TomScrut

11 minutes ago, Flying Pig said:

 

The loco was named in preservation, so yes.

Thanks, but it has spent more than half it's life in preservation so I don't want to presume that it is identical today to what it was when it was named over 50 years ago! That's why I am asking.

The Rails listing for it does show it as Era 11 so it should be as per today, however.

This looks to me as though it's in present day condition. Is this the case does anyone know?

1 hour ago, classy52 said:

Class 37 but in a lot of areas doesn't stand up to the Accurascale 37 but worth it for the price, the other is the Bachmann 47 47712 with its dreadful sound output but again got it cheap.

For me if I have a particular use for a certain loco/livery I'll buy that one even if it's dearer. My Bachmann 37418 was far dearer than the AS equivalent but AS haven't (AFAIK) done one that's suitable to run with Caroline. The AS one doesn't make the Bachmann a bad model.

4 minutes ago, classy52 said:

I'm down to 1 now

I still have my 4, but have the AS 66769 on the way (was tempted by Evening Star too). I have become far more rational with my pre orders recently in terms of not ordering loads of different liveries on the same things (such as sheds) when they play the same role on my layout. Partially due to the cost but also because they don't get run enough if I have too many. I have 2 FL, 5 (soon 6) GBRF and 2 DB sheds, plenty for the rolling stock I have.

On 17/04/2024 at 16:22, classy52 said:

If this is the case, via my own experience of previously having 23 Hattons 66's, a lot of them had unseen PCB/lighting faults which plagued this model where if you were running DC only you would never know you had an issue but as soon as you fitted a DCC chip such as an ESU v5 Loksound or Lokpilot then if you're unlucky the lighting issues would be noticeable straight away and its very random of what works or doesn't work.

With my own experience lighting issues would encompass night headlight not working, cab lights not working, marker lights not working or they could be working at one end but not the other and was literally like a pick'n'mix which out of my 23 Hattons 66's it occurred on about 6 of them which is a pretty large failure rate

I completely agree here. Anything that makes use of the logical functions were very prone to not working. I have 4 Hattons 66 and I think I had to handle 8 to get 4 that all worked properly in this regard.

On 02/04/2024 at 21:24, nightstar.train said:

302-4 would maybe be better bets as they’ve had longer working lives

I agree, although there a couple of reasons why it was chosen;

1. To use Accurascale unique nose tooling, I believe the rest are normal centre headcode ends.

2. The other three I think have been subject to more attention from the other manufacturers. Bachmann have done 303 and 304 in their old tooling, VI have done 302 and 304. Hornby have done 302 as well but I think this is post Accurascales model and doesn't really compete with the VI or old Bachmann let alone the Accurascale.

On 31/03/2024 at 13:23, XChris said:

The thing is now that if you want to model anything past 2000ish then units are a staple of your layout, and as time has gone on 2010 onwards locos only exist on IC workings or freight. Units sell because they are required for the layout to work as an accurate representation, they sell not particularly because everyone likes them but because you have to have them.

That is perhaps the rub of it really.

Most people modelling 2000s on will have a handful of units to make the layout realistic but not have cupboards full of them like they do locos.

I am also disappointed that they aren't doing the 185. Here's hoping Revolution decide to do it! There's plenty of Northern stuff about and the 185 covers very similar ground.

Far less niche than the mk5as I might add!

3 minutes ago, WCML100 said:

There is still a colour difference between the Bachmann MK2a and the loco

Although that loco is a Heljan one.

Actually, I had a Bachmann 37669 and a 37706 and I think they were slightly different colours anyway!

On 25/03/2024 at 22:01, WCML100 said:

The more I look at these, the more I think that Accurascale have got the colour correct. And feel the camera does make them appear ever so slightly lighter than to the naked eye.

The thing is, for whatever reason, the shade of paint they put on locos appears to be slightly darker than that if coaches so I think there should be a mismatch between loco and coach. Not sure that's the case with Bachmann ones (don't have an appropriate loco at the moment)

Accurascale 37s in DRS blue £135 at Bure Valley:

https://www.burevalleymodels.com/p/20924/ACC231237605---Class-37-6-37605-DRS-Blue

https://www.burevalleymodels.com/p/20926/ACC231237607---Class-37-6-37607-DRS-Blue

2 of each left at each time of posting

13 minutes ago, adb968008 said:

Why upgrade it, when you can just release a 56 and put a class 69 number on it ?

I expect there's still a licensing issue, given the word (IIRC) used was "exclusive" I presume GBRF aren't allowed to let anyone else do one in OO (and N perhaps)?

However I do expect there's an element of tongue in cheek with your statement given their record with 57s that look a little too much like 47s.

17 hours ago, letterspider said:

will Hornby upgrade their super detail 56 with a 69 body shell?

