DRS Crewe On A Mission

Hi all, I wonder if anyone can help me please? This question is not related to the quarterly announcement made earlier this week, but it is still a Bachmann product related question. I have just scrolled through the multiple units pages on the Bachmann website and I can't find the listings for the Chiltern Railways Class 168, CrossCountry Class 170, ScotRail Class 170 and Southern Class 171. Can anyone confirm if Bachmann are still producing these four DMUs, as a part of their OO Gauge range? Thank you in advance. Kind Regards, Danny.

I understand your point, but to clarify the release of further GWR Class 158s is because these are the from the first and original batch, but this time around they are from the larger sea shipment. A small amount of these models arrived earlier this year, but these were an air freighted batch, which is why they sold out almost immediately upon arrival with retailers. I understand most went to those who had pre-ordered them and the small minority left were sold online via the retailers websites. So the release of further GWR 158s was actually the fulfilment of the first and original batch, rather than a second or different batch. Hope this helps. Kind Regards, Danny.

I'm with you, I will probably buy the Bachmann 419 too, and that way I can keep the Bardon blue 623 I have.

You're welcome mate. Just thought that I would confirm the change in case you or anyone else wanted to opt for the Bachmann 419 over the Hattons 623.

I don't mean to go off topic but I will for the sake of confirming that Bachmann are now producing 419 in the darker G&W Orange colour scheme, and not 413 as originally planned. This change in decision over the colour and running number were made a few months ago and I believe the Bachmann website has also been updated to reflect this change. Hope this helps. Kind Regards, Danny.

That's a shame. So won't we ever see a Northern white 156 from you or will it just not be for the foreseeable future? Kind Regards, Danny.

You're more than welcome. Excellent bunch of photos as always, by the way. I am always keen to view yours, because they are always really focused and clear. I am 99% confident that today is the first day for them both working Nova 3 trains for TPE. Put it this way I can't remember any other reports, sightings, photographs or any other details that would suggest or confirm any otherwise. Kind Regards, Danny.

Hi Charlie, Hope you are well? Thank you for letting me know. Yes I have seen them previously, along with other Class 156 resprays on offer by Rainbow Railways. The new Northern white livery is tempting, but I may wait and see what you announce in further batches of the 156s. Kind Regards, Danny.

I believe that this is the first date/occasion that both 033 & 034 have been in use on Nova 3 TPE trains. I recall previously on other days that either one or the other have been in use on Nova 3 TPE trains, but not both of them on the same day. Hope this helps. Kind Regards, Danny.

Just messaged you mate. Don't you worry I'm back now

I'm glad that these two models seem to be a bit better than the previous ones. It is a shame about the lighting issues which seem to be more commonly reported now too. For me this just compounds what originally was an issue regarding some of the 66s, where particular lighting functions would not work. So to now think that even the other 66s aren't safe from having lighting issues is a worry and it's another thing that has put me off of the Hattons 66. For me personally, I will stick with Bachmann. I would rather have a loco with less detailing and less lighting features but that doesn't suffer from any QC issues meaning that I have to mess around either remedying issues myself or returning them until I find a good one. Overall, this is what lets the Hattons 66 down, it's the fact that the model is described as ready to run, but yet for many people who have bought them they appear anything but that. For me this is the defining and deterring factor as to why I won't buy them until these issues are corrected, and if they aren't corrected on any further batches I will continue buying Bachmann 66s. Sorry, unfortunately I have no idea regarding lighting bleeds. I have never had to remedy this sort of issue, so I am unable to help or advise you, although I am sure someone else more in the know in this area will. Keep us posted with how you get on. Kind Regards, Danny.

