sparaxis

I am sure that with a little effort and a lick of paint and transfers the more glaring errors can be put right. Mine's going to be back dated to somewhere around 1910. Certainly less effort than the GCR 6 wheel brake van I am building to go with my Pom Pom. Just a pity that Oxford seems to always mess up a potentially great model due to carelessness. The NE cattle wagon is one that stands out as particularly frustrating. Wonderfully reproduced brake rigging but no Vacuum cylinder. One right side and one identical wrong side. (I suppose you could argue that you can only see one side of a wagon at a time) And to top it off, choosing the 9'wb version that barely made it into BR days when they could have just as easily done the 10'wb version. Sure, a lot of information has been lost, but the appropriate reference books can usually be found if you try.

Nope, you are a serious modeler, not a "Serious Modeller". It's all about attitude. I agree with Dibber25. I had a good laugh at that one! The question is: Do you want a neat more-or-less accurate representation of something that was scrapped before many of us were born, or are you such a stickler for detail that you want of model of "it" as it was on midday on the 14th of June in 1935, but you "cannot" make a model because you don't have the "right" photograph. Jokes about seriousness aside, Oxford has done some truly bizarre things so far.

Hehehe. Reminds of my elderly Wrenn BR labeled as "NE" brake van in grey.

Cheap and cheerful is fine, but don't make pretentious claims to be otherwise. I bought the Dean goods. It looks nice alongside the Hornby County and clerestories with printed on paneling. It is, truth be told, a better model than the Lord of the Isles... They make up pretty trains to run on the train set. BUT, "Serious modelers" need to look elsewhere. I'm am a pretty serious modeler when it comes to my mainstream interests (DB in Bavaria, 1957-1961), but I am not adverse to letting something less serious (and out of country) escape onto the mainline from time to time.

Chris (Dibber 25) did send them a request on my behalf, But I have not heard anything from them. I'll try contacting them for the FOURTH time.

Seriously, Bauer's digital media support is beyond disgusting. Three attempts to contact them has not even been acknowledged by a simple response. If that's the way they want to do business they will never get a penny from me again. They are not the only company in town. I am very happy with BRM and Hornby magazine through Pocketmags and they will continue to get my support in the future. I have two devices, a phone and a tablet, from different vendors running different versions of Android, and they are both unusable with the Bauer app. The apps from Pocketmags, Zinio, Kindle and VGBahn work fine, so why does Bauer have so many problems?

I thought I'd add my bit to this thread for what it's worth. I've been a photographer since the 1970s, and I clearly remember the film comparison articles in the photo press of the day: Colour reproduction varied significantly. For example, Kodachrome 25 in particular was well known for over saturated reds. Digital photography is far more accurate BUT, and this is big BUT: In order to get accurate colours you need to have an accurately profiled workflow with calibrated colour profiles. Looking at the same Website on two different monitors could give quite different results. Last but not least is the source of light used to take the photograph. Many sources of light such as fluorescent tubes and LEDs do not have a continuous colour spectrum and have problems discerning subtle differences in colour. SHORT SUMMARY: Wait till you have the loco in your hands and look at it in daylight, before passing too many comments about its accuracy. (And oh yes, people are quite bad at remembering exact shades of colour.) I pre-ordered Sir William and have no regrets. Alan

I am very satisfied with Hattons. Yes, their used stuff may not be particularly cheap, but when you live in the USA as I do, you can buy from someone like Hattons or take your chances with Ebay. I find that to the USA, depending on parcel size, the 2-day DHL is often cheaper than the 7-10 day Royal mail option. I only got back into British Modelling in the last few years so there are many things I missed when they were available the first time around. Buying used allows me to get things like an olive green M7 or some of the first run Maunsell coaches or crimson and cream Gresley teaks. I have bought a few locomotives and more than 10 coaches and they were all as described: "like new" As for pricing, I am also an active photographer. If you compare the prices offered for used equipment versus what they re-sell them for, you will find a mark-up of 2-3 times or more. I don't think that shops like Hattons are out of line.

I just got my four of these. Absolutely beautiful but why don't they have NEM pockets that comply with the standard? It isn't rocket science. I can plug a standard Roco or Fleischmann or Marklin coupling into most Hornby coaches, but Bachmann needs some sort of "longer" coupling like the Roco height adjustable one in order to couple. Or perhaps a mix of a standard Roco coupling and the longer Hornby version. At least unlike the Mk1s, the mounts are the right height.

Such wonderful service: Two days after contacting subscriber services AND digital help, I still have not received a response. And yes, I did get acknowledgement emails for my initial submittal.

