sjgardiner

My Pre-order in my account still shows the lower original price, not that from the email today, So i assume that remains the price i will pay. Stephen

Lookit that, an email from Hattons today saying delivery now expected in May 2018. I guess we shall see. Fingers crossed. Stephen

My pictures from 2011 at the SVR don't show any warning flashes, I don't see why it would have them as it doesn't run on the mainline where it would be exposed to overhead electrical wires. Taking Water by Stephen Gardiner, on Flickr Caledonian 828 by Stephen Gardiner, on Flickr Post from this thread explains the differences, will obviously need to see which of these Rails is modelling based on tooling and such. The announcement identified Westinghouse Air Pumps on the as-built. I would suspect for a lot of people the presence of an air pump would be the most obvious spotting difference depending on where it was mounted. EDIT: I should look at my own photos. There is a Westinghouse pump mounted on the RHS of the firebox on the preserved locomotive. Stephen

Excellent announcement, very excited by this. My question is that which someone else asked i think, any thoughts on timing? I know how much everything can slip, but is there an initial target date, or an earliest expected date to allow customers to budget for pre-orders to know when to have money available. This is always my biggest problem with the way things have evolved to pre-order. Trying to forecast when you need to have money available, not that it winds up mattering as everything always seems to arrive at once anyways. Cheers Stephen

Ahh, but in the video one of the gents from TMC said they were cutting steel on a Locomotive. Which i presume was the hint to guide the guesses AndyY spoke of. It shall hopefully be a pleasant surprise when i check in the morning given the 5hour time difference, announcements should be out by the time my morning rolls around tomorrow! Stephen

I would say the music was odd, not annoying, but it also oddly worked with what i assume was the drone footage flying in and out of TMC. I really enjoyed the video (thanks Andy Y and BRM for doing it). I've known of TMC, and i've ordered a couple of things from them, but I don't think it registered that they had a full on actual shop you could visit, or else I'd have stopped in when i was last at the Moors in 2014. As for the new product, I'm sure it's already been guessed as I haven't read the whole thread, But a Caley 439 0-4-4T, only because i really want one! Stephen

I feel like asking any questions about these locomotives is going to open a can of worms. But being disconnected from the grapevine and gossip in the UK, means I never am anywhere to see or hear anything. I have one of the first run Taw in Southern Green on order with Hattons, which I gather never came in (or if they did they were all rejected for the valve gear issues that triggered a re-design/change of factory from Heljan). The part number (9952) doesn't show up in searches on their site anymore as i think someone noted previously, but its still in my pre-orders page and wish list page. I noticed today that in addition to the 2nd Run group, there is now a 3rd run of Lew and Lyd models listed, at a lower price point than the 2nd run, but not as low as the Pre Order Price showing in my account for the first. This is mostly for me an exercise in trying to see if anyone has any idea if the first run models will appear, or a date for budgeting purposes. As with many of us these days no doubt, I've got a lengthy list of products which we've had to pre-order, which is fine, but I try to make sure i have money in my budget for when things are going to arrive, and it's hard to budget when the answer seems to be a shrug and who knows. Any insight from anyone who may have heard anything from Heljan or a conversation with a dealer would be appreciated. Cheers Stephen

That layout is what happens when you own a company that makes jigs for handlaying track. The CNJ Bronx Warehouse layout is Tim Warris of Fast Tracks layout http://www.bronx-terminal.com/ http://www.handlaidtrack.com/ Stephen

I'm excited by this announcement. I have been trying to convince myself to ease up on buying UK outline models which are display case pieces for me, but I'll be ordering a Maude from my usual supplier. The only thing that would have been an even easier decision would be a Caley 0-4-4 419, which was the first working steam locomotive I ever saw visiting my grandparents in Scotland in the 1980's. I keep thinking about looking into buying a Kit and building one of those, but I know the second I make that investment, an RTR one will be announced. Good on the manufacturers for continuing to go outside the box with further flung prototypes. Cheers, Stephen

Probably much the same thing as happens when SWMBO lets me have new blades, sliced fingers and unrepeatable four letter words. I've displayed at a lot of shows for the Toronto Railway Museum over recent years, but never been brave enough to actively show off my technique in front of the public, maybe someday I'll be refined enough to be presentable as i work! I look forward to seeing whatever you are building come the end of April! Stephen

Hello all, I'm not affiliated in any way with the show, but I noticed that a thread hadn't been started for this years GBTS in Brampton (near Toronto), Ontario. I know it's been touched on in other places with the layout being built in BRM Magazine over the next few issues that will be raffled off at the show. The show is Saturday-Sunday April 28 & 29 2018 at the Jim Archdekin Recreation Centre in Brampton. More information on the show is on the Rapido Trains and Platelayers websites and the show flyer below: Rapido: https://rapidotrains.com/gbts/ Platelayers: http://www.theplatelayers.org/ I look forward to hopefully meeting some North American RMWebers at the show, and any brave souls who happen to be across the Atlantic to join in from the UK. Cheers, Stephen

No, but there is the “no route” bus which will come with “Several routes/destinations available plus blank destination with transfers included”, you should communicate with Rapido about making sure the combination of route numbers and destinations you want are on the transfer sheet and consider this option and applying the route you want. You could be waiting a long time for a run with a specific route/destination if you really really do want one. Cheers, Stephen

That's ok, January works for me at least, means I'll have been on my Christmas trip to England and be back home to Canada to receive the package rather than have it find a way into parcel limbo while i'm away! All the best guys for a Merry Christmas! Stephen

