No Decorum

R3635 30863 Lord Rodney and others.

That’s a good list and I would probably buy every loco on it so long as they didn’t all appear at once. Perhaps add an 01 to complete the TOPS numbers? Curiously, yesterday I happened to be looking at a picture of a pair of Stanier 2-6-2Ts and thought that it would probably require three different body toolings to cover “the Fowler and Stanier 2-6-2T”, which would be expensive. There are only two non-steam locos in the list, which perhaps offers some support for Coldgunner’s point. Probably some manufacturers are working away in secret on some of those steamers. I hope so but they might be a little cautious, bearing in mind the discounting which has been going on recently.

Bachmann announced a Parallel Scot some years ago then cancelled it, to my great disappointment. I think I would be content if they were to plonk the existing body on a new chassis, which they have been doing in recent years although I’m sure a lot of people would prefer a total retool. As for the Lord Nelson, Hornby did produce a model which was decent under the skin but the paint job was truly awful. I don’t think it would require much to produce another run with a decent paint job.

I think it’s strange that we have Classes 85 upwards and a Class 80 (an “oddity”) soon to arrive, yet no 81–84. That is not so much an omission as a yawning gap.

I’ve checked again with Rails and there are no plans to offer sound versions. It’s a pity but I hope that one of the after market specialists will offer something suitable.

We seem to have wandered OT into the realm of colour! Avoiding that, I have to agree very strongly with your last comment. The NEM pocket is an excellent idea but it’s in the wrong place. Bachmann’s idea was superb and it’s a bit of a shame it wasn’t taken further, for example with magnetic brake hoses which, I believe, have been produced in the USA. I still prefer tension lock for earlier times when a lot of shunting took place but for modern block trains, I fit the shortest Kadee coupling which will work. Tension locks are unsighlly and the old huge D types even more so but by abandoning the latter we have created a raft of new problems which complicated CCT mechanisms attempt to solve.

I hope to Heaven you’te wrong! I like diesels and electrics but the bottom of the well is starting to show. The steam well is very deep.

Amazon UK.

Bachmann has knocked out a few models with an old body on a new chassis. Perhaps the bodies are not quite up to modern standards but the new chassis are well thought out and perform well, in addition to being relatively easy to fit sound into. A new chassis under the Star owing nothing to design stupid, a little warming up here and there and a decent paint finish and I think you’re right. Why on earth, with all the Kings, Castles, Halls, Granges, Manors, Panniers, Prairies, heavy freighters &c. floating around, has no-one produced a Saint?

The pool of unmodelled steam locomotives is almost limitless but there were only twelve BR Standards (although there were quite a few non-standard variations). Here is a gap which could be filled by a helpful RTR manufacturer. It’s an interesting machine in its own right for the reasons given above even though many people have said that the prototype shouldn’t have been built because it turned out that there was no need for it.

As for which iteration is best, IMHO the retool which hasn’t been done yet.

I still like mine. I’ve fitted most of them with sound and Ultrascale wheels. There’s plenty of room for a big speaker!

The photo you posted is very welcome. As you have seen the thing itself, please can you confirm (or not) that it is in a flatish grey rather than they glittery grey shown in earlier photos?

If I can find a sound project for the Turbomotive (which is well down in the queue), I hope that it will be possible to dim the lights by resetting a CV. The red lights in reverse aren’t such a problem; I’ll just turn them off. As for a Black 5, I already have all three boiler variations of the present tooling and they are good enough. The Caprotti? It depends on what else is competing with it for funds. I think I’m happier with non-working headcode lamps which can be set to different configurations than I am with working lamps fixed in a certain code. I regard a feature which doesn’t work well as a gimmick. If it works properly it isn’t a gimmick. When it comes to people complaining that the top lamp on the Turbomotive is too dim, I think the point is not that it is too dim in absolute terms but that it is too dim compared to the other two lamps. In a model, consistency is important. It would be better if the express lamps were as dim as the upper one. In any case, an upper lamp in conjuction with two fixed lower lamps doesn’t mean anything and is a waste of effort.

Earlier pictures show that the bunker under the coal is very shallow. It would have helped if it had been deeper but perhaps the gear tower doesn’t permit that. Still, there should be enough space to add real coal in 1:76 rather than the 1:1 supplied. The finish looks closer to the proper grey than the earlier silver samples, which is good.

Marmite occurred to me. 😊

It looks just like the real thing newly restored or repaired and waiting to be painted! ❤️

Some of us are (patiently) waiting for spares. 🤣

Yes, I must admit that the ability to turn the tap on and off, so to speak, is one of the key advantages of 3D p;rinting at the moment. I wish you every success with your venture.

Good point about the vans. Could it be that vans are preferred because there is a large lump of material inside them to give them enough weight? I suspected that they would be 3D prints as they are made in the UK. I have both 3D printed wagons and injection moulded and concluded that 3D prints are not for me. The technology is bound to improve but as it stands at the moment it’s no match for injection moulding.

I like the uniform one of the drivers is nearly wearing. If BR had thought to do that, the losses would have turned into profits! 🤣

Perhaps an afterthought but a very good question. I have acquired a fair amount of 009 because it’s compatible in scale with what I already have. I was intrigued by TT120 because of the scale and gauge consistency but I wasn’t going to start all over again.

There is no known cure. Do what the medics do when they can’t cure something, “manage your condition”. My suggestions would be: 1. set a budget and stick to it, 2. rivet count and nit pick (if you can find any shortcoming or fault, don’t buy), 3. dig out a model you have and once lusted for, run it and go “oooo”. That works for me. Er, sort of.

I use Kadees for fixed formations but the same principle applies. Which size you use depends on the tightest curves on your layout, which only you know. Acquire and keep a couple of both sizes and try the smaller size. If they cause derailments, fit the larger size or a combination of large and small on adjacent vehicles..

In contrast, the ViTrains’ “blanking plates” consisted of two shaped pieces of metal bent to form legs ~ they did no more than bridge the 8-pin sockets to connect the wires from the pick ups directly to the motors and lights. Many early blanking plates did exactly the same but looked a little more professional.