Sorry I meant livery application, thus not the specific shades of colour been correct or incorrect. But yes if we are talking about the colours been incorrect then their are certainly some questionable models. It's a shame about the orange been incorrect on 623. To my eyes it looks as though this shade may be more suited to 413, but for the 623 models that Hattons have produced it does appear too light. This was another one of those errors that was noticed and documented on this thread, so their were opportunities to amend the colour before the models were produced. It's unfortunate that not only have their been QC issues and errors in relation to what's happened at the factory, but also the lack of attention to the comments made on this thread would have prevented some of the said QC issues and errors on the finished models. Yes the replacement bodyshells for 623 would be a great idea. As we have seen before it is possible to do for the Dapol 68s (001, 002 & 005), and for the more recent Hornby 60015 and Network Rail Class 43 Power Cars. Hopefully Hattons will follow suit, so that those with a 623 don't have to repaint the model at their own expense or have to make do with a significant error.

That's a shame, hopefully you will have better luck this time round and receive some better models. Keep us updated and let us know what happens with these two. Kind Regards, Danny.

Hi Tom, Thank you to yourself and everyone else who has replied to my comment regarding the latest batch of 66s. I really appreciate all of the information and advice. It's such a shame that what externally on photos on the Hattons website for example, appears to be a fantastic newly tooled Class 66 is for the second batch running let down by quality control issues. Hattons seem to have really grasped some of the things that customers wanted on the new 66 including: a more powerful motor to haul more wagons, excellent livery application, further detailing to the chassis and more lighting functions. It's just really unfortunate that the entire model is let down by niggles such as: detailing from the chassis falling/snapping off, some of the lights not working, wonky/misaligned nameplates on the bodysides, excess glue, chipped paintwork on the cab rails, axle boxes falling off and axle boxes been misaligned when fitted causing the bogies/models to derail. I have to say it's disappointing because this model, especially been the Class 66 had real potential and it seems that as customers we have gained in some areas but then it seems to have come at a cost of receiving models with quality control issues, across both batches so far. I'm glad that you, your friend and some others have found some good ones and are happy with them but personally I am going to wait and see if Bachmann produce some of the liveries that Hattons have. Bachmann have already announced an Orange 419 (originally was planned to be 413), so if I want a new 66 in the G&W Orange I will opt for the Bachmann 66. I also hope that Bachmann produce a Pink ONE 587 because if they do I will likely buy that one as well. Which other two 66s did you receive on Monday and are they fine or do they have any QC issues? Thank you in advance. Kind Regards, Danny.

That is true, but the Northern purple Abellio liveried 158s on the old tooling are very difficult to source. As they were produced many years ago with the old tooling modellers and collectors appear to have kept have hold of them, especially considering that the same livery has yet to be announced on the newly tooled 158 and didn't make the first production run. From my perspective I don't have any DMUs and thus not a purple Abellio 158 on the old tooling, but that's only because they seem to have always been difficult to source. So for those like me who never bought the initial model, on the original tooling a purple Abellio 158 would be a nice offering, especially with the extra features and 'up to 2020 standards'. I would imagine that their will also be others like me who never could source the original model and thus would like one to appear on the new tooling. Their will also be those who would prefer the updated tooling and features and would either sell the original old tooled model and buy a new one or would keep the original model to run with the model. I do understand your point though about the appeal of a Northern white 158, especially considering this livery is relatively new and thus wasn't around when the original 158s were produced on the now old tooling. I just think that missing the purple Abellio on a new tooled model even if the livery has already been produced on the old tooling, would be missing an opportunity, just because of how long the purple Abellio livery was around and it still exists now just without Northern branding. So technically this livery could be adapted by modellers to create an Era 11 model by removing the branding. So their is definitely lots of scope and potential for this livery, as it has spanned so many years. Overall, I do think that both liveries are appealing to Northern modellers and collectors, maybe their would just be a preference over which livery customers would buy depending upon the era that they model.

