Covkid

Have a feeling a 3 car 170 has as many seats as a 4 car Voyager. The latter has 176 IIRC. The DfT really need to decide whether the new franchise is an intercity brand or just a series of interurban journeys. The fares are based on the former but thew current service is very much the latter. Unless that distinction is set out in the bids then the franchise will remain a miserable, under provisioned, wedged mess every weekend. The figures don't stack up financially when you consider the four crew salaries involved in moving less than two hundred passengers on an intercity train. Mk5s would provide a lovely ambience for passengers but a lot of (but not quite enough) of XC's route mileage is under OLE. Any future roilling will inevitably be Bimode

Thanks for your information. From what i can make out, the only pure HS2 route mileage providing a useable service will be HS2 phase 1, and phase 2 once the Manchester link has been built. Then the eastern arm of the "Y" to maybe Sheffield. I believe all other services will use existing NR track north of Sheffield and north of Manchester / Warrington. Please correct me if I am wrong but will the company procure "euro" size captive units in addition to the CCs ? I am sceptical.

Don't start me off !!! Portmadoc was established as Madock's port by William Madocks. Tremadoc is part of Portmadoc and literally translate to Madocks' town - tre translating to town in Welsh. The Welsh spelling / phonetic of Madoc mutates to "Madog" I have absolutely no issue with the Welsh wishing to retain and promote the language, but to Welshify names which have existed for centuries - not so keen. Classic case - Welshpool. Seems it is not Welsh enough and is known by some as Y Trallwng.

The success of HS2 will be measured by how successful it will be integrated into UK life. i was a critic of the project when it was first launched and still have major concerns, but the fact remains that for some journeys it will provide a choice. Critical is what kind of service is to be offered. Obviously with phase one it is pretty much London - Birmingham but with the development of the triangular junction taking HS2 to join the WCML near Hints in East Staffordshire other journeys open up. The other leg of the "Y" taking you north to Toton, Sheffield etc with connections to the north, many more possibilities. Imagine rocking up at Sheffield for a train to Birmingham. Theoretically there will be whatever XC migrates into by then on a replacement for a Voyager, or there is possibly a HS2 service to Curzon St. The subtle point here is whether HS2 provides the additional choices, or whether HS2 subsumes existing routes. Perhaps parts of the Cross Country network will be removed and replaced by HS2 - who knows ? Similarly the VWC service from Piccadilly to Euston which is currently three Pendolinos an hour might reduce to just one express and a "semi" if business is transferred to HS2. Undoubtedly some stations with a geographical disadavantage might have improved fortunes - Stafford, Coventry and Rugby for example. The greatest disappointment for me is that we are having a brand new railway but the huge majority, if not all the rolling stock using it will be to cramped classic British loading gauge. I wait events.

I would echo that. En route to Wales I have called in at their Chirk premises several times and had really excellent "face to face" service in their shop. More recently I believe someone from the factory pops through the door into the shop when the bell rings. I recommend perseverance.

Sorry I can't provide an image but 170503 has been released into traffic with the new version of the West Midlands livery. Predominantly silver grey sides with a dark grey or black band below the bodyside windows. Ends are orange around the edge of the yellow warning area, in a kind of GBRf clash of colours. Doesn't appear to be any purple on it. I believe there is now a push to start reiverying WMR / WMT stock so expect more soon

But in that case I believe locomotives and conventional roofed rolling stock is unable to operate without the OLE being switched off.

Would I be correct in thinking a batch of these were used for CWR trains on the LMR John ? for some reason I am linking DB726xxx numbers with Hookagate CWR depot on the Cambrian line west of Sutton Bridge Jn. Sadly this image http://www.rail-online.co.uk/p942588997/h56F30474#h5718ac3c doesn't appear to be showing any, but I also didn't realise that a Ruston diesel shunter was used there !!!

