Forthcoming Bachmann Cravens DMU

[HerbertHopkins]

No need to worry - he had already broken it before he gave it to you.

 

Probably because he didn't read the instructions - I believe he's quite famous for it!

[jonny777]

Here's my one (still fiddling with new camera) - (Robertcwp's photos look extremely realistic - what lighting/settings did you use, please?). Been running mine tonight, runs very well, just the job.

Looked up my old Ian Allan DMU book and I'd recorded the power car, E51254 in 1976 (but not the trailer car, oddly).

 

 

Are the windscreen wipers really like that? I hope they are not fixed in that position, because they just look wrong. It would be better if they were to the edges of the windscreens where they are not so prominent.

[muddys-blues]

On behalf of those who like me wanted to see some shots, thanks very much. The Cravens looks a treat and has more character than previous 'heritage' DMU's. Initially I thought the cab front wasn't quite right but it looks right on the front end photos by railroadbill. A purely personal view, but the Cravens lost their elegance when they were given all utility blue, but then again, so did everything!

 

 

Hey hey hey, we'll have less of that anti-blue talk on here please why oh why do the manufacturers pander to the kettle heads first? Get some blue un's in them shops quickly please Rail Blue was a proper colour, it took far more skill to paint them bodies all blue and put full yellow cab ends on them not faffing around with a cream line here and there on a boring old green background lights blue touch paper and stands back !!!!

[railroadbill]

Nothing special. I have a fairly basic, five or so year old, digital camera. I simply stand it on the track, set it to aperture priority with a small (I think) aperture for maximum depth of field (and hence long exposure) and click on a two second timer to avoid any camera shake. No flash, just under the rather harsh fluorescent light in the train room. Followed by a quick photoshop edit. You can see lots more photos taken that way on my layout thread - link below. Apart from removing the tension lock couplings, the Cravens is as it came out of the box, without the extra detail added as yet.

 

Thanks for that, Robertcwp, very good photos. I'll try a setting to give a small aperture. Lighting in your shots looked like it was outdoors (which added to realism) - your layout must have good lighting (another thought there).

[Guest Max Stafford]

Hey hey hey, we'll have less of that anti-blue talk on here please why oh why do the manufacturers pander to the kettle heads first? Get some blue un's in them shops quickly please Rail Blue was a proper colour, it took far more skill to paint them bodies all blue and put full yellow cab ends on them not faffing around with a cream line here and there on a boring old green background lights blue touch paper and stands back !!!!

 

Thanks for that enlightened treatise, you're like that roundhead Dawkins - bleedin' Philistine!

 

 

 

Dave.

[railroadbill]

Are the windscreen wipers really like that? I hope they are not fixed in that position, because they just look wrong. It would be better if they were to the edges of the windscreens where they are not so prominent.

 

Wish you hadn't pointed that out

1. My Bachmann 105 has the wipers fixed, as in the position in the photos.

2. My Bachmann 108 (green livery version) also has fixed wipers but they are parked against the inner edges of the windscreens.

3. The first 2 prototype pics of cravens units I've found show left hand wiper (looking from front) as model, right hand one parked against right of screen, and the other pic shows wipers parked the other way round...... Some metro cam units show similar discrepancies so I'd guess that the wipers ran independently and stopped wherever they were switched off unlike car wipers which go to the end of the sweep they are on. One pressed steel unit had the wipers right off the screens onto the body. So the position of wipers may not matter , but....

Actually, I think that only the driver's screen wiper was used most of the time?

 

Run the model now for a couple of hours plus without any problems, just purrs along (unlike the originals, if I remember right.) So cravens weekend draws to a close...

 

Bill

[Pennine MC]

Are the windscreen wipers really like that? I hope they are not fixed in that position, because they just look wrong. It would be better if they were to the edges of the windscreens where they are not so prominent.

 

Whether they look wrong or not, it took me less than five minutes on railcar.co.uk to find a shot with both wipers like that, others where one wiper was in that position, plus another four or five later period shots where the surviving wiper was. The urge to find fault with any new model is obviously still stronger than the desire to do even the most cursory research

[Bernard Lamb]

Looks to be popular.

