Zunnan

Aaah, the units which ignited my loathing of modern day rail travel. I'll break out the bubbly when they're finally fobbed off up North! There has been plenty of occasion where I've preferred to walk from New Street or Sutton Coldfield back to Chester Road rather than suffer these in the 30 years we've had them (my gangly legs don't fit in the seats so I either have to stand or contort myself awkwardly into a seat, I swear these things were designed to fit hobbits!). I hope with the Centro livery examples, that the green is a tad darker than the heritage unit. For some weird reason the heritage centro unit is close to being dayglow. Great to see a 25kV EMU, even with my loathing of the real things I really do hope this sells well and finally opens the door to more OHLE units after Bachmann stalled following the 350.

I agree, the shape of them isn't hulked up enough off the top of the cylinder and (I think) they're not quite radiused enough. They always made me think of a bodybuilders trapezius muscles, but look undernourished on the EP. Another thing that I think would be worth reworking are the sand boxes on the running plate. I think they're tall enough but currently sit too wide and are therefore at a rather shallow angle. I believe they should seat further back under the boiler so that the filler and top plate is at a much steeper angle. I'd like to see the smokebox mounted handrails in place too, as that really completes the face of this unique machine. I know its an EP so the fit of the dome and chimney cap I'd think will already be on the list to be finessed, it looks like an American GI has left his helmet on an oil drum at the moment but that is easily addressed at this stage.

I really do hope the headlight is one of the things being worked on. That looks like its been grafted on from a 1970s Tyco toy. On the plus side it finally gives us a glimpse of the right hand side of the locomotive they're producing...well, in Big Berthas early guise at least. I'm still waiting to see how they intend to tackle the BR version which needs the very visible mechanical reverser.

Agreed, the video was well produced and presented as is usual. The area I model being predominantly around the Black Country a 57xx for transfer freight is right up my alley too. But the buildup was akin to implying a Palethorpes van but then offering a 1923 RCH 5 plank...I already have what I need of both from existing toolings, both of which I would be happy to see updated, but I know which I'd rather buy. The video sent expectations soaring for a moment, especially with an 8F in shot while acknowledging the tease, which for me left the reveal as an anti-climax. Without that, I'd have had a bit of a grin on my face with this announcement. Ultimately its a numerous and widespread prototype with a vast wealth of variation that up until now has been relatively untapped, with rather aged representation. It was a low hanging fruit and this new range is most welcomed.

I think the Accura launch video didn't help there. I'll admit when I watched it and 'Mayflower' featured heavily my intertest was quite piqued, then stood in front of the 8F I nearly punched the air...and then when it panned onto the actual subject matter I clicked away uninterested. I'm glad for those who've been waiting for versions of these tanks which have never been covered before, but the teasing at the start of the video was a bit of a put-off.

Missing blanking plugs is a fairly frequent one for a cheap and easy fix. Or the absolute best, next18 sound decoder sitting at an angle, presumably because it’s been shaken in transit. I got a ‘non running’ sound fitted Bachmann 1P for £127 for that exact reason. Took the top off, noticed the decoder loose and pushed it home and off it happily trundled. I also don’t shy away from bent valve gear, almost always looks worse than it is. Easily sorted and even in the worst cases replacement parts are usually readily obtained. Also got a DCC sound LGB mallet for half its true worth as a non runner only to find one chassis keeper plate fitted back to front causing the gears to bind. Corrected that and it was otherwise perfect.

Sssshhh...don't tell them! I've had some real gems described as DCC fitted non-runners only to find the decoder not plugged fully home...and not only from Hattons! I've only been stung by one model so far, a S&D 7F described as a non runner which turned out the entire tender electrics were stripped out and the fudged solder job at the motor had failed.

I still live in hope that the D1897 and relatives are one day looked at properly, but an LNWR diagram is great to see visited. Any LMS constituent van is good by me, and to be honest I'm glad its not the MR D362/D363 after the batch of Slaters kits I recently built. These will pad out my pre-WW2 roster very nicely indeed and add to the early BR stuff I tend to lean towards. Plus is an ideal candidate for a dilapidated industrial railway stores van. Now, if only someone were to produce a ubiquitous LMS 0-6-0 of non-Midland origin...Something, oh, 17 or 18 inches or so.

