RevolutioN/Accurascale MK.5/MK.5A coaching stock/DT

[AndrueC]

Received my email notification from Royal Mail and Revolution now. Unfortunately I'm not in tomorrow so had to reschedule for Monday. Nothing from Kernow yet so I reckon the coaches will be first to arrive.

[packetlos]

Looking forward to mine arriving tomorrow via royal mail. Luckily Mrs Packetlos is away so I wont have any explaining to do... thank you Revolution Trains! 

[TomE]

Nice. Very nice!

 

 

All five coaches seem reasonably free rolling, but won’t have chance to properly examine them until later in the week. 
 

Tom. 

[AndrueC]

Just arrived. They look very good and are a great addition to my layout. I might have to rearrange my coach yard though as currently the building wall obscures the coach lighting. I still don't have my TPE Class 68 so I had to do a test run with my weathered class 53. I won't post a video because having such beautiful coaches pulled by a loco that has been weathered to the point where it looks like it was dragged out of a swamp is cruel.

 

On the subject of running the loco pulled them well enough but they aren't very free running. My other coaches when pushed will continue on their own for a metre or more whereas these come to a stop within a dozen centimetres. I'll take another look when the TPE loco arrives and check the advice here. I'd like to stress it's not a problem just perhaps needs a little adjustment to avoid unduly stressing the loco.

 

Thanks, RevolutioN!

Edited January 29 by AndrueC

[bmthtrains - David]

That’s really useful to know. My 68 arrived today, a stunning model, and the Mk5s look to be driving with Kernow shortly so later this week I’m hoping to give them a test run as well.

 

David 

[Steven B]

Two Mk5a rakes were running at the NGS Yorkshire Area Group meeting on Saturday.

 

First impressions were that they looked stunning and were well matched to the Dapol 68s hauling them. They certainly put my Farish 47 (later DCC ready model) hauling a rake of Poole era Mk2 in Regional Railways livery to shame.

 

One set of Mk5s ran faultlessly and with little more rolling resistance than you'd expect from a rake with pin-point bearings. The other set wasn't quite so good. One coach regularly derailed and the rake was not as free-wheeling as the other. The bad set also had a mixture of destinations, appearing to be a mix of TP04 (Scarborough – Liverpool Lime St) and TP09 (Scarborough – Manchester Airport). Having seen the other set running, the owner was fully confident that Revolution would be able to solve the problems.

 

Steven B

[Revolution Mike]

2 hours ago, Steven B said:

The bad set also had a mixture of destinations, appearing to be a mix of TP04 (Scarborough – Liverpool Lime St) and TP09 (Scarborough – Manchester Airport). Having seen the other set running, the owner was fully confident that Revolution would be able to solve the problems.

 

If there are two sets is there any chance that the two have been mixed (as those are the two different set destinations!)?

 

Cheers Mike

[Stu from EGDL]

Hi Gang, 

Happy to report that my TPE set has safely arrived and, out of the box, is acceptably free running and the Dapol 68 waiting patiently on the shelf happily romps away with it. Not tried pushing much as the loco buffers conspire to derail the adjacent coach on easing out from a curve, so will explore later, a longer shank coupling for that.

Will have to compare the wheels and bogies against the remaining couple of stubborn CS sleeper coaches to gain any further useful insight, although I have managed to get those up to loco plus 8 without too many dramas. Still the occasional uncoupling from the loco due to accumulated drag,  so a bit more work is needed.

 

Later,

Stu from NRSW

[Revolution Mike B]

2 hours ago, Stu from EGDL said:

Hi Gang, 

Happy to report that my TPE set has safely arrived and, out of the box, is acceptably free running and the Dapol 68 waiting patiently on the shelf happily romps away with it. Not tried pushing much as the loco buffers conspire to derail the adjacent coach on easing out from a curve, so will explore later, a longer shank coupling for that.

Will have to compare the wheels and bogies against the remaining couple of stubborn CS sleeper coaches to gain any further useful insight, although I have managed to get those up to loco plus 8 without too many dramas. Still the occasional uncoupling from the loco due to accumulated drag,  so a bit more work is needed.

 

Later,

Stu from NRSW

Hi Stu

 

There’s a longer coupling in the box. We recommend this when running with the 68. 👍

 

Cheers

Mike B

[Steven B]

22 hours ago, Revolution Mike said:

If there are two sets is there any chance that the two have been mixed (as those are the two different set destinations!)?

