Hound Dog

Congrats on the best, most sensible and balanced post that I have read on this forum since the first deliveries arrived. I think I can speak for everybody when I say Accurascale are a breath of fresh air to our hobby and put many of the legacy manufacturers to shame……. For a first loco model it is a tremendous achievement, but it also demonstrates the balance that needs to be achieved between detail, quality and durability……. Not sure the balance is perfect on this first model, but it is pretty close and I have every confidence that the decent and genuine chaps at Accurascale will take all the feedback on board and fine tune their many future offerings.

Firstly as I stated in my earlier post I am reserving judgement until I run Nimbus when it arrives…… if it runs fine then here may be a problem with my St Paddy model, if Nimbus behaves the same, then I have a bigger issue to deal with - it will be very disappointing after the long and eager wait, but not life threatening at the end of the day. Secondly, I take your point re 2nd radius curves and lots of detailed parts on a long model, but it isn’t me that is advertising these Deltics as 2nd radius compatible…….. that said there are tolerances in all walks of life and occasionally they simply conspire to work against you……. I am sure the guys at Accurascale will be as supportive as always in trying to achieve a satisfied customer if at all possible. Thanks

Good it was not only me who also encountered the same……. As good as Accurascale are trying to be, the lack of driving instructions is certainly a negative compared to the depth of info provided by SLW.

55001 St Paddy arrived today and it is indeed a thing of beauty, but ran it on the layout tonight and ended up with a bag of bits and currently have all four chains held by a spot of black tack……. I am all for detail but as workable models there has to be a bit of durability built into the design. Also having frequent derailments - yes I have 2nd radius curves and curved points but I do feel that in certain attitudes ( eg up or down inclines when the significant weight shifts across the bogie) there is pipework, coupling or brake blocks ( or even these pesky chains) that are restricting the arc of movement of the bogies…….. I have Nimbus hopefully arriving in a day or two, so will reserve judgement until I get to try it on the layout but suffice to say my Bachman Deltic was dragged from its slumber and attached to a rake of coaches and never derailed once !

Could not agree more - every manufacturer in all walks of life has issues and challenges from time to time, but it is how they respond and address customer concerns that separates the “best in class” from the others……… from what I have seen so far Accurascale seem striving to excel in this area………. As modellers themselves they will want to treat people they way they would want to be treated themselves - stick to that ethos and they will not go far wrong. ps - when my Deltic arrives at 4pm this afternoon, it better be bloody perfect or these guys will soon find out what an angry customer is !…….. only kidding 😀

I am sure a lot of us out there who are less knowledgeable than yourself, would be most grateful if you would kindly post details of the changes you made, ie CV nos and values. many thanks in anticipation

I work in the Electronics industry and there is growing concern about major supply issues due to the prolonged COVID shutdown in Shanghai, and especially the knock on effect of hundreds of ships held offshore waiting to load / unload……. There is screenshot from a maritime app doing the rounds which shows the seas near Shanghai literally swamped with waiting ships. Apologises if I missed a more recent update, but last I saw the Deltics were in a container that had departed the factory - has this actually made it on to a ship and which has set sail for good old Blighty ?

Thanks, but I did manage to read and comprehend the announcement re the Mirrlees engine and lack of recording for same……… However for me a SYE Green version with the English Electric sound package would be a more than welcome alternative, assuming such a combination actually existed in real life.

Am I the only one who was excited to at last see at SYE Green Class 31, but then only to be disappointed that a sound fitted option was not available ?

Apologies if I have missed any earlier messages, but are any additional delivery delays being experienced with all the Covid related restrictions that are now being put in place in China.......hopefully should be fairly short lived based on past experience of such city wide lock-downs, but the backlog of goods will take longer for sure. Thanks

Latest addition to my Diesel Hydraulic fleet is D1035 Western Yeoman in Green livery ......fitted this weeks with name plates and number ( thanks to a forum member who suggested using a Prit stick - worked a treat), and two man crew from Hardy Models, and then given the latest Zimo MS440C sound decoder from YouChoos with a double dumbo speaker ( turned down significantly from the as recd settings and still plenty loud in the garage). Enjoy the video of an up departure from Portencross When I get time I will post my other Westerns with SWD, Biffo and Jamie Goodman sound files for comparison.......I think SWD is probably the best but this Youchoos version is pretty good, especially on set-off.

A few more images.......

Finally completed the new Goods Yard on my Portencross layout.......still a few things to add, eg ground signals and yard lights etc but really pleased how the whole thing has come together.

Slight change from Diesel Hydraulics, as a Class 101 DMU departs Platform 1 at Portencross on a local service which completes a full circuit of the yet unfinished layout before taking the branch line.

Two Unique liveried locomotives Western Champion and Western Pioneer rostered on Passenger services today at Portencross.