Its a nice model, and it converts nicely, though its fiddly and small compared to working on HO and OO Gauge models like i'm used to. There is discussion regarding conversion and links to my blog post on mine on Page 10 of the original thread about this model in this forum: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/96032-Bachmann-009-skarloey/page-10 Stephen

Was there a source for that news? Not disputing it, but don't want to move it in my budget to later in the year when the last comment above from Locomotion Models was expecting in February. I'm quite happy if its later in the year. Cheers Stephen

We could make Bill a Canadian, though he may not appreciate that. October may be a better time for Thanksgiving, but the Americans have nailed this one for scheduling. Holiday on a Thursday, for anyone not so unfortunate to be in Retail and be crushed by the evil Black Friday, easy peasy 4 day weekend (which frankly is needed to recover from the Turkey Feast). Looking forward to see what surprises Bill has up his sleeve at the show on the weekend while partaking in the particularly Canadian ritual of Grey Cup weekend in Ottawa. Stephen

No need to appologize (at least not to me), I've just got so much stuff pre-ordered and it all seems to be funneling to a same time arrival, I'm trying very hard to keep my budget in line and have the money to pay for stuff, and it had been a while since i'd seen any specific comment about the remaining Scotrail variants. All the best, Stephen

Assume that would include the rest of the Scotrail dot saltire units for those of us still waiting on them as well? Cheers, Stephen

To be fair, the mistake in this case could just as easily have been made wherever Ben & Co are in the UK, or in Markham Ontario or Connecticut (Rapidos offices) as well as China. In theory, the factory does whatever the artwork from Rapido tells them to do. I've seen it plenty of times where as Ben suggested, the artwork got transposed when approved and no one noticed. That said, its much easier to deal with when its caught when it was vs. when they arrived in the UK. Rapido and plenty of other manufacturers have had production runs have to be sent back, or sit in warehouses waiting on new shells to change out artwork and printing errors. Fixing it at the factor is a lot easier than if it had shipped with the error. Glad to see that it was caught though, as i know there are a lot of people in the UK waiting on this based on what I've seen watching this project go from Crowd Funding idea to reality with interest. Stephen

I have a question that doesn't appear to have been answered in the ongoing debate about the window frames. Has OxfordRail said anything about what the price is actually going to be? I still see what I assume is a placeholder price of £29 on Hatton's website. Given that I want a couple of these for my ScotRail push-pull set, which is a "display case central" project re-creating an image of my from my childhood, not a serious part of any layout, it would be nice to know what to budget for them. Maybe all will be revealed at Warley at the end of November. Maybe i'm just to used now to Rapido's oversharing that I find radio silence from a manufacturer to be a bit annoying. Again, whats with wanting me to look at the camera. by Stephen Gardiner, on Flickr I'm not planning on a full length rake, ideally two TSO's, a CO and the Bachmann DBSO behind my re-nammed Class 47 St Mungo. I want to be able to pull them out and run a rake on a friends freelance layout from time to time. My biggest concern is that the paint colour is a reasonable close proximity for Bachmann's Class 47's (and their DBSO's which one would think would be paint matched to their own locos) Cheers, Stephen PS - The window frames in my grainy 1988 picture look silver (ducks and covers)

The site has a large free parking lot if the OP does wind up driving to Montreal and Exporail. Dominion of Canada is inside the main building now after it's return from the UK on a track next to the 1939 Royal Train Royal Hudson 2850. If memory serves from when I was last there a couple of years ago, Waddon is in the overflow building out in the yard (what they call it escapes me, but it is open to visitors). Overall, Exporail has become a very good museum. I hadn't been since the mid 1990's until 2013, and the developments of the Hayes Building and bringing equipment into cover have been fantastic. Photography can be a bit tough sometimes, though as Chris noted, it's often quiet. My last visit was less quiet as it was during the Rapido product launch in 2015, but even then being patient you can get clear shots of the equipment inside. It's off topic, but don't get me started on our weekend rail services. I think i crushed my mother-in-laws dreams at Thanksgiving dinner on Sunday when she was all excited by all-day service from Barrie to Toronto, when i pointed out it will take at least a decade to get through the in-fighting and NIMBY's to grade separate the diamond in Toronto between the CPR and Metrolinx (former CNR) line to Barrie to allow more commuter trains to run. It got me a dirty look across the table!! Stephen

That's OK, the longer it takes to process all the orders, the more likely it is I may have a DCC system by then to enjoy all the features and sounds. Or that you'll wind up shipping mine to Canada while i'm in the UK at Christmas (go Murphy's law of pre-ordering from overseas!!) -Stephen

This set for Union Pacific Steam Locomotives: http://www.microscale.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=MD&Product_Code=87-63&Category_Code=UP And yes, the lettering was silver regardless of what colour you think it is from your referenced photo for weathering. Hope that helps, Stephen

Good afternoon, Hopefully you are able to visit Exporail during your trip to Montreal, but if you are on public transit, there are no trains on weekends. I know at least a couple of times in the year they normally run a special museum train on weekends, but i don't see anything on the Exporail website about that for this year. Their schedules are in french, though at least some of the website can translate to English. The bus service is RTM Roussillon. Bus 130 from the Central Terminal downtown (Next door to Central Station/Hotel Queen Elizabeth) to Delson, then walk or take the 30 Bus to Exporail (or a short taxi from the shopping mall area the 130 stops at assuming you can find one). Sadly, driving is the easiest way to get to Exporail given its location and the nature of rail travel in Canada these days. Hope that helps some. Stephen

You are not the only one. Patience is a virtue and a trial. Having seen the samples at Rapido before production, I know how great they are and am happy to wait on the one man band of Charlie getting to mine. Stephen