Star-rider

All we wanted was a Pannier without top-feed and now we’re having to deal with the consequences of our actions. We’re reaping what we have sown, a week of sleepless nights worrying about which one(s) to order. Perhaps I should have spent the last few years researching, instead of participating in the sport of wish-listing so that I could pounce with a quick order on the glorious day. I thought I’d share my working out so far in the search for something to suit the wider west midland area in the 1930’s: 5741 – Disregard (post-war GWR livery) 5754 – Disregard (Lot number 258, no evidence (yet) of any activity in the area / period) 7714, 7754, 8763, 9681, 9741 – Disregarded (lamentably lacking in Great Western livery 😁) 7755 – Possibility (NBL, Lot number 274 – may suffice for 7759 or 7763 both allocated to Oxley?) 6743 – Possibility (Yorkshire Engine, Lot 265 – may suffice for 6748 first allocated to Stourbridge?) So, there’s a couple I think I can work with and two is enough for a pre-order from this batch. 9741 would have been a perfect 8750 for my timeframe and region except for the British Railways lettering. I’m disinclined to get the angle grinder out of the garage to clear off the lettering and then attack it with a rattle can, but who knows, I may change my mind. I think I’ll take another week or so to see what information I can turn up before pulling the trigger. Any observations on my thought process would be welcome. I’m wildly surmising the lack of vacuum and steam heat on 6725-49 would mean that 6748 spent most of its time local to Stourbridge, shunting, on short trains or doing empty carriage working? The fact that there is anything at all to chose from is hugely welcomed.

Mark, Thanks for thread-watching and your quick response. If and when the etch for the 70’ First is available drop me a PM with the cost and if it’s not too outrageous we can sort out a payment. As mentioned above I’m not too stressed about castings, I think I can work round that from a stash of left-over Comet components. Pete.

This is good news. I’m in need of a 70’ first class coach for one of the formations I’m hoping to assemble, the Blacksmith 401005 should do it, but I keep being outbid on the rare ones that surface on Ebay. It would be great if this was to become available, the etch is the most important thing to me, if other components are a problem there are probably enough castings and interior bits in my coach building box and I generally go for RTR or 3D printed bogies. Hopefully a website will emerge in good time, I can’t be doing with soshul meeja – it’s not that I’m a technophobe, it’s just that I haven’t got any mates…

(With apologies to those who wanted to read about panniers!) As @Dunsignaling has suggested it should be as simple as switching on all sections and is probably advantageous for fault finding. I remember doing some modifications on an area of my layout and after a couple of hours work rewarding myself with a small cigar. When everything was switched back on, a fault jumped up and I spent another couple of hours undoing and redoing all of my recent work to no avail. In frustration I reached for another smoke, only to notice the metal cigar tin sitting across my storage yard rails…

Firstly, I should really add my appreciation for the announcement of Accurascale panniers, being one of those who griped about the omnipresent top-feeds, I am delighted that a manufacturer has listened and taken a shot at it. An order will be placed over he next few days, I just need to make a choice and a little research into what variant would most likely have been seen around the West Midlands in the 1930’s. Maybe 5754 will arrive early to Stourbridge… Moving on to the rather tangential issue of the cost of a move to DCC – I can understand why the overall cost can frighten DC users off, especially if they own a significant number of locos. It may be worth considering the way I went about it: A bit of leaden hint dropping secured a Dynamis controller and a couple of decoders one Christmas, this was stashed in a cupboard and for each of the following 12 months I spent around £12 (at the time) on a new decoder and threw those into the DCC cupboard. Come change-over day, about a year after the controller was sourced, a weekend was spent fitting decoders to the easiest subjects and I was able to be up and running with about fifteen locos. OK, this meant that there was probably around another fifteen that couldn’t do a turn, but by continuing to buy another decoder each month it was like having a new toy to play with as it came back into service. There you go, DCC by instalments and no credit agreement necessary*. So, back to the Pannier… I also have to chose between a sound fitted model or taking a DCC Ready type. Having someone do the work for you is so much easier (and cheaper), but I do have a preference for Zimo decoders. Perhaps someone who has fitted the Accurascale Manor with Zimo kit could advise me how traumatic it was? *There is actually a potential further cost to moving to DCC, I found it necessary to change all of my point-work to the Electrofrog type as little shorts at the vee that are totally disregarded by DC control cause the far more sensitive DCC set up to shut down. To be honest, live frogs are so much better and the job and cost are justifiable for smooth running whichever method of control is employed.

