The Nth Degree

When Little Loco Co started rereleasing the old Right Price 03 and 04 kits I had five or six times the number of enquiries about producing them ready-built. Right then I knew where the market was. Good kits are enjoyable to build and own, but it is a significant investment in time and skills, and if you're not able - for whatever reason - to make that investment, kits are not a cheap or convenient option. The tone that implies modellers who don't or can't build kits are lazy or worthless makes no account for their personal circumstances. It's not just fluids and electricity that follow the path of least resistance, people do too.

Yes it is. I usually pick this up from the destination address and alter the Commercial Export Invoice accordingly, but it's always worth getting in touch beforehand to let me know it's coming. Steve

I posted this on the results page, but it's worth repeating here too: Thank you very much indeed to all of those who voted for Little Loco Company. Every vote is appreciated more than it can be imagined, and ultimately drives us on to produce better and more accessible models. Thank you, Steve

Thank you very much indeed to all of those who voted for Little Loco Company. Every vote is appreciated more than it can be imagined, and ultimately drives us on to produce better and more accessible models. Thank you, Steve

Thanks, I'm happy with that. 4th place in Hornby Mag's product of the year, and two 3rds in BMRA – onwards and upwards! The problem is when (or if) we get a first place and then the worry of maintaining it!

The fan-assisted smoke unit is totally programmable from the decoder. It's controlled by two factors; the voltage which determines how much smoke is produced, and the fan speed which determines how fast it comes out. Both of these control functions are programmed into the decoder, and are timed with 'engine' speed and programmed load. There will be two options to choose from on the controller: light engine, which will produce relatively little smoke but will blow hard on acceleration and less on deceleration/idling, and loaded which will blow much more smoke with otherwise pretty similar fan speeds.

I thought I'd show the smoke unit in position. I know not many will choose this option, but it's there for those who do – and it will be a simple plug-and-play operation. All cabling, programming on the decoder and the ducting will already be supplied.

I'd just finished reading Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption - it's where Andy and Red ended up and started on restoring their fishing boat. Love that story.

Please email the class22@ email address for funding enquiries. Unfortunately, it looks like the JLTRT Class 22 is no longer an option according to latest news. Very sad day for diesel modellers.

I would like to point out that I'm not a very good cook. That particular risk is highly unlikely...

These questions and others are answered in the email sent earlier to interested parties. There is absolutely no obligation to receive the information, so please send an email to class22@littleloco.co.uk Cheers, Steve.

Little Loco Company Class 22 funding initiative If you would like to help fund the innovative LLC Class 22 model, we are opening 300 models to funders for a limited time only. Each model will be offered at a significant discount to retail prices and will come with a special 'Thank you' certificate. We are starting with the production version of the loco, with the Pilot Scheme locos being tooled after the production versions have been released. There are five different liveries to choose from: • All green • Green small yellow panel • Green full yellow end • Blue small yellow panel • Blue full yellow end All models will come with many parts to customise your model, like boiler exhaust cover plates, snowploughs and alternative pipework, full transfer sheet relevant to your livery, etc. Prices for all models are shown in the chart below: Reservations for the retail models can be made from our website in a couple weeks, but if you would like to help fund the model please email class22@littleloco.co.uk where you will be given full information to order your own special model/s. Thanks, Steve.

Let's hope so. They are a gnat's whisker away from being approved for production. The website is still being worked on unfortunately, but have a look below if you are interested in funding it.

When the consignment was delivered two boxes were damaged in transit, so I still have those damaged models for parts. In addition I will keep a few of each back for warranty replacements. This is a standard procedure in manufacturing and is always accounted for.

A new production line for the Rustons is currently being set up, which I will visit either this afternoon or tomorrow. I will be on-hand to offer guidance and assistance to finally solve all the production issues. With organising this, and a half term that has crept up from nowhere, I have had little time to look at the funding figures for the Class 22. I will have some free time over the weekend so will publish everything Saturday/Sunday. Stocks of the Class 15 are very short now, and the model and its tooling will be retired once remaining stock has been sold. If you've been wavering then now is definitely the time. I will be at Kettering on the first Saturday of March, so I welcome reservations for collection. Special editions of the Liverpool Street pilot will be available, plus the last two Limited Editions of D8233.

