Revolution Mike

We recognise that whenever there is a limited time period for anything that some people will miss out (whether that is expressing interest or indeed pre-ordering something) just because of timing - that also works in the opposite direction ie customers that express interest change their mind later on. Each manufacturer has a different way of working out quantities and whether they can/want to hold stock (we're open that we largely produce to orders and don't hold much stock - there are pros and cons to that). We're not only offering 2 liveries - we're offering 4 base liveries split across the 175s and 180s plus more variations eg alternative numbers; livery variations (GC); and number of cars (175 - 2 vs 3). Before considering DCC that already gives us the 4 base liveries but 8 different units. All of which have MoQs which vary depending on base livery vs tempo printing. I realise that is little consolation to someone desperate for a particular livery but as we've emphasised: a. we're working off data (albeit a snapshot) and the numbers were not particularly close to reaching necessary MoQs; b. the liveries are not completely dead yet as we will talk to retailers about whether they think any other liveries are worth offering (though we have to recognise that we don't want to put retailers in the position of holding unpopular liveries). Cheers Mike

Expected. They’ve been in production for the last few months and are nearly ready to ship. cheers Mike

No, there have been no changes to the specifications since the first run. Best wishes Mike

Mike is right that the process can be iterative! We don’t have a fixed list of stages but just update it with the latest information we have for a particular model. Very loosely the process goes: Research, CAD, Tooling, Decorated Samples, Production, Shipping to the UK. But within many of those stages there’s intermediate tasks or tasks which can run concurrently so we just tell people what stage we’re at now. cheers Mike

Hi Tom, Apologies - I'll reply off thread. Cheers Mike

Retailers will be getting details as quickly as I have time to write it all up for them - they will be available direct or from retailers at the same price as the case with our second run of TEAs. cheers Mike

Most retailers may have only just received their stock so might not be showing in stock yet. You could try some of the smaller shops (listed on our website) or places without e-commerce sites that might still have stock. Cheers Mike

Both the plain blue and plain silver JNAs are part of VTG’s hire pool (which includes use on Mendip traffic - both these versions of JNA now seem to feature quite regularly on Mendip traffic). Whether there is a specific pool for Mendip traffic anymore I’m not sure - I know that Mendip prefer twin piped wagons. That would probably need access to TOPS plus a specific time period if you want to check specific wagon numbers. The blue wagons used by DC Rail/Cappagh are a lighter blue (and are being offered as exclusives by Hornby magazine). As an aside they’ve been used/hired in by Colas for work on the Cumbrian Coast recently (for work at Drigg). Cheers Mike

Roy Sorry but that isn't true that it is a band aid fix - I would expect a sound project and decoder to need to be set up/tuned for the particular speaker being used (that includes setting the volume at appropriate levels). That is true for all sound decoder / sound project /speaker combinations. For the sound projects which we offer factory fitted we have to do exactly that - there is no point in putting a decoder at max volume if it is going to overpower the speaker (modern decoders have more powerful amps than previous generations eg the Loksound has gone from 1.8W to 3W IIRC). The difference here is that we haven't got a factory fitted version where that tuning would already have been done. That isn't blaming anything just explaining why it can be necessary. I know that some third party sound decoder providers are working on doing exactly that tuning process. As I said the flip side of what you experienced is that we put a different decoder and different sound project into the 128 that had a crackle and there was no crackle (both our experience and yours can be right!). We've tried to be open and honest about why certain things can happen. I'm sorry that you find that all disappointing. As I said we will continue to investigate. Mike

I’m not sure why turning down the master volume isn’t seen as a genuine fix? The speaker works fine (including the returned one) with different sound decoder/sound projects so I’m not sure whether it is the sound project or decoder amp that is causing the distortion. The speaker is a fairly standard sugar cube IIRC but it is fair to say that there are better speakers out there but that cost more (we have to find a balance between customers who want an easy sound upgrade vs customers who will never use sound). We will continue to investigate. cheers Mike

Please login to your account on our website as it should be there (if you haven’t had it via email which is subject to the vagaries of what email providers block). If it isn’t then drop us a message through our website and we will sort it. cheers Mike

We’ve heard rumours 😀 cheers Mike

A couple of retailers got their orders at GETS this weekend. The rest will go out this week.