 

Sadly not - the first set (with the miss-matched destinations) was on the track and running before the other was taken out of its box. 

 

 

Steven B

[gedlee]

Hi All,

My set has arrived and I am delighted with them. Stunning coaches with beautiful and finely detailed livery.

It is great to finally run a rake behind my TPE 68. Smooth running axles and my loco pulled them along with ease.

Once again, a big thank you to Revolution.

cheers,

Ged.

 

[Gloucester Road]

Mine has been out and run. Simply stunning; livery is beautiful with lots of details. My TPE class 68 happily pulls the rake, though I did install the longer coupling and that helped with buffer binding when propeling.  My only minor issue was the DVT body fits so well that I spent many nervous minutes unclipping the body with shims; it is very tight, to install the DCC chip.

 

Well done to Revolution Trains

[bmthtrains - David]

My set arrived this morning so it had a quick run in on my Kato test track over breakfast. Initial impressions are very good. The 68 is also new to me so I was very impressed with both the detailing and smoothness of that as well.

 

The coaches are about as free wheeling as I expected, similar to the Farish Voyager, and while I needed to really ramp up the power to the loco, so far they have run very well. Pushing is a bit more of a struggle and I needed to put the longer coupling on but again no problems.

 

The detailing and livery is exceptional and the coaches feel solid and well built. The interior detail is very nicely done and the fit of all the parts is good, something that really let down the 321.

 

The DVT has a slight lean to one side and doesn't always sit fully upright which is a little distracting and while I am not a fan of internal coach lights, these are actually pretty good. Which is handy as they don’t switch off! The switching of these is bizarre, no doubt designed for DCC users, as whenever I use the wand to turn them off, once the set stops moving, one or two coaches randomly turn back on. If you turn them off again the same ones come back on next time, and if you turn them all on then off and then stop, different ones turn on! 
 

As the lighting effect when on is probably the most effective I’ve seen, this thankfully won’t be too big an issue as to my surprise I am likely to run these lit.

 

The biggest thumbs up to Revolution I can give is for the couplings. The close coupling is very impressive, though I suspect they won’t like some of the hidden curves on Hunters Lane, but I knew this and these were really bought with a future layout in mind that will have more generous curves. But best of all, they just have normal couplings! No rolling them on their back and squeezing crumbling through-power connectors together and then trying to roll a fully coupled train upright again without scratching it to bits. Keep it simple chaps, it works!

 

Overall, a stunning set that I hope to give a proper run on my layout as soon as I can.

 

David 

 

[Revolution Ben]

17 minutes ago, bmthtrains - David said:

The DVT has a slight lean to one side and doesn't always sit fully upright which is a little distracting and while I am not a fan of internal coach lights, these are actually pretty good. Which is handy as they don’t switch off! The switching of these is bizarre, no doubt designed for DCC users, as whenever I use the wand to turn them off, once the set stops moving, one or two coaches randomly turn back on. If you turn them off again the same ones come back on next time, and if you turn them all on then off and then stop, different ones turn on! 
 

<snipped>

 

Overall, a stunning set that I hope to give a proper run on my layout as soon as I can.

 

David 

 

 

 

Hello David,

 

Thanks for the kind words.  Just to help:

 

1)  If your DT continues to list noticeably then it may be worth removing the bogies and checking for any small burrs or tags on the moulding that may be touching the underside and that the axles and pick-ups are correctly seated.  If not happy please do not hesitate to contact Simon, our customer service manager, using the email address in the instructions, and he will assist further.

 

2)  The lights are designed to offer functionality for DC and DCC users without the need for underside switches that would involve lifting the coaches off the track.  The frustration of DC users when they reset because of, say, a station stop, was overlooked.  For future runs we are investigating reed switches that maintain their state when power is cut.  This isn't such an issue on the Mk5a vehicles, which have just one lighting circuit per car, but has been a real bugbear on the Sleepers which have not just interior lights but also red tail lights on each coach.

 

cheers

 

Ben A.

[Stu from EGDL]

22 hours ago, Revolution Mike B said:

Hi Stu

 

There’s a longer coupling in the box. We recommend this when running with the 68. 👍

 

Cheers

Mike B

Hi Mike,

 

Changed the coupling over and all is well. It is currently connected to a brand new 68 and running- in around the test track with the DT leading.

