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Mark 2b, By Accurascale and IRM!


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The Lais decoders may not the best on the market but their loco decoders (when they've available ) are about half that and are probably good enough if you only want to switch on/off one or LEDs in a coach

 

Sorry for drifting somewhat off topic, but what would be really nifty would be to control side as well as tail lamps on a goods brake (these showed red or white aspects to the rear (and white forward) which varied depending on whether the train was on a main/slow/goods loop/reception line etc.  This was so that the driver on a fast line didn't make an emergency brake application on sighting a freight running on a parallel line - but did know if he was about to overtake one on the same line.  The sort of thing you might automate if the layout if controlled by software.  Never seen this modelled, but it could of course already be done using existing function decoders.

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22 hours ago, Henners84 said:

Promise I won't shout 'duplication' at you if you announce some mk2as. Desparate to build a full mix rake of accurascale As and Bs. 

Just noticed there isn't an NSE brake coach. Possibly something for batch 2?

 

The Mk2b BFKs were short lived and none were painted into NSE livery. The Mule BFKs were Mk2a or 2c. If the Mk2c follows the 2b, then the BFK and TSOT are likely to be produced. But I don’t recall seeing any NSE rakes without at least one M2a TSO.

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Well done to Accurascale/IRM. These coaches look great and fill a big gap both sides of the water.

I now discover that my interest and boyhood memories are "a niche within a niche" - a lovely phrase. One NIR grey/blue pack ordered, with much thanks and anticipation; something of quality for 111 to pull at last.

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On 27/08/2021 at 20:51, robertcwp said:

Picking up on the formations discussion earlier in this thread, here are some examples from the Western Region in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Sets where all the Mark 2 stock was 2b were very rare except possibly when the 2b stock was new. In addition to 100 out of 111 Mark 2b carriages, the WR had 80 Mark 2a from new and another 100 or so transferred to from the Eastern Region in 1971-2.

 

All formations are listed from the Bristol end (as the WR referred to it in Paddington Station Workings books).

 

Bristol/South Wales was typically BG, 4 TSO, RB, FO, 2 FK, BFK - for a time in 1968-9, the BFK moved to be next to the BG. Additional carriages, usually a TSO or two, were added at the London end. BG, RB and FO were Mark 1.

 

From c1971, most South Wales sets exchanged their BFK for a 2c BSO. Around the same time, the BFK in Bristol sets moved to be next to the FO and there were often 5 TSO together rather than four. 

 

From late 1972, Mark 2e and then Mark 2f air-con sets began displacing the earlier air-braked Mark 2 sets from Bristol and South Wales workings.

 

There were exceptions to the above, with some sets having brakes in the middle.

 

What had been the 'Bristolian' did not have a BG but had an extra FK, sometimes two extra FKs on certain days. 

 

The first West of England train to go over to regular Mark 2 air-braked stock was the Golden Hind, which was 4 TSO, RB, FO, 2 FK, BFK.

 

Plymouth/Penzance trains varied a bit but from May 1972, the Cornish Riviera and Golden Hind sets were combined so the up Hind worked the down Riviera and vice versa. The sets were shuffled around a bit over the next few years but the Penzance portions typically had 3 TSO, 1 FK and 1 BFK. Different sets worked the Riviera on Saturdays when the Hind did not run. The Plymouth section was RB (RKB for a time), FO, TSO, BFK or FK. The Penzance section sometimes had an additional TSO.

 

A couple of other Penzance sets had a BG but others had 2 BSO 2c and an FK along with 3 TSO in the Penzance section and a 4-car Plymouth portion including RB and FO.

 

Paington sets were typically BG, 4TSO, RB, FO, FK, BFK but the BFK moved to be between the TSO and RB c1973 (possibly when the down platform at Dawlish was damaged in a storm). Additional TSOs could be added at the London end.

 

Here are some examples:

 

Down Cornish Riviera in 1974 with an RKB and an FK at the end:

6856098169_f5293966ed_c.jpg1034_WhiteWaltham_1B45_18-3-74 by Robert Carroll, on Flickr

 

Up Swansea in 1973 with Mark 2c BSO leading. Note the FO is a Diag 72 with door to middle bay, probably locked out of use:

6096936569_73dfa037f1_c.jpgD1012_1A31_Maidenhead_0725-Swan-Padd_23-2-73 by Robert Carroll, on Flickr

 

Bristol-Paddington in 1972 with 3 FK then a BFK at the front:

4373869944_27a7a25fd8_c.jpg1021_Reading_1A40-0935-Bristol-Padd_2-9-72 by Robert Carroll, on Flickr

 

Penzance-Paddington in 1972 with a BFK in the Plymouth section:

2154555350_894e158731_c.jpg1029_Reading_2-9-72_0635Penz-Padd by Robert Carroll, on Flickr

 

Paignton set in 1974 with a BFK between the TSOs and the catering. Strengthened formation as it's a Saturday:

6911740779_21f1f695cd_c.jpg1029_Maidenhead_1B73_21-9-74 by Robert Carroll, on Flickr

