reddragon

I managed to form a rake of of 6 different crimson & cream Mk1s for WR all Bachmann BSK+SO+SO+RU+RFO+FK I have never found any others.

What's wrong with the Joeuff or Lima models? 🙃

Maybe one type of train, not done before that comes in so many liveries?

I have now put my DCC Sound Class 56 to the test to check on 3 issues. Test 1 - Sound using F6 which I wasn't happy with. Following advice from @RBE, I powered away using F6, ran to line speed, switched off F6, then F5 on & powered down for coasting, before turning F5 off & slowing down with F5/6 off. Absolutely brilliant driving & sound experience, I really recommend it. This actually makes the class 56 my best driving experience, thanks Cavalex! The only small issue, only when on F6 the loco stalls on points a crawl speed, engine sound working, no wheel slip. Other locos do stall on these points but not any with stay alive capacitors. I think it's a load / speed issue / setting issue. I am not bothered by this, so just remember no slow speed over points in F6. Test 2 - Coupling - loco coupling unhooking. AS short HYA - loco unhooks (only loco to do so) Hattons FEA - loco unhooks (as do most locos) Dapol HIA - loco remains hooked I assume this is due to NEM coupling heights being all over the place! Test 3 - Haulage - is A1A-A1A good enough? I have a variety of heavy freight wagon rakes that only my stronger locos can haul, so lets test the class 56: - 12 AS short HYAs - pass 16 mixed freightliner wagons - pass 21 Dapol HIAs - pass 12 AS short HYAs + 21 Dapol HIAs - FAIL To put this into context, No other locos including my AS class 37 can pull it except my AS class 92 that can just pull it & my AS class 55 that can pull it with ease. Also not many locos can haul my freightliner or HIA rakes, so that's excellent but not best in class. Overall that's a pass for me and I shall be ordering a class 60.

Once run in, I will load test my 56 on my heavier wagon rakes of 20-30 wagons. If it passes, I will look forward to a class 60 or 2.

Seems like I need to learn how to drive a class 56 properly!! Having moved gradually from DCC to DCC Sound, learning to drive each loco properly is quite a challenge, especially stopping in the right place.

Well, I opened my new arrival fingers crossed hoping to have bogies correctly aligned & no issue. Opened the box & oh sh*t! Its both!! So I tentatively put her on the track and she ran perfectly! A few laps each way before her first haul of a heavy rake of wagons. First issue was she will not stay coupled to my wagons properly, uncoupling quickly & relying on the wagon to hold on. Next I tried sound, what a sound, yes it's great, one of the best considering the class 56 sound isn't that great compared to other locos. I don't like F6 heavy load though. Even though the acceleration / braking are great, the engine sticks in a monotone sound from start to stop, at all speeds from moving off, to speed, down to almost stopped. Maybe the 56 sound is that dull & monotone? Anyway, reverted to standard and the sound is much better, with acceleration sounds & slowing sounds. Maybe just me? Any ideas? Bit shiny too! Asking to be weathered.

Mine is due tomorrow and after plenty of testing, I will decide if to order the class 60.

Surely AS are well overdue a major announcement now with so many items on ships to the UK!

I asked RoS when my 56 is likely to be dispatched & charged for. Their response was "this is by far the largest pre-order we have seen, and it is taking a little while. you should have your 56 in the next few days." Wow!

I have the Z21 with a twin power booster giving 3 sections in total, enough to operate all I have. The highest power draw tends to be from older Hornby / Lima with well worn motors, not sound locos, even with 12 coaches / 20+ wagons in tow, but we shall see when my Mk2d's arrive! 12-car EMUs seem fine too.

I would purchase a realistic full set, be that 8-12 cars, not a single unit of 3/4 cars. To go beyond one set, it would have to be Electrostar or similar, so widely spread & liveried. Also available on AC or DC only lines is a bonus too! C2C, Southern, Connex, Thameslink, GWR, Great Northern, Anglia, GWR, Heathrow, TfL and who knows where next for the class 379s.

