Revolution Mike B

Me too Guy. I found that the sugar cube helped with the ying ying as it got a little lost with just the EM1 on its own. It’s even worse with just an EM2

That’s probably a better way of putting it 😂

I had a good look at these at the weekend and I’m very much looking forward to the deco samples. Nice weight, wheels span well and the shape is bob on. They’ll be a welcome addition to a stone train that I don’t even need for my layout 😂 I’m now looking for a consortium of people to help me fund the shrink ray option as a Joel isn’t keen on doing them.

As PaulRHB has mentioned above, our client - Model Rail own the project and will provide further information when they are ready to release it. We (Revolution Trains) are just managing the project for them and to their specifications. Hope that helps. Mike B

For anyone that wasn’t at the Warley Exhibition over the weekend, myself and George from Model Rail Magazine were kindly given the opportunity to test the Vale of Rheidol loco EP sample on the Clyre Valley model railway both on Saturday and Sunday. The loco drew much attention, so much so that I struggled to get a decent video due to so many people clambering to do the same! For a first EP, it ran better than expected and although there’s a few minor points that need attention, the overall opinion was that we’ve done a good job - which is very pleasing to hear. The next step is to provide feedback to the factory so that we can make some adjustments.

If I could add to Ben’s reply, I’m very much a Zimo user, both for my OO gauge stock and N Gauge, but having extensively tested both our EP samples using the ESU Nano E24 format, I can assure you that the motor control is perfect. For comparison, the latest basic non sound Zimo 6 pin decoder (which was £20) is now £35 and doesn’t offer the functionality of the ESU Lokpilot V5 Nano.

Job done, tested and happy. The next one can wait until I’ve got more movement and strength in my wrist as wrong handed workmanship takes forever! Much easier to connect / disconnect and handle without fear of ripping the wires out or causing a short. These are a trial run for the N Gauge layout which has 16 board joints!

Time for a reliability upgrade! The interboard connectors have always been a little problematic due to them being easily bashed around, and because some of them connect feedback wires, I’ve decided to replace them. Here’s the original… The hot glue had also failed and the terminal block was hanging in fresh air! The metal screw connectors seemed like a good idea at the time as it just needed one connector per board, but my dodgy soldering and wiring wasn’t really up to the task, so I’ve replaced them with these… I can’t do it all with one connector but I’m happy to have something that won’t break when the layout is getting bashed around. To be fair, it worked fine at Taunton except for one plug causing an intermittent feedback signal but I’d rather fix it now than run the risk of failure later on down the line. It’s a similar set up to the previous one whereby there’s a lead an a plug on one board, and a socket on the other, or in this case two sets. These are downlighter connectors that I’ve adapted to suit the purpose and it’s taken me nearly a whole day to do just one board due to my arm and wrist and still having to do everything left handed! Tomorrow’s job is to fit the sockets on the other board and check for continuity. If the job’s a goodun, then I’ll get Nicky to help me swap a board over for the next one in line. I also need to get my backside in gear and wire up the electrofrogs!

Pretty sure I could get away with this on Oak Road even though it’s a few years too early 😉

Hi Craig We’re still a little way off yet as the wagons won’t go in to production until the order book has closed. Regards Mike B

This has to be my favourite image from last weekend taken by surfsup (Rich). A pair of Bachmann DRS 37s top and tailing one of our Revolution Trains FNA-Ds. *note to self - fix the capping stone on the retaining wall!

Mike H and Simon packed and sent another batch towards the end of last week. As you can imagine, there’s a lot of direct customer orders to work through. Regards Mike B

I was about to type ‘traitor’……..and then I saw Harry Patch 😂

With many thanks to my friends at Cavalex, I was able to run this on my layout last weekend. I have a Colas one on order so it was good to have a sneak peek at what I was actually getting for my money. It’s safe to say that I won’t be cancelling my order 👍

Harry Patch gets my vote Adam. May not be as popular with the purists but it's the only one that we cannot recreate for the final days line up.

