NickL2008

Good news indeed, rep from the HTG said "February-ish", but good to have a bit more of an approxtmate timescale of their arrival - cant wait! NL

On my ones, I remade the end stanchions that hold them on, and replace with wire, drilled into both sides. I scratch built the new stanchions, but you could also 3D print some NL

Nice work. I too have replaced the chunky platforms and toy like handwheels on my Dogfish. I went a step further and also replaced the steps. Stenson models builders plates also finnish these wagons off nicely too NL

Was that the plug for the lighting? I removed mine without any issue from mine, though I can see why you have to be careful, its easy to forget these are there and lift the body up without much thought. I wont say anything else for fear of jinxing further work needed! That said, I also held the sides with tweezers and carefully wriggled the plug out and that seemed to work? likewise for the cab light plugs also NL

Will follow this thread with interest as attempted to fit my 33204 with a Zimo, MX600r decoder, but it pretty much refused to work with it sadly. The bulbs could be why it didn't like the decoder so looking to upgrade the bulbs also NL

Hi- A quick update on my latest aquisition. To replace my older model of 37191, the latest Bachmann release of 37201 seemed a suitable replacement. So far the model has Heljan snowploughs, and the vacuum / air pipes replaced with wire, and new recepticle ends made from filed + reshaped plastic rod. The "pidgeon spike" airiels also replaced with very fine bristle from an old toothbrush. The next jobs, will be to add working screw links, and get the body renumbered + nameplates removed, and order the replacement roof grill and glazing from Shawplan, and of course sort out that incorrect cast bogie! ( dont suppose anyone has one to swap? ) Further updates soon NL

Good afternoon, Work has been going on in the background for Marlow end, and with the arrival of board #3, things really have progressed well, so here I am back with another update. This board will be the main "control" board housing the controller as well as the signal and points control section. Attached to the front is the caddy holder for the DCC controller. As santa has brought one for Christmas this is now sorted also, so I can get to work chipping all my stock and installation sound etc. For the layout pointwork I haeve gone for Cobolt "IP digital" motors, which will be easy enough to install after watching plenty of online tutorials and studying the instructions religiously. The front fascia has now gone on, which also acts as part of the "lid" to keep everything safe and hopefully Dust free. Thoughts then turned to lighting one of the important aspects. I found some flat lights in Homebase which looked ideal, and came in a "warm white" also - perfect! To mount them they are screwed int othe top supports and then the wire can be attached onto the supports and then fed through to the outside of the board - simple and easy. Pics below are a bit old now as things have been tridyed up, and the track soldered. The road bridge is in place; this was assembled back during Covid and placed in store since so this has been used. It still requires a bit of tidying up and then the road added to it. So, here we have the first few vehicles for the layout a Ford Granada coupe and a VW Jetta, both of which will hopefully fit in "Era 1" . A trip to Halfords has yielded "Ford Colorado Red" and "BMW Cosmos Black" for both vehicles. Theyve been washed and primed so are ready for painting and detailing. Hopefully more soon NL

I to only have one newer Bachmann 37. The accurascale equivalent I wanted has already pretty much sold out on pre-order. So plenty of demand is there. Mine was a bargain from Rainbow Railways. There have been several comparisons, but I think i'll pass judgement on which one is better when my 37714 arrives. i must say, Its great that currently at the moment we have different versions of the same model out, theres plenty to choose from, from the most part. they'll always be that one varient that someone will want, but as the class lasted so long this will probably always be the issue. Will post my work on my one in my own workbench thread soon NL

Hi Will - Very nice, ive used the Hunt coupling on my 117, though not sure if ive managed to get it as neat as yours! L210 is on my to do list, but the layout has eaten up alot of time recently NL

Enjoyed the chat with you today, and seriously having to have a think to preorder one, they looked amazing today at Warely! even down to the sound files NL

I do like the new Heljan 47, it is still let down by the flat looking Headlight, the soundfile sounds good on it too, heres my take on it, I did look at it carefully as well. It certainly is better than the previous tubbyduff. Pity the 57s, havnt been retooled as well NL

I'll be like a kid in a sweetshop this weekend at Warley! sorry just thought id warn you in advance Those do look great guys, better than the Hornby one, look forward to seeing them in the flesh this weekend! NL

In typical RHTT condition, 37407 Blackpool Tower tnt 419 Driver Tony Kay head through Bempton, about an hour late working the 3J51, York Thrall - York Thrall via Scarborough, Filey and Goole. 419 developed a fault so this was the last saw of this working that day NL

Didn't know it had popped up on the Alphaline service out of Waterloo?! Used to frequent the SWML fair bit back in the "spotting days" tempting but don't know if I can justify one appearing on a GWML branchline in Bucks NL

Nice work Will, Layout has eaten up my time recently, Ive started working on the spare Bachmann Bubble shell, probably do it as 55026 with NSE flashes etc. NL

73212 + 202 head out of Wye on 3W74 today, running 83 minutes as it heads out of Wye, Kent ... 03/10/2023

I use the red bottle T-cut to remove anything, as long as you dont rub too long, anything comes off fine off the Dapol model. I used T-cut on my NSE 73 to remove the overscale nameplates, and it worked a treat. Resisting the urge to get a 73202 at the moment as my 73109 needs a chassis! NL

Just about got away with the sun! 73109+212 lead 66718 through Merle Common with the 1Z80, East Midlands Parkway-East Grinstead... 23/09/2023 NL

Ah yes, I remember that, that was a good afternoon, had lovely weather and was happy to finally get 37261 and 97301 and the fact it fell on my day off too was an added bonus! the Greenford cleared out of the way just in time when 261 came southbound much to my releif in the second shot NL

Emerging out of the morning mist alongside the Severn estury is 60010 heading through Gatcombe on the 6B13, Robeston-Westerleigh tanks.. 09/09/2023 NL

Hi Russ, This loco hasnt been in the best condition, its been repainted, albeit the fronts have faded pretty quicky but from what ive heard internally its not been the best to say the least! NL

37227 leads the 1550 Parkend-Lydney junction, non stop through Whitecroft, after a burst of acceleration during the Dean Forest Railways Diesel Gala NL

Excellent news, 90s condition was what im aiming for with my one and the fact theyre not printed also really helps out also NL

47712 "Lady Diana spencer" leads the Sussex Coast Statesman through Wilmington, with plain blue 57003 on the rear, working 1Z34, Eastbourne-Shrewsbury NL

For me, the area between the top of the cab "lip" and the Marker light panel looks to obig, it does look like this sample has no black around this area giving that odd illusion that this area is too big. Also, the lights are good - something which Bachmann continously gets wrong with thier over sized renderings of the marker lights. however the headlight is still too flat looking, so for me itd be out with the scapel still to replace this, something which give nthe RRP of this model, I shouldnt have to do to get it looking right. 47329 also has V-airiels, so lets hope they added those on. The etched roof grills, of what can see of them look ok. Still further tweaks needed on this one, so I do wish Heljan the best of luck with this model NL