Mike Harvey

I agree that we would be very lucky to see any 1980s vehicles in 1/148 scale in next week’s announcements, not for want of direct lobbying by me and others I am sure. Should have bought more Cortinas :-). Curiously Oxford’s N announcements have been consistently around 30 vehicles per annum since they started in N, and that reduced only marginally in 2019 . The year 2018 saw 31, and 2019 saw 28 new announcements. What they have achieved is a reduction in the backlog of items announced but not yet released. December 2017 - 26, December 2018 - 23, December 2019 - 15. So as of today, taking account of this week’s delivery of two vehicles, the outstanding models date from January 2018 - 1 (due to delay in licensing approval by the operator), January 2019 - 1, June 2019 - 6, October 2019 - 5. 2019 was the first year when no tooling in 1/148 was announced, influenced strongly by the uncertain economic and political situation. I am assured that there is a plan for ongoing new tooling in N, some ready to go, and which may well be announced next week. Escort, Marina, Viva........

Faller 161675 Stop Solenoid should be connected to 12-22 volts dc according to the instructions. I believe they are current hungry. The branch off junction needs 12-16 volts AC or DC continuously on when set to diverge. The solenoid only holds the wire to diverge whilst powered. There is a Facebook group for Faller Car System with most of the instruction leaflets in English

Sorry to go off at a tangent and back to the 1940s/1950s. I have just received some N 1/148 and 1/144 prints of vehicles based on the Austin K2. The basis here is the K2 ATV used by the wartime Auxiliary Fire Service (AFS), National Fire Service, post-1948 Fire Brigades, and Civil Defence/post WW2 AFS. The canteen van was also used by the National Fire Service and the WRVS. Other scales are available on Shapeways. https://www.shapeways.com/shops/visser3d The N models are linked here:- Plain Van (ex ATV) https://www.shapeways.com/product/TQBF8J9JS/austin-belle-1-in-148?optionId=139343277&li=ostatus Bus ex ATV. Kent County Council had some similar ambulance conversions. https://www.shapeways.com/product/79KNQ2LGQ/austin-belle-2-148?optionId=139343625&li=ostatus Fire services ATV. Usually towed trailer pumps, but post war some were fitted with pumps. My local station at Dover used one as a Salvage Tender without a pump. https://www.shapeways.com/product/CLTHQEDND/austin-fire-scale-148?optionId=139344118&li=ostatus Welfare canteen van - the young Princess Elizabeth is reputed to have served refreshments from one of these. https://www.shapeways.com/product/MZJY87KAL/nbsp-austin-canteen-scale-1-144?optionId=65315721&li=ostatus

@DSCAs you have probably noticed EFE 26305 fits your period and already carries a Mansfield destination. EFE 26305DL is a more detailed bus with an Alfreton destination. Both are in Midland General blue which was still around in the late 1960s/early 1970s when I lived in Nottingham.

Just a word of warning about the new Hornby catalogue. Its 244 pages weigh in at just over 1 kg. The flimsy carrier bag my wife put it in was in tatters before she got back to the car park. Great value read even though there is not one of my preferred N scale models in it. Maybe the Arnold announcement will perk me up a bit more.

One useful link I found on the DJModels APT-P topic was this. Can't see it on this thread though I may well have missed it. http://www.apt-p.com/APTConfigurations.htm http://www.apt-p.com/aptindex.htm

Other follow ups on this model are in the Tramway Modelling Forum.

Had a useful half hour at Centenary Square/Library station yesterday where the double track layout facilitates taking good side on photos from the opposite platform whilst the trams are stationary on turn round. No OHLE poles to block views either. Decided not to go up to the Library roof to get photos of the tram roofs. Managed to get good photos of two blue units and a couple of advertising livery units which have the advantage that the windows of the centre car have contravision vinyls over them so conveniently blocking the view of the interior, which will be a motor on my model. So I may compromise on a blue version with adverts, although I prefer the time-flexibility of the standard blue with West Midlands diamonds on cars 2 and 4, given that the advertising liveries may come and go over time. Will need some more interior pictures in due course. As well as the side-on views I took a few other photos close by. This picture shows one of the "Just Eat" liveried trams departing Library for Town Hall which is visible in the left background. Note the full vinyl sides on the centre car, with cant rail level advertising on the other cars. Cars 2 and 4 carry the West Midlands diamonds common across buses, trains and trams. The bus lanes in the foreground are not yet in use. The building behind the tram is the new HSBC bank offices at 1 Centenary Square.

Yes, Ben, this one will be blue. If it is successful, then a grey/pink/silver one might be on the cards. Can’t recall whether there were any pink ones which were battery fitted, but rule 1 can apply so it can run without overhead wires anyway. It would be a sort of modern heritage livery. But there is a long way to go to get this one a) looking good, and b) running well. Armchair planning seems to use a lot of paper, but a plan will emerge next year.

I am using standard Tomytec Wide Tram Track which has provision for a centre magnetic wire below the rail level so that it can be shared with the Moving Bus System vehicles the steering of which follows the wire. I will experiment with a magnet on the articulation points which might track well enough to keep things in line on the straight. It will mean lifting the scenery around the already laid track to install a wire, which will be a pain, hence the need for the experiments. Might get some smoothing done today to eliminate the print lines, and a trip to Centenary Square in Brum is on the cards for next week so I can have some photos to form the basis of the artwork for transfers/overlays. I am toying with two routes for the inter-car bellows - either a composite not-to-stiff paper one, or a cylindrical plasticard one similar to the design used by Tomytec on their articulated trams and bendibuses.