I am interested in a colour light signal control product from a company called Block Signalling, and have now tried to contact them for advice twice by mail and once via their on-line contact form.......but so far not even an acknowledgement, let alone a reply. Does anybody have any knowledge of or experience of this company that may be helpful ? - thanks

Desperate to splash the cash on a SLW 25 ( I bought one of the first 24’s and it is different class) but struggling to fit the current offering with my layout era’s ( I rotate between Western region Hydraulics in the 60’s and Scottish BR Blue circa 1980’s) ........any speculation on what the future Haggis and Pastie versions might entail ?

As I have progressed over several years with my first ever layout build ("Montgreenan" set in the Scottish lowlands in the BR Blue 80's), I have developed more than a passing attraction to Green and Maroon Diesels and in particular the Diesel Hydraulics of the Western Region in the 1960's. As my layout is still only some 60% complete, I decided that I could probably make some subtle changes at this stage in order to enable me to switch between the two era's and thus satisfy both itches.........of course this gave me plenty of excuses for buying more trains, but then who needs excuses. So, I have started to take my BR Blue 1980's layout back to the early / mid 60's as "Portencross", a medium sized town in mid Devon at a time when Steam was being replaced by Diesels, and specifically for the Western region by Diesel Hydraulics. To get things started it was pretty obvious that my existing traction maintenance depot would need to be altered to represent an old dirty Steam shed that is now having the accommodate delicate diesels.........the shed choice was easy as Metcalfe do a lovely dual road shed that is fun to build and which i tried to make a dirty and oily as possible, including using soot from my wood burner to darken down the brick work and the pristine slate roof.......I am pretty pleased with how it worked out, although the scalpel was needed to trim the shed to make it fit, so the rear side won’t win any prizes. I also covered up my modern black and yellow hazard door with a home-made replacement wooden door......beyond that I think the depot only needs oil drums, stillages and perhaps a few rusty wheels and a crane to finish it off. Other changes at the adjacent junction involved replacing the concrete signal box and the modern concrete footbridge........I am really pleased with the later which is a cut down Dapol kit, which I initially planned to do GWR Chocolate and Cream but then I thought that would be overkill for a railway workers bridge and went for a simpler wooden affair.......sprayed it with Railmatch sleeper grime which brings a lovely flat and old wooden colour to a basic plastic kit. I am pretty comfortable that I can switch the shed and junction back to the 1980's without too much hassle, and only the weathering on the background buildings is irreversible, but then again they were way too clean for a railway environment anyway.......... I think just about everything that is permanent on the layout can generally fit both time periods, with the help of subtle dressing of accessories etc. I am attaching a before and after picture, plus an after-dark picture of St Meddans Junction and Locoshed.........It is quite a shame how old D601 Ark Royal has already been downgraded to hauling coal wagons as the shiny new Warship, Hymek and Western loiter in pristine condition at the grimy old shed - bet they don't stay that way for long........ Any feedback welcomed as I am still learning as I go with this hobby - cheers Richard

Modelling between two separate era’s on my layout - BR Blue for which I ordered “MELD” a year or so ago; and Diesel Hydraulics in 60’s in the West Country, for which I have ordered a Green “Nimbus” this afternoon !!!!....... managed to convince myself that there must have been Summer Saturday holiday specials in the 60’s where a Deltic could be rostered to take Geordies to Torquay - LOL........ just had to as these Green versions look amazing, and 45 years after coming face to face with my first Deltic at Edinburgh Waverley, the sight and sounds of these giant machines is still vivid in my memory.

Thanks for the feedback, but is it really acceptable to expect the customer to rectify such defects on a brand new and award winning model ?........

Hi, i took delivery of the weathered version of D601 “Ark Royal” from Kernow late last week, but I am concerned about the weathering around the two roof fans....... I think it is intended to show washing effects but instead looks like residue left over as if something had previously been stuck there......... do I have a bad example or is this the standard offering ? i haven’t spoken to Kernow yet and first wanted to get feedback from any other owners of this loco........ for a special edition at £190 I expected to be delighted. Appreciate any feedback - thanks

Thanks for the comments - managed to get this sorted by unsubscribing and resubscribing, and duly recd the latest newsletter a few days ago - so all now good

I used to receive a newsletter each Friday morning from UKMS but it seems to have ceased and when I click on any links from previous newsletters the URL is not found. Does anybody know if this is still active or not ?.......I have recently changed email addresses so problem could be at my end, although I would have thought the web links would still work - thanks

Black and Decker Boy - thanks for posting the video........so glad I decided to go only with the dcc ready version as I think that high pitched whine would have done my head in !

I remember my first train spotting trip as a young teenager thru from Glasgow to Edinburgh Waverley, and being at one end of the station bagging my first Class 31, when I heard this deafening noise........ Needless to say I headed over to the other side of the station wondering what the earth was this magical sound, to then be confronted with my first Deltic........... 40+ years on the throb of these engines still sticks in my mind and I am counting the days until “St Paddy” arrives from Accurascale.......