I was mainly thinking about the timespan/lifespan that Northern trains wore the purple livery. Serco Abellio were first awarded the Northern Rail contract in December 2004 before it expired in March 2016. So the lifespan of the award was over 11 years. Obviously all of the trains were not repainted immediately but the purple livery was still worn by the 158s for many years and to my knowledge even now in 2020 remains on some of the units albeit debranded of Northern lettering and logos. My point is why would Bachmann want to miss out on representing these 158 units in the purple branded livery when it spanned many years? Also as I mentioned above by my logic if they didn't produce the purple livery first, then it probably wouldn't be of interest to anyone if they were to produce the white livery first and then the purple livery, because most modellers/collectors would have already bought the latest white Era 11 livery. By my thinking modellers/collectors would only then choose to go back in time and buy the purple livery afterwards if they were really flexible with the period they were modelling. From a personal perspective, I don't have any DMUs but in terms of my diesel locos and their liveries I am flexible in modelling them/running them if their liveries are from the recent past, but if we are talking a difference of several/many years since a livery on a model became outdated in reality I would be less interested/inclined to buy in model form. I have also be known in the past to sell outdated liveries of my models after the locos in reality were repainted and the livery was no longer anywhere near 'current' or Era 11. Put it this way if Bachmann opt to produce the Northern white livery first and then either purple Serco Abellio second or not at all, I think they have missed a trick. Personally, I always think that working in time order when producing new liveries on models is good because then every customer can always expect to see some or most of the main liveries produced. Plus they could also be missing out on custom. As I said above I personally wouldn't buy the purple Serco Abellio livery if the Northern white was produced first, because I don't like modelling backwards in time/in reverse order. But if the purple livery was to be produced first and then the latest Northern white a couple of years after, I would most likely buy both and make use of the purple livery before the white livery arrived.

Very nice. Are these repaints from the latest Bachmann base models? I have to say that whilst the purple Abellio in my opinion was a nice colour scheme I do like the new Northern white livery, just because I think that the bodysides look better with the blue swirl as opposed to the diagonal white strip on the purple Abellio livery. I completely agree, that from a business strategy/perspective it would be wise to produce the liveries in order of life on the real 158s, thus purple Abellio could be first. From my earlier perspective I was thinking about which livery is nicer in terms of the colour scheme, shape, brightness etc and obviously the Northern white is appropriate for any current/Era 11 modeller/collector, thus in 2020 should appeal to many. Although, at the same time I do think that the purple Abellio livery would sell well as you mention it did on all of the other units produced by Bachmann or otherwise. So yes from a business perspective definitely produce the Abellio purple first because if the Northern white was to appear first in the Bachmann range, I don't think they would get away with then jumping back in time to producing a previous livery, that is currently already a few years outdated as it is. Maybe purple Abellio in 2020 and Northern white in 2022, to allow for the Abellio purple to sell out and then for demand to return for another Northern livery?

Hi all, I wonder if anyone could help me please? Has anyone bought any of the latest batch of 66s that arrived this week (587, 623, 743, 746, 780 or 783) and have had no issues or faults with them and were fine running straight out of the box? Or are the quality control issues that were identified in batch one, still present in the second batch? I ask because personally I'm not interested in having to return models in order to try and find a good one, and I would just like a model that functions properly and has all the parts and detailing intact straight out of the box. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance. Kind Regards, Danny.

I'm with you. It would be nice to have something up to date, so the Northern white fits perfectly. The trouble with the purple Abellio is it goes back a number of years now, so if you are an Era 11 modeller/collector you would be hard pushed to justify buying it. I have to say I was a bit unsure of the white livery but it has grown on me. I think it always looks very fresh, clean and bright and despite it been easy to see muck all of the ones I have seen so far have still looked clean and fresh, even weeks and months after refurbishment. So yes I'm actually quite taken with it now. Kind Regards, Danny.

My thoughts exactly. Would you prefer the Abellio purple or the recently DFT inspired Northern white? Personally, I like both but in order to model the most recent scene I would prefer the Northern white. Kind Regards, Danny.

