JSpencer Posted January 18, 2016 Share Posted January 18, 2016 Hi All, Dan has been at the factory for a week now. Last week he and Colin, our manager of Chinese operations, did some drop tests. The first was the easy one. Have a look: Drop1.jpg Drop2.jpg Drop3.jpg Drop4.jpg Drop5.jpg After the second one, where they threw the box off the balcony, it was decided to strengthen the PVC blister. In the revised packaging, the APT-E survived both tests with nothing coming loose. That means: if your APT-E arrives in the post with the nose or some other parts loose in the box, the treatment it received at the hands of the courier/parcel company delivering it was WORSE than throwing it down a flight of stairs or off a 15-foot-high balcony. Note in the photos above that the packaging is completely undamaged after being thrown down the stairs. We've recently received a couple of emails along the lines of: "My F40 had the horn broken off but the box was undamaged, so it must have happened in the factory." No. It didn't happen in the factory. The box is just much stronger than the fragile plastic model inside it. UPS dropped your F40 20-feet from a conveyor and then threw it into a bin and then threw it into a truck and then threw it onto the floor in your hobby shop, who repackaged it and sent it out again to receive the same treatment a second time! I'll post more photos from the factory shortly. -Jason Hi Jason, To give us a better idea of the test, could you please state whether you did this just before or just after watching the RDC cars being broken up? Rgds John Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rapidotrains Posted January 18, 2016 Author Share Posted January 18, 2016 Here are some factory photos. 1. Drilling holes in the PC body shells to install door handles. This dude's been studying algebra since 1987. I love seeing English writing on Chinese clothes. 2. Lots of windows! We decided to leave off the tint as it obscured the interior detail, which is really where this model shines. This is easily remedied with an aerosol if you are determined not to see the interior. 3. Lots of joint modules! 4. Testing the new circuit boards that just arrived at the factory. Love the "ATP" circuit board. Things are progressing well for the first 500 to leave by the end of the month. As of now, it looks like we'll have another few hundred leave the factory in February and the last batch leave the factory on March 10th. Dan got a foot massage last night. He deserved it! -Jason 13 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
srihaggis Posted January 18, 2016 Share Posted January 18, 2016 Reassuring to see a strain-relief in the form of clear heatshrink fitted to the wiring on the bogie! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr_Tilt Posted January 18, 2016 Share Posted January 18, 2016 (edited) Those pics are MIND boggling to me! I'm so used to seeing a very few of those shapes, like two Power Car shells, two Trailer Car shells and only three Joint Modules, that seeing them in tens, or even HUNDREDS, is truly astonishing! [Later] I've just noticed that they're testing the two Power Cars coupled back to back. Shades of 11th November 2004 when we really DID do that to get the two Power Cars across the ECML to the Thrall Works so we could load them onto the road trailers for Shildon. That was the only time it had ever been done, producing the shortest possible APT-E version. If you run it like that on your layout you'll need to remove the joint module as we didn't bother with one on that last ever APT-E run. I spent the trip standing on the apron of PC1, left side in the above pic, watching to ensure the steering beam didn't swing out of gauge as we crawled across the main line, but the two vehicles were as good as gold and stayed perfectly in line. Edited January 18, 2016 by Mr_Tilt 9 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold 96701 Posted January 18, 2016 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 18, 2016 The item no on my order states APT-E 03. Does that mean that mine is number 3? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matabiau Posted January 19, 2016 Share Posted January 19, 2016 I hope not because mine would also be number 03! I have also ordered an extra intermediate car which is number 05. As such I suspect number 03 corresponds to the sound fitted model rather than any limited edition number. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rapidotrains Posted January 20, 2016 Author Share Posted January 20, 2016 Wheels! Wipers! Noses! Love the noses. Dan's still there. He's staying an extra few days. I don't think he's done Karaoke Television (KTV) yet. He doesn't know what he's missing... -Jason 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Ian J. Posted January 20, 2016 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 20, 2016 All's looking wheely good... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Colin_McLeod Posted January 20, 2016 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 20, 2016 Let's have a Yellow Nose Day this year. They look about the right size. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danim Posted January 20, 2016 Share Posted January 20, 2016 thats a lot of noses out of curiosity how many nose are there in total Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr_Tilt Posted January 20, 2016 Share Posted January 20, 2016 There's about 200 times as many wipers in the pic as we had on the real thing! There's 195 noses in the pic (yes, I know I'm an E-Train anorak, I counted them....) which must be only a small fraction of the number they'll need for the full production run. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium newbryford Posted January 20, 2016 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 20, 2016 (edited) thats a lot of noses out of curiosity how many nose are there in total I do really wonder how many people will be sad keen enough to count them. I haven't, but I guess there's 199. Cheers, Mick Edited January 20, 2016 by newbryford Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danim Posted January 20, 2016 Share Posted January 20, 2016 I started to but gave up at 97 I wonder if that is all the noses or is there more Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony566 Posted January 20, 2016 Share Posted January 20, 2016 Nice to see this is almost complete .... looking forward to my sound fitted version, I have also requested two extra coaches. Just need to actually do some work on my layout .... I could really do with someone to help me with it as I really have no idea what I am doing Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matabiau Posted January 20, 2016 Share Posted January 20, 2016 Has anyone tried to pay the balance on their APT-E via the Locomotion Models website? As I live outside the UK I have already paid postage so the site indicated I should selecte "Collect in Store". When doing this unfortunately the payemnt section only lets me select United Kingdom as my address! Last time around they missed off France from the list of countires to choose from. Has anyone else come accross this problem? I have tried contacting the shop via the website but not received any reply. