Dicky L

Railadventure barrier wagon released by Heljan this week.

video clip of 56094

Following on from my above post the loco has been run in and runs very smoothly. All axleboxes remained in place during 45 minutes in each direction. Now it heads off to the weatherman.

Sound fitted 66783 arrived today from Hattons

I am not about to wave my willy for anyone, it would only serve to highlight my impending bankruptcy and divorce.

56094 heads out with a mixed rake of OCA, OBA , MFA, MHA

56094 outside the Colas TMD

everything on the layout will get hunts eventually.

OBA OCA and MFA. some of the brilliantly weathered wagons received from my weatherman Andrew Wills today.

This week 23 weathered wagons will be returning to the layout. this beauty is one i am particularly looking forward to seeing.

Class 150204 Northern Abellio livery debranded with Disabled/Cycle decals added.

Yes all sound fitted with working lights.

Following Receipt of my latest 3 Hattons Class 66s I have now had opportunity to check all 3 and run them in. I thought I would give my thoughts on these considering the model is receiving plenty of criticism at the moment. Before anyone points it out, I know the speed sign behind 66587 in the photograph has fallen over. Firstly all 3 models have run exceptionally well for me during the running in process. I have not had problems with axle boxes being glued in badly. All 6 remained in place on 66623, Whilst one centre axle box came out of both 66587 and 66780. 66623 is without doubt the wrong colour and effectively renders it useless to me until it receives a complete repaint. Hattons themselves have succeeded in highlighting this perfectly on their instagram. With this in mind I intend to keep it as 66623 and have it painted the correct orange. 66780 A wonderful model and for me the best of the lot. Andi Walshaw tells me the yellow ends are the wrong colour although in the scheme of things this is relatively minor. 780 also suffers light bleed on the roof which is easily remedied. 66587 I am very happy with this one, although again I have found a slight issue with light bleed in the yellow ends, This is only noticeable in very dark conditions though so shouldn’t cause much of a problem. Overall The Hattons 66 is a great model and my experience whilst far from perfect has to date been a pleasant one. I will not let the issues prevent me buying other variants in future, although I am very dissapointed that Hattons have made a monumental cockup with 66623.

3 new Hattons arrivals yesterday. 66623 will be receiving a repaint, while 66587 and 66780 will head for the weatherman once they have been run in and tested.

Whilst the colour is not correct on Freightliner 66623 on a positive note I can report no glue marks and all the axle boxes are present. I have given it a good run for 30 minutes in each direction and everything runs smoothly with everything remaining in place. i will be keeping this model simply because it’s still a good base model for repaint. I am happy with the visual appearance of 66587 and 66780. I have just not had chance to run them yet.

I will let this photo speak for itself

Light engine 37422 held waiting for access to the mainline.

a slightly different angle looking towards the station. 144007 approaching platform 2.

Easy to debrand Tom. just use t-cut to remove them.

continuing the DMU theme that I have had this week here’s a few more photos.

that’s what i was pointing out. you have to upgrade to the EM2 speaker on the DC Kits site to get exactly the same sound setup as Hattons.

£140 if you want the EM2 that’s fitted in the Hattons Factory Sound fitted versions. Anything else would seem totally inept by comparison.

A pair of Northern 156s at the platform.

DMUs at the Northern Sidings

37423 with MK2fs and DBSO