JR_P

Sad news - I have no vested interest other than in an N gauge 91+mk4, but I was hoping the OO project would be a success for them to help pave the way for the N gauge version. Hornby apparently stamping on competition (as an impartial bystander, it certainly looks more than circumstantial in this instance) is simply not good for the hobby generally.... so much for the free market economy. Very disappointing all around really.

I think this is the crux of the problem - the spending in the N gauge market is limited by what’s on offer.... if it isn’t available, it can’t be bought!!! I reckon a few years ago I was averaging half a dozen Farish loco purchases per year; I just checked and in calendar year 2019, I bought just one loco (which, although was a new release, was just a re-livery of existing tooling) and x6 mk2a coaches.... that was all. By contrast, I did buy a number of models from Dapol, RevolutioN and Realtrack. So I think Bachmann is the problem, not the market! Moreover, if that ‘buying pattern’ is replicated by many of us, then I can see why Bachmann might think the market isn’t as large as they would hope.... BUT, that belies the truth of the matter.... I would gladly buy some air con mk2s and one or two TPE 350 and a 31 in NR yellow, but where are they???! I can only buy what’s put in front of me. Ironically, I’m probably as frustrated at lack of models as Bachmann are at the apparent lack of market appetite. PS: my knowledge and comment is framed by modelling era of mid-90s onwards.... the situation might be different for different eras.

No chance - Dapol have squarely staked their claim to the mk3. In the same way I couldn’t see Dapol touching mk1 or mk2 (unless they fancied doing proper height mk2a coaches !) because those are covered fairly comprehensively (once the air con mk2s come out) by Farish. If Farish were astute, they would announce a completely new class 90, but I won’t hold my breath. More generally, I’d just be happy to see them give ‘firm’ timescales for previously announced project like the TPE 350/4 and the 319.... and preferably for delivery this year.... again, I won’t hold my breath though....

Thanks for the response Arran. Maybe I’m really confused, but having received three out of a possible four of the packs and in livery-terms only the ‘eco-message’ wagons, it still isn’t clear to me which pack letter I need to order to get the Castle Cement ”Heidelberg” sub-branding ! .... or is it that the pack letter relates to the running numbers of the three wagons, rather than the specific livery.... but that would be a very peculiar way of doing things, not least that the running number is too small to read (for me, at least)....! Thanks in advance for the additional clarification !

Mine arrived yesterday - probably the most detailed N gauge model I’ve ever seen!!! One query though; which of J, K, L or M packs were the ”Heidelberg” sub-branding and which were the “building a better environment” ‘eco-message’…. I would have preferred more of the “Heidelberg” sub-branding and fewer of the “building a better environment” ‘eco-message.... I received J, K and M all three of which were the ‘eco-message’ sub-branding - so my question is; is pack L the ”Heidelberg” sub-branding, or indeed were there even any of the ”Heidelberg” sub-branding produced??? i am hoping these are still available for further purchasing!!!

Twin pack only, as others have indicated. I notice that Accurascale also did the same with their announced 4mm KUA, so I reckon the rationale must be sound. I think among other factors / considerations, is that if you look closely, the labelling, even down to the wagon number is actually quite different on each wagon, thus making each one unique.... accordingly, owning one wagon would effectively mean choosing one over the other - the twin pack resolves that conundrum ! These are going to be fabulous wagons - probably my favourite wagon on the national rail network - cannot wait to see the EP1

oooh, guess what I just found in the closet.... .... no, it wasn’t R Kelly.... .... but it was a spare 374-681, ie. the first DRS mk2a courier coach that Farish produced in 2013.... looks like that’ll be going on a well known auction site in the near future !

Haha, yeah, I’d overlooked that - it’s been in some kind of limbo state for about two years now !!!

The funny thing is, over the past five years that RevolutioN have been in existence, the ‘delivered-to-market’ duration from Farish/Bachmann has become significantly longer and more protracted, just at a time when they are starting to encounter increased competition.... it’s almost like they’re willing to concede market share to the likes of RevolutioN.... By contrast, over the same time frame, RevolutioN have really ‘dialled-in’ their announcement to delivery process - look at how fast new projects are getting turned around.... .... take the KUA nuclear flask wagon; just announced last week, order book opened this week, with EP1 expected around Christmas!.... yeah, sure there was R&D in the background, but six or eight weeks from announcement to EP1 is seriously quick.... that rapid delivery of a tangible prototype makes seasoned model makers like Bachmann look somewhat out of touch with the current market place. Perhaps Bachmann simply aren’t bothered if they concede territory to ‘challenger’ model makers???!.... if Bacmann wanted out of N gauge, their current strategy would certainly enable them to slip into obscurity [with minimal protest from us lot] over the next few years.... .... will be interesting to see if in January whether Bachmann announce a new Class 90 from Farish - I think that will be the real litmus test of their long-term intentions.... only time will tell....

The continued delay of some key Farish products / projects (mk2F, 319, TPE 350) is really disappointing - it’s really starting to feel that the Farish range is the ‘poor relation’ of the Bachmann stable.... At least in terms of modern image, 2019 feels like it’s been a really lean year in N gauge - I didn’t get to Warley, so I don’t know what Dapol are up to in N at the moment, but I didn’t read anything salient online about product announcements or advances from them either. In fact, if it weren’t for RevolutioN (at least in terms of announcements), there isn’t much to celebrate. Perhaps Ben and Mike are starting to make serious in-roads into market share?.... as it stands, the through-put in modern image N gauge from RevolutioN is what is capturing my interest.... .... speaking of which, I noticed elsewhere that the order book on the KUA is now open - happy days - at least that is one thing to be glad for !!! Lets hope 2020 turns out to be a bumper year

I notice a few comments about obtaining the NGS EWS inspection saloon.... is there any likelihood of Bachmann [ever] doing a re-run on that as a general release?.... by which I mean, would they be permitted to do so? They did release the Queen Mary guards van eventually, which I believe started life as an NGS special also.