This is an overly-simplistic plan of my idea, purely for illustrative purposes.

Thanks Michael, much appreciated. I could get a few more tank wagons for the Krokodil, maybe a bogie tank at the front. I will also have a look out for Z gauge 6-wheelers too. Thanks again! Steve

I recently conducted some research into Z gauge and bought some locos to have a look at – the typical Marklin, AZL and Rokuhan products. I recently sold the AZL and Rokuhan locos on ebay, but something kept me from selling the Marklin locos, so I'm thinking of building a little layout for them, if I have time. Before I start, however, I don't have a clue about German railways and have a few questions. I have the German Krokodil E94 heavy freight loco with a train of 5 fuel tank wagons, but would these run with a brake van, and which one would it be? I also have the general purpose E44, which I will buy some coaches to run behind it, but again I don't know which. I would like the smaller 4-wheel type, as the layout will not be big and it will only be a local train service. I understand the locos are described as 'Epoch 4' but the coaches I would like to use are 'Epoch 3'. Could I get away with this? As for the layout itself, I'm thinking of a small lake-side station with a passing siding. Mountains in the background, perhaps a tunnel mouth into the fiddle yard. Certainly nothing fancy as I won't have the time. I'll choose some appropriate kit buildings of a small station, a hotel maybe, a few outbuildings. If someone could answer my questions above, I'll work on a trackplan. Thanks in advance, Steve

I've updated the bogie types planned so I don't have to make so many compromises in wheelbase. As long as any one design caters for more than one prototype it would be efficient to produce it. You'll notice that the Class 52 Western is not listed, for example, so unless this would be a really good seller (which is probably likely) it would not cover development and manufacturing costs of a unique bogie – each of which is very expensive to produce, despite being very small. This is an updated list: And, chosen at random, some examples of what they would look like in models: In the top picture you can see the development stage of the bogie mount. This scale is very deceptive – despite the mounting spigot looking enormous, its diameter is only 2mm! Totally different to designing in 7mm scale.

That's very interesting. Takes me back a few years too! It would look great with some colour and texture.

Ha! The 7mm Ruston is not cancelled yet, just sorting production 'issues'... I should have just kept production in China. I doubt very much we could produce a Z Ruston - at least not a working model. Even in 7mm the bonnet is only 20mm wide and only just wide enough for the motor and some of the gearbox. I'd like to see a couple pictures of your architects model though. I've built a few of those myself in my uni days, usually to 1:200 scale. We hope by the time these Z models are released they will be produced in our own factory. The only outsourced product will be the motors. Any delays at this point will definitely be only our fault!

Ha! Indeed... They are really, really small. We are working on track at the moment, and are a tandem development with the wheels. I'm sure he won't mind me saying, but Martin Wynne is developing some pointwork in prototypical style. We're just about to have a series of B7s produced for the test track, and will go to smaller sizes later to see where we can get to. Stay tuned, it's going to take a couple years to come to fruition, but plans are way in advance of what I'm writing here, and there are some very good surprises to come!

Most of the bogie types have been designed now (three of which are below) so we can now get some test wheelsets machined for testing. The test track is also being built, so hopefully in a couple months the main elements of the new standard will have been tested and trialled for final specification. After this we can gradually reduce track radius until each bogie falls off so we'll also know our limits in that respect too.

The Class 22 crowdfunding will not be on any particular platform, it will be advertised here, on FB and in the hobby press. I will publish precise details next week. You have all seen the engineering in the model, and it will continue to be the same revolutionary technology. Thank you for all your support. Steve

Yes, CME, until we have our own factory we are reliant on others. We have started on that venture already - we bought our first injection moulding machine a few weeks ago. Watch this space!