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danim Posted January 20, 2016 Share Posted January 20, 2016 With Kit talking about the tilt system on the pendolino I pick a folder up last year which was a fiat brochure about the pendolino system and trains which included this cutaway drawing of the tilt bogie Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium 21C123 Posted January 20, 2016 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 20, 2016 (edited) Has anyone tried to pay the balance on their APT-E via the Locomotion Models website? As I live outside the UK I have already paid postage so the site indicated I should selecte "Collect in Store". When doing this unfortunately the payemnt section only lets me select United Kingdom as my address! Last time around they missed off France from the list of countires to choose from. Has anyone else come accross this problem? I have tried contacting the shop via the website but not received any reply. Yes I had the same problem and lack of response, in the end I rang them up. They also took off VAT which wasn't an option on the web site. Roger Edited January 20, 2016 by 21C123 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold roundhouse Posted January 20, 2016 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 20, 2016 I do really wonder how many people will be sad keen enough to count them. I haven't, but I guess there's 199. Cheers, Mick Missing too much VDT to count them! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium newbryford Posted January 20, 2016 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 20, 2016 Missing too much VDT to count them! I think you mean V'n'C....... Hic. Mick Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
No Decorum Posted January 20, 2016 Share Posted January 20, 2016 In my ignorance, I ask if the axles are correct. Did they not bulge in the middle because of the hydrokinetic brakes? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium newbryford Posted January 20, 2016 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 20, 2016 In my ignorance, I ask if the axles are correct. Did they not bulge in the middle because of the hydrokinetic brakes? They aren't correct - they're 00............... Cheers, Mick Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr_Tilt Posted January 20, 2016 Share Posted January 20, 2016 (edited) With Kit talking about the tilt system on the pendolino I pick a folder up last year which was a fiat brochure about the pendolino system and trains which included this cutaway drawing of the tilt bogie That's very interesting, the first time I've seen a drawing like that. The quadruple disc brakes are clearly shown, but you can't see the one nearest to you, and the long stroke secondary coil springs, but try as I might I can't see the tilt actuators. They must have pretty large diameter motors on them to give the amount of torque they'd need, but I don't see them. The short-ish swing links and the tilt platform show up nicely though. Well spotted Danim. In my ignorance, I ask if the axles are correct. Did they not bulge in the middle because of the hydrokinetic brakes? Afraid not, the E-Train HK brake axles were a constant diameter from wheelset to wheel set. You're thinking of the P-Train trailer car axles which did bulge in the middle, and were bolted together on that large diameter flange there. Finding pics of the E-Train HK isn't easy as there's always lots of bogie surrounding them, but you can just about see one on the axle nearest the camera on this pic of an E1T bogie on the day we moved both Power Cars across to the Thrall Yard. The P-Train HK brake axle is the black one in the background below here. The bits and pieces in the foreground are the internals of it. Edited January 20, 2016 by Mr_Tilt Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danim Posted January 20, 2016 Share Posted January 20, 2016 Hi Kit the way the drawing is done it is actually in 3 parts which then go together to create the full diagram here is the individual pages sorry about them being in landscape Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danim Posted January 20, 2016 Share Posted January 20, 2016 (edited) This is a quote from the book shortened down slightly 1. Hydraulic Tilting Actuators 2. Body to bogie articulated connecting rods 3. loading beam 4. tilting beam 5. rocker arm 6. anti-vibration elements 7. coil springs 8. vertical dampers 9. horizontal dampers 10. anti yaw dampers 11. suspention connecting rods 12. thrust rods Edited January 20, 2016 by Danim Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LongRail Posted January 20, 2016 Share Posted January 20, 2016 That's very interesting, the first time I've seen a drawing like that. The quadruple disc brakes are clearly shown, but you can't see the one nearest to you, and the long stroke secondary coil springs, but try as I might I can't see the tilt actuators. They must have pretty large diameter motors on them to give the amount of torque they'd need, but I don't see them. The short-ish swing links and the tilt platform show up nicely though. Well spotted Danim. Skit when was the photo of the bogies in the yard taken as the cars in the background look a lot newer than I would have expected Afraid not, the E-Train HK brake axles were a constant diameter from wheelset to wheel set. You're thinking of the P-Train trailer car axles which did bulge in the middle, and were bolted together on that large diameter flange there. Finding pics of the E-Train HK isn't easy as there's always lots of bogie surrounding them, but you can just about see one on the axle nearest the camera on this pic of an E1T bogie on the day we moved both Power Cars across to the Thrall Yard. The P-Train HK brake axle is the black one in the background below here. The bits and pieces in the foreground are the internals of it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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