Yes, exactly as above. I've done two and used that same process without drama.

I came across this yesterday afternoon as I was catching up on the tread again – thanks for sharing. £190-210 was a no-go but at that sort of discount it seemed viable, so I plucked a card out of the deck and bought one. Caerphilly was always my preference as I believe it spent some time at Wolverhampton and the larger tender should make for a better / easier speaker installation. I shan’t buy a decoder until it arrives though as there seems to be conflicting information about 8 or 21 pin depending on which website one looks at.

I'm not an expert, there are better people out there but I think the problem is that the Bachmann 64XX is moulded with a top feed which therefore dates it from 1940's onwards and earlier GWR liveries would be inaccurate for it. The same is true of all Bachmann's panniers, its such a pity as my interest lies in the 1930's and I would have brought more. I'm hoping the new kids on the block will deliver...

Thank you @toboldlygo, @gwrrob, @checkrail Fox is where I'll start looking then when the great day arrives.

No. 😁 I have four, all with topfeeds acting like the Thirteenth At The Table plus a spare body which is going to be the guinea pig that meets a sharpened blade if no one has announced a new tooled model by Christmas. Pete.

I’m enjoying the milk tank pictures. By a combination of skilful weathering and photography you have hidden the tank numbers from me. Having gathered seven of them together I need to address the fact that they are all numbered 62. I notice at least one of yours is numbered differently. Have all of your tanks been renumbered and if so can you point me to the source of the transfers? Pete.

I purchased the sides only from Worsley to make both hands of D56, from memory everything else was bought from Comet except the bogies - without going to check I can't recall if I used some RTR ones or the 3D printed ones from SRMW. The coach worked out OK but I seem to recall learning afterwards that the Worsley etch has a window too many on one side. Fortunately as I have a circular layout the train is diagrammed to run in the most presentable direction. Depending on which Toplight corridor coaches may come from Dapol it is likely that my kit built D56s may be scrapped - I think there is a chance to deconstruct them and reuse everything except the sides on some alternative project. (I know I'm quiet but I'm still checking in regularly and enjoying and admiring your work. :) ) Pete.

I’ve been quietly pondering this announcement for a while. Like may on here a new 28XX was not something that was particularly on my mind. My Hornby 28XX looks OK, I remember waiting for a couple of years for the windowed cab variety (3803 class?) to be offered in a 1930’s shirt-button livery but it never came so I ended up buying a second hand one and taking the paintbrush to the tender, that has also performed perfectly well. However, as the contented owner of Dapol’s Manor, Mogul and Small Prairie with sound fitted as standard and a decent amount of weight combined with smooth running I’m starting to get tempted. I think a 28XX to the same standard would look very good at the head of a train of all those high-spec Great Western wagons Rapido are selling me. The price of almost everything seems to threaten a spontaneous bowel movement these days -that’s already been talked to death – but if you consider the proposed price for the sound fitted models after available discounts then mentally deduct £130.00 for what it would cost to fit a decent sound decoder and speaker to one of my existing Hornby models the nett price of the new loco becomes a little less unpalatable. The days of a loco for under a hundred quid are all but gone, £130-£150 is where todays value is at. So, fifteen quid a month tucked into the old biscuit barrel may put me in the market by the time they arrive.