The all white one was a one-off for the exhibition fleet. Had a curtain sided van in red and white as company, and a white Procar 80. We had very few vehicles not on-hire in 1989 so our exhibition fleet was bolstered by borrowing wagons back from our rental customers on a short term basis. As soon as wagons were built they were going straight into traffic - with Channel Tunnel construction taking a big share of new builds.

The STS branding was covered by CAIB branding in 1989/90. I know because I signed the production order. So although the odd one survived longer, that white portion was there pre-1990 at least.

The CAF Urbos 3 West Midlands arrived from Shapeways yesterday. With a warm garage I could clean it and give it a light primer coat. A very small amount of sanding needed on the tapered cab nose. I think I will be trying to power the centre car with a Tsugawa TU-7T which will be a snug fit, with a rigid two axle chassis created for each of the end cars relying on the articulation to facilitate curving. Also need to think about the inter-car bellows.

The CAF Urbos 3 West Midlands arrived from Shapeways yesterday. With a warm garage I could clean it and give it a light primer coat. A very small amount of sanding needed on the tapered cab nose. I think I will be trying to power the centre car with a Tsugawa TU-7T which will be a snug fit, with a rigid two axle chassis created for each of the end cars relying on the articulation to facilitate curving. Also need to think about the inter-car bellows.

Somebody may already have designed the bogies you are looking for - either for 3D printing, or already in injection moulded plastic or even cast in white metal. There are a lot simpler things to design for 3D printing and the design process can be an interesting learning experience in itself. I use printing houses to produce my designs.

Aaran has posted elsewhere that a transfer sheet is being produced to rectify the missing printing, evident in my photo above.

For those who have not seen the production versions yet I show here all three of my Castle Cement cars (RT-CC2029-J) which illustrates the close coupling on the straight. There is also a close up of one car to show the bodyside markings and colours on the discharge valve operating handles. It also shows that the black background to the TOPS number panel has not been printed.

Mine arrived yesterday. Impressively close coupling and with the elongation mechanism even works round a 9 inch curve. Smooth running. The packaging has a feel of quality. Removing and replacing the models in it is simple and well within what my banana fingers can achieve. The postman drop tested the packet through my letter box with no ill effects. Lots of positives with these.

This has appeared in the TT trams Shapeways shop, following a dialogue I had with the designer a couple of months back. It is offered in a range of scales. I have purchased one for evaluation for use on my modern N Grand Central layout. I seem to recall that commercial producers have struggled to get a 5 car "snake" with only 3 bogies to work convincingly in a straight line, so I may be looking for some engineering input to get it rolling. Right now I am thinking of separate centre conduit made of magnetic material to pick up on magnets on the articulation points. No catenary will be needed for my route which assumes that the trams operate on battery power as the real ones do on the Birmingham New Street - Centenary Square extension just opened. https://www.shapeways.com/product/DC4GARRS5/west-midlands-urbos?li=ostatus&optionId=134739381 Picture from Flickr of a real one in the new current blue livery.

As well as putting this in the Tramways forum, I thought it worth including it here seeing as it shares the roads in several places across the West Midlands. This model has appeared in the TT trams Shapeways shop, following a dialogue I had with the designer a couple of months back. I have purchased one for evaluation for use on my modern N Grand Central layout. I seem to recall that commercial producers have struggled to get a 5 car "snake" with only 3 bogies to work convincingly in a straight line, so I may be looking for some engineering input to get it rolling. Right now I am thinking of separate centre conduit made of magnetic material to pick up on magnets on the articulation points. No catenary will be needed for my route which assumes that the trams operate on battery power as the real ones do on on the Birmingham New Street - Centenary Square extension just opened. https://www.shapeways.com/product/DC4GARRS5/west-midlands-urbos?li=ostatus&optionId=134739381 Picture from Flickr of a real one in the new current blue livery.

If Oxford wanted to exploit the RM family some more then it probably would not retool the RM, because a new tool for an RML would be have better financial prospect altogether, and cover a whole lot of liveries not suitable for the RM. If it used the clear plastic body format then flush glazing, indicator ears and a better platform arrangement could all be incorporated. Probably needs someone to make a detailed case for it and put the case to Oxford.

Although not a British bus - so a bit off topic - the buses which operate the free 16th street mall shuttle in Denver, Colorado are right hand drive to make it easier for the driver to see boarding and alighting passengers. this is a very high frequency services with a stop on every block resulting in 19 stops in total on a 90 second or less headway. This is one of the older hybrid buses now replaced by a battery electric fleet. https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3333/5843233241_d0a5a2b967_b.jpg

But that would double up on the decoder requirement which the through wiring avoids. We’ll see.

The original batch had NEM couplers at the outer cab ends only. The inner ends have a separable electrical connection to allow the unit to use just one DCC decoder and power the lights throughout the unit in DC operation. The electric coupler is not in an NEM socket because replacing it with an NEM standard coupler would not allow the lighting feed to be maintained. I cannot see why the new version would be any different. http://www.lendonsmodelshop.co.uk/pdf/Arnold Service Sheets/HN3001 - Brighton Belle.pdf

In a post on 26 November 2019 on the 3D printing forum M0rris/CMAC Models has said he is getting test prints for the Rover 800 which should make an small impression on the 1980s/90s list of unmade cars. https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/99217-cmacs-n-gauge-multiple-units-and-sbb-icn/page/9/#comments