I thought it was said that the 69 was exclusive to Bachmann when they announced it

23 hours ago, The Black Hat said:

Other DMUs to consider I think would be:
 

Voyager/Meridian 220/221/222
Class 185 - with Desiro options
All singing all dancing IEP - 800/801/802... etc
110
HST..

Whilst I think you are on the right lines, I aren't sure about the need for a better 80X. They are around to stay so another model is probably sustainable but the only thing wrong with the Hornby one IMO is the RRP! (Oh, and the pantograph)

HST I think would be a good option however I do wonder what's going to come from Bachmann with respect to their prototype HST, surely they aren't hoping Hornby are going to be making coaches for it? If Bachmann did the coaches then it would be daft not to do the class 43 power cars too.

185 is the main one for me that I'd be keen on although Voyagers would also be on the list to buy.

On 18/03/2024 at 09:30, atom3624 said:

Other diesels could be the West Country based hydraulics - 35 Hymek, 42/43 Warship and 52 Western.  All 3 of these have a disproportionately large following.  Accurascale variants could be pretty interesting!!

All three have been tooled and IIRC don't fly off the shelves either. I'd much rather effort was put into stuff that hadn't already got model that are adequate to most.

On 25/02/2024 at 22:05, Chameleon said:

A friend of mine got a class 156 recently on eBay. Apart from the two coaches going opposite directions which he has since fixed, he can’t get the tail lights to work at either end. He is getting both ends showing white lights, no matter what direction it is going. I think he said the day/night settings are back to front or somesuch. 
any ideas why he can’t get any tail lights showing on both coaches?

I think I had to program my 156 decoders so the head and tail lamps were opposite way round for one car. As in I expect your mates situation is that one end works absolutely fine, the other is the wrong way round? Just needs one decoder reprogramming to use the tail function instead of headlights and vice versa.

On 24/02/2024 at 18:18, NHY 581 said:

green is definately better from Bachmann

TBH, I don't think anyone does paint as well as Bachmann, both in terms of the colours and the finish. It always seems to have a nice sheen to it that doesn't look glossy but doesn't look matte like a lot of the others do.

50 minutes ago, Andacami said:

I wonder if there is any more news? A few quick searches seem to bring them up as pre-order still; does anyone know why (or just normal delays)...?

Due March/April according to Bachmann so they should either on their way or soon should be. 

3 hours ago, norfolkchinaclay said:

Thanks Craig. Maybe 004 will be a collectors club model.

Hope so, it's the one I want!

Livery probably suits being a CC model too.

3 hours ago, XChris said:

No Bachmann 31’s for me, unfortunately the Privatisation era has been forgotten, no DCR or modern mainline Pres models means no take up from me.

They might think that the more recent 31s have been well catered for by AS. The only present day (ish, since it's now been repainted) 37 they have done since the new tooling was the Kernow exclusive 418, but again, AS had done loads of present day/recent ones.

35 minutes ago, adb968008 said:

If manufacturers can expect an roi on duplication wars on classes such as a 31, then maybe the costs/risks/margins arent as great as we think?

I think a lot of it might be a case of finding out what each other are doing a little too late perhaps? Bachmann will probably have already been financially committed when they found out about the AS31.

2 minutes ago, SRman said:

I think that having the tractive power and weight all concentrated on the outer axles of each bogie actually benefit the tractive effort

It will do. Axle count vs traction is almost irrelevant if all the weight is on driven axles. It is any weight that is taken by undriven wheels that leads to inefficiency in this respect.

2 hours ago, WCML100 said:

West Coast one will do me nicely!

West coast 47 OR 37 would do for me assuming it is a current one in the fleet.

Just now, Butler Henderson said:

In the video the development of the model bloke is refereneced as picking it up when he joined two years ago. So the 31 was planned more tahn two years ago and under the old annual announcement of what we will release in the next 18 months (er make that 3 to 6 years) I expect in would have been in such a 2021 announcment or if not 2022 just before Accuracale announced theirs.

The fact that when AS announced theirs 2 years ago to the month they had EPs also suggests that Bachmann were well on the way with it by then too.

2 hours ago, XChris said:

In my opinion the only people to blame for two new 31’s on the market is Hornby

I completely agree. Those who are suggesting Bachmann copied Accurascale must think that Bachmann have the ability to develop models faster than them, which I doubt. Especially given the same happened with the 37, that's a lot of string pulling.

I fully expect that both companies saw an opportunity and ended up meeting in the middle.

Reminds me a bit of a scene in a certain film...

1 hour ago, Nimbus said:

 

There would also be the issue that the centre wheels are, on the prototype, a smaller diameter. Though I suppose clever choice of gear sizes on the model could cope with that.

Ah I wasn't aware of that. However, I concur that the gearing wouldn't be that difficult anyway.