N gauge Class 50

[Davexoc]

Eight? Goodness me - I thought that I was planning to buy quite a few at 5. I am intrigued as to what layout that might accommodate such a collection.

 

 

A big one, 1980s, Western Region. So a few 50s are rather essential.

Five is the minimum for the early 80s, one of each;

 

Blue unrefurbished

Blue refurbished

Large logo

GWR 150

Early NSE

 

Add another LL and late NSE and we're at 7...

 

Dave

[dj_crisp]

Always good to see a new class 50!

 

Agree with TomE on his observations that the nose etc appear a little flat and the front windows are a bit square and aren't sloping enough. It almost looks like they've used a Hornby 50 to copy. But tbh I'd rather see one in the flesh before concluding.

 

As for getting the right shade of NSE blue.... near impossible as it seems to be a colour that looks drastically different under different light conditions, camera exposures and not helped by weathering so badly!!

[jamespetts]

I am not sure that the NSE version (introduced in 1986) ever coincided with the unrefurbished models, or that the BR blue ones were ever other than unrefurbished? (The two Dapol examples in original blue are pre- and post-TOPS, both unrefurbished: the refurbished ones were all pained in large logo, as the refurbishment occurred in the early 1980s).

 

Anyway, that is trivial - I am intrigued at what sort of fiddle yard/layout/operating schedule calls for 8 class 50s - this should be quite the layout.

[oreamnos]

or that the BR blue ones were ever other than unrefurbished?

 

The first 6 that went through refurbishment were painted in standard BR blue and only later repainted in LL.  See:

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/22865-class-50-refurbishment-dates/

 

Matt

[njee20]

Anyway, that is trivial - I am intrigued at what sort of fiddle yard/layout/operating schedule calls for 8 class 50s - this should be quite the layout.

Not really, my layout is nothing special (far smaller than your proposal for example), but there are still more than 20 66s on it. If a 50 is pivotal to your operations then why wouldn’t you buy a load on release?

 

I agree with the masses that we should definitely be critical of models, rather than blithely accepting errors to avoid upsetting manufacturers - who will of course be driven by sales rather than anecdotal feedback from a particularly discerning subset of the modelling population. I can see these being extremely popular. I agree that the front end isn’t quite right, for me the headcode box is wrong, I think Tom’s analysis best summarises why. I shall still be having a GWR150 one and a revised NSE when they inevitably come, for a railtour that happens to be 20 years late!

[bcnPete]

I will no doubt take a Large logo one to replace my ageing Farish ones.

 

Just out of interest, if rolling stock is 3D scanned these days how is it that the models then get errors such as profiling/shape wrong...is it to do with the capabilities in the manufacturing process?

[BernardTPM]

The scan would have had lots of bumps, lumps, dents and dinks and other inconsistencies due to wear and tear and later alterations on a 50 year old loco. They would then redraw that into something perfectly symmetrical and neat like it might have been when new, so interpretation still comes into it. It's doubtful that the scans of the two cabs of the one loco would have been perfectly consistent with each other.

Edited October 7, 2018 by BernardTPM

[Les1952]

There is also the fact that our eyes see things differently to any photographic or scanning device.  

 

It doesn't actually matter how accurate the scan and the rendering.  Each of us will perceive differences.

 

Les

[MikeParkin65]

I was at the Severn Valley class 50 gala yesterday. I saw both the Dapol models and the prototype within 50 yards of each other and I say photo's dont do the Dapol model justice. It looks proper '50 002' to me!

 

Wonder of anyone will attempt to replicate 50 033's temporary livery? For the fastidious it was literally changing by the hour at the event (a £5 donation to the cost of the repaint gave you a marker pen and the chance to leave your mark!)

[MGR Hooper!]

I will no doubt take a Large logo one to replace my ageing Farish ones.

 

Just out of interest, if rolling stock is 3D scanned these days how is it that the models then get errors such as profiling/shape wrong...is it to do with the capabilities in the manufacturing process?

Not everyone uses a 3D scan to create the model. Only some manufacturers do it. Many models are still models from a 2D drawing.

 

Also the scan is just a guide. The designer has to build the model around the scan. And as someone else mentioned, the real locos are full of dents and imperfections.

[Tricky-CRS]

That curve on the real loco only rises a relatively small amount, a couple of inches which 50mm is 0.33mm at 1/148 on the model. That is very hard to see and certainly does not show up on photo's taken at odd angles through a glass or perspex display case. I am not sure how well 1mm would show up and that is near 6inches. When I kneeled down and looked at the face it was not flat IMHO. We must remember that some details will not always so up correctly at this scale and may need to be over scaled to show up. Some may complain if some detail was made to big on purpose just to make it look more to scale.

[jamespetts]

The first 6 that went through refurbishment were painted in standard BR blue and only later repainted in LL.  See:

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/22865-class-50-refurbishment-dates/

 

Matt

 

Intriguing - I was not aware of this until now.

 

Not really, my layout is nothing special (far smaller than your proposal for example), but there are still more than 20 66s on it. If a 50 is pivotal to your operations then why wouldn’t you buy a load on release?

 

...

 

It depends on the size of the layout - one commanding 7 would be an interesting layout indeed, and I should be intrigued to see it. I am now intrigued by the magnitude of your layout!