 

Later,

Stu from NRSW

[bmthtrains - David]

Thanks Ben,

 

I have just noticed there are red lights on the ‘front’ end of the coach behind the loco, should these be on when moving forward on DC? 
 

The odd lighting set up is more annoying due to only a couple of the coaches randomly turning on again, if it was they all reset and came on that would be less confusing.

 

Watching it run again over lunch and the running is getting even smoother.

 

David 

[Brian-1c]

Have the retailers all received their stocks now ? I ask, because when I asked my retailer a couple of days ago, they said these sets have been delayed to July/August.

[Stu from EGDL]

Hi Gang;

 

Just back from a great weekend and day at the Glasgow show....it certainly had a better selection of layouts than last year and most were operating fairly well. A few operating difficulties for some, but nothing is ever perfect!!

 

I have replaced all the wheelsets in the CS Mk5s now and most are now very free-running on the test incline. A couple were hesitant at first but a quick 'reseat' of the axles to ensure the bush sits smoothly outside of the 'pip' on the pickups and all seem to be fine. I have also found that repeated handling of these coaches and fiddling repetitively with the bogies has caused some fat finger damage to a few of the yaw dampers , so a little bit of superglue was needed in a couple of instances.

I'll dig the test track out later and do a bit of a haulage test, but I feel sure that the Revolution 92 will now happily pull the Glasgow set (8 coaches) and I will add gradually the remaining 6 Aberdeen coaches to see how it gets on, although I cannot see me ever having the space to run a full length sleeper!!!

 

Getting the test track out will also give me a chance to have a look at the 59005 collected on Friday too!!

 

Later;

Stu from NRSW

[mr_hobbles]

On 25/02/2024 at 04:08, Stu from EGDL said:

I have replaced all the wheelsets in the CS Mk5s now and most are now very free-running on the test incline. A couple were hesitant at first but a quick 'reseat' of the axles to ensure the bush sits smoothly outside of the 'pip' on the pickups and all seem to be fine. I have also found that repeated handling of these coaches and fiddling repetitively with the bogies has caused some fat finger damage to a few of the yaw dampers , so a little bit of superglue was needed in a couple of instances.

Can I ask what you replaced the wheelsets with? I invested in the full highland set and rolling performance is terrible, neither the Revolution CS 92 or the Dapol CS 67 can pull more than 3-4 coaches without ginormous wheelslip.

I've also damaged my yaw dampeners, but mostly through taking the coaches out of the boxes and putting them back in. The plastic covering and the white plastic seating presses down on them and bends them easilly.

[Revolution Ben]

3 hours ago, mr_hobbles said:

...I invested in the full highland set and rolling performance is terrible, neither the Revolution CS 92 or the Dapol CS 67 can pull more than 3-4 coaches without ginormous wheelslip.

I've also damaged my yaw dampeners....

 

Please email the support address in your instructions for assistance with these issues.

 

cheers

 

Ben A.

[AndrueC]

Finally! My sound enabled Class 68 TPE arrived today.

 

[Stu from EGDL]

17 hours ago, mr_hobbles said:

Can I ask what you replaced the wheelsets with? I invested in the full highland set and rolling performance is terrible, neither the Revolution CS 92 or the Dapol CS 67 can pull more than 3-4 coaches without ginormous wheelslip.

I've also damaged my yaw dampeners, but mostly through taking the coaches out of the boxes and putting them back in. The plastic covering and the white plastic seating presses down on them and bends them easilly.

Hi there,

 

I echo the request that you should contact Revolution Support to get the official recommendations and spare parts to try and get your Highland Sleeper coaches running in a better way. 
They are dedicated to getting the best help to you to make you happier with your purchase.

 

Regards,

Stu from NRSW

Edited March 25 by Stu from EGDL

[mr_hobbles]

15 hours ago, Stu from EGDL said:

Hi there,

 

I echo the request that you should contact Revolution Support to get the official recommendations and spare parts to try and get your Highland Sleeper coaches running in a better way. 
They are dedicated to getting the best help to you to make you happier with your purchase.

 

Regards,

Stu from NRSW

I will do just that. I've followed most of their guidance about reseating the wheels etc, to little effect.

 

EDIT:

Theyre sending replacement wheels, woo! Thanks Ben and Stu.

Edited March 26 by mr_hobbles