As far as I know it's the 5th August, which is two weeks as of yesterday. I have an inclination that you could be right and that possibly additional 158s and 159s have been produced but are been held back until the next official quarterly announcement which just happens to be around the corner. It would make for a very good opportunity for the next batch, both to delivery them with the GWR 158 and make use of the next quarterly announcement. I hope Bachmann have grasped this opportunity.

Sorry for the late reply. You are very welcome my friend. Another thought on the stored DRS 37/6s. I can see in the future 602 at Eastleigh Works, 605 at Derby RTC and 606 at Crewe Gresty Bridge moving to Longtown for further storage. Most of the other stored or ex DRS 37s have been in storage at Longtown at some stage or another. Such storage sites allow depots like those mentioned above to have additional space/capacity. As for the O Gauge 37405, as much as I wish I was the angel donor, it most definitely isn't me haha. Kind Regards, Danny.

602 is stored XHHP at Eastleigh Arlington Works and 609 is stored XHHP at Longtown, not far from Carlisle Kingmoor Depot. 602 was officially stored in September 2019 in the XHSS pool and was later transferred to the XHHP pool a few months ago. 609 was stored in February 2018 in the XHSS pool and was later transferred to the XHHP pool a few months ago alike 602. 602 was at Eastleigh Works for repairs to it's bogies and wheelsets but the repairs were suspended during mid/late 2019. I am almost certain that some of the repairs were undertaken though at Arlington and I believe 602 now has at least some different bogies and wheelsets fitted, compared to what was fitted before it arrived at Arlington's. All of the remaining 37/6s on DRS' books are now in the XHHP pool, which means that they will almost certainly never return to active traffic with DRS. I suspect that they will become spares donors to keep the 37/4s going for a while longer and maybe some of them will be sold on to other operators as some of the others already have. Also, it's important that in the short term the 37/4s are kept in service, for the next year or so at least for the Network Rail Infrastructure Monitoring jobs. So although the 37/6s have been stood down their parts will become very useful for keeping the 37/4s going. For clarity the XHHP pool is the deregistration pool for DRS locos, meaning that it's almost certain none of the remaining DRS 37/6s on their books will return to traffic. Whereas the previous pool in which all of the remaining 37/6s were stored in was XHSS, and that's just the standard storage pool in which some locos are stored in, temporarily before they return to active traffic. You probably know all of this, but I just thought that I would mention the distinction between the two different pools and what that may mean for the locos registered in them. Hope this helps. Kind Regards, Danny.

You would have thought so wouldn't you! Bachmann really do need to promote their offerings, especially newly tooled items more. From the EPs I have seen from videos and photos at shows/events the 20/3s look fantastic, but yet their has hardly been any mention of them on their website. The detailing on the chassis and inside the cab looks really extensive and I believe, along with the working Wipac lighting that the 20/3s by Bachmann will be a great success. Kind Regards, Danny.

It really is something special that one. I much prefer the Basic livery to the previous Revised livery that it used to wear. The thing I like about the real 423 is that it has mixed with the 37/4s because that's it's classification, but it has also mixed with the 37/6s, which it looks more like with the Wipac lights. Obviously all of the DRS have mixed on workings together but 423 is the only one to have such different features that make it more special. It's a bit like ex DRS now HNRC 610, in it's BR Blue small logo livery. Both the livery and features of it make it completely unique. 97301 was a possible on my wishlist but after 423 and 610 have now been added to the range from the two most recent announcements, I have sacrificed one for two. That's a shame about the PFAs, but keep a look out because I am sure some will become available somewhere. As much as I like the rerto/heritage liveried 37s, I have always liked and thought that the various DRS corporate liveries have suited the 37s. I mainly like the Compass livery and the Basic livery as applied to 423, but I do like the Revised livery as per 609. It didn't surprise me really because the Europhoenix livery always seems to have been popular regardless as to what class of loco has worn it, so the fact that several 37s now do, I imagine have made them even more popular amongst modellers and collectors.