nightstar.train

I like the Loram livery, would certainly buy one. And a police 37 whilst we’re at it. The deltic in Porterbrook livery was widely derided and hated, but sold so well it’s become the only loco (and possibly model) that Accurascale have ever rerun. (I have one of those too, and a Porterbrook 57. A Heljan 47 might join them soon). PS I absolutely despise BR blue and refuse to have any stock in it. Although I am buying a 37403 as it’s my local preserved one and I want to support the SRPS. PPS. I’m trying to persuade Accurascale to make 50017 in pseudo coronation red livery as well. That would be a definite add to the stable. 🤪🤪

It was a converted unit with large roller doors used to move de-icer and carriage cleaning fluid around the south between depots. Hence the name. Interestingly though it wasn’t a native southern unit. It was made of two ex DMBS vehicles from Tyneside EPB units. They had a larger luggage compartment than the southern EPBs. https://www.departmentals.com/photo/977559-3

Just passed a pair of WCRC class 37s towing an ex-Anglia Mk2def, heading north towards Carnforth. So it looks like WCRC are adding to their fleet of CDL coaches. I also noted quite a few Mk2def sitting in Carnforth. One or two looked in fairly good order, and a couple more looked quite ratty. Bit hard to tell exactly from a passing Pendolino. So I'd say that WCRC might have enough coaches to form a second Mk2 CDL fitted rake for the WHL if they wanted to.

I noticed on the Accurascale website last night that the run 2 class 37s are now labelled as “stock incoming”. Is this true @Accurascale? Will I soon get my greasy mitts on some more lovely tractors? Considering I’ve ordered both the Colas and HNRC I think I’d better order some sunglasses, or a welders helmet.

The obvious candidate is Accurascale as they’ve bought most of Hattons exclusives. I’m not sure if the genesis coaches are permanently going to Rails or if they just used Rails to fulfil the final run as they were already completed and being shipped. But Accurascale do have the 66, P class, Andrew Barclay and warwells. I don’t think that the market will support two offerings though. We might be surprised, they might fly off the shelves and sell out instantly. Pity Bachmann aren’t doing Balfour Beatty livery, that’s the one I’d most like. I may get a Jarvis one, think I’ll wait and see what money I have when they arrive in shops.

More Post Office carriages, yes please. And the 03 in BIS livery is a good idea, matches nicely with the Baguley-Drewry. I can see myself making a nice wee corner of a sand quarry on a layout with that pair. Narrow gauge appearing from off scene with loaded sand hoppers to load wagons the 03 can shuffle about. Slightly odd to be offering the new restaurant car in southern region green, but no other coaches to go with.

I don’t think it was exactly collusion. It’s obvious that the model train manufacturer community in the U.K. is very small and there is a grapevine/gossip channel among them. So Rapido would’ve known that Dapol were making a 14xx. Plus the Hattons/DJM one was always a possibility to reappear. So Rapido wouldn’t risk making yet another variant. Whilst I’m sure the Dapol models will sell well I doubt the pie is big enough for 3. And of course Hornby might do a Hornby and rush their model back into production at a much lower price point, like they did with the Hattons 66. edit: and of course now Rapido have made their Thunderbolt packs it’s an obvious move for Dapol to make a 14xx to match, they’re not daft. They made more class 68s in TPE after Accurascale made their Mk5s.

Amazed this hasn’t cropped up in the first 7 pages. Is the 1401 version that Dapol are producing correct for its film appearance in the Titfield Thunderbolt? I’m sure many of us, myself included, will want one to haul Rapido’s fine models. I’ll also get an open cab 517 in lined green with red frames as it looks so magnificent. I’m also hoping the model of 4820 will be reasonably correct for its preserved form. In theory I’m a modern image modeller, but manufacturers keep making such attractive steam engines I’m going to have to build a very large museum with preserved line.

