E100

I thought it was interesting how they talked about the rebuilt observation coach and shows images of it. I've said I'd love that at every show I've seen Hornby at since they announced these. Nice to see they are giving the interiors more than just a basic lick of paint. Now pre-ordered a full rake with Rails.

Would be great to see this on the store though I appreciate it's not going to be a big money spinner to fund the future projects such as a 1980's 37/4's :p

Unfortunately, I can't make that show. I think my next big one will be the new NEC show in November. No worries and thanks for the offer :)

Ah right. It sounded like a wonderful scene. Obviously, it would be great to see it but no worries if it's a faff and you've got better things to crack on with. Totally understand the need for permission as well.

Sorry some more context would have been useful. It's in this news piece on the website https://www.accurascale.com/blogs/news/marooned-in-suburban-paradise-mark-1-subs-in-maroon-unveiled

I just wondered if it'd be possible for this image to be shared or signposted to the source to be to see it/purchase the relevant book etc?

Oh yeah, the spares website is superb, just hadn't appreciated a retailer their own exclusives direct as well.

No idea if this is old news but I've noticed they've added a series of Bachmann bodies for sale. https://www.kernowmodelrailcentre.com/c/1102/Diesel-Locomotives-and-units Class 37 / Class 158 for example

I think the solution is to simply go with the Plux-22 option due to the reasons you've outlined. On the flipside, a modern chip will probably have a better sound file unless the 8 pin chip is quite recent.

I'm glad to have not gone down the TT:120 route for now. I fear this pace of release will not sustain the scale in the way that Simon K had hoped based on the launch 18 months ago. I'm sure they'll be many who are happy with this but for me they need to have released Phase 2 in it's entirety and we should be well into Phase 3 (as they had planned to). I suspect those who weren't going to have held the course would have already jumped (as some youtubers have). As ever I do wish them the best with this and hope it grows the hobby. The J50 is a smart choice though and nice to see the class 37 development journey.

£120 at York today. Picked up the preserved example.

They were £150 on the stand at Model Rail Scotland but heading to York. If they are at £100 I will definitely get one.

I understand people's frustration. There is a valid expectation that they would ship somewhat more expediently but ultimately there's a reason we all ordered - word got around that these are the definitive model. I would say a reasonable comparison is with Cavalex who are also a small team, however they have utilised a retailer network to distribute rapidly and effectively but that does take some margin away. If you are happy to spend another 10-20% (or whatever a retailers margin is - absolutely no idea) then sure they probably could ship this more quickly but for me I'm happy to wait a bit longer. I'm also expecting that things will speed up over time. It does save on the postage but if a few hundred people turn up then they will solely be doing that and the queues will be round the block (with probably a fair few making the trip especially). Honestly I'm not sure that's what the attendance at the one or two shows a year is about. I'll be heading and having a chat and yes I'm sure the delays will come up but I'm interested to try and glean what is next on their list and have a look at what has landed.

Would you be up for sharing how you've done these modifications or linking either to other posts/videos etc?

Is this the one in the old RES sidings at Crewe (behind platform 12?)

Yeah I did that for the capacitors. As you say, very easy. This was the actual track power to the board using the holes at the end as one had become detached.

It's encouraging to see how well these have sold for future west highland line models. Looks in a Timber-P shaped direction!

Yes, I just did a straight swap despite the different locations as I gained some confidence from the voltage measurements I took. I've also now left them on for a 2 hour stint and there was no ill effects. I used these 0.33F 5.5V but I'd be confident any from RS would work provided they are 5.5V. https://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/supercapacitors/1845491?gb=s I've messed up the second board (well Hornby did as there was a broken solder joint from the pick up to the board) in terms of the wires and just can't seem to get any solder to stick to the board around the pickup tab (despite flux) so I will attempt to solder direct to the bridge rectifier but waiting on some new wire as I want to go with a slightly thicker piece of wire that what Hornby have used. I've sorted the capacitor for this one though and that went on very easily.

So I have just wired in the new super-capacitors and... ...works an absolute treat. They retain full brightness for a couple of minutes after charging for around 30 seconds before they slowly die away but there was still noticeable and acceptable light well after 5 minutes. There's no in rush issue either as it draws 0.02A initially and then 0.01A once charged.

A 73/9 in both 4mm and 2mm would go down very well.

I think an issue with units is that if a manufacturer gets a sniff of someone else doing it they could very easily get scared. Duplication can work for class 37's/47's but not for a 325. The risk of tooling up 3-5 loco/coaches is huge. You could mechanically design a PEP to be interchangeable but the bodyshell differences and nuances throughout their service lives are huge to the best of my knowledge. You can sell a lot more Mk2b TSO's than you can a middle coach of a 507/508. Then again you can charge a premium for them and therefore whilst the risk is large the reward could be equally large for whoever steps up to the mantle. Dapol and Revolution stand to gain a lot from the 323/321's hitting that ~£100 a coach sweet spot at the retailers based on the enthusiasm seen so far. IIRC Accurascale have previously said on this thread or another they looked at the PEP units but then heard someone else was so believe they backed off.

I've had my RTC pack and WCRC coaches for a while to look over. I have to say I'm extremely pleased all round. Fell pretty solid to me as well with no detail lost on any of them. Thanks Accurascale and can't wait for my much larger 2c order to roll in! Regarding the WCRC Maroon it's not something I will lose any sleep over. It's very common to see brighter freshly painted coaches and some older faded and darker ones all mixed in together as others have said.

So I got the multimeter out and placed the old 2020 coach on the track with 12V DC voltage (about 12.8V or so - though I usually run DCC around 15V). I firstly checked I was on the right setting which being a complete novice took a bit of trial and error even with the manual and got a reading of 0.01V of my Alpha Meter. I've then put the two probes onto the two capacitor wires and got a reading of around 4.6-4.8V giving me fair confidence that the 5.5V super capacitors should work on the old board. I've therefore ordered a set of them to give them a try.

So I purchased most of the old 2020 coaches at a major discount apart from the TF coaches. I got a 2022 set of these and have just opened them up to compare to try and resolve the capacitor issue. Having now looked at both boards it's very clear they are radically different with the 2020 capacitor positioned towards the pickups and the 2022 capacitor is positioned away from the pickups. I've taken photos below. Note that the new capacitors are 0.22F and 5.5V vs 1000uF (0.001F) and 25V. I'm really not too experienced with electronics at this stage but willing to try and learn. I'm a little concerned that if I go with a straight swap of the new into the old that they could go bang. This is partially due to the the new supercapacitors being rated at 5.5V vs 25V. It's suggests that the track voltage goes through a resistor with the new but not with the old? But then again is that also a part of the electrical issue and that they should have been 5.5V all along? I note that the 2020 capacitor appears after R01 (SMD resistor? labelled 331). Has anyone given the 2022 type capacitors suggested above or similar in the 2020 board? Either way hope the images below help. 2020 TS 2022 TF

Thanks for still posting it. Even if the running is imperfect the development of a project is really nice aspect of the hobby I enjoy seeing.