DRS Crewe On A Mission

Thanks very much for the info. Out of interest was 37611 the failed 37 and thus 37800 was sent as 1Z99? I wonder why 37800 wasn't permitted to travel further than Walsham? Thanks in advance. Kind Regards, Danny.

86401 is currently working 0M43 Wembley to Carnforth and is now owned by WCRC.

I agree. I know for that for me personally after most likely spending around £3000 in 2020, that 2021 will have to be less expensive for me even if their are models available that I wish to buy. I will be able to afford some models next year but nowhere near as many as this year. At the moment for myself and I assume many others it's about buying what you want the most and been really selective just because no one can afford to buy every item that they would like. Whilst it's good for manufacturers and us that they are producing more and new models as you mention they do need to air on the side of caution because with 2020 been such an expensive year for modern image modellers especially, how many will for example have the same amount of money available in 2021 for more of the same or other new models? Obviously we will never have a specific answer to this question in full about individual's spending on models year on year but my personal thoughts are that 2021 will have to be a quieter year for many of us with regards to new models and the expense of them.

I am tempted to wait for 608, but I could afford to buy 800 as well. That way I could put 800 straight into service and wait for 608 as well to help it out. The only thing is the price for 800 because it's £153 at retailers after the discount, which for a Bachmann 37 is a considerable price, especially when compared to the £170 that Accurascale are charging. I will have a think. I'm in the same boat. I haven't got any sound locos on order but I have plenty of DCC Ready locos on my wishlist for this year and it's going to be extremely expensive. I was going to buy some GBRf & Caledonian Sleeper 92s from Accurascale too but with the Bachmann 20/3s, Accurascale 37s and Transpennine 68s by Dapol, that's already £2000 for those. So I may have to miss the 92s and hope that Accurascale do another run in the future. I do the same with Rails just to share out who I am supporting. Rails offer free pre-ordering, opportunity to cancel pre-orders and free postage on at least some pre-order items as Classy has mentioned above. You're right about 800, it would be good to have to work with 608. But Accurascale will most likely produce another Europhoenix/ROG 37 at some stage, so do O wait for Accurascale to produce some other versions of the 37 in this livery or have the best of both worlds and have 800 sooner by Bachmann. I could potentially have the best of both worlds, because I intend on keeping most of my Bachmann 37s anyway so the fact that their will be different levels of detail between Bachmann and Accurascale won't matter for me. The MK2f rake will look brilliant. A mixture of ScotRail and DRS Compass liveried MK2fs have worked the Fife loco hauled diagrams so really anything is prototypical. At the moment their are mostly or all Compass MK2fs working the diagrams following some of the ScotRail MK2fs been debranded and pulled out of service. Yes the NMT is excellent by Hornby and if I had the money that is something I would like. Hornby played a blinder by releasing some of the NMT MK3s last year and announcing the other NMT MK3s and HST set this year as part of the 2020 range. All in all I need 2021 to be a quieter year in relation to new models and the expense of them haha.

745002 has been out on a test run yesterday (10th February). The working was 5Q91 Norwich to Liverpool Street. I believe this was the first test run for this unit. This may indicate that this unit could be the third 745 to enter traffic following 007 and 010 in the past few weeks. Hope this is of use. Kind Regards, Danny.

I don't blame you. I haven't bought any of the recent Bachmann Class 37 releases so if I buy 37800, it will be the first Bachmann 37 I have bought in over a year. I just really like the Europhoenix/ROG livery and if I bought 800 now it means I wouldn't have to wait until Q4 for 608 by Accurascale. Not that I mind waiting, I'm just eager to operate a 37 with an excellent livery haha.

Same here. Previously I have bought everything from Hattons, but now I support Rails and smaller retailers, just because I feel that Hattons get enough custom in general anyway. I'm also thinking of pre-ordering the Bachmann Europhoenix/Rail Operations Group 37800 due for release later this month. Are you going to buy this one?

