47475

A slight update to the above. It appears that what I thought was a grill modification on my older models was actually standard on those, therefore the older body does not appear to be compatible with the Next18 chassis without modification either.

As far as I am aware, the only colour that changed from Provincial (Trans-Pennine) to Regional Railways was the lower beige/grey colour. For Provincial, it was the same shade of beige as used on the InterCity livery. For Regional Railways, it was updated to a silver/grey.

MK2B/C (is D being too greedy?!) and MK1 suburbans would definitely get my vote.

I wouldn't mind a rake of blue Suburbans at some point, but may wait for an up-to-date tooling if such a thing comes along.

I have just tried swapping bodies between the 6-pin and Next 18 versions this morning. The PCB is in a lower position on the Next18 chassis, to accommodate the speaker. I think the older body should fit on the Next18 chassis without issues, although mine had an etched grill fitted by the previous owner and the inner profile of that prevented it from fitting properly. The new body will not fit on the older chassis without modification. See where I have placed the end of the cocktail stick below. The part of the new body that fits into that recess will not clear the same area on the older chassis.

Roof shell vents would have to be reworked as well. A ready to run one would be more desirable!

For anyone that wanted to complete a full rake, it would mean being in the Collector's Club. They may be better as regular releases. I think it is more likely we will see 47475 (perhaps as a regional exclusive) than the matching coaches, given that it was in the Parcels sector for a while in that livery after Trans-Pennine loco-hauled ended.

With all the MK1s finally reproduced this year, hopefully 2024 will be the year of the MK2A. A Regional Railways BSO is an obvious missing choice, but a few BFKs wouldn't go amiss either. I too would prefer a 158 with the original EXPRESS branding. I will hold off in the hope that such a version will be produced one day. I agree on 47475. I would certainly take that one. After Trans-Pennine, it wore that livery for a while when it was allocated to parcels work. Farish have not made a single MK2A BFK so far. I'm sure there are plenty who would purchase 2 of them for Waterloo-Exeter formations, since there were two of them back-to-back in the middle of those rakes for a good while. Also blue/grey, InterCity and Regional Railways of course. There were also the ex-NSE BFKs and TSOs that were transferred to the north west, debranded and had the light blue stripe painted over the red. Those lasted a while and were common within those rakes, so a regular release would even be justified.

Good to know. I'll be dropping by next week to pick up the rather large haul you are holding for me! Ian

It is very reassuring to know you are at Dapol and are committed to improving the accuracy of their liveries. I really hope the future loco-hauled MK3s include another run of sleepers in InterCity livery. There was no way I was spending a penny on the first run with all the issues they had, but I will certainly pick up both sleepers and regular loco-hauled MK3s when another run is done, knowing the livery should be accurate.

It certainly was. I hope we will see that one done in the not too distant future.

My retailer of choice back home in the UK. Excellent shop and a friendly team. I have plenty of items to pick up on my next visit in a few weeks! Ian

Mitsui and Freightliner recently ordered. Great to see these 80s-suitable liveries gradually being rolled out.

I hope you put your foot through the screen in disgust and sent Google the bill.

Different roof shell vent arrangement to the BSO as well, I believe.