Which also shows the problem with even a perceived to be reasonable position for the lamps. That class 3/4 code is fine, right up until you want to run an unfitted or partially fitted freight, pickup and branch line work, any passenger other than ECS, light engine or brake van move, engineering trains or inspection saloon and BTU moves. So it pretty much rules out most of the typical work you'd expect of a Black 5 while still being suitable for typical Black 5 work. I'd rather see something like neo magnets in the lamp positions and non-lit magnetic lamps you can move around to suit.

I don't think I've seen a better executed, or vital, piece of rolling stock than these. If I were to replicate some of the Clee Hill photos I've picked up over the years researching the trains for Hill Top, I could legitimately load the layout to capacity with nothing but D1666s. Trying to build free enough running PO kits weighted for gravity working is pretty much redundant now too. Between these and the RCH 1907s Rapido are going to clean out a huge chunk of my modelling budget. Absolutely sublime!

It was nice to have a much more up close and personal experience with Mostyn, it really is an inspirational layout, and a bit of a microcosm. Its great to see the old heavily modified Hornby Sulzers still putting in a shift even though their days are most certainly numbered and their replacements are glaring them down. As Phil said while we had a bit of a chat, the sentimentality in them is immense given a lot of the models were built by folk no longer with us, and in that regard they take pride of place in their obsolescence. Being able to see the Rats truly out in the wild just confirmed what I thought back at Cradley Heath where I got my hands on the first running sample, these are well worth the wait! Really glad to see that my hunch of the /1 breaking cover was on the mark. The bodies on show look like they'll be able to cater for a lot of future variation and a complete 042 running on Mostyn sealed the deal. The boiler /2s were also a rather pleasant surprise, and I'm rather glad that the release schedule as it currently stands is somewhat staggered, otherwise I think my wallet would have bolted for the door.

Starting to arrive this month, depending on the model. Of the models I have ordered I was told that 25160 should be here by the end of October, 25324 by Christmas. The boiler /2s are also due by the end of the year and the 25/1s spring/summer. I didn’t think to ask about the 24/1s but I’d guess they’re within that timeframe.

Their usual MO was to announce when available, so never say never with a /0 or /1. I believe they only opened up about the /3 because Heljan announced theirs and Bachmann had been working on theirs for a few years. I guess we'll know more next weekend.

I'd forgotten about this one, until I was accosted by the missus when I got home from work last night. A bit modern for my modelling tastes, but by far my favourite to bash when she was on the mainline in this form. Yes, its a nose job on the previous 40s, so it has the usual gap between the bogies and body and the livery does show up the nose seam something fierce. Even so, the rose tints are out, its a cracking model.

Chances are its a split gear, I've not seen any other reason for the gear to lose grip of an axle. Its a replace the gear job, which if you can source a gear its a disassemble the con rods, eccentric and coupling rods to pull the axle and then pull a wheel off to get at the gear, then you have to reassemble and quarter the whole thing. Otherwise Bachmann spares usually hold a stock of complete wheelsets with rods and gear for most models, which is a bit more simple undo the eccentric and connecting rod and swap the wheelsets out job. Last time I checked they're usually £15-20 for a set of drivers plus delivery. To get the keeper off (bear in mind I don't have an A2, but a lot of Bachmann models are constructed similarly), you may need to take the body off first in order to win a bit of slack on the wiring to feed it down to be able to lift the keeper plate clear. ~edit Currently in stock and £17 for black or lined green wheelsets on Bachmann spares.

Depending on the radius, you could use the SMP templates. I think I might still have one around to be honest, possibly still have a built copperclad Y attached to it that never got used. Otherwise I'd look at using the PECO templates and try to match the sleeper spacing of the BH pointwork.