 

Paington set in 1975 with RB and FO reversed so FO is at kitchen end of RB:

6911748813_7706068812_c.jpg1055_Waltham_1A55_1-3-75 by Robert Carroll, on Flickr

 

Plymouth/Penzance sets passing at Westbury in 1975:

5539796866_c79ed3e4b6_c.jpgD1041_Westbury_JUN-75 by Robert Carroll, on Flickr

 

Weston-super-Mare-Paddington in 1972 - this set has a BFK and a BSO in the middle, as some did:

2169722200_023b30a527_c.jpg1063_Reading_1140WSM-Padd_2-9-72 by Robert Carroll, on Flickr

 

Penzance-Paddington in 1972 - 2b BFK and TSO leading:

8185093727_1b7f641730_c.jpgD1062_Dainton_0835-Penzance-Padd_11-8-72 by Robert Carroll, on Flickr

 

Paddington-Swansea in 1976 - not an air-con set:

4548812916_5c1c990098_c.jpg47465_BristolPK_1400-Padd-Swan_19-8-76 by Robert Carroll, on Flickr

 

Paington train in 1974 - strengthened formation:

33093793898_cbfd088fb0_c.jpg47106_AllerJct_23-7-74 by Robert Carroll, on Flickr

 

Penzance train in 1975 - 2 2c BSOs in Penzance section:

6132773377_820af3eb07_c.jpg47164_Reading_1B83_29-7-75 by Robert Carroll, on Flickr

 

Penzance train with 2a, 2b and 2c stock in 1975:

3049575323_cecd8c062b_c.jpgD1034_47_Lostwithiel_9-75 by Robert Carroll, on Flickr

 

 

 

 

All the discussion of what ran where and when, especially in relation to ScR region. Has me wishing I had bought more of Dennis Taylors site before it was taken down :)
 

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45 minutes ago, robertcwp said:

No idea what that site was.

Wayback machine gives an idea, but it might not have recorded the actual photographs. This may partially work. Very good website for rolling stock photos. 

The UrL was 80srail.zenfolio.com

 

Wayback Machine (archive.org)

 

Paul

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22 hours ago, McC said:

 

Our HYA / IIA range also include tail lights (at no additional cost) but they've now been fitted with the same mag-relay technology that's in these coaches, meaning a wave of the wand will activate / deactivate, rather than micro-switches which we're looking to do away with on all stock.

 

Not sure if this is a daft question !

Do the mag-relays 'remember' what mode ( on or off ) they are in when power is switched off a layout ?

As in, when a layout is powered up, will the ones that were 'on' still be 'on', or will they all have reverted to being 'off', and need another waft with the wand ?!! :lol:

 

Cheers,

Phil.

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23 hours ago, McC said:

 

Our HYA / IIA range also include tail lights (at no additional cost) but they've now been fitted with the same mag-relay technology that's in these coaches, meaning a wave of the wand will activate / deactivate, rather than micro-switches which we're looking to do away with on all stock.

That’s good. Batteries are a fiddle and the micro-switches even more so. Instead of a wand, Hornby uses an activator roughly the size and shape of a rubber. A video by the designer showed the idea of sticking the activator under a footbridge; it got me thinking. If it were possible to make the magnet much smaller, one could be installed somewhere discretely, for example, on the approach to a tunnel. I’m speculating that OHLE might provide a good location for such a device. A wand is a bit of a “hand of God” device but it comes into its own as a handy switching device before and after a running session.

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1 hour ago, Phil Mc said:

 

Not sure if this is a daft question !

Do the mag-relays 'remember' what mode ( on or off ) they are in when power is switched off a layout ?

As in, when a layout is powered up, will the ones that were 'on' still be 'on', or will they all have reverted to being 'off', and need another waft with the wand ?!! :lol:

 

Cheers,

Phil.


they do. Think of them as physical switches just using a magnet to ‘flip’ rather than a teeny switch

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46 minutes ago, No Decorum said:

That’s good. Batteries are a fiddle and the micro-switches even more so. Instead of a wand, Hornby uses an activator roughly the size and shape of a rubber. A video by the designer showed the idea of sticking the activator under a footbridge; it got me thinking. If it were possible to make the magnet much smaller, one could be installed somewhere discretely, for example, on the approach to a tunnel. I’m speculating that OHLE might provide a good location for such a device. A wand is a bit of a “hand of God” device but it comes into its own as a handy switching device before and after a running session.


Absolutely. A well placed neodymium magnet on a gantry or tunnel can switch the lighting on and off. Some customers have suggested a magnetic fitted gantry on fiddle yards so that when a rake leaves the yard the coaches all activate and when it returns they are all

switched off. 

Edited by McC
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2 hours ago, Henners84 said:

Just wondering if anyone has any info on the sk (ex fk) blue grey intercity coach? Presume some first corridors were converted to second class? However I'm wondering how common this was and what services you'd find them on? Thanks 

 

Mk.2b SK (declassified FK) conversions first appeared in P5 for Spring 1986 although first conversions were 1984/5 apparently. There were 15 initially that were mostly allocated to Old Oak Common a handful to Eastern region depots.

