Revolution Mike

I would definitely have a look at Finetrax - still N gauge but with all the finesse in appearance of 2mm FS.

Roy If a loco production run costs £50k (excluding tooling which lets say costs £100k) then if something is a poor seller why produce more of them? You are only compounding a problem. Regardless of whether the tooling cost is paid off you are throwing good money after bad. If you amortise the tooling cost across the first 1000 models (I'm not saying you would) and they were a poor seller but you eventually sold all of them, to run a second 1000 still costs you £50k (if the tooling is not paid off then it costs you more!). So as a minimum the production costs should say you don't re-run them (certainly not multiple times as Farish have done with the 87 and 90!). Of course all that is predicated on them being poor sellers and the stock sitting on the shelves... Mike

Roy I really don't understand why you seem so keen to dampen down any enthusiasm about electrics. As for the comments from the manufacturers, whilst I don't doubt they portray *some* aspects the comments also need to be put into a wider context. I know for example at least one manufacturer where you get very different comments depending on who you speak to about exactly the same models. Your point about the tooling being paid for on the 87 and 90 is completely incorrect - if they don't sell then they don't sell (regardless of whether the tooling is paid for). All the costs are then production costs and it makes even less sense to produe extra batches if they are poor sellers, so things are not as clear cut as you make out. I don't know where you got the idea that I want a new 87 or 90 - I'm more than happy to upgrade my Farish ones, but I would like to see more things to run with them. At the end of the day neither of us have sufficient information to know the full picture - you seem to be determined to put the gloomiest picture possible on nuggets of information, I'm just trying to say that I don't think the picture is quite so gloomy. Cheers, Mike

Which is also true for various other models including steam locos which have been discounted - should Bachmann stop producing steam locos? We seem to be taking large illogical leaps based on relatively little information...

I don't think that those pushing the case for electrics (or MUs) are any more "determined" than any other sector of the market! The reality is that you can't model mainline operations for large parts of the country for large chunks of the last 50 years without electric locos and EMUs. Given an ever shrinking pool of diesel locos to pick from then someone (preferably a manufacturer) has to make the case for electrics and EMUs as it seems a very obvious area of potential expansion for the market. I think we also need to put to bed this myth that electrics don't sell. The Bachmann 85 sold well in all except one livery and even that has sold out from many shops. Farish have claimed that electrics don't sell yet continue to pump out 87s and 90s in new liveries or numbers - if they really don't sell why flog a dead horse? The Dapol 86 you can't get many of the original 4 liveries except for the RES variant. I accept that some of them may not have sold as quickly or at top prices as other models, but there is plenty of other stuff that has struggled to sell and been discounted. Some of it is prototype choice, some poor livery choices, some flooding the market too quickly. Until the market (both sides) crack this then it becomes a self-perpetuating story. Cheers, Mike

My point was that there are quite a lot of waste plants which deal with VOCs with little particular protection, some of them have had some fairly spectacular fires in their bunkers - albeit a small minority. By anecdotal evidence you might not bother taking many precautions. The IT analogy is a bit crass, when you compare the consequences of things going wrong. I'm not talking about moving VOCs by the ton though, in fact the exact opposite - a relatively small amount of VOC in the right/wrong place at the right time! We're talking about small amounts of VOC in massive waste storage bunkers which got close enough to a spark to start a fire. The point is really: is there the potential for low flash point materials to get close enough to a spark to ignite (and what would be the consequence of that)? I suspect in domestic use the worst that you are going to do is knacker the motor, but I'd rather avoid that if possible! Cheers, Mike

Sorry to pee on the anti-H&S brigade that seems to want to poo-poo those who might be concerned about volatile organics and sparks, but unless you know exactly what chemicals are being used by an individual as thinners or at least what VOCs are used in the paint then you really shouldn't be making assumptions that everything will be fine. Flash point is the key and you get some remarkably low flash points with VOCs. You don't need compression if it is low enough. Chances are that everything will be OK, would I take the risk - not a chance. I've seen the results of what happens when sparks and low flash points mix - spectacular fires. A handful of hazardous waste treatment plants (which I work on) took similarly lax views on VOCs (a lot of which comes from discarded household paint and similar) and ended up with very melted waste storage areas. Others spend a lot of time and money on extracting the potentially contaminated air (for combustion) and/or use nitrogen blankets if there is any risk of sparks eg in a shredder. Cheers, Mike