 

One thing that particularly interests me at present about such larger layouts is the organisation of the fiddle yards, as I am working on this aspect of the plans for my own layout at present.

[BernardTPM]

That curve on the real loco only rises a relatively small amount, a couple of inches which 50mm is 0.33mm at 1/148 on the model. That is very hard to see and certainly does not show up on photo's taken at odd angles through a glass or perspex display case. I am not sure how well 1mm would show up and that is near 6inches. When I kneeled down and looked at the face it was not flat IMHO.

Very true, but one thing that doesn't change regardless of scale is the angles that different planes meet each other (though those planes often aren't flat and can curve in both directions, side to side and up and down).

[John M Upton]

The biggest visual issue for me is the headcode panel which on the unrefurbished version just doesn't look right but could probably be fixed relatively easily.

[D1059]

The biggest visual issue for me is the headcode panel which on the unrefurbished version just doesn't look right but could probably be fixed relatively easily.

 

Its a common fault with many models - especially those with illuminated panels

 

Usually the headcode numbers and lettering is far too recessed into the box and undersize. The Farish Warship is a classic for this. I simply painted the clear panel black and put transfers directly on the top. Looked a million percent better. The lighting is WAY too bright for headcode panels (and marker lights for 60s/70s diesels) anyway so I just snip and remove the wires powering the light source.

 

Dapols 22 is the only model in my fleet that seems to have got the headcode panels convincingly right

Edited October 8, 2018 by D1059

[Revolution Ben]

Hello all,

 

Laser scanning gives a point cloud of data that can be "traced" to create a very accurate 3D representation of the prototype.

 

I am not aware of any laser scanned model that has any significant issues or errors in the shape.  Dapol certainly laser scanned the Class 68 and for me have captured its complex shape superbly.

 

However, laser scanning and processing the data can cost several thousand pounds, so for something as seemingly boxy as a Class 50 that may have seemed an unnecessary expense.  Have Dapol said that they laser scanned a Class 50?

 

It will be for each of us to judge whether the model is right for our layouts; I certainly intend to get one to run as a preserved loco on charter rakes, probably in large logo livery.

 

cheers

 

Ben A.

[grahame]

 

Have Dapol said that they laser scanned a Class 50?

 

 

I was wondering that. I certainly don't recall mention of it, although, of course, there are accessible class 50s to scan.

 

G

[Karhedron]

I just about remember 50s on line out of Paddington before they all got banished to the Waterloo - Exeter route. They certainly capture the look and feel of the originals pretty well and are miles ahead of the old Farish offering. Not suitable for my modelling period these days but Rule 1 makes them tempting...

[MikeParkin65]

Hello all,

 

Laser scanning gives a point cloud of data that can be "traced" to create a very accurate 3D representation of the prototype.

 

I am not aware of any laser scanned model that has any significant issues or errors in the shape.  Dapol certainly laser scanned the Class 68 and for me have captured its complex shape superbly.

 

However, laser scanning and processing the data can cost several thousand pounds, so for something as seemingly boxy as a Class 50 that may have seemed an unnecessary expense.  Have Dapol said that they laser scanned a Class 50?

 

It will be for each of us to judge whether the model is right for our layouts; I certainly intend to get one to run as a preserved loco on charter rakes, probably in large logo livery.

 

cheers

 

Ben A.

As an aside I saw on another forum that the North Yorkshire Moors Railway had recently had a full size loco laser scanned for gauging purposes . They posted images of the scans on facebook and they are as detailed as any I've seen for a model. I wonder how common this is (full size stock being scanned) and whether there is any mutual benefit to be had if model companies could make use of the scan and share a proportion of the costs?

[Chris Higgs]

I just about remember 50s on line out of Paddington before they all got banished to the Waterloo - Exeter route. They certainly capture the look and feel of the originals pretty well and are miles ahead of the old Farish offering. Not suitable for my modelling period these days but Rule 1 makes them tempting...

 

Boy, some people are young! I can remember them arriving on the GW line to replace the Westerns, once their work double-heading on Crewe-Glasgow was done. Before that they were an exotic loco only seen in my Ian Allan books and the first delivered new in BR Blue. 

 

Chris  

Edited October 10, 2018 by Chris Higgs

[njee20]

To carry that theme on I just about remember them operating out of Waterloo, but I think I was 5 when the last one was withdrawn!

[Zunnan]

You're making me feel old(er)! I remember them well in the Midlands, including the SO Cardiff - Glasgow trains diagrammed for double head power, I have vague memories of this train thundering past my great aunts in Northfield...well, with 50:50 power I suppose you needed the extra to make sure you actually got to the end of the run!

[jamespetts]

I recall them as a child in the 1980s in the Thames valley, where I lived, and at Exeter, where my grandparents lived.

[Claude_Dreyfus]

I caught them right at the tail end of the Waterloo - Exeter workings. I managed to see about 30 of the class all told. Many happy memories of travelling up to Waterloo and listening out for the distinctive sound and catching the odour of diesel fumes! Always kept an eye out for Elgar, or one of the large logo examples.

 

One particular memory was me sitting on the platform beside a silent 50005 marvelling at how big it was. Certainly when the revised NSE is released one will be added to the collection!

[mikeharvey22]

And of course some of us rode behind pairs of them regularly on the WCML prior to completion of electrification between Crewe/Preston and Glasgow Central in 1974 ;-)