Fran, Our hobby is changing, not declining but that does require the industry to keep up with what younger / newer modellers will want. I am not surprised that Hattons has failed. I used to take advantage of their bargains & trunk store but things changed. They fell out with Hornby & Bachmann limiting their stock, bargains vanished. Covid came along and they had to shut, but other smaller more agile shops were found by many. TMC with their isolated shop were able to trade freely and with many hunting down hard to find stock, we all found new suppliers and lower prices. The final straw for me was that the minimum free postage amount doubled negating the value of their trunk service, combined with Rails nailing the second hand market. Rails would do a deal, Hattons would not. Then many of us switched to AS, and direct is alway better except for shop exclusives with you points scheme. As for what I'd pay for a new EMU. For Hornby its £50 per coach or £200 for a 4-car unit due to quality issues but I did pay more for the class 800. Bachmann a little more as in £250 for a 4CEP from TMC as we all know that's where prices go. From AS I would pay more and your Irish Rail unit prices are realistic. Any more than the cost of a loco & 8 coaches for an 8-car unit would be too much. What would be important for me would be discount system to create an 8 or 12 car unit. I know that dummy units wouldn't work, but maybe other options could. You'd need DDC ready, fitted & sound sets. Maybe electrical interconnectivity to enable all units to operate off one sound chip so I could get one sound and 2 linked units, you are a clever bunch, you could work that out. For longer units, like Hornby a short powered set and extension sets, as they do with the 8xx family. I'd love a class 345 as a base 5 car with a 4 car add on option as that would cover all tastes & budgets. When I started this hobby everyone was into big 4 steam, then as people aged it became BR steam, then BR blue. As for the future, younger generations will want what is on the railways today. As into what units. They must be current, have several liveries, be popular or be Southern units. Local long lost units are a dead end. I'd go for an Electrostar but would be terrified if you did all unit options at once!! or the newer Aventra unit. Hitachi units are ugly but Stadler units look good. The only old units would be the 4COR family, rule 1 Southern, but you have a limited window on these before demographics change. Would I want working pantos / destination blinds / doors? Not at a high cost, maybe as an add on if you can make retrofitting viable. I'd rather the unit to all the bells & whistles!

With so many diesel shunters, 1st Gen DMUs & DeMUs, most AC EMUs, many DC EMUs not modelled I see little point of redoing a slightly substandard model. Many would have already bought a specific model if already made if they really wanted it. I had a class 170, it was fine & DCC fitted. I sold it. I have a DCC fitted class 220 I plan to sell next year, the DCC fitting cost more than the unit itself! Hoping for a suitable MU in 2024.

Due date now "The coaches are due to end with us in late January, when we will QC them and then post them out to the masses of excited modellers who have been patiently waiting for us to fill this large gap in BR coaching stock." https://www.accurascale.com/blogs/news/a-close-look-at-our-mark-2b-coaches-with-added-delivery-update

very triggers broom!

Just need 56.042 with its class 58 bogies now!

I have finally succumbed & ordered a class 56. I have to go for my second livery choice as strangely my favourite choice isn't modelled. Why no large logo on an earlier loco without aluminum trims? They looked much neater & better.

Class 503 1938-1985 = 47 years Class 405-415 Last were withdrawn in 1995, so 1951-1995 = 44 years but . . intermediate trailer cars were ex class 405s TSOs that replaced the class 415 compartment stock and most of these dated back to 1946 - 49 years but odd earlier examples persisted to late on. All of these coaches were rebodied 3/4-SUBS from 1911-1935 many of which were converted from steam hauled stock dating back to the 19th century. Liveries applied SR Green, BR Green, BR blue, BR blue/grey, NSE so comparable. Units numbered in the 100's though!

Agreed but these travelled more & have more livery options

Some Mk1 buffets / full BGs to supplement the Mk2bc rakes would be a good addition. Whilst available elsewhere the range is very narrow, dated and prevents some regions being able to create a full rake. EG - no WR blue / grey buffet cars and minimal BG availability

There has been no update for a while on these! Website says (20/10/2023) - https://www.accurascale.com/blogs/news/nice-2c-progress-mark-2c-decorated-samples-revealed "With the Mark 2b coaches now almost complete and due to ship from China very soon (look out for an update there in the next week or so!)" and delivery Q4 2023 yet they are still shown as in production! Any updates for us?

Well, a class 323 from Dapol https://railsofsheffield.com/blogs/news/Dapol-announce-new-class-323-emu We just need the AS Electrostar now!

or BR 9F?

I found most units north of the river dull & boring but the Southern units had plenty of character & variety even within classes.