The Android app is just as broken as the Apple version. Sometimes it will open and run for a while, but usually it crashes immediately. (This on two different devices, running different Android versions). I even tried uninstalling it and then re-installing it. Needless to say I am furious as I paid for the subscription and I have not finished reading all my magazines. The irony is the single copies I bought from Pocketmags work just fine and I can read them on my PC as well. I have BRM, Steam Days, Back Track, Hornby mag and Railway Magazine subscriptions through Pocket mags and I have NO problems. Why the "Model Rail" app is so flaky I have no idea. I just sent them an email requesting they cancel my subscription with immediate effect. I only bought it through Bauer so that I could get the discount on the models such as the USA tank and the J70. I think I'd rather pay the extra and subscribe through Pocket mags instead.

It's hard to know what Peco were thinking half a century or so ago, but consider how crude most track was back then. Stuff like the Wrenn universal track on fiber sleepers, Super 4 and the like. I seem to remember many of Peco's adverts at the time stressing the "longer" look. So my guess is they tried to compensate for the "narrow gauge" by having closer sleeper spacing and then promoting it as an advantage by claiming it made your layout look bigger. I am not even sure if the sleeper spacing matches any real prototype British or "foreign" in HO scale. But it was a smart commercial decision as it could be used by the HO crowd as well. Turnout geometry was unique, and rather clever. Doesn't follow any prototype but sleeper arrangement is more "British" than "Continental". (The Germans begrudgingly use Peco and complain about the turnouts sleepers not matching the prototype. You can see the difference comparing Roco-Line or Tillig with "generic" Peco) American turnouts tend to look very different, with straight frogs, and stepped sleeper lengths. I think Peco had no choice but to come out with US specific track if they wanted to get a bigger share of the market. I think "British" track is a fairly logical next step from the success of the code 83 US track. On a side note, "Turnout" is a perfectly good old British term for the piece of trackwork made up of a pair of points and a crossing. Downloading a few old books on "Permanent Way" will show that. For example "Notes on Permanent Way, Platelaying, and Points and Crossings", by W.H.Cole, Published by E & F.N. Spon, 1890 shows a "turnout" as figure 7. (I haven't worked out how to paste the picture) Publications like the "The Railway Engineer" from before the first world war, (A fascinating source of information) have a whole series on "laying out turnouts." "Points" are the sharp ends of the "switches" that divert wheels between two routes.

Probably won't save anything buying from the USA. Cheapest versions are the 21 pin ones at around $63, the others are more. Add shipping and VAT and potential hassles if you need to replace it then it is not worth it. ESU and Zimo with UK sounds pretty much require purchasing from a UK source which gets expensive for us in the USA. I have the ESU programmer but the selection of free sounds on their website is very limited. Alan

I had forgotten about that review. I just re-read it. It was in April. But it doesn’t change the fact that Gaugemaster seems disinterested. They don't even list Soundtraxx as one of the ranges they carry in their advertisement in the same magazine.

I had noted them on the DCC Installs and sales site, and knowing about the "UK ONLY" deal I asked Soundtraxx outright what the situation was without mentioning names. DCC Installs lists them as "special order", which is something I don't mind doing. Modelling British outline in the USA pretty much requires that, unless you order direct from someone like Hattons. Actually that I how I phrased my question: Does anyone sell them in the US as it is crazy to have to buy an American made product from overseas?

Good news for all those in the USA. I quote from an email I received today from Soundtraxx: "These are technically available to the USA Dealers, but we have not openly announced these domestically." And "Discussions are being made now as to how to proceed to grow the awareness and sales of this product. Some domestic dealers do have these on hand at this time. Tony’s Train Exchange in VT, RMB/Bob the Train Guy in SC and others." I saw them prominently listed on http://dccinstallsandsales.com/ (Front page) which prompted me to email Soundtraxx for the official answer. The exclusive relationship with Gaugemaster appears to have not worked well. (Paraphrasing the email and personal observation: I subscribe to BRM, Model Rail and Hornby magazine and I do not recall seeing an advert promoting these products. Was there even a review in these mags? I don't recall.) Seems like Soundtraxx has been trying hard for a few years. Remember the abortive economy sound locos from Bachmann Branchline that never happened? They seem to have used the sounds promised for those locos for these decoders. I use quite a few of their non-sound decoders as an affordable way to convert locos and they perform well. I also have some of their full-fat decoders in my HOn3 stuff, and they work really well.

I guess I am one of the lucky ones, As soon as I read on this thread that they had arrived in Shildon I ordered an LNER C1 on Friday May 8th, late at night, running around the layout in Baltimore Maryland on Thursday May 14th! Alan