Thanks for posting. If a new livery is to be made and applied to some DRS locos I would imagine it will just be some DRS locos to start off with. Just because of the size of the DRS fleet and many of the locos have already been repainted in recent years or delivered with new or had vinyls applied from new. In other news both Rails Of Sheffield and Hattons have confirmed the new batch of DCC Ready and DCC Fitted 68s are to be produced via their websites. Rails have also mentioned that they are expected to arrive in Q3 2020.

I'm supposed to be the same. But the ScotRail loco hauled set will be an exception just because it hauled by DRS traction. I do like the Inter7Cities livery but I can't afford another HST this year. I bought one last year, so this year is a definite no. The NMT is a good choice and it's really unique.

Thanks for the reply and the info. They went quite quickly then compared to the 156s and 170s of which many have been leaving in single runs up until this week. It's all change with Greater Anglia.

Glad you have some of the DRS MK2fs. Yes DRS 034 has worked some of the Fife diagrams before with the ScotRail MK2fs, so that is prototypical. I know what you mean, it's forever trying to do the balancing act with the stock you have versus the stock that is just been produced and becoming available. I have decided that I am going to sell off some of the stock that I already have, just because so many new DRS locos are becoming available this year, that I definitely don't need all that I already have plus several more. Yes as far as I know the modified DRS liveried 68s are 008 and 034, which Dapol have produced so far. I have to say the Dapol 68s are the best locos I have ever bought. I cleaned my ScotRail 68s last night because they were quite dusty and even several years on after buying them, they are still really impressive. I need Dapol to rest the 68s though for a year or two at least after the TPE batch later this year, because whilst ever they keep releasing more I am buying more. My money just never stays in my wallet when they keep announcing these in so many liveries. My wallet needs some time to recover.

I knew you would. Your getting like me buying all the DRS stuff. The Hornby ScotRail MK2fs are excellent value for money and with the second batch due for release this year a prototypical train can be made. I have bought the first batch of three and have the second batch of three on pre-order. We are fortunate with the RHTTs because so many different DRS locos have worked on them. During the 2019 season a ScotRail 68 did work some of the Kingmoor to Kingmoor RHTTs on more than one occasion. So as you say it is more than prototypical.

You're probably right. I haven't seen much info or updates regarding the 153s. I know that some of them have gone to TFW but just can't confirm if they all have or not. I do hope that the niggles are ironed out on the new FLIRTs because I have seen several good reviews and comments about them from the general public and spotters/enthusiasts who have travelled on them.

So this week has seen the final 156 and final 170 move from GA to their new operators. 156417 has moved from GA to EMR and 170271 has moved from GA to TFW. I'm unsure if GA still have any 153s or if they have all already moved to TFW. But largely now, the GA services are in the hands of the basils. I understand 37611 rescued 755404 on the 6th February and 37800 rescued 755424 on the 7th February. I have to say it doesn't look good with at least two failures in the past couple of days alone, with potentially more that I may be unaware of, especially now that the GA fleet is solely relying upon the basils to run their services. I hope this info is of use. Kind Regards, Danny.

Yes it's a difficult one, in an ideal situation I would have liked both of the TPE MK5 sets from Accurascale. But with so much due for release this year I have to think about my wishlist logically and as my controller can be a bit temperamental anyway, I can't have two separate trains running at once. So I always only run one train at a time. With that in mind I don't actually need two MK5 sets. Technically if I am only buying one MK5 set I only need two TPE 68s at the most and not three. I will see what happens. I mean, if I decide to sell some more of my existing stock to make room for new stock, then I may still buy both of the two new 68s, because I will likely have some more money come Q3. Just to add on the 29th January ScotRail 68006 & Transpennine Express 68024 were spotted working a light engine movement together at Crewe. I believe this is the first time a ScotRail & Transpennine Express liveried pair of 68s have worked together. So that's another wacky sight/working that we can create on our model railways...

Thank you for posting. That's excellent. Now just to make up my mind on what to do. As I most likely can't afford two further TPE 68s and two corresponding TPE MK5 sets to match, I may cancel my pre-order for one of the 68s, and just buy one MK5 set. Otherwise this is going to become a very costly exercise.

