Robin Brasher

No. My main layout is 00 gauge and I have some Hornby Mk1 coaches with lights which operate on both analogue and dcc. I have not got an 0 gauge layout and I have just got a couple of wagons. One club has an analogue layout and another has a large dcc layout. I would like to buy some Dapol Mk1 coaches but I don't want to spend over £300 on the dcc versions if running on dcc damages the lights or even more money on the dcc versions if they don't work on analogue. I think my best option would be to wait until some of the other club members buy some and they can demonstrate the difference between the analogue and dcc versions or to wait until someone reviews the coaches on this site. Perhaps the Peco Technical Advice Bureau may be able to help. I was hoping to get more than a couple of word's advice from Dapol to explain why there are separate dcc and analogue versions as Dapol stands to lose a sale.

Thank you for the picture of a repainted six-wheeler. While my model of the original Swanage Station was waiting for the delivery of an LSWR Road Van and some LSWR 4-wheel coaches with lights it had some visitors from the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway,

I started collecting Corgi Toys in 1957 when they produced a model of my uncle's Ford Consul. The model was an advance on Dinky's Ford Zephyr as it had windows, machine turned wheels and a push and go motor. Since then Corgi competed with Dinky to produce splendid models in the 1960s. Although they are slightly under scale the 1950s model cars do not look out of place on an 0 gauge layout. Later Corgi went on to produce some 1/76 scale buses and 1/43 scale cars and vans that are to model railway scales. For those that missed out on collecting Corgi Toys Blue DTC Brands are producing some exact replicas, starting with a Ford Thames Ice Cream van for £1.99 followed by some more Corgi Toys. From the dimensions it looks like the ice cream van is to 1/38 scale which is a bit big for 0 gauge. We will not be able to cherry pick future models so if, like me, you are only interested in a few models it is probably best to wait until they appear on the second hand market.

I pre-ordered my R3632 35024 East Asiatic Company from Rails on 13 April 2018. After Rails fell out with Hornby I pre-ordered the airsmoothed Bulleid Pacific from the Swanage Railway shop where I will get a 10% discount as a premier life member. The model cannot be damaged in the post and it will be easy to take back if it does not work. I returned my last airsmoothed Merchant Navy to Hornby and the firm replaced the motor. The Swanage Station shop stopped stocking Hornby after the shop had problems with supply so it looks like Hornby are partly to blame for the cancelled orders. The Swanage Station shop started stocking Hornby again after the supplies improved

Thank you for the information about Hornby 6 wheel coach axles and mixed trains of BR and LNER stock. During my daily exercise I came across a wooden body coach near the Square and Compass at Worth Matravers. A hedge obstructs the view of most of the coach but it looks like it is well looked after. We had plans forty years ago to restore and run our three LSWR six wheel coaches on the Swanage Railway but the plans never materialised and I sometimes wonder if the coaches are better off remaining in people's gardens if the owners look after them. This one looks like it is in British Railways southern region green livery.

Looking forward to receiving mine but I don't think the LSWR coaches with lights have arrived in the shops yet.

The late 19th Century was a period of rapid development in coach design and it was possible to see trains with four, six and eight wheels in the same train. A couple of pictures on page 17 of London & South Western Railway Miscellany by John Scott-Morgan may illustrate this point. The top picture shows Jubilee class locomotive no 552 in the early 1890s with a train of Panter non-corridor bogie stock but the leading coach is a six-wheeler. The bottom picture shows Adams radial no 427 with a rake of four- and six-wheeler stock in 1890. After 1900 it looks like most passenger trains were made up of bogie non-corridor coaches.

I am very pleased to read this news as I am modelling the Swanage Railway. Several Jubilees were allocated to Bournemouth and in the years leading up to World War l were frequently used on the Swanage Railway. I am doubtful if the LSWR painted them holly green as the company mainly used this livery for goods engines whereas the A12 was used for semi-fast passenger services, fast freights and van trains. A picture on plate 2 of HMRS Livery Register no 3 LSWR and Southern shows an A12 class 0-4-2T in Drummond passenger livery at Exeter in 1914 with some open wagons. Drummond green was a lighter shade of green than holly green.

You will be pleased to read that my rake of London, Brighton and South Coast Railway rake of Hornby 4 wheel coaches has arrived from Kernow. I had to use a pair of pliers to pull out the tape to activate the lights. A couple of advantages of battery operated lights on an analogue layout is that the batteries add weight in the right place and the lights stay on when the train has stopped. They also provide something for my Bachmann E4 to pull.

I think you mean after the T was dropped but it was interesting that RT. 44 could also be used with the TT gauge range. Tri-ang introduced R.44 in 1955 for 5s 10p or 25.83 pence. Hattons are now advertising it for £9 which is 34.8 times the original price. This is not far from Simon Kohler's Mars bar analogy which cost 2.5p around 1960 and costs £1 now so he thought prices had risen by 40 times since 1960.

In view of the posts in this topic I have cancelled my pre-orders with Hattons for the Hornby LB&SCR and LSWR 4 wheel coaches. The LSWR coaches are' must have'models for me as I am modelling the Swanage Railway and I do not want to wait two years for a second run to appear like I did with the Maunsell pull push coaches. I have told Hattons why I have cancelled my pre-order and have reordered with Kernow. Last year after Hattons sold out of pre-orders for the Rocket set I ordered one from the Swanage Station shop and received it a few weeks later so perhaps we should be supporting our local model shops. I have pre-ordered sets of Hattons Southern and LSWR 4 wheel coaches and I hope that I don't receive a sold out on pre-order note from Hattons for these coaches

Ruffnet Thorston's post was very interesting. The R044 black point motor passing contact switch, R046 yellow two way lever switch and 047 green two way lever switch date right back to early Tri-ang days in the 40-49 series for switches etc when they were R44, R46 and R47. I think that they are the only items that have survived largely unchanged since the 1950s and comparing the original prices to their present prices is a good way of judging model railway inflation.