Current best selling item according to Hattons web site.

Mine should arrive in the morning and I don't care how the windscreen wipers are orientated.

Bernard

[Roy P]

"The urge to find fault with any new model is obviously still stronger than the desire to do even the most cursory research" Pennine MC

 

An interesting suggestion. I grew up with 105s on the Abbey Flyer (Watford Junction to St.Albans Abbey branch) and was delighted to see Bachmann's announcement a while back. At that time I was unaware of the detail differences between batches. This forum raised issues of guards doors and headcode boxes and suchlike. It turns out that the Flyer (along with Bedford - Bletchley services) was run using the five LMR batch one Power/Trailer sets (with extra cab roof marker light) delivered originally to Longsight. A spell allocated to Llandudno Junction would explain some of the curious destinations displayed on the Abbey branch ( an in-joke amongst the drivers). The LMR five had ended up at Bletchley. My Welwyn Garden City set is on it's way and the other two are on notification but knowing now that Bachmann are unlikely to produce an actual Abbey Flyer I am left with a slight puzzle. Would I have been happier if I had not done the research and remained blissfully ignorant?

 

Roy P

[coachmann]

Hey hey hey, we'll have less of that anti-blue talk on here please why oh why do the manufacturers pander to the kettle heads first? Get some blue un's in them shops quickly please Rail Blue was a proper colour,

I used to wonder, why would anyone consider covering those beautifully designed green liveries with plain blue and yellow. What a mess it looked on Deltics and DMU's. And now, people actually prefer it. Wow.

[stewartingram]

I used to wonder, why would anyone consider covering those beautifully designed green liveries with plain blue and yellow. What a mess it looked on Deltics and DMU's. And now, people actually prefer it. Wow.

 

Think its called Getting Old....

[HerbertHopkins]

I used to wonder, why would anyone consider covering those beautifully designed green liveries with plain blue and yellow. What a mess it looked on Deltics and DMU's. And now, people actually prefer it. Wow.

 

Well, you know what they say, there's no accounting for taste!

[railroadbill]

The model comes with 4 etched panels to attach (as in the pic of the instructions). railcar.co.uk (an excellent site, thanks to Pennine mc for pointing it out) says that rubber pads were fitted to the 3rd batch of 105 units that started work in Norfolk and Lincolnshire on branches where the driver would have had to grab the token pouch from the signalman, the pad stopping the hoop hitting the car body.

I can't find any photos of early units that show these pads fitted behind the drivers doors - anyone know how long they would have been fitted for?

 

On another point, railcar.co.uk has a pic of a Scottish region 105 in blue and grey livery (apparently only happened in Scotland) which, only in my opinion, was the best dmu livery of all.

[BrushVeteran]

I can remember the rubber pads on the Kings Cross sets but what the numbers were I don't know. I also remember they were a pale green colour but at the time wasn't aware of the purpose they served. Would love to see a blue with small yellow panel version done at some point. There were at least half a dozen sets sporting this livery in the late sixties.

[Andy C]

Much to coachmanns disgust I suspect, mine will be sporting the later livery!

 

It will also be converted to P4 for the next layout, but in the interim may just have a quick EM conversion done to appear on New Hey

[Foulounoux]

Cravens were my introduction to railways

On a Saturday my brother and I would accompany our father to London - he was on the post room roster- from Hertford North to the Cross or Finsbury Park

Woe betide anyone who dared sit in the front seat or the driver who pulled the blind down, mind you a few would pull it up when the realised that they had us sulking their - please mister !!!

So as soon as I am back at work then at least a couple have to be ordered just to bring back childhood memories and in some way memories of my father

Colin

[Bernard Lamb]

First impression is that it looks very very nice.

One surprise was to find a pair of continental type couplers fitted between the two vehicles. The last time I came across these was on something out of Sonnenburg around the mid seventies. I changed them for the Hornby/Roco type, just because that's what I use, rather than any problem with those that were supplied. I fitted a Modellers Mecca conector to fill the gap. Will fit the front detail tomorrow.