From 1986/7 there were 16 SKs and around half had moved to Bounds Green and were used on ECML relief trains while a few were allocated to Willesden Brent, with others at Longsight, Oxley, Cardiff and York Clifton.

From the 1988 P5 they are all allocated to Wolverhampton Oxley in the new PXXX Provincial pool and used on cross-country services from the West Midlands to East Anglia. The following year there were just six left, split between Oxley, Derby and Edge Hill, the latter example being recorded in Manchester-Blackpool services.

Oxley lost its allocation in 1990 and the five remaining vehicles were allocated to Derby, OOC and Willesden Brent, and examples were recorded in cross-country trains and summer saturday Euston-Pwllheli services.

The last P5 book they appear in is the Summer/Autumn 1990 one, with Bounds Green's 19478 (ex-13478) being the last man standing.

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4 hours ago, McC said:

 

Mk.2b SK (declassified FK) conversions first appeared in P5 for Spring 1986 although first conversions were 1984/5 apparently. There were 15 initially that were mostly allocated to Old Oak Common a handful to Eastern region depots.

From 1986/7 there were 16 SKs and around half had moved to Bounds Green and were used on ECML relief trains while a few were allocated to Willesden Brent, with others at Longsight, Oxley, Cardiff and York Clifton.

From the 1988 P5 they are all allocated to Wolverhampton Oxley in the new PXXX Provincial pool and used on cross-country services from the West Midlands to East Anglia. The following year there were just six left, split between Oxley, Derby and Edge Hill, the latter example being recorded in Manchester-Blackpool services.

Oxley lost its allocation in 1990 and the five remaining vehicles were allocated to Derby, OOC and Willesden Brent, and examples were recorded in cross-country trains and summer saturday Euston-Pwllheli services.

The last P5 book they appear in is the Summer/Autumn 1990 one, with Bounds Green's 19478 (ex-13478) being the last man standing.


This photo on Flickr by John Whitely is dated 15 July 1989 and the train has was looks very like a declassified Mk2b SK as third vehicle. They were certainly used on WR internal services for many years in the 80s, first declassified then “converted”, not that that amounted to much. The WR was for most of that period allocated an excess of first class LH coaches and had whole rakes of them declassified, with the first class part formed of later Mk2s.

 

Nice morning for a walk.

 

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These look fantastic and am very much looking forward to seeing the finished models.

As others have said, an NSE TSOT would certainly plug another gap.

And if we dare to dream of MK2Cs, a BSO in Intercity Swallow would be most welcome! But let's not get too carried away.... :D

Edited by alexross42
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1 hour ago, brushman47544 said:


This photo on Flickr by John Whitely is dated 15 July 1989 and the train has was looks very like a declassified Mk2b SK as third vehicle. They were certainly used on WR internal services for many years in the 80s, first declassified then “converted”, not that that amounted to much. The WR was for most of that period allocated an excess of first class LH coaches and had whole rakes of them declassified, with the first class part formed of later Mk2s.

 

Nice morning for a walk.

 

The second carriage can only be a declassified Mark 2b former FK. A Mark 2a BSO leads and third carriage is also a Mark 2a FK, which looks as though it is also downgraded.

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1 hour ago, robertcwp said:

The second carriage can only be a declassified Mark 2b former FK. A Mark 2a BSO leads and third carriage is also a Mark 2a FK, which looks as though it is also downgraded.

Inclined to agree. Going by the roof vents both coaches 2 and 3 appear to be corridors. However coach 3 appears to have a centre door so must be a mk2a 

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5 hours ago, NIRCLASS80 said:


I will happily try and encourage some support for that idea!

B3EF7BCB-4EFA-4877-8561-F81DCFA71595.jpeg

DC24355E-5775-4238-94B8-CFE625A5C7C9.jpeg


This comparison really does show off very well the effect that livery has on appearance and the way that certain liveries suit certain locos/units far better than others. They almost look like different trains at first glance.

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6 hours ago, NIRCLASS80 said:


I will happily try and encourage some support for that idea!

B3EF7BCB-4EFA-4877-8561-F81DCFA71595.jpeg

DC24355E-5775-4238-94B8-CFE625A5C7C9.jpeg

 

53 minutes ago, aureol40012 said:


This comparison really does show off very well the effect that livery has on appearance and the way that certain liveries suit certain locos/units far better than others. They almost look like different trains at first glance.

 

FWIW I personally prefer the blue/grey with airline stripes, but then I am biased. ;)

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On 28/08/2021 at 22:55, hmrspaul said:

Wayback machine gives an idea, but it might not have recorded the actual photographs. This may partially work. Very good website for rolling stock photos. 

The UrL was 80srail.zenfolio.com

 

Wayback Machine (archive.org)

 

Paul

Thats the very one ;)

 

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