uk_pm

Me too,  It'll probably arrive after Christmas now but either way, Not fussed.  Great service considering they said it might not even get shipped out till the new year!

It will be worth the wait.  The product - which I use to describe the loco, its packaging and the sound decoder/sound (so often a costly, but disappointing add-on) - is superb.  Quite simply the best r-t-r diesel loco I have seen.  Enjoy - and spread the word.

Here she is passing through Doncaster on a running-in turn.

The little tie bar under the axle on the wagons should prise off if it's not glued on too tight, and the wheel and spring will drop out.

Thank you, Brian.  Much appreciated.

Dense question: how do I extract the wheels from the new Heljan wagons (and indeed their coaches) - without snapping the plastic mounts, that is. 

All help gratefully received.

Hi there UK PM,

    I like the paint job on the interiors, very smart, there's another job for me to do. Two little pedantic points, i believe the 2E First Open would have gingery brown

seats (sort of mid-brown/tan with black lines or spots on in reality), but i could be wrong, black seats are more for 2D compartments, the 2Fs had the bright orange seats like on Mk3s. Second ever so petty petty point, is your other coach is not a 2B, it's a 2A BFK, but don't worry they all look much the same, i got one wrong the other day (2C FK/FO - should have gone to Specsavers). The lighting looks better than i expected, i've got a few with lights coming by post as an experiment, i'm more enthusiastic now! Keep up the good work. Orange curtains look good too.

 

                                                           Cheers, Brian.

Hi Brian

Thanks for your comments; yours was the encycolpaedic knowledge to which I referred in my first post!  My apparant faux pas on the first class interior is very frustrating. I remember the gaudy orange interior decor, but was guided by a picture which appears to show an FO with the grey check moquette, and dark curtains in the 2E section of Michael Harris' book on Mark 2 coaches.  I also remember seeing that scheme, but whether it was in a Mk 2E, I just don't know.  The internet is a wonderful resource, but there is a severe shortage of decent colour photographs of mundane things (like the inerior of poassenger coaches and DMUs) from the 1970s and early 80s.

I'm afraid I like coach lighting.  My current fleet is lit and I just love night-time operating sessions (I can turn off the lights, and the train room disappears, transporting me back to the late 1970s).  The Hornby lights have a huge great capacitor which prevents flicker and is forgiving during running.  However, the bar is too short, so it only really lights the middle of the coach.  I have added additional LEDs to give light throughout the passenger compartment, but lighting the vestibules is eluding me at the moment.  

Thanks so much for sharing your knowledge and expertise.  All very impressive. 

Having followed this thread with interest, I must confess to some concern when the ever-efficient Harvey (The Hobby Shop, Faversham) emailed me to say that my 13 Mk 2Es were ready for delivery.  Had I ordered a duff model; should I have soldiered on with my Airfix 2Ds? 

I need not have worried.  I do not have the encyclopaedic knowledge of some on here, nor the modelling ability to create perfection.  So, to my eyes, the new coaches are a massive improvement on their predessors.  They look like what they are meant to be.  They do have a little bit of chassis on show below the exquisite tumblehome, but it is impossible to see from ordinary viewing angles, and does not trouble me when I view from track height.  I should not have to modify the lighting bars - though they don't flicker and the capacitor is forgiving of dirty trackwork.  And I'm not sure who stole the overhead warning flashes on the first class coaches.  Close coupling would have been nice too.  But aside from those gripes, I am really pleased with them.

Here are a couple I have modified (and a pic of one beside a Bachmann 2B for comparison).  11 more to go!

What do you think?

Nice model - though I'm not convinced by the pick-ups even after Bachmann have done their work.  Herewith a pic of my rail-blue trio - one weathered split-box version, and repaints of the centre headcode and disc versions.  A most welcome trio at Doncaster!

For the ECoS users out there, you might be interested to know that ESU have released a Public Beta Test version of Firmware 4.0.0 (4.0.0 RC1) for the ECoS, both versions, and the Maerklin Central Station 1 Reloaded. 

 

This time there are 3 versions, one for the colour ECoS 2, one for the B&W ECoS 1, and one for the CS1 Reloaded. There is a new Rescue system which must be installed first, after which you can then install firmware 4.0.0 proper. You must be running firmware 3.7.0 before you start the upgrade. 

 

The upgrade is a 2 stage process, first install the new rescue system, then install the new firmware, virtually the same process as when us ECoS 1 users upgraded from version 1.1.3 to 3.0.0.

 

The upgrade is a one way trip, no going back to 3.7.0 if you don't like 4.0.0.

 

It can be downloaded by registered ECoS users from the german language part of the ESU web site. There's a translation of ESU's announcement here http://www.esu.eu/en/forum/forums-overview/topic/ecos_support-1/ecos_firmware_400_rc1-2/ on the ESU web site, accessible to registered ECoS users only.

 

If you're a bit worried about the idea of upgrading to a Beta version with no way back to the old version then I would suggest waiting until the official version is released, which will probably be in the next couple of weeks.

Just uploaded the beta version 4, and I too reckon it is an improvement.  I will be interested to see if it cures the glitches I have commented on previously (and which have continued to this day).  But I am disappointed to note that there is still no support for British signals.