Glad to hear Bachmann are willing to take onboard constructive criticism and react to it - encouraging news.

With DRS, the rule of thumb is basically this.... Loaded (either x1 KUA or x2 KUA) = x2 locos and x2 escort coaches. If you see any photos where there is NOT x2 locos plus x2 escort coaches, then the KUA(s) is/are, empty. I think there are a lot of positional moves which get captured and thus gives the impression that the rule of thumb isn’t adhered to.... However, the nice part about all the positional moves, which can result in just about any permutation of KUA, loco(s), escort coaches and other wagons (eg. PFA), is that this offers free license to portray the KUA as you please.... ..... and of course, with the KUA now announced, the loaded version of the train is entirely available too (thanks to the Farish mk2a BSO escort), which is nice also!

WOW - such a unique and fantastic wagon .... in tooling already as well - what a great way to start off the Warley announcements.... This finally gives my Farish DRS mk2a escort coaches something prototypical to actually escort !!! .... announcements like this really make N gauge such an attractive scale to model in - cannot wait to see what this model looks like ’in the flesh’....!

Indeed.... I was rather surprised that their original announcement didn’t include FGW ‘dynamic lines’ Night Rivera, or First Scotrail Caledonian Sleeper, but did have the Jarvis livery. Assuming they’re adding the two obvious liveries, that’s a good move....

This discussion about whether to produce the NSE 321 with/without the Royal Mail logo on the NSE 321 is not quite so esoteric as it may first seem.... we are going to run into a similar issue with the NSE 313.... by which I mean which NSE sub-branding does RevolutioN use; in theory there are three relevant to the 313 - Great Northern, North London Line and Watford DC lines.... which to choose?.... or omit them entirely, thus making the units generic.... Difficult to call.... Slightly off topic, sorry.... as you were....

Above query raised a couple of weeks ago now, but to quash any fears, I’ve seen these in person in the past few days and it’s probably the closest ‘close coupling’ I’ve seen on anything to date!.... closer than the Pendo. I was very impressed ! .... these are gonna be a real treat when they arrive....

I notice that the flyer also mentions the con-flats will come with 20ft and 40ft containers.... so a question for Arran I suppose, but I presume the 20ft is brand new tooling? Also, will the 40ft containers be the existing 40ft HIGH CUBE, or a new ‘standard’ 40ft container?

Received a flyer this week from C-rail announcing a new FSA / FTA Freightliner container flat! Those of in N gauge are getting seriously spoiled these days Apparently to be offered as twins (outer-outer), triples (outer-inner-outer) and fours (o-i-i-o). Photo of flyer....

I found a really good photo of 011 in NSE from overhead, dated 1989, so at the very least, we can say for certain it spent at least half of its NSE life with small vents.... but there appears to be a corroborative picture emerging that it might only have been the first ten 313 examples in any case.... .... which of course would explain why people were seeing NLL post-privatisation (albeit in NSE livery) with large vents because a) 313001 - 313017 + 019 and 020 were cascaded to NLL, therefore half of the NLL fleet did have the large vents.... and b) the NLL fleet didn’t get much attention or upgrades.... hence why there are photos about of NLL 313s in the late 90s with large vents.... So, as someone else mentions, careful running number selection will obviate this issue entirely.... jeez, who’d make model trains eh.... ?!!!

All this talk of roof vents made me curious.... I’ve found an example online of BR blue/grey from 1985.... gotta say, those vents stand very proud of the roofline - certainly would have been able to see them standing on the platform! I don’t remember seeing the 313 like that when I was growing up in the late 80s and 90s, so I reckon the change must have been made by then.... of course, my childhood memories could be playing tricks on me!!! That aside, I quite liked the idea [above] of sticking the larger vents over the smaller ones, thus enabling all versions to be accurately depicted.... although that sounds pretty labour intensive (read ‘expensive’) if the factory have to do it ! Maybe an item to include ‘in the box’ for individuals to affix, should they so choose....? Notwithstanding, BR blue/grey is well before my period of interest, so some kind of compromise around the roof vents probably wouldn’t affect my desired liveries (FCC and NR) I’d guess.

Interesting - I thought all the 313s were built as a single batch to a standard design - what running numbers are in which 313 batch? I think I’m correct in saying that ‘as-built’ there was no sub-class - they were all simply 3130xx. Train roofs are a curious thing though - as a member of the travelling public, you nearly never see them.... but on a model, especially in N gauge, that is probably most of what you see, as I’m pretty sure most of us view our trains from an angle from above and almost never directly side-on.

I like the Coastway 313s - they are in much better condition inside and out than the GN 313s - the latter are really shabby these days! That said, I’ve got some photos of exquisitely graffitied GN 313s !!! Not heard anyone calling for a 315 - no one ever seems interested in GEML or WAML stock.... I grew up traveling into Liverpool Street (and KX).... got a soft spot for all things East Anglian....

Ah, good knowledge ! Ironically the air dam difference was a detail I would not have noticed if the front end had been more favourably portrayed and I wasn’t scrutinising it to begin with! I guess we will just have to wait and see how the ‘cookie crumbles’ as to what Farish finally end up producing....

Yeah, you’re not kidding - those helpful side-by-side images just aided me in spotting yet another error; the air dam is incorrect too.... the list just gets longer and longer.... I am absolutely mystified as to how all these errors get through QC. is it lack of familiarity with the prototype or lack of attention to detail....?! Sad, very sad. Seems I might save myself £250 (and multiples thereof)....