Mike Harvey

On one of the Facebook groups someone has just motorised a steam traction engine with only the steering being a regular Faller component. Seems to run prototypically slowly, and haul a couple of trailers. The most common modification to stock Faller vehicles is to slow them down using either a lower voltage power source, resistors or diodes, or a combination of all three.

The splashers are the tops of the axle-guards and their retaining brackets IIRC.

I read the crowdfunding comment as referring to the DJModels portfolio only, given the success of crowdfunding elsewhere in the N and 00 market. The DJM marketing mix has not achieved the impact that others have, and as suggested the effectiveness of promotion and publicity plays no small part in succeeding with crowdfunding. Everyone has to start somewhere, but with Dave Jones’ experience with Dapol, and now five years “development” work since the launch of the business, the progress has been far below expectations all round. Nothing I have supported myself or promoted often on other forums has yet been delivered, and only one looks like arriving based on today’s uptake figures.

With much of the cars concealed in the covered wagons I could see the case for a simplified resin casting with a bit of paint on rather than £15 worth of Oxford’s Jaguars/Discoveries. For the open wagons, we may need to bite the expensive bullet.

I think it refers to the castellated flange you can see in the roof CADs, commonly referred to as the Boo-ring.

Ordering page now live. Separate pages for the 2 wagon, and 4 wagon sets. https://www.revolutiontrains.com/product/ipa-car-carriers-quad-wagon-sets/ https://www.revolutiontrains.com/product/ipa-car-carriers-twin-wagon-sets/

There do not seem to be any weathered ones amongst those listed on retailers' sites.

Another two months on, and anyone expressing interest in this is none the wiser as to progress. In my case, I have not received a reassuring email, or seen any active marketing of the project. Life support has been removed I think, so no longer in my budgeted spending for the next 2 or 3 years. I cannot imagine it will be resuscitated.

The Kelly's container traffic using the Procor built PFAs was from Onllwyn to Swansea Docks, for onward movement by Coastal Shipping, IIRC.

Could it be this page you ordered from? http://www.rapidouk.com/bct-guy-arab-iv/

Not sure if these have been flagged before. They are sold fully finished by EtchIT, and as plain 3d prints on Shapeways. Of course , they are 1/160 scale but a polite request for genuine purchase might get them blown up to 1/148. The Citroen Ami 6 might fit that elusive no models period. https://www.shapeways.com/shops/3dcerebro?section=1%3A160+N&s=0 http://www.easy01.de/etchIT-store/pd-1155833398.htm

I understand that there are three elements to the "royalties" issue. Licensing, approvals and royalties. Licensing and approvals incur monetary and time costs, and royalties incur monetary and some admin costs. A few years ago Oxford Diecast invited people who wanted particular vehicle types to commission their own. Those who tried found that they needed to fund 12000 or so units in a maximum of 4 colour schemes to get off the starting blocks. Looking across the world car market there are very few modern vehicle types in mass production in any of the N scales, and equally few in the 1970s to 1990s era. Tomytec were a notable exception but even their range is quite modest for the much bigger Japanese market, whereas their bus and truck production is prolific. Add in the 1:160/1:148 dichotomy and the few that exist in 1:160 (like the Wiking Ford Sierra and Capri) get rejected too for British usage. Oxford's former MD was explicit about their position on N gauge vehicles back in May 2015:- "I get regular emails on N scale suggesting that we are not producing enough. The market is smaller than the other scales, so our decision making is driven by the commercial realities. Our investment in the range continues and by the year end we will have released over 275 items in this range." and "Those who know me will realise that I enjoy straight talking, so if you are prepared to comment, then you have to take the response. So what I would say is “We are always open to constructive criticism, but if our products are disappointing you, put your money where your mouth is and invest in some tooling yourself. Our releases this year – 17 new moulds and over 100 different liveries, some with additional tool mods." Of course I respect your views and we being in the public eye have to take the rough with the smooth."

Attached is the text of a message from Hornby Hobbies France to their EU clients. Roughly translated it says:- “Dear customers Following the June 2016 referendum the UK must leave the EU on 29 March. Whilst negotiations continue, if the parties do not reach an agreement then deliveries to the EU will be disrupted. We strongly recommend our clients to place their orders before 29 March to minimise the risks. Hornby Hobbies will continue to monitor matters closely and will publish further information when negotiations are concluded. Rest assured that we will do what is necessary to ensure that deliveries are not disrupted, and that you do not encounter customs problems. We hope to minimise the impact as much as possible. Yours sincerely etc.” Unfortunately the French retailer that published it in an email to retail customers has chosen to interpret it as a serious risk to supplies and probable large price increases, so they are having a sale ! I read the message as a form of calm preparation.

After being away for a few days I now have had the chance to examine the two Commer Walkthru vans I ordered. I intend to finish one as a Fire Service support van and the hinged back doors will be fine for that one. For the blue/white Rail Express Parcels version the rear door needs to be a roller shutter, and I think that I have a spare of an old 5 thou etch I did for an SNCF 2nd class/baggage car which will fit the bill with a bit of added framing. In both cases I will look at extending the rubbing strakes on the bodyside so that they end just behind the closed cab doors. The quality of the print from Osborn's is exemplary, and as Grahame's posts above show very little work is needed to clean up the print, prior to painting.

There is an outline in post #1 if it helps you.

You can always justify shunting the "green carded" wagons so they are all together, and switching out the "red carded" ones. Could keep you busy.

A listing of 13 different versions has now appeared on the Hattons website:- https://www.hattons.co.uk/stocklist/3156206/1000589/1000637/0/_/prodlist.aspx

Each image has a different catalogue reference number next to it, so presumably the mix of features relates to that intended model.

Please avoid announcements on April 1. :-)

Just wondering what “air” is in this context. Is it some sort of text-speak?

There are some 2mm diameter wheels here at 40 for less than £10. https://www.tgauge.com/product/263/7/20-pin-point-axles-and-40-wheels

There was a fan of sidings at Swingate, each angled slightly differently to allow the gun to be angled towards its target. There is a video of a gun being fired from there on one of the local (Dover) history Facebook groups.

It would have needed reforming to be loaded to a train ferry or cargo ship. Weight distribution on a train ferry would have been an interesting exercise, and I don't think those guns would have liked any sort of ramp angle. :-)

I think I have mentioned before that there is a photo from the Royal Marines library showing the Stonehall depot. It is a double page spread (Plate 70) in the Middleton Press "Southern Main Lines: Faversham to Dover" ISBN 1-873793-05-7. The van nearest the camera has a peaked roof and no ventilators, whereas most of the other vans have a row of ventilators on a elliptic roof. They also all appear to have a centre sllding door. Given the date they are likely to emanate from the pre-nationalisation French fleet.

Perfectly good topic already exists. https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/139829-n-gauge-j94/