Mike Harvey

8 hours ago, GenericRMWebUsername said:

That's hardly a surprise. This is an American website after all. It takes a lot of wheels to carry American passengers! 

 

Look up PLM/SNCF Type 23 Michéline railcar, well suited to slender Europeans but with 8 wheel bogies and articulated too.

I spent a lot of time at Whatley when these were first introduced. I would be in for 12 in ARC mustard.

I have been using my reward points and got a lot of value from using them for Black Friday and other sale items, resulting in some almost “no charge” transactions. Hornby are still promoting Hobby Rewards if my email inbox is anything to go by.

10 hours ago, RFS said:

 

No, they won't as they're not rigid and will have the same issue as tension locks. You need a rigid coupling for stock with close-coupling mechanisms. I would suggest the Hunt magnetic couplings (which I use) as an alternative because they have couplings of various lengths so you can pick the one that gives the best effect.

 

https://westhillwagonworks.com/13-hunt-couplings-elite-oo

Whilst I agree with the general principle of needing rigid couplers to work with close coupling mechanisms I think it requires the shaft of the coupler to be rigid rather than the head. Certainly in N I can run and shunt my trains using Dapol Easishunts in stock fitted with kinematic close coupling mechanisms. 20 x 4 axle grain wagons work well with each other and locos with close coupling.

The trunk idea does exist in the diecast world but the one I am aware of (Modelmatic) is a 1/64 specialist and does not stock Oxford Diecast.

43 minutes ago, adb968008 said:

Where can I buy Rapido US, here in the UK ?

BART specifically i’m interested in, but Rails hasnt listed it.

 

 

I pre-ordered an Amtrak RTG direct from Rapido UK. It only took a phone call. They do have a north american products page on the website.  https://rapidotrains.co.uk/north-american-products/

They look to be a good Grouping-era selection. The finesse of the cattle trucks is impressive.

10 hours ago, J-Lewis said:

It might be that Les, although there were some new items listed in the Arnold 2024 catalogue so it’s hard to know for sure.  We shall see what’s announced later in the year I guess.

The Arnold document I linked a few days back was their 2024 new items leaflet. It contains announced but so far undelivered items from earlier years and NEW items for 2024 which are marked NEW, It also shows in stock items but not 2023 (or earlier) new items which have already sold out. So the reader knows what is in stock and what is still to come.

Arnold’s 2024 combined N and TT catalog shows several new TT items including container and cereal wagons.

TT from page 110 onwards:- https://d63oxfkn1m8sf.cloudfront.net/6517/0436/6501/Catalogo_2024_Arnold_N-TT_WEB.pdf

In the first week after its announcement the 9 car Azuma was the top selling train on the Hobby Search, Japan website. The best selling Japanese new trains were 9th, 11th and 14th. 

My enduring memory of Peaks is looking back down the platform at Luton through clouds of steam on a cold winter morning with the train wheezing and creaking before the right away. Oh and a cab ride on D2 from Leicester to St. Pancras. It was like riding on a steam roller.

Choosing just one on rule 1 will not be easy.

12 hours ago, Pmorgancym said:

I Pete Waterman can be a little.cringe worthy when thrust into the limelight

That is a rather self-effacing comment, Pete. Good on you.

Tony Chlad’s London Trolleybus layout merited an extensive how to article series in Railway Modeller in 1998. After his death it was saved and is now being restored by Model Bus Federation members in Yorkshire. As well as scratchbuilt and converted trolleybuses, it also featured moving road traffic, trams, a DMU shuttle and a working JCB backhoe digging a trench.

Found the Tomytec turntable. Two versions. Surely Huddersfield needs one. :-)

https://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10372916

https://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10222623

21 hours ago, ellocoloco said:

 

I know from experience that the Hornby website is not always accurate - one of the Electrotren MMC wagons was missing for most of last year from the website and when I contacted Hornby CS to ask they told me it was a commission for a Spanish model shop and only available from them. I ordered two through Gaugemaster and eventually it did turn up as free order on the Hornby website.

 

There is a classic case of misleading images on the Arnold webpage for an SNCF couchette coach in N which shows two coaches for a one coach item, but bizarrely the two coaches shown are not opposite sides of the same coach but completely different. One is a 10 compartment B10c10 and the other a nine compartment A4c4B5c5. The nine compartment has not even been announced so the photos are probably based on the H0 versions. I did tell them about it some time back and it was going to be changed.

13 minutes ago, Kris said:

Are the bespoke numbered ones ordered direct via the Revolution website or via the Rainbow trains website. I can't see mention of these on either.

Ben Ando has said elsewhere that the bespoke option will go live for ordering on the Revolution website next week.