The key to successful LNER operations with the 800s will be keeping on top of the fuel levels matched to diagrams. If you have say a 1280 mile diagram for a Bimode with a diesel content of 320 miles, then whatever diagram the unit is next allocated to (assuming it is not fuelled overnight) will need to consider that. As the 800s should normally be drawing 25kV between Kings Cross and Edinburgh, it will be offwire diversions and set swaps which weill potentially catch the Controllers out. You are right though that bigger fuel and pigpee tanks won't be necessary unless Agility choose otherwise. The MTU engine power output however appears to be a concern. Absolutely Correct. Which suggests electrification should be a darn sight simpler, with ample hydro electric power theoretically available.

Perhaps I am making assumptions but if the MTUs are uprated to 900hp (per 802s) for the diesel work north of Dunblane then they surely will use more fuel than the "muzzled" MTUs - irrespective that the theoretical diesel portion is only in the Scottish Highlands. What would the LNER policy be on carrying fuel in Bimodes I wonder. The rheostatic brakes as fitted to the 802s would be really useful for running downhill over Slochd and Drumaichter and save considerable disc and pad wear compared to the 800s.

I suspect the DfT is the main issue here - going against industry thinking by going to Hitachi and trusting they can deliver a product to match the HST2 requirements. Roger Ford is not the only "expert" to have questioned the physics of the IET way back two years ago, and sure enough he has been proved right in the case of the IET on diesel. Apart from the Inverness service things would have worked out OK, until the Right Honourable Chris Grayling chose to cancel / defer some electrification schemes. But we are where we are. I suspect that a small pool of dedicated LNER 800s could be uprated to 802 spec fairly easily with larger fuel and adblue tanks and uprated rheo brakes. This handful of units would be dedicated to the highland service and could even wear a special livery to promote it. Trouble is conversion costs through Agility, then the lifetime much increased running costs of increased downtime and more frequent replacement of MTU engines set at 900bhp whilst working in Scotland. If only the DfT actually listened to the industry experts who cut their teeth in railway engineering.

Interesting. Does this mean there are no concerns over an 800 on standard engine ratings achieving HST timings on the Inverness diagram ? The limited press I have seen suggested the 800 tests struggled to achieve the necessary timekeeping

As has been said, the DfT are totally responsible for the overcrowding of trains because they are the Department for Transport. The Northern Franchise renewal in 2015 saw a planned huge increase in capacity after a complete previous franchise term of zero increase. This has led to Northern Trains desperately trying to recruit enough crew, then train them on the routes and tractions, with little timescale to achieve. TPE will be the next TOC in the position with a significant timetablew increase and three new fleets to introduce and get staff trained on. CrossCountry by comparison was originally planned to renew it's franchise in 2014, with a "good behaviour" extension to 2016. Coincidental in this year 2016 was when the West Coast franchise voyagers were to come off lease had DfT (yes them again) not screwed up the WCML franchise, which coincidentally saw Virgin extend their tenure on a management contract. 2016 extended into 2017 and here we are with XC in 2018 on its extension to 2019 or even maybe 2020, and the only additional rolling stock in those ten years, as Andrew said is two unwanted cars from a 4 car West Coast voyager. The new XC franchise is currently being discussed including cutting some of the extremities of service like Aberdeen and Guildford, but the fate of train travel on XC is entirely with the DfT and the pressure groups, but DfT cannot make up it's mind what kind of service it intends the franchise to offer. Should it be a long distance Intercity brand where travellers are not subjected to severe overcrowding by shorter interurban hops. Should it be a fill in service between other brands on the same route ? Whatever happens there must be an order for new Bimode stock so that whatever happens, an Edinburgh - Penzance train doesn't start it's diesels until prior to Colton Jn or York at least. Massive respect to the onboard crew of 221127 on the day and all the other people involved, and again as has been said just a handful of thermal incidents (220007) actually empty on the depot at the time} it is a pretty good safety record, given the mileage these things have achieved.

IMHO the shades of red, particularly more recently, can weather pretty badly in terms of colour fade. One of my first experiments with weathering involved two very cheap Model Power boxcars (American) which I had obtained from an erstwhile model shop in Shrewsbury. One was red and was yellow and I wanted to try and represent colour fade from years undrr strong sun in a hot and dry climate so I started with diluted white colour washes and was very pleased with the results, which I then tried on the yellow boxcar. That little bit of experimentation on a couple of cheap models along with some "professional" advice gave me much confidence and colour washes are now my chosen method. Therefore "STH" you need to decide how "new" or weathered you red wagon needs to be then try a few washes. I admit i am more relaxed with acrylics but intend to experiment more with enamels. Just slap some diluted wash on and see what you come up with as a start. Is the wagon pictured your first target ?

