KAR 120C

TTC Diecast do have some left but with postage at £17.50 for a single wagon that’s possibly not surprising.

I’ve also had a problem dating some of these wagons. The following may help in certain cases: A yellow square with two ‘CC’s in black superimposed on it signifies that a ‘commuted charge’ payment has been made by the wagon owner. This was introduced in 1926. A yellow star also signifies that a ‘commuted charge’ payment has been made by the wagon owner. This was introduced in 1933. (This topic was considered back in 2012 in the ‘Private Owner Wagon Marking’ thread under UK Prototype Questions). If the wagon carries a postal address and it includes a number after the postal district letters e.g. London E.C.1. then the wagon’s livery dates from 1917 at the earliest. The Post Office only introduced numbers in that year. I must admit I’ve also resorted to squinting at the manufacturers’ plates on various wagons on the Rapido website so I can at least try to identify the year of construction although I acknowledge that this still doesn’t mean that the liveries date from the same year!

I received the latest N Gauge Journal earlier today and had a very pleasant surprise. Revolution are to offer a limited run of 59101 Village of Whatley in the new Heidelberg Materials green livery. There’s nothing on the Revolution website yet but I assume there will be a formal announcement soon. I think it’s great that Revolution are providing such an attractive and up to date livery for modellers and collectors.

Definitely interested in seeing these made. I’d go for both Hanson and ARC liveries - say 10 of each. Any order subject to decent build quality and the correct colour schemes.

The approved new station on the MML on the western side of the Wixams development (south of Bedford and to the east of Kempston Hardwick) will also play an important part in transport links. Although there will be no fast trains stopping there (only twin track) and no services after 10.00 p.m. to allow regular engineering works, there will be direct links to London, Luton Airport, Bedford and points north. In addition the new station will be within spitting distance of KH. My personal opinion is that some of the local roads will still have to be improved as they rapidly become ‘country lanes’ off main roads like the A421 and A6.

True, but thankfully ‘lessons will be learned’. 😬

After an earlier hint that this was on its way Revolution has announced that an N gauge Class 66 is to be released. The announcement, in December’s Rail Express, states that samples will be available to examine at Warley.

And I’m still hoping for a Class 319 in First Capital Connect or even one of the other Thameslink liveries. I can think of at least four to choose from!

Thanks everyone for your replies. They’ve answered all my questions and have been really helpful. Much appreciated.

Hopefully a couple of nice easy questions! I’m trying to find out a) what DMU type would have been used on the Valley Lines between Cardiff Central and Pontypridd in 2000/2001 and b) who the operator was. Thanks.

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I vote for silver and corrections to the signage/labelling. By making the colour change the wagons will at least match the Yeoman 59 that’s pulling them.

I’ve found a nice colour photograph of IHA 31 87 4667 035-1 in the bookazine (lovely word!) called ‘The Changing Face of Railfreight’ published by Morton’s in 2019. The photo, which can be found on page 90, was taken in April 1994 and the wagon looks brand new. Interestingly the distinctive yellow hooks used to secure the canvas cover in place aren’t present on this wagon or on the wagons on either side of it. Instead there’s a different mechanism used. Does this suggest that the original means of securing the covers was found to be wanting and replaced at a latter date by the yellow hooks? I should add that there are no yellow dots or the letters H or HT on the cover.

I’ve just received the latest Revolution Trains newsletter which says that the order book for the 4mm IHA wagon is now open. By the way does anyone know when the letters H or HT and the yellow dots were first applied to the canvas covers? I model up to 1995 so obviously don’t want to include anything which was only used after this date.

I recommend a look at page 32 of the April 2021 issue of Rail Express. There is an article by Gareth Bayer on the decision by Ermewa to dispose of almost the entire original batch of these wagons. The wagons (46 out of a total of 48 in the batch) were scrapped by Sims of Newport at the end of 2020 and beginning of 2021. The article sets out the individual wagon numbers and dates they were sent to Sims. GB stated that the reason for the disposal was unknown.

Thanks for your help Talltim and Clive. Interesting to see the reference to 47’s and the 116’s. Definitely more research required by me! The Flickr photos are really useful.

I’m trying to establish what sort of loco hauled passenger services were provided between Luton and London from about 1967 to 1983, when, I think, HST’s took over. Based on a first look it looks like Peaks, Peaks and more Peaks but I’d welcome any comments and guidance on this, especially regarding the Class used (were they 44’s, 45’s etc?) and the carriage formations. If anyone can recommend some relevant reading for me as a total beginner in this area that would be great. Thanks.

Given the issues with the current Farish model, I would definitely support a new 37, especially in DRS liveries. Revolution have already released the KUA, will shortly release the low level waste PFA container flats and the FNA - D’s are in the works. What’s needed is a decent loco to pull these! Furthermore, it’s usual for two locos to be involved per train so Accurascale could look forward to double the sales. As for wagons I vote for the HAA’s and some CDA’s in ECC livery.

Having spent much of my time travelling on 319’s I hope that Farish will produce some more Thameslink liveries (including the ‘colourful’ Thameslink Project scheme found on 319364 and 365) and the First C(r)apital * Connect Urban Lights scheme. For something special Farish may want to consider 319008 and 009 which travelled through the Channel Tunnel and back in December 1993 with a party of invited guests following the handover of its operations and management to Eurotunnel. In March 1994 the units were named Cheriton and Coquelles respectively and had plaques with the Union Flag and the Tricolore installed on their motor carriages. On the same day they went on to set a record for the fastest time between London an Brighton. * So named by despairing commuters because of the poor level of service provided by FCC.

Thanks Mike and Jo for responding. In view of what you’ve said I’ll divert my funds towards some other (Revolution) wagons I have my eye on.

I’m putting together a rake of these JNA wagons and have the Mendip Rail and Touax versions as they run together. However, I vaguely remember reading somewhere that the plain silver JNA’s (ie no MRL logo) can also be found running with the above. Can anyone confirm this please. I’ve looked for photographic ‘evidence’ but have managed not to find any! Thanks.

I’d like to see an N gauge Class 317. Ten different operators over a period of nearly 40 years.

Great to see this in N gauge. I know the livery is identical to Great Northern but it would be nice to see a Thameslink labelled version of the 387 at some point.

Some exciting stuff in Ben Ando’s column in the August edition of Model Rail. He is very positive about the introduction of UK TT:120 and holds out the possibility of Revolution Trains entering this market. In particular he refers to the IZA cargo wagons, IWA hold-all vans and IPA car carriers, all of which Revolution have already produced in OO and N gauge, as likely candidates for rescaling to TT:120 as they would not only appeal to UK modellers but those across the Channel due to their use in other European countries. A definite plus point for sales potential. Given that a Class 59 (003 Yeoman Highlander) worked in Germany for a time, I wonder if Revolution could also be persuaded to rescale its forthcoming 59 to TT:120? Interesting times!

Just to let you know that the July issue of Buses magazine has a very nice supplement celebrating the Leyland National at 50.