DRS Crewe On A Mission

Thank you again for the photo! It's very much appreciated.

The Chiltern and ScotRail liveries both look fantastic so I'm sure the DRS livery won't let down either.

Hattons have now updated their website for the OO Gauge Class 68s.

It did say expected delivery between January and March 2016 and now says between June and July 2016.

Looking forward to Summer!

Thank you everyone for all of the photos and information. It's very much appreciated.

I must say (again) 68010 looks fantastic! Good to hear that EP models for the DRS and ScotRail livery are due in March. Hopefully these will debut at a few exhibitions/shows etc so that some people can snap some photos of them and post them up on here for us all to see.

I'm not going to be able to resist the temptation of buying the Chiltern pair. Another £236 spoken for haha! Think I'm having all six now. A very very expensive Summer for me.

Not my photo but seen on face book today. Please feel free to discuss

Thank you very much for the photo. It's very much appreciated.

68010 looks fantastic! If that's how they are when we receive them I will be very pleased! The livery, detailing and design all looks very accurate!

Well done so far Dapol! Keep up the good work!

From what I have heard their are no issues regarding the colours with the OO or N Scale Class 68s.

I have however been reliable informed from another member of the site that their is a slight delay on the OO Gauge Class 68s by a few more months.

I'm not too fussed about waiting an extra couple of months at all if I'm honest. I would rather give Dapol/the factory more time to construct and apply the liveries to these models correctly than have them all rushed through at 100mph and then get to us and be damaged and low quality.

Besides for the people like me who might/might not by all six it gives them more time to decide which of the six they would like to buy and more time to find the money.

Thank you very much for the photos of these two.

They look fantastic!

Yes the Freightliner 66416 which is due in May/June is in the new Powerhaul livery.

Hope this helps.

I have spoken to Bachmann regarding Freightliner 66416 and DRS 66434 and the missing icon in the catalogue for cab lighting and they have confirmed that both of these locos will have working cab lighting and it's a few errors in the catalogue.

Hope this helps.

Thank you for letting me know. That's very interesting.

Very rare to see and ride on a Northern 158 on the Leeds to Harrogate line.

However something I have been noticing over the past couple of weeks are that the Northern Rail passenger trains in Yorkshire do seem to be getting refurbished both internally and externally. I think it was 150270 in Leeds station the other week that I noticed had new high bright lighting fitted possibly LED alike some DB 66s now have. It also had new destination boards because the writing was brighter, a different style and font. The ends on the unit also seem to have a fresh application of yellow on them. Internally new seat covers have been applied, the floor and radiators thoroughly cleaned, new handrails fitted, new glass panels fitted in between doors and seats, new handles fitted. It did look very smart and it was well needed as the 150s can be very grubby both internally and externally a lot of the time. I think 153363 has received the same treatment.

Both looked very clean, tidy and fresh! Well done Northern Rail fitters!

As previously mentioned it's very common to see Northern Rail liveried 142s, 144s, 150s working in multi as two sets on the Leeds to Harrogate line.

However Monday made a first for me as the solitary unit taking me into Leeds was a Northern Rail 158 namely 158842. I have been travelling on these trains six times a week for the past six months and it has never been a 158 so I am guessing there must be a shortage of 142s, 144s and 150s at the moment.

Thank you very much for the video. Haven't seen that one yet.

66s look very smart especially when all in transit and brand new.

Quite possibly to cover there own costs.

This could be why Rail Express have the same pay up front scheme for 66720.

Nice photo!

6M38 that one.

Yes 66779 is "Evening Star".

Didn't see that path in the system earlier.

Both back at Derby RTC this morning.

Can't see anything booked off Derby RTC for tomorrow for Colas except a few WTTs which normally don't run.

Just as an observation Freightliner 66560 pictured above has received the new style Powerhaul writing on the front of the cab alike what the ex DRS now Freightliner 66/4s have. These been 66414, 416, 418 and 420. To my knowledge this is the first Freightliner 66/5 that hasn't received a repaint into Powerhaul livery but has the new style writing applied.

It has recently moved by road from Bo'ness to RVEL Derby for a repaint into Large Logo livery.

The movement was approximately two weeks ago.

37403 is also now partially repainted into Large Logo livery at RVEL Derby.

That's a valid point considering that it's over £300 for both of the 66s.

That's a lot of money to have taken straight away considering that the models are not due to be released until May/June.

I am not happy myself about this payment plan/scheme because you literally see nothing for months on end for your money. Then if for any reason there is a delay even if just by a few weeks that's then even longer than originally stated.

I suppose they know though that these models will be popular so people will just pay the money anyway even if they can't really afford it or if the payment arranges are not to the customers satisfaction.

Yes definitely a price hike when comparing the standard models to the Limited Edition models.

Comparing 66416 and 66434 against 66718 and 66721 sees nearly a £35 increase although like you say and I completely agree the new printing process should see fantastic and intricate detailing captured so we can't complain.

I can see this year is another year where I am going to be spending a fortune haha. One of each of the above five and then possibly more of the Freightliner and DRS liveried examples to renumber.  

If someone could please post on here when they know/realise/gain knowledge of when/when the second batch of pre-orders are released on the LTM website.

I don't want to miss these two models. I am normally more of a Freightliner & DRS person but I am definitely adding these two amazing models to my fleet.

Thank you very much in advance.

I was concerned about Bachmann releasing Freightliner Powerhaul 66416, DRS Revised 66434, GBRF 66718, GBRF 66720 and GBRF 66721 all at once although when they are all in the latest liveries how can you resist. If it was the old run of the mill 66s in the old liveries I would have probably saved my money but I suspect the GBRF trio will be very popular seen as there Limited Editions and also the standard 66/4s with them been in the latest liveries. In that case out comes the wallet.

The traction for these Tesco trains is always DRS 66s or 68s but it depends what's available.

Well if I'm honest at the moment there is a bit of a lack of consistency with the DRS Tesco trains.

Sometimes you get a single Class 68 at the head of the train although the majority are busy tied up in other work which is when the DRS 66s have to step in. When the 66s are used on these trains there usually double headed although sometimes they can be worked by a single Class 66. At the moment with the current DRS fleet going through a series of repairs, exams and overhauls I think it's just use what's available and if this means swopping between traction so be it.

Traction for these trains is usually swopped at Kingmoor. So this also means it's just what's on Kingmoor at the time that has been repaired, off exam and in active traffic. The locos that come off the train are then stopped for exams and repairs and consequently return to traffic a lot of the time going straight back onto the Tesco trains.

I do check my spam folder regularly because I get notifications when I get messages in that folder. Most of the emails in my spam folder just get deleted straight away because there just the usual rubbish. I have never had any train/model railway related emails in my spam folder.

Thank you for the help and the suggestion. It's very much appreciated.