sjrixon

I bought some white metal replacement buffers... Then you start to add up the costs, kit, buffers, new wheels, paint, varnish, time...... Give them a refresh once the new ones have arrived :)

I've a few on order... Keep checking my email, but no dispatch notice yet!! I've a good pile of the Coopercraft ones as well - Pretty sure there is a box of more somewhere! I actually think they sit along side each other fairly well on a layout and, I'd rather add some slight weathering to a model I painted than a brand new, expensive one out of the box.

SRM looks good at Henley... I know what you mean about weathering, I think mine is going to have a clean roof for a while yet..

There is only so long you can put off getting the paints out...

I've had a flurry of likes for my posts, thanks to everyone who has taken the time to have a read about my little layout. I really enjoy the hobby, so any joy I can share by posting from time to time is great! Anyway.. I've repaired the roofs of the 6 'best' coaches I dug out from the 9, the vents needing replacing. I've re-painted the roof of one, but the rest probably need work. One needed re-wheeling, they had gone rusty. It makes me wonder about swapping the old plastic wheels with metal ones. But that's quite an expensive change. Some of the couplings were broken, so I've swapped them all with hunt coupling buckeye's for 'clips' they are listed for the HST, but slot nicely into the old Dapol ones. Then I've replaced the corridor connections between each one. Just need to fix one buffer now!

My missing 2 coaches arrived, so figured I'd also try with the Ultra close elite.. Firstly. I derailed my whole train of 4 and pulled the loco off the track trying to disconnect them! This is with the longer bar, from the box. This is the Ultra close. About 4mm more. The Hunt could be shorted, as both will go around r2 curves. Which is a credit to the design.

I've always had mine on Differential.. So never played with the curve, I'll take a look. I assume, the WlanMaus is the same as the red physical one, so it's centre off.

They look beautiful, that's for the pictures. Other manufactures need to look at the couplings too, really nice to include the magnetic coupling and how close they have managed to get that! My Son has a Class37, would look amazing behind it.. No, not buying any...

I've got a Z21, cabled controller and using an Android tablet to control the points. As some others have said, not a huge fan of the android loco controller. It's just doesn't feel as responsive as EngineDriver etc. I moved from JMRI with a Sprog. My main reason is a 1st world problem, it just took too long for the JMRI PC to spin up, being able to just flick the Z21 on and off really does mean I 'play' more often. I also like the physical controller with the Z21, shunting is just so much more enjoyable with a physical wheel! Looking at the Bachmann dcc could be interesting.. ;)

Wait? There is more? I'm a digital subscriber. The only link I've seen is on the front page, to watch the trains go by.

Their shortest is 7, so total about 14 total between coaches.. The longest bar in the box is about 12mm. The mechanism is pretty good, R2 curves are ok, it's pretty tight and I had to push one set of buffers a little to free them up as they do clash. That said, I think I'll swap to magnets as am really not a fan of the fixed bar, I can't take them on and off the layout easily.

You say that.... I found 3 old Hornby Colletts.. I think they were the rest of other service.

I spoke to Dapol at Warley.. They said they were doing the Toplights.. Sales of the current coaches were positive, so they were going ahead. Fingers crossed. 2025 is fine as I've spent too much this year and it's only February!

That video is just beautiful. I feel I need to get it on the big TV with the volume up! I tweaked the CV as per Andy's findings. Looks and feels better to me. It chuffs a lot harder than the Dapol large Prarie. My project.mp4

20240227_131627.mp4 Showing the odd chuff rate.. - I'll tweak the CV later..

Mine just arrived.... I need to review Any's posts, as my chuff rate is very out! I also felt like the top speed is quite low, the chuff is going crazy, while the loco is hardly moving! I'll give it a short run in before playing the CVs.. It's also quite loud pulling away! Much more than the Accurascale Manor. Nice looking loco in the GWR green and full lining though.

I cleared the desk last night, the castle is just finishing touches, so time for a tidy. I thought I'd take a look at getting my Cornish Riviera coaches back into service. Getting them out of boxes, somehow I've collected 9 in various conditions! Considering I only run 6 coaches max, that feels like too many!

The B set coaches look exquisite though... Rapido doing a good job of making me place a lot of pre-orders!

Thanks.. Guess who was on the 009 version! Their website isn't the best..

Ultra is 3.7mm.. That's close! Measuring the connection, looks to be more like 11mm total distance between the coaches.

They do.. But connecting more than 2, gets really hard.

My first 4 gwr just arrived.. Very, very nice. But I have I question the logic to not have included couplings for the non brake ends, and one for the brake end. Might need to investigate some magnetic options..

Nice work Andy.. I find I need to own and run them for about a year before I start taking them apart!

The castle battlements have been really hard work.. But the end isn't far away! Letting the first part set, before bending them around..

I pre-ordered 4, then pre-ordered the missing 2. Just got 2 different shipping notices from Rails. So looks like I might be getting some coaches next week :)