Sir TophamHatt

On 11/08/2023 at 19:02, TomScrut said:

 

Keep a look in second hand shops/stalls, they'll appear in good nick I reckon. I find it remarkable the amount of stuff that is sold that never does much.

The old "opened to check" job!

I'm glad they've eventually released Central livery.

That, the 180 and 755 means 2024 is going to be an expensive year for me.

While Grand Central have just signed up to Voyagers, I wonder whether they would have been more interested in these sets.

Perhaps 14 is quite a few too many to take on though.

This is the issue when you have micro fleets.  No home for them.

Hello

Are you working on a 755 sound set?

And any of the newly announced 158s by Bachmann? 

No rotating axle boxes to contend with then!

On 20/06/2023 at 17:23, Rhydgaled said:

... would be ordered as a single batch from China with the final branding differences applied by yourselves once the models reach the UK...

I'm sure someone from Revolution can confirm but the answer is nearly 100% no.
When the units hit our shores, they'll be send out to buyers.  I can't see any manufacturer opening every one to apply branding.

As others have said, grab the one you want in it's base livery and remove the bits you don't want.  There are also small companies that respray models if you really wanted it a plain colour.

I think the issue may be that the (good, not Lima?) Hornby one is pretty good and I'm not sure there will be enough of a gap between models to warrant someone else making one.

Especially as the market is fairly well supplied with HSTs as it is.  Granted, some liveries are harder to find (in the good shape) but surely if you really wanted one, you'd have one by now?

Granted, there has been the war with the Class 37s and Class 50s - I think perhaps the Hattons Class 66 is just about worth getting above the Bachmann version but HSTs are limited as it is.

When Hornby released the Swallow MK3s, I got a full set so unless there is some sort of amazing development that really sets any other model apart from mine, I am out of the market for any others.

It's sort of what worries me about Bachmann's 170 refresh.
If it's good, good but will it be enough above the current model?

I see... you meant end of May 2024!

🤐🤭🤗

On 26/05/2023 at 21:54, vikingsmb said:

Fyi, I'm not having a go at the poster, just having a go at Hornby for using sealed motors 

Do you have a go at car manufacturers for the same thing?

It's the way tech is going - easier to build the unit as a complete unit rather than lots of smaller bits.

Then just replace the whole thing.

APT

On 07/05/2023 at 21:14, GoingUnderground said:

2. Shuttle train running.

This is what got me interested in the system after the dual control feature.

I tried using some of those diodes in a ring thing but couldn't get the locos to recognise the break in the track and whether I needed to power the track after the break if it was a dead end...  just became a whole day of wastage trying to get that to work.

Heard Horby Sapphire decoders have the shuttle feature built in.

It does and works pretty well but now the loco of choice isn't quite right!

The single element that put me off was that it's a base station rather than a hand hold one.  Not a complete "this means I won't buy this" - it's actually the system I plan to buy when I want to upgrade but it'll be more difficult to use it as a base station on this layout as I didn't build any where for it to live.

Vinyl / lino flooring.

White spirit.

Read somewhere (but fail to know where) that this is better than ISO Alcohol but not sure why.

I have yet to actually use it but next time I'm on a cleaning sesh, I'll see what happens.

5 hours ago, Gray69 said:

 

It is quoted as Winter 2024/2025 on their website, so the project doesn't seem to be going well,

I found another thread that says Hornby set all their projects to this date until they'd sorted out what was happening with them all.

I'm sure they had an engineering prototype a few months back so would be surprised if it'll be 2024.

Just double checking I haven't missed any more about the 745 / 755?

The question is, what livery are people interested in?

The Grand Central one really suits this (well, fogetting the logo made with Windows 95 Paint!) but it's just not the one I am used to seeing it in.  First GW in their boring purple livery is what these units are synonymous with but I am leaning towards the dynamic lines livery.  Sorry EMR but no, despite it being my local operator!

I can imagine the Grand Central livery will be popular.

