JSpencer

It was a WD 2-8-0 with armour plating. Though from what, I have never been able to find out. A loco list not likely to meet small arms fire, while the armour would need to be - say - 2 inchs thick to stop aircraft canon shells.

I also ordered from IRM and mine were dispatched today. Apparently getting across the Irish channel is harder than the French/English one. Not IRM's fault of course, but I did like the idea of buying directly from them in Euros.

I have had this on their KR lines. I guess this to avoid the "oh I want that" and then later people see on line reviews (i;e forums) or simply cannot afford it, change their minds and the shop is stuck with it. This allows the shop to see how many people are serious about the pre-order to ensure that their factory orders meet real demand. I am surprised that more shops, especially smaller ones which cannot easily afford to sit on unsold stock do not already do this. Perso, I pre-order things that I definitely want, and the nice to haves waiting...

Of course it remains to be seen whether Hornby can actually get 1000s assembled as such and delivered fully working. But it is impressive.

Me too. Upgrade from 21pin to Plux 22, new board designed by ESU with built in stay alive. Chip now kept well away from the motor to avoid over heating (can't say I have ever suffered that, Anyway....). They have been too busy with production to send letters and to be honest, I agree with their reasons. The important thing is to get decent models on the layout afterall. 4DD to follow.

Indeed I did wonder about the Bachmann Midland 1P (what was the 2nd?). I have the Met tank of Rapido on order and while they will doubtless be light years ahead as far as DCC fitting and sound goes (compared to the H), I have high hopes that weight distribution will be decent too.

Many years ago, in either this or another thread, I post similar results on haulage abilities of these 0-4-4s. The O2 has the smallest physical motor but is blessed by having the weight centered over the driving wheels. The H class is the worst with the weight centered well over the trailing wheels. What is interesting on the H is that the front part is a separate molding to the rear part. And I suspect Hornby Initially planned to make the front diecast. (I only wish they had). There does not appear to be any easy cure to this. I added a little sprung spacer to tip the rear towards the front. It looks better on the track (when level). Otherwise it becomes a case of trying to find ways to add weight to the front and/or making the rear lighter. There really is not much you can do. That said the chip plug is useless. It is located in the wrong place for any direct plug in. If you use a chip on a harness, the chip has no were to go. So if you are running in DC, you could strip the plug socket out and grind weight away to move it forwards. If running on DCC, you will have to strip it out and hard wire it as well. Compare with the smaller O2 that has a speaker location in the coal bunker and a easy means to fit a 6 pin through the smokebox door...

All 5 of mine show some warming up, so between replacing the grease and eventually replacing the circuits with directly wired chips, I'll probably cure those.

Although security is always wellcome and certainly I would not want someone to hack my phone through the app, I would be surprised if people were to try hacking into chips of locos on a layout at a show. I would be more worried about the model being stolen. Now if the chip contains Satnav tracking..... (I know, a lot to ask at these scales/prices).

Which worked fine against coincidence type range finders used by the British but not the stereoscopic types used by the Germans 😉

Me too

I am in a similar position to the Ianp at the start of the thread. I have a small xmas OO-9 layout that pops into the living room for a few weeks to run a few trains. Last year everything was under DC but this year it would be great just to have a small DCC controler to control a couple of locos, with some sounds. However I have a second need to be able to change some loco addresses. My current system seems to be getting old and won't change the address on a Lok pilot 5 (it thinks they are 4s), nor will it change addresses on Bachmann's DCC sound fitted 00-9 locos. Aside that all functions work fine..... The Lenz digital starter set looks fine - if limited - but I was left with the impression that you could not change the loco address. Another I looked at is this TRIX T66955 (plus 2 other parts to buy for about 150eur). More functions, can clearly change the addresses. With up 10 locos. What else I wonder?

I cried when Hattons cancelled theirs, but now I can finally add that final touch to my engineering train. Nice one EFE

All these new fish vans are starting to make me feel bloated.... Nice one EFE

My 6 SECR ones and GC and GW ones were also loose. I'm tempted to make these working ends 😅

Now how I imagine a 517 making it all the way to the Kent coast???🙃

Another 3 RCH received. This time POs from the south. I've mixed them into a train of other RCH (9 in total on this train alone) and other POs (Bachmann, Hornby, Oxford). Previous pics used a Grey C class or simplified Wainwright livery C class, now we step a little back in time with a full Wainwright livery C class and to top it all, we have top and tailed the train with Rapido 6 wheel brake vans (I thought I had brought too many of these, but the number is turning out to be just right). One thing about mixing these different makes of PO, is that the rake looks very prototypical in having wagons of slightly different sizes.

Only if they do a WD 2-10-0. Then it will include parts from Bachmann (WD 2-8-0), Ellis Clark and KR models....

Thank you, mine is actually quite high standing 4ft off the ground. But yep, kids can quickly write off something if you are not careful. And one reason why I keep much of the old robust stuff!

I do have a GN gunpowder van along with an NB one. These are quite bright compared to the drab SECR greys but plausible (I could of brought more Iron Minks but then it would look overpowering and non realistic). An Earlier train today with the SE&CR RCH wagons, also the GC and GW RCH pair, a Rapido GWR 4 plank and some Rails 1424 vans and Rapido Gunpowder vans. I have too many 1424s (I only wanted the 5 SECR ones, but ended up with SR ones at the start that I repainted before later getting the SECR ones - you can see why I need more opens 😅).

I'll take a few of both 😉

Another pair RCH arrived today. The GW and GC ones. One way to quickly add additional opens to a pre-grouping layout is to include a few from other railways. For the SECR, midland railway opens were a common sight, but I have also seen GC wagons too. And why not a GW version. The brakes on this pair are one-side only unlike the SECR versions which have brakes both sides. And the contrasting greys to boot....

Now in a train with mostly other Rapido wagons including the 3 RCH in late SECR, a pair of Bachmann ones and 3 Rails 1424 vans (of course the C class might see itself replaced at the head by an O1 at some point): On an inner line, 3 early SE&CR RCH can be seen with 3 other early coloured SE&CR opens. The free running of these wagons really allows us to capture the length of these mixed trains. No issues for the C pulling it all.

Comparisons.... I think it is safe to say that the Bachmann Collectors club of 3 SECR opens has now seen its day. The paintwork is generally too dark and obvious within a rake. (the same can said of Hornby and Dapols standard wagons in SECR colours). Rapido Maunsell 7 plank bottom (could do with a few more of these) vs Rapido RCH top: Bachmann Collectors club right vs Rapido Left (that Bachmann is dark...) Rapido top vs Bachmann bottom Bachmann left vs Rapido right Bachmann top, rapido bottom

Rails SECR versions arrived this morning. Very welcome in helping to rebalance my SECR wagon rakes back towards being mostly opens. The end doors were not glued in though and I now wonder if they could be made working so as to discharge 😅