It's been discussed on here before that Hornby have entirely outsourced their warehousing and direct sales. Under this arrangement every thing they have at the warehouse is a monthly cost. And for direct sales they will have to pay a fee for the items to be picked and packed. I've not bought anything direct from Hornby, and obviously I'm not a retailer so I can't say how good the service is. They're certainly not the only company to do that. Judging by the emails I get at dispatch time Accurascale use a similar arrangement with an outfit in Birmingham. The place seems very efficient and certainly gets through the stock when a shipment arrives. Undoubtedly Accurascale will be paying for that service though. On the other hand Rapido do seem to have their own warehouse and when a new shipment arrives it all hands to the pumps packing parcels.

So still no generator car or ETH fitted loco? The Mk2 def fleet are not going to be very pleasant as soon as the sun comes out. Or when it's cold and dreich.

Chiltern's Mk3 sets are 6 coaches + DVT, so there has been some end of platform wibble about the Mk5 sets being reformed. Chiltern currently have 6 Mk3 sets. The Mk5 fleet is 13 sets plus a spare DT. So if you disbanded 3 sets you get 9 spare centre coaches, so could make 9 sets of 6 coaches and one of 5. Tremendous waste of the spare end coaches and DTs though. CAF might be willing to make you a few more coaches if you ask nicely, and have wheelbarrows full of cash. Chiltern might do a Virgin and run more frequent, shorter trains. Or maybe they don't have sufficient loadings to justify the 6 car sets. I hope, from a purely selfish modelling perspective, that Chiltern get a new livery if they get the Mk5s. I really don't like their grey with extra grey, much preferred the original blue and white.

W301, a diagram 16 Restaurant First, was repainted into chocolate and cream in early 1962 and is noted as running in the Red Dragon. It would've run with a open third/second as a pair*. All five of the diagram 16 RFs were built for the Western region, although it's unclear how much service they saw. They were anthracite powered and were quite unsatisfactory. They also had two of the diagram 700 full kitchen cars, which usually ran as a triplet with an open first and an open third*. *There were restaurant thirds and firsts. Externally they were identical to ordinary open 1st/3rd, but were branded restaurant. Internally they had loose seating rather than the usual bench types. They weren't always available however and ordinary open 1st/3rd could be subbed in.

And of course it's entirely possible to close the door on a Mk1 or Mk2 and it to not latch completely and then fall open by itself, or if someone leans on it. CDL prevents this as well. Even if the person functions perfectly the door mechanism might not. And of course a huge proportion of people and tourists won't have ever travelled on a slam door and will be unfamiliar with how to operate them. Until I took her to a heritage railway I don't think my wife had ever used one. Her local lines all had sliding doors from before she was born (early 80s). And yes CDL could also fail, but it's a double redundancy. It's the swiss cheese model of accident prevention. For something bad to happen multiple failures have to happen, not just one.

As stated before the regulations apply to ALL of WCRC, not just the Jacobite. And they operate services on the main line at up to 90mph, and passing trains doing 125mph. And again the fact that the Mallaig extension is 40mph, and that heritage railways run at 25mph is a shoal of red herrings. There are no regulations currently for heritage railways to fit CDL. There ARE regulations for operators on the national network to fit it. Full stop. WCRC are refusing to do so as they don't want to spend the money. That's it, that's the whole issue when you boil it down.

One of the "mistakes" that WCRC made nearly caused the worst rail accident in recent years. It was sheer good luck that their charter train didn't plow into an HST. They have very poor form when it comes to safety standards. But talking specifically about CDL. It isn't just related to their operations on the WHL to Mallaig, but to all their operations. They run up to 5 trains a day during their peak times, all over the network and interacting with service trains. And unfortunately WCRC have poor form when it comes to doors and accidents. From the judicial review (that they lost)* It seems to again be luck that no one was hurt in these cases. In the first quoted the passenger could've been hurt falling from a moving train, and platform staff, other passengers, train spotters could've been hurt by a swinging door coming down the platform. It is not a David vs Goliath situation. It's a lone cowboy refusing to play by the rules that every single other operator plays by. *https://assets.caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ewhc/admin/2023/3338/ewhc_admin_2023_3338.pdf