Mark201

It's nice to see the Mk1's back again. I have some blue / grey of the previous releases. This new announcement mentions that some of the new releases are TSO's. My older ones are SO and SK. I get that SK has a corridor but what is the difference between the previous SO and this newer TSO? I am also assuming that there is no corridor stock in this release..... Mark

The magnetic stick is for DC users to switch cab lights on and off by waving the stick over the roof of the loco. It is in the instructions,,,..just under the stick in your photo. Mark

Mike, Many thanks for that. Most helpful. Mark

Mine arrived today, very pleased. Nice model. I got a 4 pack and the twin with the flashing tail lamp. Only problem is I can't see the switch to turn on the lamp The instruction leaflet says 'The switch is very fine, so as to be unobtrusive, and it may be easier to operate using an uncurled paper clip or cocktail stick'. The switch is so 'unobtrusive' I can't see it. Probably just my eyes getting old. Any help most welcome. Many thanks Mark

Yes, I had the same problem. Screws very difficult to remove but did not explore the reason why. Now I know! Mark

I had a problem with the lighting in the trailer coach. Headcode worked fine but the interior lights did not work. I had a NSE one and a blue/grey one. The NSE one was fine, it was the blue/grey one I had the problem with. I returned it for an exchange. Mark

Guys, Thanks for the suggestions, they are really helpful. Mark

Hi, I have recently acquired a Heljan Class 58 in Railfreight Coal sector livery. Unfortunately it has the grey doors. I have decided that I can't live with the grey doors and want to paint them black (there's a song title in there somewhere)! Does anyone have any advice on the paint I should use? I don't think they are gloss, are they matt? I really have no idea and would value anybody's opinion on the best black paint to use and by which manufacturer. Many thanks. Mark

I have been running my two new 33/0 this week (33 021 and 33 026). I noticed that after some time the lights were dimming as well as the headcode light. The roofs felt warm to the touch and i had noticed a a faint burning smell. I took the bodies off to investigate. What I found was that the bulb had got so hot that it had started to melt the clear plastic bar that transmits the light from the bulb. The bulb was also quite black. I had a couple of spare bulbs in the spares box and fitted them and all is now well. I wonder what might have caused this? The only thing I can think of is that the track voltage is too high. I run Lenz set 100 which comes factory set to 16V. This seems a little high to me and a bit of research revealed that the 'ideal' voltage for OO DCC is 14.5V. I have lowered the voltage on the Lenz DCC system to 14.5V to see if it makes a difference. Has anybody else had this issue? Could there be a different reason for the bulbs overheating and melting the clear plastic light bar? Any suggestions are welcome. Mark

I do find this debate about product announcements most interesting - to announce or not announce, that is the question! It's a tough one to call and so difficult to get right. For me, I am happy for Bachmann not to announce so much this year and hold announcements off until a model is further down the production line. I am minded to the 'announcement' of the 2-HAP. Announced in 2016 to coincide with the celebrations of 30 years since the start of operations of Network South East. Clearly 4 years on and still no model, one could assume that the model was at the very early stages of development when the announcement was made. I note that in the Winter issue of Bachmann Times the model is listed as 'In Production' in the OO Scale Works Report, but not included on the Bachmann 'Coming Soon' flyer I picked up at Warley which lists up to March 2020 for OO. I don't realistically expect to see the 2-HAP until the summer 2020. Given the suggested move by Bachmann to hold off announcements until a model is further down the production line, the 2 HAP would not have been announced until the middle of last year, somewhat missing the NSE celebrations by 3 years. Surely if Bachmann wanted to be part of the NSE celebrations then development of the 2-HAP should have started way sooner in 2011/12, they did have 30 years notice. All that said, I am sure it will be a fine model when it arrives. Mark

