BR Blue

People have been excommunicated from DEMU for less.

Impressive amount of technology crammed into one loco. The price is amazing when you consider what other locos are going for. Promises to be a fantastic model even if it did not run in 80s on the Great Western mainline

All HAAs had the same couplings at both ends. There were no outer or inners.

At least it proves you are in Australia

In summary. If you want to announce something today, we are all good with that.

Lots of different views but I think the one thing most if not all would agree on is no vapourware or land grabbing. I think it is a bit of a how long is a piece of string question. It depends on the model. If it is niche model like your KUA, that will probably not be repeated, or if it is not for a long time, then letting people know well in advance so that the orders can build is probably a good idea. Additionally a niche model is less likely to face competition so you can allow times for orders to build. No doubt when you announce your TT gauge Fell, you will need to allow some time for the 7 people on the planet who will order one, to find out about it. Other models like the class 37, that is likely to be in the range indefinitely, can have less of a lead time. However, it also depends if you are duplicating an existing model. This could lead to a reaction and dumping of lots of product from a competitor. Therefore a manufacture may wish to keep it under their hat until the very last minute. This is obviously why we have not heard about your class 66 yet. It is not east estimating demand and there will always be surprises in demand both good and bad, it is definitely a black art. PS. I know Accurascale are not doing a TT gauge Fell, KR Models are

Great photo Guy. It just shows the variety of wagons possible on a Mendip based layout. I wish it was the earlier type that were been done, the ones that are being done are a good looking wagon but unfortunately just out of my time period.

Not another Fell?

Another round of Bachmann announcements on Tuesday the 3rd November at 9.30AM according to Rails: https://railsofsheffield.com/news/articles/3612-Bachmann-winter-announcements My money is on a HAA

Yes, I am a member of DEMU. I remember that well.

It always amazed me how these were never done before. Considering anyone who wanted one, wanted a lot more than one We only had the old Lima version.

These look very impressive. I would be at the show today if it was on Great idea doing the ballasts and ploughs as a complete train.

It looks really good Guy. Cannot wait to see it in a post Covid exhibition.

Any plans to do the original front lights?

The liveries are almost identical. Some have "Super Sprinter" and others just "Sprinter". However both minor variations are suitable for Cardiff - Portsmouth services. The only other thing you could do after changing the CV 155 is change the destination in the cabs. Something I have yet to do.

Just had a look at your Flickr site. Some great photos. Thanks for sharing.

I contacted Hattons and they confirmed the 001, 002, 101, 102 and 103 are the early ones as per Dapol's list. The images and descriptions on their website do not make this distinction.

I want the originals so despite the pictures I am wary of ordering these.

The MGR coal was generally very fine and not as large as domestic coal. It was much more prone to producing dust.

Lego?

Yes are probably correct. It gets even more confusing. I suppose its common enough under TOPS. Some HAAs became HBAs when covers were added and the original HBAs became HEAs as the suspension was modified. I think that is right.

Except the HBA is a completely different wagon with no common components and a different wheelbase to the HFA. The HBA and HEA are variants of the same basic design. HAA, HFA and HMA are all from the same family. The HBA is not. It does get confusing

True. Also how many cases of potential duplication never made it to the public domain. Company A announces a product and Company B quietly drops their plans for the same thing without it becoming public knowledge. I am sure it happens a lot.

The only Accurascale model that is only available from Accurascale is one of the versions of the 37 as far as I know so it is not true to say that many of their models are only available directly. They are all available from their retailers. However it is true to say they have not officially announced a HAA yet. We dont know exactly at what stage either of the 2 potential models are at. I believe Cavalex were aiming for Q3 2021 but did mention tooling. If something was in tooling now I would expect it sooner than that given its a wagon and not something more complex so that does not seem to add up. And yes. I think Hornby will respond but their high spec model is almost certainly inferior to the potential new entries so they are going to have to cut the price.