Ollie K

Some predictably rubbish photos of the four 91s and DVTs in a glass display case at the GETS this weekend.

New pics of the RoS V2s here in LNER and BR livery. Very hi-res pics too, if you've got a decent screen to study them on. ETA in November... https://railsofsheffield.com/blogs/news/exclusive-Bachmann-class-v2-locomotives

Coincidentally I photographed (4)5428 last week after riding behind to Whitby, a matter of days after seeing Bahamas at the Nene Valley Railway and spotting it too sports a mixture of tender wheels.

Hopefully this isn't breaking any embargos and I'll remove if it upsets anyone, but no-one said this wasn't shareable and I asked permission to take photographs and handle the model. I had a chance to get hands-on with the LNER green-liveried W1 last week and observe it running. A few short observations: The loco is light. Feels lighter than it 'looks' given its bulk - the boiler / bodyshell is all plastic and the chassis doesn't feel particularly heavy. No more so than the current A3 / A4 models, and from memory not as heavy as the A2/2 or, say, Hornby's current Princess Royal Pacifics. I was told this example could haul 6 bogie carriages on the level but struggled beyond that. Hopefully this was an early sample without the final amount of weighting added. Lamps are included. They are shown fitted on the box art. A really nice touch IMHO that makes the loco look much more 'finished'. Hopefully this is the start of a new habit from Hornby including them in the detail pack. Detail pack had vacuum hoses, brake rigging, and a pair of axles with unflanged wheels. Can't remember if there was a three-link coupling. The loco was already supplied with unflanged trailing truck wheels, so it seems odd more would be included. A pre-production oversight perhaps. Colour looks similar to the A2/3 Edward Thompson seen alongside. I believe some took issue with this being a shade too 'blue' and not a warm enough green. Then again it's a fictional livery only used on promotional cigarette cards. These are only handheld iPhone shots of moving models under artifical light. Lining, cab detail and overall shape look fabulous. Very glad Hornby now have a 1928-style corridor tender in the range and wish they would sell it separately to save hacking about with NRM Flying Scotsman eBay finds... The W1 ran smoothly and quietly around a simple large radius oval. Even on wide curves the rearmost wheels hang outside of the rail, and because of how the rear truck is cut away, it's noticeable the wheels aren't turning. I daresay with weathering this could be disguised, and the argument of how Hornby could/should have designed the chassis will run and run. I'm not a professional modeller (or model reviewer). These are just a few amateur observations having had a good look around one particular specimen and being familiar with Hornby's Gresley models. Still looking forward to seeing the finished articles in their various liveries and hearing how you all get on with yours. Apparently the first shipment is already in Margate... Ollie

Hah, I skimread that and presumed the cab drawing was from the Clans. Thanks both.

Where can I find the new images please Al?

Worth a watch if anyone fancies some enjoyable evening viewing (or has gone off football lately)!

I’m a very happy owner of an LNER dining triplet and a pigeon van today, plus a couple of other items Tony barely needed to persuade me on. Thanks again Tony for offering these, and for your and Mo’s hospitality today. As ever it was a delight to visit LB again. I brought along my A2/2 (a pure lockdown indulgence because interesting prototype / evocative name / my grandfather was based at New England depot at the same time) as weathered by Trains4U, and my first attempt at a loco identity swap: a Hornby A3 that’s now 2750 ‘Papyrus’ in speed record condition. Thanks for the tip on trimming the tender back further Tony. Anyone know if Papyrus' tender still had spoked wheels in 1935? Both ran impeccably. I can’t say I built either myself – while my worldly possessions are boxed up for a house move I can’t even add lamps and a crew. But I’m getting confident with modifying RTR and this thread’s depth of knowledge and skill is always appreciated. Also, what a pleasure to see a 1:1-scale Gresley Pacific tackling Stoke Bank this morning… An older gentleman spectating from the same bridge noted how obscured the view of the ‘racing stretch’ is these days, thanks to overhead catenary and the encroachment of vegetation. This provoked an interesting topic of chat with Tony: what’s the optimal era to have been a railway enthusiast? In short, better to have been around for the pre-war (or pre-grouping) glory days though only the wealthiest had cameras to record the moment, to have seen the 1960s swansong of British steam, or to live here and now where the internet’s bottomless pit of information and research material is often only a free-of-charge click away? We reckon Tony’s generation may well be ‘optimal’ for the best of all worlds, so long as ER steam is your thing. What a fabulous day observing, talking and operating railways. Ollie

Did they provide a reason? Seems like an odd decision, given they’d successfully got pivoting axles within a daylight-free trailing truck to work on previous models like the GNR C1 Atlantic. Interested to see if that bulled-up valve gear is the final version too, I’d presumed the very shiny look was simply a carryover from the museum-spec Locomotion Models variants and would be blackened for the regular versions.

Finally took the plunge on the Rails D9008 yesterday evening, after a long time deliberating on liveries. Spent a while reading back through this thread and really appreciating the depth of information and thorough updates Accurascale has delivered. This will be the first non-steam loco I've ever owned. Totally out of period for what I like to model, but the quality of the product made me buckle!

Not to mention the mother of all NRM gift shop special editions: 4468 + NER dynamometer car + 6-car Coronation spare-set. Perhaps complete with 1:76 Duddington driver figure with his cap on backwards...