Thanks for your comments on the Railtec coach numbers, I’m finding it very reassuring. It was only by chance that I noticed on their website last week that they were offering the option of custom number sets - it even seems that five of each number are provided to allow for the cock-up factor, which is brilliant. There are currently 27 kit-built coaches up in the loft that I have been running around numberless knowing that I would never make a job of setting them out individually, so there will be an order going in for two sheets of 12 sets. I’m just trying to decide which three vehicles to defer and to make sure I have got the right numbers for “handed” diagrams.

Thank you guys, I'd not come across those before. I'll look in a little deeper, but initially I'm not sure how well those would work with my simple set-up which operates from probe & studs and a CDU. Pete.

Can anyone suggest a point motor with a built in microswitch that works in the same way as the Peco PL-15 attachment? I want to use a point motor action to provide the electrical feeds to the appropriate leg of a diamond crossing on a double junction. Originally I used the Peco product but have found them to be unreliable and have since replaced them with DPDT toggle switches, but I would still prefer the feeds to be done automatically from the point direction - one less thing to remember when I am setting a route.

Never mind, it’s much the same as being a Wolves supporter. We start every season at the bottom of the table. 19 places behind the leaders before the ref has walked onto the pitch with the ball – grossly unfair.

Shall I go first then? I had a notification of shipping from AS this morning so it looks like it should arrive at my door tomorrow. But I'm possibly not going to be in...

Thanks for taking the time to reply... Yes, that went through my mind so I tried it both ways without success. I'll try a different decoder later today and see if I have any luck.

These days I tend not to purchase much outside my main area of interest but I quite fancied a Hymek and one came along at a very good discount. On arrival I gave it the usual quick back and forth on a DC test track before fitting a decoder to the 8pin socket. It’s a lovely model and after the recommended running in is very smooth. Generally I’m very pleased. However, the instruction / service sheet implies that the headcode boxes should illuminate and there does seem to be an LED in the correct position – but none of the keys on my controller can bring it to life. Is there a switch I should be looking for or does it need some other connection in addition to the 8 pin socket? I’m using a Bachmann Dynamis system and the decoder I have fitted is a 36-553 (rebadged basic ESU Lokpilot) The few other diesel locos that I own with lighting features are all 21pin set-ups and have worked straight away. It seems that the EFE version currently on sale is spec.’d differently to the current Heljan offering which now has a 21 pin socket. I’m unsure if I have phantom features never intended to work, a misleading instruction sheet or a faulty model. If there is anyone out there who owns one and could make a suggestion it would be appreciated. Pete.

It's perhaps "in the eye of the beholder". I compare them to my own ability to build a coach and in that respect they suffice - they look like they should from a distance. The beauty of them for me is that they will take a standard Hornby 14.2mm coach wheel - easily available and fairly cheap - they are designed with an NEM pocket and run very well. They are a bit pricy, the postage inflates this even more so better to wait until you are ready to order a couple of pairs at a time to get better value.

Exactly my thoughts... These days I look at the Bachmann announcement out of idle curiosity rather than any feeling of excitement. The last time Bachmann had any of my money was for an "Earl".

No rush, I'm about to go off-grid for a week in the internet-free world of my holiday chalet :)

Probably because I’m fundamentally lazy and would prefer a manufacturer to do the work for me. The more pick-up points the better for smooth running as far as I’m concerned. But bearing in mind the specification suggests that there will pick-ups on the new Autocoach it is probable that what I want to achieve be done fairly easily by myself. A removable roof suggests that it should also be straightforward to drop a sound decoder and good sized speaker for 4825 if I can get it to run better. I’d permanently couple them together with Bachmann pipe couplers and wire across. That said I know that not everyone will pair their new Autocoach with a 14/48XX… Pete.

If you would be prepared to share your settings (via PM if preferred) it would be much appreciated. I realise that we would probably be using different decoders, but it may point me in the right direction. Mine is a bit of an ornament in a bay platform these days. Pete.