Some of the comments are really better directed towards Hornby magazine but I think it is worth mentioning that as far as we’re concerned that the production run doesn’t have to be limited to 125 of each. We can increase quantities up to the point that production starts (we will announce a production schedule soon). So if lots of customers want this livery and are worried about it selling out then the best thing is to get on to Hornby Magazine ASAP to place pre-orders (so that they can see if demand is sufficient to increase the quantities). Ultimately that is a decision for Hornby magazine/Key Publishing. cheers Mike

No - we’ve put all the versions being offered on our website except for the Kernow and Hornby Magazine exclusives. As per our website we’re offering the new GBRf wagons as shown (the sample we had at GETS this weekend was of this newly tooled version with different brake gear and reinforced ends). Cheers Mike

IIRC 93002 is on test and I think it is then coming over to the UK once various acceptance tests have been finished. Cheers Mike

Thanks everyone! If anyone gets an email from us or Royal Mail about their order being despatched please don’t worry - I just ran out of time to mark all the orders as despatched before they started to arrive! cheers Mike

Do you mean producing cars in general? Or 3D printing cars? The answer to both is yes we have considered both but they both present different challenges that we’re not the right solution for at this time. 3D printing generally needs finishing and painting which we’re not setup to do. I know full colour printing is advancing all the time but there are plenty of other companies that are better placed to do that than us. RTR cars - I’m not convinced that we could produce them at a price the market would pay (and that is before you get into the tricky business of licensing car brands). Never say never but at the moment our focus is on producing model trains (they didn’t always run full 😀). cheers Mike

Hi Tom We’re sending them out as quickly as possible but if you’re order is still showing as Processing then as per our FAQs it hasn’t been despatched yet. Apologies I thought we had sent all fully paid orders but it looks like we missed a few (which will get picked up when we go through the orders again). best wishes Mike

A simple peg on the bodies with a hole on the bogie. cheers Mike

As part of our regular charity fundraising efforts for various causes we volunteered to play in a charity 5-a-side football tournament organised by our friends at Beacon Rail and GBRf. After months of no training we just about have a full squad thanks to some special guest star players (to be revealed!). The tournament is tomorrow but as part of our fundraising we are also holding two prize draws: one for N gauge and one for OO gauge. The N gauge draw centres around the International N gauge Show (TINGS) this weekend and the OO gauge draw will be centred around the Great Electric Train Show (GETS) in October. Every entrant will receive at least a container as a prize (worth £7.50). You may purchase as many prize draw entries as you wish – each prize draw entry purchase will enter your name into the draw once. The draw will be made after the International N Gauge show (TINGS) on 14 September. Online draw entry ticket sales will close on Thursday 14 September at 12:00, prize draw tickets will also be available in person at TINGS from the Revolution Trains stand. Entries can be purchased from our website here: https://revolutiontrains.com/product/railway-children-prize-draw-2023/ Cheers Mike

I’m not 100% sure which of our retailers are going to TINGS - I think Rainbow and Kernow (both of whom we will try to get their stock if we can for the start of the show). It is always a balance to try and get orders out to direct customers vs also supplying retailers. Cheers Mike

The PFAs and gypsum container packs are now in stock. Shipments (and any balance invoices due) will start over the next few days but the bulk will go out next week after TINGS. If you would like to collect your order(s) from us TINGS please let us know before 9pm on Thursday (7/9) by filling in the short form on our website: https://revolutiontrains.com/pfa-gypsum-container-pack-order-collections-tings-2023/ (you'll get your postage refunded and also be able to pay any balance due). Cheers Mike

I should have also said you can order as many IHAs on one order as you want - no need to order different versions on different orders (we just ask that different models eg IHAs and say PCAs are kept on different orders to make life easier for everyone). Thanks Mike

Hi Philip A/B/C/D are different numbers of each livery variant (as described in the description if you scroll down or in the wagon number which changes when you select each version). Cheers Mike