Overall quite pleased with this announcement from Hornby today. Class 31 'Dutch' for sure for me and agree with other comments about the lost opportunities of Class 31/4 and liveries. Just love The Beatles Eurostar and will be after a set and have already made a pre order for 'Rocket'. Can someone help as I have bought the KFA container flats in the past branded as 'Tiphook'. I see there are new announcements today of KFA container flats posted as 'Tiphook', however the container flat has a branding of 'Touax' on the image. Is Tiphook and Touax the same company or is this a mix up? I've a feeling Touax is a bit later than Tiphook but would appreciate some clarification Many thanks Mark

How about a BR Blue 09 with the waist level pipes. They have the tooling - 09 012 'Dick Hardy' produced a few years back. A vote from me for BR Blue and Mainline 31/4

Disappointed there is no Class 31 in the range. I think it is a good model and a BR Blue re livery was dropped from the 2016 announcements. What with mazak rot i suspect there are a few who would like to replace their crumbling collection. Mark

I have just noticed the Class 71 listed on the 'well known North West box shifter' website in the new release section. I thought these were Kernow 'exclusive'. Is there a time limit to exclusivity? Also as this was 'crowd funded' I did not think there would be residual stocks, at least not enough to pass onto other suppliers.

Update to post #751 Re poor running and decoder issues. As other people on here using DCC were having no issues with performance when running their loco's I thought I would swap out the Lenz Silver decoder I was using. I had a Hatton's, Gaugemaster and Bachmann 21 pin decoder. I put one in each of the three loco's and each one worked perfectly. So, the loco did not like the Lenz Silver decoder. All of which if fine if you accept that you are running the loco's with the decoder inserted upside down. The circuit board on the loco has an incorrect DCC interface.Pin 11 is present when it should be missing and pin 12 is missing when it should be present. It seems the Lenz Silver decoder is affected by being inserted upside down resulting in the poor running. In my opinion this is all linked to the lighting issue both directional and cab lighting. As Red Fox states in post #764 'Way back when the model was announced it was planned to have PluX22 socket but it was changed during the development process. PluX seems to have sunk without a trace in the UK market' I believe that following this decision to change to a 21 pin decoder the DCC interface was changed but the circuit board was not. I do not know enough about DCC but in my view there is a link between the incorrect DCC interface, the circuit board and the various lighting issues (cab switchability and directional). Mark

Now here's a thing. I have been looking forward to this model since it was first announced and am now in receipt of the Intercity livery, large logo, and plain blue. The paint errors mentioned here I agree with but I can kinda live with it however my 3 models have been plagued by poor performance. I run on DCC and have fitted Lenz silver 21 pin decoders direct to each of them. The model was slow to react to changes in speed the would run in a jerky fashion then stutter over some points. So I took off the body and the run it with the body off, it ran so smooth, no issues. Replaced the body, performance issues return. Body off all ok again so I conclude the lighting is interfering with the data packets being sent to the decoder. Tape over the pin connectors replace body everything is fine. But now I have a model that works fine but has no working lights. Further investigation reveals the decoder is fitted upside down. Doh! So I refer to the Lenz decoder instruction leaflet and they show the decoder should be fitted with the black bar for pin connection facing up. PIN 11 bottom left should be missing on the model. On my three models pin 11 is present and pin 12 is missing. I checked with a Bachmann 47 and pin 11 is missing and pin 12 is present. So, it does not matter how you position the decoder it can not be placed on the model the correct way up. So I deduce that the incorrectly fitted decoder (upside down) is affecting the performance of the model. I think Dapol need to recall this model and replace the circuit board as the decoder connector/interface is wrong. I guess its all ok and everything runs fine if you are using DC. This is such a shame as I think the model looks fine and I also have the Pullman version on order. I would post pictures but they are too big. Mark

Hi, I have just received my new Dapol 73. I have fitted a Lenz Silver Direct 21 Pin Decoder. As well as the directional lighting issue already mentioned my cab lights are on and stay on. Can't seem to switch them off. Also I can't programme 7302 into the decoder as it comes up error 31. Apart from that I am very happy with the model. Any suggestions to fix the cab lights and loco address would me most welcome. Many thanks. I am using Lenz set 100. Mark

Time Is On My Side - Rolling Stones