1 hour ago, 4firstimes said:

The announcement that Revolution trains are to produce a new model of the Class 66 locomotive with the options of the various variants, comes as no surprise given their previous choice of Class 59. This is a natural progression of choice I think. A Mail Drop from another forum announced the Revolution intention, and whilst the question was raised of further duplication.
However this is a good example of Revolution challenging the big players in N gauge and raising the standards. The original models of the Class 66, a similar statement was made when they released the “Sheds” in their ranges. Whilst each manufacturer has tinkered around with their models making changes mostly to the fitting of the type of decoders, there has not been any radical changes, and the representation of the variants dated and long over due development. Simply reading the specifications Revolution are proposing , a smaller decoder fitting compared with the Next 18 or 6 Pin decoder and options for additional lighting functionality; there becomes no comparison.
The challenge shows that the main stream manufacturers need to up their game in the market of models in their ranges. The proposed simple design to access bodies to add the decoder either sound or non-sound equipped is a game changer and the Revolution team should be congratulated on the advanced features. 

This is one example where duplication is good as Revolution have aimed to address the technical changes now available to ensure the longevity of their models, with flexibility to cover the large variants. Without referencing the original release dates of the Sheds I expect this to be nearly 10 years hence comfortably state dated. The early releases I look back and see for how long they were withdrawn from production whilst fitment changes made for the decoders . One manufacturer announcing sound variants either of the shelf or as an owner fitting this appears to be over 12 months. Thank you Revolution for improving the Choice of 66 locomotives, being the most numerous locomotive on the network today. This is clearly a case of duplication works to the advantage of the hobby . 

The Farish and the Dapol Class 66s were first released in 2005 - so 18 years ago.

16 minutes ago, teletougos said:

I'd be one of those people, and I go to a fair few train shows. So yes the job of gaining visibility is not easy.

 

But I screen a lot of OO out, as it's never going to be a thing I model. So if you were showing OO on your stall, I'd never retain that information. 

 

I focus on things in N or OO9 that could have a use in TT. Larger dia wheels,  chassis, or components like adjustable gauge/wheelbase trucks, cheap loco bodies to harvest detail items from etc

Most of the Revolution range is British N covering from their first model  - the Pendolino - through Mk5 coaching stock, multiple units and modern locomotives on to a host of modern freight wagons - stone hoppers and box wagons, car transporters, ferryvans, tank wagons, as well as some older freight stock and an underground train.  Pity if you missed out on seeing these at an exhibition. They probably have more tooling in recent years than any of the established UK N gauge manufacturers.  

18 hours ago, GenericRMWebUsername said:

Oh yeah, you're absolutely right that Arnold has an English language webpage. My issue is with the product information that they list. For example, here is how they describe one of the ferry vans:

 

"DR, 2-axle ferryboat refrigerated wagon Tnbs, “Rotkäppchen Sekt”, ep. IV"

 

That doesn't provide too much information for a novice. Compare with Hornby's product description for their TT120 HAA wagon:

 

 

From when UIC numbering was introduced, if the wagon type does not include a small "f" then it is not:-  1) UK gauge, 2) UK ferry compatible. Typical UK ferry wagons would be Habfis, Ufs, Lfls, Uacfs, Laefss.

Most of the ferryboat wagons in the German ranges would see service in Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Norway using the one-time ferry network there, and relatively few would be found in Sicily, Sardinia and the like.

On 10/09/2023 at 18:48, Mike Harvey said:

I have had some dialogue with my contact at Oxford Diecast, and fans of a bog-standard MkV Cortina will not be disappointed. Look closely at the next Oxford new items announcement on Friday 15 September on their Facebook page and  their other social media channels.

Oxford has now published pre-production photos of the 4 N scale Fords. The Cortina MkV mould has been adjusted to reflect a more standard car.

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid0yKWoHGhdBnUqL6MrRjnauH1i28pNmKYmjUdrbDEHRAk26R8iMU7SbV8NE1pmuNVRl&id=100037041907809

Those of us drawing  in 1:1 scale will have in mind the practicality of turning the model into a 3D printed version. So the size (or even the presence) of some details will be determined by what will be printable, as will the wall thickness of structures, etc.  And, certainly in the smaller scales, what the eye can see and recognise needs to be taken into account. I have recently been drawing some fire stations for printing in 1/150 scale. The principal dimensions are drawn in 1:1 scale in SketchUp but the detail of the brickwork has needed to overemphasise the mortar courses for them to be visible in the final printed version. So in the SketchUp file a brick is surrounded by a 12mm deep and wide trench for it to be recognised as part of a brick wall when printed. That 12 mm mortar trench is printed as a 0.08mm channel inset by 0.08mm into the wall and looks convincing enough for me before detailed painting. From normal viewing distance it is a brick wall enhanced by the slight printing variations and clumsy priming.

I am another one who draws in 1:1 and then scales afterwards when converting to an .stl file.

The front track of the 7V was 5ft 4in according to my Haynes "History of Ford Vans Trucks and PSVs".  So width over wheels was not much more than than with the thin tyres fitted at the time. Mudguards were of various widths, maybe related to the width of the body rather than the cab.

@Adam1701D I notice that the five car Chiltern set includes an FO and the artwork shows one car with the Business Zone branding which on the real trains is the ex-restaurant/buffet car included in the sets when the sliding plug doors were introduced. At least two of the sets still had the restaurant buffet car next to the DVT when I saw them at Marylebone last month..