I had such a great time at Taunton that it got me thinking……and after some (read as quite a lot of) help from Nicky, this happened…. The front room of the bungalow has literally been used as a dumping ground but after moving some stuff around we (Nicky) managed to make some space to get two scenic boards up. Now this isn’t ideal, and memories of building the layout in the kitchen at our last house spring to mind, but it does give me the chance to do some work on the layout. The plan is to replace the interboard electrical connections with something more reliable and easier to connect. So I’ve (read Nicky and I) put up boards C and D first and this will allow me to add the cottages, finish the farm track and add some road signs and hedges to board D, add the cottage, road signs, permanently fix the portakabins and container, add railings, more line side equipment and fix the track dip on board C, along with the electrical connectors. Then remove board D, and add board B to complete the scenics to the station and the electrical connectors. Then the same again with Board A and B. Although I’m itching to get on with the N Gauge layout, I still don’t have the windows fitted in the loft, and my right wrist is still pretty much useless so I may as well see what mischief I can get up to with the bigger trains for the time being, which brings me on to this. 37418 got a bit of a going over earlier in the week as it looked a bit ‘brand new’! So until next time….stay safe folks and steer clear of any five a side football games!

No space to set it up Phil unfortunately….however…I may have a cunning plan!

Thank you for your kind words for both the layout and our models.

My layout was at Taunton RailEx last weekend, so we took advantage of it and ran a few of our EP samples, including the KSA Rover Cubes and the Timber Carriers. As they were just deco samples without weights in them we weren’t expecting miracles, but as with our previous models, the factory has done a great job. We wanted to check the bogie to chassis clearance and the coupling mechanism, and they ran without a hitch all weekend on some of the worst laid track ever (if you’ve ever seen my fiddle yard close up then you’ll know exactly what I mean) and even without the ballast weights, coped perfectly with my super elevated curves. If you haven’t already ordered any, don’t forget that you can take advantage of our early bird price on our website.

That is correct. They were coupled in the longest position.

We took the opportunity to run some EP samples on my layout at the weekend and they ran extremely well. The weight is good and they hold the rails well. It shouldn’t be too long until we have some decorated samples which will really help accentuate the iconic look of these car transporters.

Obviously I’m slightly biased but for a first EP it ran very well over my rather uneven track and pointwork.

Well that’s a wrap as they say!! After 18 months of being stored in the container, the layout ran pretty much faultlessly all weekend. A huge thanks to Paul and Ian for their assistance, and to Nick, Jo and Ben for helping me crash the trains. Also thanks to Rhys for his company along with Paul and Ian last night for dinner. The Cavalex 56 is an incredible piece of engineering and was a joy to run (once we’d figured out the controls). We also had some EP samples of our Revolution Trains Cartic 4s (that I’d not actually seen in person) and even if I’m being biased, they look fantastic and run brilliantly. Our EP sample of the Class 18 Battery Loco ran well too and we have made a note of a few minor tweaks we’d like to make before we go into production. Our KSAs also made an appearance and these followed suit. Steve Pike and his team need a huge round of applause for once again putting on one of the best exhibitions and we thank them for their hard work and hospitality. So now, I have a dilemma……sell it, or keep it….

Today has been absolutely manic with the layout 3 people deep at times. Ben, Nick and Jo soon got the hang of crashing trains. Same again tomorrow.

Well we arrived….eventually! Paul and Ian kindly helped get the layout up on its feet and apart from a short on one fiddle yard board (my doing as I’d left a wire trailing from break down at DEMU 2022), and an accessory decoder not working (again my fault as I’d forgotten to U.K. the power supply voltage) fixed with the help of James at DCC Train Automation, it’s all working fine and dandy! Looking forward to the ensuing carnage tomorrow when three people who’ve never operated the layout before have a baptism of fire!