Any attempt to change the identity will need extreme care if it is not going to spoil the factory finish. The blinds can hardly be seen from any distance as the lettering is so small, so not many people will notice the wrong destination. The leccy warning flashes with whiskers date the model to quite a tight time frame and are quite prominent. The position of these flashes also seems to vary from the photos that I have seen. The orientation of the windscreen wipers does seem to appear in several photos in the standard books that have several shots of the class. Any thing to find fault with ? The trailer car might benefit from a tad more weight when being pushed through complex pointwork. All in all the best RTR DMU that I have ever seen.

Bernard

[coachmann]

Much to coachmanns disgust I suspect, mine will be sporting the later livery!

My dist has neve been more gusted.

[stewartingram]

I picked my 1st one up from Trains4U today, having followed the announcement/progress/reviews everywhere. Guess I knew what to expect, having already seen the Bachmann exhibition samples, and the one on the Hornby Mag layout at the T4U open day, but actually getiing it home & out of the box - WOW! Got to be the model of the year I reckon, even better than DP1. 1st impression was amazing, I took the first vehicle out of the box to place it on the track, and all wheels went straight on the track immediately, I never have done that even with a 4wh wagon! A good omen. Runs (DC) like a dream. I've not added the detail yet, just contemplating what to do to put my stamp on it.

However, the down side: those lights! Red ones are an absolute NO-NO for green livery, they did not exist, only tail lamp was the oil lamp. Headlights, yellow tinted rather than bright white leds is a nice touch, but far too bright. The 108 has the same arrangement but dimmer. In practice, these were (white) filament bulbs of a low intensity, behind an opaque white-ish glass lens. In daylight impossible to see, so they will go too. Destination blinds are far too bright so another no for me, but the interior lights are good and will stay (can't be seen in daylight anyway). That means a body off job, so add a driver, paint seats, add pasengers & guard. Close couple the 2 cars, add a corridor connection and we are getting there. Overhead flashes? maybe remove them with meths or T-Cut? Oh, and a bit of limited road dirt weathering, placing it as a nearly new train.

Now for the questions. I'm getting another set (SYP) and want to model 2 particular sets. E51278/56436, and E51272/(can't find its partner at the mo).

Both were common at Cambridge. Trouble is, we saw (& didn't realise there were 2 allocations) both "Anglian" units and "KX/GN" units. I'm led to believe the GN units were originally destined for the M&GNJR lines, and had the rubber token panels added. Can anyone confirm which were so fitted, as ideally I'd like one of each just for variation?

How do I rate this release? On a Scale of 1-10, it must be about 12 I reckon - not very often we get an Anglian release, and its to a very high standard. My comments on the lights really are not nitpicking, after all I am a modeller & appreciate something to add to the model. Well done Bachmann.

[Baby Deltic]

Got one today.

 

[wiggoforgold]

I've got one on order, hopefully here in the next few days. I want to put March/Cambridge destination blinds on mine, and renumber as an East Anglian set. Any thoughts on suitable transfers?

[paulbb]

In Diesel and Electrics on shed vol 4 there is a 105/2 on Haymarket depot in Blue and grey bearing the set number '204' taken in April 1980. Not many recieved this scheme.

Iin the same volume ther is on at the old steam depot at Ardrossan taken August 1968 this time in plain blue with small yellow warning panels.. The blue looks like the earlier

blue too (monastral?) an even rarer scheme. Not likely to see either from Bachmann unless a retailer steps in ....

[90rob]

My first post so hope I get this right...

 

Main interest in SR, so not used to DMUs, but very impressed by the quality of the new Bachmann offering.

 

Having watched 'John Betjeman Goes By Train' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sk_roklB4OE I think it might be time for something new...

[coachmann]

Relaxed watching this after me midday sandwiches and cake. Another time, beautifully presented. I presume it would be circa 1958-9?

[90rob]

Its in the BTF films collection 'On and Off the Rails' and in there it says 1962 - I must admit I thought it was a year or two earlier. At around 35 seconds, just as the Cravens pulls out, I think you can just make out the cab of a Type 2 (D5547) in the background, but I'm not quite sure when they were introduced.