Thanking you. Another book for the shopping list. IMHO this is about as handsome as a Thompson Pacific has ever looked in a photograph. Such a well-composed shot.

With the LNER versions 'arriving very soon', does anyone know anything about this picture of 500 'Edward Thompson' presumably on the day of (or very close to) its official naming? Hornby has used it extensively in its catalogue and publicity for the A2/3 models but I've not come across it elsewhere. Would be very interested to hear a date / location / photographer, and why the dyno drive (for electric lighting?) off the bogie wheels were ditched? Penny for the thoughts of the three gentlemen looking on from track level..! Cheers, Ollie

Am I right in thinking the R2888M Flying Scotsman train pack featuring LNER A4 4483 ‘Kingfisher’ and three super detail teaks with nameboards was an Argos-only limited edition?

Indeed, Tony. And O. S. Nock would’ve agreed... The story and its aftermath are from his ‘The Gresley Pacifics’, not an Allen memoir as I misremembered earlier.

Morning Tony and all, I've read that a freak accident was the motivation for Thompson to dispense with V-fronted cabs. In the late '30s two A4s passed at speed on up / down expresses while one was picking up from a water trough. A sheet of water shattered the front spectacle glass of one of the engines which fatally injured an inspector riding on the A4's footplate, though driver and fireman were uninjured and able to bring the train to a safe stop. Thompson firmly believed the overspill would not have smashed the glass if the cab had been a flat-fronted type. Though, whether or not resolving the terms of this uncanny coincidence makes up for severely reduced nighttime visibility is of course up for debate. I'll have a look for the source quote later after work, may well have been from a Cecil J. Allen book. Cheers, Ollie

Thanks for this Rob. Just made a palpable difference to my 60505's running plate with this 5-minute job. Ollie

Interesting developments re. replacements being sourced quicker than I expected. Still in two minds what to do with mine. The loose pieces have been fixed, my 60505’s cab lean isn’t too bad and I’d vouch it’s the smoothest-running Pacific I own. But, the wavy running plate is impossible to ‘unsee’, I can’t close the unsightly gap under the front frames and I was interested to see the replacement sent to Sam’s Trains even had neater boiler banding. Question is, will a retailer replacement be from the new improved batch, or will it be a lottery of missing lamp irons and distorted plastic? Better the devil you know...

In fairness to Hornby there's a decent historical overview of the class on the back of the box. Funnily enough a similar observation had me looking through my Coster 'Book of the A1 and A2 Pacifics'; in every A2/2 image the small front frame handrails are angled outwards away from the vertical. On the model it's obviously a very delicate part that's easily squashed, but at least the lean is prototypical.

I’ve just become part of the problem then. Was about to box my A2 back up for return and spotted the missing lubricator detail jammed in one of the screw access holes on the underside of the front bogie. After removing the body and unscrewing the bogie, I retrieved it and using tweezers and swearing, was able to seat it back in its slot on the running board. Spurred on to complete the job, the smokebox door and tender scoop are now correctly positioned and secured with a spot of glue. While the body was off I attempted to close the gap around the front frames, but it won’t budge. Ordinarily I’d have asked to unbox the model in the shop before accepting, but under current restrictions I was handed the box outside the shop. The vendor was aware of the QC issues and exchanging it wasn’t going to be a problem. Very much agree with the post hoping Hornby learns from this before the A2/3, W1 and new P2 production models are signed off. Ollie

Looking that way, unfortunately. As I lifted the loco clear of the packing tray, it left its water scoop behind. Meanwhile, one of the two lubricator assemblies on the LHS running plate is missing. If it, like the smokebox door and water scoop, had been lurking in the bottom of the box I’d have just stuck them back on, but now there’s a missing detail it irks me with the money spent. Hoping for more luck with the replacement.

Collected my Thane of Fife from the always-helpful Trains4U this afternoon. Opened the box very warily in case the smokebox lamp iron had come adrift, as others had found. Turns out I needn't have worried: it was still affixed to the smokebox door... which had completely detached from the loco. The running plate looks to have a slight undulation on both sides as it flexes around the sandbox backing plates. I'm not sure I'd have noticed it immediately if others on this thread hadn't pointed it out on their models. Colour looks better in real life than in photos, if not as dark and rich as the box image. RHS nameplate isn't quite fixed properly, but I'll have a closer look later when I stick the smokebox door back on. Detail bag does indeed contain the AWS backing plate, along with 2x steps, 2 x drain cocks and brake rigging. I'll sit down later and really give the loco a close look over. My layout's been dismantled for an upcoming house move so I can't test run it as yet, though I'll try to dig the rolling road out over the weekend. Cheers all.

The samples look terrific, well done to all involved. Think I've just about settled on NIMBUS now... One thing: has the scale top speed changed? From fervent refreshing of the Accurascale website this week I'm sure the description used to read the models would be geared for a scale v-max of 100mph, but that's now been upped to 120mph. The versions advertised by Rails still refer to a 100mph top speed. Cheers.

Thanks for taking the time to shoot a video. What a fantastic-looking layout! Chasing up my TOF order this weekend. Forewarned is forearmed with the various QC niggles...

It'll be interesting to see if CotN models are similarly afflicted with the wavy running plate, given 60501 has the different sandbox filler arrangement with no backing plate to foul the boiler.