the look.

[Wheatley]

2 hours ago, phil-b259 said:

 

Would it not be better to design the bogie such that the pocket itself can be removed and some form of detailing part to be plugged in instead.

 

That would keep costs down - a tiny piece of moulded plastic is going to be cheaper than a whole bogies as well as being potentially much easier for someone to install / remove.

Heljan's 05 does exactly that - not on a bogie but on a full depth buffer beam. 

[The Stationmaster]

On 04/02/2021 at 16:39, phil-b259 said:

 

Would it not be better to design the bogie such that the pocket itself can be removed and some form of detailing part to be plugged in instead.

 

That would keep costs down - a tiny piece of moulded plastic is going to be cheaper than a whole bogies as well as being potentially much easier for someone to install / remove.

It will be interesting to see how Accurascale have done it in the end but according to the notes that has an interchangeable buffer beam and not an interchangeable part on the bogie.   I recjkon SE's idea is probably the best way around it for a home d-i-y job (assuming you need a frint coupling of course).

[TheSignalEngineer]

On 05/02/2021 at 18:48, The Stationmaster said:

  I reckon SE's idea is probably the best way around it for a home d-i-y job (assuming you need a front coupling of course).

Sorry not a very good picture. The B1 is in one of the stock trays out of reach at the moment but this is a similar idea I've tried on the 64xx to 74xx conversion I have been working on.

Edited February 6, 2021 by TheSignalEngineer

[7007GreatWestern]

Re: Modified Hall. Does anyone know if Bachmann are planning on re-positioning the decoder socket on this batch of models? For those who don't know, the decoder is in the loco body and not the tender on older Halls and Modified Halls. To install the decoder, the body has to be removed, a ballast weight withdrawn and the decoder circuit board slotted into the vacated pocket. Then it gets really tricky! The socket is on the opposite side of the motor, so the harness wires have to be fed through a very narrow channel around the motor. If the wires aren't perfectly 'flush', it's then really difficult to get the body back on.

 

Re-locating the decoder to the tender would really help!

[Adrock]

Do Bachman provide information on the artwork for example have they said what shed code the BR lined green 4MT will carry? 
 

Thanks. 

[Henry 84F]

8 hours ago, 7007GreatWestern said:

Re: Modified Hall. Does anyone know if Bachmann are planning on re-positioning the decoder socket on this batch of models? For those who don't know, the decoder is in the loco body and not the tender on older Halls and Modified Halls. To install the decoder, the body has to be removed, a ballast weight withdrawn and the decoder circuit board slotted into the vacated pocket. Then it gets really tricky! The socket is on the opposite side of the motor, so the harness wires have to be fed through a very narrow channel around the motor. If the wires aren't perfectly 'flush', it's then really difficult to get the body back on.

 

Re-locating the decoder to the tender would really help!

There hasn't been any mention of this so I assume not although, like you, I hope they do! Not only is it a fiddly decoder fit but also removing the ballast makes the loco quite light. I actually reverted my Hall to analogue because its haulage capacity was poor after the decoder went in. I did have some success with another Hall and a nano decoder which just about fit under the cab floor. Let's see what Bachmann come up with but I'm really pleased to see them rectify this model. A great move.

 

Henry 

[Fredo]

Hi, does anyone know which year in its BR days 6990 had its tender swapped from a Hawksworth version to a Collett one. Thanks Fred