ThaneofFife

How is progress adrian. have you painted the blue yet? the thread has been very interesting to read and i like how youve cobbled this from an 86 shell. whats the plan for the running gear- will you go for a Bachmann 85 chassis (if it fits) ?

Bachmann wont run this out without a full range of improvements and that includes the lighting. Reason I say this is that it just wouldnt make sense to wave it through with just the new chassis given that there isnt far to go now before all the diesels have been released so why invest now only to do a 50% retool when it might cost them much more to do the other 50% 3 or 5 years from now (or from when these come out rather). Expect fewer all new models now as there isnt much left to do anyway and more refreshers of the existing models with the classes 08, 20 and 25 immediately springing to mind. Whilst all the 40 noses may not be available immediately i cant see them just running with the 2. Failing that you dont necessarily have to rely on Bachmann anyway as a retailer might decide to run with one of the other nose end type and run it as a special.

within reason yes but preferably whilst we are still on this mortal coil please.

a number of items have recently moved up on the Bachmann release calendar so there is a chance things will come through even earlier so i dont see xmas as being too much too ask.

seems to be a lot of unhappy friends here when it comes to ebay. why not try another form of buying or selling your items? a lot of people make out ebay is the be all and end all of buying and selling model railways. craigs list, ebid, gumtree to name a few. if i can pick up on one point. on the issue of people ignoring T&Cs i think they do read them but choose to disregard them and thats the difference between your sensible level headed buyer and the less salubrious buyer who looks for pinholes in listings on which they can contrive a situation to their own ends. most sellers are trying to cover themselves from the many unscrupulous buyers who claim not to have received items, when they had, in order to get a refund from ebay and then keep the item on top or sell it on. many seem to think this reads that the buyer is out to rip you off which is a little harsh. i actually believe a lot of disappointment can be avoided if you just do a little homework on the seller first. its very easy and will at least give you a heads up about a potential rip off merchant. fact is, it is the buyer who is in the best possible position to obtain a full refund for a lost item because unless the seller bought from new and has a receipt, only the buyer has the proof of what it cost them. they have an invoice from the seller via ebay. if it were left to the buyer to claim a refund for the lost item, where is his proof of what he originally paid for the item? he might have paid £10 for an item and the winning bid was £50 so he got lucky and raised £40 perhaps towards another loco or track etc. (lets assume we all like to make a little profit here and not get bogged down with alerting the local taxman). he wont be able to use the invoice he sent to his buyer as his item didnt cost him £50 but he would still have to send the buyer his £50 back plus he has lost his item. ive been in this situation myself and even after apologising for the apparently lost item and quickly refunding the money some buyers still seem to go into vendebtor mode and leave really negative feedback. just because a buyer sends me payment 1 minute after a an auction has ended will not change the fact that in my listing i may have said that the item will be dispatched within say 5 days. the royal mail insist you provide evidence as to what the lost item cost to you and if you bought it say from a toy fair you wont have a receipt or other evidence so youll just get a book of 1st class stamps if youre lucky. ive been on both ends and take it from me its not all about a few sellers trying to pull fast ones. hopefully my comments will help bring a little balance to the issue of ebay dislikes. if you want an analogy; people often refer to rogue builders but the fact is for every one rogue builder out there there is one rogue customer..............

thats good to hear.

yes youre absolutely right. its common sense really. weve a fair few one off diesels yet to go which most people know about anyway but IN THE MAIN all the diesels will be done by 2013 and lets not forget that in the next 12 months we could still see the less common locos be announced anyway.

I can certainly see Dapol replicating their excellent N gauge Class 86 into 4mm. Whether Heljan will venture into doing another AC is anyones guess but the remark earlier about the pylon they put on the roof for a pantograph certainly made me chuckle but youre spot on, the pantograph is awful. Not sure about the Class 82 and 84. I would categorize these 2 classes of electric as being must haves only for the real hard core out there that really want models of these and so I cant see them selling in big numbers. They certainly werent famous for hauling mainline express passenger on the WCML. im not sure they are as popular or as desirable a model over the mainstay locos 81, 85, 86 and 87. I think the release of new ACs will be thought out in proportion to how many locos occupied each class hence i placed the 82 and 84 quite low down in ranking against the 25 members of the 81 and 15 members of the 83. I would place the 84 ahead of the 82. my logic may be flawed though as we have had some real bolt out of the blue releases on the diesel prototype front where only 1 or 2 were in each class. As Ben Jones pointed out though in last months Model Rail, all the diesels come 2013 will have been released in 00. This leaves all of the early ACs to be attacked next. We may even see the competition go up against Hornby with 87 and/or 90.........it would be nice.

well id say thats a pretty rare photo Tom. well done mate. this has the hallmarks of a limited editions 85. great stuff. oh on the subject of loco release again i dare say many light engines trundled off to Shields Road electric depot a few miles outside of Central (where the APT was based).

I dont think there was a station pilot/shunter. It was the same set up as Lime St, Piccadilly, Euston etc. It was usually another AC loco stabled in the sidings just across the river (visible from the station). This would back onto the train that had arrived from the south then take it out either back south on a service or a few miles up the line to the carriage depot at Polmadie where it might be cleaned or just stabled etc. the released loco could then go to the stabling point or possibly straight onto the front of a returning service to release another loco from the blocks and so on........ its what helped make the hobby interesting back then. these days with the plastic units all the variety and interest has gone.

Thanks for the photos Derek. The second one is going to be a great guide for weathering. Shows the 85 very nicely. I think thats about as dirty as the electrics ever got! I was on the blower yesterday to Rails of Sheffield to pre-order another one of these fine models (as I reckon now that the first batch will sell right out), I asked about release dates and they know nothing so far. ...and accurate Mk2s!

As well as being a fine RTR electric loco this is also the first Bachmann to get corridor lighting which will be visible on the one side. Its got all the makings of a lovely model.