Brian-1c

Let's not forget HMS Venus

May I please suggest an N gauge ex LMS 68' restaurant car ? I did listen to all the reasons why a range of British coaches were not yet under consideration. However, this example may be compared to other individual coaches out of the mainstream models and can stand alone as a desirable extra to add. In the same vein as the newly announced dynamometer car. Or the individual cars in the Titfield Thunderbolt series in OO, unfortunately not (yet) in N. The ex LMS 68' 12 wheeled restaurant car was seen in LMS Maroon, BR carmine and cream, BR Maroon at least and I wouldn't be surprised if it appeared in blue and grey either, although I have never seen evidence of that. Perhaps it could be an extra ( maybe if ) colour, like the RTC versions of other stock elsewhere. Actually, I wouldn't be surprised to see one in engineers' colours at some point in their lives. Another suggestion for a model in N gauge is the ex LMS 57' non-corridor driving brake (autocoach). Seen over large parts of the countryside on short suburban duties, main and branch, up until the 1950s and, of course ended up in BR Maroon.

Revolution's Caroline is similar level pricing. It's about right for a speciality coach. I do remember seeing a pic somewhere of this car in a train on the LMR going through Crewe on a test train, so it has a wider range of operation than generally assumed.

What decoder socket is factory fitted please ?

There certainly are all the options now 😀 I must have been a little too quick and found the first link page whilst they were updating the site ! Thank you.

Only the four car set on the web site. Will there be a three car set in the future ?

I think the GBRF pair would be popular, especially if sold as a pair, in a presentation box. Clearly explained that both are powered, on order forms, advertising and dealer sites. But the real bit that would set Accurascale apart would be to actually deliver them finally to customers, with both being powered too. 😆 Please let us have English Electric riders, as Accurablokes in the cab crews for the original West Coast versions. I note that the Class 50 has similar bogies to the Deltic, but also has a similar wheelbase to the prototype Deltic, DP1. Just thought I'd mention it. Additional 6 (powered) axle locos in the same vein would need to include the LMS twins (class 34), class 40 and the class 56, all having versions of the same basic engine as the class 50, as developed along the way. I'm sure you'll get round to it.

Another Electrostar on Airport Express services is the Gautrain in South Africa.

The Zimo MS580N18 has 2000µF stay alive built in to the decoder. I would not buy the sound fitted 08, but I would buy the standard one and, since the speaker is fitted, buy the MS580N18 with 08 sound file included instead.

OK, this I have to see when it's ready to show off please and I'll pass it on to the owner of the one in my pic above. He'd be delighted to know this extra bit about the Thunderbolt, as we spent some time talking about the history of Lion, the film and, especially Rapido, who he'd never heard of. Anyway, he's going to look your web site up, knowing now that he can find all the history of the actual loco and the film. I even told where he can get the DVD. He knew the film, but has never seen it. This is the owner shown here, with some of his other work :

I saw this Gauge 1 live steam Lion at the Centurion Society of Model Engineers today. Made from an Aster kit, it was just on display and not running on the adjacent Gauge 1 track as the owner said he was simply being lazy and enjoying the day. 👋 I was half expecting Andy from Rapido to appear next to it !

Lovely, 377s and 378s are just right. The gaps are closing on the west Coast Main Line. 501 and AM10 next ? Just thought I'd mention it. :-)

Great, thank you ! Having D1 first with several others of her class is perfect. That's how they arrived in full scale, that's how I saw them introduced. Actually, I'm only interested in the 44s, the rest were off on the Midland, so I never saw them.

Hi Fran, That sounds excellent, thank you for the prompt reply. I thought I would have to wait until it was in EP for that info :-) Brian

That'll make the connections to the power operated pantographs a lot of fun, I would imagine. Brian

I fully agree, the trunk service is an absolutely wonderful idea and it does result in my buying firstly from Hattons, whenever possible. In fact, I wish that Hattons would have a wider range of product, in order that I may buy more from them than I do. It would be a huge bonus if Hattons also supplied Zimo decoders, Fox Transfers and Graham Farish, as well as Bachspares, Peters Spares and Dapol spares. Something else that enhances the trunk service is the special relationship they have with DHL, who themselves are first choice for South Africa, for many reasons, but especially the local Postnet service, which has largely replaced the, largely defunct, Post Office here. This is very important to us here, as we cannot trust the Post Office to successfully deliver at all and, when they do, it takes a couple of days to get into their system and then another three months or more to arrive, if you are very lucky. But the DHL pricing with Hattons is guaranteed to be a lower price than from any other supplier using DHL and always less than any other courier price from other model suppliers.

Thank you Graham, I am very happy to see it is simply a domain move.

Their web site shows the domain not found. Seems they have gone right off the air, anyone heard what is happening ?

Electrostar is a good choice, I will add my vote for this one. Especially if the Gautrain version was also modelled !

Certainly, I think they'd look really good double headed with itself.

Still badgering away I trust 😄 Especially with the announcement today from your very good friends.

Dave, you had it right.

Right, for info, this was due to a latching function, F8. This produces the toot when pressed, but needs a further press to switch it "off" again. If the power is then removed, the toot will sound on power up. Ensuring that F8 is turned off also ensures that it will not sound when powered back on. This turned out to be an ESU (151) sound chip by the way, but I was able to repeat a similar situation with a Zimo sound chip in a different loco at the club in South Africa. In the case of the Zimo, F3 sounded the horn, but is latched on until pressed again. Like my friends loco, if that function left on, it sounds on power up, but ensuring it is turned off before powering down ensures it is quiet on powering up again. Hope this helps someone else with this. Brian

Have a look at Electra Rail vinyls, they do sets for the APT-P in blue grey, RTC red/blue, GNER and Virgin, as alternatives to the original InterCity. On the N scale model by Bees Hill of course. https://electrarail.co.uk/apt-fictitious-livery-packs-4696-p.asp 😁

Electrostars sound like a good idea, especially in N of course. Lots of lovely long trains and, as pointed out, many many liveries. Including the Gautrain ! Which I ride on often here. I suspect there are many others who'd like one to run alongside their class 40s etc.