The R2 series was originally coaches and the R5 series was for station platforms.

Coming back on track: in the beginning was the word. The word was R1 and it was good. Since then the range has developed beyond our wildest expectations. The R1 series is for train sets, R3 for locomotives, R4 for coaches, R6 for wagons, R7 for scenery and Harry Potter, R8 and R9 for buildings. As the range developed the R numbers developed from one digit to four. While it was three digits there were duplicates so if you were looking for a coach with a three digit R number you could get two results where the earlier coach had been discontinued so the four digits would resolve this problem. I think that this year's model locomotives and coaches have 9 as the second digit so they may have to go back to 0 one day.

I gave up pre-ordering Hornby items from Hattons after they were unable to fulfil pre-orders for the Maunsell pull-push which was a must have model for me as I am modelling the Swanage Railway and I could not get one anywhere. I pre-ordered R3632 35024 East Asiatic Company from Rails only to receive a note a year later telling me that my pre-order had been cancelled as they were no longer dealing with Hornby so I cannot win.

On page 64 of the March Hornby Magazine there is a review of Hornby's Restaurant Buffet with pictures of the BR maroon, green and Intercity versions. The cutaway picture shows the brown interior which looks like it is crying out to be painted in authentic colours. The review shows which Mk1 coaches are available in the new range and goes on with a history of the restaurant buffets followed by a review of the model. The reviewer is impressed with the paint finish and quality of the underframe.

I wonder if Hornby will be making a model of it next year.

You will be pleased to read that I have now received my R.40072 LB&SR 4 wheel brake baggage coach no. 102 from Kernow in a jiffy bag. A cardboard cover protected the Hornby box so it arrived intact. On the box it says that it is a detailed scale model. I have pre-ordered the rest of the LB&SCR coaches from Kernow but after many years it is nice to have a passenger brake coach to run with my LB&SCR locomotives. My main interest is the Swanage Railway, which was a London and South Western Railway branch, but I often used to visit the Bluebell Line, I lived in Worthing for a long time and I have got a collection of Southdown buses. I like the brake wheel inside and the glazing at the end of the coach. The coach ran well on my second radius curves and points but occasionally derailed above a baseboard joint where the curved track met the straight track so I cannot run it unattended. I am looking forward to receiving the remaining LB&SCR coaches and a rake of LSWR coaches which are due in April.

There was a previous post about R40025 BR southern region Mk1 restaurant buffet S1696 being on an Ocean Liner charter train. I presume the livery of a kitchen car, with a BR crest and a red strip above the windows is based on a photograph of the coach. I am surprised that it had a BR crest as this was only applied to Royal Wessex coaches and I am not sure if that formation had an RB. Also the red strip began to be applied to ocean liner expresses around 1960 and later on to other coaches. I wonder if anyone has any information about S2696 in the model's livery. It looks attractive.

Sorry about the error which I have corrected. I had forgotten about the Bachmann RU. I wondered why I had not bought a green Bachmann RU and then I remembered that I did not think Bachmann had made one. Perhaps the RUs were never painted green in BR days. I agree that the MK1 restaurant cars are a minefield.

You will be pleased to read that my Hornby Mk1 SR green restaurant buffet car arrived at my local model railway shop yesterday so I am now in a position to compare it with my Lima and Replica versions. The shade of green on the Hornby model looks right to me with the Replica version seeming too light and the Lima version too dark. The glazing is flush on the Hornby model with the window recesses slightly deeper on the Replica version and very deep on the Lima version. I think that pronounced ribs on the roof and the interior moulded in one colour let down the Hornby version. At £6.95 the Replica version is better value for money than the Hornby version at about £34 and you can still buy the Replica models for around £10 second hand. it is a pity that all three manufacturers have made RBs when I am modelling the Swanage Railway which has three RUs and no RBs. Tri-ang's restaurant car had orange curtains and white table tops with napkins so it is a pity that Hornby cannot make these details now. The Replica version had white table tops and a white counter on a tan moulding. The pictures show: Hornby model Replica model Lima model Tri-ang model with curtains and white table top and napkins.

It is one of the wonders of RM Web that an oozlum bird can appear on a topic about Hornby 4 - 6 wheel period coaches. Before more of these coaches appear on layouts you may be interested to know that we have three grounded LSWR 6 wheel coaches on the Swanage Railway. The eventual object is to restore them to running order as a vintage train. The picture shows No 0695 which arrived on the Swanage Railway on 8 May 1976 as our first item of rolling stock. It is a 34' long third class coach built in 1885 to LSWR Diagram DB66. Such was the rapid development of coaching stock that the LSWR wrote off the coach in 1904 and it was sold to be used as a domestic outbuilding in 1921. A sight of the Hornby and Hattons coaches may inspire the Swanage Railway to restore the coaches into working order.

Unfortunately there are no Coronation coaches in either the main or the Railroad range in the 2021 catalogue.

Thank you for the information about the diesel range. In the steam range the R30039 Billinton 0-6-0T makes a welcome return. I don't think it is such a really useful engine in SECR livery as its predecessors the LBSR E2 and Thomas as there are no suitable wagons or coaches in the entire Hornby range. I thought that it would be more useful in Southern livery but there are no Southern passenger brake vans in the Railroad range.

Enjoyed video. Liked evolution of 4 & 6 wheel coaches and explanation of why hobby has to start with children. I had a smoke unit fitted to my 1957 Princess Elizabeth and I would like to see smoke units fitted to modern Hornby locomotives. In view of Simon's first train set I wonder if we will see an R1 in the Hornby Dublo range and whether it will be the first one to have a plastic body.