Perhaps that is why Dave was able to get that accountant on a Saturday. I bet few work weekends !! Here's hoping you turn the corner Dave and get some organisation into DJM. Might feel awkward to you but perhaps slimming options down to maybe two or three. If I were to offer an RTR APT-P It would be a 5 car and a 7 car fairly bog standard but quality product. I would have a number of plain extra cars produced but not retailed but would offer a premium / custom service of extra cars, internal lighting and different numbers and custom refinishing for those who were prepared to pay for it.

Oh dear. There seems to be a lot of negativity here. Our friends came round for dinner yesterday and he models "O" mostly kit and scratchbuilds. He ordered some Peco wagon underframes from Osborne's and was delighted with the service, although he couldn't figure out how Osborne's are cheaper than Peco's own.

so maybe I was right about the flush nosed Laira 46 !!!! (post #2)

Have all the St Blazey class 37s been done yet ? How about a Bachmann produced Laira class 46 with flush noses - anyone fancy ?

Interesting debate with many different thoughts and attitudes. In my view, so long as Jeremy Hosking and David Smith and to maybe a lesser extent John Cameron are in the railway business there will be steam on the mainline. But those operations are in a business environment rather than a kind of gentlemen's club (not intended to be derogatory). It would be really goo to see Vintage Trains at Tyseley get back on the bike and tun it;s own trains and maybe that will happen this year, but steam has to be run as a commercial enterprise.

Not necessarily. Any model manufacturer can rock up to the masses and produce, market and sell a product. IMHO the key to success is producing a durable model which looks right and works, in a decent timescale and at a price people will pay. I am sure the brand will have something to do with it but I bought my first Kernow loco last week, only because it is the first loco they have produced which I want. I will be having a few GPVs from Rapido because they are a model I want, I trust the brand to deliver and recognise the effort they are putting into making them scale. Regarding Hornby and Bachmann, yes, I would like some BR liveried maroon "portholes" and a couple maroon "Thomos". I feel we have waited long enough for the both of these liveries, but I also appreciate there is a marketing force at work where Bachmann see the least popular models first, then flood the market with BR maroon - well hopefuly !!! Still believe the market is there for GWR / BR(WR) non corridors and LMS motor train (push pull) and am surprised Oxford haven't dived into this particular honeypot, but Rapido would be very welcome, although I sense wrong era.

As has been said, he is a one man band so you can only imagine what that involves. to be fair though Graham Shaw who ha the business prior was pretty much a one man band with regard to running the business. I suggest patience, as I did when I sought some plates for D215. I was in no rush so it didn't matter to me.

Couldn't agree more "jjb". Jason seems to have the "X factor" of knowing what the fans want, knowing how to make it happen, and knowing how to run a successful business which makes it happen. The mention of the thin yellow line in his interview is testament to a man who knows how to produce something in an economical and timely manner. My only wish would be that he could be persuaded to export his skills and experience to a UK based operation for UK stuff. This is not meant as a derogatory slur on the existing UK developers, but it actually puts some zing into our hobby. My personal mope has been about waiting years for the Bachmann 24, the Bachmann maroon "portholes" and the Bachmann maroon "Thomos". It seems that Rapido's MO is based on the company name, although I have yet to purchase a Rapido model - yet. I just wonder what were to happen if Jason released a wacky video next week stating his intention to produce the BRCW class 104, the XP64 coaches and "the Fell" !!!

You might also want to take a look at Jim Smith-Wright's project on P4NewSt. Jim tends to favour Hornby class 110 bodyshells for his 57' frame DMU conversions.

Well done Hilux. Fair play to you for your dedication because I imagine some of it must have been quite repetitive. I do think the darker red / maroon looks more authentic but digi photography can mislead.

Very interesting interview. Thanks for sharing the link