37081LochLong Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 I'm only really interested in BR blue and large logo but with possibilities upto and no further than triple grey sector livery... So can someone please explain why I just bought a Colas one and keep eyeing up the Load Haul one? 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tlm Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 I echo the comments from several others about the guys at Cavalex possibly producing 56074 as running from the second part of 1982 for several years, possibly as part of a second run. For those not in the know, the livery is an interesting variation on the original rail blue but with the large logo style light grey roof, the nameplate centrally mounted over small double arrows in the centre of the bodyside (named Kellingley Colliery on 14 June 1982), and with flashing beacons sitting on a circular mounting at either cab end, roughly in the same location as the later aerials. The beacons were for dedicated remote unloading operations at Eggborough power station which as far as I can recall was eventually superseded by the radio control equipment, and while I'm not sure when this took place, there are good 1987 images with the beacons still in place, although by that stage it may have lost the light grey roof. 56073 was similarly fitted. The fact that the 56s have all but vanished from stockists’ shelves is no surprise to anyone who's managed to get their hands on one and testament to a truly superb model. I suspect the guys at Cavalex are already considering a second run, or at least I sincerely hope so. If so, perhaps we will see either 073 or 074 in this guise; alternatively perhaps as a limited edition by one of the distributors. Sign me up definitely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Popular Post adb968008 Posted January 31 RMweb Gold Popular Post Share Posted January 31 (edited) very happy with mine, but how do they stack up to the incumbent Hornby one… First the easy one.. £189 for Cavalex vs Hornby rrp £217 (though at this stage its being heavily reduced). On dimensions it seems both Cavalex and Hornby have it dead on, in length, width and height (though the Hornby one maybe a tad taller). Hornby - Colas, Cavalex Blue. however close glance the differences start to pop out…. wheel spacing on the bogies, and just look at those wheel tyres… Cavalex above, Hornby below. The bogie detail is much better defined, and in greater relief on the Cavalex one. when I put the cabs side by side the curvature and angle of the cab front, especially at the centre point, where the headlight is, it really stands out making the curved Hornby effect stand out as quite off.. Granular details like the rivet lines, and the strip separating cab roof to body looks more refined on Cavalex. the front cab roof curvature isnt as refined either. The roof fans definitely look more defined on the cavalex one even if they are more visible on Hornbys. A nosey at the cab reveals very nice seated interiors.. The buffers are notable too… check the ribbing out on the inside of the buffers.. its clear theres an absolute ton of research onto each model made, theres no “generic 56” approach to these models… Romanian and Doncaster examples compared… and roof grill differences.. In the parts bag is what looks like a nameplate positioning tool.. (it seems to fit on both sides).. the nameplates come with sticky tape and are pre-cut from an etch… Getting the body off is extremely easy, just unclip the body either side of the battery box, on both sides and off it slides (its as easy as Lima was), no tools needed at all. Plenty of space for a speaker. (Looks like at some point screws were considered for the body/chassis as the threads are present in both… glad they didnt though !) The roof fans have two separate motors powering each fan, though on mine on DC none of my 4 class 56’s picked up on my DC Gaugemaster LT. underneath looks to be a pair of capacitors .. though not sure if this is for the fan motor or track motor. going under the board… The Cavalex motor looks to be a fairly standard sized motor, though not the apparent same as used in some other models (like class 37,66,73,87,92), incidentally “that” motor which seems to have angst elsewhere is used in the Hornby 56, (below), this one looks more like a mehano style motor, but again lower rpm. The fly wheels are quite small, compared to other models. its also much lower revs/ geared than Hornbys and so has much better slower speed control, but thankfully not as fast as the Hornby 56. Cavalex top, Hornby below I do want to shout out the thickness of the drive shafts between the motor and the tower… many models of late have arrived with very flimsy shafts.. these look robust. The jst’s themselves are a much easier fit than those used on Bachmanns 37, which frankly are too tight and risk bringing the female piece off the board… kudos to this. The stats.. Cavalex 56… 594g, starts up at 0.03amp with a peak at 0.22amp and a good steady rpm. Hornby 56… 618g, starts up at 0.02amp with a peak at 0.2amp, and much higher rpm. Glad that its got sprung buffers, LEDs as you would expect, the lenses look dead on for detail. what do we think about the cab backheads… Has Hornby overdone it, or is the Cavalex one a bit thin on detail ?.. ive only ever been in 1 class 56 and that was eons ago. note the Romanian cab side windows and door vents. Zero complaints about the blue shade, I think its dead on… as is the yellow etc. Final thoughts… not sure about the 4 wheel drive, but definitely sold on the bogies, the cab front does it for me. The detail and research as well as paint finish is selling me. Ive bought four.. I think I want some more. Ps.. i’m so glad of that plastic cradle, and being screwed down. as evidenced at the kicking mine got and it survived !.. When it comes to the box, size isnt everything !! Edited February 1 by adb968008 12 6 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewSiding Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 33 minutes ago, 37081LochLong said: I'm only really interested in BR blue and large logo but with possibilities upto and no further than triple grey sector livery... So can someone please explain why I just bought a Colas one and keep eyeing up the Load Haul one? I know what you mean, they're outstanding aren't they! I was only going to get one and pre-ordered BR blue 008, and kept saying no, no, no I'm not getting another...... large logo now ordered - couldn't help it! A little tip in case anyone else has similar issue, mine was derailing on an outer wheelset. I found that it was because two halves of the bogie were not quite clipped together at one end, so the wheelset wasn't being held in firmly enough. Sorted no problem and it looks and runs superbly (DC). The powerbank on DC is very good and keeps the lights on for a short while after stopping. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
87027 Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 Got to see 56098 absolutely belting it out of Derby before work on the DCR hire-in and within an hour this beauty is sitting on my desk: Safe to say yesterday was a good day… Echoing what so many others have said so far, genuinely a stunning model and probably my favourite OO scale loco to date. If this is what Cavalex can achieve for their debut loco model I think the future is very very bright indeed! 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold adb968008 Posted January 31 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 31 (edited) 2 hours ago, david12345 said: On topic, I was wondering if anyone who has the analogue version, straight DC, can advise if the fans work on DC ? None of my 4 are picking up on the fan motors on DC. i’m using a Gaugemaster LT. my dc settings seem to match the book.. ive also tried a 9v to the wheels, the loco / leds goes but not the fans. Edited January 31 by adb968008 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erixtar1992 Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 Chuffed to bits. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium newbryford Posted January 31 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 31 28 minutes ago, tlm said: The beacons were for dedicated remote unloading operations at Eggborough power station which as far as I can recall was eventually superseded by the radio control equipment, and while I'm not sure when this took place, there are good 1987 images with the beacons still in place, although by that stage it may have lost the light grey roof. 56073 was similarly fitted. Going OT - and 47373. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david12345 Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 11 minutes ago, adb968008 said: None of my 4 are picking up on the fan motors on DC. my dc settings seem to match the book.. Mine is set the same, nothing happening. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Garry D100 Posted January 31 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 31 11 minutes ago, Erixtar1992 said: Chuffed to bits. Should that be Clagged to bits ! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erixtar1992 Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 6 minutes ago, Garry D100 said: Should that be Clagged to bits ! I suppose so! Haha :-) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium IOW O2 Posted January 31 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 31 (edited) messed this post up sorry. Edited February 1 by IOW O2 put incorredt info Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CazRail Posted February 1 Share Posted February 1 (edited) Mine arrived on Monday, which are 56018 and 56055 both with sound. Very impressed, and very happy. Absolutely worth the wait. Here's my 56018 on the petcoke PABs. Congratulations to Cavalex on producing such a great model, bring on the 60! Edited February 1 by CazRail Ballsed up some spelling. 6 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lyddrail Posted February 1 Share Posted February 1 I am very impressed with my two 56s in many ways, but I have a couple of problems. I am a DC user. The coal 56 running was fine both directions and then haulage with Cavalex HAAs was going well until it stopped! It then moved slowly with my controller red light flashing meaning overload or a short. I checked it was not the layout by testing a different loco which was ok. I tried it again yesterday and it was slow again with the red light flashing, but then suddenly burst into power and drove away. It now runs fine, but a friend's 56 ran slowly from the start and today burnt out. He is sending it back. Is this a known issue? My construction 56 had no white lights at one end that didn't work. However, I always switch lights off anyway. But I tried to switch them off reading the book but there is no central off position which the book mentions. I am also not sure why there are only red lights front & red lights rear, nothing for white lights, only cab lights + Power pack on and power supply on. Any thoughts? Cheers. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium reddragon Posted February 1 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 1 I have now put my DCC Sound Class 56 to the test to check on 3 issues. Test 1 - Sound using F6 which I wasn't happy with. Following advice from @RBE, I powered away using F6, ran to line speed, switched off F6, then F5 on & powered down for coasting, before turning F5 off & slowing down with F5/6 off. Absolutely brilliant driving & sound experience, I really recommend it. This actually makes the class 56 my best driving experience, thanks Cavalex! The only small issue, only when on F6 the loco stalls on points a crawl speed, engine sound working, no wheel slip. Other locos do stall on these points but not any with stay alive capacitors. I think it's a load / speed issue / setting issue. I am not bothered by this, so just remember no slow speed over points in F6. Test 2 - Coupling - loco coupling unhooking. AS short HYA - loco unhooks (only loco to do so) Hattons FEA - loco unhooks (as do most locos) Dapol HIA - loco remains hooked I assume this is due to NEM coupling heights being all over the place! Test 3 - Haulage - is A1A-A1A good enough? I have a variety of heavy freight wagon rakes that only my stronger locos can haul, so lets test the class 56: - 12 AS short HYAs - pass 16 mixed freightliner wagons - pass 21 Dapol HIAs - pass 12 AS short HYAs + 21 Dapol HIAs - FAIL To put this into context, No other locos including my AS class 37 can pull it except my AS class 92 that can just pull it & my AS class 55 that can pull it with ease. Also not many locos can haul my freightliner or HIA rakes, so that's excellent but not best in class. Overall that's a pass for me and I shall be ordering a class 60. 1 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold farren Posted February 1 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 1 Ok what have I done wrong! now I remember the sound decoders where running a little late. went to have a look and found one that says for the Cavalex 56. Order it and it turned up today it came with a speaker fitted with a small but still rather nice speaker and all works, sounds lights fan brilliant. However I did ordered a (before the decorder) speaker mentioned on this thread and confirmed by cavalex. Looks like the one in photo a few pages back. But the plug doesn’t fit! In the socket marked spk. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atom3624 Posted February 1 Share Posted February 1 (edited) There was mention earlier on of a video of somebody with a DC-only 56 with fans working. Has anybody running DC only got their fan(s) working? Al. Edited February 1 by atom3624 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RBE Posted February 1 Share Posted February 1 50 minutes ago, farren said: Ok what have I done wrong! now I remember the sound decoders where running a little late. went to have a look and found one that says for the Cavalex 56. Order it and it turned up today it came with a speaker fitted with a small but still rather nice speaker and all works, sounds lights fan brilliant. However I did ordered a (before the decorder) speaker mentioned on this thread and confirmed by cavalex. Looks like the one in photo a few pages back. But the plug doesn’t fit! In the socket marked spk. That's very odd. I am sure Richard at Road and Rails fit one of those speakers just fine? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold 97406 Posted February 1 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 1 I'll just leave this here. 008 will be getting a sound decoder from Road and Rails and the ESU 50344 speaker so both will be sound fitted. 7 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wayne 56089 Posted February 1 Share Posted February 1 Received the first of my 4 just now and WOW!!! Absolutely stunning and I can’t really add anymore than what has been added here allready. Only minor gripe is a guardrail has come adrift and ended up in the foam covering the loco and lost some paint. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southwich Posted February 1 Share Posted February 1 3 minutes ago, Wayne 56089 said: Received the first of my 4 just now and WOW!!! Absolutely stunning and I can’t really add anymore than what has been added here allready. Only minor gripe is a guardrail has come adrift and ended up in the foam covering the loco and lost some paint. Send us an email (cavalexmodels@gmail.com) with your address and we’ll get a spare in the post to you. Kind regards, Will 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wayne 56089 Posted February 1 Share Posted February 1 4 minutes ago, Southwich said: Send us an email (cavalexmodels@gmail.com) with your address and we’ll get a spare in the post to you. Kind regards, Will Much appreciated, service as good as your models!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold farren Posted February 1 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 1 14 minutes ago, RBE said: That's very odd. I am sure Richard at Road and Rails fit one of those speakers just fine? Well this one would need a little plastic taking off the plug otherwise it’s going to split the socket open or break something on the bored. I’ll get into with the supplier of the speaker to double check it’s the right one received. I suppose I could solder it into the pads on the board. But I rather not risk that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RBE Posted February 1 Share Posted February 1 16 minutes ago, farren said: Well this one would need a little plastic taking off the plug otherwise it’s going to split the socket open or break something on the bored. I’ll get into with the supplier of the speaker to double check it’s the right one received. I suppose I could solder it into the pads on the board. But I rather not risk that. No you shouldn't have to do that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold zr2498 Posted February 1 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 1 15 minutes ago, farren said: Well this one would need a little plastic taking off the plug otherwise it’s going to split the socket open or break something on the bored. I’ll get into with the supplier of the speaker to double check it’s the right one received. I suppose I could solder it into the pads on the board. But I rather not risk that. Sorry if this sounds obvious but those plugs will only fit one way round. I am sure you have it correct but just in case? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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