GordonC

I quite happily pre-order from most manufacturers with confidence on what will turn up ... with the exception of Hornby which I want to see before committing money for. If I miss out I miss out and can quite happily do without them

I hadn't actually realised it was as unique as that! I bought a second one when they were in the bargain bin then struggled to find an obvious renumbering candidate so was intending respraying BR Blue to another headlight fitted example. I'd suspect it was probably chosen with the prototype still running around the main line network in essentially the same livery with just the electrification flashes needing changed. More recent than BR Days, but ...

The central headlight must date 31 432 to being much later nevermind the orange cantrail stripe and its something thats very visible. I'm surprised there's only one offered in Railfreight Large Logo grey, but its a skinhead

.... before even seeing what you're getting with the Dublo DP1?

yeah I think thats the one I'd really want, not sure the choices announced really do anything for me. 402 too early, 409 with the white stripe must be late 70s or early 80s and 432 had a central headlight and orange cantrail stripe so would have to be a good bit later unless I'm missing something. I think its really a bog-standard grotty 31/4 I'd be wanting from late 80s/early 90s.

I'm a bit surprised we haven't had at least a pair of BR Blue and Railfreight Red Stripe in a mix of headcode and disc variants, but then I'm not convinced the initial releases sold all that well so either they produced too big a batch or the examples chosen were a bit niche. I liked the 20227 model, but it doesn't offer too many options for numbering. The BR Blue one would have been an early one with the BR logo on the cabsides wouldn't it? Not completely out of the realms of renumbering and moving the logo, but also not one to snap up when there are plenty of other models around that dont need that and I'd expect a later Blue one at some point

I've got a Bachmann DP1, but its already niche for my modelling era and location so absolutely no intention of buying a Dublo one

announcements or product to buy?

It stood out, if it was just a 'traditional' shade of green or red or blue would you still be remembering it 25+ years later? The Deltic looked good and I'd suggest it was the WIPAC lights that would have caused as many of the the complaints as the actual colour. I wasn't keen on the 87 version but the 47s looked good too

You would think, but I know if something has been commissioned as an exclusive by a retailer that questions on when its available are normally directed towards that retailer rather than the manufacturer. In this case if both are selling it you'd think it would appear on both and in things like project status.

The Class 89 is perhaps complicated if its being treated as a 'Rails of Sheffield' development rather than a pure Accurascale one.

Are there any 'similar' spare parts from other Hornby models that could be used instead? I would have thought for the internals that they'll have a fairly standard set of components to drive bogies from the motors even if things like drive shafts differ in length

Interest and willing to pay that are different things. Look at 39-003 now available for £70 reduced from £110, 39-005 at £90 reduced from £150 and to a lesser extent 39-002 at £60 reduced from £110. I would have thought there would be interest in all those packs, but I just dont see any great appetite to pay £50+ for the standard of Bachmann Mk1s and Mk2s. Accurascale Mk1 suburbans are £65 and Mk2bs are £60 and both look like they should be much more detailed and with lighting. I would have bought a rake, but not to get ripped off at those prices. If I miss out I miss out, I've already got more than enough coaches to run.

Its nice to see the Scotrail Mk2 twin pack, but does that replace the previously announced separate FK and TSO? However, the price asked for them is absolutely astonishing - £140 RRP to slap a new livery on, (lets face it) good but basic, tooling that must have paid itself off years ago. I've got no problem with paying a fair price for new models, but that smacks of profiteering to me and I expect will sit on the shelves until the price comes down to more reasonable levels (like the previous coach twin packs of weathered blue-grey Mk1 and Kyle line Mk2 + Class 101 observation coach)

It definitely puts a different slant on the new models if RealTrack hasn't had a payday out of them. It seems to me a very odd choice of prototype to compete over if tooling up from scratch. Surely in terms of numbers, the Class 142 would have been better to switch to over the past 9 years since the RealTrack 143/144 has been out. Also note the EFE ones dont seem to have been tooled with the original marker lights either which Bachmann normally tools. Totally agree about price if the Class 150 is £300 RRP then why are these £250

I find that surprising, it's not highlighted as new tooling and I can't imagine a duplication battle over 143 / 144s. Is the tooling rapidos then and the EFE releases commissioned through them? I can't see how it would be possible for EFE to use the tooling without permission

The yellow fronted 5-car set has been reduced at a few places for a while and looks like its £299.99 at Kernow https://www.kernowmodelrailcentre.com/p/66944/R3873-Hornby-Class-370-Advanced-Passenger-Train-5-Car-Pack and the coach packs are £50 there https://www.kernowmodelrailcentre.com/c/614/OO-Gauge

I'd never realised there was such concerning variation in what could be output by DC controllers. I run a mix of DC and DCC and while I'm intending longer term to go all DCC, there is a need for a DC controller for the moment and I wouldn't want to risk frying hundreds of pounds worth of modern models.

that seems crazy, is there an obvious reason that the work cant be done sooner? is it the length of possession required that is difficult or where it is?

I would have thought if it was putting out, for example, 18V when it should be 0 to 12V would count as 'defective'. Where you would draw the line between 'ok' and 'defective' I'm not sure. What level would cause damage to components will depend on the model. On thinking about it, could old controllers be tested by running DC (non-chipped) locos and that would show if there was any voltage surges or erratic running and presumably use a voltmeter to identify peak voltages.

Hi Fran, I can imagine it would be difficult to list out a vast number of controllers that 'could' be incompatible depending on how they have aged or been used. Is there any specific test conditions that we could look for to trigger a faulty condition on our equipment? Is it just as simple as turning the controller up full in either direction and measuring the voltage? I dont normally have a voltmeter connected to mine, but if there was a way we could identify which controllers could cause problems and which are less likely to then it would certainly help! Thanks, Gordon

Its far more than that, there was about 3000 of the first release between the different packaging and there was a number of runs after that so there must be at least 5000 in circulation

They'd have to be brave taking on a 319/321 with the Bachmann Class 319 in N gauge. That could easily be scaled up and appear in any quarterly update from Bachmann

66ft compared to 69ft 6in for production Deltics apparently

There's no guarantee it'll come out either as detailed or accuarate as the Bachmann model - it sets a pretty high bar to beat and could well be aimed at a less-discerning market.