I ended up getting a set and extension for about £40.

Will probably get it out when the new baby arrives. I don't like the "new baby brought a gift" thing but it could be a good "we still want to spend time with you" toy I can do with him.

Good point about Brio stuff, which we already have a lot of on long term loan. Didn't think about that but it's a loan so anything we buy would go back with it I suppose.

So believe it or not, the boy turned 3 just the other week.

He understands he can turn the knob on my controller and it makes the trains go round.

For Christmas, he was given some Brio that came with a powered train (batteries). It's on/off.

I've been thinking about Hornby's Play trains and think he may enjoy being able to push the buttons and control the train.

Does anyone have any real world advice about this line and longevity? 

On 03/02/2023 at 05:46, pH said:

Since you’re in North America, I would suggest looking at these:

 

https://shop.bachmanntrains.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=2538

 

They work with DC; I don’t know about DCC.

On 03/02/2023 at 08:03, ikcdab said:

This one is still pricey but looks really good 

https://www.dccconcepts.com/product-category/specialised-model-accessories/dccconcepts-rolling-roads/

I have the DCC Concepts version of this rolling road.

It doesn't see much use but when I need it, it's REALLY useful so I paid the £40ish a good few years back now.

Works with DCC.
Can fully recommend this type for flexibility.

I did look at the Hornby one but then realised it wouldn't work if I had different pickups in different places on one loco.

On 24/01/2023 at 09:04, WIMorrison said:

@Right Away Exactly the same as me, excepting that I use White Spirit rather than IPA.

I'll give this a go next time I need to clean.

How does it affect traction tyres?
I don't have many but I've struggled to find replacement wheelsets to get rid of them completely.

On 01/02/2023 at 10:44, The Black Hat said:

Missed a trick not doing more. Northern Blue and Purple would have been a good choice, but cant help wonder if more are coming, given why do a production run for just one model? Get the feeling this was tagged with the other run of Express 158s... 

It'll be their gift that keeps on coming.

I suspect every couple of years there will be a new livery of this model including Northern's iterations.

Their sales model isn't the same as the Hatton's 66 - that was get all the liveries in, sell them all, done.

Bachmann are wanting this cow to milk for years.

The issue is, whether some people will be interested in hacing it in 3-4 years time...

There's been two or three models I've been interested in but by the time they've been released in the livery I wanted, my money and interest lay elsewhere... egro, no sale.

Still holding out for a Central Trains version but only just.

I asked this months ago.

I'm sure it's on the list.  It should be the next one as those liveries saw a wide variety of locations in their life.

16 minutes ago, Talltim said:

Having never actually seen the EMR units, I was surprised to see they have painted them in the crappy half Stagecoach scheme their ex EMT 222s are in. I'd have thought they would have gone for the full purple like the fully liveried 222 is in (except it now has a partial liveried coach in it)

Cost.

It's cheaper to have this half livery (on the 222s) than a full blown one.  I believe the full 222 was for promotional only.  I quite like the half and half livery to show the old one going and the new one coming in but in terms of look - it's awful!

The 180s will be going when the new trains come in - they're just a stop gap - they should have just left them in old Hull Trains livery but I guess perhaps using up old stuff from the 222s means the livery they have now.

On 30/12/2022 at 11:17, Patrick Blake said:

 

I am currently in the process of lighting my three S Stock sets but using warm white LED strips for a more authentic look.

The close couplings that the S Stock need tinkering so that I can connect all carriages in series so that the LEDs can be powered through DCC input.

Sound on my units will be provided by a legomanbiffo sound chip.

Are you taking photos as you do it?
Would be interested to see a guide.

Just coming back to say ours were installed on the 22nd / 23rd of December.

We had the little "how much are we using" thing out for a bit but now it's in the cupboard as I don't really care that much (there aren't really any savings we can make - we've made all we can think of!).

Haven't had a problem as yet.

Getting mine fitted tomorrow.

Will update how it goes.