Rich Papper

Rails have some Dapol 73s for £89.50: https://railsofsheffield.com/collections/Dapol-oo-class-73s-reduced

I took the family last year. One tip on tickets - there were none available for the time period we wanted to go on the day we were able to, so we bought some small upgrade - a 5 minute VR experience or some such that we didn't end up doing anyway. It was only a little extra but made our tickets valid for any time of the day so we were able to just turn up when ready and go straight in. Fantastic though - could have stayed for the week. Rich

Can almost hear the rattling echoing off the walls.

Excellent first day at Cheltenham today. Thoroughly recommend a visit tomorrow. Some pictures below.

Hello. Have you tried the cranked version of the Hunt ones? The NSE coach above looks like it has a straight one in. I’ve found the cranked ones work a bit better on the Bachmann Mk2s as the straight rubs on the lower edge of the buffer beam. I’ve not tried connecting to the Accurascale yet though. Rich Edit: sorry, tried to add link, looks wrong but seems to go to the right place: https://westhillwagonworks.com/hunt-couplings-elite-oo/474-additional-pair-of-hst-powercar-buckeye-elite-couplings.html No connection etc.

High levels of excitement and some nerves in our house for this. Debut of Kings Lane by my son. Started when he was 7, he’s now 8. Would post pictures but he’s still working on it! I’ll be spending the rest of today convincing him that we don’t need to bring a boot-full of stock for a layout that’s 3 square feet. Great show by the way - lovely people, good cake. Rich

Some did: https://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/brsturgeon

Both! (but maybe one at a time so I don’t have to mortgage the cat)

There’s also quite a variation depending on where and when things were painted, and sometimes what they worked with. Several hybrid NSE DMUs had unusual stripe positioning for their class as they were paired with a vehicle of a different class and the height of the windows or door furniture on their partner dictated a difference. Rich

Hadn't spotted that yet. Not sure it will leap out at me in a mixed rake (not had a chance to assemble one yet as my son has taken over the room to build his layout!). One other thing that I only spotted looking back at the picture, the 2b has the cantrail line on the gutter, the 2a has it just beneath. Hopefully someone with better eyes than me can suggest which is more correct. Thanks Rich

Doubted myself on the darker blue for 2d 13575 now. Wasn't dreaming: (Not my picture - please click on it for Flickr link and credits). Rich

Arrived home to find my NSE pair had arrived today. Some comparisons for colour and size if helpful. Accurascale on the left in each picture. First against a Bachmann 2a. Colour match is pretty good - certainly nothing to worry about running them in a rake together. The wheels on the 2b are a bit finer, but when weathered probably not noticeable. Similar the roof - black on the 2b, grey on the 2a - again, to be weathered anyway. To be honest the most obvious thing between them is the table tops being white on the 2b and not (yet!) on the 2a. Height, shape etc look pretty close between the two. Against the darker NSE blue (although I think Bachmann have this a little too dark - and now I look at it the white doesn't look as bright. Weathering needed!) Then against the 2d FK13575. Pretty sure this was only ever the darker blue. And for comparison if anyone is respraying - slightly incongruous, but my 119 uses the Phoenix NSE light blue. Pretty close. Need to clear space to get them running now. Already found how free-running they are - rolled off while trying to take a picture. Thank you chaps! Rich

Handy to know, thanks. First 6 pin I’ve fitted I think so not sure I’ve seen one close to before. A little bit concerned about it shorting on the body to be honest. Might have to do a bit more research. Rich

Good Evening All A bit of naffling around the workbench this weekend, although to be honest it is virtually impossible to get in the room at the moment as all of the floorspace has been taken over by the construction of Thing 1's first layout - now named 'King's Lane'. Construction moving apace as it has a show in 6 weeks! But while the soldering iron was out: He picked up a Hornby Duchess second hand for a very reasonable price at Warley, and it has been sat around waiting to have an 8 pin socket hard wired in. The socket was just to get it running with a cheap chip. His long term plan is a smoke generator and sound. Plenty of room in there too - body shell is huge. Then at the other end of the size range, my birthday present this year: Hornby 88DS. Really really struggled to get a 6 pin chip in this - even the prescribed Hornby one. I did also ask advice from a reputable seller of DCC bits whether I could wire in a stay alive - his advice was 'no chance'! Brief test with a running mate for company. Both need weathering asap as they are on the roster for the next show. Assuming the layout is done of course. Talking of which... Really hope all those point motors work when he fires some power through them - they're very hard to get at buried in the styrofoam! Stay safe folks. Rich

Ready and waiting...