BVMR21

I do wonder how well the split chassis works over a longer period, in terms of reliability, seeing as the general practice seems to have shied away from split chassis to wiper pickups and the like.

Indeed they do, it was more a reference to what could’ve come before that but as I can’t recall it being the case that there were any of the 16” type based at Eastmoors it would make very little sense in that regard. Though I am still searching for more regarding the stock of Eastmoors as the livery is quite interesting to say the least.

Looks good to me, would definitely look good in a train.

Didn’t think they had 16” Hunslets, though it would make sense seeing as the 48150 class started coming out in 1936/1937.

Didn’t realise that was on there, more you look more you find.

I’ve got my pair arriving tomorrow, can’t wait to get them out of the box! Hopefully these point the way as to how well the Mink A wagons will go as well!

Sounds interesting, just trying to find out if there were non-BR Liveries that the class carried

Been a while since any discussion happened on these, obviously there isn’t a lot to talk about as there hasn’t been anything in the Newsletter since announcement. Will however ask; how many, if any, of the 04’s went into Industrial service?

Just seen on Facebook that the Iron Minks are on the way to retailers now.

I’ll be more concerned that it can actually haul stuff than actually have 100% accurate valve gear, may be a somewhat minority position but good running qualities like that of the PI Victory or Rapido Hunslet are closer to what I’m fussed about. Don’t mind if a piece is fixed or whatever, would like it if it were to be definitely shown at some point what’s going on with it but this all takes time so patience is everything. I have heard the weight of the Bellerophon EP is less than that of an Andrew Barclay 0-4-0ST, which is normally indicative of a lower power output, but it’s not like it’ll be doing 60 wagon trains as an example so should be fine.

When I got an email back I got the gist of it being they’re blaming it on the damage the EP sustained in the post that it doesn’t work.

Great to hear, hopefully with that cleared up it’ll be worth it!

Does depend on whether or not having fully working valve gear is a big issue for you, won’t be for some, will for others. Main issue for myself is that it runs well and can haul something more than nothing.

If KR Models were to say it was a deliberate choice due to design reasons it would be fine I think. It really does come down to communication between Manufacturers and Modellers, it does seem this has been somewhat lacking in regards to Bellerophon and probably other projects, the Newsletters are rather infrequent, the communications that you do get are rather blunt (which would be fine if it were informative at the same time), I think I may well be steering clear of KRM in future if Bellerophon is a total flop. Would have to check but aren’t there advertising rules as well?

EFE Rail would still need permission from the owner of the tooling which if that hasn’t been given then won’t have happened. EFE Rail is just a distribution brand for some of Heljan’s older toolings and the DJM tooling that KMRC has acquired alongside some Bachmann stuff that doesn’t fit in with the main range, key point here is that a lot of these models are owned still by other companies. As Arran has said no license has been given by Realtrack so most likely this has come from another source. Only way to find out will be to look on the box as to whom it is Distributed on behalf of.

Seems odd, doubt they’ve changed the price, still says £133.33 on the Website before adding taxes as well

I’m hoping that Bellerophon runs at least as well as it does in the video we have seen, it’s not perfect but it’s not the worst I’ve ever seen, one could argue that the PR aspect of KR Models could do with a bit of improvement seeing as the replies that I’ve seen from KR compared to the likes of Rapido, Hornby, etc are rather short sharp and not very informative, admittedly this is only on Facebook but as anyone in a customer facing role will know it’s all about the interaction between the company and customer that sells the product. If KR Models were to show a running video and/or maybe have said “X isn’t what we want so that will change between now and the next Sample stage” then I think it might be better for a customer information perspective. Myself, I’m using Bellerophon to see if I’m future I will purchase further KR Models stock, if it goes badly I won’t buy from them again simple as.

Surely it might be best to email the manufacturer to ask if they could do a rolling road test with the model to allow us to get a better idea of it’s running qualities, valve gear, etc. Seeing as we have had (as mentioned earlier) a fairly poor demonstration. Though is it really such a bad thing? I do believe when this loco was first announced as an EOI it was something like £195 it’s now £160 so maybe there has been some cost cutting in the design phase to bring it down to the level where not all of it works but it looks good on a layout. End of the day, what matters is that it runs well, the detail is (mostly) there and that it won’t break when being handled with some care.

I would say probably 4S-024-001 Hawthorn Leslie 0-4-0 Green Lined Yellow `Asbestos' as that’s fairly similar according to the printed artwork from earlier on in the thread.

It could be done so that 2 cabs are produced within the tooling, I am not sure if there is a 16” cylinder 0-6-0ST but if there is maybe do some 16” cylinders to replicate those variants. Think they’ve got about 16,000 lbs of tractive effort the 14” cylinder 0-6-0ST Barclays, as they’re virtually identical in terms of tanks and cylinders to the 0-4-0ST versions. Edit: I have been doing a quick bit of research and have since found at least 3 0-6-0ST Barclays with this “later” cab that are preserved. Llantarnam Abbey, Swordfish and Salmon.

She’s supposed to be running next year as well. 14” Barclay 0-6-0ST would be cool.

Believe so. Also there’s the variation in both tanks and chimneys so there’s an option to provide differences between class members.

Empress works well, 16” Bagnall, powerful enough at Blaenavon to run with 3 MK1s plus a small loco at the back I believe. Right sort of size as well. (Photo is my own)

I think that it really depends on where the interest is. Do people want larger 0-6-0 industrials like the 16” and much more modern 18” Bagnalls, or do they want smaller engines similar to that of the Peckett B2 or Andrew Barclay 14” 0-6-0ST. I’d still say there is room for both, however I do believe that we need more locos that can have a wide range of duties. Of course even if some industries didn’t need a 14” cylinder loco all the time it’s still good to have the option. Again it all relies upon do people want larger 0-6-0 industrials or more 0-4-0 industrials? I think that with the 0-6-0s, there is a larger market due to the size whereas the Peckett W4, Barclay 0-4-0ST, and Hawthorn Leslie 0-4-0ST, it tends to be more difficult. Another great thing about industrials is that they’re used extensively in Preservation by a variety of heritage railways, and from my perspective adds in that variety to otherwise a normally uniform set of liveries and class that we see from the Standards. You’ll get Blues and Greens with lining that wouldn’t be seen on the tank engines used for similar duties on the mainline railways, so does that aspect have any bearing on the matter as something that’s small may not appeal due to it only being able to handle 3 MK1 coaches irl, end of the day it all depends on where the consumer base is.

Personally, I think something a bit more widely used would be better, great thing about Victory is that some worked Mainline, some worked at coal mines, so something that has a similar pedigree in terms of variety of usage would be good. I think the 16” Bagnall works well, big but not too big. Either way, more 0-6-0s would be good. Jessie would be good but doubt that’ll happen in RTR 00.