Thanks for posting. That's good news. From what I know, their were some emergency timetable changes in January, so the fact that we are now in early February and more 802s seem to be entering traffic, this means that the introduction of new trains and the timetable getting back to some sort of normality, seems to be commencing. Yes I have seen a few photos of the new livery on the ex TPE 350/4s. From what I know all except two or three are now in the new LNWR livery. 350408 was the latest to receive new vinyls last week. So with that one completed, I'm sure their are only two left now in the old TPE livery.

Thank you both. That's excellent. I will order one. Thanks for posting. Out of interest where does it say due Q3 2020? Not doubting your knowledge, I just couldn't see it on the link directly to the Dapol page or either of the product pages. Thank you in advance. Kind Regards, Danny.

That's really good to hear. I have often thought that their should be magazines specific to each freight operator. Can you tell me where you bought it from please? I haven't seen it advertised anywhere. Thank you very much in advance. Kind Regards, Danny.

No worries, I didn't think that any way. I tend to be knowledgeable about the DRS stuff. I have always enjoyed following DRS traction, because they have such a variety and their locos have worn so many liveries through different eras. But then I become obsessed and don't have anywhere near as many locos for other operators on my model railway as I do DRS haha.

Thanks for posting this info. I haven't yet bought this magazine so this is good to know. I thought it was around 18 months so I was one or two months out. If the livery had of lasted more than a couple of years I would have likely bought 026 but I removed it from my wishlist just because it didn't serve a wide enough time span. Also the loco in reality is now in TPE livery. Had it gained say a different DRS livery following the Basic livery, this may have tempted me to buy it, but because not just the livery but it's operations have changed, it doesn't encourage me to buy it.

Judging by the below comment from Trains4U, I definitely won't be buying 026 in Basic now. Yes the middle bit of vinyl on the Basic livery is far easier to remove than the swoosh which goes all along the bodysides and through the cab doors etc. That's brilliant news. Thanks for letting us all know. This is excellent news. I have to say I am surprised. Expressions of interest must have been considerably high, I would at a guess say at least 1000 people must have showed an interest, for the batch to be given the go ahead. So an already ground breaking model, has just broken some new ground, because single liveried production runs for any model, by any manufacturer are extremely rare. Well done Dapol. It's because the Class 68 is such an excellent model that it keeps persuading people to buy more. No doubt Accurascale may gain some more sales of their TPE MK5s now too, seen as though their will be three TPE 68s that have been produced along with 034 in DRS livery which is also compatible to run with the coaches. This makes four 68s compatible to run with the coaches in total. This may now increase the demand for both sets of TPE MK5s.

It is and we will most likely never see another one in the DRS Basic livery produced by Dapol. I was tempted to buy it, but it's the fact that the livery was so short lived. From my records it last around 18 months at the most, during 2017 & 2018. But I opted for some more of the 'Swoosh' liveried DRS machines instead because these serve a much wider period of time. I was considering buying even more 'Swoosh' DRS 68s but I can't at the moment because what with everything else due this year, I simply don't have the money. But like you I wasn't desperate for them anyway. So I would rather have some new items that I don't yet have any of.

That makes two of us. I really do like the Colas livery. I have emailed Dapol yesterday, asking when we will find out if the TPE 68s will be produced or not. I haven't received a reply as of yet, but when I do I will post the response on here to let yourself and others know. I have seen recently on some other forums that people are wanting to see more DRS 'Swoosh' 68s produced. Then I checked on the Dapol website, Hattons, Rails & Kernow and all four still have several 004, 026 & 034 in DRS liveries available to buy and that doesn't include the smaller retailers. DRS also still have stocks of 68001 at £200. With this in mind if the TPE variants are not produced in batch four by themselves without further DRS liveried 68s then I doubt that we will see further TPE variants for the foreseeable future. So here's hoping that 023 & 032 get a single liveried production batch of their own.

Thank you very much for posting. I wasn't aware that their were 10 function, non sound DCC Decoders. Thank you. Kind Regards, Danny.