Matabiau

I have yet to receive my magazine, it should be here in the next week or so.

I have just stumbled accross Bachman's latest collectors' club model, a OO gauge Mk1 BG Full Brake 'Laboratory 23' BR RTC (Revised). I don't know how authentic it is given the RTC's habit of modifying vehicles to meet their very specific needs, but it looks good anyhow.

Thanks for the correction, I didn't notice it move!

On the 2nd radius curves the inside buffers are completely compressed and are very poorly aligned, there is about 1mm of contact. It wouldn't take much for the buffers to slip and interlock. For me the biggest problem is the coupling hook on the loco not being sprung. That on the coach, and all Dapol wagons, is sprung and to compensate for the loco's lack of spring, is fully extended. Perhaps because of this the buffers don't slip despite the very small contact area. In short this pairing (and all others I have tried with 08s, panniers and Jinty) run without problem on my loop. I don't know what would happen on a layout involving a combination of straight and curve sections, I can't be sure the lateral movement wouldn't provoke interlocking between buffers.

It is clearly not the best, but is robust and not too expensive. From a distance it looks fine, although at that scale the sleepers look very regular, a problem with all set track. Up close the it looks very lightweight, the sleepers don't appear to be very deep. But bear in mind it is only supposed to represent the surface of the sleepers, the rest should be buried in the ground. After HO track the O gauge rails appear very thin and low prfoile, but that is probably just a consequence of the HO track being too chunky for it's scale.I think you are best off comparing it to the real thing rather thatn from a smaller scale.

Yes, 2nd radius 1028mm bullhead

Arrived this morning and paired up straight away with its autocoach.

Concerning Bachmann, membership of the Collectors' Club gives you four magazines and a club wagon each year. The magazines are of good quality, the latest one being of around 60 glossy pages. They contain information on Bachmann/farish models in development, articles on Bachmann's products and processes, articles on history of UK railways with an insight into the different companies prior to grouping, articles on modern railways and classes of locomotives. A good read when it arrives every quarter. The wagon may not be to your particular taste, they are usually small plank wagons more applicable to the steam era, occasionally we have had tanker wagons and a stell wagon. They are of good quality (as per Bachmann/Farish's main range) so do not look out of place on a layout, they certianly do not look like toys as per the old Hornby Collector's club locos. The optional extras are essentially the limited edition locos/wagon/coaches that are available to buy. These are usually very interesting or even quirky choices. If you are modelling a specific era and/or location there is little chance that somethig will appear that will interest you. If you are into collecting models that are too eccentric for the main range, they will probably be right up your street. The other big extra is the annual train trip. I went to the Llangollen Railway day out last year. These are free, you just have to get yourself to the heritage railway on the day. Places are limited so for events in the south of England you need to book early, as they are the most popular. These club days usually involve a trip on the railway concerned and guided visits to the locomotive and carriage sheds. You also get to meet the Bachmann team and ask qustions about their models.

Thanks for the information. My computer must have had a cache problem. It is now working for me too.

It seems that the whole Bachmann UK site has died, not just the collectors' club

Have I missed an announcement or is that an observation coach beig measured up in the latest edition of EngineShed, alongside the APT, Rocket, Class 91,...?

I found that when the website changed a few months there was some sort of problem updating my records and my postcode had not been recognised as such, instead it appeared in the same entry as my town, much as it appears when handwritten. All I had to do was move the postcode into the postcode field and the problem was resolved.

Thankyou for your quick reply, Charlie. By removing the excess of glue surrounding the wires along the rim of the chassis it sits better in the bodyshell and seems to have resolved the problem.

Has anyone else experienced a warped metal underframe on their 156? On one of my cars the metal plate is bent upwards above the motor bogie, drawing hte bogie into the bodyshell and thus preventing it from swivelling. Does anyone know of a remedy?

Has anyone with an overseas address tried ordering on the new Collectors' Club website? I get an error message regarding an incorrect postcode from the Sagepay system. I tried contacting Bachmann via their website but that doesn't work either!

I'm sorry to see you have issues with your class 90 I have just ordered a railfreight version from Rails in their Advent offer. Having succummed to the broken bogie problem on the Intercity version when they first came out I rang Rails to check and they assured me that they have had no returns since the initial problems. Is it possible that yours is from the inital batch?

Very disappointed that Hogwarts Castle TTS version doesn't play the theme to Harry Potter as it steams around the layout

Hasanyone received their tickests for the September Collectors' Club event yet? Thanks

Unfortunately not! Despite the beefed up checks my replacement arrived on Friday with the same in transit damage, hanging bogie, bent rubbing plate and broken buffer. There is clearly a fragility of this design making it more susceptable to shocks in transit. Personally I beleive the plastic tray is a major contributor as it is more supple than most allowing the loco to move. Beyond the checks it is vital that the retailer provides suitable protective packaging for such a fragile loco. Unfortunatelty this was not the case for either of my examples.

I wrote to Bachmann 10 days ago raising the issue concerning my broken class 90, they replied saying my issue had been "ecscalated as feedback" so they are very much aware. It all depends how many customers and retailers raise the same issue as to weather or not it can be considered more than a one-off. As has been mentioned before if there are only a handful of such complaints it would rightly be considered as isolated events put down to postage. If there are a significant number then action will be needed. Unfortunately we are not in a position to determine in which situation we find ourselves, only Bachmann and their larger retailers would truely know.

I have just dispatched my faulty class 90 to Sheffield but today they are refusing to refud the postage, insisting I accept a credit to my account instead. This is the first time I have come accross this, I have always been refunded in the past.

Thank you for the advance notice about the members' day. By the time I get my June magazine it is usually fully booked. I rang Bachmann this morning to book my place on 7th September.

I agree, despite my own observations, this is hardly a representative poll that can enable us to draw conclusions over the full batch.

I spoke to the retailer from whom I bought mine today and apparently they have had a higher than normal number of returns with broken bogie tower. Just how this translates to the full batch only Bachmann will know but it does suggest that this is more than a handful.

I have just received my Intercity Class 90 from Sheffield. The excitement was quickly dashed by the condition of the loco. The rubbing bars were both bent, one of the buffers was broken off, and worst of all one of the bogies was loose and a pice of plastic with a retaining screw fell out of the body. The moulded plastic tray seemed very flimsy compared to most models and as loose in the plastic sleeve. Probably the origin of the breakages. I see others have had similar problems so I wonder if this is a common problem regarding the packaging of this loco?