Hmmm...I am sorely tempted to butcher one into an 1890 build Hunslet. I reckon enlarging the tank width wise and rounding the top, plus altering the 'Sir Berkeley' spectacle plate to be an enclosed cab would get me halfway there. The double bossed wheels across both are only an inch away from one another too which can easily be brushed away as tyre wear. If construction is similar to the 16" Hunslet with a clip on saddle tank then it shouldn't be too much of a chore...unless Rapido are going to pull a blinder and have variations in cabs/tanks closer to those old Hunslets! Good Luck! *hint*

In development for an unspecified protracted period (started this morning) and available next month.

I don't see Bachmann making monthly updates on their class 25, which has been in development for 5 1/2 years since announcement. A little perspective perhaps.

A warts n’ all approach with the 2F which includes the Belpaire boilered examples. I’m torn between those and the Kirtley 700s.

Nothing major wrong with the Hornby 31, perhaps a slight dimensional thing with the cab windows that even today I can't fully put my finger on; not like the Heljan 25/3 which the more you look at the worse it gets. I know some prefer the Lima body proportionally, and will transplant that onto the more modern chassis. They also never really grasped the 31/4 detail differences either. For me the Hornby 31 is lacking in the lighting functionality stakes and is spoiled a bit by other features. I always felt like the oversprung opening doors that don't seat properly on any of the models they've done and the elastic band driven fan were gimmicks that detracted from the models. The open faced bogies and heavy close coupling mech also don't help. Its a good model for its time, but time moves on, and it is in no way worth the price being asked for the latest tranche. I'm itching to see the livery sample for 31420, there hasn't been an IC Mainline liveried Ped done on modern tooling, and I can't wait to grot one up for engineering trains.

Another thing to look out for with the Poole (and ex-Poole) steam locomotives is the motor extending into the cab and a lack of cab glazing, but the main and quickest giveaway is the already mentioned wheels. Drivers are of solid non-see through plastic centres with spindly thin spoke representations usually with solid spoked tiny pony wheels although the Prarie, 4MT, 8F and Crab have larger sized pony wheels. The coaches are pretty easy to tell apart too. They're too flush glazed for starters with poorly defined gangway bellows and the bogie mounted coupler pockets stand out a mile.

Agreed. A small merchants fleet might have some form of similarity, but a colliery fleet will have differing customers with differing requirements and a range of differing products, not just differing grades of coal but clays, ores etc. Not only that, the age and builder of fleet will vary greatly. Theres a great series of aerial photos of Three Spires junction on Warwickshire Railways (search Coventry Loop) which shows the wild variation in PO open wagons. You can tell the Griff traffic, there are at least 9 empty liveried 7 and 8 planks which given the blackened interiors were for coal traffic being marshalled on one road. Then there are nearly a dozen railway company (LMS, NE and SR) empty 4 and 5 planks for the brick/clay traffic given the lighter coloured staining inside each on the same road as the Griff raft. Each road in the photo is a similar story of 7/8 planks for coal and 4/5 planks for other aggregate, but going to the other nearby collieries like Newdigate, Coventry and Exhall. The variation is immense with well over 100 wagons in view, I count perhaps 7 vans with the rest opens and the majority of those being PO. https://www.warwickshirerailways.com/lms/lnwrcll4173.htm

Check under the saddle tank moulding for the wires going over the chassis block to the firebox flicker, mine initially shorted on rollers while running in. I tracked it down to these thin resin coated wires, a little square patch of electrical tape on the chassis block to stop the wires rubbing fixed the shorting issue I was having.

This is something that RMWeb/World of Railways has wound up doing with the NCB internal user wagons after what appears to have been quite the popular initial announcement, to the point where further livery variants and a selection of other multiple wagon sets have been offered very quickly to meet demand. I think that may have been a bit of an eye opener, and I hope it leads to Rapido adopting a similar approach to their RCH PO wagons. I'd love to see multiple running numbers, even livery and body variants (nothing beyond what is already announced, a mix of 5 and 7 planks, perhaps axlebox and buffer differences) of each livery as a 2 or 3 wagon set where the prototype had sufficient numbers for this to be applicable.