See you on Saturday Mr Alder. Cheers, Mike

The barriers issue is a difficult one - we consciously prefer to try and keep the show as friendly and sociable as possible so try to avoid barriers if possible, but I can completely understand the difficulties that can cause for front operated layouts. That said particularly on Saturday morning the crowds in the main hall in particular were just incredible! Thanks to Mark and all the BCB team for bringing the layout along - it was a pleasure to have it at our show. Cheers, Mike

I'm sure Dave is delighted with the comments. We are certainly delighted that Dave and Matthew are bringing Brighton East along to DEMU's Showcase! <shameless plug>Roll up, roll up! Come to DEMU's Showcase exhibition in Burton upon Trent on 31 May and 1 June to see Brighton East in the flesh!</shameless plug> Cheers, Mike

I suspect this is the BH Enterprises/Thameshead kit for the J70. I think it is still available from BHE and was overscale. Cheers, Mike

The alternative to using a microcontroller is to use a DCC accessory decoder designed for servos eg the ESU Switchpilot Servo (and I'm sure MERG do something suitable). Depends really on whether cost, knowledge or time is the barrier! Cheers, Mike

Scott Drop me a PM with your user name and I'll look into it. I've not had an email from you about it so it sounds as though something is going amiss. Cheers, Mike DEMU Membership Secretary

Hi Mark Jack (Rods of Revolution on here) has already done the TF25 bogies if you need some: https://www.shapeways.com/model/368276/tf25-x2-n-scale-1-148.html?li=shop-results&materialId=61 Cheers, Mike

Phoenix Precision do Arc yellow (P214). Cheers, Mike

Better make that two if you want to be prototypical ;-) Cheers, Mike

Simon IIRC the Chinese 87 chassis has adjustable bogie centres. So as you say you should be able to correct them by amending the position and drive shaft. Cheers, Mike

The smallest part you can deal with is still physically the same size in all scales! Just the larger scales need even more detailing. There have been plenty of N gauge modellers over the years who have shown that good levels of detail are just as possible in N. Cheers, Mike

Dapol said that they were only going to tool an RFM as it wasn't financially viable for them to tool the HST variant. I'm surprised that the livery application is for the wrong number...sounds like research has been mixed up again. Cheers, Mike

All Dapol Mk3s have the moulding for the CDLs as they decided it would be too expensive to have as a separate moulding/slide. Cheers, Mike

Snigger!

Xentrix - For whose advantage

Njee There is nothing elitist about saying whether something is correct or incorrect (that is down to observation). I agree with you that (unless asked for honest feedback) I would never dream of telling someone their work is poor, but equally the flip side of that is people have to be honest (I know my modelling is rubbish!). I can understand Carl's frustration if you go to a reasonable degree of effort to make things more realistic - it is as disheartening to be called an elitist rivet-counter (with the intent being that it is somehow unnecessary to get details correct) as it is to be told your work is poor or unrealistic. As Matt points out, we all find different enjoyment in all the various aspects of the hobby and long may that continue, but we shouldn't let manufacturers off the hook when we are handing over our hard-earned cash for products which could have been better. Cheers, Mike

The problem is that it isn't really even 99%! The cab roof dome is wrong (though better than the Farish effort) and then all the detail errors start to mount up - prime example look at the cab side windows for 056 (they are the wrong type!). The really frustrating thing is that manufacturers go to substantial lengths to create adaptable tooling (as Dapol have done for the 56) and then don't look properly at photos of the real thing and end up mixing and matching the details incorrectly. Dapol could have done a construction Romanian 56 eg 56001! Cheers, Mike